There is an Irish Christmas tradition I have loved and kept in part the past several years called Nollaig Bheag or “Little Christmas/Women’s Christmas.” The actual tradition is that the men give the women the day off on this day of Epiphany and take care of all the house duties and some men even host a high tea to thank the women in their lives. I love that, especially after all the Christmas busyness and cooking that most of the women do, it is nice to have a break on the last day! While our family doesn’t hold to the tradition exactly, I do host a ladies tea on or around January 6th each year for us to enjoy a time of refreshment of mind and spirit in good fellowship with sisters in Christ! My husband keeps our kids for the day and allows me to just focus on this very special time and it is always a highlight of my year!
Every year, I choose a different theme and ask the Holy Spirit who all I need to invite or who needs to come for this particular event (in addition to my core group). This year’s theme was “A Victorian Christmas Around the World”. All the ladies bring a dish to fit the theme chosen and every year I am always so amazed by the dishes and creativity and deliciousness of our spread! We had quite the international Christmas fare this time and it was so fun experiencing different cultures!
As for the decor, one of the things I love about having a party after Christmas is the fact that I can get any last decor items for 90% off at Hobby Lobby and other clearance deals. Additionally, our church decor came down after New Year’s and this time I was able to borrow a few items like extra wreaths and a tree. In Victorian times, everything was handmade and resourceful using whatever they had. You would find lots of candles including candles on the tree, cinnamon or gingerbread people ornaments, ribbons, cranberries, oranges, cinnamon sticks and other food on the tree. You would also find gold gilded walnuts. These were halved and a note or a joke was placed inside, then resealed and covered in gold leaf with a ribbon to hang on the tree. So in keeping with that tradition, I also made gilded walnuts for everyone but put a verse reference instead (a different one for each). Another characteristic of the Victorian Christmas was parlor games. The problem is these games were quite dangerous! To stay clear of the danger but still honor the tradition, I planned a few table games that were far more enjoyable! To accommodate for the games, however, I created centerpieces that could be moved in one piece to make the table clearing quick and easy. I hot glued candlesticks I found from thrift stores and my clearance searches onto a rustic wood board, glued down some evergreen garland that I cut up, glued pinecones, dried orange slices, cranberries and also made some orange pomanders which is just oranges with cloves stuck into the skin in different patterns. Each table setting had a hand-calligraphed card tied with ribbon and a bell as well as a poem by Tennyson printed on craft paper.
The term “ring in the new year” originated from this poem that was written in the Victorian era. Queen Victoria and her husband Albert along with Charles Dickens made a huge impact on what we now know of as Christmas in decorations and festivities. So the Victorian era also rung in the Christmas traditions we celebrate.
The games? Ransom Notes, Gimme That, Moose Master and Taco, Goat, Cat, Cheese, Pizza. These games are some of the best games for lots of laughter and ice breaking fun!
Now, for the favors! Of course I mentioned the gilded walnuts (although, honestly, I forgot to give those and have everyone sign the guest book so I’ll be following up with everyone on that later!). I also made crackers using empty toilet tissue rolls, scrap fabric, ribbon and fabric glue. Then I filled it with little satchels I made also with scrap fabric and ribbon that contained a cinnamon stick, cedarwood bark, star anise and cloves. They are great for putting in sock drawers or in the car. Then I put in some little Hawaiian treats, tissue paper crowns my husband and I made, and a little piece of paper that had a joke and a numbered question. These questions were used to get discussions going around the table and to develop deeper relationships as well as opening opportunities to know how to pray for each other.
You can access that document here for free as a gift for reading this article!
Coquito
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
12 oz evaporated milk
15 oz cream of coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
12 oz coconut milk
Blend all ingredients until smooth then refrigerate for up to 4 hours until completely chilled throughout. Shake before serving. It’ll keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. You can also serve with a cinnamon stick to swirl and if you need a little extra flavoring without the alcohol, you can add a drop or two of rum extract.
The above drink recipe was a huge hit and is a Puerto Rican “egg nog” but not egg nog at all. It is absolutely delicious and a keeper for the Christmas holidays! One of my close friends spent the night before the party, so she and I made the fruit pyramid and had such a fun time working on it!
As for the table settings, the day is meant to not be much work so I went with disposable for easy clean up but still to be beautiful. Below are the links for each.
So happy Nollaig Bheag , Little Christmas, Merry Christmas and Epiphany (a little belated)! I hope you enjoy these ideas and maybe it inspires you to host your own Little Women’s Christmas next season!