'Tree' presents?

[Holiday Joy]

I was reading at OC about Tree Presents. It seems that some families hide a small gift in their tree to be given and opened after the Christmas rush of presents. Some open them after dinner on Christmas day, or before bed, or on the day that the tree finally comes down. They hide a small present in the tree as a gift from the tree itself. I think this is a charming idea, and a GREAT way to get some help taking the decorations off the tree!

:tree: Does anyone here follow that tradition? If so, where did you first hear about it?

 

[LadyEvenstar]

My grandmom has always done this. It started when we were kids and came to her house for Christmas dinner. She always had a small present "from the tree" that we could open after dinner so we would still have one more gift to open that day.

We still eat dinner at Grandmom's and she still keeps up the tradition. Anyone who comes to Christmas dinner gets a gift from the tree. Usually it's just something small but this year there will be a Nintendo Wii under the tree for the whole extended family to enjoy. Granny won the grand prize at the kids' Home and School raffle this year. :smile:

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I did this in reverse when my kids were at home. Before opening gifts on Christmas I had everyone pick one gift to open when we put all the decorations away. Of course the kids always picked the smallest gift to open when we put everything away. I alwayso had lots of willing help to put everything away. The rule was if you didn't help you didn't get to open the gift. I'd hold it for next year. This never happend.

One thing I did notice was if the kids could tell the gift was clothes, that package was picked often. So I started wrapping all clothes in a box so they couldn't tell. My favorite way to wrap with kids was in a tube shape like a can. That shape is had to guess what it might contain.

I use to hid their Christmas gifts in a suitcase. Hardly anyone looks there. One year in June when we were going on vacation I found gifts in the suitcase that even I had forgetten to give out.

 

[jackfrosty]

I love all these ideas!
This year the elves will bring the Christmas pickle to hang on the tree. Instead of one person getting an extra gift-the one who finds it gets to open the first gift-an attempt to restore some order to the usual rip and tear session!
Ahorsesoul-I love your tricky suggestion to get some cleanup help! :tree: