St Nicholas Day 2026 is Sunday Dec 6: a 9:16 shoe-and-treat clip

Saint Nicholas Day is observed on 6 December in Western Christian countries, with the eve on 5 December. In 2026 that is Saturday and Sunday. Wikipedia lists shoes or boots left out for treats in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, and gifts under pillows in Poland and Ukraine. If you sell chocolate, small gifts or experiences, a 6-second 9:16 clip should be live by Monday 30 November, ahead of the weekend.

Below: a work-back calendar, what the clip can show, the TikTok and Reels vertical limits from their own pages, and a Sume request that builds the clip from one photo.

When should the lead-in clip go out?

The eve is Saturday 5 December, so the lead-in clip should land the Monday before that. The dates below are working steps, not platform rules.

What can the clip show without misleading the audience?

The customs differ by country, so pick the one your customers know. A Dutch or German audience expects a shoe or boot at a door; a Polish audience expects a gift near a pillow. Do not mix them in one clip.

Show what you sell. If the clip shows a filled boot, the boot's contents must be the product in your listing, not extra items the model added.

• Use a real photo of the actual treat or gift as the first frame.
• Prompt for camera and light only: a slow push-in, soft lamp light.
• Burn one line, such as the order-by date, with cues.

What do TikTok and Reels need from the file?

Both platforms take a 9:16 master. TikTok's help page lists 9:16 at 540x960 or larger for non-Spark in-feed ads, up to 10 minutes and 500 MB. Meta's Instagram Reels video spec lists 9:16 at 1440x2560, 0 seconds to 15 minutes, 4 GB, and asks you to keep 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free of text and logos.

How do I make the clip from one photo?

Use a photo as the first frame in Sume video generation. The request below asks for 9:16, 720p and 6 seconds on seedance-2, which lists first-frame input and 4 to 15 second durations. Replace the URL and prompt, then poll until the status is completed.

import os, time, requests

H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['SUME_API_KEY']}"}
body = {
    "model": "seedance-2",
    "prompt": "Slow push-in on a boot by a door with a small wrapped treat, warm lamp light, early morning",
    "frame_images": [{
        "type": "image_url",
        "image_url": {"url": "https://example.com/treat-photo.jpg"},
        "frame_type": "first_frame",
    }],
    "aspect_ratio": "9:16",
    "resolution": "720p",
    "duration": 6,
}
job = requests.post("https://api.sume.com/v1/videos", headers=H, json=body).json()
while True:
    time.sleep(30)
    s = requests.get(job["polling_url"], headers=H).json()
    if s["status"] in ("completed", "failed"):
        break
print(s["status"], s.get("unsigned_urls"))

How do I finish and check it?

Add the order-by line with video captions cues. Check that the bottom 35% stays free of text for Reels.

Compare the finished frame with the product photo: bundle, color and quantity must match, since a generated scene can add objects.

Cut extra seconds with video trim rather than regenerating.