Merry Christmas Blog

Christmas would just not be the same without Christmas lights, and they do not have to go just on the tree. An entire holiday theme can be devoted to the use of Christmas lights in all shapes, sizes, and placed in many different locations with different patterns. Create your own decorations using lights, and make your home the talk of the neighborhood and the winner of the “Best Decorations” award every year. Even if you live in an apartment, you can use lights to decorate your windows and if you have a balcony, you can drape lights across the railings as well as around the balcony door.

For those who have a home, do something with the lights besides just place them along the roof. Make a Christmas tree or sleigh on your roof or in your yard using different colored lights. Create a wreath on the top of your roof or in your yard. Instead of buying a wreath for your door, make one using Christmas lights instead.

One can be very creative with the use of Christmas lights, even to the point of creating giant candy canes with red and white lights. Of course, you have to have the model in order to wrap the lights around it, but for the creative and holiday-spirited person, it certainly is better than going to the holiday store and buying something that has already been put together by someone else.

Holiday time if full of joy and happiness for most people, so use your lights to transfer that to the world for a few months. Using a combination of different kinds of lights will set off your home in all its holiday glory - big bulbs, small bulbs, twinkle lights, web lights, chasers, and even tiny white lights all mixed together will create a beauty that is beyond comparison. Scatter the colors rather than using just one color in order to set your home apart from the others.

This is a simple children’s Christmas party game. Ideal for young children due to the simple rules and it’s all round good fun.

Preparing the game

Draw a large reindeer to pin on the wall or to stick to a table. Try not to leave indented drawing lines on the paper, we don’t want any cheating!

Make a red nose and cut it out. Or you could paint a Ping-Pong ball red and use that for Rudolf’s nose. Stick some blue tack on the back of the nose so that it easily sticks to the large reindeer drawing.

How to play

Blindfold your first contestant with a scarf. Give them the nose and then turn them round 3 times and then guide them to the reindeer picture.

The contestant must then stick the nose on where they think Rudolf’s nose should be in the picture whilst still blindfolded.

Once the nose is stuck in place, the contestant can remove their blindfold to see the result. The referee should mark the spot with a small ‘x’ and then label it with the contestant’s name. Blindfold the next contestant to repeat the process.

Once everyone has taken a turn, the winner is the contestant whose ‘x’ is closest to the correct place for Rudolf’s bright red nose.

Download a printable Rudolf at SantasPostbag.co.uk

How many people do actually know the real reason of the existence of Christmas trees? Is it connected with the birth of Jesus? Actually it is nothing but the Christianization of the pagan concept: Evergreen tree is the symbol of the celebration of the renewal of life. Anything modern is not always secular. The case here is just the opposite because religious connotation was forcefully added to a secular aspect.

Christmas trees are so popular that they are available in various forms and shapes. They can be artificial or natural. For natural trees, Silver Fir, Norway Spruce, and Noble Fir and Balsam Fir, Fraser Fir, Douglas, Scots and Stone Pines are widely used in North Europe and North America. But artificial trees are more convenient and more popular as they are less expensive. In U.S. 70% of the trees are artificial. Modern artificial Christmas trees were first produced by the companies which made brushes. Initially the trees were made with pig bristles, plastic bristles, dyed pine green color, or twisted wires. The producers are in an experimental mood and so we can expect more varieties.

But the people dealing with environmental issues are not very satisfied with all the new things coming up as PVC trees are highly toxic. The experts opine that the dust or leaves from the trees should not be eaten or inhaled. Polythene trees are less toxic but more expensive than PVC trees.

Christmas tree decorations underwent several changes. In 16th century Christmas trees were decorated with roses which are generally associated with Virgin Mary. Paper roses, wafers, nuts, lighted candles, and sweets were the popular decorative items for the trees in 17th century. Till mid 19th century cookies, chains of popcorn, raisins, nuts and pretzels were used but in the later half of the century toys, bells, garlands and paper decorations were the most popular decorative items. Stars, angels, or flags were placed at the top of the tree. It was the Germans who provided the variety of ornaments to the world market ranging from butterflies, stars to miniature musical instruments.

The first known decorated Christmas tree was the one at Riga in Latvia in 1510. Georgian kings from Germany brought the first Christmas tree to England. The Royal Court was not following the custom of putting up Christmas trees at that point of the time. It was the Germans who started the tradition in 16th century with the pyramids of wood ornamented with evergreens and candles.

The popular story goes like this- It was a winter evening in Germany around 16th century. Martin Luther King was mesmerized by the sight of the glittering stars in the sky through the tree branches. He tried to explain his experience to his family. He took a small fir tree from the wood and brought it indoors and decorated it with candles. This is how the trend of decoration began.

The whole concept is based on the idea - evergreen trees are magical symbol of life. They remind us of the spring sunshine. Candles and electric lights are used as decorative items so that the light of spring can overshadow the darkness of winter.

Selection of Christmas trees is considered to be a great art. It is an annual tradition which marks the official start of this season. Virginia is well known for the trend of e-selling of Christmas trees. Otherwise there is temporary retail lot in shopping centers and discount stores. Customers like to go for the choose-and-cut farms for the scope of having an outdoor recreation experience. Living Christmas trees are quite popular in Virginia as they are not disposed after Christmas but used as landscape trees.

Christmas trees had a long journey from the date of Martin Luther King till today. From religious icon the trees are transformed into a product of the growing Christmas industry. So, wait for more experiments!

A light brown yummy chocolate cake and a dish of delicious pudding can make Christmas “merry” in the real sense of the term. Christmas is not only a religious event but it is best known as a social occasion nowadays. Food is the basic aspect of any social occasion and hence feasting carries the festive essence of the event most.

It is better to go for a fast arrangement of chocolate pudding and peanut butter chips to get the tasty chocolate chip cookies. If you want to enjoy the taste of the oil then the best one will be fried cookies. Christmas food are getting diversified in such a way that people suffering from various heart diseases can opt for the low fat cookies out of banana and oatmeal. There is food for everybody! The light fruit cookies made out of either dates and dried fruit or chopped nuts are getting popular day by day.

Gingerbread was the most popular baked Christmas dish in Europe for centuries. The hype is still on and Christmas feast is decorated with different shaped gingerbread resembling men, women, stars, and animals. Lemon sauce and whipped cream can add flavor to the item.

Christmas can be termed as a “food festival”. The cooks of the world are experimenting with all kinds of odd items to give us a more tasty feast. Walnut cakes should not be missed. One can go for a fine blending of chocolate sauce, nuts, and chip cookies to get a delicious result. And the result is the yummy ice-cream sundae. The experts are at work to add more flavors to the popular Christmas feast items. Yule logs are believed to bring a beneficial magic. It is generally burnt for 12 hours or even for 12days with the notion of getting protection from witchcraft. The belief is so popular that the people even want it to add in their Christmas dish. And so, we have a chocolate yule log and one can go to any level for its decoration.

Fruit cake is the most popular Christmas cake on the table of U.K., Ireland and other common wealth countries. They may vary in shapes and colors and one can have a heavily iced one or a moist cake . It can be light or dark, round or square. Just mold it as you want it to be. Scottish people prefer Whiskey Dundee. The name is suggestive enough to give the idea that it has got a Dundee origin and the preparation is done with Scottish Whiskey. Who can say no to “apple cream cake”?

Out of all the Christmas desserts Bebinca is gradually gaining importance. The dish is from Goa, India. The main ingredients are eggs and coconut milk. It is generally baked over a slow fire. Before eating it as a dish of Christmas feast one usually turns it upside down.

The Christmas feast sounds incomplete without pudding. Though rice pudding is not the most popular one yet it is a comfortable dish on Christmas. Rice and milk mixed with sweetener really work wonders. Cranberry sauce should be at the corner of the table to make your turkey more tasty.

The list will never end. We can just hope to get more varieties as experts are really working hard on Christmas feasts.

Christmas trees are generally put up from 24th December to 6th January. They are triangular shaped and… Is this a law that needs to be strictly followed? Perhaps not. Christmas trees are no longer just a symbol of Christianity but a “product” in the era of consumerism. So, now we can put up trees whenever they are available in the market and can hang them in an upside down position.

People have already started liking the topsy-turvy Christmas trees. These kind of trees are popularly known as “inverted trees”. They were in high demand during the last Christmas shopping season. The trend started in 2003. Customers are very happy with the new product as they can see the ornaments better because they don’t get hidden behind the branches.

It would be wrong to claim this trend a modern one. Puritans are quite furious with whatever is going on to secularize Christmas. The argument is - the tip of the Christmas tree should point towards the Heaven but in this case it is pointing towards Hell. Hence, the upside down position is sacrilegious. The liberals give out a powerful counter argument on this issue. Why the same trend was not considered sacrilegious in 7th century? Yes, here we have a big question mark. A monk from Devonshire traveled to Germany with a triangular shaped fir tree to spread the message of The Holy Trinity of God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. Almost in every houses the trees were hanged upside down from the ceiling as a sign of Christianity for the next five centuries.

The Middle age trend faded away under the influence of conservatism. But one should not forget that present is always a reflection of the past. The inverted trees are generally artificial ones. The question is why it is becoming so popular?

The shopkeepers are happy as the inverted trees take a little space and so they can be well accommodated in departmental stores. Moreover they are free from fire hazards. The customers are also going for artificial inverted trees as they can be used for years and are definitely less expensive. In modern days men cannot devote much time and energy on nurturing the Christmas trees. The artificial trees need not to be pampered. Even children get the scope of decorating them with bigger gifts and ornaments which generally do not go well with natural trees. As the lower portion of the inverted Christmas tree is spacious, so the gifts are well displayed.

They are popularly called “holiday trees” in U.S. And Canada to give the essence of winter holiday season without any religious connotation. The conservatists have attacked the men of “war on Christmas” on this score. Common men are not sure whether inverted trees are sacrilegious or not. In order to avoid the controversy many of them are buying the inverted Christmas trees along with the so called traditional ones as the second option. The store keepers are getting tired to meet the increasing demands of the public. All these prove Christmas tree is no longer a religious icon but a consumer product which has been modified to suit the temperament of modern life.

People have no problem with the stars pointing down to Hell as long as they are aesthetically conceived. The Christmas market gets ready with the new trend of Christmas trees by late October and 2005 witnessed a high sale of the same. The shopkeepers predict a high demand for this year also. Are we really becoming secular? Or we are going back to 7th century trend? History is in favor of the inverted trees. Let’s not fight over the issue and accept the fact that inverted trees carry both the pagan and religious connotations with it just like the other decorative items. The aim is to make it more aesthetic and convenient for the time.