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

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

When I was a child we always got to open one present each from underneath the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve just before we went to bed. I think it just added to the magic, so I've always allowed my children to do the same.

Which Christmas moments do your children love the most?
Coming downstairs and seeing the gifts under the tree.

Do you write letters to and leave treats out for Father Christmas and the reindeer?
No, tbh, they've never been bothered about that.

How do you keep the magic alive as your children get older?
Involve them more in decorating the tree and house, choosing food and deciding what we're doing.

Which magical Christmas moments were your favourite when you were a child, and have you tried to recreate them with your own children?
Mine were seeing my grandparents, who lived along way away. At Christmas my children normally see one set of grandparents on the day (the ones who live closer to us) and the other set come to stay with us for a few days between Christmas and NY.

On Christmas Eve after the girls had gone to bed, we used to put their shoes on the floor near the fireplace and sprinkle a little talcum powder around them, and then remove the shoes so that it looked like there were magical snowy footprints coming away from the fireplace. They're a bit old for that now, but they used to love it.

Have you seen the latest IKEA advert? It's out with the old and in with the new. BUT where does all the old items go? No doubt to the dump and into landfill!

Since they were babies my DC (now 12 and 11) have chosen a bauble/tree decoration each year so they each have a shoebox of decorations of their own. They love choosing each year.
We drive round houses in other nearby villages with loads of lights.
Xmas bedding goes on 1 December - obviously it's washed between then and the big day but we put it straight back on. The DC also have some decorations in their rooms.

The smell in the house when I make Christmas cake starts it off.
When the decorations go up in December, I light a Christmas scented candle. I love this smell and only have them lit in the run up to the day.

I'm going to a wreath making class again this year. I love having one on the door and think it makes the house looks festive from the outside.

We're quite far away from our families so seeing both sides is lovely and I really enjoy all being together. Every year we start the festive season with a panto, we went yesterday and it was brilliant.

The kids no longer believe in Santa bit we try and keep it all magical! I have lovely Christmas lights which make the living room look so cosy with all the main lights off. Also we have a wood burner that adds to the atmosphere. So on Christmas Eve I light some Christmas smelly candles and put on a Christmas movie- then we'll get blankets and settle down for the movie. After that some Christmas music and me and DH will have a drink of mulled wine. After kids go to bed we get all the presents under the tree and pretend we all still believe in 🎅

We always put out a mince pie and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve, with a carrot or 2 for the reindeer.

This is my first Christmas as a single mum. My ex took the beautiful pre-lit tree that I had bought and it made me sad. But I decided to make the best of the situation and instead headed off to ikea to pick one of their christmas trees and get a £20 voucher back to boot. I think this is going to be a yearly tradition now as the kids love going to ikea for breakfast too and we'll combine the two.

We are also starting a tradition of a family stocking this year, where each person puts in 3 silly/crazy gifts for everyone to choose from.

I love christmas and it's my first year not being able to go visit my family abroad (because of our separation). But we are making new traditions instead

I always like to play board games at Christmas, it is great way to get the family all to play together

We don’t go over board on anything at Christmas. It’s time with the children putting up the tree. Trying to hide presents and wrap them in time. Usually us being half awake trying to play with them with their toys.

Growing up my dad always made Christmas the most magical time of the year. Bowls of tangerines and quality street everywhere. He was a single dad of four children and made sure we never went without! Now being a mum of three young daughters I like to carry on the traditions. I read the night before Christmas, every Xmas eve, I put out the bowls of quality street and tangerines, I jingle the sleigh bells outside my girls bedroom. And I always do my best to make sure they get what they asked for, even if it means me eating beans on toast for three months. All worth it to see the look on my girls faces.

The magic for us is in the atmosphere. We put up a drag wreath on our door, fairly lights, little ornaments and garlands in every room, Christmassy scented candles and most importantly the Christmas tree!

I bought an IKEA tree last year and used the voucher I received in January this year to buy an IKEA powerdrill.

I finally got the courage to leave my husband this year and have used the power drill lots as I had to buy all new furniture.

Probably not the happy family Christmas IKEA are looking for but my children and I are now very happy 😃

We go to Winter Wonderland every December for quite a few years and try to squeeze a Christmas market in as well sometime.
At home we have lovely outside lights to go on the trees. Love it!

For us, the magic is definitely in the time we get to spend together as a family, especially since our DC has gotten older. Since it's no longer about Santa, we try and go to as many Christmas markets as we can in the lead up to Christmas, watch Christmas movies and of course get a couple of festive bakes done!

I love having traditions, we always decorate the house together with xmas songs playing in the background. On Christmas day we have a family breakfast, presents, chill out time and then our lunch. In the evening we bring out a board game or two and have so much fun playing a few games.

We're still creating our family traditions but the one that has the most approval from the kids is the very exciting 'Christmas eve eve'. It's spent with our friends & children (the two and four legged varieties). With plenty of food, games and presents. It's a chance celebrate the festivities before everyone splits to visit their families across the country.

There's the obvious ones like setting out a snack and drink for Santa. Mixing it up because santa might be bored of milk and a mince pie by the time he gets to our go house, so the kids think what he might like. Last year he got a spiced rum and posh sausage roll!

We have a 'Dark Picnic' on a fine night between Christmas and New Year. Our garden is dressed with lots of lights and inflatables, we light the fire pit, and dressed up warm and wrapped in blankets we have chicken legs, sausages, jacket potatoes, soup or hot chocolate and mulled wine. When it gets too cold we come inside to defrost!

We love to go to the panto on christmas eve, it is the perfect start to christmas for us, spending quality time together

For us it all starts on Christmas Eve. Italian Catholics traditionally do not eat meat on Christmas Eve but we do have an enormous fish dinner. I love preparing this for the family and enjoy sourcing the best ingredients each year to make it as special as possible. Everyone sits around the table and we eat, then play 'tombola' (traditional bingo) over desserts using tiny little bits of tangerine peel to cover the numbers. After the meal, if we can make it, we attend midnight mass and sing all the traditional hymns. We sneak back in the early hours of the morning and tuck the children into bed and wait for Santa. This is what we have repeated since I was a child. I remember my Nonna fondly preparing food for all of us and I take great pride carrying on this tradition.

We keep things simple at home and we also volunteer at a local soup kitchen for the homeless and just hang out and chat to folk who are lonely and need a bit company.

I prep as much as possible on Christmas Eve, then we go for a walk to chill out. Come home to a cosy wood burning stove and have some mulled wine and mince pies. Christmas morning is bucks fizz and bacon rolls while opening presents. Dinner starts after Queen's speech and we usually manage some turkey sandwiches about 8pm!

We have two special Christmas traditions, which are the most magical for me, dh and the kids:

One is that we have candles on our Christmas tree, and in the few days for Christmas have everyone over for drinks. The usual chat and merriment, but then we light the candles, turn out all the lights, and everyone gathers around for carols round the tree. The littlest ones always get to chose what they want to sing, but everyone (nearly) joins in, and there's always real togetherness and reflection in singing with friends (alongside a few less reflective rounds of When Santa got stuck up the chimney, and Rudolf the red nose reindeer... )

Our other Christmas tradition is Christmas Eve PJs which are left by Father Christmas early as he does a flyover of the house. They are left either outside the back or front door, and the dc know they arrive because they hear Father Christmas' bells ringing...

To be honest, we did it when they were very little as a bit of a motivator to get them to go and have a bath/get ready in their new pjs/go to bed because FC was en route. But what made it special was the first time we did it, my daughter hugging her PJs and pointing out they were all cold, and told us all it was 'because they'd come straight from the North Pole, he comes so quickly there's no time for them to warm up!'. It was just perfect (& means that I took to putting them in the freezer in following years when the weather was less seasonal!!) They are now 14 & 16, and they still listen out for bells on Christmas eve ... and Father Christmas hasn't forgotten them yet ;-)