Birthday Countdown
Christmas Birthday Ideas: 18 Ways to Make a December Birthday Special
If your child, partner or best friend was born in December, you already know the problem: their birthday gets squeezed between school concerts, office parties, travel and gift shopping. The good news is that a few small choices can make a December birthday feel like its own celebration. Here are 18 Christmas birthday ideas, plus 12 festive wishes you can send on the day.
Keep the birthday separate from Christmas
The most common complaint from people with December birthdays is that the day gets folded into the holidays. Start with these.
1. Give two separate gifts
Skip the “this is for your birthday and Christmas” present. Even if the birthday gift is small, it should be its own gift.
2. Use birthday wrapping paper
Wrap birthday presents in birthday paper, not leftover holiday paper. It’s a small detail, and people notice it.
3. Leave the holiday decorations out of it
On the birthday itself, put up balloons, a banner or birthday candles so the day looks different from the rest of the season.
4. Ask what they actually want
Some December birthday people love a festive theme; others want the day to have nothing to do with Christmas. Ask before you plan.
5. Celebrate a half-birthday in June
If the holidays make a big party impossible, throw a summer half-birthday with a cake and friends who are too busy in December. Kids especially love it.
6. Lock in the date early
December calendars fill up fast. Send a save-the-date in early November so friends plan around the birthday, not the other way round.
Festive party ideas that still put the birthday first
If they like the season, lean into it. Just make sure the birthday is the main event.
7. Winter wonderland birthday
Silver, white and pale blue decorations, paper snowflakes and a white frosted cake. It feels wintry without looking like Christmas.
8. Hot cocoa bar
Set out hot chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles and cinnamon sticks. It works for kids’ parties and grown-up get-togethers alike.
9. Cookie decorating party
Bake plain sugar cookies in birthday shapes like stars, candles and the number they’re turning, and let guests decorate them. Everyone takes a box home.
10. Cozy pajama brunch
A morning party in pajamas with pancakes and a birthday movie is easy to fit around evening holiday plans.
11. Ice skating or a winter walk
Book an hour at a local rink or plan a walk to see the lights, then head somewhere warm for cake.
12. Birthday-and-New-Year countdown party
For late-December birthdays, borrow the New Year’s Eve idea: count down to midnight on the night before the birthday, then cut the cake at 12.
Small touches that make the day feel theirs
13. A birthday breakfast
Their favorite breakfast, a candle in the pancakes and a song before anyone checks their phone.
14. A “birthday only” rule
No holiday shopping, wrapping or errands on the birthday. The day belongs to them.
15. A note from everyone
Collect short messages from family and friends, including the ones away for the holidays, and give them as a little booklet or a photo collage.
Count down to the birthday, not just to Christmas
Everyone counts down to Christmas in December. Give the birthday its own countdown so it doesn’t get lost.
16. A birthday advent calendar
Fill small pockets or envelopes with treats and notes for the last 7 or 12 days before the birthday. Kids love opening one each morning.
17. Share a birthday countdown video
Make a short countdown video with their photo and a birthday tune and post it to your WhatsApp Status or Instagram Story a few days before. It reminds everyone the birthday is coming, even in the holiday rush.
18. Set a reminder a week ahead
December is the month birthdays get forgotten. A reminder one week before gives you time to order a gift, book a table or plan the party.
12 Christmas birthday wishes
Short festive messages for a card, a text or the caption on a countdown video.
- Happy birthday! You’re the best present this season brought us.
- Of all the gifts under the tree, you’re still my favorite. Happy birthday!
- Happy birthday to someone who makes December twice as bright.
- Your birthday comes first. The holidays can wait. Happy birthday!
- Wishing you a birthday as cozy as cocoa and as bright as the lights.
- Born in the most wonderful time of the year, and it shows. Happy birthday!
- Cake before cookies today. Happy birthday!
- One birthday wish, zero holiday gifts mixed in. Happy birthday!
- December’s brightest star had a birthday today. That’s you!
- Happy birthday to my favorite winter baby.
- Here’s to your day, before the holiday rush takes over. Happy birthday!
- The best thing about December? Your birthday. Have a wonderful one!
Make a December birthday countdown in a minute
With the Birthday Countdown app you can keep every December birthday from slipping through the holiday cracks:
- Add a birthday with just a name and a date of birth
- See a live countdown in days, hours, minutes and seconds
- Get reminded on the day, 1 day before or 1 week before
- Use their photo as the background and share the countdown as a short video or a picture
Want to know exactly how many days are left? Try the days-until-birthday calculator on our home page, or read our 15 fun birthday countdown ideas.
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