For most families, opening a Christmas Eve box filled with thoughtful gifts is a beloved annual Christmas tradition. There really is nothing more exciting than seeing your kids spot their personalised box of treats sitting under the tree and leap with joy the night before Christmas.
Where Do You Buy a Christmas Eve Box?
Invest in an eco-friendly box that you can use year-after-year, there are lots of lovely options online however, our absolute favourite is the personalised Winter Animals Wooden box from Love Lumi, a wonderful small family business based in Lincoln. This luxury wooden box is made from white coated wood with personalised details printed directly onto the lid using the latest printing technology ensuring it stays precious for years to come.
Christmas Eve Box from Love Lumi
But what do you put in this fantastic reusable box? To start you off on the right foot, we have chosen some wonderful Christmas Eve box fillers from a variety of amazing small businesses, including some of our products too.
Christmas Eve Box Filler Ideas
'Nice List' Christmas Linen Wall Hanging
Designed by the talented Olivia from Sweetlove Press, this beautiful linen wall hanging can be personalised with your children's names on the 'nice list'. In case there is any doubt, it's the perfect little reassurance on Christmas Eve that they won't wake up to a lump of coal on Christmas morning.
A delightful Christmas memento that can be treasured each year. We can see this taking pride of place hanging on the wall above their beds.
Personalised Nice List Wall Hanging from Sweetlove Press
Adorable Jar of Gingerbread Men Biscuits
This jar full of joy from Honeywell Bakes is brimmed with cute gingerbread men, Christmas trees, houses, and candy cane biscuits. Festively moreish, they are perfect for hot chocolate dunking and if the children fancy sharing, they can leave some out for Santa to nibble on too!
These adorable biscuits are made from locally sourced ingredients before being carefully hand-iced in the Honeywell Bakes bakery, and even better, a percentage from every sale is donated to their local charity partner, 1% For the Planet.
Christmas Peg Dolls
The chances are the whole family sit down each Christmas eve to watch the British animated television film based on Raymond Briggs book, The Snowman (it's still very much a tradition in our home). So, the kids will be extremely excited to receive these precious peg dolls from The Oakely Folk of the main characters The Snowman and James; ideal for little hands to play with. They can continue to bring them out each Christmas to sit on the window ledges of their bedrooms, reliving magical memories that make them smile.
Each adorable wooden peg doll is hand-crafted and painted with care by founder Amy using non-toxic paint and sealant.
Reindeer Food
Create another exciting tradition on Christmas Eve by having the kids make a petal path with our eco-friendly magic Reindeer Food outside your home to show Rudolph the way. Trust us, the pictures you capture of this moment will be treasured forever.
Each pack is filled with a handful of natural petal confetti grown on our farm and a pinch of biodegradable glitter to make it sparkle. The sachets are made from glassine, which is fully recyclable and the petals will biodegrade when subject to the elements within a few days.
Shropshire Petals Biodegradable Reindeer Food and Snowflake Pop
Winter Wonderland Mug
Hot chocolate is a Christmas Eve staple, even better when it is served in your own amazing enamel Winter Wonderland Mug from The Rusty Hare. Each mug is printed with beautiful watercolour images all around and finished with your child's name. Amy offers an array of festive designs to choose from.
Why not setup a little hot chocolate station, with chocolate flakes, crushed candy canes, marshmallows and sprinkles for all the family to get involved and enjoy making their own bespoke hot chocolate.
Snowflake Pops
Have the kids make a festive wish for the year ahead with our fun Snowflake Pops, they just have to hold the pops high, throw the festive biodegradable petals high and let them work their magic as they float off into the night.
What's great is you can reuse these pops over and over again, so you can include them in their Christmas Eve boxes each year.
Remember, Christmas Eve boxes don't have include expensive items, just thoughtful little gifts that your children would love to be taking out of the box one after the other; it's a nice part of the evening to relax and spend some quality time together.
Shop Small this Christmas
Now more than ever, it's important for us to come together and support our marvellous small businesses. Shopping small is such a rewarding experience, as there is value in understanding where things we buy come from and a more personable, and memorable customer service is provided for all.
When it comes to ethics, small businesses really are the way to go, so start by changing how you do your Christmas shopping by making local or online independents your first port of call. Focus on purchasing a gift that has meaning rather than buying lots of random gifts just so it looks impressive. The feel-good factor of knowing that every purchase you make with a small business will make a massive difference is bloody brilliant!
There are so many ways you can continue to support small businesses throughout the year too, and it won't cost you a penny:
- Leave them a little review on their website
- Sign up to their newsletter
- Like their posts on social media and share the bits you love!
- Spread the word and tell your friends about them
- Buy a gift card to use later in the year
Happy shopping!
Love SP Xx
