Dolly Parton draws from the creative 'spirit of Christmas' her parents had | "I Never Got Over Being Country"

The queen of country music, Dolly Parton, believes that there is no point in wrapping up a holiday season in her house until she has another special occasion to celebrate. According to TODAY, the 76-year-old icon leaves Christmas decorations up at her Nashville home until her birthday in January. The musician loves Christmas and she opens up about childhood memories and holiday traditions in her chat with Better Homes & Gardens after appearing on the cover of the magazine's first-ever digital issue. “Momma always made Christmas great even though we didn’t have the money,” Parton recalls.

Parton has a packed schedule with the re-release of her hit Christmas album A Holly Dolly Christmas and a new holiday film titled Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas. However, she refuses to own the title of "queen of Christmas" because she thinks that it rightfully belongs to Mariah Carey. “I love her. You think of Christmas, you think of Mariah. I’m happy to be second in line to her,” she said. But she has a special routine for Christmas. “Christmas lights are turned on. The wreaths go up. I have a little chapel on my property; I put a cross on top of that,” Parton explains.

Parton grew up with 11 siblings and she remembers "the foods we used to cook, and the stories we used to tell, and the songs we used to sing" for Christmas. She said that her "creative momma" made it exciting by telling the right stories. "She could cook anything, and it would taste good, because she would talk about the magic she put in it. She could get you there. Like, she mentally got you there,” she added. Parton takes inspiration from her mother during the holiday season. She said, “The holidays make me very creative, ’cause I’m happy. And I try to remember, and I draw from that, from that spirit of Christmas. That Christ spirit." Recalling the stories that she heard from her mother Parton said, "You could see those kings. You could see that star. You could smell that donkey.”

Dolly Parton still upholds several of the family traditions. Parton's momma would decorate their tree with colored paper, rags, foil-covered eggs, and popcorn. “We didn’t even have electricity for lights on the tree. We had popcorn garland,” she says. “That’s one of the things I have to have today. I never got over being country.” She has a Christmas tree in every room of her house and one live tree because "Daddy would take us to chop a tree down.”

Other than that she makes chicken and dumplings that her family loves. She jokes: “Everyone always wants my recipe. But I’m not even gonna leave it behind when I’m gone. I want them to always say, ‘This doesn’t taste the same. I miss Dolly’s.’ ” The Jolene singer also confessed that she is a big fan of ugly Christmas sweaters and makes sure she writes a letter to Santa and pretends "it’s really a letter to God."

She decorates her elevator door like a chimney and dresses up in a Santa suit. "I got my Santa bags with their presents in it. And I come down the ‘chimney,’ ” she said. Parton and her husband Carl Dean, share a simple and adorable morning routine on Christmas by making red and green pancakes with food coloring. Dean also reads poems or sings to her in his "beautiful voice." They also exchange chocolate-covered cherries, something that her father gave her mother. 

References:

https://www.today.com/popculture/dolly-parton-talks-family-christmas-traditions-better-homes-gardens-rcna56395

https://www.bhg.com/dolly-parton-holiday-interview-6751073

https://deadline.com/2022/10/dolly-partons-mountain-magic-christmas-holiday-special-film-sets-premiere-date-1235158288/

Cover Image Source: Theo Wargo/Getty Images