By Sarin Mathew

The mist rising over the mountain range was beautiful to look at , my eyes felt the contentment of beholding such beauty. Slight warmth spread through my body as I sipped on the hot chocolate in my hands. It was the evening before “Christmas” and I had to attend the midnight mass of Christmas Eve. The scenario would have been perfect except I didn’t really think so.

I mean, seriously, Christmas isn’t really Christmas until there’s a beautiful white blanket of snow covering everything in sight…maybe at least this day the world’s sins can be covered under it. Christmas isn’t really Christmas until you’ve got bare naked trees which are covered with dazzling lights so as to make up for the robe of leaves it must have shed. Essentially I believe that Christmas is Christmas in foreign lands where you have ‘Santa’s’ at every street corner jingling their bells, hassled shoppers walking around with bags filled with goodies and gifts for their loved ones waiting up for them back home and what can Christmas actually be without green “Christmas pine trees” decorated like a new bride on her wedding night.

Man! I hate this. No lights, no Christmas trees, no white snow…and trying-to-perfect eggnog my mom whipped up for me. Christmas in India wasn’t exactly Christmas…no matter how beautiful the mist over the mountains looked! With these thoughts in my mind and my mood begining to become anti-christmas’y’, I put on my jacket and went out for a stroll.

As I walked about aimlessly, conversing with God, actually accusing him of making a mistake by making me Indian with an Indian Christmas I saw a chapel ahead of me decorated with lights. But what hit me was the number of candles gracing the chapel which were little hopes and little wishes made by us humans who in spite of reaching the moon still need an unseen force to ensure us that “all will be fine”. I walked ahead and saw a crowd of street urchins outside a temple waiting their turns to receive warm clothes for the harsh winter ahead. The donor looked happy and content standing in a corner just observing them and me observing the joy on his face.

Ok, now I was already feeling a little pro – christmas’y’ . But still there was no snow flake falling on my nose tip, no fogged up breath. I finally decided to return home and leave for mid night mass. As I was approaching my building a group of little kids with loud shrieky voices and un-tuned musical instruments decided to try out their season’s first Christmas carols on me. They sang in shrill voices ’Silent night….’, breaking into giggles in between. Finally after the wonderful orchestra, my mom gave them cookies and cakes to fill up with. As these little ones, still shrieking maybe even more now, left my house to move on to the next house to fill up with their out of tune carols and laughter, I realized that Christmas is actually about spending time with your family, helping others and being grateful for all that’s given to us. So even without the snow and the works…Christmas isn’t ‘still’ Christmas without the essence of Christmas i.e. to share, give & love. And suddenly the mist over the mountains on Christmas eve didn’t look too bad!!!

By Vandana Rajesh

Christmas is all about ringing in the festive season, friendship, love and great times. Celebrated as the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ, Christmas is associated with spreading peace, happiness and love. Nature too joins in this great celebration. It is like nature has adorned the role of a fairy Godmother all dressed in white offering you a wonderful time.

Christmas for many is the connecting link with their childhood bringing back lovely nostalgic memories of their young days when they decorated their house along with parents, assisted mother with the grand meal. It has since ages been a time for family reunions. Christmas is a wonderful time for family reunions and having all those get togethers that you have been planning for long. Work hard to make it truly special for your family.

Start right from the beginning by decorating your house. Bring in all those evergreens, put up all those beautiful cards that you received from your near and dear ones and do up the home making it truly irresistible for Santa. You could use different types of decorations for making your home look very beautiful and be the focus of all attention. Do not forget the mistletoes. Bring out all the wonderful laced home linen that you have been storing for Christmas and turn your home into a beautiful space you and your family would enjoy.

It is a great time that kids look forward to. For the children Christmas is all about gifts and goodies and spending memorable moments with family. The children wait all year long for hanging up their stockings and hoping and praying that Santa decides to bring them lovely gifts.

Food is an important part of Christmas. It is time to make all those delicious dishes that you have been experimenting with for so long. A great time for entertaining, call over your friends and family and enjoy the Christmas spirit.  

The Christmas tree is an important decoration that is the pride of every home. Decorate your Christmas tree creatively. You could make use of your old decorations as well as try some new creative ideas. You could even hang up chocolates and other goodies wrapped in gold or silver foil making it attractive for the children. Make sure that you add that special personal touch while wrapping the gifts placed under the Christmas tree. 

Christmas would be just another festival but for the importance that you give it. Your efforts to make it a wonderful time for your loved ones is what the Christmas spirit is all about. It is time for sharing and caring. A time for making others feel special. It is a time for expressing your love and affection. The Christmas spirit is all about understanding others, their difficulties and helping them in the best possible manner. The holiday season offers you the time and ambience for making the most and enjoying with family and friends. Come together and spread happiness this Christmas making it an occasion that you and your loved ones would cherish all their life

If you are like many other individuals, you enjoy Christmas.  With Christmas comes gifts’, spending time with family, and Christmas decorations.  While everyone loves to get Christmas gifts and spend time with their family, there are others who are most excited about decorating for Christmas.  In a way, putting up Christmas decorations symbolizes the upcoming Christmas holiday.  Perhaps, that is one of the reasons why decorating for Christmas is enjoyed by so many.

When it comes to decorating for Christmas, different individuals use different methods.  Perhaps, the most popular method is buying Christmas decorations from the store and then hanging them or displaying them in the home.  In addition to buying store bought decorations, there are other individuals who make their own Christmas decorations and then hang or display them. If you are preparing to decorate your home for Christmas, you may be wondering which decorating method you should use. Honestly, the decision is yours to make; however, you will find that each method has a number of advantages and disadvantages. 

As previously mentioned, one of the most popular ways that most individuals choose to decorate their homes for Christmas is by purchasing store bought decorations. These store bought decorations can include items such as a Christmas tree, Christmas lights, Christmas tree ornaments, Christmas lawn decorations, and Christmas kitchenware.  Perhaps, the wide variety of different decorations that can be purchased online or from a storefront retail location is the greatest benefit to buying your decorations. While it is possible to make your own Christmas lights or Christmas kitchenware, it is time consuming and you need to have special skills to do so.

In addition to the selection of Christmas decorations that you have to choose form, when buying store bought Christmas decorations, you will also find that buying pre-made Christmas decorations saves time.  Shopping online is the best way to save time, when buying Christmas decorations, but you can also save time by buying your Christmas decorations from one of your local retail stores. As nice as it may be to make your own Christmas decorations, it is a time consuming task, especially if you have never made your own Christmas decorations before. 

So far, it may seem as if you can benefit the most from buying store bought Christmas decorations, but it is important to note that you can also benefit from making your own decorations.  Perhaps, the greatest advantage to making your own Christmas decorations is that you can make what you want.  Since you know every inch of your home, you likely know what will look good in one area and what will look good in another.  If you are looking for a particular Christmas decoration, such as a Christmas painting, and you are unable to find it, you may be able to make your own. While it will take some skill and time, it is almost always worth it to get exactly what you want.

Another advantage to making your own Christmas decorations is that, as previously mentioned, you can make whatever you want, however you want to.  When most of us think of homemade Christmas decorations, we tend to think of decorations that were created from scratch. The reality is that you can make your own decorations with existing Christmas decorations or traditional craft items, if you want to. For instance, you can easily make your own Christmas table centerpiece by using a glass bowl or large candleholder, artificial flowers, sand, or even Christmas lights.  Despite the fact that you did not make each piece of the decoration yourself, you altered it enough whereas it can be considered a homemade Christmas decoration.

The overall goal of decorating for Christmas is to bring the Christmas spirit into your home.  In all reality, that is the most important thing.  It really shouldn’t matter whether you choose to make your own Christmas decorations or buy them; the same goal will be accomplished.

Are you looking forward to Christmas this year?  If so, there is a good chance that you cannot wait until it arrives. While it is difficult, in fact impossible, to make Christmas come any sooner, there are ways that you can bring the Christmas spirit into your house before the holiday actually arrives. You can do this by decorating your home for Christmas.

When it comes to decorating for Christmas, there are many individuals who place a focus on one room and one room only. That room is likely the room in which their Christmas tree is in. While it is important to decorate your Christmas tree and the room that it is in, you should also think about decorating the rest of your home.  In a small amount of time, you can easily show your appreciation for Christmas, in each and every room of your home.

Since, the room in which your Christmas tree is in was already touched on, it is best to focus on other rooms, besides your living room, family room, or den.  Perhaps, it is best to focus on the bathroom. After all, it is one of the most used rooms in any home.  If you are interested in decorating your bathroom for Christmas, you can often do so with a few small, yet affordable Christmas decorations.  You can hang a Christmas picture in your bathroom or replace some of your bath towels with Christmas bath towels.  If you want to, you could even replace your bathmat or shower curtain with one that has a Christmas theme. 

The kitchen is another room that you could easily decorate for the Christmas holiday season. With the kitchen, like the bathroom, there are a number of low-cost ways that you can go about getting your decorating done. For instance, did you know that you can purchase Christmas themed potholders, over mitts, and kitchen towels for only a couple of dollars each?  If money is not an issue, you may want to think about adding some Christmas themed kitchenware into the mix. For a little bit more money, but still a relatively affordable price, you should be able to find matching sets of bowls, plates, and cups that come with pre-designed Christmas themes. 

You may also want to decorate the bedrooms in your home, especially if you have children.  One Christmas decorating idea that all children love is Christmas lights. In fact, there are some children who decorate their rooms with Christmas lights all year long. Simply by hanging Christmas lights along the perimeter of your child’s room, you could easily help to create a Christmas-like feel in their room.  If your child would prefer not to have Christmas lights in the bedroom, you could easily hang a small Christmas picture in their room. This picture can be a nice framed one or it can be one of the Christmas cardboard cutouts that you can purchase in a package at most dollar stores. 

 In addition to decorating the rooms inside your home, you may also want to think about decorating the outside of your home as well.  If you are looking for a simply way to showoff your Christmas spirit, you could easily run Christmas lights along the outside of your home. There are special Christmas lights that are developed just for this purpose.  If you would like to do more, you could also decorate your lawn for Christmas.  A few Christmas yard signs may be nice; however, you can go even larger than that.  There are a number of retail stores that sell large inflatable Christmas trees, reindeer, or Santas.  No matter how much or how little decorating you do outside of your home, it may be a good idea to showcase your love for Christmas to your entire neighborhood.

The above mentioned Christmas decorating tips are just that, tips. If you want to decorate your whole home for Christmas, go right ahead; you will likely be pleased with your decision to do so.  However, you don’t have to. For some individuals a simple Christmas tree is all the Christmas spirit that they need have.

Christmas lights; we have all seen them and most of us have used them before. When it comes to Christmas lights, we often associate those lights with Christmas trees.  While Christmas lights are most commonly used to decorate Christmas trees, did you know that they can also be used for much more?  If you are planning on decorating your home for Christmas this year, you are advised to examine what else Christmas lights can be used for. After a close examination, you will likely see that they can be used for a lot more than you may have originally thought.

As previously mentioned, when it comes to Christmas lights, we often associate Christmas lights with Christmas trees. This is because a large number of individuals decorate their Christmas trees with Christmas lights.  What is nice about using Christmas lights on a Christmas tree is that the lights come in a number of different sizes and styles.  It is possible to purchase Christmas lights with small light bulbs, as well as large ones.  Traditional Christmas lights come white in color or with a combination of all different colors.  In recent years, the popularity of different colored lights has skyrocketed.  You can now purchase single colored Christmas lights or lights with a specific color combination. These types of lights are ideal for those who are looking to theme their Christmas tree.

Although many individuals choose to use Christmas lights for their Christmas tree, as stated above, there are other uses for them as well.  One of those uses is for decorating the outside of your home.  Online and in many retail stores across America, you can easily find Christmas lights that are designed for outside use, particular around a home. These type of lights are often referred to as icicle Christmas lights.  Icicle Christmas lights allow the lights to hang off the side of a house.  While it is possible to find multicolored outdoor Christmas lights, you will find that they are most commonly sold in the traditional white color.

In addition to decorating the outside of the outside of your home with Christmas lights, you can also decorate the trees outside of your home.  A number of homeowners, each year, decorate the trees outside their home, often exactly like their indoor Christmas tress.  Many times, these trees are relatively small in size; therefore, the same types of Christmas lights that can be used on a regular tree can also, sometimes, be used on an outdoor tree.  Decorating the small trees in your yard is a great way to bring a touch of Christmas to your neighborhood.

You can also use Christmas lights to decorate any one of the rooms that can be found inside your home.  There are many individuals who hang Christmas lights along the top of their walls. This is a great way to bring extra Christmas spirit into the room that your Christmas tree is in, as well as other rooms. In fact, you can even use Christmas lights to decorate one of your home’s bedrooms.  This idea is often loved by teenagers and other children; many enjoy the bright lights and colors. Decorating your home’s bedrooms is a great way to bring the Christmas spirit into a room that you may have otherwise not decorated.

As nice as it is to decorate your home for Christmas, you may also want to decorate your office or your workspace. Unfortunately, not everyone celebrates Christmas.  This may pose a problem, when it comes to decorating your office workspace.  However, you can still, in many cases, use Christmas lights to decorate your office.  In most cases, you will find that it is the decorations that scream Christmas that cause the problems, not the lights themselves. Therefore, if you supervisors approve, you could easily hang Christmas lights around your office walls or along the sides of your work desk.

Isn’t it amazing all of the different ways that you can use Christmas lights to decorate your home or even your office? What is even more amazing is the above mentioned examples are just a few of the many ways that you can use Christmas lights to bring the holiday spirit into your home or office.

Christmas cards are big business; in fact, nearly 2 billion holiday cards are purchased, addressed and mailed each Christmas season.  This is because virtually everyone is caught up in the holiday card frenzy.  However, just like with any other type of correspondence, there are a few rules of etiquette that apply whenever you are sending out holiday greetings.

Christmas Cards for Friends and Family

Even if you are using preprinted holiday cards, you still need to sign your name and write a small handwritten note inside them in order to make the recipient feel as though you have truly thought about them this holiday season.  If you are signing the card for the entire family, you should begin by writing the father’s name, then the mother’s and finally the children.  Whenever Christmas cards are being sent to either a couple or a family that has two different last names, you should always address the card to both people.

Christmas Cards for Business Associates

Unless you have met your business associate’s spouse, their Christmas cards should always be sent to their office.  Regardless of where the card is sent, you should always write in a more formal and secular style. You should never sign your spouse’s name unless the recipient has met them in a social gathering.  You also do not want to ever send your personal family newsletter to your business associates.  Even if you are sending out hundreds of Christmas cards to a variety of business associates here, you should never use bulk mail. Always send your Christmas cards first class.

Christmas Cards for Special Circumstances

Every time that you send out a holiday greeting, you mean well. Unfortunately, sometimes your good intentions may be misunderstood.  Therefore, in order to avoid any etiquette slips there are two important tips that you need to remember. 

First, whenever sending Christmas cards to people from a different ethnic or religious background, choose a more secular card that is free of religious undertones.  Even a winter scene card with a basic Season’s Greetings, Happy Holidays or message of Peace is appropriate here.

 Secondly, if you know that your recipient is grieving the loss of a loved one this year, take special care to find a card that specifically deals with holiday grief.  They will appreciate your extra thoughtfulness in assuring them that their loved one has not been forgotten this holiday season.

Christmas Candles set the House Aglow during the Season

Christmas decorating has become a favorite pastime once the Thanksgiving turkey has been carved, and many folks are constantly on the lookout for new and unusual ways to adorn their homes during the season. One of the least expensive ways to make a festive statement is through the use of Christmas candles that are strategically placed throughout the house. Christmas candles can add a warm and inviting glow to any room, and can dress up your holiday décor before they are even lit. Today you can find Christmas candles in a wide array of colors, sizes and styles to meet the needs of even the most discriminating holiday decorator.

All Around the House

As long as it is safe to do so, you can place your Christmas candles in some of the most unexpected nooks and crannies of your home. The powder room is a popular place for Christmas candles to make an appearance, and if you select from the scented varieties, your bathroom is guaranteed to smell festive as well. Another fun way to use your Christmas candles is to make an arrangement of them inside of your fireplace on evenings when it is too warm to build an actual fire. This is a safe place to display a beautiful Christmas candle display, and you can add a warm glow to an otherwise dark hearth.

Of course, the dining room table is the perfect setting for Christmas candles, but keep in mind that it is poor manners to set candles on a table without lighting them when your guests sit down to eat. You can opt for a pair of classic tapers that will add elegance to your Christmas table, especially if you go for colors like white, silver or gold. You can also place a few pillars of assorted sizes on a decorative plate for a centerpiece to your table. Add some greens, Christmas ornaments or even candy around the edges of the plate to add to the festive look. Another way to display Christmas candles on your dining room table is to line up a number of tea lights down the center of the table for an understated glow.

Outdoors

You can also use Christmas candles outdoors to invite guests into your home. Try creating luminaries, by cutting shapes into paper bags, filling with sand and placing a tea light in the center. A porch that is lined by these candles will be a warm and welcoming one indeed. If you are concerned about safety when it comes to using your candles in various locations, you can also opt for the safer electrical version. These lights can give the same look as a Christmas candle but without the concern over the fire hazard that might result.

Caring for Christmas Ornaments

Proper storage of your Christmas ornaments will keep them unharmed for next year as well as for decades to come.  This is especially true for antique glass ornaments, which are quite fragile.  Modern ornaments that are made from treated glass; they are stronger but they are still susceptible to damage.

Handling Glass Christmas Ornaments

Glass decorations must be handled carefully. Whenever they are removed from storage, it should be done on a padded surface.  There should also be a padded tree skirt under the tree to soften the impact of any glass ball that falls from the tree.  You should also use an old-fashioned Christmas tree fence to keep your young children and pets away from the ornaments.  Otherwise, place your delicate glass balls near the top of the tree.  Make sure that these ornaments are also positioned away from sunlight so that the paint will not fade.

Cleaning Christmas Ornaments

The colors of antique ornaments are from favorite family recipes, which were not very durable and with age they become even more fragile. Most of them are water-soluble, so they should never be washed or have any type of chemical solution used on them.  Instead, gently flick them with an ostrich- feather duster to clean them.

Storing Christmas Ornaments

Strong, acid-free cardboard storage boxes with close-fitting lids are needed to store your Christmas ornaments. You should try to find one that has been specifically designed to store ornaments and thus has appropriately-sized compartments. Plastic boxes are sturdier than cardboard boxes, but the completely airless space they create is not necessarily suitable for valuable or antique ornaments.  Of course, you will still want to individually wrap each piece with acid-free tissue paper, or acid-free paper towels before placing it in the storage container. Bubble wrap or crumpled paper towels should be placed at the bottom of the storage container before placing your wrapped Christmas ornaments inside.

Even with all this padding and protection, it is still possible for ornaments to be damaged by extreme temperatures and humidity levels.  These elements can cause stress fractures to eventually occur in your ornaments.  This is why you do not want to store your Christmas ornaments in unheated attics or cellars.  Instead, you should keep them inside of a closet.

Taking time to care and properly store will ensure that your Christmas ornaments go undamaged.  This is not something that is difficult to do; consider it as an investment in preserving heirlooms for generations to come.

A Christmas Carol, or originally known as A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, is a Victorian morality novel written by author Charles Dickens (February 7, 1812- June 9, 1870) and published in the December of 1843 by Chapman and Hall of the United Kingdom.

The novel got off to a fantastic start, selling over 6,000 copies in one week, a large amount for that time. Ironically, Dickens only wrote the book to pay off a debt, and today it is one of the best selling Christmas books of all time.

The driving force for Dickens’s creation was his disenchantment with the world’s economic drives and greed. He believed that the problems with the world were caused by an obsession with money and climbing the social ladder. He made his feelings very clear in A Christmas Carol with themes focused on teaching a lesson.

Themes

On the outside, the novel A Christmas Carol seems to be a commentary on how greed is bad. On a closer look the book delves into many social and political aspects of the human condition. For instance, old Scrooge symbolizes “the man” who takes from the poor, without caring for their condition. By the end of the story Scrooge realizes his folly and gives more generously to the needy.

Many of the characters and places stand for things found in society, such as Ebenezer Scrooge stands for the greed of humanity, The Counting House stands for the time’s lust and greed and Utilitarianism.

Interesting Facts

A Christmas Carol became Dickens’s first ever public reading. It was held at the Birmingham Town Hall for the Industrial and Literary Institute, December 17, 1852. He continued public readings of A Christmas Carol until his death. Dickens intended the work to have a musical theme. For instance, the title, of course, is A Christmas Carol and the chapters are called staves instead of chapters.

In Hood’s Magazine and Comic Review (1884), the poet Thomas Hood said about the story, “If Christmas, with its ancient and hospitable customs, its social and charitable observances, were in danger of decay, this is the book that would give them a new lease.” And so it did. When the story was written, many people had stopped celebrating Christmas as much. After the books release, the holiday became popular once more. A Christmas Carol has been made into movies starting in 1908, plays, operas, radio shows, and television specials.

The History of Christmas around the World

Christmas is one of the biggest holidays of the year and is celebrated around the world with a variety of traditions and folklore. But when did the history of Christmas begin? Every culture has its own history of Christmas that signifies the beginning of the holiday in various countries. Even the United States has its own rich history of Christmas, which originated much later than many of the older countries of the world. However, the very first Christmas was celebrated in a town called Bethlehem, more than 2000 years ago, and this is the history of Christmas that most people are familiar with.

How the History of Christmas Began

The history of Christmas begins with the Roman Catholic Church in celebrating the birth of the Christ child. Eventually the holiday of Christmas was celebrated by others as well, and other stories and folklore came into play with the history of Christmas and the traditions that go along with it. As each country and culture hopped on the Christmas bandwagon, they all brought with them many traditions and rituals that were unique to their own cultures. All of these aspects of the history of Christmas have come together in a sort of melting pot that makes up our Christmas holiday of today.

The History of Christmas in the United States

The United States was one of the last places to adopt the Christmas holidays, but this country has done much in a short period of time to create a rich history of the holiday within its boundaries as well. American Sunday schools began to hold Christmas parties in the first half of the nineteenth century, and the rituals of Christmas trees, gift giving and Santa Clause were very much a part of the culture by the late 1800’s. In 1836, Alabama was the first state in the country to make Christmas a legal holiday. Washington D.C. followed suit in 1870, and by 1893 every state and territory had done the same.

 Although some complain that Christmas has become a highly commercialized holiday, which has stripped some of the original meaning of the history of Christmas away, most still recognize this day as the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Churches see a rise in attendance during the Christmas holiday season, and many families place crèches and nativity scenes in their home to commemorate the first Christmas. For believers in the Christian faith, the history of Christmas signifies one of the holiest times of the year, when a Messiah was born to bring salvation to the world.