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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.

The Christmas music has begun playing in stores, decorations and holiday goodies are lining the shelves, and I can’t lie this is one of my favorite times of year. I love when I start seeing Christmas decor or candy in the store, and get as giddy as a child. I thought it’d be fun to share some of my favorite Christmas traditions with you today, because being away at school sometimes sucks around the holidays when you don’t get to partake in all of your favorite holiday traditions.

Christmas Cookies

Spoon Csu-Blueberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Brook Buchan / Spoon

One of my favorite things growing up was when we would bake Christmas cookies and decorate them when my nephews came over. My mom had tons of different cookie cutter shapes for Christmas, and although it was messy, it was always a lot of fun.

 

Gingerbread Houses

Similar to baking and decorating Christmas cookies, but fun in its own way. Although I think as kids we ate more candy than we actually used on our houses, this was always a fun activity. Anyone else used to try and use as little icing as possible on your house so that you could have more to enjoy at the end of decorating?

 

Christmas Movies

I LOVE Christmas movies. Every year on the night of Thanksgiving I watch Christmas with the Kranks, one of my all time favorite Christmas movies. I love to watch Christmas movies at the end of a long day, with all the lights off and just the Christmas tree lights on. It’s so calming and gets me into the Christmas spirit.

 

Nativity Scene

This one is a bit more religious than the other traditions, but growing up my mom always put out a small nativity scene that my sister, and I always played with. It became one of my favorite things that my mom would put up for Christmas even as we became older, and weren’t playing with it. I think it’s a nice reminder to have around to keep in mind what we’re celebrating.

 

Izabella is a transfer student studying journalism at UT with an interest in social justice reporting. She enjoys reading, photography, podcasts, and cuddling with her dog, Jinxx.
Megan Turner is studying Spanish and Political Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. In her free time she enjoys long-distance running, painting, and spending time with friends.