All The Little Things I’m Doing (& Buying) This Month To Feel Extra-Festive In A Heavy Year

December is finally here, and honestly, it feels a bit like the 100th month in the year — the entirety of 2025 has felt heavy in so many ways. But as a certified Christmas freak, seven days a week, I couldn’t stand the thought of just waiting for festivity to magically appear (and being trapped in the fear that it may not). So, I decided to spark my own comfort and joy.

I’m not reinventing the holiday wheel here. I’m literally just following one guiding principle: If it makes me feel even 1% cozier, I’m gonna say yes to it. Yes to seasonal snacks. Yes to candles that smell like the lovechild of a Christmas tree and a candy cane. Yes to swapping my linens for something warm enough for winter, just like my mom used to do to make the holiday season extra special for my siblings and me.

None of this fixes the big-picture problems in the world, of course. But these tiny rituals do help remind me that it’s OK to enjoy being extra this time of year. Joy is still allowed. Here’s everything I’m doing (and buying) this December to make the end of this year magical… in case you want to do a little joy engineering, too.

Doing the holiday season things with my kids… but also not feeling pressure to do *every* festive activity.

I truly do believe this month needs whimsy: unnecessary, unadulterated, delightful whimsy. Things that aren't practical but are fun for the sake of fun. And I want to share it all with my kids, just like my mom shared with me growing up. You know, classics like building a gingerbread house and driving around to see the Christmas lights. But there’s a fine line between holiday magic and holiday burnout, so we’re only leaning into the traditions that fill us up... not drain us.

Enjoying every seasonal food or drink flavor I can get my hands on.

I know a box of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes hates to see me coming! Some people loathe that you can only get seasonal foods this time of year, but I think that’s what makes them feel so special. It’s not just the stuff you can get on the shelves, either; it’s anything that makes me nostalgic for holiday seasons past. I even made the Wisconsin Cherry Cheddar Pie — with actual cherry preserves from Wisconsin — featured in the holiday movie A Cherry Pie Christmas. It all just makes me feel like a cozy little mouse who lives inside a gingerbread house.

Changing out all my textiles for winter-y, festive versions.

Listen, do I live somewhere it gets cold enough to really break out the heavy throws and flannel everything? Debatable (I’m always cold, so I fear I’m an unreliable narrator). Still, I will swap my bedding and my kids’ bedding out every year for the coziest of textiles. Think the type of flannel sheets you’d expect in a boutique lodge run by a woman named Ingrid who makes mulled cider and has exceptionally strong opinions about mittens. For real, though, if it’s a snuggly material or warm fabric or just has a generally winter-y color scheme, I want it wrapped around me.

Filling my home with the smell of cloves and balsam fir and…

All the holiday scents, basically. Everyone who has stepped foot in our house this holiday season has commented on how amazing it smells. And while you’re probably thinking that’s a bit of a humble brag, I prefer to think of it as a festive flex. I want my house to smell like Santa’s workshop, if Santa just so happened to run a bespoke candle operation out of the North Pole. It just makes me feel so happy and comforted. Pro tip: Don’t overlook thrift stores as a place to score candles on the cheap!

Or you could roll with this no-fail simmer pot recipe I use every year: combine a few fresh balsam sprigs, 1-ish tsp vanilla extract (measure with your heart), half an orange (sliced), and a small scoop of whole cloves (again, measure with your heart) in a medium pot, covered with water. Bring to a simmer over low heat, then continue simmering, uncovered, for up to two hours (you may need to add more water along the way).

Making tiny holiday swaps that only I am aware of.

Does anyone in my house care that I switch up our typical mint-y toothpaste for one with a hint of vanilla? Nope, but it makes me smile when I use it. This can be as simple as bringing your “holiday spatulas” back out of retirement for one more year (c’mon, you know you’ve got ‘em) or using “Christmas-y” cleaning supplies (if you’ve got to clean, might as well try to make it a little merrier).

Cueing up all the Christmas movies.

If it has snow, twinkle lights, or a small town named something like Frostberry Hollow, I’m watching it. Classics, schmaltzy rom-coms, animation, new releases — I'm cueing it up, baby. This is my cinematic comfort food, and I make no apologies.

Gifting myself a “Christmas Eve box.”

OK, let me start by saying I LOVE the entire premise of a Christmas Eve box. We always had something similar growing up, and I was raised by a single mom on a serious budget — in other words, these do not have to be pricey. You could definitely whip up an entire Christmas Eve box around thrift store finds. And if kids can get them, why can’t we? Moms create so much holiday magic for everyone; we can do that for ourselves, too. Give me a festive set of PJs, give me a themed activity, give me a beautiful book! I want to end Christmas Eve feeling calm and cozy, not doom-scrolling TikTok until my eyes throb.

Setting myself up to actually enjoy wrapping gifts.

I’m normally the mom up at 1:47 a.m., fighting with the f*cking tape dispenser like it owes me money. Not this year, friends! I’ve discovered a few hacks and products over the last year that somehow make wrapping… fun? Or at least less rage-inducing? Like, I actually sort of look forward to making myself a mug of cocoa, putting on some Christmas music, and getting a head start on wrapping presents. The best part? Some of the things that make this process SO much easier — The Tape Zoomie! The Slice Box Cutter! — are super affordable.

Quite literally decking every hall (corner, nook, and cranny).

I barely decorated for Halloween this year and skipped Thanksgiving altogether. I couldn’t let the same fate befall Christmas, and you know what? December is not the time for restraint. I’ve pulled out the family heirlooms, hit my local thrift stores, and even (poorly) crafted some to try to give our house a touch of “storybook Christmas" vibes.

Not caring in the slightest if anyone thinks my joy is cringe.

I know it’s a cliche to say it, but life is short, and joy is too rare and too precious to have to rationalize or justify. If embracing the magic makes me cringe, well, just call me the queen of Cringe-mas.