The Twelve Days of Christmas, All Wrapped Up

We all know the fabled Christmas carol, but do we know-know what the twelve days of Christmas are really all about? Technically, it’s a religious period that begins on December 26 and ends on January 6 (Epiphany), when the Three Wise Men are said to have arrived to Bethlehem bearing gifts. What’s the origin? It’s complicated, and it’s mostly explained in these articles here and here.

Different cultures have different calendars and traditions for celebrating Christmas and for exchanging gifts. In the US, we have mostly abandoned the Twelve Days of Christmas rituals. But perhaps only until now?

TwelveDays.com is a recently launched family business that looked to share its own personal and cherished 30 year old Twelve-Days-of-Christmas gift giving tradition. And so, mother & son now bring us the Twelve Days Heirloom Gift Boxes, a “kit” that allows anyone to revive the old tradition in an entirely modern way. Each set includes 12 hanging ready-to-be-filled gift boxes in an elegant presentation box (in which to store the gift boxes year after year), stainless steel hooks, a Twelve Days booklet that explains the history and the practice.

I love the idea, and if had not already blown my budget for this year’s Christmas presents, I would switch the existing Christmas stocking tradition for a new Twelve Days tradition. Think of the advantages: no pre-Christmas crazy rush (since the 12 days start on Dec 26!), take advantage of the post-holiday sales… Seriously though, now that my kids are way beyond the Santa stage, I think that they would be thrilled to participate in a new tradition, especially one that extends Christmas by 12 days.  I imagine that shopping for 12 little gifts to fit in 2.25” x 2.25” boxes could be a lot of fun. And the value of the contents could go in either direction, from totally silly to totally outrageous (anyone else thinking that bling would fit perfectly?). That’s certainly a way to keep the suspense going… Which box has the real prize? Hummm. Plus, this “new” tradition works for every age group and gender. Per. Fect.

Time to rethink traditions? If you want to do it this year, you have until December 17 to take advantage of the free shipping offer.  Hurry.