Posts Tagged: Christmas

Crafts-Hobbies — Comments Off
3
Jul 11

Christmas Craft Idea for Children – How to Make a Christmas Calendar

Spending time with family and friends during the holiday season is such a pleasant and rewarding experience. Most people seem to be filled with the Christmas spirit of laughing, and sharing. Spending time with your children during this fun time of year can make the season all that more special for both you and your children. What a better way to enjoy the season with family than to make Christmas crafts together. Especially children, when you see their faces light up because they are so proud of their new Christmas creation.

Below is a Christmas craft idea that you can enjoy making with your children and they will cherish for many years to come.

Christmas Calendar

Materials:

25 child’s size socks

Christmas Wired Edge Ribbon (enough to hang the socks across the ribbon and be sure to have enough to hang the ribbon at the ends)

clothespins (can be painted Christmas colors)

embellishments of your choice (just make sure they’re not too heavy)

notebook paper cut to fit inside each sock

Using a permanent marker, between the top of the sock and the heel, number each sock from one through 25.

Make sure the children realize not to cover the numbers and have them decorate the socks with the embellishments they have chosen. Remember, these can be buttons, construction paper, or even foam cut-outs. The possibilities are endless.

The adult should write small messages to fit inside each sock. For example: The message for December 24 might be “Don’t forget to make milk and cookies!” The child should not be able to read these messages just yet.

Cut enough ribbon so that you will be able to attach each sock to the ribbon using a clothespin, and be sure to have enough at the ends to tie around a nail. The children will enjoy attaching the socks with the clothespin just make sure only the back edge of the sock is pinned so that you can slip your messages into each sock.

Now, each day during December, your child can count down to Christmas and have a fun message to enjoy!

Holidays — Comments Off
29
Jun 11

10 Ways To Brighten The Holidays

Christmas is just around the corner and soon it will be mass pandemonium. Even though many of us shop online, many of us will still be standing in long lines, making last minute purchases, fighting for parking spaces and struggling to find the best electronics, music, clothing and gifts for our families, friends and loved ones. As we concern ourselves buying gifts for the people we care about, maybe we could take a minute to think about the people who are less fortunate and what we could do to make their holiday season a little better as well. Here are a few ideas to help spread some holiday cheer.

1) Do you have unused blankets taking up space in your closets? Why not donate them to a homeless shelter or shelter for battered women?

2) How about going through clothing that you and your family members have outgrown or no longer wear? A coat could help keep someone warm who doesn抰 have one. A pair of shoes could keep someone抯 feet warm and dry.

3) Why not take the time to make a gift basket for an elderly person or neighbor who you don抰 see very often and take a few minutes to visit them?

4) Is there a divorcee or widowed person in your neighborhood who may need some work done around their home? Fixing something or cleaning the house of someone for free, when it is hard for them to get around, could be a big help.

5) Volunteering for Sub For Santa could be a real blessing for a family in need.

6) Serving or donating a holiday dinner could brighten someone抯 day, especially if they are down on their luck, and can抰 afford it themselves.

7) Sometimes just spending the time to talk to someone can greatly improve their lives. Maybe there is a confused teenager or child who could use some encouragement or direction in their lives.

8) If you have the time, visiting a hospital, reading to the elderly, caroling or visiting the sick could help to cheer them up. Some of these people have no friends or family to visit them and end up spending the holidays alone.

9) Donating to your favorite charity can change lives.

10) Try to be as patient and kind as possible. The holidays can be very stressful at times. If you smile and show patience even when you don抰 feel like it, you may be surprised how helpful that can be at defusing potentially unpleasant situations.

There is a whole big world out there and we are all a part of it. By helping others, we help ourselves to make a better world for us to live in. Little gestures can mean a lot. We can make each year a little better than the last if we try. Happy Holidays!

Holidays — Comments Off
25
Jun 11

A List of Irish Christmas Customs

Ireland is the origin of many Christmas traditions and customs that have become widely used throughout the world. Holly and subsequently holly wreaths have their origins in the Celtic tradition, the Celts believed that holly represented life and rebirth. They perceived the evergreen leaves as representing life during the long, harsh winter and the red berries as representing the coming of Spring. With the coming of Christianity to Ireland, the berries came to represent the life of Christ.

With the coming of flocks of Irish immigrants to America during the Great Famine, holly wreaths began to be used as door decorations. Celts also believed that mistletoe possessed healing qualities and that if two enemies were to meet under it, a brief truce would reign. This belief evolved into kissing under the mistletoe during the Victorian era. The world-wide tradition of placing a lit candle in your window is also an ancient Irish custom. It symbolised the welcoming of strangers into your house which harked back to the night that the Holy Family were refused room at the inn in Bethlehem. To not show a lit candle in your window meant that you shared the guilt of the innkeeper.

In conjunction with this, after the Christmas meal, the table is re-set, some food is left out and the latch on the door is left off, so any wandering traveller can come in and have some tucker. The day after Christmas Day is also very important in Ireland and it is called St. Stephen’s Day, on which a very old tradition known as the Wren Boys Procession takes place. Young men and women dress up in home-made costumes, blacken their faces and go from house to house singing songs and playing instruments.

Holidays — Comments Off
9
Jun 11

What Was the Most Gratifying Gift You Ever Gave Someone?

We decided to conduct a quick, random survey of people we know or came in contact with on a given day, “What was the most gratifying gift you ever gave someone?”

A car was the answer we heard a few times, with a trend noted that husbands like to buy cars for their wives and parents like to buy their children’s first car. We promised our survey participants anonymity, so remember these are not their real names but these are their stories.

Robert told the story of how he shopped and shopped and shopped with his oldest daughter at the end of her senior year in high school for just the right car, but in the end, they couldn’t make a deal for her dream Mustang. She went home convinced she’d have to wait till they had more time to shop. He and his wife secretly purchased the car and left it parked in a far out spot in a nearby supermarket parking lot the Saturday before their daughter’s high school graduation. They then insisted on a family grocery shopping trip, which she objected to but finally conceded so they’d quit nagging her about how they wouldn’t get to do this many more times because she’d be gone away to college. They parked by the Mustang and the daughter indeed noticed it and commented, “Some lucky person got a car like I want.” With that, her dad handed her the keys and said, “Sure did.” Robert said that was a moment in time he hopes he never forgets. No doubt the biggest hug of his life.

Nell, shared a very recent example of gratification from giving. She lives next door to an older couple who still work to make ends meet and have never done much traveling. They are like second parents to her because her parts live in a distant city. About a year ago, she told the neighbor lady that if she’d quit smoking for a year they’d take a cruise to celebrate as her gift for perseverance and determination. This past October 8th at 7:00 A.M., Nell’s doorbell rang and it was the neighbor in her bathrobe and slippers saying, “I’m smoke-free for a year; when are we taking that cruise?” They took a cruise to the Bahamas in early December and had a ball. Nell says she’s never felt so wonderful about giving something to another person.

Which says a lot because Nell gives gifts to just about everyone she knows for every occasion from birthdays to Christmas. She knows what they like or collect and keeps her eyes tuned in all year as she shops stores, yard sales, and craft fairs for the perfect gift.

She’s also very generous with her parents having given them first-class airline tickets to Amsterdam for their 30th wedding anniversary. One year she flew her dad to Orlando, Florida, to see the Blackwatch-his favorite TV show. While he was in town, they also saw skating stars on ice and drove to Atlanta for a Nascar race-all a surprise to him.

Nell is a major source of gifting stories: She once bought an air boat for a boyfriend and put a lottery scratch-off ticket in a gift exchange that won $1,000.

Another survey participant, Lou, said one of her most memorable and delightful gifts were two huge stuffed animals she bought for her children when they were small. She’d always complained about stuffed animals taking up too much space but just felt compelled to buy these while shopping in a mall toy store one Christmas. As she walked through the mall struggling to carry the two heavy stuffed animals one under each arm, she got more smiles and comments than she’s ever encountered before or since. She just felt the Christmas spirit soar.

Another person we asked was Millie,an older shopper who vividly recalled the Christmas her oldest son got his first bicycle. His dad had convinced him that Santa just couldn’t fit a bike down the chimney. When he opened the door and saw that bike under the tree, he was the happiest kid she’s ever seen.

We love stories of joy and are glad we could find and share these with you.

Holidays — Comments Off
14
May 11

Make This Your Best Holiday Season Ever

Parents seem to be lavishing toys and things on their children in ever expanding volume, especially for a holiday. Consciously or subconsciously梡eople are attempting to fill a void. The reason for that void is unique to each person, however, void or not when parents over indulge their children in an attempt to fill their void, the child pays a price.

The price can become:

昦 belief of entitlement梚t is owed to me. The child will have unrealistic expectations from friends, spouse, co-workers, bosses, the government and society.

昦 sense that things are more important than emotional connections to others. Thus, the child believes that feeling good about oneself is derived through acquiring things.

昦 sense that life is complete if one has the latest and greatest thing梩his shallow sense of oneself leaves one with a deep longing for something more. That something more is Peace of Mind, Spiritual Wholeness and Emotional Connectedness. However, they have no reference point to achieve it, therefore, they continue to use things to provide梐lbeit temporary梕motional fulfillment.

昦 life-long sense of emptiness.

The Center for a New American Dream reports that 76 percent of Americans believe children are too materialistic. However, ironically the majority of parents continue to indulge children with things. The .

There is hope if parents commit to focus on 慻iving?instead of 慻etting.?/p>

旼ive to Charity. Involve your child in giving back to the community. Volunteer at organizations where you can include your child. Take gifts to a 憈oys for children?drive. Explain what the 憈oys for children?drive is about.

旼ive gifts to family and friends that can be enjoyed as a family, instead of individual gifts. There are many games for 4 players or more梩hus, you are not only giving a gift you are promoting family togetherness.

旽omemade Gifts create multiple benefits梱ou and your child can work together to make gifts for cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends. Not only are they learning a valuable skill, you are spending valuable time together. Is there a more rewarding and fruitful way to multitask? Also, you will spread the concept to everyone who receives your gift. My children and I made decorated cookies and ornaments for family and their friends. They were thrilled when they received compliments and the next year people asked桝re you giving those delicious cookies this year? What a wonderful legacy we created. You can too.

Your child is inundated with promotional messages for a million 憁ust haves.?However, you and they can avoid these insidious subliminal messages. Tell your child that the ads are intended to create a 憌ant?versus 憂eed?concept to sell them something. When your child asks for the latest toy advertised on TV, magazine or newspaper, ask a few thought-provoking questions. Do you think you need it? What prompts you to think you need it? Do you think it will work the same way it worked on TV? Also, be sure to point out how disappointed he/she was if you purchased something advertised on TV and it was a dud in comparison to the commercial. I found that to be my best ally with my children. Only one such dud item is enough to convince your child that advertisements are geared to compel you to buy something. Another powerful ally is restricting the most offensive programs and watch public television stations, DVDs or taped programs without the commercials. These restrictions won抰 harm your child, however, you will teach them an important lesson梩o question and to think for him/herself.

Make this your best holiday season ever梙ost a party for family, friends and/or neighbors. To make it easier for you have everyone bring their favorite holiday dish and a holiday story to share with everyone. This teaches children how other families celebrate holidays and will no doubt enrich their own sense of what the holidays mean.

Holidays — Comments Off
9
May 11

5 Tips For Reducing The Stress Of Christmas

Christmas can be one of the most enjoyable times of the year but at the same time failing to prepare for Christmas can result in unwanted stressful situations and arguments with your loved ones. I’ve always found the best way of avoiding this stress is to plan ahead and get everything sorted out as soon as possible. So here are my top tips to make the Christmas season go smoothly.

1. GET YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS EARLY

It is worth getting your Christmas cards around October/November time so you have plenty of time to write and send them out to your family and friends. It is a good idea to produce a list of all the people you will be sending Christmas cards to along with their contact details, this will allow you to work out how many Christmas cards you need to get as well as helping you to keep track of who you’ve sent Christmas cards to. If you don’t have time to go shopping for Christmas cards on the high street, why not shop online. I prefer to buy charity Christmas cards each year and get mine from the site in my resouce box below.

2. BUDGET FOR CHRISTMAS

Work out how much you can afford to spend at Christmas. There is a lot to take into consideration Christmas cards, presents, food and drink and all the other little things you need for Christmas. Work out a budget that you are prepared to spend and perhaps work out how much of your spare cash you could save in the run up to Christmas.

3. CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

The last thing you want at Christmas is to be walking round a packed high street, desperately searching for the perfect Christmas gift. Get out there early and start looking/buying Christmas presents over a long period of time. If you hate the high street then get on the internet and get all those gifts delivered straight to your door, just make sure you place your orders before the last Christmas post.

4. CHRISTMAS DINNER

Whatever you are planning to cook for Christmas it can one of the most stressful times of the Christmas holiday. Once again preparation is the key. Prepare as much of the food as possible on Christmas Eve so you have it all ready for the big day. Find out from your dinner guests if they have any special requirements (Vegetarian, Allergies) so you don’t have any nasty surprises. There is also the option of avoiding cooking all together and eating out. If you’re planning on doing this make sure you book a few months in advance to avoid disappointment.

5. RELATIONSHIPS

At Christmas you can often find yourself stuck at a dinner table with family members that seem to love to argue and complain. The best thing for this is to try and avoid those topics that can trigger difficult conversations. It is always best to try and stay calm and you can always remove yourself from these situations. If you find that something like alcohol fuels these situations then it maybe best to either limit the alcohol available or just avoid it all together.

I hope these tips help you have an enjoyable Christmas and remember to plan ahead and stay calm.

Holidays — Comments Off
25
Apr 11

To Solve Your Christmas Debt, Get Out of Debt

Christmas is coming. Very simply, Christmas means money. It virtually eats the stuff and for too many people the huge cash demand results in debt. This debt results in large amounts of stress going into Christmas while they worry about that debt. Finally in January the headache of actually having to pay for Christmas arrives. If this is you, you’re not alone. January is when the credit companies enjoy their own Christmas as people rush to take out loans and is also when most mortgage and loan installments get missed.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. Many people look to get out of debt as one of their new years resolutions (hint, this should be on your list if you’re in debt). To solve your Christmas debt, you need to get out of debt.

Sounds obvious doesn’t it? Most people say it but few take notice that it’s all in the word ‘get’. In other words people wanting to solve their Christmas debt worries need to take action. Worrying about debt doesn’t solve debt. The only thing that makes debt go away is paying back what’s owed, plus the interest.

This is obvious also, but many are struggling just trying to do that and Christmas is just going to make it worse. The answer is to get more cash in by doing something differently. That something could come from simply learning how to use the Internet.

Put very simply, there are people out there, many of whom have been a position of crippling debt, who have taken up an Internet based business opportunity and have turned their lives around. For many of them, it is their full time income. Some are now doing better from the Internet than they were at their regular job. They are now in the kind of position, many people can only look on with envy as they work form home and can set aside time to go see their family or children in the school play.

Although it sounds idyllic, many of them first used it to get some extra income while keeping their regular job to keep the risk as low as possible. Once they had proved that they could do it and consistently bring in money, they went on to enjoy the life they had envisaged for themselves.

Where this kind of business opportunity works, is that much of what is needed to start of with can be found for free and doesn’t take a scientist to work it out. What it does need though is action. It needs you to do something. But so does getting out of debt. Wishing debt away this Christmas won’t solve debt, only action will along with thinking a little different to the way that got you into debt in the first place.

So this Christmas think and act differently to rid yourself of Christmas debt and the worry that goes with it.

Holidays — Comments Off
23
Apr 11

Christmas – A Very Successful Marketing Strategy

The origin of Christmas stemmed from pagan festivals like Winter Solstice and Yule. In the early pre-Christian era, European winter celebrations were very popular and followed pagan rituals that celebrated the darkest days of winter.

What is Paganism?

Paganism describes the ancient and modern religions which identify Nature as the body of the Divine. Pagans often speak of many Gods and Goddesses. Paganism refers to the religions of ancient Greece and Rome and the surrounding areas.

Early Europeans observed the shortest day — Winter Solstice — celebrate the worst of the winter being over them as they look ahead to increased daylight hours. During this celebration, they killed their livestock that would not survive the winter and gorged from late December through January. At this time there was also the celebration by Scandinavians and Germans of the Yule season which runs for 13 days and begins the night before Winter Solstice. In Germany, Odin was celebrated by many who viewed the pagan God as a fat, gift giving Elf who flew over houses during the night bestowing good tidings on people that were nice and bad tidings on others. Another tradition during Yule was the burning of the Yule Log from a giant tree that was to protect the house from storms and bring it good luck throughout the year. Sound like today’s Christmas? You Bet!

Christ wasn’t born on December 25th. No one knows the birth date of Christ, or even what year. Christ, according to many historians was born in the springtime. Nowhere in the New Testament do we see Christ’s disciples observing His birthday. The apostles did not honor pagan rituals, and accordingly, preached to other Christians to avoid the pagan rituals.

The origin of Christmas took place in 336 AD. Pope Julius I declared the birth and celebration of Christ’s birthday as Christmas and chose December 25th because it coincided with the popular pagan traditions of Winter Solstice. The purpose was to replace the pagan celebrations with the Christian one.

It worked, and it worked extremely well!

Could this be the most creative and successful marketing strategy ever implemented?

Most Christmas customs, the decorating the evergreen “Christmas” tree, the hanging of mistletoe, gift exchanges, and Santa Claus, all came from pagan winter practices and secular traditions that were celebrated throughout Europe.

Christmas as we know it today, is not only a mix of ancient pagan practices and hundreds of years of adopting secular and religious traditions, it also has a Victorian period influence that affected the practice and acceptance of Christmas.

As early as the seventeenth century the celebration of Christmas was still regarded as a pagan festival that was not permitted in England and in many of the English colonies in America. It took almost 800 years for Christmas to become the important festival it is today. In the early seventeenth century, England’s colorful leader Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan who followed the Bible to the word, banned Christmas as a Pagan celebration.

Christmas did not return as a Christian holiday in England until Charles II came to power. During that period in history when the Puritans descended upon America, Christmas was not recognized as a Christian festivity.

Once the colonies became independent, English influence and practices declined and our founding fathers restored Christmas.

Over time, as Christians adopted Christmas and attended Christmas Mass, it became a tradition at the end of Mass to enter into wild celebrations of drinking similar to the Mardi Gras festivals, and It wasn’t until the nineteenth century when the practice of Christmas and the festival like celebrations ceased and gave way to observing Christmas with family values and traditions.

Several events came into play in the Nineteenth century that changed the observance of Christmas to become a family focused tradition. New York City created the first full time, salaried Police Force in America and assigned it a riot control function to combat the increasing race and industrial riots, as well as Christmas celebrations that were getting out of control. The other was Washington Irving who authored a collection of short stories on The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, and the celebration of Christmas in an English country house. The Christmas stories portrayed an English noble man who invited the poor into his home to celebrate Christmas in a caring, friendly manner to bridge the gap between the haves and have-not. Irving’s writings were believed to have widespread influence in establishing the tradition and meaning of Christmas of being a caring, non- status oriented observance of Christmas.

Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday in the US until June 26, 1870. However, on December 6, 1999, federal judge U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott ruled that Christmas has become so secular that the government does not violate the Constitution by declaring it a federal legal holiday.

Christmas has the unusual distinction of being a multi-cultural, multi-religious and secular holiday. It is celebrated throughout the world, and in the US, over 90% of the population celebrates Christmas. Depending on national and local customs, it integrates sun worship, polytheism, pagan nature religions, Christianity, and other later myths and traditions.

Christmas is also big business and is the most commercialized holiday in the world with many mass-produced symbols, decorations, and gifts manufactured in less developed countries and sold throughout the world.

The celebration of Christmas is enjoyed by nearly everyone! The non-religious celebrate the joyous traditions. The Christians, who believe that Christmas and its rituals solely relate to the birth of Christ, celebrate the religious rituals. The pagans celebrate the rituals of Winter Solstice and Yule. Commercial enterprises enjoy the profits from the sale of decorations, symbols, and gifts.

Holidays — Comments Off
11
Apr 11

How To Avoid Tension During Gift Shopping For Christmas?

Should Christmas be a festival of joy or tension? It seems that because it takes so much effort to prepare for celebration and selection of gifts and sending them, Christmas has become a festival of tension. Should Christmas be like that? Certainly not, because Christmas is a festival of joy. How to do Christmas shopping for gifts to reduce some stress and tension? Here are some quick tips.

1. Prepare a list of all the people you are proposing to send Christmas gift.

2. Write down the amounts for which you want to buy gifts for Christmas.

3. Before that think about how much will you spend for all the Christmas gifts.

4. After this, think about what you want to choose as a gift. Have you thought of a bracelet for your mother? Write one more alternative.

5. Write tow alternatives for everyone you want to give Christmas gift.

6. How do you prefer to buy? Online or shopping in the real world? No use telling everyone to go online because many of us are not comfortable.

7. If you are an online buyer, visit different websites and bookmark what you want to buy.

8. Place orders and send directly to recipients.

9. If you buy offline, call the shop and ask for a catalog.

10 Mark the gifts ob n the catalog and visit the shop only after that.

11. Ask them to gift-wrap.

Buying gifts when you have enough time is the greatest remedy for avoiding tension. Have enough time at your hand. That allows relaxation and avoids stress. That also makes sure that you get the gifts in time to send across. Many times last minute orders are never shipped. Think of a stress free Christmas. After all does not Christmas bring joy and pleasure? Enjoy your Christmas.

Holidays — Comments Off
31
Mar 11

Simplified Christmas Shopping

On November first, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, gather whatever catalogues you have handy and paper and pencil, and get ready to dream your Christmas list.

For a simplified Christmas, limit your gift giving list to about a dozen. You might wonder, how is this possible? Extended families can be given one nice gift per household for their family to share. One gift can give you the opportunity to give something special. Coworkers and other associates can be put together as one on the list also because you can think up one good gift that can be given to each. You might for example, decide to give them each chocolates, a gift basket, or tickets.

To avoid last minute shopping stress, having to drive in heavy traffic, and over-crowded stores, try to finish your necessary shopping by end of November. This will also let you enjoy December events. Make your shopping trips enjoyable outings, and include some treat for yourself such as a nice lunch or good company. Take advantage of wrapping services or use gift bags to reduce your wrapping or the need of getting supplies.

Handmade gifts can fit with a simplified Christmas, so long as you enjoy making them. One possibility is to hand make the same gift again and again for the people on your list this year, and next year to choose a different gift. This makes it easier and predictable. You might, for example, decide to knit scarves, but vary the yarn. Another possibility is to make one large batch of something that can be divided into gifts. An example of this is handmade soap. The trick to avoiding stress making gifts is to give yourself ample time, knowing that you will become busier as Christmas approaches and have less time to make gifts. Have an alternate plan for handmade gifts so that you can abandon a project without much trouble.

Keep your list handy. It is fun to be an elf at Christmastime. Better stores have wonderful gift suggestions and packaging. With a short list and a good department store, shopping center, or with online access, it is possible to shop and have your gifts wrapped in a day.

← Older Entries