A Christmas Eve Box seems like a relatively new tradition to many but I adore the idea of them and couldn't wait to create Joshua's very first box. For our very first Christmas as a family of three, one of our best friends created a Christmas Eve box for us full of yummy treats, hot chocolate and a Christmas film so we wanted to carry that on ourselves.
We've always bought new Christmas pyjamas, lots of tasty Christmas food and stuck a Christmas movie on so the box isn't too different to what we do anyway, just with some extra treats for Joshua and of course a letter from Father Christmas.
The very first thing I bought was the Christmas Eve box, I wanted something that was durable and would last a number of years. I searched on Etsy for days looking for what I wanted when I came across this box from seller, From Leoni With Love who was selling them for £22.00. You could choose the wood colour and personalise the box to the name you wanted and each one came with red stars inside, a red bow tied with a bell and a Christmas charm. I've added red shred to the bottom of the box before placing each item on top just to give it a little bit of height and cushion. It's really well made and I'm so happy with my find!
I've collected a range of things to put inside starting with the Dress Up Penguin (£7.00) in a Christmas jumper from Clinton's. It's the perfect size for the box and I wanted a small soft toy to add to his Christmas soft toy collection. The next item is a bauble with Joshua's name on it from Bubblegum Balloons. The Personalised Navy Glitter Bauble (£10.00) is filled with confetti with bespoke wording, we had Joshua added to ours and we'll place it on our tree on Christmas Eve with Joshua.
It wouldn't be a Christmas Eve box without something a little sweet and after asking for some recommendations on Twitter, I headed to Holland & Barrett for dairy-free chocolate. I wanted a chocolate Santa originally but the Chocolate Penguin Lolly (£1.00) was a perfect size, not too much but not too little. They had a really great range of dairy-free food so I'll be going back to get Joshua some more bits in the new year.
We've included a Christmas movie to watch and a book to read during the day on Christmas Eve. The Busy Elves Book (£5.99) is a great interactive book where your little ones can pull, push and turn the tabs to help the elves and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (£2.99) is one none of us have watched and was a complete bargain from Amazon.
The Christmas Eve box essential has to be new pyjamas and socks, so Joshua has a super soft reindeer number (£18.00) from JoJo Maman Bébé as well as reindeer socks which come as part of a pack (£9.00) because it's not Christmas without socks!
The last two items are quite possibly my favourite and I am so glad I came across Designed by Blue on Etsy. I ordered a Nice List Certificate (£6.90) which I had personalised with Joshua's name, they're printed on satin aged paper and stamped with a North Pole wax seal, it's something I'll keep forever. I think I'll appreciate them more than Joshua at the moment but I don't think a Christmas Eve box is complete without a letter from Father Christmas.
I also ordered a Magic Key (£7.00) for Father Christmas as we don't have a chimney for him to climb down and leave Joshua's presents. I had this personalised with our family name so we can continue to use it for years to come and with more children, if we have them. The bronze key comes on a dark red cord and on the back of the card it reads:
"These are the things you need to do, first whisper "I believe in you". Then hang this key outside your door, he will know just what it's for. Now it's time to close your eyes tight, Father Christmas is coming tonight. Christmas day you will wake to find, all the presents he left behind."
I've enjoyed creating Joshua's first Christmas Eve box so much, this Christmas is going to be special for a number of reasons and we just can't wait to see his face. Now I just need to make myself one...
