Are you an old soul at heart? Join me as I share with you my 6 ideas to help you have an old fashioned Christmas this year.

What is it that makes Christmas so wonderfully nostalgic for us all? I believe it is because it has withstood the test of hundreds of years. It’s rich with tradition and harkens over and over again to days gone by.

We sing songs that are centuries old, and yet it feels nearly everyone knows them still today. We have traditions that began in the old world and have carried into today’s wildly modern world.

It is certainly a time of year when old fashioned ways are not disregarded, but revered and honored. Accepted and celebrated.

And so we old souls get to pull out all the stops within our simple old fashioned dreams. It’s time for brown paper packages tied up with string, lovingly handmade touches for the home, all the rustic charm, and old fashioned recipes from scratch.

If you are seeking an old fashioned Christmas in a modern world, here are some simple and easy ways to incorporate timeless, cozy Christmas feelings.

6 Easy Ideas for An Old Fashioned Christmas:

1. Decorate with Natural Elements

Let natural elements take center stage in your decorating for a truly old fashioned Christmas feeling!

Make some dried oranges (I have tutorial for you here) and use them throughout the home. They can be added to garlands, made into ornaments or adorn wreaths. They are gorgeous and so classically old fashioned. Try using other citrus fruits as well such as lemons or grapefruit for color variation.

Use cinnamon sticks, holly berries, stacks of logs, beautiful bowls filled with oranges, and try cranberry or popcorn garland.

An easy old fashioned Christmas decoration would be to make pomanders. You simply stick whole cloves into whole oranges and they give off the most cozy warm scent all Christmas season. You can create a design in the way you arrange your cloves or make it rustic and random. They can fill a small dish or hang as ornaments.

You can’t go wrong using fresh cedar or pine clippings. Tie the branches together and make a rustic old fashioned garland. You can also just tuck in branches anywhere you desire. I love tucking them in over art! Using fresh branches gives off the most wonderful aroma and absolutely harkens back to the olden days before faux branches was an option.

2. Bake Old Fashioned Christmas Recipes

One of my favorite ways to find inspiration for old fashioned Christmas recipes is to read historical Christmas novels. What did the March sister’s have on their Christmas table? Laura Ingalls Wilder is known for her delectable descriptions of food. Ever tried figgy pudding or roasted chestnuts?

One of my favorite old fashioned Christmas recipes is gingerbread cutout cookies. We cut them out together making memories as we do. True to my old soul nature we use vintage cookie cutters while Bing Crosby croons in the background.

I put a little twist on my gingerbread cookies last year and made them chocolate gingerbread cookies! They are so super delicious! Find my recipe here.

I love the simple look of just sprinkling them with powdered sugar, but we’re also sure to have decorating sessions together as a family!

3. Use Candlesticks and Firelight as Much as Possible.

We have a winter tradition of candle lit dinners on Friday nights. However, as Christmas approaches these dinners become more frequent than just Friday night as the season seems to call for warm candlelight.

I love the flickering glow from the flame, the warm shadows it casts on the wall, and the wax slowly rolling down the candle.The dimness of candle light also has a calming effect on my children, which is perfect preparation for bedtime.

We like to read by the fireside and at Christmas time it’s often not a novel, but our advent readings. There is something so magical about pondering Christ’s coming by the light of the fire. It feels as if the rest of the room is tuned out in darkness and the focus of my heart is fixed on the source of light in the room from which the story flows.

One can’t help but wonder if this pondering by fireside is just how it was always meant to be. indeed, an old fashioned pastime that struggles to exist in this rushing modern world.

4. Wrap Your Gifts in Brown Paper

This is so classically old fashioned to me. Wrapping in a blank canvas of brown paper also leaves a little more creativity to the trimmings and those additions can be the stars of the show.

You can tie your packages with jute string and use beautiful tags adorned with natural elements.

I love the simplicity of tying the packages with silk ribbon instead of the typical gift ribbon. If you keep your eyes open at thrift stores throughout the year you can find spools of ribbon for a dollar or so each, making this a very affordable option.

I found some beautiful blue and white ribbon on clearance this year that I plant to use as the inspiration for my Christmas decorating. Stay tuned to see how it all comes together!

5. Incorporate Vintage Pieces for an Old Fashioned Christmas

Choose a few main elements of your Christmas decor and give them a vintage vibe. Maybe choose a tree that’s a little more sparse and rustic looking. I love this faux tree from Puleo International!

Add vintage touches to your main decor elements like the vintage mirror and candlesticks on the mantle in the photo above.

Have a Christmas outing to an antique shop and add vintage ornaments to your tree. Incorporate old books in Christmas colors into your decorating. If you have antique furniture be sure to highlight those pieces by decorating them with the natural elements we talked about earlier.

Use baskets! Fill them with logs, gifts, cozy blankets, and throws. The natural texture and practicality of baskets are just oozing with old world charm!

6. Slow Down

The most important element of all to an old fashioned Christmas is that we pause to take it all in. Pace yourself. Enjoy the memories.

Pause in moments and take mental snapshots of the memories being made.

Breath deep and inhale the aroma of the season.

Find ways to slow the family down and bring them together. Perhaps reading a Christmas novel around the fireplace in the evenings.

For our family, we find this in our advent readings together. Though we often fall behind in our readings as we are out with family later than usual or celebrating the season with parties and plays, it always gives me a deep peace to come together. We reflect on what we are truly celebrating. And we are together during these fleeting golden years of little ones when Christmas is absolute magic through those tiny eyes.

These moments will be memories for my children, and the more consistent these moments can be I pray they will stick with them always.

For the most old fashioned Christmas practice of all be sure to slow down when you can and enjoy being in the moment with your family.

PIN THESE IDEAS FOR LATER

I sincerely hope that that these ideas can help you and your family cherish an old fashioned Christmas this year.

These seasons are so precious and I believe that any intention we can put into them can go a long way. It’s such a beautiful time.

What traditions do you have that help you cherish the season? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Have a lovely day friends! See you again soon!