Joanna Gaines Has 1 Important Rule for Christmas with Her Family
Christmas at the Gaines household looks the same year after year. That’s because for Joanna Gaines, the holiday is all about following traditions and celebrating the season the same way she always has.
Joanna Gaines became a household name thanks to her hit HGTV show Fixer Upper, but even several years after it ended people still turn to the talented designer for décor advice. Gaines is singlehandedly responsible for popularizing the farmhouse chic style that’s still so prevalent.
But when it comes to decorating for the holidays, Gaines isn’t fixing up anything. Instead, she sticks with the same well-loved decorations she’s had for years.
Joanna Gaines wants Christmas to feel the same every year
Some people eagerly shop for new Christmas decorations to deck the halls with something unique and inspiring. But Joanna isn’t interested in updating her beloved Christmas décor.
“It’s rare for me to get excited about a new holiday recipe or trendy ideas for decorating the tree,” Gaines wrote in her magazine, Magnolia Journal. “I’m not looking for ways to reinvent this season. Instead, all I want is to gather the same ingredients for the same beloved cinnamon rolls that I’ve baked on Christmas morning for as long as I can remember.”
The ornaments on the Gaines family tree include special memories
Though the ornaments on their tree aren’t shiny and new, each one is special because it calls to mind a specific time of their lives. There’s one from Drake’s first Christmas and from Emmie’s first lost tooth. Gaines believes in cherishing these precious memories.
“I want to decorate our tree with our same ornaments that we ooh and ahh over each year,” she says in the essay. “Our tree could never be complete without the kids’ handmade offerings. And while the Popsicle-stick picture frames have cracked over the years, and the photos within them have faded—it only makes me love them all the more.”
The Gaines family makes Christmas ‘comfortable and familiar’
It can be easy to get caught up in the activities at Christmastime, constantly seeking out fun new adventures for the family. But in the Gaines household, everyone knows just what to expect when December rolls around.
“We count down the days, just to experience it nearly exactly as we always have,” she said. “It is so comfortable, familiar and perfectly nostalgic that, frankly, we have no desire to improve upon it at all.”
Even as their family grows, everything stays the same
The Gaines family welcomes baby Crew in 2018 and now they get to see the magic of Christmas from a young child’s perspective all over again.
“We get to experience our family traditions through his delighted smiles, with his bright eyes serving as a sort of mirror,” Gaines wrote in her essay.
“I hope he’ll see that we’re not looking for new and improved. But rather we’re taking the best parts of every Christmas past and unpacking them for Christmas present. That we celebrate this season not based on circumstance but based on hope. A hope that’s so thrilling, even a weary world can rejoice.”
Sounds pretty idyllic and very, very merry!
