I’m a big fan of traditions. I believe traditions can be powerful vehicles for memorable childhoods and for building a family culture. I love that each of us will have different traditions! It makes your family your own- and that’s a good thing.

It’s always fun to hear about different people’s traditions, and I love how much my father-in-law loves his family’s Christmas traditions. My husband’s family is from German. My father-in-law’s dad literally had to sneak across the border during WWII to escape Nazi Germany and began a new life here in America. He still has a heavy German accent- but he loves America.

They adapted a lot of the American traditions, but they still kept some of their German ones as well. One of my father-in-law’s favorites is the Bunter Teller- or, the “Colorful Plate”. It’s a colorful paper plate full of delicious goodies that are enjoyed on Christmas. I’ve heard of a few variations- either each child receives their own, or a plate is wrapped under the tree for the family on Get Better Soon, or a plate is set outside the bedroom door, or a big plate for the entire family is set out on Christmas Eve. But all include plates filled to the brim with special goodies, often ones that you only get that time of year. The plates themselves are beautiful. If you spend some time looking online for vintage German Bunter Teller plates, you’ll see a plethora of gorgeous plates, each unique and beautiful in their own way!

I realized in a way my family had our own version of a Bunter Teller on Christmas Eve- my mom always set out a pretty plate filled with her homemade goodies on Christmas Eve that we got to snack on while playing games, making cookies for Santa, and so on. Fudge, toffee, caramels- all homemade and all divine! It was definitely one of my favorite things growing up, so I can see why this concept would be dear to other’s hearts as well!

Here is what my father-in-law said recently about Christmas Eve and Bunter Tellers:

“On Christmas Eve is when we had the big celebration. We would always have a program where we would sing Christmas songs, read Christmas stories, share talents, read the Christmas story in Luke, and really bring in the spirit of this magical season. We would then open our gifts. However before we could open them we, as children, would go into our bedrooms and wait for St Nicholas to arrive with a gift. We would hear his Ho ho ho and merry Christmas echo through the house and we’d be so excited that St. Nicholas was actually in our home delivering a gift. After he left we came out of our rooms to where the Christmas tree was and there would be an unwrapped gift by the tree which Santa had just delivered. We would proceed with the unwrapping of gifts and the excitement of the present portion of the celebration. Afterwards we always had a plethora of finger foods to eat and our Bunter Tellers. It was a colorful plate decorated with Christmas designs and would be filled with goodies, like marzipan, my absolute favorite! My father still brings me a bar every Christmas time. The plate always had lots of goodies such as candies, chocolate pretzels, Caramel Popcorn, and such. It was always a delight to see the Bunter Teller. We would stay up late, play with our toys, enjoy each other’s company, and just be immersed in the feeling of the season.”

My father-in-law has such a strong love of Christmas, and it’s fun to read about his traditions and memories.

You may not be from Germany, but you can definitely start your own tradition of Bunter Tellers! What child (or adult!) wouldn’t love a small plate of special goodies, just for them, on Christmas Eve? Such a simple way to create magic. You don’t have to use a fancy plate, but it certainly adds something special! Something like this beautiful porcelain plate would be perfect, and something you could reuse every year!

I’d love to hear about your family traditions, especially if they are ones passed down from your heritage! Share with us below!