All About Christmas

The real meaning of Christmas is often expressed as being about giving to others during the season. Giving can take many forms, but during the Christmas season the most obvious way in which giving is done is by preparing beautifully wrapped Christmas presents for family, friends, acquaintances, work colleagues, teachers and others such as business clients.

The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas is believed to have started with the Three Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But the practice of giving gifts as is common today, evolved from a retail strategy that involved Santa Claus and attracting children into stores. For that reason, giving gifts at Christmas and during the holidays has been centered on children.

Giving gifts during Christmas started in the early 19th century when the celebration of Christmas was restored after a period when the Protestants in England banned Christmas celebrations. In 1820 to 1840 when Christmas celebrations regained popularity, stores started to advertise special Christmas shopping promotions. At the same time, newspapers also created advertising sections solely for holiday shopping advertisements. These special advertising sections had prominent displays of Santa Claus.

In 1841 when a store in Philadelphia had a life-size model of Santa Claus, hundreds of children turned up to get a look at Santa Claus, which had become a new and popular element of revitalized Christmas celebrations. The interest in seeing Santa Claus provided a marketing idea to retailers that they could attract children and parents to stores through offers to have a look at a ‘real’ or ‘live’ Santa Claus. Because of that marketing strategy to attract children during Christmas, the focus was therefore to give Christmas presents to children.

Today, gift-giving is still focused on children, but adults are as much popular recipients as children. Within families, the focus on children is evident in the fact that an individual child will get more gifts than any other individual adult member of the family.

For young children, who are particularly delighted and enchanted by the holidays and Christmas festivities, toys are usually the gift given. Among older children, clothes and electronic gadgets are popular items to give as Christmas gifts. Adults are the ones however, for whom there is the widest range of items that can be given as Christmas presents. An item that will make a good Christmas or holiday present to just about any adult is a decadent box of chocolate or holiday cookies. This is enjoyed even by those who are diet-conscious because, they can be sugar- and, or, fat-free or also low in carbohydrates.

At Christmas time also, many people tend to temporarily disregard any strict diet rules that they are following and so they welcome and enjoy any type of Christmas treats heartily. According to a survey done in 2004 by the National Confectioners Association, 90 percent of 1,000 adults who were surveyed responded that giving or receiving a box of chocolates and creating or receiving a stocking filled with goodies were among the top three ways they enjoyed candy during the winter holidays.

A third way was having candy that was placed in a dish, which indicates that having sweet treats at Christmas time is generally enjoyed by a broad cross-section of people.

Aside from family members and friends, it may also be a nice gesture to give a holiday or Christmas present to colleagues at work, teachers of your children and based on your profession, to business clients. The primary reason to give any of those categories of people holiday or Christmas gifts is likely to express appreciation. For that reason, a holiday present of goodies or treats would indeed be a sweet gift to give.

Tags: christmas shopping, gift giving, presents
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Maybe no other single activity really embraces camaraderie, playfulness and fierce but friendly competition as heartily participating in playing indoor games with friends and family. Christmas games does all those things but also serves the purpose of bringing friends and family together to interact directly with each other in a competitive and happy way.

Participating in Christmas games is another way of sharing, but it is also doing something tangible to get into the festive, jolly and relaxed mode for the holidays. Otherwise, its easy to get caught up in all the preparation and shopping and become ridden with anxiety. Here are some holiday and Christmas games that will cause fierce but friendly competition and leave everyone in a jolly mood.

For the ‘Gift Wrap’ game, items needed will be small gifts, wrapping paper, scotch tape and music that can be turned on and off at will. Each gift item is wrapped in several layers of paper. The number of layers used will depend on the duration you want the game to last. A gift is given to the group which should start passing around the gift when the music starts. Whenever the music stops, whoever has the gift should remove one layer of gift wrap. This continues until the last layer of paper is removed. Whoever has the gift unwrapped gets to keep it.

The items needed for the ‘Sock Guessing’ Christmas game are two or three thick new thermal socks, items used or seen during Christmas, pens, pencils and paper. Each sock is stuffed with 20-25 items that are used or seen during the Christmas season. These can be useful items such as scotch tape, ornaments, decorations etc. Each sock should have the same items and the opening should be tied with a ribbon so the contents inside aren’t visible. The socks are then passed around for each person to try to feel and guess the items then write down what they think is in the sock. The person with the most correct guesses of objects is the winner and can be awarded a separate special gift or token.

The ‘Gift Grab Card Game’ needs two deck of cards and a few small Christmas gifts that are wrapped to look very interesting and enticing. One deck of cards is passed out one at a time to guests. Each should have an equal number of cards from the deck. The gifts are then placed in the center of the group. Someone then calls out cards from the second deck. Whoever has an identical card gets to choose a gift. When all the gifts are taken, everyone can steal gifts from each other until the deck is finished and those with gifts get to open and keep them as prizes. The fun increases when the stealing begins because everyone will have different ideas about which gift looks interesting and try to hang onto it by stealing it over and over if it is stolen.

Some people will also try to disguise the fact they have a gift, although they should be kept in sight. A children’s Christmas game is ‘Pin the Nose on the Reindeer,’ which is the Christmas game version of ‘Pin the tail on the Donkey.’ The items needed are a drawing of a reindeer’s head with an incomplete drawing of the nose and several noses with the names on one side and tape on the other. The picture should be placed against a wall so that children can reach the nose. Each child then gets a nose. They take turns being blindfolded spun around a couple times to disorient them a little then told to walk to the reindeer and place the nose on the picture. The child who places the nose closes to the reindeer’s nose wins.

A delightful Christmas game for work is the ‘Match the Desk to the Item’ game. A day or so before the Christmas party at work, someone needs to secretly take one item from each person’s desk and assign a number to each item. At the party, all the items are displayed for everyone to guess whose desk the item belongs to.

Tags: christmas celebrations, christmas games, fun
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It can be very satisfying to cater to friends, families and loved ones during the Christmas holidays. Taking the time to share food, fun and laughter in a happy, jovial manner truly embraces the spirit of Christmas. In deciding to have a party at home, one of the first things to consider is whether it will be formal or informal.

Among the key things that need to be considered are the number of people to attend, the menu, the preparation of food and arrangement of decoration that is attractive and has themes for the holidays. It’s also important to make a note of how much, if any, help will be available from friends or family members.

A formal Christmas party likely would include a small number of people – not more than 12 and likely fewer – who would be seated at a table for the duration of the meal. It means that place settings and seating have to be done and a decision made on whether the meal will be a three- or four-course dinner.

The advantage of a formal dinner is that it is very organized, it has a known content and everyone around the table usually engages in pleasant conversation. It also usually provides a good opportunity to get to know and hear from everyone present without having to initiate any small talk, which some people are not comfortable doing.

As the host of a formal dinner, you will also have the responsibility of keeping the meal flowing smoothly by having each course brought out at the perfect timing and to also be aware of any special needs that a guest may have.

In contrast, an informal Christmas party at home is organized in a different manner and does not have the predictability of a formal one. The fun and festive spirit of an informal holiday party comes from groups of people who mill around, move about freely to have conversations, laugh and enjoy munching on Christmas treats, goodies and other foods. Despite the easy, fun-filled atmosphere, it is necessary to plan the use of space and to think about the area that people will use or wander around. Making such a plan will facilitate contact between partygoers so that the party spirit will pervade everywhere and put participants in a livelier mood.

Another consideration to make for an informal Christmas party among friends and family is if children will be present and about their ages, if they are allowed to attend. Children, even older ones, always need careful supervision. If children are going to attend a holiday party at home, arrangements should be made for adequate supervision of them and special activities should also be provided that can occupy their attention.

An important feature that must be a part of a festive Christmas party at home is the right mix of music. In selecting Christmas music, consideration should be given to what will be played at the start of the party as guests are welcomed and introduced to each other, the songs that can be played later to inject or enhance liveliness and later to create the right mood as the partygoers bid farewell with ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays.’

Along with the music, Christmas decorations and even the food can also help to enliven a Christmas party at home. Food that is interesting because it looks ‘pretty’ due to the color palette of items, infuses a mellow feeling among guests and adds an intangible element to the level of enjoyment and excitement of the partygoers.

Christmas parties at home can also be personalized with special cookies, treats and dishes that are ethnic. The presence of some ethnic food, but not an overwhelming quantity, which isn’t frequently enjoyed by guests will be different and will add something that is unique to the host. And that is a part of what a Christmas or holiday party at home is about. It’s to entertain family, friends and acquaintances with a personal style while all enjoy some merriment in the season of goodwill and good cheer.

Tags: celebrations, christmas holiday, christmas parties
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