I’ll be honest. It’s still vacation, and I’m still not writing and photographing recipes. What I am doing is enjoying some much needed time off visiting with out-of-town family, playing games with my kids, snuggling my 2 month old baby, and not checking social media every 5 minutes throughout the day. I will re-surface next week, but for now I wanted to leave you with a link to my family’s favorite New Years tradition! My kids look forward to this every year, so go check out the details on our New Year’s Tree, and leave a comment here on this post with your favorite tradition!
We hop you
This is such a cute idea! I’m always way to lazy to take down the tree immediately after Christmas, but this seems like and excellent way to enjoy it and stay in the spirit of things without being overwhelmed with Christmas.
Is there a reason you have to take the christmas decorations off? We keep our tree (artificial) up until the 3 Kings come. I’d like to do this and am thinking I can just add the balloons and some of the New Year decorations to my already decorated tree.
We do the New Year’s Tree since reading your post a few years ago, but mostly since having a baby on New Year’s Eve (she’ll be 3 this year). We call it “The Birthday Tree” and she thinks it is so special to have a tree decorated just for her. I like that she digs having a holiday birthday.
we get together and make eggrolls, wontons, fried rice, and other tasty treats; we also play BINGO–and ask everyone to contribute prizes: for all ages-good white elephant type items; plus i keep a box i add to during the year-my husband will go to the harbor freight store and pickup some inexpensive ‘guy gifts’, i’ll raid my office for supplies, post christmas sale items…and we’ll start early, and keep playing the bingo so EVERYONE wins….more exciting as we lay all the prizes out on the counter, so the littler kids can choose..people have contributed plates of goodies, old cookbooks, candles, i could go on…i do love your tree ideas…gonna do something like this with the grans!! thank u…traditions make memories and form bonds.
We’ve adopted this fabulous idea since I saw it on your blog! My nine cannot wait every year for the New Year Tree. Thanks for the fabulous idea!
🙂
What a fantastic idea! I’ve never heard of such a thing, but I love it. 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration – I’ll be doing this again this year!
Last year I decorated with balloons, ribbon and crazy-spectacles and moustaches – great fun!
This year I plan to decorate it with streamers, paper fortune cookies (another web-found inspiration!) and some silly ‘photo-booth’ items (more moustaches, glasses, crowns, lips etc. made of cardboard and on sticks), plus some discounted crackers and christmas chocs I bought (75% off – couldn’t say no!). Might not do balloons – we have a puppy this year and the bangs freak him out!
Happy Nw Year Everyone! xxxx
When I was a kid we would decorate gingerbread houses in December, then we’d smash them at midnight on New Year’s Eve. We loved it.
I love this idea! One thing we have done is I make fun goodie bags to open every hour starting around six with a BIG goodie bag to opened at midnight. Always makes for a fun night!
On new years Eve we never have a “real” dinner. We get/make everyone’s favorite snacks and eat them all evening! The kids love it and so do I. 🙂
I love this tradition and can’t wait to start it with my growing family. I will be adding it to the tradition of drinking Martinelli’s at midnight and banging pots and pans to ring in the new year.
Our only tradition is to be home well before people start doing their New Years Eve stuff. Last year by 9:00 I was snuggled up in my chair wearing slippers that looked like nurse shoes, my husb was up in the attic hammering something and our dog was licking her bed. An ideal New Year’s, I’d say.
I love reading about your New Years Tree every year and totally plan to do that when I have kids!
We spent last week in a different province with my in-laws, so my husband and I are celebrating “Christmas” and exchanging presents on New Years Eve, just the two of us. I’m thinking that this may become a tradition for the years that we aren’t home on Christmas.
We have our friends over on New Year’s Eve. We started the New Year’s tree 2 years and ago and everyone loves it…and we’re all adults except for my 9-year-old daughter. We make fondue, write our predictions for the upcoming year and play the games. Can’t wait for another great year.
We love doing a new year’s tree! Last year we had my son’s birthday party on new year’s eve and did the tree for his birthday. We had a bunch of 13-14 year old boys popping balloons and telling each other the silly jokes that were inside. They loved it.
I’m looking forward to your other new year/January tradition of posting lots of healthy recipes.
Enjoy the vacation time with your family. We are loving ours!
We haven’t had an New Years traditions in the ten years I’ve been married! This sounds so fun I think I will try it this year. When I was a kids my favorite was the cheese ball we always had with Chicken in a Biscuit crackers… I’d skip those crackers now, but tasty cream cheese? Sign me up!
(I would do it as a New Year’s tree this year but I’ve already taken down Christmas…)
This is so cute! What a fun tradition. We just had our third December baby this year. (!!!!) I have always wanted a second tree to have as a birthday tree. And now I know what to do with it after Christmas and birthdays are done. A New Year’s tree! Next year. 🙂 Thanks for the idea!
This is a great idea! Your house is gorgeous by the way!
We do this every year sinceI read your post! My kids LOVE it!!! It is soooo easy, cheap, and fun and has become a tradition in our house that our kiddos look forward to! If you guys out there haven’t tried this yet, go to the dollar store and grab a few supplies today!