TLC-Inspired Holiday Traditions Your Family Will Love

Add these fun family-centered customs to your holiday celebrations this year!

December 16, 2025

By: Samantha Lande

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Make the Holidays Even More Special

The holidays are always a great time for traditions, whether you’re upholding long-standing ones or creating new ones of your own. There are so many fun ideas to adopt, many of them featured on some of our favorite TLC shows.

Family Pajamas

There’s nothing cuter than waking up on Christmas morning in matching PJs. Whether you choose to participate or just gift the kids pajamas, like Meri did on Sister Wives to carry on her own family traditions, the result is oh-so-cute. If you’re crafty you can even sew all the jammies yourself, just like Meri did!

White Elephant or Bad Santa

Gift exchanges are always a fun holiday tradition, but it becomes even more fun when silly gifts are involved. On 1000-lb Sisters, they did a small family "Bad Santa" gift exchange, often called a White Elephant exchange. Perfect for a large group, each person buys a fun but somewhat silly gift and participants have an opportunity to "exchange" their gift if they see one they like better. It often results in gifts shifting hands multiple times and everyone having a fun, giggle-filled time.

Cookie Exchange

Cookies are synonymous with the holidays, whether you’re leaving some for Santa, indulging on your own, or putting together tins for family and friends. With so many fun varieties of cookies, you can start a cookie exchange. If your kids are old enough, challenge each family member to make a different kind of cookie or host a cookie exchange party and get others involved. Everyone will end up with a great box of cookies for the holiday season.

Play in the Snow

In some parts of the country, winter is in full swing giving that holiday winter wonderland vibe. If you happen to live in (or visit!) one of those spots over the holidays, playing in the snow together is a must, just like Bilal and Shaeeda did on 90 Day Fiance. It was Shaeeda's first snow since moving from Trinidad and Tobago to Kansas City, MO! 

Learn About Holiday Traditions from Other Cultures

Holidays are celebrated so differently around the world and learning about these different cultures can be so fun. Explore customs from the countries featured in the 90 Day universe like India, where they decorate banana and mango trees instead of pine trees, or indulge in a Filipino Noche Buena feast, a traditional Christmas event celebration and meal eaten after midnight mass.

Have a Holiday Movie Night

Over the years there have been so many great holiday movies, from the classics to new festive features. Pick a few of your favorites and cozy up on the couch with blankets and a few of your favorite snacks and make it a night in with the family. And when you've had your fix, throw on some TLC family shows instead!

Seasons Greetings

The holidays are a fabulous time to send best wishes and season’s greetings to those you love. Pulling together a holiday card can be time consuming. Do as 90 Day Fiance's Loren & Alexi did for Hanukkah and send a video holiday card. Post it on social media or send directly to those you love to let them know you’re thinking of them during this season.

Create Your Own Winter Wonderland

If you aren’t in  a location where snow is present for the holidays, who says you can’t create your own (7:24) like Trent from 7 Little Johnstons did to celebrate his granddaughter Leighton’s first Christmas. There are many ways to do it, like combining conditioner and cornstarch, shaving cream and baking soda, or getting a snowmaking machine.

Have a Screen-Free Game Night

Get everyone off those screens and play some good old-fashioned games. Pull out classic board games like Trouble and Monopoly or play a few games where you don’t need anything at all like the  alphabet game (15:38),  which Amber introduced to her family on 7 Little Johnstons. You can frame this as screen-free games to play and bond every year, using the alphabet one as an example and include a few more.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Inside the Exclusive 90 Day Fiance Holiday Party, The Ultimate 1000-lb Sisters Gift Guide, The Ultimate 90 Day Fiance Gift Guide

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TLC-Inspired Holiday Traditions Your Family Will Love

Shop This Look

Make the Holidays Even More Special

Family Pajamas

White Elephant or Bad Santa

Cookie Exchange

Play in the Snow

Learn About Holiday Traditions from Other Cultures

Have a Holiday Movie Night

Seasons Greetings

Create Your Own Winter Wonderland

Have a Screen-Free Game Night

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