A Secret 12 Days of Christmas Gifts Surprise
  

A Secret 12 Days of Christmas Gifts Surprise

Here's a fun set of 12 days of Christmas gifts that can be left on a doorstep secretly for a new surprise on each of the twelve days!

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Near the end of the year a couple of years ago, I was struggling with feelings of frustration with the uncertainty that came with Ken's PhD. He had been in school far longer than we planned or expected and there was no end date in sight. Those last few years of Ken's degree were difficult for both of us. As I was dealing with some of those feelings and trying to focus on the positive and on all of our blessings and all of the good in our lives, something pretty awesome happened to us!

12 Days of Christmas Gifts
12 Days of Christmas Gifts

I wanted to share this experience with you because I've been thinking a lot about how we can serve others this month and I thought sharing this might inspire some of you with some ideas of how to show love and support to the people in your life. Whether you feel you can set aside the time, effort, and money to do something as involved as this, or there's a cute idea in the mix that sparks an idea for you, I hope it inspires you to do something kind for someone else.

12 Days of Christmas Gifts


The first day of Christmas surprise appeared on our porch anonymously on December 13th and it made my week! We had our very own secret Christmas friends and we were so excited to see what would happen for the rest of the 12 days of Christmas!

I'll share what each of the 12 gifts were and what the tag said that went with it:

Pear Crumble 12 Days of Christmas

Day 1's delivery was a delicious home-baked crumble dessert with ice cream!

1st Day of Christmas Tag

"On the first day of Christmas and all through your house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Then suddenly one little soul did appear, it's your Christmas friends bringing you holiday cheer! Tonight calls for a partridge for your pear tree... partridges are tough catches you see.. the bird flew the coop, leaving nothing behind but some delicious pear crumble, the very best kind. Now beware of this warning- your friends will be here, but you better not look or we'll disappear! Then all of your gifts that were carefully planned, on some other porch will surprisingly land."

Two Turtle Doves Second Day of Christmas


2 Turtle Doves!  On the 2nd day of Christmas, our secret Christmas friends struck again with two packages of Turtles chocolates!

2nd Day of Christmas Tag

"Turtles and doves are coming your way; eat all the chocolate that you may. Because in your family you have a few, we've left on your doorstep more than just 2. This glad Christmas season is so full of fun, we're happy to share with your family, then run! How grateful we are that you're playing our game. You'll now find that Christmas won't be the same."



Day 3 was homemade chicken noodle soup!

3rd Day of Christmas Tag:

"Night three arrives, but we're not in France, and three French hens don't come by chance. It cost us a bundle to have them shipped, the French hens insist that their soup be sipped."



We weren't sure if our Christmas friends were coming this night, but just before the girls got into bed there was a knock on the door and we found 4 cards (1 for each of us) with kind words inside.

4th Day of Christmas Tag:

 "Four calling birds speak highly of you, you're kind and you're thoughtful, generous too. They gave us a message over the phone, saying friends like you make us feel right at home."


The tastiest kind of rings- doughnuts!

5 Golden Rings Tag:

"On the fifth day of Christmas with things rather tight, it's important to us that we all travel light. Gold rings are too heavy, (and not very yummy) so please be content with sweet rings in your tummy!"



On the 6th day, we got breakfast!

6th Day of Christmas Tag:

 "Six geese-a-laying - an interesting sight, til one of them squawked and they all took flight! What they left in their nest, you'll just have to look! A basket of eggs that you'll sure want to cook!"



The seventh day was one of the ones that stands out most in my memory. We had gone out to deliver cookies to a few of our friends and when we got home, this was sitting at our door!  Seven adorable paper swans floating on top of blue Jell-O!

7th Day of Christmas Tag:

 'Tis The seventh day of Christmas and we're halfway done. Remember no peeking or you'll spoil the fun. Finding swans in December sure gave us some trouble, but we found some miniature ones swimming on Jell-O!"



We were having fun guessing how our friends would interpret each of the days. There were a lot of clever ideas! The eighth day was chocolate milk!

8th Day of Christmas Tag:

"On the eighth day of Christmas, we're busy as bees. Eight maids-a-milking, nowhere do we see. But there in the barn we spy something now, it's the rich creamy milk from a pretty brown cow."



The 9th was possibly Katrina's favourite day. This girl loves to dance!

9th Day of Christmas Tag:

"Nine ladies dancing would be a big crowd, besides their music is way too loud! We have for you some Christmas songs, to listen to all season long!"


Day 10 gave us everything we needed to make our own microwave caramel popcorn!

10th Day of Christmas Tag:

"10 lords-a-leaping would be an awesome gift, but they got stuck while jumping ore a big snowdrift, you'll have to be content, you see, to watch the popcorn fly, and if you've got a sweet tooth, here's a recipe to try." 


Day 11 was hot chocolate- a favourite around here!

11th Day of Christmas Tag:

"11 pipers piping reminds us of our plumber, to leave him on the doorstep would be a real bummer. Now make your water piping hot, and fill your cups with care, we're giving you some hot cocoa we know you'll want to share. We simply can't believe this game is almost through... We've had a jolly time bringing all these gifts to you. With only one more night left, don't you wish you knew... just exactly who we are and why we're doing this for you?"



Day 12 was one of our favourite ice cream treats- Drumsticks!

12th Day of Christmas Tag:

"The final evening has arrived and on our ending night, one dozen drummers at your door would be a splendid site. But drummers are too noisy with their drums they're always beating, instead we'll let you softly drum your ice cream as you're eating! In the end we wish you a Merry Christmas! We're guessing you'd like an announcement from us, but our names stay a secret; we just cannot share. It's the kindness of strangers that really is rare."


Although we were dying to know who our secret friends were, this was a pretty good kind of mystery! This will be one of those special Christmas memories we'll probably all remember many years from now. If our secret friends are reading this, I can't thank you enough or express what a difference you made for me that Christmas (not to mention the fun you brought to our whole family)!


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15 comments:

  1. That is the coolest thing ever! I've been smiling like a goof throughout the entire post, excited to see what your secret friends will bring you next!

    Only the best of secret friends will share a recipe for microwave caramel popcorn. I just Googled it myself, and can't wait to try that next time I make a batch of popcorn, YUM.

    What a fabulous memory to cherish!

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    1. :) Yes! So good! :) haha
      Yes, we definitely will. I hope to do something like this for someone someday too!

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  2. I would go nuts not knowing who it was! I'd go all CSI on them ... dust for finger prints, check alibis! I would love to do this for a family ...

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    Replies
    1. hahahahaha I'm just picturing that. lol We were dying to know but at the same time, we wanted to respect their wanting to keep it secret (not to mention they threatened that if we peeked, we'd stop getting our surprises!! ;)

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  3. This is so much fun, would love to do this for someone next Christmas! You certainly have some nice family and/or friends to come up with such a clever idea!

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    1. I'd love to do it someday too! Yeah, we loved it. It was such a cool thing for them to do!

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  4. Oh what a fun act of kindness this would be to commit. I am definitely keeping it in mind for next year. What a fun and festive way to bring joy and smiles to others.

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    1. I know! & it definitely was a commitment, coming by every day!

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  5. This looks like so much fun and the ideas were not complicated at all! Perfect for us!!

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  6. Such a sweet christmas you guys had, very nice surprises.

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  7. I love this so much! What a great treat for your family and would be so fun to do for do for some other family! Thanks for sharing this idea!

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  8. Oh wow that was so awesome and very kind of your secret santas!

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  9. Wow! That is the best 12 days of Christmas! So kind! That's what Christmas is all about the gift of giving!

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  10. I love this and am going to swipe these ideas! So cute. Especially the breakfast drop-off - great way to keep them guessing :)

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Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment- I love reading them! :)
~Heather Lynne

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