Add a candle, make a memory. A Grimm's Celebration Ring is one of those rare pieces that quietly becomes part of the family — a beautiful wooden ring you bring out for birthdays, seasons, and special days, decorated a little differently each time. Light a candle for each year, add a flower or a star, and watch a simple wooden circle turn into a tradition your kids will remember long after the cake is gone.
If you've seen these lovely rings popping up at birthday tables and on nature shelves and wondered what they're all about, here's everything you need to know — how they work, the pieces that make them special, and the sweet little rituals families build around them.
What is a Grimm's Celebration Ring?
A Grimm's Celebration Ring is a wooden ring dotted with holes, each one ready to hold a candle or a small decoration. Families use it to mark birthdays, seasons, and milestones — adding a candle for each year of a child's life, or styling it with little figures to celebrate the time of year.
Grimm's makes a few beautiful versions, including the classic 12-hole Celebration Ring and the Spiral Advent Ring, each one a blank canvas for your family's own traditions.
Why Families Love the Celebration Ring Tradition
Life moves fast, and a Celebration Ring is a lovely little way to slow it down. It gives you a reason to pause and mark the moment — another year older, the first day of spring, the countdown to a holiday — in a way that feels intentional and warm.
Best of all, it's reusable and endlessly changeable. The same ring is brought out year after year, decorated fresh each time, and eventually handed down — which makes it a keepsake as much as a decoration. These are heirloom pieces in the truest sense.
Fun Ways to Use Your Celebration Ring
The ring is wonderfully versatile, and there's no single right way to use it. A few favourite ideas:
- Birthdays and milestones: Add a candle for each year of your child's age, then light them up at the birthday table for a sweet, screen-free moment everyone gathers around.
- Seasonal celebrations: Style the ring to match the time of year — bright spring butterflies, a cheerful summer flower, a bee buzzing through, or a cozy candle-lit table for winter.
- An everyday nature shelf: Keep it out year-round as a beautiful, ever-changing centrepiece that grows with the seasons.
- A gentle learning tool: Use it to talk about the calendar, the seasons, and nature's cycles, changing the decorations to mirror the current month or holiday.
Getting the Kids Involved
Half the magic is letting little hands help. Children love choosing and placing the decorations, which turns the ring into a reflection of their own imagination. A few ways to bring them in:
- Let them decorate: Set out the pieces and let your child style the ring with their favourites — a rainbow, a rocket ship, a mermaid, a whale — or have them dress up a standalone lifelight in a star, heart, or flower shape.
- Tell stories: Each little figure can become a character, encouraging your child to spin a tale around the ring.
- Build small rituals: Light a candle together each evening during Advent, or count down to a family event — lovely lessons in anticipation and patience.
Our Favourite Grimm's Celebration Pieces
- 12-Hole Celebration Ring: The versatile classic, perfect for birthdays and monthly or seasonal celebrations. A beautiful foundation for any family's traditions.
- 16-Year Celebration Ring: A larger ring with room for more candles and decorations, so the birthday tradition can keep growing right up to a child's sixteenth.
- Spiral Advent Ring: A gorgeous way to mark the lead-up to Christmas, with each turn of the spiral representing a day in the countdown.
- Lifelights: Standalone wooden decorations — in star, heart, and flower shapes — each with holes that hold a candle or deco. Lovely on their own or styled alongside the ring.
- Decorations: Sweet wooden pieces that slot into the holes on the ring or a lifelight — think flowers, a sun, a star, a rainbow, a rocket ship, a bee, a mermaid, a whale, and even little ceramic vases for tiny blooms.
- Wooden Numbers 0–9: Pop your child's age right into the ring for their birthday — a simple, sweet touch that makes the day feel extra special.
- Beeswax Candles: These fit the same holes as the decorations, so you can light a candle for each year and mix in decos however you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Grimm's Celebration Ring used for? It's used to mark birthdays, seasons, and special occasions. Families add candles and small wooden figures to celebrate milestones — most commonly a candle for each year of a child's age on their birthday.
How does a Grimm's birthday ring work? On your child's birthday, add a candle for each year of their life, plus any figures or decorations you like, then light the candles to celebrate. The ring is reused every year, so it grows more meaningful with each birthday.
What decorations can you put on a Grimm's Celebration Ring? Grimm's makes a wide range of wooden decorations that slot into the holes on the ring (and on lifelights) — flowers, a sun, a star, a rainbow, a rocket ship, a bee, a mermaid, a whale, and wooden numbers 0–9, plus little ceramic vases for tiny blooms. The numbers are especially popular for birthdays, so you can pop your child's age right into the ring.
Do Grimm's candles fit the Celebration Ring? Yes. Grimm's beeswax candles fit the same holes as the decorations on both the Celebration Ring and the lifelights — and because candles and decos are interchangeable, you can light a few candles and tuck decorations in among them however you like.
What's the difference between the Celebration Ring and the Spiral? The 12-hole Celebration Ring is a circle, ideal for birthdays and year-round seasonal styling. The Spiral Advent Ring winds inward, making it perfect for counting down the days of Advent toward Christmas.
Should I get the 12-hole or 16-year Celebration Ring? The 12-hole ring is the classic choice and works beautifully for younger children and seasonal displays. The 16-year ring is larger, with room for more candles and decorations, so the tradition can keep growing all the way to a child's sixteenth birthday — a lovely option if you want one ring to last through the years.
What are Grimm's Lifelights? Lifelights are their own standalone wooden decorations, in shapes like a star, heart, and flower, each with holes that hold a beeswax candle or a deco — and the two fit interchangeably, so you can mix and match. Lovely decorated on their own, or styled right alongside a Celebration Ring.
What age is a Grimm's Celebration Ring for? The ring and decorations are enjoyed by the whole family. As with any lit candle, an adult should always handle and supervise the flame, while children can help choose and place the decorations.
Are Grimm's Celebration Rings worth it? For families who love a meaningful tradition, absolutely. A single ring is reused for years, styled differently each time, and handed down — making it a keepsake that earns its place far beyond a single occasion.
Where can I buy Grimm's Celebration Rings in Canada? Right here at The Playful Peacock. We're a Canadian, mom-run toy shop, and we ship across Canada, hand-packed with care.
Start Your Own Tradition
The loveliest part of a Celebration Ring is that it becomes whatever your family makes it — a birthday centrepiece, a seasonal shelf, a cozy Advent countdown. Begin with the ring this year, add a piece or two the next, and before long you'll have a tradition your children carry with them for life.
Shop the full Grimm's Celebration Rings & Decorations collection at The Playful Peacock