Traditional Christmas Greeting: "Linksmu Kaledu"
Location: Eastern Europe Baltic
Tree Type: Traditional

Decorations:
- The ornaments (Staudinukai) are made from white straw. In Lithuania, the straw is bleached to attain the white color. The ornaments on the museum's tree are made from white plastic soda straws made by one woman, the late Rose Maziliauskas. These ornaments are made into very complex geometric patterns and shapes; No lights are on the tree. On top of the tree is a straw cross that symbolizes the faith of the Lithuanian nation.
- Other decorations may include eggshells, feathers, nutshells, and birds (Riesutas) made from walnut shells with wings made from birch bark, feathers, paper or flower-like aureoles surrounding centers of shiny beads, metal or mirrors. There also may be straw crosses.
- Originally the Lithuanian Christmas tree wasn't a tree at all but evergreen boughs, hung with the bleached straw ornaments and placed in the house.

Traditions:
In Lithuania, Christmas celebrations tend to be centered around Christmas Eve. The entire family helps to prepare for it by thoroughly cleaning the entire house, changing all of the linens, bathing, and putting on new clothes. Many things make the Lithuanian Christmas Eve meal (called Kueios) unique. The table itself is spread with a thin layer of hay before being covered with a tablecloth and decorated with candles and fir boughs. The hay is meant to remind Lithuanian families of Jesus' birth in a stable. Once the first star appears in the sky, the family sits down to dinner, which always includes 12 main dishes for Jesus' 12 disciples and the 12 months of the year. None of the 12 dishes contain any meat as part of the fasting and abstinence that leads up to the joy of Christmas. Instead, families feast on herring, kisielius (cranberry pudding), dried vegetables, potatoes, sauerkraut, bread, and especially kucia, a honeyed porridge made from wheat, barley, peas, and beans.

The time after dinner is usually reserved for various types of fortune telling. In Lithuanian tradition, Christmas Eve is a marvelous time when supernatural beings and phenomenon are found everywhere. For example, deceased relatives are said to visit during the night, so each family leaves food out for them before going to bed. Young men and women draw straws from underneath the tablecloth to reveal the characteristics of their future spouses (tall, short, fat, skinny). The shape of the shadow each person casts from the candles on the table is supposed to reveal his or her fortune in the coming year. Shoes, fire, dirt, mirrors, and wax are also some of the things Lithuanians use to predict the future on Christmas Eve.

Though presents, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus are all recent additions to Lithuanian celebrations, families do gather around a lit tree and wait for Kaledu Senelis, or Father Christmas. Sometimes he makes children earn their presents by singing, dancing, or reciting poems. In any case, older family members usually attend Mass at midnight, called Berneli Midos or Shepherd's Mass. The next days of Christmas are relatively more relaxed, and soon Christmas is over until next year.