On our Salem girls’ trip, we visited Haus Witch, a very cute home store, and I picked up their book, HausMagick: Transform Your Home with Witchcraft by Erica Feldmann. I had a really fun couple nights reading it and adding little bits around my house. So when Mary and I were brainstorming holiday post ideas, the book stayed top of mind.
A couple years ago, we did a winter post on Hygge and how to keep a feeling a coziness in your home. This post has a similar vibe.
The book introduces the idea of energy scientifically. We’re all made of tightly packed and organized atoms, and those moving atoms will have different vibrational frequencies. Everything in our space (including air, light, people, other living things, stuff) affects our overall energy. You can call it magic, Feng shui, New Age; regardless, everyone’s house has a different personal vibe.
During the holidays, we’re decorating, baking, lighting fireplaces, bringing fragrant trees into our house; all of these elements create a different energy/aura compared to how our home usually feels during the rest of the year.
While yes, Christmas and Hannukah are celebratory holidays, the season’s trappings and traditions also transform the atmosphere in our homes. All that work creates a feeling of coziness and warmth, security and peacefulness.
Sensory Vibes
Things the book recommends for giving us the good house vibes:
- Lighting candles – for light or scent
- Making a simmer pot – the girls think this is the coolest thing
- Softer blankets on the couch
- Opening windows for clearing the air/circulation
- Softer/gauzier curtains to filter light
- House plants!
- Pets!
- Lighting incense or herb bundles, but also the fireplace
- Using color in painted walls/art/decor
- Cooking and baking
- Cleaning and decluttering
- A wind chime or bells – loved this recommendation
Everything has a sensory component: sight, smell, touch, taste, feel. Now think about how all of these components change in December. The season gets darker earlier. The air is cooler and crispier. When it snows, it’s quieter. All good vibes.
One thing that we find particularly funny about the holidays is that both our husbands love having the Christmas tree lights on. If we’re watching a show or movie, we’re generally not sitting in the dark. Our kitchen lights can be too much, or our side table lamps are too close to the screen. Having just the tree lights on creates enough light and ambiance without being harsh. Nothing to do with the actual religious holiday, they just really like the soft light.
Other sensory things that we have tried and liked for the holidays:
- Wearing a different perfume/body spray
- Changing up your coffee or tea order
- Cozier sweaters and pajamas
- Reading in a different place
- Switching up your everyday jewelry
- Intentionally slowing down the pace of your day
- Trying a new festive dinner or dessert recipe
- Reserving a “quiet hours” time block for yourself, or after a certain time
- White noise, soundscapes, or a sound bath playlist – I personally enjoy the Calm app
- Playing music while you’re doing busy work/house stuff/getting ready in the morning
- Suncatchers – especially if you have daughters, this is a frequent craft
Cozy Vibes
Another book tidbit: the author recommends having a comfort routine. She tells the story of a particularly down Christmas where an injury forced her to stay home instead of traveling to be with family. To avoid feeling depressed, she made her grandmother’s potato recipe and ate while wrapped in her favorite blanket. She was intentionally doing things to make her body feel comfort in every sense of the word: having a warm beverage, lighting a scented candle, playing music. Now that combo has become a default routine for feeling better. It gives her a sensory and energy reset.
For you, and possibly every member in your house, create a list or formula that satisfies your personal idea of cozy.
Resetting Vibes
While there will be times that the holidays skew to the chaotic side, if you view them through the lens of “does this drain or recharge my energy”, it could help you trim down the obligations that don’t serve you. This is my personal reasoning for not doing Elf on the Shelf, or buying toys that make loud, annoying noises.
One perk of online shopping is not needing to go into ridiculously crowded stores or having to battle shopping traffic. A big energy saver there. I also explain to the kids that they don’t get any new stuff between Halloween and Christmas. That cuts down on the incessant asking and refocuses them on what gifts to GIVE to others.
Holiday parties and hosting can be adjusted larger or smaller depending on your personal energy or the type of energy you want to create in your space. One year, my best friend gifted me a really fancy cake. So, I invited some girlfriends over for a cake and champagne night. Casual, short, but still festive. There are a lot of new gathering ideas (craft night, Mahjong, movie nights) that are energizing for your social battery but also considerably less stressful.
For the kids, we’re not sticklers for bedtimes or morning alarms during the holidays. It’s a fight we don’t need to have. We also ask for their input on holiday activities. If you are hustling every day of the season to get to every special event, it’s going to be stressful and that rubs off on your kids. Most likely the same events and activities are going to happen every single year. If you miss one year, it’s not the end of the world.
Our kids also have a lot of holiday parties themselves, from school to team to troop celebrations. Let’s not forget dance recitals, church pageants, and gift exchanges. They will also need quiet time and relaxed energy as well.
If one of your upcoming resolutions is to slow down or make more time for something, you can use the holiday time as a gradual build up to January. In many cases, work will slow down during the end of December, so you can use that time to unplug and then reset a different routine.
We know that holiday decorating commences right after Thanksgiving, if it hasn’t started already. You can even use this post in your Thanksgiving planning if you are hosting formally or for a Friendsgiving.
I definitely recommend the book, especially if you like having a little magical interior alchemy in your house. Hopefully, you can keep the good homie vibes going throughout the holidays and into the new year.
Mary and I will be doing just that for our Thanksgiving blog break, starting today. We’ll be out and traveling, then back with content starting December 1st.
Stay Cozy,
