Awesome (1009)

• December 18, 2014
• EIA Staff
• 1800
• 0

With exactly one week until Christmas, right now is the perfect time to get into the holiday spirit! Whether you’re busy working all the way up until the holidays or you have the next week off, getting more Christmas spirit in your life is always appropriate. So, we have created a list of seven awesome things to do in the next week leading up to Christmas!

1. Go ice-skating

Whether you live in Michigan where the snow is piling up outside your door or in Los Angeles where the lowest temperature is just touching 60 degrees, ice-skating is an awesome way to embrace the spirit of winter. (For those of you who manage to not fall, I seriously applaud you.)

2.  Create a holiday music playlist

The best holiday playlists have a balance of both classic Christmas songs as well as some of the newer renditions of those classics. Need a few suggestions? Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Pentatonix, and She and Him are a few of our holiday favorites!

P.S. If your holiday playlist doesn’t include Idina Menzel and Michael Buble’s 2014 rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” then you are definitely missing out on some holiday magic!

3. Watch a few awesome holiday movies!

One of my all time favorite Christmas movies is Elf, starring Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, and James Caan. I actually laugh out loud every single time I watch it (and I’ve seen it at least 15 times). And if you haven’t seen Home Alone or The Santa Clause, I would definitely recommend watching those as well! All three movies never fail to immediately brighten my Christmas spirit.

4. Build a gingerbread house

When I was about ten years old, my brothers and I decided that it would be a great idea to build our own gingerbread house. And to be completely honest, it was a lot more difficult than we had anticipated. However, if you’re ready to take on the challenge, I would strongly recommend doing so because it’s a perfect way to embrace your inner (and Christmas-obsessed) child. Check out this step-by-step guide from the Food Network that’s sure to help you through the somewhat challenging task.

5. Decorate a Christmas tree

Every year, one of the single most important moments of the holiday season for me is decorating the Christmas tree with my family. We blast Christmas music through the house, warm up some hot chocolate, and begin strategically (*cough, in no order at all, cough*) placing all of our favorite ornaments atop our tree. Whether you live with others or alone, decorating a Christmas tree (no matter how small or large) is guaranteed to fill your heart with Christmas happiness.

6. Visit the amazingly decorated streets of your neighborhood

I look forward to pretty much every Christmas tradition in my family, and another one of my favorites is admiring all of the beautifully decorated houses in the neighborhoods near us. Each year, we drive a few miles away to a neighborhood that my family liked to call “The Land of Christmas Lights” (which–years later–I learned is actually called “Sleepy Hollow”). Nearly all of the houses in this area participate in extreme Christmas decorating. If you have the chance, I would highly recommend visiting one of these neighborhoods and seeing the beauty of their Christmas lights.

7. Christmas carol through your neighborhood

As my good friend Buddy the Elf says, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” So if you want to lift your own holiday spirits, you should spread holiday happiness to others through Christmas caroling! And as an added bonus, you’ll probably get a plethora of Christmas cookies and hot chocolate from the neighbors.

With T-Minus one week until Christmas, we hope these 7 awesome ideas inspire you to spread Christmas cheer and happiness through your own home and into the lives of others. If you have any other awesome Christmas traditions that you want to share with us, be sure to leave a comment below!

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Article by: Alissa Fairchild > Twitter