Christmas Keepsake Ideas: Start a Tradition
The best Christmas keepsake is one you add to every year: a dated ornament, a tablecloth the guests sign each Christmas, a box of yearly letters, or a video book of the family's year. A keepsake becomes a tradition the moment you do it a second time.
A note before the list: we make Tribute, the group video maker. Tribute is a group video maker that turns messages from friends and family into one surprise video, and our Tribute Video Book is one of the eight ideas. The other seven are traditions you can start with supplies from any craft or home store.
| Keepsake | Best for | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| A dated ornament each year | Families with kids | $10 to $40 a year |
| A signed holiday tablecloth | The family that hosts every year | $30 to $60 |
| A Christmas Eve box | Families with young kids | $20 to $60 |
| Tribute Video Book of the family's year | Families who record everything | $149 |
| Handprint ornament series | New parents and grandparents | Under $10 a year |
| A box of yearly family letters | Parents who want to remember the details | $20 to $50 |
| A Christmas memory jar | Couples and families | Under $20 |
| The same photo, every year | Every family | $30 to $80 for the frame |
What makes a good Christmas keepsake?
Every keepsake earns its place by holding a moment. The best ones carry a date, a name or a voice, so that years later someone can pick it up and say "that was the year we got the dog." Price doesn't decide it. Meaning does.
Sentimental items are also what people want, even when givers hesitate. A study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology found givers choose gifts that match the recipient's interests much more often than recipients would prefer, when a sentimental gift tied to a shared memory was the alternative. Keepsakes sit on the sentimental side of that line.
The other thing a keepsake needs is repetition. One ornament is a decoration. Twelve ornaments with twelve dates are a timeline the kids will fight over when they grow up.
What are the best Christmas keepsake ideas to start this year?
Each idea below is easy to start and easy to repeat. Pick one or two, and do them every year.
1. A dated ornament each year
Every December, each child picks or makes one ornament, and you write their name and the year on it. When they move out, they leave with a box of ornaments that covers their whole childhood.
- Look for: a material that takes a paint pen, like wood, ceramic or glass, and a storage box with dividers.
- Price: about $10 to $40 a year.
- Time needed: one evening each December.
Best for: Families with kids of any age.
Why it works: It builds a timeline you can hang on the tree, and it gives each kid their own collection.
2. A signed holiday tablecloth
Buy a plain white tablecloth and a fabric marker. Every guest at Christmas dinner signs it and writes the year. Later, you can embroider over the signatures so they last through washing.
- Look for: heavy cotton or linen, and permanent fabric markers in a few colors.
- Price: about $30 to $60.
Best for: The family that hosts Christmas dinner every year.
Why it works: It holds the handwriting of everyone who ever sat at the table, including those who are no longer there.
3. A Christmas Eve box
A wooden box the kids open on Christmas Eve, filled with new pajamas, a holiday book, cocoa and a movie. The box is the keepsake. The contents change every year.
- Look for: a sturdy wooden box with the family name or each child's name on the lid.
- Price: about $20 to $60 for the box, plus whatever goes inside.
Best for: Families with young kids.
Why it works: It turns Christmas Eve into its own event, and the box comes out of storage every year.
4. A Tribute Video Book of the family's year (our pick, we make this)
Every family records its year on their phones and then never watches it. A video book fixes that: the year's best clips go into a hardcover that plays when someone opens the cover. Make one every Christmas and they line up on a shelf, one book per year.
The Tribute Video Book is a hardcover with a 7-inch screen and built-in speakers that plays as the cover opens. You upload the year's videos and photos, up to 4 hours, and a Tribute editor picks the best moments, adds music and cleans up the sound. You approve the video, and it ships in a gold-foil gift slipcase.
- Look for: one or two clips from each month, so the video runs January to December.
- Price: $149, editing included. Check the Christmas order dates on the Video Book page.
- Time needed: an hour to pick and upload the clips. The editor does the rest.
Best for: Families whose phones hold the whole year and who watch none of it.
Why it works: Unlike a photo album, it plays the family's voices. Unlike a folder on a laptop, it sits where people see it and pick it up.
👉 Get the Video Book for this year's shelf
5. A handprint ornament series
Press each child's hand into salt dough every Christmas and bake it into an ornament. Paint the year on the back. Over time, the hands grow across the tree.
- Look for: a simple salt dough recipe, a clear sealer and ribbon for hanging.
- Price: under $10 a year.
Best for: New parents, and grandparents who want one from each grandchild.
Why it works: Nothing shows how fast kids grow like their hands lined up year by year.
6. A box of yearly family letters
On Christmas night, each family member writes a short letter about the year: what happened, what they loved, what they hope for next year. Seal them in an envelope with the year on it and add it to the box.
- Look for: a keepsake box with a lid, and envelopes that won't yellow.
- Price: about $20 to $50.
- Time needed: half an hour on Christmas night.
Best for: Parents who want to remember the small details.
Why it works: In ten years, you'll read what a seven-year-old thought was the best part of the year, in their own spelling.
7. A Christmas memory jar
Keep a jar on the counter all year. When something good happens, write it on a slip of paper and drop it in. On Christmas Eve, read them all out loud.
- Look for: a big glass jar with a lid and a pad of colored paper next to it.
- Price: under $20.
Best for: Couples and families who want a reason to look back.
Why it works: It catches the small moments you would forget by December.
8. The same photo, every year
Take a photo in the same spot, in the same pose, every Christmas: on the stairs, by the tree, on grandma's porch. Frame them in a multi-photo frame and add one each year.
- Look for: a frame with ten or more openings, and a tripod so the angle stays the same.
- Price: about $30 to $80 for the frame.
Best for: Every family.
Why it works: Compared to a stack of random photos, the same shot each year shows the family growing in one glance.
What are Christmas keepsake ideas under $50?
Most keepsake traditions cost little to start. These are all under $50:
- A memory jar: under $20.
- A handprint ornament: under $10 a year.
- A signed tablecloth: about $30 to $50.
- A Christmas Eve box: about $20 to $50 for the box.
- A box of yearly letters: about $20 for the box.
What keepsakes work for a baby's first Christmas?
A first Christmas is the easiest year to start a tradition, because there's nothing to break yet. Pick something you can repeat with the same child every December. The first one will look small and simple, and that's the point: it marks where the story begins.
- A first-Christmas ornament: with the baby's name and the year, the start of their own collection.
- A footprint on the signed tablecloth: a tiny print next to the grown-ups' signatures.
- A letter to the baby: what the house was like, who held them first, what you hope for them.
- A video book of the first year: the first smile, the first bath, grandparents meeting the baby for the first time.
Grandparents tend to love these as gifts too, so think about making a second copy for them.
What is the Christmas keepsake to give as a gift?
The Christmas keepsake that works best as a gift is one the recipient can keep adding to, or one made from their own year. For grandparents, a video book of the grandkids or a handprint ornament fits. For parents, a signed tablecloth or a framed set of yearly photos.
Picture this: your parents open a small hardcover on Christmas morning. It plays the grandkids' summer at the lake, the new baby's first laugh, the whole family singing at Thanksgiving. Next December a second book arrives, and by the fifth it's the first thing they show visitors.
With 91% of U.S. adults owning a smartphone, every family already has the year on video. For more gift ideas, see our guides to Christmas gifts for mom, Christmas gifts for dad and Christmas gifts for parents.
How do you start a keepsake tradition that lasts?
Keep it simple enough that you'll do it in a busy year. A tradition that takes an evening survives. One that takes a weekend gets skipped the first year someone is sick or traveling.
- Pick one idea. Choose the keepsake that fits how your family spends December.
- Put it on the calendar. Same day every year, like the first Sunday of December.
- Give it a home. A box, a shelf or a spot on the tree where it lives between Christmases.
- Write the year on it. Every time.
Want more to pair it with? Our list of Christmas traditions has dozens to try. For a video book, check the Christmas order dates on the Video Book page before you start.
Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas Keepsakes
What is a Christmas keepsake?
A Christmas keepsake is an object you keep to remember a holiday, like a dated ornament, a signed tablecloth or a video of the family's year. The best ones are added to each year, so they become a tradition.
What are good keepsake gifts for Christmas?
Good keepsake gifts carry a date, a name or a voice: a personalized ornament, a framed photo series or a video book of the year. Grandparents and parents tend to value them most.
How do you make a Christmas ornament keepsake?
Use salt dough for a handprint ornament, or write a name and the year on a plain wood or ceramic ornament with a paint pen. Seal it so the writing doesn't fade.
What is a family Christmas tradition that is easy to keep?
Try a memory jar, a yearly photo in the same spot or a dated ornament. Each takes an evening or less. Easy traditions are the ones that last.
What is a video book?
A video book is a hardcover book with a screen inside that plays videos when you open it. It holds your own clips and photos, so each book keeps one year of the family's moments.
What are good Christmas memory gifts and photo gifts?
Christmas photo gifts work best as a series, like the same shot every year in one frame. Christmas memory gifts go further when they hold voices: a box of yearly letters or a video book of the family's year.
Which Christmas keepsake will your family keep adding to?
The keepsake your family keeps is the one that's easy to repeat and holds something real: a hand, a signature, a voice. Unlike a one-time gift, a keepsake tradition gets more valuable each December. Pick one this year, write the date on it, and do it again next Christmas.
For gifts, games and more, see our guide to Christmas ideas.
