What pre-Christmas traditions do you and your family have to get yourselves in the mood for Christmas? Tell Cadbury and you could win a £200 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

In honour of Cadbury launching their biggest ever advent calendar, Cadbury would like to know what gets you and your family into the Christmas spirit in the countdown to Christmas.

Here's what they say "This year we’re launching Cadbury’s biggest ever advent calendar and setting out to bring even more joy to the countdown this Christmas. 24 trucks, 24 doors, opening daily in 24 different locations, we’reringing joyful festive surprises to the nation on the countdown to Christmas. While we’re counting down, we’re also keen to hear from Mumsnetters about what you and your families do in the countdown before Christmas"

Find out about the Cadbury advent calendar by watching the video below:

So, what traditions do you and your family have to get that Christmas feeling? Do you spend an evening putting up a Christmas tree? Maybe decorating Christmas cookies is your favourite family activity? Or perhaps you all gather around the TV to watch a particular Christmas movie?

Whatever your pre-Christmas traditions are, Cadbury would love to know.

Everyone who posts a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £200 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

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Christmas here starts on 1st Dec. Our elf arrives, hides each day for the Dc to find her and leaves a note in the fabric advent calendar with an activity for each day. So through December, we will (amongst others) make and decorate gingerbread men, make paperchains, donate to the foodbank, make pine cone bird feeders, print Christmas paper with potato prints, make marshmallow snowmen etc. On 1st Dec, the box of Christmas books, DvDs and costumes comes down, along with the wooden nativity scene. Then there's getting the tree, visiting Father Christmas and ice skating. And we also love making reindeer food and stained glass biscuit decorations for the tree. We all adore Christmas here! Bring it on!

Making the christmas cake and listening to Christmas music... In November.

We always go and pick our tree together. ..Every year it's too big for the car and dp carries it upstairs while I 'help' eg stand there bossing him around.
We decorate the tree together with a bottle of prosecco and then crack open the roses and watch a christmassy film.

We involve the children in buying presents for friends and family so that they understand the giving side of Christmas. They love helping to choose even though their ideas are sometimes a bit out there. Uncle Steve loved his boob shape pillow last year!

We also do the usual- putting the tree up as a family, pre-Christmas outings, watching films to get in the mood etc.

We put the decs up on Dec 1st. And I normally try to do some kind of Christmas craft with them - this year it's sock snowmen. Plus we get the Christmas DVDs out - Elf is my favourite - and I'm trying to start a new tradition of DS1 choosing some presents for family members.

When my daughter was a toddler and my son was a couple of months old, I had a Christmas tree, but couldn't face getting the decorations down from the loft. I had some red ribbon and bits of red gingham fabric in the craft box, so I used those to tie bows on the branches. I baked gingerbread stars and hearts, iced those and hung them from the tree. I made stained glass window biscuits and hung those up. My daughter made a crazy looking angel in preschool and that went on the top of the tree.

Now, we bake biscuits for the tree every year, and the fabric bows and crazy angel still go on the tree. I use a few of the baubles from the box in the loft, but baking the tree biscuits together and hanging them up is one of my very favourite Christnas preparations.

we all shout at the neighbours and get a tattoo done

HTH

Tree comes in for the garden the first weekend of December. It's a real tree that we've had for five years now and plant out every January. It's looking less and less Christmas-tree like as it sprawls out every year, but we're definitely getting our money's worth

We go to see the local lights being switched on, and go on a boat trip to see Santa. And we watch Elf on DVD, that's very important!

Trees (x2 downstairs and 1 tiny tree in each of DCs' bedrooms) go up on 1st of December, and we decorate the house.
The Christmas box is brought out with lots of books, dvds, festive mugs etc. from previous years. I add something new each year.
We go iceskating at an outdoor rink.
DCs decorate a gingerbread house with their DGPs.

Going to the Continental Christmas market, usually on a Friday evening in early December, when the Christmas lights are most effective in the dark is our tradition. It was never intended to be a tradition, but we have done it the last 4 years and this year DD1 has already asked if we are going this year and getting Churros again. :o We then have a look around the Disney store and the DDs are allowed to choose one small thing each.

We also let them pick a new decoration for the Christmas tree every year.

Once we have done that we are all in the mood for Christmas.

Christmas carols at a different church every year :)

Pre-Christmas trip to Meadowhall shopping centre. Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Setting up the tree gets me in the Christmas mood (a glass of Baileys helps too)

christmas eve going to church, couldnt do without it

my daughter is very artistic and loves crafts so we usually spend alot of time making our own decorations

My mum and I always go out in the first week of December for mulled wine, mince pies and shopping.

We have a shelf dedicated to the christmas movies and as soon as December hits we watch them all, absolutely love it! The day the tree goes up we'll be laying christmas music and always bake christmas cookies. Love Christmas sooooo much in our house!

We love Stir Up Sunday, it's Sunday 22 November this year, so we're looking forward to this weekend. We make mincemeat for the mince pies and we make our Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, a whole day in the kitchen we love it

Getting all the decorations out and up in mid December.

Making a gingerbread house - that has often looked like a derelict shed in the past if the kids are involved!

We have a mulled wine party with neighbours. It's not at ours this year, but it's always lovely. The kids have a warm honey, fruit juice and a teeny bit of spice drink too if they want.

We always go to see Santa on the first Saturday in December then the following day we get the decorations up.

We have various advent calendars from chocolate to the Christmas story. Each day from the 20th November we make something Christmas related. We don't put up the tree until mid December to suspend the excited feeling.

We love watching our local Panto, the Children love joining in with the booing and hissing. We also love to go ice skating, we just try to fit in as much family time as we possibly can.

Visit Santa's Grotto and a department store, put up the decorations on the first weekend in December and get lots of Christmas snacks

Decorating the tree - it is an all day event!

We usually put our decorations up first weekend in December. The kids love to get involved and "help" decorate the tree, although the minute they go to bed I rearrange it all! ;)
We usually plan a trip to town after school one afternoon/evening in December to see the Christmas lights, take in the continental market, and visit the grotto - although my older two are a bit big for that now!
On Christmas Eve we give the kids a hamper - they always think/thought it's our only present to them! - containing new pyjamas, a Christmas DVD, and a shedload of sweets & goodies.