Christmas Eve boxes are the latest craze to find their way to our shores in recent years. With everyone from the big supermarkets to independent retailers stocking Christmas Eve gifts boxes, it’s never been easier to embrace this growing trend.
With online searches more than tripling since 2014, this year is expected to be the year we all think outside (or should that be inside) the box for Christmas Eve. We’re throwing everything at making Christmas 2020 as thoughtful as possible.
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We all have our own little family traditions on Christmas Eve. From watching festive movies and hanging the stockings to leaving out mince pies, carrots and a tipple of sherry for Santa. Adding to that are the joy of Christmas Eve boxes.
It’s these traditions that add a touch of extra magic to Christmas.
Family traditions: Christmas Eve boxes
Image credit: Wilko
The idea behind the Christmas Eve box is to create a gift set of all the things required to ensure the perfect family night before Christmas. You simply buy one of the specially design boxes and fill them with treats – from matching pyjamas sets, drinking chocolate, a festive DVD and seasonal crockery for Santa’s treats.
Budget Christmas Eve box
Large Christmas Eve Box, £2.50, Wilko
This 35 by 25 cm box offers plenty of room for all your festive treats. A compete bargain too, meaning there’s more to spend on the contents to pop inside.
Practical plastic Christmas Eve box
Plastic Christmas Eve box, £6, Matalan
Sometimes plastic is the most practical. This design is a durable, wipe-clean Christmas eve box solution that can be used time and time again. Sure to stand the test of time and excitable children perhaps more so than a cardboard version.
Keepsake wooden Christmas Eve box
Large Hand Finished Wooden Christmas Eve box, £29.50 M&S
This is not just any Christmas Eve box. This is a luxury wooden, timeless design with personalisation – to be used year after year. The gift that keeps on giving.
Top 5 Christmas Eve box ideas
1. Christmas Pyjamas
A set of pyjamas for the Christmas Eve box is a classic choice, to ensure the last sleep in done in style. With matching sets there’s a festive PJ for the whole family – to make it all the more magical!
Buy now: Matching Family Slogan Check Pyjamas, from £13, Next
Related: Family Christmas pyjamas – will you be wearing matching PJs this year?
2. Festive movies
Sit as a family and enjoy a feel-good Christmas movie. Whether you’re watching the most loveable Elf of all time find his way around New York city or Kevin causing chaos in Home Alone, laughter and feel-good vibes are guaranteed in equal measure with a much-loved movie.
3. Hot chocolate making kit
Image credit: Polly Eltes
Warm your cockles and get cosy with a steaming hot mug of drinking chocolate. Buy them a new mug, then pick up a sachet or a jar of Hot Chocolate and some mini marshmallows. Add them to the box for an easy way to make everyone’s favourite bedtime drink.
A trend for last year’s boxes was to make adorable hot chocolate reindeer cones…
Fill a food bag with hot chocolate mix, topped with chocolate sprinkles and mini marshmallows. Tie them up with a pretty ribbon, add a pipe cleaner as antlers and some eyes and you’ve got yourself a reindeer hot chocolate treat.
4. Magical snow globe
The mesmerising snow globe is a Christmas favourite. Shake things up this year with a wonder Christmas scene to capture little imaginations.
Buy now: Pop Art Small Snow Globe, £10, John Lewis & Partners
5. A cake or cookie making kit
Image credit: Nit on the High Street
Enjoy some family bonding time over an afternoon of baking festive tasty treats, with a simple cake or cookie kit will do the job. You can pick up easy-to-make kits that you simply add eggs and water and then bake – quite literally a piece of cake!
Buy now: Katie Bakes Christmas Snowflake Cookie Mix Baking Kit, £8.50, Not on the High Street
Related: Black Friday Christmas tree deals – these sale bargains are worth shopping ahead for
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas already.
