The shopping is done and presents are wrapped (hopefully!) so now it’s time to embrace the holiday spirit! At Tea, we all have different ways that we celebrate the holidays. Below some of our staffed shared their favorite festive traditions. Some are funny, quirky, or sweet, but all reflect the season’s spirit of family and charitable giving.
“My Nonna would always take us to the toy store to pick out presents for children at an orphanage her church worked with. Even though I did not know these children, I remember being super concerned about whether or not they would like the presents. I put a lot of care and effort into picking out just the right toys. We’d also carefully wrap each present, which was equally as important to me. I hand colored all the wrapping paper and made sure each present looked ‘perfect’.” Katy, Designer
“Every winter my family makes Chinese Winter Balls. These are balls of dough that you eat with a cabbage broth. The production and consumption of these winter balls happens right when it starts to be winter so a Winter Solstice- like tradition. Making these balls is a huge production, you have people mixing dough and kids running around with sticky hands, but all the work is worth it. Nothing says winter like eating Winter Balls. There is also a dessert version of the balls with peanut butter or seasame paste injected inside the balls that you drink with a sweet/sugary broth.” Priscilla, Customer Service
“Every year, we arrange the little snow village up on top of the piano decked with all the tiny porcelain houses, figurines and snow covered trees as possible. My sister and I also like to watch White Christmas and sing along to it.” Isabelle, Tech Designer
“Every year we have a Mexican Feast for Christmas dinner. We also make our own wrapping paper, either by carving and printing stamps or hand drawing it.” Amber, Textile Designer
“My family prepares a traditional Polish meal every Christmas Eve. The recipes have been handed down from generations and consist of potato and cottage cheese filled pierogi and a mushroom borscht soup which takes 2 days to prepare. Yum! I can’t wait to eat it soon.” Laura, VP of Design
“We just started to have a special brunch on Christmas, just the 3 of us, me my husband, and my son, a couple of years ago.” – Eva, Product Development and Production
“Christmas Eve we sit down with the kids and read about the meaning of Christmas and giving, read “Twas the night before Christmas” and sing carols. Then leave cookies and milk out for Santa and carrots out for the reindeer.” – Cristina, Tech Designer
“My husband’s family is from Uruguay so we make cookies called alfajores as gifts for the holiday season. Alfajores are a sweet sandwich cookie featuring a layer of dulce de leche, in the middle of two sweet biscuits and coated with chocolate or sprinkled with powdered sugar.” – Tracy, Head of Production & Technical Design
We hope you enjoyed learning about the yearly traditions that our staff cherishes. We wish you a holiday filled with cheer, warmth, and lots of great memories.
Please share with us below, what’s your family’s favorite holiday tradition?
