Baltic Christmas Day 3

A 24 Days BALTIC HOLIDAY CHECKLIST

This December, fill your days with Baltic cheer with these 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas approved-and-endorsed activities! Pick one or pick several, and challenge your friends! I welcome your pictures and feedback - tag us with #24DaysofaBalticChristmas on Instagram and Twitter, or leave a comment!

Make an Advent wreath using natural materials  

Bake piparkūkas or piparkookid! Find a piparkūkas recipe here and one for piparkookid here. (Tip: If you’re not up for making the dough yourself, head to one of the Baltic markets taking place over the next few weeks to stock up!)

Prepare your budeļi costume and spend a day caroling with friends

Try your hand at making galerts!

Dry orange slices in the oven for decorations and ornaments 

Place a lit candle at the grave of a loved one 

Make a puzuris or two to give as gifts (or for your own tree!) (Tip: If you’re making puzuri with kids, try using pasta instead of the more fragile, traditional straw)

Spend a day baking pīrāgi, only to eat the entire batch before they’ve cooled

Practice singing Silent Night in all three Baltic languages 

Make a pinecone birdfeeder or ice mandalas with the kids

Bake kanēļmaizītes in the morning so that the house smells of cinammon bread all day

Celebrate Cimdotā Latvija by making Latvian mitten gift tags to adorn presents (Expert level: Knit mini lapel mittens instead!) 

Place a slipper in the window and hope your behavior has warranted a piece of candy from the päkapikud 

Plan the Kucious menu and select the twelve meatless dishes to serve your guests on Christmas eve

Set out a plate for your ancestors. (Tip: Make these simple photo ornaments for an alternative way to honor those who have passed) 

Order grey peas for New Year’s eve to allow ample time for shipping 

Make Žagarėliai or zaķu austiņas for the cookie exchange 

Pull the Yule log around your house three times and then burn on the winter solstice to rid of any negative energy 

Freeze ice lanterns to light the path to your door on Christmas eve

Light and warm your holidays with the Peace Light from Bethlehem 

Iron the white linen tablecloth, and procure hay to place under it for the Kucios meal fortune telling 

Put on some Latvian Christmas music like the Rolling Stone Magazine favorite Christmas Joy in Latvia by the New York Latvian Concert Choir, or the newest from the Latvian Radio Choir Mārtiņš Brauns "Daugava" while washing the dishes 

Read Svētku naktsvirtuvē (Christmas Night in the Kitchen) to your children (or your significant other, pets, yourself) before settling in to sleep to await the arrival of Santa

Tomorrow, on 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas: the BALTIC IMPORTS Gift Guide!