Candace Cameron Bure, Blake Lively and More Celebrities Share Their Strangest Holiday Traditions

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Candace Cameron Bure, Blake Lively and More Celebrities Share Their Strangest Holiday Traditions

Doing it their way! Stars have their own unique traditions that they follow religiously during the holiday season. Whether it’s watching a specific film with the family or eating a certain meal, celebrities like Blake Lively are proud of keeping the annual pattern going. The Gossip Girl star, who shares three daughters with husband Ryan Reynolds, previously opened up the most important part when it comes to celebrating the holidays. "It's really just about being with family," Lively said in a Gucci Premiere video in 2014. "So we never leave the house, whether we're making ginger bread houses, or baking cookies, or sitting around watching movies." In November 2021, Candace Cameron Bure exclusively told Us Weekly how her family planned to shake up their Christmas plans that year. "I'm super excited that we're all going to be together. My son [Lev] in college is coming home for a couple of weeks and my son [Maksim] that lives up north is coming home. But then we're actually going on a trip together, the five of us, and we are doing the antithesis of a Hallmark movie," the actress, who shares her sons and daughter Natasha with husband Valeri Bure said at the time. "We are going to the beach. So we're going to just spend a little time in Miami and enjoy some sunshine and the ocean spray. I can't wait." [jwplayer 1go0sc1q-zhNYySv2] Candace noted that, in her house, it was important to give each holiday the proper amount of time to celebrate. “If I'm going [to] put [decorations] up and do the work, I want to enjoy [them] as long as possible,” the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries star explained to Us. “[That] doesn’t mean I'm blowing over Thanksgiving. [It] doesn't mean I don't recognize Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving actually, it's my favorite. I just like the Christmas decorations to be [on] view all the time.” The California native also admitted that she felt the need to go all out to maintain her reputation as Hallmark's Christmas Queen. “I did feel an immense amount of pressure [last year] as every movie does well in the ratings,” she added. “And then you always want to hit that mark and exceed that mark. And last year, I finally let it go because it's not the reason why I make these movies. “I make them because I love them. And I know that the viewers that watch them really love them, and they mean something to them. I always try to make it the best that I can, but I let the pressure go last year.” Scroll down to check out more strange celeb holiday traditions: [podcast_block]

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Candace Cameron Bure

"We're actually going on a trip together, the five of us, and we are doing the antithesis of a Hallmark movie," the Full House alum told Us in November 2021 of her family's Christmas plans. "We are going to the beach. So we're going to just spend a little time in Miami and enjoy some sunshine and the ocean spray."

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Mariah Carey

"Depending on how many of us are up in [Aspen, Colorado], we get one or two horse-drawn sleighs, and we bundle up and go riding in the snow under the stars," the singer, who shares twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Nick Cannon, told Redbook magazine in November 2008. "We always drink cocoa with butterscotch schnapps to keep warm, and we sing at the top of our lungs."

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Reese Witherspoon

During an interview with BBC in November 2008, Witherspoon revealed that one of her holiday traditions with her children included dressing up her Oscar [trophy], saying, "At Christmastime, they put a little hat on him and a little scarf, so he doesn't get cold."  

The Four Christmases star, who shares daughter Ava and son Deacon with ex Ryan Phillippe and son Tennessee with husband Jim Toth, also noted that she didn't like to go overboard with presents.

“I’m a little strict about that kind of stuff,” she said at the time. “I think kids do best when they only have a couple of things that they really enjoy. I try and stay away from the gluttony of things. They don’t appreciate it as much. When they only get one or two things they really like it.”

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Chrissy Teigen and John Legend

During an interview with The Receipt in November 2018, Legend admitted that he and his wife have made ordering McDonald's a Christmas tradition.

"It's a Chrissy tradition, for sure," the musician, who shares daughter Luna and son Miles with the model, joked at the time, before sharing their future holiday food plans. “We’ve decided that Beef Wellington is our go-to Christmas main dish from now on."

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Kate Hudson

Hudson previously explained that her family has made Santa the holiday staple in their own way.

"One year, Santa wanted rum, root beer and licorice. One year, he wanted gluten free cookies and almond milk. Another year, I think he wanted Cabernet and some chocolates," she said during an interview with Fabletics in 2016. "So Santa likes to change quite a bit! Our traditions are very much based around Santa, so we read The Night Before Christmas. We do the Santa tracker and then the kids run up and go to sleep while the adults stay up for a little bit."

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Jessica Alba

"We have a big family and friend sit-down dinner," Alba, who shares three kids with her husband, Cash Warren, told InStyle in 2015. "Cash, me and my parents throw down in the kitchen, and my dad makes the most yummy tender turkeys. He makes a spicy seasoned version with fresh jalapeños and a classic version with all the fixings. We love Christmas caroling with an improv version of '12 Days of Christmas' that’s always pretty epic. We also do our version of a White Elephant that’s an ornament exchange for all of the adults."

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Chloë Grace Moretz

“We watch Family Stone every single Christmas Eve. Every single Christmas Eve. Before that came out, we would watch The Grinch. But The Family Stone has been our main thing but The Grinch before that,” the The Miseducation of Cameron Post star tells Us. “My brothers and I always watch it.”

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Amber Tamblyn

“I’m really into the tradition of sleep,” the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star — who welcomed daughter Marlow in February 2017 — tells Us. “I think we need more of those holidays."

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Rachel Zoe

“We do the whole holiday circuit,” the fashion designer tells Us. “Holiday time is a constant party for like three weeks.”

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Nick Jonas

"Every year we eat tamales on Christmas morning and it's pretty awesome," the Disney alum admits, according to InStyle. "My mom started it and it's special because Kevin, Joe and I have grown up doing it. It's very like us to have tamales on Christmas."

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Michelle Obama

"Our extended family was so large, people couldn't really afford to buy gifts for everyone. So a couple of my aunts would go out and purchase small gifts. They would put them in a basket and in order to get a gift you had to perform. You could tell a joke, read a poem, do a backflip—anything counted,” the former first lady told Ladies’ Home Journal in 2013. “It's a tradition that we've carried on today."

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Blake Lively

“I don't know how my family does this but everybody gets in the same bed," Lively told The Kit in 2014. "Somehow we just spend seven hours a day just chatting. It's really nice to have that time."

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Nico Tortorella

“We play poker,” the Younger actor revealed, according to Parade. “We all bring $100 in singles and play until somebody wins all the money."

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Mila Kunis

“So far, our tradition is no presents for the kids,” the That '70s Show alum told Entertainment Tonight in 2017 of her children, Wyatt and Dimitri, with husband Ashton Kutcher. “We're instituting it this year because when the kids are [younger than] one, it doesn't really matter."