Read how Mumsnet users make their Christmas magical

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From picking out the perfect Christmas tree and hanging mistletoe above the door, to tracking Santa on NORAD, the Christmas period is full of magical moments for both parents and children alike. Whether you have certain traditions you do every year, or you want to try out something new this time around, IKEA want to hear the ways you make Christmas magical.

Here’s what IKEA have to say: “This season is about gathering your loved ones, being cosy and enjoying time together. Everyone has their own way of celebrating. Whether you put up a tree or simply light a candle, it’s easy to create a home that is designed for magical moments.
We love offering solutions to make it easier and more fun to interact at home, whether sharing a meal, playing games, or just having a chat. When guests are visiting there’s nothing like lighting candles to get the festive mood just right. Try some Christmas scented candles (out of reach from little ones), with the winter spices ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg, to help you create a welcoming feeling of warmth and cosiness.”

Which Christmas moments do your children love the most? Do you write letters to and leave treats out for Father Christmas and the reindeer? How do you keep the magic alive as your children get older? Which magical Christmas moments were your favourite when you were a child, and have you tried to recreate them with your own children?

Share how you make Christmas magical on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where 1x MNer will win a £300 IKEA e-gift card.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

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We don’t celebrate Christmas per say.. however it is 1 time of the year when everyone is at home! No work, school or Uni!

We get these few days to spend together sometimes blissfully sometimes when we hash issues out..

It is a special time though! So everyones fav food is made, we go exploring our beautiful Countryside .. play games watch movies or just chill!

I shudder to think of the future when the kids spread their wings and fly off to places unknown and I am sat at home alone ..

I savour these times greedily!

Putting up the Christmas Tree and remembering why/when all the decorations were bought. There is a story to all of them!

Christmas Eve, new Christmas PJs, hot chocolate and home made mince pies.

We do a fairly chilled out Christmas on the day itself, the in-laws come for lunch and once they go home (they never stay all day!), we slob out, eat leftovers and watch films or Christmas specials.

It's a lovely day but then on Boxing Day the whole of my family descend on my Mum's house. We have a mega present opening session- one present at a time, going round the room with everyone taking their turn.

We've always done presents this way and now that we've grown up and have our own families it's magical to continue to do it this way. The kids love it too and my son often says it's his favourite part of Christmas.

It's always followed by a magnificent lunch made my mum and stepdad and it's so lovely to spend the day together as our extended family.

I made a a fabric advent calendar with little pockets for my daughter when she was a baby and we use it every year, and now she’s a teenager. I put little chocolates, treats or notes in each of the pockets. It helps keep the magic alive especially now she no longer writes to Santa!

I have an lonely oap come over for Christmas Day and make their day special. We sing Christmas songs, make home made egg nog and play board games, then after lovely day I give her a lift back home.
Christmas can be lonely for the elderly when they have not family,

The first weekend in December is time to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the entire ground floor! Always have the Christmas cds on and the kids help with the tree (although I admit to moving some of them later on if they’re in the “wrong” spot lol). We also make a point to go to the local Light Switch-ons too. We also go to the local church’s carol services such as Christingle and Midnight Mass. To also get in the mood when writing cards or doing wrapping I love to stick those overly sweet Christmas afternoon movies on the tv. Christmas Eve is the church crib service, helping our local Salvation Army church prepare the vegetables for the Christmas luncheon for the local lonely elderly folk and a quick trip to hand out small gifts for homeless people and their dogs. Giving back reminds us of the real meaning of Christmas and we get soooo much out of it. In the evening our youngest (17) Still puts out milk and a mince pie for Santa, and a carrot for Rudolph! Christmas morning it’s up early for presents, church then a huge lunch and evening games. Boxing Day if dry is an afternoon walk or veg in our jammies with the tv. Really in the mood now. Ooo can’t wait!!

We put the decorations up on the first weekend in December, using a mix of very old family decorations and some new ones. Last year we went into our local care home on Christmas Eve with Christmas baskets for the residents, it was wonderful and we will do this every year from now on. We also have a new board game each year which we play after dinner on Xmas day which is always fun!

we write a letter to santa and keep an eye out for xmas elves checking if weve been naught or nice

We watch the snowman on Xmas eve and drink snowballs and wrap presents. We do evening walks through December to see who have put nice lights up.

I live next to a forest - so we all take baskets out to find lots of lovely things to decorate our house. Everything must be fallen stuff - no digging up or cutting. I have found gorgeous long strings of ivy, funky bits of wood and even the perfect little 'house' for a nativity scene.

We watch the Grinch on Christmas Eve and always read the Night before Christmas. We still put out carrots and mince pies - even though mine are older!

We're really only just starting as DC are 2 and 10 weeks, but we go and visit Santa, write on cards, listen to Christmas music and watch films. Then, we leave milk and a cookie out for Santa (because Santa doesn't like mince pies here) and a carrot for Rudolph.
We also put the tree up on the 1st December, and always warm white lights with red and gold decorations. We'll maybe try out some new Christmas foods each year, or go and see the lights that are around, and go shopping to try and find the perfect present for family.
And always a Costa hot chocolate when we go shopping!

For us it's just about spending time together. Ds has a near Christmas birthday, so I try to not start Christmas too early and overshadow it. The kids love the big family gathering and are so excited to see everyone.

By using Face Time to talk to our relatives in Australia

We try and keep it relaxed, it's difficult to get caught up in it all especially with social media. There's advents, the elf, Christmas eve boxes, stockings and mountains of gifts. That's not the way I want my children to remember Christmas, I want them to remember it as a time to spend with family, create memories and laugh. They don't get a mountain of presents, they get a couple of well thought out gifts that they truly appreciate.

Christmas Eve when we've visited different family members all day, had a great time laughing and chatting then we get home with the kids and the real magic begins. Santa's stockings get hung and his plate of biscuits, jammy dodgers are his fave, and my mum's mince pies get put out for him and a glad of milk (not forgetting the carrot of course!) and you can feel the quiet excitement building in the children.
Then we all pile upstairs and listen to The Night Before Christmas that my father in law recorded onto a special book (with a few mistakes which we all know of by heart).

Getting up early to start cooking the Christmas dinner then sitting down and eating it on my own, again..

We keep to the same traditions all the way - if I try to deviate from them, there is uproar (and not just from the kids :-))

We love Christmas 🎅🎄🤶 it's our first with our new baby so we're especially excited!! We will be decorating the whole house and finding somewhere to keep the presents out of reach from curious fingers! 😃

How do I make Christmas magical? I make it all about the kids. We craft decorations together and wrap gifts, and we dig out the hand made decorations made by each of us through the years, so our tree is a beautiful blend of new and nostalgia.

We have lots of special weekend plans and let the children do things that are out of the ordinary. Little things like pancakes for breakfast, or giving them jewels for craft activities. Everything just a little bit extra special and exciting

We love doing craft activities and baking together and then hanging everything around the house

Last year IKEA made Christmas for us. My building works took a little longer than expected and I wasn't able to put my kitchen in before the holidays. A few days before Christmas we accepted it wasn't happening. I stacked all my IKEA boxes into a tree shape. Covered it with tinsel, lights and ornaments.

Then opposite we used the work top and wrapping paper to create a 'fireplace' The IKEA worktop sat atop boxes and the paper hung down. We drew/ painted a lit fireplace then hung our stockings from it. We put a rug down and had a lovely Christmas. I'd add photos but can't see how to.

Each year I go to IKEA to get delicious Chrsitmas treats, and gingerbread house kits for the kids to make. I find a new ornament or two. I buy napkins and candles for the dining table.

We attend a local carol singing event that's held outside under the village Christmas lights. Then we come home, put out food for the reindeer in the garden (porridge oats!), leave Santa his drink and a mince pie on a personalised plate, and then we all watch the Snowman in our Christmas pjs - it makes Christmas for me!

I’m sharing but I don’t want to win. I just want people to know about ikea. I’ve just had a truly awful experience at ikea Tottenham buying my Christmas tree. I didn’t know you weren’t allowed to look at them this year, you had to just take one and go. For the last 5 years there have been two men/women who greet you, help you pick out of 2/3 and then wrap and off you go. This year I paid, went out to choose and there was no one helping. Turns out he wouldn’t come out of his little shed. I didn’t know you couldn’t unwrap them anymore like previous years because obviously he didn’t move from his shed, so I started to unwrap one like usually the assistant does for you.

He roared at me across the forecourt from his shed, DONT YOU DARE OPEN IT WHEN I HAVE TOLD YOU NOT TO.

He hadn’t told me and I very reasonably explained that I just wanted to see what I had paid for before I took it home and that you could always open them before, and usually the assistant you know, helps not shouts at people. He just kept talking me down and telling me it was his way and that was final and that I was wasting plastic (ikea should provide a biodegradable plastic wrapping if this is the reason why you can no longer open trees, or reuse the wrapping like at the garden centre) and just generally talking to me like I was someone who had hit his car or tried to rob his house. I’ve never been spoken to like that by a man in my entire life and I was perfectly reasonable. All from his little shed, he wouldn’t move from it to see customers or help anyone.

I eventually totally lost it and admit I did shout back because he was clearly a man who didn’t like a woman asking him questions and almost seemed to want to have fights with people.

It’s not worth the argument going to ikea, I’m just going to go to the lovely nurseries at Crews Hill and pay more for a tree because it’s just a far far nicer experience.