Closed Cookie's Celebratory Compositions

[jadetine]

The names have been changed to protect everyone’s identity.

At university, I shared a 2 bed/ 1 bath apartment with 3 other girls. We had all just barely survived final exams for the first semester and were glad to finally head home for the holidays.

The first roommate to leave was Judy. Judy, outwardly, was very glamourous and well put-together, but at home she spent most of her time watching Korean dramas / variety shows in a bathrobe and not doing laundry. She was fashionable, outgoing, and a fantastic chef-- but the kind of girl to leave a mountain of dishes … you know the type. As a result of not doing laundry and having plenty of disposable income, Judy would continuously purchase new clothing rather than clean what she had. The rest of us adored her, though, because she simply had so much charisma and was hilariously fun to tease. She would occasionally push us out of our nerdy comfort zones by dragging us on adventures to clubs, events, etc.

Anyway, back to the end of the semester: Judy had left in a rush with all her things packed in separate trash bags because the initial suitcase did not fit her expanded wardrobe. Lo and behold, one trash bag was left behind. We called her to ask what she wanted us to do and she wanted to know what was inside…

It was a giant pile of panties. Girly underwear of all types: from the most raggedy granny-style tighty-whities to the laciest, most sparkly thongs. It was her entire collection; she had nothing at home and was in fact was driving high speed to her home city so she could board a flight to the family vacation home across the country the next day.

Patty suggested we just mail everything in a flat rate box, so Patty and I drove to the nearest post office, which was bustling for last minute holiday mail. We bought the largest box for mailing (bubble mailer envelopes were out of stock), but the trash bag simply wouldn’t fit through the mouth of the box. We tried to be discreet and undo the drawstrings of the trash bag, but eventually just ripped a hole in the trash bag and grabbed our roommate’s underwear by the handful to start packing them away. It was such a ridiculous situation— we couldn’t stop laughing. There were customers in line nearby giving us confused looks. Thankfully, the box of underwear did successfully make it to Judy.

Every year now, Patty and I send Judy a random underwear for Christmas. I haven’t picked out which one I want to send this year, but I’m sure Judy is faring well without it.

 

[IonicKarma]

For the photograph, are we allowed to use previous years photos? Unfortunately due to the pandemic, our family isn’t able to celebrate the holidays like we used to but I’d still like to write about it.

 

[Mairmalade]

For the photograph, are we allowed to use previous years photos? Unfortunately due to the pandemic, our family isn’t able to celebrate the holidays like we used to but I’d still like to write about it.

Given a real-life photograph would need to have your TBT username present in it on a physical name card, an old photo likely wouldn't work for this- but you can certainly still write about how your family typically celebrates the holidays and perhaps recreate a scene in ACNH as an alternate option.

 

[leohyrule]

Each year for Christmas, my family usually does the same thing. First, we open up all our presents starting with out stockings in which we usually get fruit. Then we pack up some food and head to our family friends house. My family lives all over the world, so we had to find a family that lived closer to us to share the holiday. We usually open presents and eat Christmas lunch there. My favorite thing for Christmas lunch to eat is the stuffing. One Christmas, our family friends gifted me a whole serving pan of stuffing that I mostly refused to share with anyone, and it was a very memorable present.
Then, for Christmas dinner, my favorite food to eat is lamb. Then, we usually also have yorkshire puddings even though you’re not supposed to have it with lamb. Because my mom is English, we do a lot of traditions that nobody from where I lives understands. My mom makes a pudding where there are coins in it, and she sets it on fire. I would always just get a slice to see if there were coins in my piece. At the end of the night, we might watch a movie before we go to sleep.

 

[KittenNoir]

Lots of fresh goodies! Your cat and I are alike - I always break at least one ornament per year. Please note that photographs should have your TBT username in the picture on a physical name card. You may edit your current post so that I may accept your entry.

Thank you I have just edited my original post

 

[IonicKarma]

Given a real-life photograph would need to have your TBT username present in it on a physical name card, an old photo likely wouldn't work for this- but you can certainly still write about how your family typically celebrates the holidays and perhaps recreate a scene in ACNH as an alternate option.

Ya I figured as much, I'll have to figure something else out, thanks for answering!

 

[ChocoPie22]

Every year my family and I open up the Santa tracker from Google and wait for him to get to our city. As soon as it says he is here, my parents go to fill up the stockings, while my brother and I wait until our rooms until my parents tell us that the stockings are filled up. Then we wait until midnight and scream Merry Christmas and then go to sleep. The first thing we do when we wake up is sprint to the stockings to see what our parents put in them. Then we wait for our grandparents to arrive and eat a Christmas lunch or breakfast (depending on the time that they arrive), we then sit down and sort out the gifts giving everyone their gifts and go around in a circle with each person opening their gift during their turn. It makes it so much more fun waiting for your turn so you can rip open your gift and see what's inside. We then watch a Christmas movie or two and eat our next meal with everyone here. If our grandparents arrived during breakfast time, we watch more Christmas movies until it's time for dinner. We eat dinner and it usually has pumpkin pie involved.

 

[corlee1289]

What I’ve recently been doing over the winter break is crocheting a blanket for everyone in my family. It was a skill I picked up from before the pandemic started because I wanted to learn something that I could make with my hands and feel good about at the end. I’m not very patient by nature and learning to crochet a blanket has taught me loads of patients. You can’t have a finalized blanket without having started.

I’ve already completed blankets for both my parents and younger siblings which were done in colours that they liked in. I did not particularly like the gradient green one that one of my brothers asked me for and I think that was the fastest blanket I ever made because I remember hissing at the colours.

This blanket that I am making now is nearly complete and I just need to finish adding the orange border to it. The blanket is obviously much bigger than what is shown in the photo.

I thought it would be a nice gift to give to people once I completed the blanket. I don’t need to keep that many, but crocheting a blanket teaches me patience, is a good way to decompress at the end of the day, and a nice way to stay warm

So far, I’ve made 12 blankets that have been gifted away to other people that I love of both my family and friends. It’s always gifted around the holidays when it would be most used and appreciated. Who would want a crochet blanket in the sweltering heat in the summer? But in the wintertime when it’s cold and you want to be warm? Definitely <3

 

[Midoriya]

Lots of families have different traditions for Christmas and New Year’s. Some people try to decorate the biggest tree they can find, while others are content to show off their baking skills and make gingerbread houses. For my family it was always… nutcrackers! Every year, since before 2000, my family and I would buy a nutcracker for my older sister and I. We kept doing this until around the year 2019 (I want to say). What resulted from this is that we ended up with a HUGE collection of nutcrackers, all from different cultures around the world. They were dressed in all kinds of different clothing, and had all kinds of different accessories with them. My favorite thing each year for Christmas wasn’t getting gifts or giving gifts, baking gingerbread houses, or anything else associated with Christmas. It was going to a different store each time to find and buy a nutcracker that I’ve never seen before. In a way, it was kind of like catching a new Pokemon! All the thrills and excitement of a new encounter that you can’t really get in any other way during the holidays. I would share a photograph of our collection, because it is very impressive, but sadly any photographs of it have been lost to time. So today I’ll show you my first original drawing using my tablet and Ibis Paint X. Please excuse my terrible art skills, but I thought this drawing, more than anything, encapsulates what I love about Christmas.

 

[DaCoSim]

Lots of fresh goodies! Your cat and I are alike - I always break at least one ornament per year. Please note that photographs should have your TBT username in the picture on a physical name card. You may edit your current post so that I may accept your entry.

Your plush idea is wonderful - I'm sure they will be treasured. As a reminder, if you choose to submit a photograph for your entry, your TBT username must be present in it on a physical name card. You may edit your current post and I'll be able to accept your entry.

As the text is the main component of the entry, some manipulation would be fine. If you choose to use a screenshot, it’s OK to use one of the in-game filters or crop it if you wish; however, I do ask that mediums be kept separate. E.g.: if you’d like to use the screenshot option for your picture, it should be just the screenshot – not a screenshot with digitally or hand-drawn picture(s) on it.

Minor manipulation of real-life photography would be fine as well (e.g.: adjusting lighting, colors, cropping). Your TBT username will still need to be present on an actual physical name card if you go this route though.

Hey hey. I put an image with my user name in the spoiler. Thx hun.

 

[BluebearL]

Back in the day at the start of advent, my family and I would venture into the Sydney CBD to see the David Jones Christmas windows that featured wooden puppets in the midst of cute Christmas sequences (such as elves wrapping and organising presents in a workshop). There were a number of these windows all with different scenes, people out and about in the street would stop and have a look at them. Shortly after this, we would venture into the store and buy one new Christmas decoration for the tree each- a tradition we still keep to this day, it's a nice way to catch up and sort of creates a history. Our Christmas tree was never 'themed', that was boring, instead it was made up of a few decades worth of decorations we had accumulated over the years, originally because we didn't have much money. After choosing our decoration, we would go to the same cafe we ate at every year at this time and ate scones, pudding and milkshakes. To finish the day off, we would browse the stores, rarely buying anything whilst looking at the massive Christmas Tree in the middle of the shopping centre. Hobby Co always had that beautiful train track set-up that all the kids including myself would gather around. We would play old Christmas tunes in the car, my father loved Bing Crosby and choirs. We still occasionally meet up around the start of advent and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere some years. When decorating the tree, we would prepare a small feast of sorts with Christmas punch, shortbread, corinthian wafers and chocolate coins. Music would be playing. Before we knew it, the Christmas tree was glowing.

I took this photo of the tree when I was down visiting my folks, as you can see- not themed but glamorous none the less. These decorations go back many years.

Spoiler: not part of entry

 

[Mairmalade]

Back in the day at the start of advent, my family and I would venture into the Sydney CBD to see the David Jones Christmas windows that featured wooden puppets in the midst of cute Christmas sequences (such as elves wrapping and organising presents in a workshop). There were a number of these windows all with different scenes, people out and about in the street would stop and have a look at them. Shortly after this, we would venture into the store and buy one new Christmas decoration for the tree each- a tradition we still keep to this day, it's a nice way to catch up and sort of creates a history. Our Christmas tree was never 'themed', that was boring, instead it was made up of a few decades worth of decorations we had accumulated over the years, originally because we didn't have much money. After choosing our decoration, we would go to the same cafe we ate at every year at this time and ate scones, pudding and milkshakes. To finish the day off, we would browse the stores, rarely buying anything whilst looking at the massive Christmas Tree in the middle of the shopping centre. Hobby Co always had that beautiful train track set-up that all the kids including myself would gather around. We would play old Christmas tunes in the car, my father loved Bing Crosby and choirs. We still occasionally meet up around the start of advent and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere some years. When decorating the tree, we would prepare a small feast of sorts with Christmas punch, shortbread, corinthian wafers and chocolate coins. Music would be playing. Before we knew it, the Christmas tree was glowing.

I took this photo of the tree when I was down visiting my folks, as you can see- not themed but glamorous none the less. These decorations go back many years.

Hello! Ah, what a wonderful tradition to build upon each year. While it is a stunning photo of your tree from a previous year, if you choose to take a photograph for this event, a physical name card with your TBT username on it must be part of the photo itself.

You are welcome to update your picture within your post so I may accept your entry.

 

[Jhine7]

Every year since I met my then-girlfriend, now-fiancé, I've been fortune enough to accompany her and her family on their yearly end-of-year trip! You might as well call us House Stark from Winterfell because as much as I would like to travel south for the winter, we go north! From Christmas to New Years, you may find us hiking up a mountain, skiing down it, or just touring around an Olympic village! Yes that's correct, the place we go was home to the Winter Olympics not once, but twice. If you're a fan of the sport hockey, you may recall the "Miracle on Ice" event happening here in 1980, as well as the victory podium being used for the first time at the Winter Olympics in 1932, for those history buffs out there. It's always just so much fun getting to hang out with family and friends, enjoying our time off, and ending the year in the most positive, fun way we can. I'm looking forward to Year 5 in just 10 days! I better get packing and get out all that winter gear, because I know the first year of hiking one of the highest peaks of the Adirondacks, while -30 degrees outside, is something I'll never forget!

 

[Sara?]

Xmas time is a time of reconciliation, joy and laughter and it has been like that for many years, though, as time moves some of us just play a role to make others happy as we would wish they would make us. I have had many many traditions which i make everyone participate in and although at first they are never in the mood to participate once they do and if you watch from a distance as soon as they all together get in the activity you can see how they relax and just purely laugh and enjoy the time with silly games and jokes, forgetting the stress of the year and worries, for just a short time they are pure joy.

But more and more i feel more joy by just looking at the xmas lights on a cold night while drinking hot cup of tea/ coffee rather than seeking people or big celebrations. I have had a few lonely xmas some by choice some by obligation and my biggest joy is to walk on the streets/country side and watch the starts if in the country side, snow fall when there is a chance of it and all of it while I admire the beautiful xmas lights without formulating a single thought in my mind.

My tradition has evolved to becoming into no real tradition, to just be in the moment and enjoy it as it comes.

 

[Sarah3]

My holiday season is as simple as it can get. Trying to stay as warm and cozy as possible, along with just relaxing with family and friends. We have a fireplace in our house and it's always my favorite place to be around this time of year as the snow falls and there isn't too much more to do. Even now and then, spread out by a few years in between, our family may go camping with relatives in a cabin. I always enjoy my time with them too, it's always a ton of fun! Even though it may not be the most exciting holiday season compared to others, hanging out with family and friends, giving presents, playing board games and drinking mimosas is always the winter time feel I'm going for. I don't read too much throughout the year, but maybe around this time I'll go back and read the Harry Potter books since my brother and I always loved listening to them from my dad as we were young. Bringing back great memories is always the way to go for me. I'm looking forward to a great Christmas and another Happy New Year doing the things I love, with the people I love. Can't wait, only a handful of days left!

 

[rip]

so, almost every year on new year’s, two of my closest friends and i will make the effort to meet up and celebrate together. as the years have gone by and our lives have changed, we’ve had less and less free time to hang out like the “old days”. the holiday season is a melancholy time of year for this reason, but on to the tradition. there’s this spot near one of my old houses that we’ve been going to since high school. it’s basically a nature reserve/creek area and there’s this big open patch of tall grass and a beautiful view of the night sky. during our sophomore year was our PEAK of coming here to hang out, obviously now we’re all 21-22 and haven’t had as much time to visit which sucks. new year’s was always fun because the sky was in such clear view, there was no one else around, but we were still close to our city and would always get to see some fireworks. this little spot was our escape from the stress of school, family, and whatever else was going on at the time. we’d pack some snacks, drinks (always the apple cider) and play some music while waiting for the clock to hit midnight. the main thing wasn’t even the new year, but getting to spend quality time with each other just having genuine fun. we didn’t get to do this last year because of multiple circumstances surrounding the pandemic, but this year i’m really looking forward to going back to our yearly tradition. we may have gotten older, but some things never change :’)

 

[LittleMissPanda]

Aside from my mother and sister, I'm not close to my family anymore so nowadays my spouse and I spend the holidays however way we like. But I want to share a fond memory I still keep with me that reminds me of the closeness I used to have with my family.

Growing up as a kid, we didn't have much due to poverty. It was just me, my special needs sister and our single working mother. Our brothers didn't live with us, which was for the better because they would get into arguments often. I didn't have much of a sense of family togetherness but that was something my mother strived to change. She would have all sorts of little parties for any occasion, but her favorite by far was Christmas. I remember sitting nearby as she would call distant relatives outside the US and I remember many of our cousins, aunts and uncles would come over to visit. Even my brothers would set aside their differences just to be with us. Each member of my family seemed to have his or her own tradition they wanted to share with me. My mother's homemade dulce de leche (a Latin American delicacy) my uncle's booming music and crazy dance moves...but my favorite thing to do, especially to this day, is to decorate our home as festive as possible.

The kinds of gifts we would receive, if any, were nothing too special. Some new shirts, maybe even a sweater, but even so I was grateful to have something warm to wear, though I would have to share with my sister. I wanted something that was all my own. Nothing ever truly made me feel that Christmas joy until that one night when my aunt took me and my cousins to Toys R Us for the first time. This was back in the 90's and it was a huge deal for any kid, and I was no exception. Imagine the sheer wonder on my face as I was surrounded by shelves upon shelves of shiny toys, but what immediately stood out to me was the plush toy aisle, and what should I find there but a soft-looking gray rabbit plush with the most adorable floppy ears. I knew right then and there I loved it and wanted it, but of course, being a quiet, shy kid, I was utterly beaten by my louder cousins who got what they wanted first. You can bet I was downhearted. I kept thinking about that plush rabbit, as lonely as me.

But one day just before New Year's, my mother came to me with a surprise gift. I unwrapped it expecting just another shirt, but it was that very same rabbit plush staring back at me. That day I discovered a happiness I never knew could be so real.

Here's that very same rabbit plush I kept all these years. Even now as an adult, when I look at it, that happiness rushes back to me.

Spoiler: bonus bunny pics

The rabbit plush to the right belonged to my late grandmother. I was very close to her.

 

[peppy villager]

When I was little, Christmas was one of my favorite times of the year. My parents are divorced, but it's okay because it just meant I got to go to TWO family Christmases. My mom and dad's sides of the family are polar opposites: my mom's side is more conservative and proper, and my dad's side is wild and hilarious. So I always got to experience both sides of the coin. At my mom's, we would spend the morning of Christmas Day at my maternal grandparent's house and I would see my cousin, and we would eat lunch that my grandmother prepared. It was usually pretty quiet, but I have fond memories of it because it was such a constant.
I would spend the Christmas evening at my paternal grandmothers house, with my dad and that massive side of the family. We would play cards against humanity, dirty Santa, open presents, and it was just generally so loud and fun. I will never forget the year I won an iTunes gift card during Dirty Santa... but then at the last second someone stole it during their turn of the game! I also will never forget Christmas of 2009 (I think!) because that is when my mom bought me a Nintendo DSI, and Animal Crossing: Wild World. That game holds such a special and nostalgic place in my heart.

Things aren't quite like that anymore, because my dad's mom has passed away since, and my dad himself moved several hours away, so I don't get to celebrate with them much anymore. My mom's mom (my maternal grandma) is still alive, but putting together a Christmas event has gotten too hard for her now, so we usually just visit her for an hour or so. Even still, I look forward to the holiday season and am grateful to get to have another Christmas with her. This year, it will probably be me, my mom, my brother, and my fiancé doing something small, and I do miss how magical Christmas was when I was a kid/teenager, but I still love the season and love Christmas trees and sparkling lights and seeing my family.

My screenshot shows how I remember my grandma's house being set up for dinner when I was younger... <3

 

[JemAC]

Christmas has always been my favourite time of year, while it may not hold the same magic as it once did when I was very young, I still get a lot of joy and excitement from the whole season. Each year I’ve always followed the same routine; gift shopping and tree decorating in early December, movies and a takeaway on Christmas Eve while my dad tracks Santa throughout the day, an early start for the whole family on Christmas morning when we all get together in our pyjamas to open up the presents followed by some games and a traditional roast turkey lunch and a meal out before watching the fireworks in London on the TV with my family to bring in the new year, swearing each year that we’d actually travel to the city some time to watch them.

They’re all quite simple traditions but I still get a lot of enjoyment from them and never was that joy needed more then a few years ago when I’d spent the year in and out of hospital and longed for the happiness the festive season bought, as luck would have it though it was not meant to be. Following a not very festive critical care stay at a local hospital I then spent the next month and a half at a larger hospital in the capital, with all my favourite traditions down the drain for that year. Despite the hassle of the travel from home and sometimes unpleasant company (can’t say I was always the funnest person to be around then!) my parents visited everyday to try and make the month as festive as possible and on Christmas Day the whole family came to see me, bringing all the presents with them, which included a giant Thumper the rabbit soft toy from my sister that ended up been great company during my stay, and some games to play to pass the time. It may have not been the most traditional of Christmases but we still somehow managed to make the most out of it and had some fun and a laugh together and the following week I even managed to watch the fireworks in London from the hospital window! All in all it made me realise that it doesn’t matter if some years I can’t follow all my usual festive traditions, as long as I get to spend it with the people I love the most then that’s all the Christmas joy I need.

I took a picture in New Horizons to illustrate Christmas morning with all the family together, along with the pets (the puppy plush is representing all of them), ready to open presents and play some games while my dads Christmas music plays in the background.

 

[spawnpoint]

Every year on Christmas eve, me and my family go to our aunt's house. It's a family tradition for us to have a Christmas party there, and we always have prize drawings and eat food, it's a ton of fun every year, and of course I get to open the presents my family members there got me too. Then comes Christmas day, we always wake up our parents very very early in the morning (think 5 or 6 am) so we can open our presents. The amount of presents we get every morning depends on how expensive the large gift we got was, like when I got my switch I didn't get many other presents. But this year we're not getting a large present, just a lot of other ones, which I'm really happy with. We usually open our stockings before we open our normal presents, but this year we're going to open that on Christmas eve. Usually, after we go back to sleep after waking up so early to open gifts, we would go to my dad's side of the family to get presents of them and eat a meal. But my dad's side moved away to another state, so we're gonna do that early this year, at the end of the week if I recall correctly.

And heres a photo of me opening a present i drew