2003

Celebrating Christmas
ideas for family & home Christmas sites to visit e-greetings Christmas gift ideas back to Home

In this modern day and age, we see Christmas become more and more commercialized - simply a time to have more business and profit from all the merry-making. It just isn't true that one has to splurge during this season. In fact, the simpler the celebration, the more meaningful it is since it draws one closer to the first Christmas. Remember that lowly stable with the shepherds and the angels and the holy family? What made that night different from all other nights is not the fancy lights, expensive gifts and grand decor but that our Lord Jesus Christ came to us to be our Saviour and Lord! Let us keep Christ at the center of our Christmas!

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Christmas Ideas for Family & Home

Instead of buying Christmas lights, just buy bulbs to replace the worn out ones. To test bulbs easily, get a 12 volt battery and let the bulb's wire touch the positive and negative nodes - but let it only touch momentarily lest it be overloaded.

Have the kids do something creative like candleholders or tree decor for Christmas with uncooked "lasagna, rigatoni, and/or ziti" noodles, cardboard tubings, glue, lids, craft sticks, crayons, various types and colors of paper, markers, paint, food colorings, brushes, and other collage materials and tools - be sure to have Christmas background music for inspiration.

Parties need a lot of preparation and time. Make this chore one you can share with your kids. They will enjoy Christmas more if they are able to help out with something they can do. Have them bake some cookies - a snowman cookie contest is one way to keep them occupied - have a judging afterward for the most creative snowman, weirdest, cutest, etc.

Make Christmas puzzles with pictures cut up - use fancy scissors with unusual blades like waves.

Make your very own snow globe using baby food jars. You can glue a little plastic figurine, flower or house on the inside of the jar's lid. Add glitter, bits of foil or small beads inside the jar. Add equal parts water and corn syrup - and you can color the water with food coloring if you want. Seal the lid inside and outside with a watertight sealant (the kind you use for aquariums). Leave overnight to dry.

Another baby food jar recycling tip is to use it as your gift wrap - you can put in your small gift inside and just wrap the jar with cellophane or a piece of ribbon.

Let the kids have a Christmas decor spotting game in the car - useful during traffic! Let them judge at the end of the ride which house/building/shop had the best ever.

To make a simple centerpiece, get a piece of hard green paper - cut 2 pcs. into identical Christmas tree shapes. Cut one piece from the top to the middle and the other from the bottom of the tree to the middle. You can now slide their middle portions to make a 3D tree!

Recycle old film cannisters as Christmas decor! You can either glue gun some colorful cloth, beads, gold wrapper or alumninum foil all over its rim and put candies, nuts, bath beads, jewelry or money inside. This can be a game for the kids. Have them pick one cannister each and see what they got inside.

Don't throw out your Christmas wrapper. The huge ones are re-usable and the small ones you can cut out to make gift tags and card projects from.

Don't know what to give that person who has absolutely everything? Give a gift that will last and make a difference! Give a card that says "In your behalf, I have sent a contribution to..." This won't do for kids though.

For a party activity, hang a piece of cloth or paper in the shape of a Christmas tree on one wall. Have paints or crayons on hand for guests to "decorate" your tree. They can also sign a message near their ornament.

If you want a larger tree but can't afford one, put your tree atop a small stable table and cover the bottom part with bright festive cloth. You can also place a collection of lighted houses here or just pile the gifts atop each other.

A tree decor which is practically free is emptied out egg shells. You may dye them different colors using food coloring (add vinegar to the warm colored water for the color to stick). And you can make different drawings to spice them up and lend some character.

For a newly married couple, here's a nice idea - have a Christmas party and have each guest bring Christmas ornament for your tree as a housewarming gift.

An ingenious and unique candleholder idea - use red and green apples! Cut out a small portion of the core and place the candle in!

To make entertaining less expensive, serve chicken or pasta instead of shrimp, pork and beef. Garnish everything to make it more attractive and appetizing.

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Christmas Sites to visit

Visit Award-winning Christmas websites and if you have a Christmas website of your own, you can apply for an award too! To see , click here (take note: this site has music)
Everything Christmassy can be found at Christmas.com and merry-christmas.com
For links, traditions, songs, stories, poems and more, click here.

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Papemelroti Christmas Products

Holy Family figurines in several designs and styles click here to view

Christmas Gift Bag - #15-29 This delightful card pack has 47 Christmas trivia, sayings, suggestions, quotes and more. Comes with a colored kraft bag with matching gift tag for your greeting! Only P39.75 / $1.14 each.

New Year Planners and Wall Calendars - with a variety of designs to suit your personal style! click here to view

Desk Calendars - perfect for company giveaways to clients as well as personal friends (Please order these items in November). click here to view

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