Start with the tradition everyone knows
Think of something you do, not just a mood. Who puts the decorations up? What goes wrong in the kitchen every year? What do you eat after the visitors leave? One small scene gives the Christmas song generator more to work with than a list of words such as magical, joyful, and special. Write the details as you remember them. If you are not sure who did something, leave that part out.
“We always leave one empty branch for the paper bird Grandma made. Nobody can agree which way it should face.”