If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall during your favorite celebrity's holiday gathering, you'll understand why HGTV fans are loving learning more about how the Gaines family does Christmas. The beloved former hosts of Fixer Upper have everyone waiting for news on their upcoming Magnolia cable channel, a deal in the works with HGTV's parent company, Discovery. They're also soaking up all the design tips in Joanna's new book, Homebody.
In the meantime, you can live a little like the First Family of Waco, Texas, thanks to Joanna's inside scoop on how the Gaines family celebrates the holidays. Family and tradition are the heart of a Gaines family Christmas, which means getting everyone involved and in the spirit of the season. Joanna recently went into greater detail in an essay for Magnolia Journal
Ever wonder what Christmas is like in Chip and Joanna Gaines' home? With five kids and one celebrating his first Christmas we have a feeling this will be a really special one for the Fixer Upper family. Joanna penned an essay for the most recent issue of Magnolia Journal in which she talks about Christmas in her home. "I start anticipating this day long before November even thinks about arriving," she writes. "While others have yet to clear away their pumpkins, our household has entered a full-blown holiday mindset." The family starts decorating for Christmas in November so that they can get their pick of trees at their local Christmas tree farm, where she jokes they are "faithful first customers." While you might think that a couple who loves demo and design would take on radical new ideas each holiday season, it's actually quite the opposite. While the family is an adventurous one, Christmas is all about tradition. "For other things," she says, "we're excited about learning, seeing, or exploring something new, but Christmas is different." When it comes to decorating, she gets everyone in on it: "Everyone takes a task: the older kids lead the charge on hanging the ornaments while the younger ones hunt for everyone's stocking." When it comes to ornaments, she likes to rely on the same ones year after year. The most special ones to Joanna's heart are the ones her kids have made throughout the years and ones that commemorate their firsts. "Our tree could never be complete without the kids' homemade offerings," Joanna explains. "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." When it comes to recipes, Joanna reveals that she's made cinnamon buns every Christmas morning for years. The family intends on sticking with traditions, while adding their newest member to the mix. "This is our first Christmas with baby Crew, and we get to experience our family traditions through his delighted smiles, with his bright eyes serving as a sort of mirror," Joanna anticipates. She hopes that he'll appreciate all the elements of Christmas that his siblings have grown up on. "I hope he'll see that we're not looking for new and improved. But rather that we're taking the best parts of every Christmas past and unpacking them for Christmas present." We're certain that Joanna, Chip, and their five beautiful kids will have a wonderful, traditional Christmas that they won't soon forget.
