December’s A Book A Day

Hey friends!

I’m a little later in sharing this than I had hoped I’d be, but if you’ve been following along here for a little while, you might remember the 25 Christmas book tradition we started at our house last year! (More about that here!)

In a nutshell, I wrap up 25 Christmas books and let my kids pick one each day in December leading up to Christmas. It’s gonna be more fun this year since both of my kids can actually sit still during a book! (And when I say they can, I simply mean they physically have the ability to. Whether they will or not is another matter!)

This year’s books are wrapped and ready to go! They are the same as last year’s except for one, which I replaced with this precious addition from my friends at Candlewick Press! Pick A Pine Tree is all about going to select and decorate the perfect Christmas tree with cute, rhyming ideas on how to do it. I’m so excited to have this one in this year’s mix!

One of the most fun parts of this for me is wrapping them. I love gift wrapping and finding cute paper! So a little about each paper used…

This paper is actually left over from last year, but I still love it! It’s from a cute shop called Livettes. They have the most fun selection of printed kraft paper gift wrap! I can almost promise you’ll love their stuff. Check it out!

This paper is also left over from last year. It’s from Wrappily, which is a company that offers eco-friendly paper printed on recycled newsprint! They have precious patterns. See more here!

I am so in love with the simplicity of this paper from Zoet Design. Sadly, it appears that this paper has sold out and has not been restocked! But this shop has beautiful paper goods, so if you’re a paper fan, check it out!

How awesome are these nutcrackers?! They’re from a shop called Francine and Georgia. These little guys make me so happy!

These tree-totin’ cars are also from Francine and Georgia. I love them!! A tree on top of a car will always always always make me think of the Griswolds!

Lastly, my favorite paper of all! These snowy trees from PaperSource are just the prettiest!!! I LOVE THEM! This paper can also be purchased locally at Gifts by KPEP at The Renaissance. Isn’t this paper beautiful?

So that’s the wrapping! Love how all these papers work together. Such a happy mix!

You can see the list of all the books we started with last year in this post. I went through and made sure all the links still work! And if you want to do this this year but think it’s a little too late, IT ISN’T! Most of these books are available on Prime so you can have them by 12/1! You just might not have all 25 on 12/1, but you’ll have enough to start! 🙂

So what all do y’all do with your families in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas? I would love to hear how you celebrate!

Also, I had the idea Sunday to do a blog post about how to keep Christmas focused on the real reason, which is the birth of our savior Jesus, while still keeping it magical! In a culture that’s all about Santa and presents and lights and STUFF, I’m currently collecting ideas on how to keep things Jesus-focused without taking away the wonder and joy that Christmas is. Because I, for one, love lights and decorations and parties and the happiness that comes from dinners and gatherings and just being with my people! But I also want Jesus to be the absolute center of it all. Is this something that would interest y’all? Please let me know in the comments below! Also, if you have any great ideas on how you redirect focus, please let me know either in the comments or via email! My kids are still so young that I feel like we have time to really start making an impact on how our kids view Christmas. Let me know what y’all think!!

As always, thank you for reading! XO!