Christmas: The Most Hygge Time of Year

December has come around again and it is the most Hygge time of the year! Christmas time is one of my favourite times of the year. Everyone is so cheerful, the lights in the middle of town and on peoples houses, great food, even more good treats and spending time with family and friends.

This will be my second year away from home for the holidays and I am still trying to merge my Danish and Canadian traditions with my English boyfriends traditions. Luckily some are the same but some are different as well. One thing I have noticed living in Britain is that they take Christmas to a whole 'nother level! Every shop is decorated, the high streets and the neighbours all put up their beautiful lights.

Decorating my house is my favourite thing to do, I try to wait until after American Thanksgiving every year but I rarely make it until then I just can't wait! To start I turn on my spotify and search for a Christmas playlist that always puts me in the mood even when I am hauling all the bins of Christmas decorations out of the closet. Next I make sure to be baking something that is easy and sweet for a reward afterwards, then I'll light a festive smelling candle and begin decorating.

As a personal preference I like to put up the tree last and get everything else decorated. My favourite place to decorate is the mantle above the fireplace. I trim it with garland and lights and once the Christmas cards start coming in I place them on the mantle. Above our mantle we have a mirror so years ago I got these Nisse (Danish elves that help Santa, similar to elf on the shelf) cardboard cutouts that I put on the mirror and make it a small touch to have a bit more festive. We also have lights around the kitchen window and along the fence line with some big bows to get into the festive season.

The kitchen is the heart of the home as as you know I am an avid cook so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and so I want it to be festive as well. I put out Christmas tea towels, a nisse, festive Christmas mugs with matching plates and sugar bowls with creamer. It makes me feel the Christmas spirit as I am cooking or baking.

Putting up the Christmas tree is the biggest part of decorating. Back in Canada I always had a real tree but it would be very hard for us to get here so last year we bought a prelit artifical tree and I set that up. Once we check that the lights work I spread out the branches and let it sit for about an hour then start decorating the tree. I have baubles and ornaments that I have collected over the years and we put the personal ones on first to ensure they get premium realesate on the tree and can look at them and smile all season long. We bought a huge box of baubles last year and use those to fill in the gap.

After everything is decorated and the festive season has officially begun it is time for a coffee and a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

Merry Christmas & Happy Hygge!