christmas – Page 2

Christmas around the world

If you stared out of your window and saw that it was a bright sunny afternoon and a perfect day for hitting the beach in your shorts – would you believe it was Christmas?

If you live in the United States, probably not. But in Australia and other places in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas actually falls in summer when temperatures approach 100 F! So, Christmas in these places, is celebrated outdoors with picnics, beach parties and candlelight carol singing under the stars.

Find that strange?

Then, take this quiz to see how much you know about Christmas traditions and facts about the holiday and how it is celebrated in other countries.

If you were eating rice pudding with a hidden magic almond in it and were leaving out a bowl of pudding for an elf called Nisse so he wouldn’t play too many practical jokes on Christmas, where would you be living?
If your kids are impatient to open their presents, tell them about the country where children actually wait until Janurary 6^th to open them. It’s the same country, where the evil witch Befana is said to leave coal instead of presents for the naughty kids and where people gather at noon on Christmas to hear the Pope offer his prayers and blessings.
Christmas in this country is marked by the arrival of the Christ child Christkindli, a veiled angle who brings gifts. As she enters each house and begins handing out gifts, tree candles are lit. The holiday season in this beautiful country is incomplete without the sternsingers or star singers, who dress up as the three kings and parade down streets singing Christmas carols.
Christmas celebrations start early in this country, on Dec 1^st or even earlier. On Dec 5^th, children leave a boot or shoe outside their homes and the following day, which is St. Nicolaus day, they find in it either presents or a rod depending on how nice or naughty they had been. An advent wreath is laid out flat on a table and a candle is lit each Sunday in December. Three candles are lit in this way and the fourth and last candle is lit on Christmas eve, thus helping kids keep track of the days remaining until the holiday.
Where would you be if you were mummering? What’s that you ask? Well, it’s a custom in this country where people put on masks and act out Christmas plays. Their celebrations begin with attending the midnight mass. The Christmas feast, besides including at least two roasted meats, a variety of vegetables and roasted potatoes, is wrapped up with Christmas pudding, mince pies and a Christmas cake that is prepared a couple of months ahead! The day after Christmas is celebrated as Boxing Day, referring to the custom of opening church alms boxes and distributing the contents to the needy.

How did you do on your Christmas Quiz? Are there any special Christmas customs or traditions your family follows? Tell us!

Answers : 1. Denmark, 2.Italy 3. Switzerland 4. Germany 5. England

Printable Cards for Christmas

Printable Cards

Personalized Printed Cards Delivered At Your Desk, Instantly!

There’s just something about a paper greeting card that never loses its charm for some of us. We like to hold the greeting in our hands, feel the crisp paper, run our fingers over the words and pictures- as if we were trying to absorb the essence of the message. Most of all we like to see the handwritten notes and the signatures of our loved ones. While ecards may be viewed instantly and forgotten over time, printed cards can be saved, cherished and shared for years. Although ecards have replaced printed cards in many instances as the more convenient, inexpensive and quick mode of wishing one another, printed cards still retain that special quality that electronic messages cannot convey effectively.

So, this holiday season, if you are thinking of sending out printed cards, but are not happy with the impersonal and expensive store bought variety, you have a creative new option available at gotfreecards.com.

Printable cards!

In this section, you can actually design and create your own card and print it out in your home to send to family and friends. There is a template to which you can upload a personal or family photo from your computer or choose one of the many images available on the site. You can also choose from among the many message options and also add your own personal note. Print it out and voila! You have your own custom paper greeting card that you can sign, seal with love and send just in time for the special occasion!

So, there’s absolutely no excuse to not send a wish to your loved ones this year. Whether you want to send an ecard or a printed card, it only takes a few minutes on gotfreecards.com.

Home for Christmas

When I was a kid, I remember spending Christmas Eve with my Dad’s family and Christmas Day with my Mom’s family. I thought that that was how it always was, and that is how it always will be. But when I started a family of my own, trying to see everyone important to us became more about driving to the next destination than it did about spending time with our loved ones.

To alleviate this stress, my in-laws began having Christmas one week early. That way, everyone was able to hang out together and celebrate all day long, instead of watching the clock. And I was able to enjoy my extended family on Christmas without trying to split the day up between them and my husband’s family. But when we started having kids, it all changed and everyone wanted to see the kids on Christmas so we were back to square one.

But this year it is going to be different. My husband and I have decided that Christmas is going to be at our house, celebrated with just our immediate foursome, and if anyone wants to see us, they will have to come to us! We will be saving on gas, on stress, and saving time as we enjoy our family in front of the Christmas Tree. And for those whom we will not be seeing, I am going to send them all FREE ecards from GotFreeCards.com. There are so many choices for Holiday Greetings ecards, that there is something for everyone. This Christmas is going to be easy, and I have GotFreeCards to thank!

Christmas last minute gifts or ecards

I got an email today from one of those on-line-calendars: “Holiday reminder for Thursday December 25th.” Hmm…what could that be? If you could see my house you’d know that I really, REALLY, don’t need a reminder for this mysterious holiday coming up next Thursday. Next Thursday?!? I cannot believe that Christmas is so close. And before I know it, it will be time to put away my fake tree, take down the lights strung up outside, put away my stash of Holiday wrapping paper and pretty bows, and find a place for my family’s new treasures we received this holiday.

But let’s not think about that yet! There is still time to find last minute gifts at great prices, time to hang up those Christmas lights still snug in the box in the garage, time to go out and get that good smelling tree, time to drink some eggnog, and time to visit Santa at the mall. And there is always ample time to send out your Christmas ecards right here at GotFreeCards.com. So when people start reminding you that Christmas is next week, just nod and smile and say “I can’t wait!” and rest assured that you will get everything done that you need to, especially when you have GotFreeCards here to help you send out your “must-have” Christmas ecards!

Christmas Cards on Sale

I went to a book store last week, to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, and I had to smile at this display of Christmas cards, situated right at the front of the store.

I go to this book store often to get coffee in their café and use their Internet connection, and so I remember seeing those Christmas cards, for the first time, several weeks ago. At that time, probably the beginning of November or close to it, the cards were priced at full retail: close to twenty dollars for a box of fifteen, if I remember correctly. I remember shaking my head and thinking, People would be crazy to pay that much for cards.

A couple of weeks later, all the boxes of cards had sale stickers on them, which read: “ONLY $15!” It was a discount, sure; but ten dollars? For a box of Christmas cards? And a couple of weeks later, they had been reduced again, down to ten dollars a box. And then this past week, during my last-minute Christmas shopping, the cards were bargain-basement priced: three dollars a box. And people were picking through them like crazy.

That’s a decent price, to be sure, but it just made me think: all the silly little things that we spend money on, that we really don’t have to…it’s ludicrous. Why, for example, would people leap at the chance to buy these Christmas cards for even three dollars a box, with only fifteen cards per box, when they could get ecards for free, on gotfreecards,com, and send as many as they like?

I suppose there’s always going to be a market for people willing to spend money on things they don’t need, but still…

Christmas and New Year

Christmas Ecards

The placement of Christmas and New Year’s Eve on the calendar seems like a cruel joke. Other holidays are relatively spaced out: Easter in April, Independence Day in July, Halloween in October. But between two of the year’s biggest holidays, we have only one short week.

Thankfully, there isn’t much preparation needed for New Year’s Eve, other than planning your party, or deciding which one to attend; but it can still be stressful: on Christmas, once the presents are opened, there is a tendency to look at your living room floor covered in wrapping paper and realize there simply isn’t time to get ready for the next holiday.

Some simple advice is just take a breath, and realize that though, yes, there is a mess of Christmas stuff to dispose of before New Year’s, and yes, you only have one week to move on to the next holiday, it still doesn’t need to be done right. that. second. Enjoy Christmas—the whole day—and maybe even give yourself the whole next day to unwind. And instead of rushing to take down all your Christmas decorations, you can maybe add, as part of your New Year’s celebration, a de-Christmasing ceremony. Whatever you do, however you handle it, remember this: Christmas and New Year’s—and all holidays—are meant to be enjoyed. And while yes, stress is to be expected, it shouldn’t overtake the joy of being together with family, friends and loved ones.

Send Christmas Ecards to Santa

Our tree is up, the lights are blinking, and all of the non-breakable ornaments are in their place. That is, until morning when my toddlers remove the ornaments and try to touch the lights which is my cue to remove the whole thing altogether. I am excited to help my kids get ready for Santa Claus and put out the snacks for the reindeer. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces Christmas morning when they behold the treasures Santa left for them the night before.

When I was a kid, I left a note for Santa on Christmas Eve: “Santa, please come into my room and wake me up when you get to my house so I know that you are real.” It is amazing to me to think I was so unafraid of Santa showing up in my room, because if he appeared today in my room I’d call the cops for sure! Anyway, when I woke up that Christmas morning, I was disappointed that Santa hadn’t introduced himself, but soon found his reply: “I can’t spoil the magic! Ho Ho Ho!” And he was right, Santa Claus represents the magic of the holiday season, and meeting him would have spoiled everything. Even today, though I know the real story, there is still a part of me that believes in the magic of Santa. Whatever your memories are of this festive season, be sure to share them with your loved ones. Make their holidays as bright as your memories by sending them Christmas ecards! And if you can find his email address, send one to Santa, too!

It is Eggnog time

Eggnog. To its numerous fans, the word evokes feelings of warmth, sweetness, and satisfaction. But to a random few, who shall remain nameless (my sister, Lindsey), it brings feelings of horror, the inability to swallow, and nightmares of liquid eggs in a cup. This fear is so strange to me, for I LOVE the yellow holiday beverage, that every year I try to trick my sister into drinking it at Christmas dinner. Because I know if she just tasted it one more time, she’d be in love, just like me. But alas, each year I am promptly found out and scolded by my dear sister. She hasn’t had a sip in over 15 years.

Recently I made my young son aware of the awesomeness of Eggnog, and as he has been asking to have it for breakfast all week, I decided I should find out what it really is! The word “Eggnog” means ‘egg inside of a cup’ and has an English background. As it became popular in recent centuries, people began adding rum, whiskey, or other fun additives for an extra kick. The original recipe was just milk or cream, eggs and sugar. But the carton I picked up from the grocery store also has included in the recipe High Fructose Corn Syrup, a few additives, and Turmeric for extra color, to name a few. I guess I could make my own, but who has time for that?? I still love my Eggnog, but I have to limit how much my young son drinks. It is only around during the holidays, so it is a special treat. As an added bonus this year, I am going to send my sister a lovely Christmas ecard with an added message to taunt her with: “It’s almost time for Eggnog!” Think she’ll still come over for Christmas?

Christmas Ecards

I got an email today from one of those on-line-calendars: “Holiday reminder for Thursday December 25^th.” Hmm…what could that be? If you could see my house you’d know that I really, REALLY, don’t need a reminder for this mysterious holiday coming up next Thursday. Next Thursday?!? I cannot believe that Christmas is so close. And before I know it, it will be time to put away my fake tree, take down the lights strung up outside, put away my stash of Holiday wrapping paper and pretty bows, and find a place for my family’s new treasures we received this holiday.

Christmas Options

Sometimes, on holidays, when we’re far away from the people we love, the urge may be present to not spend any time on Christmas shopping for them: after all, opening Christmas gifts in March lacks a certain something, doesn’t it?

But while you certainly don’t need to break your bank in shopping for those out-of-towners in your life, you can easily do something to let them know you’re thinking about them. You can call them on the phone, of course. And I usually write my best and oldest friends personalized letters every Christmas—even those I haven’t seen in years. Another option chritmas ecards —and one I’m certainly taking advantage of—is gotfreecards.com.

And, of course, don’t forget those farthest away of all: the men and women of the United States Military, serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all over the world. I can guarantee you that one phone call, letter or e-card will mean a whole lot more to them than your Dad’s new lawnmower will mean to him.