Like most things this year, Christmas in 2020 will most likely be different from any before. Despite the government’s announcement of a significant loosening of the tiered system for a five-day period between 23-27 December across the UK, there are still a number of traditions that I’m sure everyone will be missing out on. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who will be gutted to miss out on Brumski this year, for one. However, I am a strong believer that all is not lost. If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that with a little bit of thinking outside the box, there are still plenty of ways to celebrate the important events in our lives on a smaller scale, and keep ourselves and those around us safe.

Living with friends in Selly Oak this term has definitely taught most of us how to be a lot more thrifty with our fun, and I’m sure we’ve all got lots of exciting new traditions to take home. Without pubs, clubs and restaurants, many will have some incredible new recipes to make for families this year, and one at-home event I would highly recommend is the household bar crawl which I am already planning to re-create with my family. This doesn’t have to be bar themed, another idea would be a different course of a meal in every room or even a different game. The only rule is that each member of the household takes over a different room and decorates it to a different theme, and then everyone goes around the rooms together for a different food, drink or game experience in each one. For those of us who have spent a lot more time than usual in our houses this year, this is a fantastic way to make an evening feel as though you’ve had some time away from the monotony of your familiar home.

One of the best things to come out of this year, in my opinion, is the boom in supporting small businesses that I have seen. With a little more spare time on people’s hands, and social media platforms such as Tiktok and Instagram to market smaller brands on easily, there are so many incredible, handmade Christmas presents to be found on sites like Etsy. This might be the year of online shopping, but that definitely doesn’t mean that we have to give Amazon all our money.

Just as good as supporting small or local businesses is the hand-made gift – something that I think will be having a huge rise this year. Therapeutic lockdown-learned skills often also happen to make great gifts. Whether it’s crocheting, embroidering, painting, making jewellery or anything else on the vast list of arts and crafts I’ve seen my friends and family doing this year, I know that a homemade present can be an absolute winner. My personal skill of 2020 has been knitting, and I’m sure nobody receiving a present from me this year will be surprised (or, I hope, disappointed) to open it up to find a cosy scarf or blanket. The homemade gift provides the perfect crossover between thoughtfulness and enjoyment for both parties, as skills such as knitting are therapeutic for the maker and useful or beautiful for the receiver.

I’m sure that this time last year, many among us would be gutted to find out what Christmas would be like in 2020. Even when I celebrated my birthday back in April, I hadn’t imagined that we would still be in such a tough situation by December. However, I would argue that there are silver linings to our festive season this year. Small business owners, much-loved local sellers and the environment will certainly be thanking us for a smaller-scale Christmas, and with our new lockdown skills of creativity and fun-making with limited resources, I’m feeling pretty positive for what will definitely be a Christmas like no other.

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