How To Manage Housework During the Christmas Season

While you are working on your Christmas preparation, don't allow everything else go to pot. Continue on the basic household routine—cooking, laundry, and pick-up— and you'll have more time for Christmas projects and fun.

To create more time for Christmas projects, learn the fundamental principle of setting priorities. Choose what has to be taken care of and which things can be put off or skipped. Some people call this a system of "selected neglect." Here once more, it often helps to write down your ideas so you can appraise them logically, using your physical senses instead of running ideas around and around in your mind trying to organize them...READ MORE>>>

Last-Minute Holiday Decorating Ideas

Holiday decorating is a good project to do with kids; and every year you add to the previous year's output. You'll be surprised when you see how laden your trees are with all the ornaments you've made over the years. This would seem like a nice family tradition to have passed on. These don't have to be excessive or difficult and you can begin right now even when you've already decorated your Christmas tree. There's always room for more.

Here are some last-minute Christmas decorating ideas that are really quick and easy and demand absolutely no brain power, talent, or energy...READ MORE>>>

Wrapping Homemade Food Gifts for Christmas

Giving food gifts and creatively wrapping them is not exactly a matter of decoration, it is more an extension of personal style. At Christmas we beautify our homes, we entertain, and wrap gifts. Some people enjoy giving homemade gifts straight from the kitchen. Because many people enjoy homemade items at Christmas time, you may want to create interesting ways to present them...READ MORE>>>

Homemade Holiday Wreaths for Your Front Door

Front door decoration give the first impressions to guests during the holidays. Many people hang a simple wreath or pine, even before the weekend of Thanksgiving. It's easy to create a holiday mood and ambiance with anything from a few green branches tied with a bow to a very richly ornamented crown. To make your own crown, you will find forms and all accessories in a well-stocked garden. Here are some ideas to consider...READ MORE>>>

Christmas and Holiday Decorating for the Busy People

It seems that everyone has more load of responsibilities over the holidays than at any other time of year. Most people are just too busy with family and jobs to entertain or to decorate in a fancy manner. In this regard, the following would give you some ideas for DIY party decorations that can make your home warm, refined, and welcoming without too amount of time invested...READ MORE>>>

The Nutcracker Suite: A Popular Classic Christmas Ballet

One of the landmarks in ballet history was Pyotor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s creation of the Nutcracker Suite.  With Swan Lake (1876) and The Sleeping Beauty (1879) behind him, he was commissioned by the director of St. Petersburg’s Imperial Theater to write a new ballet to a book by Marius Petipa, who completely outlined the moods and dances the musical score was to fit.  Tchaikovsky’s Opus 71, The Nutcracker, premiered by the composer himself as an orchestral suite on March 19, 1892, is based on Alexander Dumas’s version of a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann.  It was then choreographed by Lev Ivanov for a first performance at St. Petersburg’s Maryinsky Theatre on December 18, 1892.   The first night was not as triumphant as that of Sleeping Beauty’s.  It was confusing for the Russian audiences of that day to see a performance dominated by children in the first act, and they did not exactly favor the German story on which it was based either.  Today, however, there is hardly a major world dance company or regional ballet that does not mount an elaborate Christmastime production of The Nutcracker...READ MORE>>>

The Magical Experience of Christmas

Christmas is that special time of the year when joy and ethereal magic fills the season. It emanates in the delightful ornaments, awesome gatherings with family and friends and the sheer sense of joy one experiences both from giving and receiving presents. 

While is apparent that the commercialized nature of Christmas nowadays is often rebuked, we still cannot deny that shopping is a significant and fundamental activity that adds to the magic of Christmas, especially for the fashionistas and the shopaholics. At the malls or shopping centers that several of the favorite sights, sounds, and scents of Christmas can be sensed.

Something about Christmas and the holidays bring about special and unforgettable memories...READ MORE>>>

Christmas History: Not Everyone Was Excited About Christmas

When people just go along with the commotions and celebrations of the season, ask, what are we celebrating then?

The glitter of bright and colorful decorations, the sounds of joyous Christmas carols, the happy children, and the cheerful greetings of “Merry Christmas!” may give the impression that everybody is glad that Jesus came to our planet. But reality is, that isn’t true, and it never was... READ MORE>>>
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Getting More Out of Christmas

A few days before Christmas, some of us will still do the last minute Christmas shopping.  Many are weary of shopping because the store merchants began urging us to start buying our gifts and treats long before Thanksgiving.  Some purposely wait up to the last minute in the hopes of getting in on some sales.
At any rate, Christmas shopping gets out of hand, does it not?  Many of us spend too much and are left with big bills to pay after Christmas.  Perhaps we even have to give less to the church and to missions this month because we have overspent or we “might” overspend during Christmas...READ MORE>>>

Christmas: The Schizophrenic Holiday

Christmas may carry Christ’s name but someone else gets most of the attention.

Don’t misunderstand.  I’m no Scrooge dedicated to banishing innocent make-believe.  On balance, Santa Claus has probably made the world a happier place for thousands.  But it seems significant that we have invented a fantasy-figure for our children and ourselves that resembles the Savior so closely.

Several years ago, a religious magazine carried a Christmas cover illustration of Santa Claus nailed to the cross – white beard, red suit, and all.  The editors received a lot of letters criticizing the blasphemy.  But the illustration did what is assumed the editors wanted it to do – it shocked people into realizing how confused we can become at Christmas.>>> READ MORE>>>

Tips on Christmas Shopping with Kids

While it is surely true that shopping with kids can be hard at times, it is also imaginable to have an effective, efficient and fun shopping pleasure trip with children. It will take a little advanced preparation and cooperation on the children's' behalf but it can be done. This article will cover a couple of the common tips for having a successful Christmas shopping trip with children. Some of these tips include seeing to it the children are well rested, taking frequent breaks, integrating activities suitable for children into the venture and being geared up for any situation.

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Tips on Holding Christmas Parties at Home

It can be very gratifying to serve your friends, families and loved ones especially during the Christmas holidays. Taking some time to share food, entertainment and laughter in fun and festive ways is truly a part of the spirit of Christmas.

When deciding to hold a party at home, among the first things to consider is determining whether it will be a formal or an informal event. Among the key matters that demands careful consideration are the number of persons attending, the food and its preparation, and the Christmas themed decoration that fits the holiday festivities. It's also necessary to know who among your friends or family members will be available you out if needed.

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How to Find The Best Bargains While Christmas Shopping

Finding bargains while Christmas shopping is really easy. In fact it is so easy that chancing on items that are not a bargain is considered more of a challenge. Although most stores have annual sales in the end, almost all retail businesses offer significant bargains in the weeks just before Christmas. These traders know that the buyers will be in full force at this time and offer their best deals hoping to attract a large portion of buyers. The best way to ensure you are getting the best possible deals, while you are Christmas shopping is to spend some time window shopping way before the Christmas season arrives. This will give you a good idea of ​​what types of items are selling today and also give a good indication of the costs of these items. This information can be used when Christmas shopping to find out how much you are saving to buy items on sale just before Christmas.

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How to Shop for Clothes as Christmas Gifts

The History of Christmas Carols

Many of the Christmas carols that were prohibited, and early Christmas carols in general, had lyrics that conveyed joyous and merry themes instead of the serious somber words present in church hymns. Around the time when carols were banned, some composers and musicians composed non-religious songs that had extremely varied choral music, which they called carols, for Christmas. After Christmas carols again became popular, a lot of those songs were re-arranged with fresh Christian lyrics and utilized by the church. Making alterations to Christmas carols continues in a different way today with pop artistes singing the carols to different tunes and melodies to give them a style that characterizes the particular artiste. Having Christmas carols with tunes of modern-day or popular music of today means that they're also more likely to endure because younger listeners will be interested in listening to any music that is done by their favorite or other popular singers.

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Tips on Traveling During the Christmas Holidays

Christmas is a time to be with family, loved ones and friends, it's among the busiest times of the year to travel. People travel to different regions and international destinations to share Christmas dinners, exchange gifts and recall warm memories they have of the season. There's also travel for entertainment reasons that are made by tourists inside the country or from abroad. And still on Christmas Day, the highways are filled with vehicles as relatives and friends travel between towns and states to spend the day together.

Read more: Tips on Traveling During the Christmas Holidays 

Interesting Facts About Christmas

It is a recognized fact that the Christmas tree custom is one that was brought to the land of America by German immigrants who retained a practice that was popular in their former homeland. Nowadays, a Christmas tree, even a miniature one, is present in just about each household at Christmas. It is consequently interesting to note some little-know facts about the Christmas Tree and other customs associated to Christmas.

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