Twelve Traditions for Twelve Days

The last trio of traditions take me from the beginning to the end of the main festivities.

10. The hall and the table are always decorated in the theme of the year, so this year it was The Holly and the Ivy.  This will include decorations, garlands, napkin rings etc.

This is one of this year's napkin rings.  My sister crocheted the holly and ivy leaves, added beads for berries and sewed on the ribbons to tie round the napkins.

11.  We watch the New Year's Day Concert broadcast from Vienna.  The music of the Strauss family has always been a part of our Christmas and New Year festivities.

12. Twelfth Night.  While we don't always celebrate it on the actual day, we usually have a family gathering to put away decorations and celebrate my mother's birthday (8th January).  This mirrors our gathering together just before Christmas. The meal is a simple buffet and we use all the year's themed elements, which first made their appearance at our pre-Christmas get together, for one last time.

So - Twelve Traditions for Twelve Days!