Christ-Centered 12 Days of Christmas

Share the true meaning of Christmas with these DIY friendly gifts!

The 12 days of Christmas are a great way to share the Christmas spirit and bring joy to others and yourself. I personally love the adrenaline rush I get from ding-dong-ditching people, so to keep them from getting mad at me for ringing their doorbell and running, I leave presents! Win-win, right?

As a devout Christian and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I have been trying hard to make Christmas all about Jesus. It's His birthday after all! I love the idea of doing the 12 days of Christmas for someone, but all the ideas I could find online were about the song - pears and partridges and such. So I decided to make my own.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord." - John (KJV)

One idea I love is to get a nativity set and give them one or more pieces of the nativity each day, depending on how big the set is. You can give them the baby Jesus on day 12! My family did this for our neighbors once growing up, and I loved it! We wrapped up the baby Jesus and gave it to them as a present from us, but we had put the last piece in a little cardboard box that used to have cookies in it. So when they opened our present they thought they were cookies and didn't open the box. Haha! It took a while, with them wondering why baby Jesus never showed up, before we asked about it. We all had a good laugh.

I focused each day on one of the names of the Savior. You'll notice that there are more than twelve ideas here. I had more ideas than I could do, so I decided to share them with you!

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Living Water (Jeremiah 17:13) - Sparkling Cider

This is easy to find and everyone loves it!

Comforter (John 14:16-18) - fuzzy socks or mittens

Especially in the winter, everyone loves to be warm and comfy!

Rock of Our Salvation (Psalms 95:1) - rock candy or pop rocks

This is one that is great for kids! Alternately, you could give them a kit to grow their own rock candy.

Immanuel (Isaiah 4:14) - Nativity

I made this simple nativity with a wooden board and vinyl that I cut out on a Cricut. I then sprayed the wood when a clear matte wood finish to give it a professional look.

Light of the World (John 8:12) - Candle

My sister and I made beeswax candles for this one! We went to a local apiary where they have lots of beehives and bought both honey and beeswax. Then we melted down the wax and poured it into jars that had been prepped with wicks. They smell wonderful!

Redeemer (Job 19:25) - fancy soap

I got a cheap bottle of soap with a soap pump at the store. Then I peeled off the label and made a new label out of vinyl with my Cricut that said, "clean hands and a pure heart." I forgot to get a picture before I delivered it though! You'll just have to trust me that it turned out cute!

The Word (John 1:1) - a Bible, Book of Mormon, or set of scriptures

If the family has little kids, you could get a family reader of the scriptures. There are also beautiful editions of the Bible out there! Getting new scriptures is always wonderful!

Root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:10) - root beer

This one is a little silly, but everyone loves root beer! You could even include ice cream for root beer floats!

King of Kings (Revelations 17:14) - Chocolate Gold Coins

Everyone loves chocolate! Make the family you are gifting rich with love!

Carpenter's Son (Matthew 15:13) - gingerbread house kit

My family had a tradition of making a gingerbread house every year growing up. They are so much fun, no matter what age you are gifting this to!

Savior (Isaiah 43:11) - Life Saver candies

Again, this is a little cheesy, but it works! And it's tasty!

Eternal Life (1 John 5:11) - succulent plant

Succulents are adorable and fun! Why not give something living to the person you are blessing this season? Just make sure it isn't poisonous if they have pets or small children!

Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8) - alphabet cookies or alphabet soup

Trader Joe's has some fantastic letter-shaped cookies! These are especially fun for little ones who are learning the alphabet or how to read.

Indescribable Gift (2 Corinthians 9:15) - Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

I ordered some Frankincense resin and some Myrrh resin on Amazon. They were a lot cheaper than I was expecting! I put small pieces into essential oil roller bottles and added tags. If you are an essential oil person, you could give them a small bottle of Frankincense oil, diluted. Finding something for the gold was trickier, but I found a perfume that was glittery gold. Another idea is to get gold nail polish. If you want to skip the actual Frankincense and Myrrh, you could get three little bottles or containers that look cool and just label them.

Bread of Life (John 6:35) - homemade artisan bread

I love baking, as you can probably tell from this blog. If you don't like to bake, you can just give them a box mix to make their own sweet bread. Or you can but a loaf of something tasty at the store!

Good Shepherd (John 10:11) - candy canes

Lots of people have speculated that candy canes were invented by Christians to represent a shepherd's crook. Turns out that's not actually true. But there's no reason they can't represent that now!

Son of God (1 John 5:13) - the Christmas story

I love the movie The Nativity Story, and so I gave a copy of the DVD to the family my husband and I gave gifts to. You could also give a picture book if they have children!

Lamb of God (John 1:36) - stuffed animal lamb

This is great if they have a new baby or a little kid! If not, a lamb figurine can work just as well.

Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11) - framed picture of Christ

I chose out my favorite picture of Christ to give to them. This one is Christ's Image by Heinrich Hoffman.

Merry Christmas!

For more ideas for a Christ-centered 12 days of Christmas check out Family Home Fun!