Christmas is the season of the gimmes. Gimme toys, gimme electronic gadgets, gimmme gift certificates. That’s not the real meaning of Christmas. It’s not about the parties or the sharing of tasty meals, either. All the holiday gift giving, all the parties, all of the shiny decorations can take over the meaning of Christmas and it can get swallowed up. Christmas books can help remind you of what it’s really all about.

The simple Christmas gatherings of yesteryear have turned into one stress after another until you can feel like you’re stuck in a maze. With the hustle and bustle of everything going on, getting off track and lost in the maze of focusing on material stuff happens.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can get back on track and have the true meaning of Christmas foremost in your holiday celebrations. You can pick out Christmas books that you can read together as a family that will show the true meaning of the holiday.

These books come in different formats and aren’t difficult to get ahold of. If you have little ones at home and you want them to understand that Christmas is not about the material possessions, start a practice of sharing Christmas related stories after dinner every night or as a bedtime story. You can get under the blankets together and teach them holiday priorities that will last a lifetime. Start with ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas!

You can easily purchase these books from most retail stores or online stores that carry Christmas products. There are even some books that will share the meaning of Christmas in a way that make it come alive for your family by allowing the acting out of parts of the story.

Some books will offer you the opportunity to personal the stories by putting your child’s name in the book. Children remember the stories because of hearing their name used. And what child doesn’t laugh out loud and beg for more when his or her parents read a story about The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

What are the best books to buy that can teach the meaning of the holiday? The books that teach about giving and being thankful for even the small things in life like The Christmas Shoes.

Find books that teach about the origin of Christmas and the peaceful day that it started out as. Look for books that teach that Christmas is about being grateful for family, that it’s about not focusing on ourselves but on being there for others.

Seek to purchase books that will teach about how Christmas is shared the world over. Children are natural born learners and they soak in what they’re taught but when we get to busy during Christmas with the getting and the glittery decorating, they can learn the wrong lessons. So take the time out to share with them Christmas books that will show them the real meaning of this holiday.

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The excitement of Christmas takes off on a whole new level when it’s time to set up the
Christmas tree. But before you set it up, you have to pick whether or not you’re planning to have an artificial Christmas tree or a real one. There are pros and cons to either choice so just weigh which one would be best for you.

With artificial trees, you don’t have to worry about the needles drying out. The needles won’t shed on your carpet so you won’t constantly be vacuuming them up. You won’t have the hassle of any pets constantly nipping at the needles like with a live tree.

You don’t have to decide if it’s fresh enough so that you don’t have to trim some of it off the bottom in order for the tree to have a longer, fresher life. You don’t have to fret about fastening the stand screws tightly against the bark so the tree won’t tip. By using an artificial tree, you can just drop the base securely into the stand.

Purchasing an artificial tree means you won’t have to wonder if you brought any pests inside your home that can damage your houseplants. Plus, there’s not the allergy factor with artificial trees like there can be with real ones.

Unlike real Christmas trees, you can buy artificial ones during the year and you won’t have to wait until the last minute to bring it home. You can get a jump on getting your Christmas items in place so that when the holidays arrive, you’re not out in the frantic shopping pace. With the ease of availability, you can buy more than one for different rooms in your house. You can get one for your children to decorate.

On the flip side, real Christmas trees have a wonderful scent. They smell like Christmas. The limbs are fuller and you won’t have a plastic pole poking through the limbs. The tree won’t have a plastic appearance.

The branches are easier to decorate than the sometimes thicker branches of artificial trees. Since the branches are attached to the tree, you won’t have the frustration of trying to match color coded branches to little slots.

Real Christmas trees are easier to take down and get out of your home. When the season is over, you can bag your real Christmas tree and many cities have a recycling program where used Christmas trees are turned into mulch, thus helping the environment.

With artificial Christmas trees, you have to remove each branch by section and make sure they’re labeled. Then you have to store them in boxes or plastic containers so that the branch tips won’t break off. Once you get it packed away, everything has to be lugged into storage or the attic. There are positives and negatives to either choice. You just have to decide which is the best choice.

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Many years ago the first inhabitants to arrive in America brought with them the tradition of making garland to use in decorating their homes as well as making garland to sell. The materials to make up the garland were furnished by nature.

Evergreen branches, leaves and berries were woven together to form lovely decorations for the home. Later, with the introduction of artificial materials, garlands were easier to make and would last for years instead of just one season.

Like the settlers, you can decorate with garland and give your home some holiday cheer that’s sure to bring a glow of satisfaction when you see it. Garland no longer comes in only silver or gold.

Now, you can find garland in natural green, multi-colors, blue, red and a host of many other colors. Whatever your Christmas theme is, there’s sure to be a garland color that will complement it.

If you prefer to decorate your house with softer colors, you can also find garland in pale mauve and other pastel hues. Thanks to the artificial garland, you can use it outside your home too without fear of inclement weather since it can hold up in those rare rainy December days or nights.

Inside your home, you can use the natural green garland on top of your fireplace. Lay it across the mantle stretched from end to end. You can cut pieces of garland to make appear fuller.

Get the garland that has a thin wire in it so you can bend it and shape it. Tuck red holly berries among the garland and wrap pieces of it around the bottoms of Christmas candles. Garland can also be used on top of curtain rods in any room to bring in a touch of Christmas.

If you live in a house or apartment with an upstairs living area, you can twine garland through the spirals of the stairs along the banisters. Intersperse the garland with lights for added punch.

You can also use garland on your Christmas tree if you have an artificial tree and the limbs show the middle rod of the tree. You can wrap the natural green garland around the rod of the tree and it gives the tree a fuller appearance. The different colors of garland can be looped around your Christmas tree to give it that dazzling effect.

Outside your house, the garland can be wrapped around the columns of your porch or across the porch railing. You can find real or artificial potted Christmas trees. Decorate one with ornaments and light, finish it off with garland and set it by your front door for a touch of Christmas for all your guests to see as they arrive.

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Kids love everything about Christmas except waiting for the day to get here. With them taking a break from school, you’ll often hear cries of, “I don’t have anything to do.” You can keep them busy this holiday season with Christmas crafts that are easy and fun for the little ones to make.

Christmas Placemat Craft: Using recycled Christmas cards, tear off the backs where the writing is. You’ll need about three regular sized Christmas cards to make each placemat.

Have the kids glue the cards decoration side up down on colored construction paper. When the glue dries, cover the craft front and back with clear contact paper, making sure there are no open ends or gaps. Kids love setting their plats on their own special Christmas place mat.

Santa Ornament: This makes a great little gift for kids to make and give their friends or teachers too. Pick up large plastic ornaments at the craft store. These ornaments will open for you to put items inside.

Open the ornament and fill it with peppermints. Secure it closed again. Using a medium sized wooden ball, glue on jiggly eyes. Once the eyes are set, glue the wooden ball onto the top the plastic ornament.

Next, add cotton hair for the head, mustache and beard. Glue a red felt ‘hat’ on top of the hair. At the base of the ornament, glue a long piece of black felt for Santa’s belt. Glue the front bottom of the ornament to a thin wooden heart that’s been painted black. The curves in the heart will be Santa’s feet.

Christmas Countdown Chain: For this popular craft, you’ll need red and green construction paper cut into thin, even strips. The kids can decorate the paper strips with Christmas writing and glitter glue.

Form the strips into connecting circles and glue each one closed. Once the glue is dry, hang the circle within easy reach of the child. Each day that passes until Christmas, the kids get to tear off one of the links of the chain.

Candy Cane Reindeer: This craft is an oldie but a favorite among children. All you need are candy canes, jiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, mini pom-poms and glue. At the top of the candy cane, glue a pipe cleaner, twisting it into the shape of antlers. Glue jiggly eyes on either side of the reindeer ‘head’ and add the nose to the end of the candy cane.

Cookie Cutter Ornaments: To do this craft, you’ll need an assortment of cookie cutters in various holiday shapes. The ones that work the best are snowmen, Santa, trees and bell shapes.

Place each cookie cutter on colored construction paper. Trace around it. Cut it out. Have the kids decorate each cut out with glitter and mini pom-poms for Christmas balls on the tree.

For the snowmen, use mini black pom-poms for his buttons. You can use jiggly eyes on the snowmen and Santa. Once each ornament is finished, use a hole puncher to punch a hole at the top. Thread thin ribbon through the hole and let the kids hang their special ornament from the tree.

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Have you decided to have a party to celebrate the holidays this year? Then you could benefit from this handy Christmas party game guide. There are games specifically so that children can have a grand time at parties and games where adults can enjoy themselves, too. Here are some game suggestions that are always crowd-pleasing:

Speedy Unwrapper: Take a series of boxes, small, medium and large. Wrap the smallest box the way you would wrap a regular gift. Place it inside the medium box. Wrap the medium box so that it’s tougher to unwrap than the smaller one.

Now place the medium box down into the larger box. Wrap the larger box with layers of wrapping paper and use tough tape, like box tape or duct tape. Divide the party attendees into two groups.

Each member has exactly thirty seconds each to try and unwrap the box. At the end of the time limit, the team with the box or boxes that’s most unwrapped wins. Make sure you have a prize for the winning team members.

Ornament Relay: This one has to be played outside or in a large room indoor (this one is great for any church Christmas parties). Divide the people into two even teams. Pick one person from each team to be the starter.

The starter has to pile his or her hands full of round, plastic Christmas balls and run to his or her team member to transfer the balls. The recipient then runs back to the home base (a large bucket or tin tub) to deposit the balls, then runs back.

The next person then has to run to the home base, gather all the balls and run back with them. Any balls that the runner accidentally losing must be recovered before he or she can continue on the race.

Christmas Charades: For a twist on a favorite Christmas party game, use familiar Christmas events as the charade. Use events such as stuffing the turkey, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts etc. If you’re going to have a party for children and need games suited to their age level, choose from among these fun games:

Mystery Stocking: Take a large stocking and put several Christmas related items suitable for a child inside. Make sure the top of the stocking is fastened securely. Pass the stocking around and let each child have a few minutes to feel it. Then have them write down what they think is inside (or tell you if they’re too young). The child with the closest guess wins the stocking.

Word Formation: Have sheets of paper for each child. At the top of the paper, write the words ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays.’ The object is to write as many words as possible using only the letters at the top of the page. Give a five minute time limit.

Pin the Toys in the Sleigh: Tape a sleigh to the wall. Give each child a paper ‘present’-something you might find in Santa’s sleigh. Blindfold each participant on his or her turn and have them try and pin the present inside the sleigh. Closest one wins.

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When the word collector springs to mind, many people immediately imagine someone who seeks great works of art to hang on his or her walls – something painted by the masters of the art world. Or perhaps you think of someone who haunts antique stores hoping for just the right find. Not many people think of Christmas ornaments as something to be collected. Yet, ornaments are one of the most collected items in the world.

Ornaments are not viewed by collectors as simply another decoration to hang on the tree or display in a case. These items are wrapped in family history and tradition. They take people back to the ‘remember when’ side of life.

More often than not, they become cherished keepsakes because of sentimental ties to the item. Many people who collect Christmas ornaments associate the ornament with an event or a person.

For example, some older people treasure the Christmas ornaments brought back to the States from loved ones stationed in other countries. They began their collection as a result of their loved ones’ military service and now those ornaments are viewed as a scrapbook of tangible memories.

Christmas ornament collecting doesn’t have to be reserved to the holidays. People can purchase ornaments all year long because there are specialty Christmas stores and even online shops where collectors can hunt to their hearts’ content.

Ornaments also make great gifts for anyone, but especially for the collector if you know exactly what they’re looking for. Just remember that there’s no strict guideline to collecting unless you happen to collect in a series or you collect a certain type such as vintage ornaments. If that’s the case, then you’d want to know what you need to look for in the ornament to make sure you got the genuine item and not a copycat.

Collecting Christmas ornaments is a hobby that can breach any age gap. Even children and teens can collect them. One company makes specialty holiday ornaments that celebrate each year of a child’s life. Collect those now and by the time your child is old enough to put up his or her own tree, those ornaments will become a part of a memorable tradition for them.

Some people do collect ornaments from a financial point of view, knowing that the ornaments will only increase in value as time passes by. What type of Christmas ornaments should you collect?

You should collect the type of Christmas ornaments that appeal to you – and you don’t have to stick to just one type of collection, either. If you like whimsical snowmen, then collect those. If the Old World ornaments are more your style, then go for those. Or if you can’t choose between the two, start collecting both.

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Decorating a Christmas stocking for everyone in the family is a favorite tradition in many families. Each person decorates the stocking and adds personal touches that show the kind of things they enjoy out of life.

You don’t have to have any artistic ability to make a Christmas stocking that reflects who you are. With all the traditional red and white stockings for sale, you can certainly go that route, but a plain stocking is sort of like a one size fits all article of clothing. It’s made to fit one in a crowd, not made to stand out from the crowd.

Why settle for the same kind of Christmas stocking that everyone else is also buying or making? Let who you are shine right down to all the decorations you use for the Christmas holiday.

Start with a plain Christmas stocking in your favorite color – you might have to hunt for one since the red and white ones are the most traditional colors-but they are out there. Once you find it, you can write your name across the top of the stocking using a rainbow of glitter glue found in those handy no drip glue pens.

Or you can write your name out in regular school glue and then sprinkle glitter or rhinestones in the glue. If you choose to do it with the regular glue, the stocking will take at least forty eight hours to dry completely.

You can then write or draw whatever you want on the bottom of the stocking. Muslin stockings work best for drawing artwork directly on the material. If you do pick out a muslin stocking, though, make sure you put a thick piece of cardboard inside the stocking before you draw anything. Otherwise, the colors will bleed through to the back of the stocking.

If drawing isn’t your area of interest, then you can sew on appliqué cut outs of Christmas designs such as gingerbread houses, snowmen etc. You can also make muslin quilt stockings by sewing on quilt squares to make miniature Christmas quilts.

If you’re into music, you can even make music note quilts. Or for less sewing, you can simply iron on your favorite designs or use transfer patterns. With transfer patterns, you iron them on and then trace around the design with fabric paint.

If you would prefer not to make a Christmas stocking, then you can buy one that reflects your personality. Are you a racecar fan? You can buy your favorite racecar stocking. If you’re a die-hard football fan, then you can buy your favorite team stocking and proudly display your team spirit throughout the season. There are Christmas stockings available that will reflect your personality.

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One of the most recognized signs of the holiday season in many homes and businesses is that of the Christmas nativity scene. Most of these scenes are used as decoration and packed away after the holiday although some people enjoy leaving it up throughout the year. For many families, setting up the nativity scene signals the beginning of the spirit of Christmas.

The nativity scenes all feature three main figures: Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. The larger nativity scenes include three wise men, animals and a primitive dwelling representing a manger. Sometimes atop the manger, you’ll find a star the wise men followed.

Nativity scenes used be fashioned out of wood and were more crudely made than the polished ones you can buy today. Now you can find nativity scenes for inside your home or outside.

They come in various sizes-small, medium, large or miniature. You can find them pared down to basic simplicity such as just the three main figures or you can find large ones with minute detail as featured in many upscale shopping centers. There are nativity sets created just for children to display with figurines that are made of durable material for their safe handling.

You can find nativity scenes made from a variety of materials including real gold for those who can afford such a decoration. One nativity set that’s stunning in its elegance is made out of white, not quite translucent glass and is set on top of a mirrored base. The effects are beautiful and the nativity scene stands out from all the other decorations.

You can find nativity scenes painted as art to hang on your walls or as stained glass to hand in your windows. There are also lighted nativity scenes for inside or outside your home.

The ones for inside the home tend to be made of porcelain or glass with the lights up under the figures while the most popular outside nativity scenes are made of durable plastic to last a lifetime of Christmas seasons.

Collectors also love adding new nativity scenes to their collection and you can find ones to fit any taste. These collections do tend to run a bit on the pricey side so keep that in mind if you’re planning to buy an entire collection for someone as a gift.

Or if you’d like to start collecting nativity scenes yourself, remember to always start with the basic figures and build from that. Most collectible nativity scenes are sold by the piece rather than as a whole.

Because of their popularity, Christmas nativity scenes are among the first decorations ordered and if you don’t get yours early, you may have to wait for a back order to come in or even wait until the next holiday.

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