Top 10 Quirky, Funny and Unusual Holiday Traditions

Polish Christmas traditions include a legend that at midnight on Christmas Eve, animals gain the power to speak. Only people who are pure of spirit can hear them, though!

Unlike most countries that have a single Father Christmas / Santa Claus character, Icelandic children are fortunate enough to be visited by 13 Yule Lads. The Yule Lads are figures from Icelandic folklore who place gifts or rotting potatoes into shoes placed by children on window sills during the last thirteen nights before Christmas Eve.

A Ukrainian legend tells of a poor family who grew their own Christmas tree but had no money to decorate it. On Christmas, the family's children woke to discover that spiders decorated their tree with beautiful silk designs, with each thread magically turning into silver and gold. Today, Ukrainians dress up their trees with spider webs as a good luck charm for the coming year.

If you're celebrating Christmas in Spain, you might see an unusual addition to the manger. A male figurine with his pants rolled down mid-squat. This character is in the midst of delivering a "number two!" Local folklore says that farmers would be punished with a poor crop harvest and bad fortune if they didn’t include a caganer within their nativity scene.

Another fun Catalan Christmas tradition is the Tió de Nadal. A log, decorated with a face and a blanket is placed on a table in the weeks leading up to the holidays, and must be fed every day. On Christmas Eve families hit the log with sticks to make it give up treats.

Santa doesn't have Italy on his gift delivery list! A kind old witch named Befana delivers gifts to well-behaved Italian children on the eve of Epiphany - January 5th. Do not leave milk or cookies for Befana, though. She prefers a more substantial meal for her trouble - often choosing broccoli with spiced sausage and a glass of wine.

In some parts of the U.S., you might spot an unusual ornament hidden on the Christmas tree. A pickle! Thought to have originated in the late 19th century, this holiday custom rewards whoever finds the pickle with a gift or good fortune for the following year.

You really don't want to be on the naughty list in Austria. Krampus, Santa's evil accomplice doles out punishments to anyone who has misbehaved throughout the year. Yikes!

Another slightly spooky holiday tradition comes from Scandinavia. In Sweden, the Yule Goat is a mythical creature that frightened children and demanded gifts at Christmas. In other parts of Scandinavia, it is thought to be an invisible creature that appears before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations are done right.

Canada's East Coast is home to a fun tradition known mummering, mumming or janneying. During the twelve days of Christmas, groups of friends or family will put on disguises and visit homes of their neighbors. If the mummers are welcomed into a house, they often do a variety of informal performances that may include telling jokes, dancing, performing music or recitations.