DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

In  Brazil , Christmas is one of the most important festive days, or "dia de festas". It is celebrated on 25th December. Having a multicultural population, the festivities in the country are influenced by ethnic ways. As a former Portuguese colony, they have retained some of the Christmas customs of their former masters. Notable among these is creating a nativity scene or "Presepio".  The word  "Presepio" comes from "presepium" meaning the bed of straw in which Jesus first slept after birth in Bethlehem. This custom is common in places of north eastern Brazil like Bahia, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, Maranhao, Ceara, Pernambuco, Piaui and Alagoas. A Franciscan friar named  Gaspar  De Santo Agostinho is believed to have first introduced the tradition in the city of Olinda (in the state of Pernambuco) in the 17th century. The practice of setting up presepios continue to this day. Every December, presépios are created during Christ...

   This recipe for these wonderful cookies, was found at  www.whatmegansmaking.com  . I hope you enjoy making a batch of these for the holidays. Lofthouse Style Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies I knew I had to have a great recipe to kick off the  12 Days of Christmas Treats 2011 , so I’m starting with one of my absolute favorites! You know those soft Lofthouse sugar cookies that pop up in grocery stores around all the holidays? The kind with colored icing and sprinkles? I’ve been looking for a homemade version for awhile now and I’m happy to tell you I finally found it!  I used to (and still do!) love the Lofthouse cookies. I remember having them as snacks at our tennis matches in college and how I always grabbed a cookie after I was done playing, even if we were headed straight to dinner.  These sugar cookies are so close to the grocery store staples that I almost couldn’t believe it. From the soft and fluffy cookie to the t...

Bottle It Up We have gone little craft-crazy this holiday season. The first thing we created? Silver bottles for the entry way. This project was really easy, but it did take a moment of trial and error. What You Need : Epsom Salt (We used Dr. Teal's Cooling Peppermint -- our bottles smell amazing!) Glitter Silver spray paint Newspaper Yep, that's all. Side Note:  Glitter is more expensive that I remember it being when I was 9.  This could be because I don't actually know how much it was when I was 9. Put your newspaper down. Now, we mixed the glitter and the Epsom salt on the newspaper like so: We sprayed the bottles completely silver and then rolled the bottom of the bottles in the glitter and salt mixture. This is what happened: I don't know if you can tell (or maybe that's the wrong picture), but we didn't think things through. Our patio is concrete (or "concreek" according to B). Rolling a spray pa...

Hot Glue Snowflake Ornament. Supplies: Glue Sticks Hot Glue Gun Wax Paper Dish Detergent Ornament Template Glitter (My FAVORITE supply!) Mod Podge Small Paint Brush String or Wire Step One: Google an image you would like to use for your ornament. An image with simple lines that all connect works best. I googled snowflake images and found a nice one to use. Print your image the size you want your ornament to be. (Make sure you don’t print a tiny image because you will end up with a blob of hot glue that will look nothing like an ornament.) Get your glue gun, glue sticks, and wax paper ready. Step Two: Place a sheet of wax paper over your ornament template. Cover the wax paper with dish detergent. Mix a little water with the detergent to make it spread easily. Then simply trace your image with hot glue. I have found that using a continuous stream of glue with even pressure for each line works best. This is what it will ...

    In  Finland,  Christmas is celebrated from 24th to 26th of December. Preparations for the festival begin from approximately a month ago with many Finnish people buying  the Christmas tree ,  decorative items  and gifts and goodies for the season. Houses are cleaned and special treats like gingerbread cookies and  prune  tarts prepared for the oncoming festive season. In Finland, Santa might also be known as  Joulupukki!     The first Sunday in December (also called the First Advent) starts the Finnish Christmas season.  Christmas lights  begin to appear in the  stores  along with gifts, goods and goodies for the festival. Children count the days to the festival making their own Christmas  calendar  with some great  pictures  related to the Christmas theme or even some chocolate caramel.     In Finland the Christmas tree is set u...

    The childhood magic of anticipation comes rushing back with one of these treasures packs of promise!     Christmas crackers  or  bon-bons  are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are also popular in Ireland. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang or snapping sound produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun).    Crackers are typically pulled at the Christmas dinner table or at parties. In one version of the cracker tradition, the person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tu...

    In Scotland, Christmas is known as Nollaig Beag, which means "Little Christmas". The date for Christmas was one of the many holidays chosen to take the place of a pagan holiday. Instead of pagan winter solstice festivals. Christmas was celebrated. Christmas was celebrated as a primarily religious festival during ancient times, and continues to remain a primarily religious celebration today. Christmas was celebrated in Scotland until the Reformation. The celebration of Christmas was banned in Scotland in the 1600's. Protestantism had spread throughout Scotland, and Christmas was considered a Catholic holiday. Prior to the Reformation, Scots did celebrate New Years' Day, called "Hogmanay", which included many characteristics of Christmas.  Hogmanay is still a more important holiday in Scotland today than Christmas. Scottish Christmas Traditions, Decorations, and Foods    The Scots have always had a belief in the supernatural through the ages. These...