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We love finding out why people give the gifts they do, so we dig into where those gifts and traditions come from. At the end of each story, we suggest a few we'd pick ourselves.

A child's leather shoe on a stone hearth by a white fireplace, filled with an orange, a chocolate letter S, speculaas cookies, and nuts

St. Nicholas Day

In the Netherlands, children set a shoe by the fireplace on the night of December 5, and in the morning they find it filled.

The gift is small and it comes overnight: an orange, a few spiced cookies, a chocolate letter.

Two loose gemstones side by side on ivory linen, an oval golden topaz in warm amber and a cushion-cut citrine in paler gold

November Birthstone

Born in November? You get two stones in warm shades of gold.

November's birthstones are topaz and citrine, and for decades citrine was sold under topaz's name.

Four loose gemstones in a row on ivory linen, a veined sky-blue turquoise, a violet-blue tanzanite, a bright blue zircon, and a pale blue topaz

December Birthstone

Born in December? You get your pick of blues.

December has three birthstones, turquoise, tanzanite, and zircon, though some jewelers name blue topaz instead of zircon.

A plain gold claddagh ring on blush silk with a rose ribbon, petals, and sage leaves

The Claddagh Ring

Two hands hold a heart, and the heart wears a crown.

The hands are friendship, the heart is love, and the crown is loyalty.