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Celebrate this wide array of holidays in December for every homestead family! There’s something worthy to celebrate pretty much every day of December, so I encourage you to read on to find a few that might be new to you.

Many of us already have lots of holiday traditions for this time of year, especially December. However, we may not be aware of other people’s traditions for this season, including those from other countries and religions.

This article was written to introduce you to some of these enjoyable December days, as well as help inspire you to try anew some old favorites.

Don’t try to do everything on this list – that would be too much! Pick a few that will integreate easily into your family celebrations.

Helpful Holiday Articles for Later:

The True Meaning of Advent

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Winter Holidays Around the World

The Focus Here is HOMESTEAD Holidays in December

Remember, the focus of this series of articles is to highlight holidays in each month of the year that integrate easily onto a homestead. Which means there’s a heavy emphasis on DIY projects, handmade gifts and crafts, wholesome recipes with ingredients you probably grew or preserved yourself.

You won’t find much in the way of plastic and purchased in these articles, but I hope you will find inspiration for homemade gifts, crafts, and foods. No need to leave the homestead to celebrate we can learn to make beauty with what we have on our land and in our homes.

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A Warning About Homestead Holidays in December

I also want to caution you, especially in December, that you won’t be able to celebrate everything every year. Winter is a slower time of year for a reason.

We need a break from the heavy work of spring and fall on the homestead. It’s important to rest and recover from the heat of summer and all the labor we perform on fields, veggies beds, livestock, and preservation.

We NEED to rest in the winter months and slow down to enjoy our families and some quiet time.

I’m old, and one of the benefits of being old is that you know stuff. Oh, ye task-oriented and perpetually busy, please hear me when I say that you NEED to rest in the winter months.

Slow down. Enjoy family time. Observe personal quiet, study, pondering time. Please resist the urge to over-schedule yourself this month.

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Welcome Others to Your Homestead Holidays in December

At the same time I’m encouraging you (and myself, quite frankly!) to keep things simple, I do want to remind us all to remember others this holiday season. It can be a difficult time of year for many, so let’s see if we can help with that.

As we share in Homestead Holidays,

The cold, cranky winter is actually one of the most wonderful times of the year. The work of the homestead has slowed down a bit, we’re all seeking warm around cozy hearths, and the promise of family time abounds. Be sure to open your circle wide in winter to include all those who need your cheer and good hope.

Fill your “happy chimney-corner days*” with family, friends, and even strangers who may need the light you have to share. The holidays and traditions of winter can help you do just that.

*From Robert Louis Stevenson’s, A Children’s Garden of Verse”

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National Holidays in December

Normally, we have a section on fun national days in the month. However, we’re skipping it this time in favor of world holiday celebrations. However, here are a few to investigate for your homestead family:

Cookie Day – December 4th

Mitten Tree Day – December 6th

Brownie Day – December 8th

Christmas Card – December 9th

Gingerbread House Day – December 12th

Maple Syrup Day – December 17th

Roots Day – December 23rd

Fruitcake Day – December 27th

Light-Filled Holidays in December

Given the eternal optimism of the best side of humanity, it’s no wonder that there are a number of celebrations of light in the darkest part of the year.

From the big festivals like Hanukkah right down to the Colombian Christmas celebration of El Dia de las Velitas, or Day of the Little Candles, during which people line the streets with thousands of candles to begin the holiday season. Light is at the center of it all!

Since recorded time, cultures around the world have used feast and festival days to not only remind themselves that the darkness of winter must eventually give way to spring, but also as a kind of defiance in the face of said darkness.

Festivals of light this time of year embody the joy that’s found in knowing that the light always wins, the dark must always give way and wane, and that nothing is every truly dead and gone when the promise of new life is always around the corner.

Hanukkah

The story of Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is one of triumph with daring battles, a temple to be reclaimed, and a miracle of a lit lamp that burned for eight days even though it technically should have exhausted its oil-fuel within one day.

I refer you to our book, Homestead Holidays for the full story.

To remember the miracle of the oil burning eight days instead of one, it was decided that a celebration should be marked every year to remember the blessing of God’s preservation and the miracle of the light.

Over time, a special menorah called a hanukkiah (khanoo-kee-YAH) was made with one candlestick for every eight of the nights of the miracle, plus one more space for a single candle to light the others.

This special candle, which is only used to light the others, sits in the middle, and is called the shamash (sha-MASH). While the candle is being lit for each night, hymns are sung, and prayers are said.”

Homeschool Co-Op Hanukkiah Activity

Make a Homemade Hanukkiah

Pick any one of these simple hanukkiah activities for your homeschool group or with your grandkids.

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Instructions

Fill jelly jars with sand and stand white taper candles upright. Arrange them in a row on your dining table.
Gather glass bottles of varying shapes and sizes. Be sure that the bottles are strong enough to support the candle without tipping over easily. You can fill the bottles with sand or water to be safe.
Drill holes about ½” deep in a stick or small log that will sit flat; match the drill bit to the diameter of your candles. Most Hanukkah candles are tapers, ranging in size from birthday candles to dinner tapers.
Use wooden spools or antique loom bobbins as Hanukkah candle holders. The most used colors at Hanukkah are white, blue, and silver, but you can also go crazy and paint them however you like.

Notes

One year, no joke, my son made a hanukkiah out of Legos®. I bet you can, too.

Be sure to number each candle holder, if you’re using loose ones, so you don’t lose track of which night is which. Light one candle on the first night, and then an additional candle on each of the other eight nights.

By the last night of Hanukkah, you will have all the candles lit. Eat dinner together all those nights–no meetings, no dates, no school projects.

If you can’t do dinner, spend a half-hour with each other before bed in the light of the hanukkiah, playing games and talking. If the oil could miraculously last for eight days, your family can manage thirty minutes for eight nights in a row.

You won’t be sorry. In fact, you’ll be filled with the light of the season!

Keyword holiday, homeschool

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St. Lucia’s Day

Occurring on December 13th, St. Lucia’s Day is the Swedish celebration of the Feast of Santa Lucia, who was a virginal Italian maiden martyred for her faith by the Romans in 304 AD. Though a Swedish holiday, it is celebrated all over Scandinavia and the Catholic countries of Europe and is known as The Festival of Lights.

In Sweden, the oldest girl in every family dresses as Lucia. She brings the rest of the family (still huddled in bed) the traditional treat of this holiday, Lussekatter, or saffron buns.

Her service, sometimes with the help of Mom if she’s still young, symbolizes the way we have been and are served by Christ. This holy day is meant to inspire us to seek light, spread light and rejoice in the Light of the World (Jesus Christ).

Make St Lucia Day Wreaths & Sourdough Buns

Yule

Yule is technically a pagan holiday, though in this case, it’s also simply a really old holiday. Held during the time of winter solstice, which is the shortest and darkest day of the year, Yule is a time to remind ourselves that there is light and life yet in the world.

We usually do this with candle-lighting and the building of large bonfires. You can see the echoes of some Christmas traditions in Yule, like that of the Yule log, which was believed to banish evil and bring good luck.

Traditionally, the Yule log was a dedicated log burned a bit each night from Christmas to Twelfth Night, on January 6.

A portion of the log was saved and placed under the bed to protect the home. That piece was kept through the year in a special place and saved to light the next year’s Yule log.

In our house, we wait until Twelfth Night (Jan 6^th), when we’re also celebrating 3 Kings Day, to light a fire with the ashes of last year’s Yule log.

I like to spread the winter holidays out into January so I don’t feel pressured to do everything in December.

We enjoy our 3 King’s celebration and, once the ashes have cooled, place some in a dedicated jar for each year’s Yule fire. Tying it in with 3 King’s makes the Yule log tradition extra special somehow; it uniquely connects the experience with all the joy and hope of 3 King’s.

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Homestead Connection

Yule is also a season of preparation for the coldest time of winter. With the major winter, Christian and other holidays ending, solstice is a good time for me to catch up on homestead chores that I let slip.

Our coldest months are January and February, so I double check that the animals bedding, food, water, and housing is all snug and ready to use.
I also use this time to get my food storage in order and plan the coming garden and preservation schedules.
Though I’m busy double checking and planning, I use this solstice time of year to start slowing things down. I value the winter as a time to rest–not just my body but my soul, as well.
I practice hygge, read my seed catalogs, go to bed early, light my candles and spend a lot of time with the family reading, eating, and chatting.

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Bodhi Day

According to tradition, Siddhartha Gautama (he who became Buddha), had resolved to sit under the tree (Ficus religiosa) and meditate until he found the root of suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it. Eventually, he did just that.

This defining moment became the foundation upon which Buddhism has been built for the last 2,500 years.

On Bodhi Day, December 8^th, Buddhists reaffirm their faith by recommitting to personal enlightenment, compassion for others, and kindness to all living things. Not a bad way for any of us to spend December 8th every year!

To celebrate, I like to observe a tradition from Tibetan Buddhists who make what are called prayer flags. Hung on string like bunting, these prayer flags are colored squares of fabric upon which the faithful have written special messages and prayers.

The belief is that the prayers and thoughts will be carried on the wind, spreading compassion, wisdom, power, kindness, and peace throughout the world.

Prayer flags make me smile when I see them to think about all the goodwill that comes rushing all around me on the wind whenever I’m in sight of these flags.

To create your own prayer flags, you can purchase blank, pre-made flag bunting that can be written upon with permanent marker and hung easily.

You can also easily make your own with square fabric or paper pieces attached to twine.
If you have children working on this project, write on the squares before you attach them to the string to avoid rips.
Even if your little one can’t write on their own flag yet, be sure to ask what they would like to give thanks for or what they feel they need. The answers you get may just be enlightening for you.