7 Ways We Simplify the Holidays but Keep the Magic

Well, we did it.

On Veteran’s Day, my husband was off work and we didn’t have any real plans, so when our 6-year-old asked if we could decorate for Christmas, we figured no time like the present!

I love the magic of the holidays.

I’m a nostalgic human being – plus twinkle lights are my love language – so Christmas really speaks to me.

One year back in Alaska – before my decluttering journey really took off – I went all out. My goal was that when you walked into our home, it would feel like a snow globe. Every single surface was covered in decor. Each archway had dangling garland, I printed a million photos of my kids from Christmas over the years and plopped them on windowsills, and the couch was drowning in Christmas pillows.

You know what’s weird?

It didn’t make that holiday season any more magical than the ones where we just had our tree, stockings, and a few favorite pieces of decor strategically spread around the house. All it did was create a LOT to clean up in January.

Now in 2024, I look around our home and see so much magic – but a lot less work.

The glittering snow globe on our shelf stands out because it’s not surrounded by a million other pieces of decor. I can appreciate the beautiful simplicity of our snowflake stocking holders, because the space behind them is empty. Every ornament on the tree holds some sort of significant meaning, which makes my heart explode. And my mom’s old Santa figurine with the gently-moving candle greets us on the entryway table, standing alone and beautiful.

I can’t wait for our yearly tradition of making paper snowflakes with the kids, which we hang from the fan in the playroom. And come December, we’ll enjoy advent calendars and going to meet Santa and visiting light displays. As is tradition, I’ll take my daughter to see the Nutcracker and we’ll have a family sleepover on a blow up mattress in the living room on the first night of Christmas break. We’ll even watch Christmas Eve on Sesame Street on Christmas Eve – just like I did growing up (minus the green VHS tape).

But we don’t have to do it all.

Here’s what we don’t do, personally:

• Elf on the shelf

• Travel to see family (we’ve decided while the kids are young, we want to spend Christmas morning at our own home)

• Table runners & displays (our kids would knock them over anyway)

• Christmas dish towels (our regular white ones are functional)

• A porch display

• Attend every Christmas event we hear of around town

• Create Santa footprint tracks using flour

…I could go on and on.

When we overdo it with decor and traditions, suddenly the magic feels pressure-filled.

Like it won’t be spectacular unless we do every last thing. But that’s not magical at all. That’s exhausting.

One of my favorite Leyko Family traditions sprung from a not-so-perfect Christmas Eve, when we realized we didn’t have the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies for Santa, nor did we have any Christmas cookie cutters for sugar cookies. So you know what we did? We made sugar cookies from the outer space cookie cutters we did have. Santa feasted on cookies in the shapes of UFOs, aliens, and planets.

The next year, our son said, “Is it time to make space cookies for Santa?” You better believe we’ve made space cookies every year since!

The holidays really are magical. You all know I’m not a staunch minimalist, so yes – we decorate and give gifts under the tree and generally enjoy the fun of the season. However, my hope for you (and me!) is that you can release the pressure to do it all.

After all, the magic of the season isn’t in all the stuff. It’s in the love.