Christmas and Hanukkah are happening together this year. While Christmas generally includes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, you have 8 days to celebrate Hanukkah!
Here are some quick, simple ideas to add in some Hanukkah fun during your holiday week.
→ Add some blue and silver to your holiday decor. I got these shatterproof ornaments at Michaels and put them in vases I had in storage. I picked up some blue and white Hershey’s Kisses and some dreidels to place in these smaller vases.
→ Watch a movie with a Hanukkah theme. If you have kids, the Rugrats Chanukah episode is great. My kids loved it when they were little and we’ll watch it again this year. (P.S. My kids are now all over 20!) You can get it on YouTube, Amazon Prime or iTunes for $1.99. Or you can watch it on Teen Nick – just google the episode to get the times. It’s playing at 10 pm a few times next week.
8 Crazy Nights with Adam Sandler is another option. And if you like Hallmark movies check out Double Holiday from this year’s new Holiday series (airing 8 pm 12/21) or search Hitched for the Holidays from 2012. Both movies feature couples celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. They are definitely on my list for this weekend.
→ Light a menorah and play dreidel. You can pick up a little menorah, candles and dreidels in the Bullseye’s Playground section at Target. While you are there get some holiday candy – Hershey’s Kisses are an easy choice, but feel free to use whatever candy your family likes. If you need to learn how to play here’s a quick video.
→ Cook some of the traditional dishes to add to your meals, or make a complete Hanukkah dinner. My last blog post includes recipes for latkes and brisket. You can check it out here. My sister is forgoing the standard turkey to serve my mother-in-law’s famous brisket as the main dish at her Christmas dinner.
I know the holiday season can be a source of stress as you are combining families, traditions, cultures and spending time with everyone. I hope this post gave you a couple fun ways to include even more celebrating during the December holidays. I wish you and your family a happy holiday season. May it be full of food, friends, family and love!
