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*****CLOSED & WINNER ANNOUNCED*****GAME: The Great December Debate | DYD 2025

Opening Presents: Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
Always Christmas morning... when my son was little we would open our stockings early in the morning but then the presents under the tree have to wait till after we get home from church... so usually about 11am... this just makes Christmas last a bit longer and it's not all over before 7am! Now we don't bother with the stockings (they're just for decor) but we still wait till later before opening presents.
 
SECOND QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Winter Beverage: Hot Cocoa or Eggnog?
Definitely eggnog. In fact, I saw a carton in the grocery store the last time I was there & bought it. I can do hot cocoa whenever I choose. Eggnog reminds me of the holidays.
 
THIRD QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Twinkle Lights: Pure White or All the Colors of the Rainbow?
For me, it is pure white. DH loved all of the colors.
 
cfile said:
I love Eggnog but don't have it much as it is very heavy and sometimes bothers me, but Starbucks Eggnog Latte will be back on Dec 2 and I am making a beeline! :)
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Christa, I agree with you on the heaviness of eggnog. But what I do is pour half a glass & then fill the rest with almond milk. (I don't have regular milk in the house, other than heavy whipping cream). Anyway, thinning it down does the trick for me.
 
FOURTH QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Elf on the Shelf: Visits every day or Why would I do that to myself?
Why would I do that to myself??? We never had kids. Not something I would need to get a chuckle out of life.
 
FIFTH QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14TH

Dreidel: Wooden or Plastic?
If I owned one, it would definitely be wooden...
 
SIXTH QUESTION--NOVEMBER 15TH

Opening Presents: Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
Do both count? Growing up in a two-family household, we would open presents with the grandparents on Christmas Eve. The next morning, there were HUGE stockings filled with gifts that was our Christmas morning celebration. When I got married, we typically spent Christmas Eve with John's family (they were local), and then drove to my parents on Christmas day and spent the night.
19781224 Mom and Xmas stocking.jpg
 
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Here are the super sparkly trees I grew up with. The silver one was my grandparents'; the green metal one was my parents'.
19671224_Downstairs Xmas tree.jpg
19671225 Upstairs Tree.jpg
 
Love reading through everyone's responses. Love the variety.

When in Germany the family do the Sinterklaas on the night of the 5th of December and Christmas Eve dinner.
In South Africa, we were fortunate in that the in laws were ok to come to our house, so we did Christmas lunch. When the kids were little the gifts were opened first thing in the morning, even before church. As they got older so we waited until after Christmas lunch.
 
scrapchyck said:
Yep, a Hanukkah thing! It's a game with a spinning 4-sided top. Each side has a Hebrew letter on it, and whichever side lands up when you spin indicates the action you take. Maybe @Brendazzle has one she can show us!
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Do cookies count? We always make dreidels as part of our Hanukkah cookies (especially since they don't break while baking like some of the more delicate shapes.)
dreidel-cookies.jpg

I can't find any good close-ups of playing with a real dreidel but I found this one that has both a plastic one and a wooden one
dreidels.jpg

My actual dreidels are still put away in the attic in the Hanukkah bin but I have Disney ones that a friend got me and a 3D printed one from my son's speech therapist. I prefer to play with wooden ones but I don't remember what the ones I have look like.

I need to take pictures this year and scrap them. There's not much Hanukkah stuff available so I always reach for this kit:
KimJensen_EightNightsHanakkah-Bundle__preview-1.jpg
 
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We do Christmas presents on Christmas morning here, just the three of us. It makes it easier to remember to text my husband's family a few photos without ruining their holiday. It's not a huge deal for us since we also have Hanukkah (and that has my whole family) but I try to make sure my husband doesn't feel left out.
 
scrapchyck said:
@dawnmarch Why do people want to burn their tongue every day? I don't get it! LOL Maybe us cold beverage folks have super sensitive tongues. I wonder if that's ever been researched!?
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lol it’s an interesting question. I just find something comforting about a warm beverage and like it’s more of an event/ritual or something. In fact, I can’t have too much of any of the usual hot drinks because it’ll give me heartburn so after my morning coffee, sometimes I’ll have a cup of hot water. I thought I was some sort of brave beverage pioneer but apparently it’s quite popular in Asia.
 
I’m a wood dreidel person - that’s gotta be more traditional.

We are Christmas Day present openers. The know it’s supposed to be about the love and family and all that :giggle but I still feel like it’s anticlimactic if you don’t have any presents on the day.
 
@Brendazzle Yes to dreidel cookies!!! As I mentioned in another thread, I am of the personal opinion that all nutrition should come through cookies! Thank you for sharing your holiday traditions with us!
 
Christmas Tree: Real or Artificial?
Artificial. I love the convenience of not having to go out every year and find a tree. We just pull it up from the basement, fluff and decorate.
 
Winter Beverage: Hot Cocoa or Eggnog?
Hot Cocoa. I have become a fan of eggnog ice cream instead of the drink. If you like the flavor of eggnog but not the texture - ice cream for the win.
 
scrapchyck said:
FIRST QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Christmas Tree: Real or Artificial?
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Artificial- mostly because I like to put it up early & leave it up forever! lol We have 4 trees- main living room tree, upstairs loft tree, one in my office & one on the front porch. This layout was in January & after I took all the christmas/santa stuff down, but left all the winter stuff. My tree is always decorated with snowflakes & icy sparkles, so it's perfect for winter too! :)
2024_1_Winter Tree-MOC24

2024_1_Winter Tree-MOC24

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scrapchyck said:
SECOND QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Winter Beverage: Hot Cocoa or Eggnog?
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Hot cocoa. I hate eggnog.

scrapchyck said:
THIRD QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Twinkle Lights: Pure White or All the Colors of the Rainbow?
(Unless you're high tech like @Brendazzle and your fancy tree does both!)
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Mostly white on our main tree & on the garlands & swags throughout the house. We have an older artificial tree that goes upstairs in the loft that can do either multi or white & the kids like to keep it at multi. It's the tree that's decorated with all our ornaments the kids made throughout elementary school. It's our Family tree! :) Here's my rainbow tree (but with white lights) that is in my office.
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scrapchyck said:
FOURTH QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14th

Elf on the Shelf: Visits every day or Why would I do that to myself?
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I did Elf on the Shelf for years when my kids were little. It is annoying to remember to move him, but I set an alarm on my phone right before bedtime so I wouldn't forget. Our elf was not naughty- I didn't love that aspect of it. Our elf brought an advent card counting down to christmas and each card had a fun christmas activity on it. Sometimes it was something easy like have hot cocoa for dessert, or read a christmas book before bed. The hard part for me was of course I designed & created all the cards & planned all the activities. It was a lot of work! BUT- even now with my kids being bratty teenagers, they often say that they wish we could still do it- so I try to be intentional on doing holiday stuff with them throughout the month.
2020_11_Blue Eyes

2020_11_Blue Eyes

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scrapchyck said:
FIFTH QUESTION--NOVEMBER 14TH

Dreidel: Wooden or Plastic?
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I have never played this game, but I am going to say wood- just because I hate all the plastic stuff. lol

scrapchyck said:
SIXTH QUESTION--NOVEMBER 15TH

Opening Presents: Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
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We always open presents Christmas morning- the only deviation is if we are going on vacation- which we do every couple years. We do open presents with my in-laws on Christmas eve- we do Waffles for dinner at their house every Christmas Eve.
 
amien1 said:
Artificial- mostly because I like to put it up early & leave it up forever! lol We have 4 trees- main living room tree, upstairs loft tree, one in my office & one on the front porch. This layout was in January & after I took all the christmas/santa stuff down, but left all the winter stuff. My tree is always decorated with snowflakes & icy sparkles, so it's perfect for winter too! :)
2024_1_Winter Tree-MOC24

2024_1_Winter Tree-MOC24

  • Media owner amien1
  • Date added
  • Comments 1



Hot cocoa. I hate eggnog.


Mostly white on our main tree & on the garlands & swags throughout the house. We have an older artificial tree that goes upstairs in the loft that can do either multi or white & the kids like to keep it at multi. It's the tree that's decorated with all our ornaments the kids made throughout elementary school. It's our Family tree! :) Here's my rainbow tree (but with white lights) that is in my office.
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  • Media owner amien1
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I did Elf on the Shelf for years when my kids were little. It is annoying to remember to move him, but I set an alarm on my phone right before bedtime so I wouldn't forget. Our elf was not naughty- I didn't love that aspect of it. Our elf brought an advent card counting down to christmas and each card had a fun christmas activity on it. Sometimes it was something easy like have hot cocoa for dessert, or read a christmas book before bed. The hard part for me was of course I designed & created all the cards & planned all the activities. It was a lot of work! BUT- even now with my kids being bratty teenagers, they often say that they wish we could still do it- so I try to be intentional on doing holiday stuff with them throughout the month.
2020_11_Blue Eyes

2020_11_Blue Eyes

  • Media owner amien1
  • Date added


I have never played this game, but I am going to say wood- just because I hate all the plastic stuff. lol


We always open presents Christmas morning- the only deviation is if we are going on vacation- which we do every couple years. We do open presents with my in-laws on Christmas eve- we do Waffles for dinner at their house every Christmas Eve.
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My colleague converts their tree into their daughter's all-January-long birthday tree right after Christmas! Thanks for sharing all your fun pages and traditions!
 
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