Pleasure Island Online

By Lindsay Small

Orange pomanders fill the house with a delicious scent, are satisfying to make and very pretty to look at. If you are looking for a quick and easy craft, with supermarket ingredients, try method 1 below. For a more traditional, longer lasting pomander, try method 2.

Method 1 - short-term pomanders

Choose a number of thin-skinned oranges. Using a large darning needle, prick a design on the oranges. A large-spaced random design works well, as does a double row of holes around the middle of an orange. Push a clove into each hole. Arrange in a bowl or glass vase and enjoy the gorgeous scent.

Idea: “Write” a letter in cloves on each orange and use to spell a Christmas word (perhaps Merry, Christmas, Yule, or Noel). Arrange the oranges on your mantlepiece, or down the center of your table, for an original and sweet-smelling display.

Method 2 - long lasting traditional pomanders

You will need:

A medium-sized thin-skinned orange
1/2 cup whole cloves
1/2 cup orris root powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

Instructions:

Roll the orange in your hands to warm it: this makes it easier to push the cloves into it. Using a large darning needle, poke holes into the orange about 1/8 inch apart, and then push a clove into each hole. A traditional pomander covers the entire orange with cloves closely, but it is easiest to work on a small area at a time.

Mix all the powders together, and roll your clove-studded orange in it, filling the spaces between the cloves as much as possible. Store carefully in a small cardboard box lined with tissue paper, and tip the extra powder on top. Keep in a warm (but not hot) dry place, such an airing cupboard, for 3 to 4 weeks. Shake off excess powder and tie a pretty ribbon around the pomander, with a bow and a loop for hanging. Any excess powder can be saved and used again.

Lindsay Small is the creator and editor of http://www.ChristmasIscoming.co.uk, where you can find free Christmas crafts, printables, recipes, stories, decorating, entertaining and gift ideas - in short, everything you need to make Christmas special!Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lindsay_Small

  

By Arindam Bose

CHRISTMAS

Traditionally observed on December 25, Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. Although some churches observe it on different dates, the fact is that the precise chronology of Jesus’ birth and death is yet to be determined. Christmas has many sides to it, some religious and some secular, including the exchange of gifts, the Santa Claus myth, decoration and display of the Christmas tree, and religious ceremonies.

History

We can trace the origin of Christmas to several pagan holidays. It was since AD 354 that the christians in the West started celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ on December 25, replacing an earlier date of January 6. By that time, the christians had appropriated several pagan festivals and traditions of the season that were practiced in many parts of the Middle East and Europe, as a means of stamping them out. Among those festivals were Saturnalia of the Romans, the birth celebrations of sun - God Attis in Phrygia (December 25) and Persian sun - God Mithras (December 17-24).

The Nativity

The Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus Christ. The christians celebrate Christmas by remembering or re-creating the Nativity. While the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, the Western Church mostly prefers celebrating Advent. Children often enact the events of the Nativity, or sing some of the numerous Christmas carols that reference the event. Some christians display a small re-creation of the Nativity in their homes, using small figurines to portray the key characters.

Santa Claus

In Western culture, a main feature of Christmas is the exchange of gifts among friends and family members, some of them being attributed to Santa Claus. Santa Claus is also known by other names, such as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Saint Basil and Father Frost. Santa Claus is based on the tale about Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, who gave gifts on the eve of his feast day of December 6. He became associated with Christmas in 19th century America and was renamed Santa Claus or Saint Nick. In Britain and France too, Father Christmas and Pere Noel respectively were made to adopt the Santa image.

Christmas tree

The Christmas tree owes its origin to the ancient pagan idea, later appropriated by the christians, that the evergreen tree represents a celebration of the renewal of life. Christmas trees first became popular in Germany in the late 18th century. Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments. The poinsettia then became associated with Christmas, while other popular holiday plants include holly, mistletoe, red amaryllis, and Christmas cactus. In some parts of the world, it is traditional to decorate the outside of houses with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Town authorities also hang Christmas banners from street lights and place Christmas trees in the town square.

Feasts and cards

A special meal of Christmas dishes is usually served on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. Another extremely popular tradition is to send Christmas cards to friends and family members. Cards can also be produced with messages such as “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays”, to include senders and recipients who may not celebrate Christmas.

This article is written by Arindam Bose for http://www.ecard4all.com. It is a free article and can be used by any webmaster on their website, provided they will keep the link intact with the article.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Arindam_Bose

  

By Sean Carter

The holiday of Christmas is incomplete if you miss out on the following interesting tidbits and Christmas trivia. Like all trivia, the Christmas trivia here are equally gripping and would surely make a nice read for all the curious. So read on. Here come the trivia for a holiday as significant as Christmas:

The Twelve Days of Christmas: The Twelve Days of Christmas refers to the twelve days between the Christmas Day (December 25) and the Feast of Epiphany (January 6). Tradition has it that this is the time taken by the Three Wise Men (the Magi) to reach Bethlehem to see the babe in the manger, Jesus.

Mistletoe: Mistletoe is a plant hung on the doorway of every American household during Christmas. The mistletoe symbolizes love, having been closely associated with Frigga, the Scandinavian’s goddess of love. It’s from this that the convention of kissing under the mistletoe originated.

Hanging Stockings: The practice of hanging stockings over the fireplace on Christmas Eve comes from England. The legend of St. Nicholas has it that the latter was a kind saint who was believed to have left gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor maidens, who badly needed the money for their wedding dowries. They hung their stockings to dry over the fireplace, and to their great surprise, they found bags of gold in them the next morning. Following this, children kept hanging Christmas stockings over the fireplace on Christmas Eve in the hope that Santa would drop gifts and toys in them !

Christmas Carols: The first carols are said to have been sung by angelic choirs at Christ’s birth. St.Francis of Assissi is also accredited as the ‘Father of Caroling’. The word ‘carol’ comes from the Greek ‘charaulein’, a Greek dance, later replaced by song. By the 17th century, caroling was restricted to Christmas time, and now, it’s customary for kids to go caroling in groups from door to door, singing favorites such as “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and many more !

Holly Boughs: The boughs of holly are another very important symbol of Christmas. These are red berries with thorny leaves. To the Christians, the holly berries symbolize Christ’s blood and the sharply pointed leaves stand for the thorns in His crown. Henceforth, the holly became part of the Nativity tradition.

The Nativity Scene: The Nativity Scene includes the scene at Bethlehem, when Jesus was born. The manger, the swaddling clothes, the bright star in the sky, the shepherds surrounding baby Jesus and the Three Wise Men (the Magi) form part of the scene.

The Poinsettia: Poinsettias are beautiful winter blooms, native to Mexico. They’ve been named after the first US ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, who brought the plant from its land of origin to America. Since the beginning of the 19th century, poinsettias have come to be associated with Christmas.

Eggnog: Eggnog, a very popular Christmas drink, is prepared by mixing cream, milk, sugar and beaten eggs with some kind of liquor. This has a close connection to the Christmas holiday, and on Christmas Eve, it’s fairly common to spot groups of people eggnogging at their neighbors’ and friends’ places. People also gather round the Christmas tree, drinking eggnog and then move from house to house caroling.

The Yule Log: The yule log is a huge log used to light up big fires during festive celebrations. It originated in Europe, where it used to be placed in the hearth and continued to burn throughout the year, till it turned into ashes. Bringing in the yule log was as much a custom during the Christmas holidays as was decorating the Christmas tree. The yule log is generally placed in the fireplace. It’s from this yule log that Christmas also came to be known as ‘Yuletide’.

Boxing Day: The day after Christmas is known as the Feast of St. Stephens. The alms box of the Church was opened on Boxing Day, and the contents, known as the “dole of the Christmas box” were distributed by the parish priest among the needy. Henceforth, the day after Christmas came to be known as the Boxing Day.

Sean Carter writes on holidays, Christmas Day and world events. He also writes on family, relationships, Christmas, religion, love and friendship. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry and writes for 123greetings.com He is an active blogger at Christmas BlogArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Carter