The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 when he was too busy recording the Illinois album.

Most of the tracks are versions of traditional Christmas songs, with a number of original compositions such as "Sister Winter" and "Star of Wonder".

The box set includes a poster of Sufjan Stevens, an animated short for "Put the Lights on the Tree" by Tom Eaton, an essay by Rick Moody, two original short stories by Stevens, stickers, comics and a sing-a-long book for all five discs.

During Stevens' international tour in the later half of 2006, he regularly performed the original song "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!"

[10] Stevens released a follow-up, Silver and Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols.