This Twelve Days of Christmas gift idea is easy to put together with printable stories, a printable poem and numbered gift tags. Each day leading up to Christmas, read a heartwarming story and open the coordinating wrapped treat.
If you’re looking for a great way to add some meaning back into your Christmas season, if you need a care package to mail to someone far away, or if you want to be a secret santa to a family and leave goodies on their porch, this Twelve Days of Christmas Stories is the perfect gift idea!
I have gathered twelve heartwarming Christmas stories and thought of treats to coordinate with something from the story. Each treat and story is individually wrapped and labeled and then each day during the twelve days before Christmas, you open one treat and eat it while you read the story! Fun, right?
I have done this with my family and given it away to other families for more than ten years now and it is such a great way to feel the Christmas spirit. The stories are so sweet and focus on themes like service and giving. They will warm your heart.
Here is an overview of all the stories and the coordinating treats: (affiliate links)
Day 1 – December 13th
Story- A Christmas Family
Treat Idea Theme- Chocolate Coins
- Red envelope filled with chocolate coins
- Learn how to make an envelope out of a piece of paper here.
Day 2 – December 14th
Story- Rudolph—That Amazing Reindeer
Treat Idea Theme- Reindeer
- Reindeer Peeps
- Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Reindeer
- Reindeer Tin
- Reindeer Crispy Chocolate Candies
- Reindeer Pez Dispenser
- Large Chocolate Reindeer
Day 3 – December 15th
Story- An Older Brother’s Gift
Treat Idea Theme- Books or Bicycles
Day 4 – December 16th
Story- The Other Wise Man
Treat Idea Theme- Jewels or Treasure
Day 5 – December 17th
Story- Christmas Day In The Morning
Treat Idea Theme- Cows
Day 6 – December 18th
Story- The Necklace
Treat Idea Theme- Candy Necklace
Day 7 – December 19th
Story- The Christmas Orange
Treat Idea Theme- Oranges
Day 8 – December 20th
Story- A Christmas Gift for Jesus
Treat Idea Theme- Dollar Bill
Day 9 – December 21st
Story- Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect
Treat Idea Theme- Christmas Trees
Day 10 – December 22nd
Story- Christmas on the Rhine
Treat Idea Theme- Gingerbread
- Gummy Gingerbread Men
- Gingerbread Peeps
- Little Debbie Gingerbread Cookies
- Gingerbread House Kit
- Gingerbread Cookies
Day 11 – December 23rd
Story- The Legend of the First Christmas Bell
Treat Idea Theme- Bells
Day 12 – December 24th
Story- The Legend of the Candy Cane
Treat Idea Theme- Candy Canes
Sometimes you just can’t find one of the items for the stories above, so I’ve included a bonus story so you can swap it out with one from above.
BONUS STORY
Story- A Brother Like That
Treat Idea Theme- Cars
BONUS STORY
Story- In Shepherd’s Field
Treat Idea Theme- Sheep
I’ve linked to as many treats as I could find online, but there are probably more options at in-person stores if you can’t find or don’t like one of the items. I had the best luck at places like Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Shopko, Dollar Tree, and local grocery stores.
I wrapped each candy individually, rolled up the story for that day and attached a tag that says what day it is supposed to be opened.
To make it even easier for you to put this gift together, I’ve created some free printables to go along with the stories.
There’s a poem to explain the gift to the person you are sending it to.
The poem reads:
Twelve days left ’til Christmas.
Let’s savor each one.
We hope that this gift
will bring lots of fun.
Each day there’s a story,
they’re all really sweet.
Along with each story
is a special treat.
These tales remind us
that Christ is the reason
we give love and kindness
each Holiday season.
There are also matching numbered tags to tie to each present so it’s easy to tell which present goes with which story.
Our family has done this activity together each Christmas season and my children look forward to opening the wrapped treat and then cuddling up together to hear the story. We absolutely love this tradition! And I hope your family will grow to love it too.
Like this idea? Pin it so you don’t forget it!
Comments & Reviews
Thank you so much for this! Our ward is doing a service project for a recent convert missionary who just left from our ward. We are sending him monthly packages. I especially loved this idea. And thank you for the beautiful printables!
You're welcome! This is a great gift for missionaries. It sounds like you've got a great ward if they are taking such care with that missionary. 🙂
For some reason I cannot get the beautiful tags to print! The poem did just fine. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Any suggestions? I love this – thank you so much for putting it all together!
-Stephanie
Oh no Stephanie! I'm not sure what the problem is, but send me an email and I will send you the file. jennifer @ thecraftpatchblog (dot) com
I was hoping to get the information for this. The links don't seem to open. I wondered if this was something that you still had the information for?
The links work just fine for me, I'm so sorry they were giving you trouble. Try entering the url's:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B68a5pOboyV6YlhCT2NOUndXMm8/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B68a5pOboyV6NUJ6M25leHB6WTA/view
Let me know if that works for you!
I still cannot get it to open. I don't know if its my web browser that I am using. Is there any way you can email it to me shur86@yahoo.com Thank you for everything. This seems like a super cute idea!!
Sure, I'll email it to you. But most of the time when people can't open things, it's because they are at work and their ISP blocks it.
Is there anyway you would message the word document version – I am happy to pay. I am going to do this for six different people/families and it's just from me so I need to change the "we" to "I".
Also is there anyway to get the word document of the stories. I notice some grammar edit errors in several of the stories. I am happy to edit them and send them back to you?! also, happy to pay. Very excited – thank you!
Hi Colee, unfortunately the original documents were on my old laptop that died. All I have left is what's available to download!
when I click the link I only get the poem and the tags but no stories. Is there a way to get these stories too?
The stories are there too. There are three files in the folder.
Jennifer may I ask you where you were able to find the Rudolf story. I am wondering if there is an author or some kind of reference. I just love this story and plan to share it with my family this Christmas eve as I have been doing with my Cub Scouts for the past few years. This story has details I have not found in my search in years past. Just curious. Thanks for sharing. I love this entire 12 days!
Mary, I’m so sorry I don’t really have an answer for you. I collected these stories over several years and the original publish date for the blog post is way back in 2009. I just don’t know where this story came from. I’m sorry.
I remember you did this for your brother’s family two years and had a separate set of stories for the second year? I am wanting to do this for my sister again and I’m looking for the second round of stories. I can’t seem to find them…any ideas? Thanks for sharing your creativity!
Hi Natalie! Wow, you must be a long time follower. I’m surprised you remember that. Thank you for your support over the years! The first year I gave it to one sibling and the second year I gave it to a different sibling, so unfortunately, I didn’t gather new stories. I just had a hard time finding the same treats so I had to adjust things a bit.
I am a long time follower! Love your stuff. Off to find new stories! My sister’s family loved this so much last year they requested a round 2.
This is such a great idea, so glad I found it!
Beautiful stories! Thank you!
I used this two years ago for my sister, came back to Download again for a coworker this year. All I’m seeing available is the tags and poem but no stories. Would you be able to send them?? I just gathered most of the treats and didn’t realize the stories were not available 😂
tweiss25@gmail.com
Hi Tami, I’m confused. When I open the link, I see three files: the stories, the tags and the poem. Is that not what you see?
I love, love, love this idea! I will be using this for my ministering sisters and some of the families in our ward and community. Thanks so much for sharing this idea!