Over the years your family has acquired an extensive collection of treasured holiday ornaments. The amount may be so great that you are contemplating adding another tree in your living room! Visit the Santa’s Forest company blog for some creative and unique ideas to display your Christmas ornaments.
There are many traditions that happen around the Christmas season. The observance of Hanging of the Greens is a custom of decorating the sanctuary or home with evergreen and other festive decorations such as the Christmas tree with Chrismon Symbols. Here are some of the things you might find during the Hanging of the Greens and Advent season and their meaning.
Candles
Light, is symbolic during the Christmas season. The star that guided the three Wise Men
to Jesus. As Christians we use candles as a symbol of Christ as “Light of the World.” When we receive Jesus we become lights in the world as his light of his life is seen through us.
Sanctuary Greens
The most universal feature of Christmas is the use of evergreens. Evergreens represent peace, joy, and victory. Holly and ivy, along with pine are called evergreens because their color never changes. They symbolize the unchanging nature of our God and remind us of the everlasting life that is ours through Jesus.
Poinsettias
The flowers of Christmas are the poinsettia. The star shaped leaves remind us of the guiding star of Bethlehem. The yellow crown flowers remind us of Him who was born the King. The blood-red leaves foreshadow the cross that lay ahead for the King, and under the carpet of green, the reflection of abundant life.
As a child I always loved when my parents would drive us around to see the Christmas lights and decorations around town. They would put on some Christmas music and away we would go. There’s something magical about all those Christmas lights, no matter what your age. In Gatlinburg, Tennessee they decorate the entire town with over three million Christmas lights; they call it the Winter Magic display. I took my kids a couple years ago during Thanksgiving; the look on their faces as they walked through town is something I will never forget. Visit the Christmas Vacations Blog for more ideas on where you can spend your holidays.
A few years ago my daughter wanted to have a Christmas Party with the girls from her class. We decided to make it a themed Christmas Cookie Party, yes I was very brave! We made the invitations together and attached mini whisks and cookie cutters to each invitation. We had so much fun doing this we have decided to do it every year. Look for ideas on how to create the perfect Christmas tradition at the Christmas Traditions Blog.
As the story goes, Christmas Eve often brings dreams of sweet, sugary confections for children who await a visit from Santa. Many children today, though, have never seen, nor tasted a sugarplum. Why not make your own sugarplums to share with your family this Christmas? The recipe listed at Christmas Goodies is simple, delicious, and healthier than most store-bought Christmas candies. Who knows, you may even get your kids to dream of these yummy bites while snoring away this Christmas Eve!
Making long-lasting Christmas memories doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Sure, you could go out to a paid light display or go see a Christmas show, but chances are, you can probably make memories that will last just as long by finding fun family activities to do at home. The folks over at Dollar Stretcher have some excellent ideas to help you pinch your pennies while you create lifelong holiday memories. All it takes is a little creativity!
If you’d love to create a Christmas scrapbook this year but don’t know where to start, this video can provide you with a visual aid as well as simple instructions to help you get started with your book. All you’ll need is a few basic tools, some paper, and your photos.
Santa Claus is central to all of our Christmas memories when we’re young. We write letters to him, sit on his lap at the mall, and anxiously await his arrival on Christmas Eve. You can make those memories even more special for your kids by taking them one step further. Get some great ideas for making Christmas memorable for your children at From-Santa.com.
If you want to preserve your family’s Christmas memories but don’t have the time or the creativity to scrapbook, there are also pre-made Christmas memory books available. Similar to a baby book, they offer fill-in-the-blank journaling pages and photo album pages so you can combine your holiday photos with your Christmas stories, just like you would in a scrapbook. They’re getting harder to find as scrapbooking gains popularity, but can make it easy to keep those memories safe for future generations.
Shopping at the local Woolworth’s store was once as commonplace as going to Walmart for the average American family. Now, however, this iconic part of American history remains only as a memory. This video, recorded in a Christmas Museum in Pennsylvania containing a replica Woolworth’s store, is sure to bring back lots of warm memories for those who remember going to Woolworth’s to shop for Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, ribbon, and gifts.