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Gift idea: iPhone/smart phone Accessories 

Makes a good gift for: Techies/ Stocking Stuffers/ Twelve Days Gifts

It seems like just about everyone these days (kids and myself included) has an iPhone or some kind of smart phone. Chances are if you appreciate the features of a smart phone, you will also appreciate some of these fun accessories:

Keychain light:

Jelly lens for mobile phone camera:

Macro lens-band for mobile phone camera:

Higher end specialty lens for mobile phone camera:

Mini-microphone speaker: 

Joystick for iPhone:

One of my favorite parts about the Christmas season is getting to bring a tree in to my living room. I love the smell of an evergreen tree, and having one right next to my couch can't really be beat. I am certainly not alone in my love for greenery. In fact, ancient cultures also used greenery to symbolize good luck and ward off evil-spirits during the darkest days of the year.

 

The Romans decorated with greenery for the New Year and also gave each other gifts known as strenae, sprigs and green branches gathered from the sacred groves of the woodland goddess of strength and endurance, Strenia. These evergreens were symbols of good luck for the year ahead. Sweet honeyed dates, figs, or small pieces of jewelry sometimes accompanied the strenae. Children were given small gifts, such as clay figurines or bags of nuts that could also be used as game tokens. To this day, gifts during the Christmas season are known as strenna in Italy and New Year's gifts are etrenne in France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In preparation for the Twelve Days, prickly holly was placed around windows and doors - like evergreen barbed wire - to keep the roaming evil spirits, witches, goblins and trolls from entering the home and to protect the good fairies. Every sprig of evergreen had to be removed by the Twelfth Say or else bad luck would fall upon the home. The admonition to take down evergreens at the end of the Twelve Days was also applied to Christmas trees after they were incorporated into our Christmas customs.

 

 

 

Mistletoe, the only exception to this rule, could be left up until the start of the next Twelve Days since it was thought to protect the home from lightening and fire. Our ancestors held mistletoe in awe because it remained green all year and bore its white berry fruit in winter when the trees on which it grew seemed lifeless. In the days of the Celtic Druids, this magical plant was gathered on special days in accordance with the cycles of the moon and was at its peak of power after the winter solstice.

One More Week Until Christmas!

Gift idea: Key chains 

Makes a good gift for: Anyone/ Stocking Stuffers/ Twelve Days Gifts

We all have keys. Kids, adults and everywhere in between. And there is a keychain out there for every interest.

Like puzzles? How about this Rubik’s Cube flashlight keychain:

Or for the photographer in your life, this cute little camera keychain (with working flash and shutter sound-effect) might be perfect:

For the Starwars fan in your life, how about this Lego Yoda flashlight keychain:

Or, for the Lego purist, this simple personalized Lego block might be just the thing:

Last, but not least, for the dog lover, this artist will create a custom dog-keychain that looks like your pooch:

 

Did you know that Christmas presents used to be hung on the tree, instead of placed under the tree? In the 1800s, Victorian ladies' magazines promoted hanging presents on a Christmas fir tree and illustrated examples of tree trimming activities such as interwoven ribbons to hold gifts like dolls, toy horses, and little wagons on the tree itself.

Some of the earliest ornaments were fruits such as apples, pears and nuts - treats to savor when the tree was taken down at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. As time when on, homemade sweets, such as sturdy gingerbread cookies, also awaited on the tree's branches. While these goodies could be hung on the tree's boughs by strings or cords or carefully balanced in the crook of a branch, they were more secure when tucked into a delicately woven miniature basket or folded paper cone. These presents were more of a surprise and delight when the container's contents were revealed only upon being taken off the tree. Before long, these homemade containers were used to hold small handcrafted gifts or toys for the children.

Popular periodicals published instructions to make containers to hang on the tree, including candy boxes in various shapes and cardboard cornucopias covered in paper (see image at left). Advertisements showed fancy ready-made boxes covered with paper cutouts of Santa or angels, and embellished with velvet, feathers, or fringe. These ornate containers were both elaborate ornamentation for the tree and holders for Christmas presents like nuts, candies, small gifts and toys like marbles or jacks.

Even children's periodicals featured stories of Santa himself hanging little packages and treats one by one on the family's tree, instead of inside their stockings, or under the tree.

Dresdens

Another popular way to hang presents on the tree were Dresdens - three-dimensional hollow containers made of damp cardboard sheets that were molded and embossed into all sorts of fanciful shapes, such as suns, moons, sleighs, and every animal imaginable. They were then painted and lacquered to look as if they were made of gilded metal. While they were beautiful containers in which to hang candy on the Christmas tree, they were not very durable.

Christmas Cornucopia

Dresdens

Barnum's Animal Crackers Boxes

One of the best examples of a box designed to hold treats on a Christmas tree - and still widely available today - is the Barnum's Animal Cracker's box, a favorite childhood memory for over one hundred years. In 1902, the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) launched the circus car box as a Christmas promotion, with the string attached so that the box of Barnum's Animal Crackers could be hung directly on the Christmas tree. The string has remained a part of the package ever since then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gift idea: Brain teaser puzzles 

Makes a good gift for: Stocking Stuffers/ Twelve Days Gifts

Recipients of all ages and abilities can enjoy one of these brain teaser puzzles. If the particular puzzle is too easy, it quickly becomes a competition to see who else can do it. If the puzzles is challenging, then the opportunity for team work opens up. Lots of toy stores carry these puzzles, and I bought some last Christmas at an office store. Keep your eyes open and you can find neat stuff in lots of stores!