What on earth is Hygge we hear you ask?
If you haven’t discovered it yet, it’s an absolute must! We first discovered it a year or so ago and just love everything it stands for.
Oxford Dictionaries describe Hygge as ‘A quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)’.
STAG Mumbler describes it as ‘An opportunity to break the routine of normal life, spend quality time together as a family, doing the things you might not normally make time to do…..all wrapped up in the ultimate of cosyness.’
The cold, dark nights are coming and the shops are already taking the wrapping off their Christmas delights. While we know some mumblers are yearning the summer back, here at STAG we just adore winter, it’s probably why we have two Christmas babies. December is certainly our favourite time of the year.
If you’d like to give a Hygge night a go, here’s some ideas and inspiration from us.
- Choose a room to get cosy. It could be the lounge or a bedroom perhaps, the choice is yours.
- Do everything you can to make it look and feel different. We opt for the lounge, bringing downstairs lots and lots of blankets, duvets and fluffy pillows and laying them on the floor.
- Lighting is key. Whether you opt for cosy lamps, candles or fairy lights, they are all perfect.
- Why not make a den and all climb in? Mini Mumblers love dens, but us adults can
enjoy them too, it’s a super way of reliving your childhood.
- Ensure you all put on your cosiest of clothes. Whether it be your favourite PJ’s, comfy sweatpants or perhaps even some cosy matching socks, the choice is yours.
- Grab dinner or some yummy snacks. Whether you choose to eat dinner from your new location, have a picnic, or simply some treats in a bowl, it will all add to the excitement. Perhaps you could all bake something. Hot chocolate and marshmallows or marshmallows and strawberries dipped in chocolate are a STAG favourite!
- Choose your entertainment – We’re sure traditional hygge may not encourage watching TV, but if you have a Saturday night favourite, such as Strictly, or perhaps a favourite family film, simply watching that together as a family in your new cosy hygge environment will still be a real treat. You could opt for traditional board games, telling ghost stories, sharing your favourite memories of the year, chatting about your dream holiday and what it might look like, telling jokes, playing with lego, making Christmas cards, singing your favourite songs, playing the guitar….the list is endless.
- Take photos. We are sure you’ll have a super evening and it’s great to have memories to treasure.
- Write about your experience. Encourage the children to write about their Hygge night or draw a picture. It would be great for the memory book or story for show and tell at school.
- Finally……relax and enjoy! Life can be busy, life can be tough, life can go by far too fast and we can forget to treasure the special times or even make time for them. Your Hygge night might be a one off, or you may aim to make it a regular occurrence. Whichever you choose, just enjoy precious time together, cuddling those babies (no matter how old they might be now) and remembering what family is really all about.