• ABOUT
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Let’s Work Together
  • Shop
    • Shop Our Photo Presets
    • Shop Our Amazon Favorites
    • Shop our Etsy
    • Shop our Poshmark
  • Contact
  • Hire Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

Oak + Oats

A Colorado Lifestyle Blog

  • Motherhood
    • Mama Buys
    • Pregnancy
    • Childhood
  • Marriage
    • Date Night
    • Wedding Anniversary
  • Lifestyle
    • Photography
    • Family
    • Friends
    • Holidays
  • Home
    • Before & After
    • Yard & Garden
    • Recipes
    • Hosting
  • Travel
    • Travel Tips
    • Snapshots
    • Disney
    • Colorado
    • Colorado Springs
  • Ask Elizabeth

December 1, 2017
Ask Elizabeth, Christmas, Marriage

How to Make New Traditions (& keep the old)

ASK ELIZABETH

Question: Do you have any new holiday traditions or do you just do your family ones? Now that I’m older & married I feel like I want some of our own.

Traditions you say? I can talk about traditions forever! I am a tradition queen.  Make new traditions but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold (sung to the tune of a girl scouts favorite 😉 ) Traditions around the holidays are very dear to me and make this season so much more richer. I know exactly what too look forward to! The first year of our marriage, we fumbled around trying to figure out all the traditions. It was almost perfect that we went to Disneyland with my family and did something totally new. When we got home, we had time to evaluate what we liked, what we missed, and what we wanted to do on our own. The next Christmas we felt prepared to make Christmas our own while still having our traditional Christmases with our family!

MAKE NEW TRADITIONS

Yes! Please make new traditions. As you move away from your parents and start a family/ household of your own, I think it is super important to make new traditions. It is part of creating your own memories for your family.

Quick tips for making new traditions: 

  1. Try new things and see if you like them. (ex. Go to a local holiday market, watch a tree lighting ceremony, attend a holiday zoo lights, meet Santa at Macy’s, etc) If you like them, then make them tradition!
  2. Ask your friends what their traditions are and see if you want to try them out.
  3. Find inspiration on Pinterest or by reading blogs.
  4. Check out your local news for nearby holiday events.

Some of our new traditions: 

  • Buying a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament & wrapping it to us from Santa.
  • Picking out a real Christmas tree Thanksgiving Weekend.
  • Watching Elf together.
  • Name draws for both sides of the family for Christmas gifts.
  • Walk around the Broadmoor, see the giant Gingerbread house, and take pictures of all the lights.
  • Girls Christmas Cookie Exchange.
  • Walking through a daily Advent Calendar.
  • Christmas cards from us!

KEEP SOME OF THE OLD

Just because you are making new traditions, doesn’t mean you have to leave the old ones in the dust! Sometimes you can keep the same tradition and other times you have to modify it a bit. Especially with getting married! When you are both bringing your childhood hoods together you have to find ways to keep old traditions alive for each other.

Some of our old traditions: 

  • Stuffing everyone’s stockings at the Ridings house for Christmas (everyone in attendance gets a stocking!)
  • Building Gingerbread Houses with the Mayberry side.
  • Going to the Christmas Concert at the Pikes Peak Center with the Ridings side.
  • Eating Fondue on Christmas Eve with the Mayberry side.
  • Christmas cards with my family!

Feel free to play around with activities and traditions. It is okay to try new things. Keep them around if you like them, if you don’t, don’t worry about it! Take some time and figure out what you want your family traditions to be all about!

Related

Spread the love
Previous Post: « Trim the Tree
Next Post: Gift Guide for the Adventurer »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy says

    December 1, 2017 at 9:55 am

    I love that y’all do advent.
    I definitely want to start being more intentional with the Christmas season and why we celebrate it!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Mayberry says

      December 1, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      Yeah! You should do advent Amy!

      Reply
  2. Julie Hood says

    December 1, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    Hearing about other people’s traditions is so fun!! I need to look up local festive stuff and go with the fam!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Mayberry says

      December 1, 2017 at 1:59 pm

      Yes!! You should so do that!

      Reply
  3. Aubry Lybbert says

    December 1, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    How fun! I love the tradition of adding a new ornament each year. I’m going to have to start that one!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Mayberry says

      December 1, 2017 at 11:43 pm

      It is actually one we grew up doing – my mom got us each one! But I really liked the Keepsake Ornaments so that is what we do now for our family!

      Reply
  4. Shannon Mahaney says

    December 1, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    My parents always bought us one Hallmark ornament each year until we moved out. I used to love that tradition so I may bring it back for my husband and I to do!

    This Christmas will be our first living out of state from family so it’s going to involve making some new traditions. Fondue on Christmas Eve sounds like my kind of night!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Mayberry says

      December 1, 2017 at 8:03 pm

      I love that! What a fun year to create new traditions!

      Reply
  5. Susannah says

    December 2, 2017 at 10:57 am

    I adore traditions too! I love hearing what yours are because I’m always looking for new ones! <3

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Mayberry says

      December 2, 2017 at 10:12 pm

      I know! It is so fun to hear what others do!

      Reply
  6. Madison Taylor says

    December 2, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    Walking through a giant gingerbread house?! That sounds amazing! Going to a Christmas concert at Pikes Peak also sounds like fun. New traditions are nice, especially when you move away from home and are trying to positively adjust to change in your life (like I am!). I used to be a girl scout so I got the silver and gold song reference 😉

    http://www.madisontaylor.co

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Mayberry says

      December 5, 2017 at 5:42 am

      You don’t walk through it, more like around it! But it is still really cool!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello + Welcome!

Hello Friend! I’m Elizabeth, a Colorado photographer, writer, & blogger. Most importantly, I am a Christ follower, wife, mama, sister, daughter, and friend!

Welcome to Oak + Oats! Here we look for the remarkable in the every day. We love photographing our daily moments, making memories, and sharing our favorite places here in this space.

Our happiest days are spent together – many of those with a camera in hand! My free time (ie: Nap Time) is spent behind my computer screen sharing our tips and stories with you! I’m glad you’re here!

stay up to date

READ MORE ABOUT

  • Motherhood
  • Marriage
  • Childhood
  • Photography
  • Home
  • Colorado
  • Travel
  • Holidays
  • Ask Elizabeth

OLDER POSTS

All The Love You Can Give

Februray Book List

Mornings Full of Breath Prayers

January Book list

Hello 2023: Looking forward

Goodbye 2022: Looking Back

2023 Christmas Season In Photo

Our Christmas

Holiday Gift Guide: The Christian Lady

The North Pole

Footer

MOTHERHOOD

Oh Baby
Mama Buys
Pregnancy

COLORADO
Colorado Springs

HOME
Recipes
Hosting
Before & After

MARRIAGE
Date Night
Anniversaries

TRAVEL
Travel Tips
Snapshots
Disney

SHOP
Shop our Amazon List
Shop our Presets

Copyright © 2023 · OAK + OATS