When Thanksgiving is over and all the radio stations start blasting Christmas songs, the first thing that comes to my mind is…. THE NUTCRACKER!
(These two ginormous nutcrackers and Christmas trees were at the SLC international airport. They are HUGE! )
The Nutcracker ballet has been a part of my family’s Christmas traditions for the past 3 years. Although I did not take ballet lessons or go watch ballet shows growing up, my love for ballet has grown little by little ever since my oldest daughter started showing interest in it a few years ago.
Since then, my husband and I took her to go watch The Nutcracker every December before Christmas as a part of our family tradition and absolutely loved the experience! So this past December, we decided to have a nutcracker themed Christmas decoration/celebration at home, and boy oh boy… it was a blast! So today I wanted to share with you three things you can do to create the Nutcracker Christmas magic with your family!
Find Affordable Nutcracker Themed Decorations
My family and I usually don’t start decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t start looking for Christmas decors till after Thanksgiving! I usually go on Amazon first to look for some decors I can order online before I go to actual stores in my town. This past year I found some festive banners and nutcracker porch banners I ended up using inside of my home.
I also found these nutcracker soldiers at Dollar Tree one day and grabbed some to place them everywhere in my house!
We loved them so much that we actually went back to the store a few days later to grab more! But they were very low on stock. So if you see them at Dollar Tree before Christmas season, I highly recommend grabbing some!
We also decided to decorate our Christmas tree using ornaments of characters from The Nutcracker! I purchased some great ornaments from Kurt Adler brand on Amazon, used red and gold ornaments I already had, and added a lot of candy canes all over the tree to create The Nutcracker magic at home!
Click here (IG Reel) to see my Nutcracker themed Christmas tree from 2021 in action!
Reading The Nutcracker Book
If you would like to experience The Nutcracker Christmas Magic at home, I highly recommend reading The Nutcracker with your family. There are a lot of nutcracker books out there, but did you know that the story line of The Nutcracker ballet is slightly different from the original nutcracker story?
My sweet mother in law gifted me and my daughters this book a few weeks before Christmas last year, and we were a little surprised to find out that the book had the original story and how different it was from The Nutcracker ballet. But we ended up loving it! (The adorable ballerina dolls are from Target.)
But if you’re looking for a book with the story line of The Nutcracker ballet…. This is the BEST one!
This book was written by New York City Ballet, which is known for athletic and contemporary style ballet performances. Reading this book makes you feel like you’re at a theater watching The Nutcracker in person! The story line in this book precisely follows The Nutcracker ballet, and I might even say that this story is easier for little kids to understand than the original one. It is just the perfect book to introduce the story to your whole family! (I purchased this book from Amazon.)
Going to Watch The Nutcracker at a Local Theater
You’ve decorated your home with nutcracker decorations, read the story, and now it’s time to go see the show in person!
Even if you’ve never been to a ballet show, I highly recommend seeing The Nutcracker at a theater at least once in your life time!
If you’re worried about bringing your small children to the show, I would say kids 5 and older would be most likely just fine. There are many male ballet performers in The Nutcracker as well as stunning ballerinas, and all the colorful “candy” performers will keep them entertained the whole time! If you’re in the States, you should be able to find a local theater that has The Nutcracker shows throughout the month of December.
But if you can, find one with a live orchestra. You. Will. Not. Regret. It!
The combination of the ballet performance and live orchestra music will leave you speechless! This picture above was taken at Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah when my girls and I watched The Nutcracker by Utah Metropolitan Ballet. The show was Ah-mazing! I just can’t say enough good things about it! This was our second time watching The Nutcracker by Utah Metropolitan Ballet, and I will definitely recommend it to anyone!
If you’re interested in The Nutcracker or have been curious about it but not sure if it’s something you and your family may enjoy, I hope this post was helpful! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them!
I hope you and your family will be able to create your own Christmas magic with The Nutcracker next year.