How to Celebrate Christmas Eve

Christmas is a season of traditions and the evening before Christmas can be every bit as meaningful as the holiday itself. Here are some ideas for doubling your Christmas spirit.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Designate the night before Christmas as the time to set up the nativity scene or unwrap a new ornament for the tree. Roast marshmallows in the fireplace and mull apple cider. Feel the place with Christmas scents.
2. Prepare a special Christmas Eve meal. If Christmas dinner means ham or turkey, perhaps you can make a warm pot of chili. Or cook traditional foods from your culture on Christmas Eve, whether it's Italian, Polish or Korean.
3. Host a Christmas Eve party that gathers your friends for an evening of food, laughter and good memories.
4. Watch a favorite holiday film with your family and friends. You can rent "Holiday Inn," "White Christmas," "A Christmas Carol," or even "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol."
5. Read holiday classics like "A Christmas Carol," "A Child's Christmas In Wales," or an original Christmas story. If your family loves music, sit around the fire and listen to popular or classical musical selections. Almost every major singer has recorded a Christmas CD. Or gather around a piano or guitar and sing Christmas carols.
6. Attend a candlelight service or Midnight Mass. Or feel the peace of the season by walking through the snow and admiring the local Christmas lights.
7. Get the children involved. Make a Gingerbread House or cookies for Santa. Allow the kids to track Santa's progress by radar on the Internet. After leaving cookies and milk for Santa, read "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and tuck in the kids for a special Christmas Eve night.

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