An Ode to the Yule Log

There are a lot of holiday traditions, varying by culture, family dynamic, or time and place. My family doesn't have many, but there is one Christmas tradition that I love, and because of our long history with it I want to tell you how it can be part of your family's holiday too! Picking a yule log for christmas morning is always a hilarious and hours long process. My mom is quite particular with what can be on in the background, so I have seen plenty of different ones. I thought it would be fun to share some of the ones from years past with you all! 

Nick Offerman Yule Log

First of all this video starts with a 10 second montage of  Nick Offerman doing very Nick Offerman activities, i.e. herding sheep, digging a hole, basting a turkey, etc. Then we open a traditional giant christmas book titled “ My tales of whiskey” by Nick Offreman and then there is a glorious ten hours of a beautiful fireplace, and Nick sitting in a giant leather chair sipping on whiskey. That's all he does for ten hours and it doesn't have a clear loop! This yule log was a crowd hit, it's long as hell, and weirdly funny to watch Nick sip on whiskey. 

Frozen Castle Yule Log

There are actually two options for Frozen yule logs, they have the classic Arendelle Castle Yule Log which is what my family and I used, and they also came out with a Cut Paper Edition of the Arendelle Castle Yule Log! The traditional version is placed in the room where Ana famously finds out that whats his face is evil, and where the gang plays charades in the second movie before Kristoff sings about proposing to Ana… we are frozen fans lol. Anyway! The traditional one has a jewel tones theme, with some adorable stockings hanging in the fireplace dedicated to each of the main characters. Sometimes Olaf will run through chasing a leaf? The only complaint I have for this one is how loud the fire is! It seriously sounds like a forest fire, so make sure to give it a listen yourself before putting it on for the fam. 

The Yule Log Channel Yule Log 

When I was still living at my moms house, I had my own tv in my room with a roku express. One Christmas I was feeling particularly festive and wanted to have my own yule log, so I downloaded the only option Roku had - “Yule Log Channel”. In the channel there is one yule log option, and some “Classic Holiday Television” like The Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus conquers the Martians, and Santa Claus (1959 Mexico) aka Santa Claus vs. The Devil. This entire channel seems like it was created by someone who is new to coding, and the yule log is made up of maximum 6 pixels. Genuinely it is hard to tell how many logs there are in the fireplace… but! It does play some pretty good music, sometimes its too loud to hear the crackling and burning of the fire which famously is the point of a yule log but regardless the music is nice. This yule log is so low quality it gave my family and I a solid laugh, if music is more important to your family than the yule log but you still want to see some fire (?) then this is the channel for you! 

Christmas with Squirrels 

Surfing YouTube for Yule logs is almost worse than trying to find something on the Roku channel, it begs the question “who is in charge of yule log quality control?”. One year my family searched youtube high and low for something, anything, even mildly amusing, and stumbled upon Christmas with Squirrels. It isn't marketed as a yule log, only as squirrels & relaxing christmas music and that's exactly what it is. Whoever created this took the time to set up five or six different spots to film, created a mini tree with presents (nuts of course) which you get to watch the squirrels dig through. They made a tiny nut assortment platter, decorated a Christmas tree, set out a trough of sunflower seeds, and a giant brass bowl of water. This video is awesome because the music is gorgeous, there isnt audio from the squirrels munching on their presents, and there are random cuts to a bowl of sunflower seeds outside that some birds are eating! Surprise birds! The video quality is 10/10 and the squirrels are adorable. This is a great pick for a family who doesnt need a fake fire, and loves squirrels nibbling on tiny charcuterie boards of nuts. 

Lil Bub

My sister has always loved cats, we have three solely because of her. She's the type to find a cat in a bush and bring it home. One year we thought it would be fun to have a cat in the yule log, the first we found was from hallmark but that one is stale and we were convinced the animals were robots - we wanted a silly cat, maybe one that can teleport? Youtube was like yall are not ready, check out Lil bub’s very MOST magical yule log video. This little cat who can't get their tongue back in their mouth sits on a tiny plaid couch purring loudly over the sound of a very nice fireplace. The room is decorated like a tiny vacation cabin, Bub and his pals explore the room curling up near the fire or cleaning up on the couch. Whenever bub teleports there is a small puff of smoke and a “poof” to emphasize his disappearance. This video is adorable and perfect for cat people.

I love this tradition because it creates time for my family and I to sit together, and set the scene for our favorite holiday. I hope you and your family consider one of these fun yule log options for your gathering, but at the very least you gotta show them how bad the roku channel quality is or some squirrels opening presents under a tree!