In 1840 in London, England, a British narrative painter named John Callcott Horsley designed the very first commercial Christmas card.  Sir Henry Cole, first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and a friend of Horsley, requested he do this.  The one thousand Christmas and New Year’s cards he designed never went on sale until 1843.  Controversy surrounded the card because it depicted a family toasting Christmas.  Although puritans denounced it immediately, many others loved the idea.  Other artists followed Horsley’s example, as the Christmas card became exceedingly popular.  In 1849, English artist William Egley designed an extremely popular Christmas card.  New years greeting cards, on the other hand, had been around since 1796 when merchants sent them to their customers.  These cards usually said best wishes for the New Year.  The fashionable Christmas cards gradually replaced the New Year’s cards. 

  More on Who invented the Christmas card?

Technorati Tags: Christmas card

You might say that I have lost my mind if I said that I have a stress free Christmas. Well, my sanity is still intact and we have had several Christmases that were stress-free in the past. I would like to tell you about the things I've learned to help reduce the stress during the Yuletide season. AFTER WAKING IN THE MORNING, READ GOD?S WORD EVERY I start by reading God's Word every day. Hearing from God & speaking to Him each day is a great boost for me and it strengthens and preps me to be the mom He wants me to be. During breakfast, we start our family devotions and begin our children's day on the right track as well. Each of my children understand that they are to read their Bible after waking. There are times that some of the kids need a little more reminding. DON?T DO EVERY ACTIVITY THAT POPS UP This seems quite evident, but it took me a decade to apply this. Actually, my marvelous husband helped me learn how to minimize the activity in our lives during the Christmas season. In the past, I wanted our kids to experience everything available during this season. What was actually happening was I began to harbor stress that would usually explode around Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. (I?m sure none of you have ever experienced this. WHICH ACTIVITIES DO I CHOOSE What works for our family is to choose 1 or 2 Christmas activities to attend outside our home. Anything else we do is done in our home. One of the best ways this reduces stress is that I am not ?persuading? my husband to attend one more Christmas activity each week. He still spends all day working to provide for our family. Consequently, he is much happier going to a few activities and enjoying our family & friends at home. Having other people in our home gives us a lot of satisfaction, so we capitalize on this. With cooking and cleaning done by the children, our work is lessened and I am not feeling stressed when our visitors arrive. ENJOY YOUR HOME I always more activities for our family than we ever have time for. In our Thanksgiving weekend I decided which activities can be postponed until next Christmas season. REMEMBER: YOU CAN?T DO EVERY THING, EVERY YEAR. I try to select activities that inspire my children to do something for others, instead of only thinking of themselves during the holiday season. One of the things we used to do is charity work by raising money for a missionary family. The kids would take orders for pumpkin bread loaves and chocolate chip cookies. After making and delivering them to their customers, they would pay me back for the ingredients and supplies used. The remaining money was their profit, which was used to buy useful gifts for a missionary family. This season we will have other kids over to bake cookies so their moms can do some Christmas shopping, uninterrupted. A Christmas card stamping party for younger kids would be a great idea for an activity. I?m still thinking it over how that will work. I have some other ideas that are included in Advent, Christmas & Epiphany Celebration Ideas. MAKE CHRISTMAS YOUR SCHOOL For those of you who homeschool, lessen some of the formal academics and enjoy these times. As we bake, shop and prepare for Christ?s birthday, we are also doing math and writing and reading with these activities. At our house, we still read aloud each morning and then work on a Christmas project. This may include handwork type crafts or other quiet projects. DO YOU FEEL STRESSED DURING THE HOLIDAYS? Take a moment right now and prioritize all the activities available to your family. Choose only 1 or 2 activities that the entire family can enjoy and pass on the rest. Being at home with your family is enjoyable. Invite another family over to roast marshmallows and mingle with them. At the center of this Christmas activity, keep your hearts tuned to Jesus Christ. Without His love for us, we would not be celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

Christmas preparations commence right after Thanksgiving. Christmas decorations in all shapes and sizes adorn store shelves. Dads and MOms brave the snowstorms or the freezing weather just to line up outside toy stores to be the first to buy the newest item on sale. The next Christmas morning the adults don't even want to get out of bed because of all that waiting. This year why don't you focus on faith not on money. Let's prepare our hearts to welcome the Christmas season with our family members in a spiritual way. Family Worship The Advent season (which means coming or arrival) starts on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and continues to four Sundays. The coming of the child Jesus into the world is celebrated during Advent and values the importance of this event in the lives of every Christian. The Advent wreath, the centerpiece of worship, consists of a small wreath (real or artificial), evergreen sprigs, five candleholders, and five candles. Three of the candles can be purple or deep blue, one is traditionally pink or rose-colored, and the fifth candle is white. The candles are arranged in a circular fashion inside the wreath with the white candle, usually called the Christ candle, in the center of the other four. The time for worship is performed each Sunday before church or in the evening before going to sleep. Each member of the family can light the candles and read the prayer or devotional. After the prayer, a moment can be set aside for any inquiries the young ones may want to ask about the activity. Family Fun Holidays are a time for people to get out and celebrate with family and friends. As a family, host a "Christmas for Christ" party. Involve the whole family in the planning. The central theme, of course, is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Have the children create their own special invitations. Invite Christian and non-Christian friends alike. Do the shopping for game prizes at this time too. If a lot of activities are planned, start early enough to fit everything into the evening. To lessen the costs, have the people you've invited bring a dish to serve buffet-style. Since different ornaments will already be hung for Christmas, no added display is needed. Also a costume party is fun. Have your guests dress as a character from the nativity scene. There will be prizes for the best costume. The games that are chosen should fit the Christmas spirit theme. Have trivia games, charades, and puzzles at parties; everybody loves them. Kids will be the ones to take charge of the games while parents take care of the food. Don't forget to end the night as well as you started. No Christmas gathering is complete without dessert, singing of carols, and the telling of the Christmas story. Sharing your faith with your family should be special and fun. You will create Christmas traditions that will be enjoyed for years to come.

It's the holiday season and its been decided that you're going to have your office friends over for a Christmas party. Try these best company Christmas party ideas to liven up everyone in your party. Have the fireplace lit up; play your favorite Christmas tune; nail a mistletoe on every doorway, and the party can begin. Depending on the number of people you've invited, you will either pick a buffet or a conventional sit-down meal. Most popular is the buffet. If you have a buffet, write out invitations saying: "Bring a Dish to Share". What's Nice To Serve On The Buffet? A 12 foot hero or sub is a safe enough choice. Served either hot or cold, it's enough to feed everyone. Alternatively, you can make your own creation and tell everyone beforehand to bring something they make. Popular side dishes are: stuffed mushrooms; chicken or turkey rolls, or bite-sized appetizers which come in a wide assortment of flavors. Have a wide variety of wines, colas, water, and don't forget eggnog. How Will You Serve the Buffet? Place a large table in your dining area or any large area in your house. Try arranging the food nicely on the table. Add plates, napkins, and silverware that has Christmas themes on it at one side of the table. If done this way, your guests can take a plate, napkin and tableware and then proceed to the food. An advantage of this: Cleanup is easier, too. Decorate your dining room table. Here are some suggestions: Choose a solid color tablecloth; red, green or white. Add Christmas placemats at each setting. As a centerpiece, fill a crystal bowl with Christmas balls. Next to the centerpiece, place two Christmas candles. To make your tablecloth stand out, pin garland around the bottom of the tablecloth. What Fun Games Can be Played? After everyone's had their fill, it's time for fun games. Adults may enjoy charades or a Christmas sing-a-long. How about playing musical chairs with a twist. The guys get down on one knee, while the girls circle around them to the tunes of Christmas medleys. When the music stops, each girl has to immediately sit on a guy's knee. It's so fun, that your guests laugh till tears fall out. And lastly, there is no Christmas without a Santa Claus. Have someone wear a Santa villian costume. Make him wear white hair and mustache that reaches his nose. He can give away small gift packs or anything nice. All this will surely make your Christmas party a well remembered one.

For those who cannot afford to buy all of the fancy Christmas tree ornaments available today, decorating your tree on a budget can be practical and cost effective. You, too, can have a lovely decorative tree without having to sacrifice style and beauty. Beside being affordable, these Christmas tree decorations are great for students. Check out some of our affordable Christmas tree decoration's instructions below. COOKIE TREE: Make a nice-looking and yummy cookie tree. Be imaginative by baking cookies in a myriad of shapes and sizes. Brighten it up by adding color to the cookies with unique rainbow or colored sprinkles to give the cookies an extra color boost. To put the cookies up on the tree, roll a piece of thick paper - the size of a dime - and insert it in the surface of the cookie before putting it in the oven. Doing this will allow the holes to remain open during baking. After baking, thread ribbons into the holes of the cookies and trim the tree with your cookies. On the top of the tree, place a large gingerbread cookie with a small Christmas light in its center. Before putting this gingerbread cookie in the oven, follow the same trick by inserting a rolled piece of thick paper in the center of the cookie. You can dress up the gingerbread cookie using colored icing with Christmas color themes. Create an adorable tree skirt by using an green or red apron that has decorative images such as Christmas themes or even gingerbread cookies. With this, you have cookie cutter Christmas ornaments recipes for the tree. SNOWY TREE: Here is another inexpensive way to decorate and produce a spectacular tree. Make a snowy Christmas tree. Take cotton balls and place them on the tips of the branches. If you have any white glitter on hand, sprinkle it on the cotton balls to give a glistening snow effect. Or you can cut silver garland into little tiny specks to achieve the same results. Need something to put on top of the tree? Build a snowman. Just by using your favorite pastry dough, shape the dough into the form of a snowman. Cover the entire snowman with white sugar frosting. Use chocolate chips for his eyes, and carve a nose using a knife for a small carrot. Make a smile on his face is easy by using chocolate from a pastry bag. To make a tree skirt, simply use red or green cardboard. With scissors, cut it into an arc. Get about two to three cups of flour and add water. Put the flour on the cardboard's surface to give it the appearance of newly fallen snow. Also, a sprinkle of white glitter will enhance the look.

For those who cannot afford to buy all of the fancy Christmas tree ornaments available today, decorating your tree on a budget can be practical and cost effective. You, too, can have a lovely decorative tree without having to sacrifice style and beauty. Beside being affordable, these Christmas tree decorations are great for students. Check out some of our affordable Christmas tree decoration's instructions below. COOKIE TREE: Make a delectable cookie tree. Be creative by baking cookies in all shapes and sizes. Dress up the cookies with non-pariel rainbow seeds or sprinkles to give the cookies that extra splash of color. To hang the cookies on the tree, roll a small piece of cardboard - the size of a dime - and insert it in the top of the cookie before baking. This will ensure the holes remain open during the baking process. Afterward, insert ribbons into the holes in the cookies and hang them on the tree. Atop the tree, add a large gingerbread cookie with a Christmas tree light in its center. Before baking this gingerbread cookie, follow the same procedure by inserting a rolled piece of cardboard in the center of the cookie. You can dress up the gingerbread cookie using white icing with red food color. Create an adorable tree skirt by using an green or red apron that has decorative images such as Christmas themes or even gingerbread cookies. With this, you have cookie cutter Christmas ornaments recipes for the tree. SNOWY TREE: There is another cheap way to build and decorate a beautiful tree with a snowy Christmas tree. Gather cotton balls and stick them on the tips of the branches. Have white glitter ready and sprinkle it over the cotton balls to give it a sparkling effect. Or you can cut silver garland into little tiny strips to achieve the same effects. Need an ornament for the top of the tree? Make a cookie snowman. Simply using your favorite cookie dough, shape the dough into the form of a snowman. Cover the entire snowman with white icing. Use chocolate chips for his eyes, and shape a nose using a small carrot. Add a smile on his face using chocolate from a piping bag. To make a tree skirt, simply use red or green cardboard. With scissors, cut it into an arc. Get about two to three cups of flour and add water. Put the flour on the cardboard's surface to give it the appearance of newly fallen snow. Also, a sprinkle of white glitter will enhance the look.

Kids love Christmas crafts. Santa craft ideas for kids are an easy and fun way to spend time with your kids during the holidays. Choose from one of our Christmas craft-decorating, free ideas. SANTA PICTURE: If you're looking for holiday craft ideas for preschoolers,, this is a great place to start. So, let's begin with Santa pictures. There are a variety of Santa coloring books available during the holidays. Choose a picture from the book. Cut out the picture of Santa, and place the picture in the center of a sheet of white construction paper. Use a glue stick to secure the picture. Color the picture with colored pencils. Once coloring is done, use wisps of cotton to serve as Santa's beard and use a small ball of cotton at the tip of his red hat. You can use small, black buttons to serve as Santa's eyes, and a red button for his nose. Fill the rest of the area of the white construction paper by drawing presents or candy canes. When the picture is finished, your children can sign their names right under Santa's image. Take a piece of heavy cardboard and secure the picture to it. Put the picture in a frame to protect it. Place this frame in a memorable area of your house for all to look and admire. SANTA CHRISTMAS CARDS: Santa Christmas cards is another art activity your children will be able to do. With a piece of white construction paper, measure the paper to a size of 5×7 inches. Cut the paper to that particular measurement. You can either fold it vertically or horizontally. Tell your kids to personalize their version of Santa on the front page. Let them use crayons or colored markers to help stimulate their imagination. After the picture is finished, your kids can write Christmas messages on the inside of the card. Homemade Christmas cards are wonderful to display in your home or send to relatives and friends. You can even add this to your Christmas craft-a-day calendar; it's a great craft to do with your kids or students. MAKE A SANTA PLATE ORNAMENT FOR THE CHRISTMAS TREE: Things that will be used are crayons and markers, cotton balls, a large paper plate, and color sparkles. Trace or draw Santa, without his red hat, on the plate using the drawing materials. Use the cotton balls to serve as his beard. You can even stick the cotton balls together into a V-shape so that Santa's beard hangs off the plate. The cotton balls can serve as Santa's hair, also. Use a blue marker to color in Santa's eyes, and a black marker to draw Santa's glasses. Use red food color on a cotton ball to make Santa's nose. You can color the rim of the plate with red or green and add color sparkles to it. Finally, place the Santa plate on the tree by inserting an ornament hook at the top of the plate. Well that's it! There are many different ways to share with your kids on how to make Santa Christmas ornaments, pictures, and cards.

Christmas carols are playing on the radio, delicious scents waft out of the kitchen, and everywhere you look, you see evergreen, red, and gold.  It’s that time of year again.  And every year brings the desire to make this the best holiday season ever.  Every family has a set of traditions they religiously follow, but it can be a lot of fun to shake things up a bit.  There are a huge variety of Christmas activities that can make your holidays brighter.

One good way to find new and exciting Christmas activities is to check your local newspaper.  Most communities plan special Christmas events.  Your city’s chamber of commerce or community website can provide a calendar of events as well.  You are likely to find things like choir performances, live nativity scenes, and maybe Christmas themed socials.  Taking part in events like this help to put the participants in a holiday mood, break up the monotony of shopping, and make some wonderful memories.  Another option to get in the spirit of things is to attend a holiday show.  Many community organizations, such as the ballet or symphony, have productions of holiday shows, like The Nutcracker or a selection of holiday music.  Attending a show and enjoying an elegant dinner after is an excellent way to start a new tradition with your friends or spouse.

Staying in can inspire some fun and creative Christmas activities too.  Many people enjoy making the same holiday goodies from year to year.  These treats could be used as gifts or added to the menu at a Christmas party.  An added bonus is the warm scent of cinnamon and nutmeg that is sure to infuse your kitchen.  Cooking and baking can be a great way to unwind alone or have a more rambunctious event with family or friends.  Decorating the tree and house are other ways people get in the Christmas mood.  Warm up some apple cider, set out a plate of cookies, and go to work creating a magical holiday look in your home.  It’s a lot of fun to reminisce about holidays past while preparing for the new.  After all, that’s what Christmas activities are all about.

Whether done alone or with a group of loved ones, Christmas activities enrich the holiday season and make beautiful memories for years to come.  The important thing is to do what you enjoy in your preparation and celebration of Christmas.  Each family is unique and observes the holiday in their own way.  Just remember to include Christmas activities in the holiday festivities.

Technorati Tags: Christmas activities