Christmas Joys

Experience the Holiday Season with Personalized Christmas Socks
By Dave Poon

According to a very old tradition, Saint Nicholas left his gold coins to three poor girl’s stockings that needed money for their wedding. After washing their clothes, they hung and left their stockings to dry by the fireplace and went to bed.

Saint Nicholas pitied the three girls and their father who got depressed not being able to give his daughters money for their wedding dowries. Morning came and the family woke up, the three girls went in the fireplace to get their stockings and they realized that their stockings contained money that was enough to spend for their wedding.

That is the birth of our Christmas tradition of hanging Christmas stocking in our fireplace. Wishing that Saint Nicholas to drop by and fill our Christmas socks with gifts and goodies. Nowadays, this tradition was still believed by many children that if they have would be good for the whole year, Santa Claus would give them what gifts they wanted for Christmas.

Aside from the tradition of hanging them, there are many different ways in which many enjoy these Christmas socks. They come in different colors, designs and sizes. We usually use them as undergarments to keep our feet warm and be very comfortable.

Christmas socks are now used as decorative ornaments for the Christmas season. You can hang them by the fireplace, Christmas trees, window sills and on our tables. You can buy them in the supermarket and will come in different designs and patterns. You can also make your own Christmas socks and add some personal touches using your own creative imagination.

Others knit them as a hobby and if you don’t know how to knit you can just simply get your old socks and make you own designs. Here are some more ways on how you can decorate your own Christmas socks.

1. Color white socks with green, red or any color that you like.

2. Sew laces on them or ribbons with Christmas patterns to add elegance to your socks.

3. Cut Christmas ornaments from the clothes like Christmas trees, bells, angels, snowmen and many more and attach them to your socks by sewing them using a glue.

4. You can also attach ornaments on your Christmas socks by gluing them into place.

5. Dried leaves or flowers are also good designs on your socks.

6. Use glitters to give them a dreamy and magical touch.

7. You can also attach different colors and sizes of buttons on your Christmas socks.

8. If you would like to make your Christmas socks bigger, you can do that by sketching a pattern on a cardboard and tracing the pattern on your choice of cloth with Christmas patterns. After that, you are ready to cut them. Make two patterns and sew them together to make 1 sock. And decorate it with your preferred design.

9. You can also have your name embroidered on your Christmas socks to make them more personalized.

Christmas socks are also great gifts to your love ones especially if you have a hard time finding the right gift to every person on your list. You can create your own and decorate your gift Christmas socks to make them personalized.

Make a list of your socks recipients and categorize them by age and gender. Fill them with candies, chocolates, toys or anything that are suitable to every age. In this way you can save money on your gifts. You will have fun and a wonderful time making and stuffing your Christmas socks. Your friends and relatives will surely love and enjoy their gift Christmas socks too.

Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in the latest in Christmas Decorations. For more information regarding
Christmas Sock
please drop by at http://www.christmasworldbest.com/

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Christmas Party Games - I’ll Take The Partridge & The Pear Tree
By Terri Hunziker

A popular Christmas party game is the singing of Christmas carols. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is one of the most popular carols and is sure to be included in any party sing-along. Usually the lyrics become a series of jumbles and giggles as singers struggle to remember each of the twelve gifts that were delivered by the true love as the song’s lyrics reveal.

Like many Christmas carols, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English carol which lists a series of extravagant gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. Each verse build on the next which means that each verse is repeated over and over throughout the song. It is sung and recorded throughout America and Europe during the holiday season. The date the song was first performed is not known but it is believed to be from Europe in the 16th century. The modern arrangement includes the melody of the lyrics “five gold rings” which was written in the 20th century by Frederick Austin. This is the version sung today and “five gold rings” (or some sing “five golden rings”) is undoubtedly the words most singers remember.

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is also a children’s rhyme published in a book called Mirth without Mischief in London around 1780. Years later the rhyme was adopted as a song that was enjoyed by the whole family having fun singing on the twelfth night before Christmas.

The Christmas gifts recited in the song are grandiose and extravagant and nearly impossible to deliver. The cumulative cost alone would make the delivery of all twelve Christmas gifts an impossible endeavor. Just how much would all the twelve gifts cost? For the fun of it, lets take a look:

- One Partridge in a Pear Tree - the tree is $130.00, the partridge is $15.00. Total $145.00

- Two Turtle Doves - $40.00

- Three French Hens - $45.00

- Four Calling Birds - $440.00

- Five Gold Rings - $325.00

- Six Geese a-Laying - $400.00

- Seven Swans a-swimming - $4000.00

- Eight Maids a-Milking - $520.00

- Nine Ladies Dancing - $4550.00

- Ten Lords a-Leaping - $5000.00

- Eleven Pipers Piping - $2500.00

- Twelve Drummers Drumming - $2500.00

Total of the Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts - $20, 465.00

The final costs of all twelve gifts of “The Twelve Gifts of Christmas” truly is extravagant! Perhaps the grandiose nature of the gifts is representative of the gift bearers love for his true love.

There are those who believe that the song lyrics reference hidden spiritual meanings. They claim that the items in the song, concern concepts of Christian faith which was devised as a memory game for children during a time that Christian religion was suppressed. Though the claim of hidden meanings has not been fully proven by any reliable sources. This is the list the assumed hidden meanings:

1. Partridge in a pear tree = The One true God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ

2. Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments

3. French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity

4. Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists

5. Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch” which contain the law condemning us of our sins.

6. Geese A-laying = the six days of creation

7. Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments of the Catholic faith

8. Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes

9. Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Spirit

10. Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments

11. Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed

On another interesting Christmas carol note, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the world’s largest performing rights organization, produced a list of the its top 25 most-performed Holiday songs. for the first five years. No doubt you’ll find your favorite Christmas carol in this list:

1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Mel Torme, Robert Wells

2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie

3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin

4. Winter Wonderland - Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith

5. White Christmas - Irving Berlin

6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne

7. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Johnny Marks

8. Jingle Bell Rock - Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe

9. I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram

10. Little Drummer Boy - Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone

11. Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish

12. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Edward Pola, George Wyle

13. Silver Bells - Jay Livingston, Ray Evans

14. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree - Johnny Marks

15. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

16. Blue Christmas - Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson

17. Frosty The Snowman - Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins

18. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Johnny Marks

19. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Tommie Connor

20. Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) - Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman

21. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Meredith Willson

22. (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays - Bob Allen, Al Stillman

23. Carol Of The Bells - Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovich

24. Santa Baby - Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer

25. Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney

Whether you enjoy the Christmas classics or holiday songs that didn’t make the list (like the Twelve Days of Christmas). Hearing them or singing them rings in the season and makes any party a little more festive. So enjoy the music of Christmas during holiday festivities and Christmas party games!

Terri Hunziker founded GamesAndLetters.com. Games and Letters provides hundreds of print-and-play games — Christmas party games, bridal shower games, baby shower games and more! For immediate access to hundreds of fun games and ideas for your next party, visit, gamesandletters.com

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Cheers Aplenty With Christmas Costumes by Raymond Plona

Santa costumes will bring more fun and cheer to the whole family come Christmas. For this reason, people love to celebrate special occasions with special holiday costumes. The elder men of the family would dress up as Santa clause and bring gifts that can later be opened up by the family members. He can also add humor to his presence to boost everybody’s cheerful mood. Santa costumes can be found almost everywhere now. Thanks to the internet, you can also purchase them online. However, when you have any problems with the costume, there may be little you can do as returning goods purchased online is still a bit of a problem.

Traditional Christmas costumes are usually Santa suit costumes. There are other characters too like Mrs. Claus, the elves, reindeers and the three kings. The size between Mr and Mrs Claus differs and the elves are all of course in green color petite clothes. For a reindeer costume, there should be a plastic horn included. As for those who would like to be Rudolph, don’t forget the red nose trademark. The three kings costume should consist of robes and capes.

Since Christmas is all about relaxing and comfort, the material used for the holiday costumes is cotton. It is a common material used in ordinary shirts thus tailors adapt this item to their design. Cotton is a light fabric and lets the body control its natural temperature. It can also be washed easily using ordinary detergents. Santa suit costumes are made with cotton in mind since the material is easy on the body. Some tailors add a hidden belly bag to give the impression that the wearer has a big stomach. However, some guys already have large waistlines thus some tailors remove this feature from the design.

The Santa suit has always been red. it would be very awkward to see a green or white Santa suit, almost all accessories and decoration related to Christmas is red in color. Browns are already reserved for reindeers as this is the most natural look for them. The kings are the luckiest as they can be in almost any color. One can even use violet, blue or yellow as this shows royalty.

Christmas costumes are heavily accessorized compared to that of other season’s. Santa cannot be without his bag of toys and Mrs. Claus should carry her simple but smart handbag with her. Do not forget the gifts for the three kings. This is necessary to complete their look. The reindeers are an exception because they are already heavily accessorized. Putting more on them would be a burden for them and an eyesore to the rest of us.

Fitting the holiday costumes is an integral part of the planning stage. Before a person buys the outfit, he or she must try it on first to check for uncomfortable areas. They should be able to tell the tailor the parts where changes should be made to be able to enjoy the event. Kids are the most prone for costume failure during these events thus extra care is needed on the outfit. Santa suit costumes are very durable although one must check the bottom part as it can rip if pressure is put on certain areas. Once everything is checked, the purchase can be safely completed.

Theme Christmas parties are more fun when everyone is wearing an outfit associated with the season. Holiday costumes are always available from theme shops thus partygoers will have no problem in purchasing these items. The big guys can always wear Santa suit costumes since it is more fitting for them than in those with a smaller frame. Having good laughs is the best thing to share during the Yuletide season. The costumes will definitely give everyone something to have fun with while making the event memorable.

Raymond Plona is the leading marketer for adult costumes and his store holds plenty of different thematically outfits for different occasions. Some examples are elf costumes, Thanksgiving costumes, Easter bunny costumes, poodle skirt costumes, intimate lingerie, pirate costumes and so on. Visit for more details.

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Hanging Lights Using Christmas Light Clips by Joe Willmeth

Outdoor Decorating With Christmas Lights Using Light Clips.

Today with all the new advances in Christmas lighting systems it is nice to know that these advances in hanging outdoor Christmas lights has made it easier to decorate your home for the holidays. Now you have access to all purpose Christmas light shingle clips that are simple to use and can be used from season to season. Most outdoor Christmas light clips can be used with C7 outdoor light strands, C9 commercial Christmas light sets, rope lights and the most popular icicle miniature lights to enhance your home during the holiday season. The Christmas light clips are usually made of flexible heavy duty plastic. The Christmas light eave and gutter clips are the perfect way to quickly and easily line your roof or fence with lights at Christmas time.

You have seen homes decorated with lights that look like they were just thrown in a line across the yard or roof. To have a professional looking light display and for precise positioning of each bulb, use one light clip per light no matter if they are C7 light sets, C9,outdoor light sets or Miniature lights. This way you have more control when you are placing the lights. If you are hanging your lights by the cords, shingle clips can be spaced 12 to 24 inches apart. It is recommended to place clips 6 inches apart for stabilizing icicle lights. Make sure that you bend the icicle light wires hanging down so they hang straight like a real icicle. There is nothing worse looking than icicle lights that have just been put up with no straitening.

How Many Light Clips Will I Need?

Ten feet of C7, C9 or Miniature lights will use approximately 20 clips. If you are hanging the popular Icicle lights, a 300 light set (25.5 feet) will require approximately 50 clips. Rope lights require Christmas light clips spaced 12 inches apart. Directions for use of the gutter light clips are usually included when you buy your light clips.

Here are the instructions for the most popular light clips.

To precisely position each bulb, detach the C-shaped light holder and attach it to the clip in front of the remaining piece. With a twist and push motion, insert the light socket into the light holder. C7 and C9 lights fit the larger loop; minis will fit in the smaller opening.

For shingle use slide the straight flat end under the shingle, lifting on the top curl to fit over the shingle. Insert light cord or tube securely in clip. Adjust light to desired angle.

For gutter use, holding the straight flat end roll the curled end of the fastener over gutter lip. Then, insert light cord or tube securely in clip. Adjust light to desired angle.

For Vinyl siding, attach the C-shaped light holder onto the curled part as the notch. Insert light and slide into desired position. Then, insert the tip of the flat straight end of the fastener into the horizontal seam of the siding. Lights are held safely away from the siding surface.

For fences and decks the curl will stretch to fit on deck railings and fences. Then, light cords can be slipped in the hook or the C-light holder can be used to hold individual lights.

Take time to plan your outdoor decorations. You should have at least one focal point which will be your major attraction. From the major focal point, tone down the decorations to highlight or picture frame the major display. Your outdoor display does not have to be large or grand. Create a theme and keep your display simple and to the point, then you will cheer up everyone that passes by during the holiday season.

Joe has specialized in Christmas Decorations for over 25 years. Select to view his Christmas Decorations Ideas. Joe also has a great selection of Christmas Outdoor Lights for you to select from.

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Personalized Christmas Gifts For Him by Mary Braun

Whether you are shopping for your father, boyfriend or brother they are a mystery on what to get them for Christmas. Try personalized Christmas gifts for him for a unique item that will show your caring attitude.

You may be shopping for your father. Many fathers have all they need and they are a mystery on what to get them for Christmas. Boyfriends can be just as difficult to figure out what to buy for Christmas. Your brother may or may not be as hard to find a gift for. Whether you are shopping for your father, boyfriend or brother you are sure to find at least one of the unique and personalized Christmas gifts for him.

You may want to give the man a personalized liquor flask for one or more of the men on your Christmas list. Each flask can be engraved to make the gift even more personalized. You can choose from modern looking circular flasks, the traditional stainless steel flask or a leather flask. One of the traditional flasks is designed to look Scottish with the plaid design whereas other flasks have vibrant colors to them.

Other Christmas gifts for him include a personalized stainless steel cigar flask with a cigar case. What a cool concept that is going to impress any one of the men that you have to shop for. There are many smoking accessories that you can personalized for Christmas gifts. Zippo lighters or cigar humidors are some very popular items for him.

One of the Christmas gifts for him that you will like is a desk clock. Keep him on time getting home if he tends to work too late. This will put the clock right in front of him to remind him it is time to leave and get home to you. Enjoy more dinners together when your spouse or significant other makes it home on time more frequently. Not only will he be home on time, he will like the personalized desk clock that is given to him. You can choose from a variety of styles which include marble or crystal.

Keep him organized with a day planner as one of the Christmas gifts for him from you. He will be less stressed out trying to remember meetings, important appointments, birthdays, your anniversary, etc. You will notice his demeanor change when he knows where he is going and he is not late or worse yet forgets to go to an important meeting with his boss or a very important client.

Another one of the great Christmas gifts for him is a personalized name plate for his desk. Let clients know his name right off the bat and not feel like they have to strain to try to remember his name. Also, the name plates for his desk are very stunning in marble, crystal or epoch.

No matter what you choose to give your favorite guy, personalized Christmas gifts for him should lead the top of you Christmas shopping list for all those guys who have been nice this year. Well, maybe even for those boys who have been naughty, too.

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Mary submits articles to help shoppers find gifts, provides shopping tips and explains how to benefit from personalized gifts. Her work is sponsored by Wealthwood Gifts, Inc.Christmas Gifts Him and Wealthwoods Blog and Article website Personalized Christmas Gifts for Him.

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