by kekka
Around November and December families, friends and co-workers begin discussing having a Christmas gift exchange. Many people love the idea of participating in a random Christmas gift exchange. Others politely decline to participate. Why would anyone not want to participate in a gift exchange? Reasons can vary. Some include lack of extra cash, disinterest, and fear of receiving a useless and thoughtless gift. Below are several suggestions that might make more people want to participate.
1. Set a price limit. Setting a price limit for gifts is one way that may put the gift giving on equal footing. Your group can agree that all gifts should cost around $10, for instance. Another option is to decide that all gifts must come from a dollar store. Some people just are uncomfortable purchasing a $40 gift for a co-worker and receiving a $1 gift in return.
2. Bake gifts. Baking gifts gets away from the holidays being so commercial. Yes, you may run into the same problem of people being unsatisfied with their baked gifts. However, a greater chance exists that the gifts’ costs will be in the same price range if this is a bigger concern. With a baked good, the emphasis should be more on the time that was taken to produce the gift.
3. Have a theme. Instead of participants buying random gifts, organize the gift exchange around a theme. For instance, some people exchange Christmas ornaments during the holiday. A fun gift theme is holiday socks or holiday candy.
Yes, everyone knows it’s the thought that counts when it comes to buying and receiving gifts. However, at Christmas time who wants to hear someone say, “Bah humbug” when receiving a gift? These tips should make a Christmas gift exchange more acceptable to more people.
August 6th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Holiday Celebrations, Season Celebrations, Tips | Comments (0)
by shelley ginger
Throwing a Pumpkin Party in October celebrates fall, the harvest, or Halloween. Below are a few ideas to help you plan your Pumpkin Party.
Determine the number of guests you plan to invite to your Pumpkin Party. Purchase enough pumpkins for all your guests. The size of the pumpkins is up to you. You want to have enough, so all guests can decorate one and take it home.
Purchase permanent markers of various colors and pumpkin carving kits. The permanent markers can be used by everyone to decorate their pumpkins, but you will find them more useful for children. Older children and adults may want to carve faces in their pumpkins with the pumpkin carving tools. More experienced pumpkin carvers will prefer to use knives to create their pumpkin masterpieces.
Carve the pumpkins as soon as the party begins, so you can prepare the pumpkin seeds to be baked in the oven. Cook them while the party continues. By the time the party ends, your pumpkin seed should be ready to be eaten by your guests.
Encourage your guests to bring home-made pumpkin pies for a pumpkin pie contest. Slice up the pies and have guests vote on the best tasting pumpkin pie. Give the winner a grocery store gift card or a small computer-generated certificate. Just in case you can’t get any volunteers, bake or purchase some pumpkin pies for a pumpkin pie eating contest.
Have a pumpkin scavenger hunt, too. Hide a very small pumpkin and give a prize to the person or team who finds it.
Before your guests depart, give them a pack of pumpkin seeds, so they can prepare for next year’s Pumpkin Party.
July 29th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Holiday Celebrations, Party Planning, Party Themes, Tips | Comments (0)
by fontplaydotcom
Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday, which do you celebrate? For many people, this is the same holiday. For others, the symbols and activities surrounding Easter or Resurrection Sunday make this day almost two separate holidays. When some people think of Easter, they automatically think of the Easter Bunny, whereas others instantly think of Jesus Christ. If you prefer not to associate Easter with rabbits but keep the holiday focused on Jesus, you may enjoy these ideas.
1. Create Resurrection Baskets. Instead of filling wicker baskets with plain chocolate bunnies and jelly beans, you can put candy in the basket with scriptures printed on the wrappers. Oriental Trading sells various candies with Christian messages and Bible scriptures on them. They sell toys and games with spiritual messages on them, as well. Also, instead of stuffed rabbits, you could place stuffed lambs or sheep in your Resurrection Baskets. Christian coloring books, Bibles, and bookmarks make nice additions to gift baskets, too.
2. Plan a Jesus Lives Scavenger Hunt. Instead of searching for Easter eggs, children can search for clues and objects that pertain to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. After all the objects and clues have been found, children can receive candy or prizes.
These are just a few fun-filled Christian ways to celebrate Easter. If you try them, let me know.
July 29th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Customs, Holiday Celebrations | Comments (0)
by drewfer
Many people associate Easter with fluffy rabbits, yellow chicks, and colorfully decorated eggs. Around Easter time, children look forward to dashing around open fields in search of hardboiled or plastic Easter eggs filled with sweet and fun surprises. Some children even anticipate receiving an Easter basket stuffed with jelly beans, eggs, Peeps, and chocolate bunnies. If this description sparks fond memories of your childhood Easters, you will enjoy hosting an Easter Eggstravaganza.
You’ll need a huge supply of eggs: fresh, hardboiled, chocolate, cream-filled, and plastic. Any eggs that you find will add to the Easter egg theme. They will be used for games, treats and decorations.
Egg race: You’ll need plastic spoons and plastic or hardboiled eggs for this game. Participants should line up shoulder to shoulder in a spacious area. Give them a plastic spoon and plastic or hardboiled egg, which they will balance on the spoon. The object of the game is to be the first person to get to the finish line without dropping the egg.
Egg Toss: You’ll need plastic eggs. While one person in the pair holds an egg, partners face each other standing toe to toe. The person holding the egg tosses the egg to his or her partner. Then they both take one step back. The partner tosses the egg back to his or her partner, and they take a step back. The pairs repeat this process until they drop their egg and are eliminated or don’t drop the egg and win the game.
Decorate eggs: Set up an area where eggs can be decorated. Pre-dye the eggs in solid colors and have stickers available for those who want to decorate the eggs further.
Easter egg hunt: Hide plastic eggs filled with candy and small toys. Organize the hunt according to age groups, so everyone has an opportunity to find an egg.
These are just a few ideas to get you thinking about hosting your own Easter Eggstravaganza.
July 29th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Holiday Celebrations, Party Planning, Party Themes | Comments (0)
by Neeta Lind
Easter baskets filled with eggs, chocolate, toys and jelly beans line the shelves of many stores doing the Easter holiday season. As children shop with their parents, they point out the basket they hope to receive on Easter morning. While buying a pre-made basket for Easter can be exciting, I’ve always been fond of Easter baskets made at home.
When I was a child, my parents didn’t buy pre-made baskets for my sister and me. In fact, we had one large multi-colored wicker basket we used every Easter. It was stored in our attic with all the other holiday staple items: Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Christmas stockings, and Halloween costumes. When my mother pulled it out of the attic, we knew we would be decorating eggs soon.
Using the copper colored utensil that came with the egg dying kit, we dipped hard boiled eggs into the colorful dye in the clear plastic cups. Earlier we had plopped red, blue, and yellow dye tablets into the vinegar and water mixture that filled the cups. Sometimes, we even wrote mystery words or designs on the eggs using the white wax crayon. As soon as the eggs were dropped into the dye and lifted up, the words appeared like magic.
While the Easter eggs dried, we placed the chocolate shaped eggs, jelly beans, Peeps, bubble gum eggs, and any other edible treat my parents had purchased on top of the green or pink grass pushed down in the basket. There weren’t any basketballs or baby dolls in our basket, just candy and Easter eggs, which we devoured after Easter morning church service.
Now that I am a mother, I don’t buy the pre-made baskets for my daughters, either. I carry on the tradition that my mother started with me and my sister of creating our own Easter baskets.
July 28th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Gift ideas, Holiday Celebrations, Holiday Stories | Comments (0)
by jschumacher
When I was growing up in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, celebrating Sweetest Day on the third Saturday in October was equivalent to celebrating Valentine’s Day in February. As I reflect back on my school days, I was excited about our school’s Sweetest Day carnation sales and the possibility of receiving a red or pink carnation. I was thrilled to buy and give carnations to special friends, too. When I went off to college at Miami University, many people had never heard of Sweetest Day. Then, when I moved to Baltimore, Maryland, Sweetest Day seemed to be a faint memory. I can recall celebrating Sweetest Day once while living in Georgia.
According to sweetestday.com,
Sweetest Day was founded around 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio by Herbert Birch Kingston who was a local candy company employee. Kingston sought to bring cheer and some happiness to the lives of those who were often forgotten. With the help of his friends, he began distributing candy and small gifts to children living in orphanages, those stricken with illness or disabilities, shut-ins, and others who were forgotten.
This site goes on to explain that Sweetest Day in fact is more of a regional holiday but is growing in popularity nationally. Moreover, it isn’t a romantically inspired holiday at all.
With that in mind, this October I plan to celebrate Sweetest Day in the spirit of which it was created. With the assistance of my family, I plan to do several acts of kindness for those who are less fortunate than I am.
Why don’t you do the same on Sweetest Day?
July 22nd, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Holiday Celebrations | Comments (0)
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