If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I have a slight obsession with the Danish concept of hygge, which I loosely define as a feeling of cozy contentment.
I also love really love the Christmas season and, although my children are grown and no longer live at home, I still like decorating the house and generally making a (low-key) fuss.
Christmas is a joyful time and the Danish people are some of the happiest people in the world, so Christmas is the perfect time to really lean into all my favorite hygge habits. Just a few simple things can really help to add a cozy atmosphere to your home.
I love the serenity of sitting on the couch enjoying my Christmas decorations while I sip on a cup of tea (or maybe something just a bit stronger – it’s the holidays after all!)
You don’t have to stop enjoying the hygge lifestyle at Christmas, either. Most of the ideas I’m sharing below are a great way to continue to enjoy simple hygge moments throughout the winter months.
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If you want to bring the hygge spirit to your Christmas celebrations this year, then you’ll enjoy these 12 traditions I use each year to make our holidays just a bit more hyggelig.
1. Get Rid of the Clutter
I always start my Christmas decorating by decluttering first. Hygge is all about surrounding yourself with things you love in a calm and peaceful environment.
If your house is filled with clutter, you’ll feel stressed and won’t be able to relax into a hyggelig mood. Plus, any Christmas decorations you put up will only add to the feeling of messiness, rather than standing out.
Take a little time and put away any items that have been left out. Take some time, too, to edit your home accessories. If a surface is filled and crowded, see what you can put away until after the holidays.
You don’t have to get rid of everything; hygge isn’t about minimalism. Just look around your living spaces with a fresh eye and put away (or get rid of!) anything that doesn’t make you happy to see.
2. Add Soft and Cozy Pillows and Throws
Once you’ve decluttered, it’s time to add some hygge elements to your home! You’ll need lots of cozy pillows to relax with and at least one warm blanket to cuddle up in on the sofa when the weather outside is frightful.
If you need some inspiration, there are lots of ideas and links to specific items in my hygge bedroom article!
3. Fill Your Home with Lovely Holiday Smells
You can get in the holiday spirit before you even start decorating by filling your home with lovely scents. Rather than using artificial smells, such as scented candles, the hygge-loving Danes prefer to use natural ingredients to fill their homes with delicious smells at Christmas Time.
Leave this Christmas Stovetop Potpourri simmering on your stove and you’ll enjoy the scents of the holidays for hours.
Or add a few orange pomander balls to some greenery for a lovely holiday centerpiece that also fills that house with a delicious scent.
4. Celebrate the Advent Season
Advent is celebrated during the four weeks prior to Christmas. Traditionally, this time of year is spent reflecting and preparing our hearts to celebrate Christmas.
Taking time to celebrate Advent by lighting a candle and having a moment of quiet reflection is a wonderful way to slow down from the frenzied pre-Christmas rush and spend time savoring the present moment.
Celebrate Advent with an Advent Wreath
Celebrating the season with an Advent Wreath is a treasured tradition in Scandinavian cultures. A traditional Advent Wreath consists of 5 candles. Each Sunday during the Advent Season (the 4 Sundays before Christmas) you light a different candle. You light the final candle on Christmas Eve.
There’s no need to buy a big fancy wreath. I usually make a simple wreath with candles in mason jars surrounded by natural elements such as festive greenery. Of course, you can also purchase an advent wreath if you’re not feeling very crafty.
Light an Advent Candle
Another way to bring a bit of the hygge spirit is with an Advent Candle. An Advent Candle (like this one) is a long candle with a mark for each day of the festive season. Last year, we started a family tradition of lighting the candle each night at dinner and letting it burn to the next day while we ate.
Lighting the candle and watching it burn each evening is a great way to carve out a little bit of quality time each day to slow down from the hectic pace of the holiday season and focus on the simple pleasures of delicious food.
5. Decorate with Simple, Natural Materials
Hygge Christmas decorations aren’t flashy and expensive. Taking the time to make a few handmade ornaments is a very cozy way to spend an afternoon, especially if you invite a few friends over to help.
Last Christmas, I decorated our home with several simple crafts using simple natural materials, like this Book Page Wreath. These budget-friendly Dollar Tree Christmas trees were also really fun and inexpensive.
I especially enjoyed these paper bag stars. Making the stars was an easy DIY project and a simple way to fill the house with the Christmas spirit. In fact, I liked the look of the stars so much, I kept them up through the rest of the winter.
6. Bring Nature Indoors
Put Up a Real Christmas Tree
Hygge is all about bringing nature indoors so an artificial tree, while convenient, doesn’t give the true hygge vibe that a real Christmas tree does. You don’t need a big Christmas tree or one that’s elaborately decorated. A little tree, decorated with simple, natural ornaments, really embodies the danish concept of coziness.
This beautiful tree uses ribbon, handmade ornaments, and plain Christmas balls to pack an elegant punch.
Of course, there’s no more hyggelig experience than venturing out to cut down your own Christmas tree. Bundle up!
Decorate with Greenery
Another way to bring the outside in is with greenery you’ve foraged from a walk in the woods. (Or purchased from your local Christmas Tree lot – I won’t tell!) Don’t be intimated; creating a greenery wreath is quite simple. These instructions will show you how.
7. Wrap Your Presents with Homemade Gift Wrap
Hygge is all about simplicity and presents wrapped in fancy gift wrap are the opposite of the hygge aesthetic. Instead, use simple brown paper and string and let your creativity shine.
Design Mom has a great tutorial on wrapping presents with brown paper that’s filled with inspiration to help you get started.
8. Shop a Christmas Market
I’ll confess that I’ve never visited a European Christmas Market, but it’s definitely on my bucket list. They look so magical that just looking at photos of them put me in the Christmas spirit.
I have been lucky enough to visit New York’s Union Square Christmas Market and so I can confirm that nothing feels more hyggelig than walking through snowy weather looking at all the beautiful Christmas ornaments and presents to buy.
Check and see if there is a Christmas Market in your area; many places have them now! Or you can take a virtual visit to one with this fun video:
9. Get Together with Friends Outdoors
Celebrate Christmas the Hygge way with an outdoor celebration around a warm and inviting fire. Be sure to provide your guests with soft throws so they can keep warm and light candles to bring the cozy christmas spirit outside.
10. Brew Up a Nice Warm Drink
If you’re hanging out outdoors, you definitely need to offer a soothing hot drink to your guests. No Scandinavian Christmas is complete without a glass of glogg, or Swedish mulled wine. It’s easily made at home with vodka that you infuse with dried fruit. Let the vodka sit for a week to really soak up the flavors.
11. Bake Cookies for Your Neighbors
The concept of hygge always includes cozy companionship. Why not spread a bit of Christmas spirit by spending an afternoon baking cookies as gifts for your neighbors? I do this every year and I always enjoy baking the cookies and seeing people enjoy them.
These Danish Vanilla Rings are a family favorite. They are light and buttery without being cloyingly sweet. You just have to be careful you don’t eat them all yourself!
Deliver your cookies in a homemade box made of scrapbook paper to really keep the hygge holiday spirit alive.
12. Cozy Up with Some Hygge Clothing
Scandinavians love to say, “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather, Only Bad Clothing.” We actually heard that phrase about a thousand times on our trip to Iceland too! If you want to celebrate Christmas the Scandinavian Way, you’ll need some warm and comfy clothing for your long walks and fireside celebrations.
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And if this Hygge Christmas stuff sounds amazing to you, be sure to check out these other awesome ideas:
