2000 Posts By Christmas 2012

[kiwidogy_max]

Welcome Tina! From one Chrismaholic to another, we are excited to have you!

[kiwidogy_max]

Jennifer, how do you celebrate Christmas in August?

[kiwidogy_max]

Tonight I am going to see a band I saw on New Years Eve. I love live music AND it reminds me of this last Christmas season!

[Noel+]

These past couple of weeks I've been thinking about Easter a little bit. I've always been fond of Easter, it's one of the really good holidays. What does anyone else think about Easter? I think of it as Christmas in Spring because there is a figure who brings gifts the night before the actual holiday (like Santa Claus) and are both based on Christianity.

As a Christian, Easter is a high holy day like Christmas. That said, as a child I never believed a giant bunny hopped down the bunny trail with a basket of eggs. Also, Im allergic to dairy so I always got jelly beans while my siblings got mounds of chocolate! AND solid Easter bunny with solid eggs. My little heart was definitely envious!

I decorate simply for Easter/Spring in pastels. I use prelit easter egg garlands and a wreath to decorate our family room.

What are you planning?

[Christmas Crazy]

Hey there everyone!
I just got back from Mexico City and I sure did miss my friends here.
I did not have internet while I was there. Didn't want to spend the money. ($16/day at the hotel)
While there I visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is one of the most important pilgrimage sites of Catholicism. I'm not Catholic, but I was very impressed by this place.
And guess what? They still had a Christmas tree decorated and their Nativity displayed.

[Noel+]

Thanks. What a glorious Christmas Nativity scene! Thanks for sharing and so glad your trip was fun!

[Noel+]

I'm still getting catalog emails for Christmas clearance. Just finished a 78 hr work week so going to bed, but shopping tomorrow!

[Jolly O'Leary]

Jennifer, how do you celebrate Christmas in August?

Well, let me back up and say we Celebrate Christmas in July for 1 week. Christmas in August is only 1 day (or a weekend). We put up the "merry christmas" wooden sign my parents sent from the US. This year I might put up my new Christmas cat stocking banner as it is easy and fast to put up and take down. I want a banner (house flag) for a beach christmas, but have not purchased it yet. Have to find not only a good price on ebay or amazon but reasonable shipping too.

So, Christmas in August is less decoration. We usually have a better than average dinner. The last two years, I have been working at the university during August and hubby has also been gearing up for schools (teacher and IT tech), so instead of a 1 day celebration, we went to a weekend. And it was quite nice. There is a Korean Movie called Christmas in August, so even though the movie really has nothing to do with Christmas (it is a good movie though), we usually have asian type food, decorate in red like Asian new year (I have cheap melmac plates) and watch a Christmas movie and/or listen to music. I think QVC has a feature that time as well. If I am home, I usually watch it online for the fun of it. One of my favorite movies to watch that time of year is Autumn in New York, it has the same theme as Christmas in August, moves from fall to winter, and even has a Christmas scene. My hometown has a Christmas all year bed and breakfast. If I were there, I would go stay there for the weekend. That would be too cool! (pun intended as I am from San Antonio which is MISERABLE in August).

[Jolly O'Leary]

I decorate simply for Easter/Spring in pastels. I use prelit easter egg garlands and a wreath to decorate our family room.

What are you planning?

The swedish motif for Easter is chickens and roosters. The rooster brings the easter eggs which I guess makes more sense than a rabbit. We do get chocolate rabbits in the stores. I am hoping to find a vinyl table cloth with a rooster theme and cheap melmac plates. It is so fun to change the kitchen (a very swedish thing) for all the holidays. It keeps up the Christmas spirit!

[Jolly O'Leary]

Hej Christmas Crazy! Great pics! I am a Christian, but not Catholic. However, not far from my apartment in San Antonio, was a Catholic prayer garden with replicas of Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Guadalupe. I went there often to walk and pray. It was open grounds to the public and very beautiful. I hope to visit the real Lourdes site someday. If you are from San Antonio, you are hispanic and catholic by culture if not by birth. I did not realize that until I got to Sweden. LOL

[Jolly O'Leary]

Hej Kiwidogy...
Christmas in July gifts are $10 (the price of a paperback book) or less and Christmas in August gifts from from the swedish equivalent of the dollar store of 10 SEK clearance box. ;-P

[Noel+]

Hej Kiwidogy...
Christmas in July gifts are $10 (the price of a paperback book) or less and Christmas in August gifts from from the swedish equivalent of the dollar store of 10 SEK clearance box. ;-P

Some of us baked items; some members use stockings only at Christmas in July to fill with tiny surprises. It's the not the size of the decorations, dinner, or gifts -- its the celebrating together that wams the heart. And time seems to fly towards Christmas after July!

[Jolly O'Leary]

Hej Kiwidogy...
Christmas in July gifts are $10 (the price of a paperback book) or less and Christmas in August gifts from from the swedish equivalent of the dollar store of 10 SEK clearance box. ;-P

Some of us baked items; some members use stockings only at Christmas in July to fill with tiny surprises. It's the not the size of the decorations, dinner, or gifts -- its the celebrating together that wams the heart. And time seems to fly towards Christmas after July!

hm...now that is a good idea! My family put up stockings only as decorations, we did not actually fill them. And Swedes do not have the "stocking" tradition. WE could make some out of the same summer material we use for the mini tree skirt. So, not only do Christmas in July gifts have to be under $10, but small enough to fit in the stocking. hm...that idea has alot of potential....

[FatherChristmas]

These past couple of weeks I've been thinking about Easter a little bit. I've always been fond of Easter, it's one of the really good holidays. What does anyone else think about Easter? I think of it as Christmas in Spring because there is a figure who brings gifts the night before the actual holiday (like Santa Claus) and are both based on Christianity.

As a Christian, Easter is a high holy day like Christmas. That said, as a child I never believed a giant bunny hopped down the bunny trail with a basket of eggs. Also, Im allergic to dairy so I always got jelly beans while my siblings got mounds of chocolate! AND solid Easter bunny with solid eggs. My little heart was definitely envious!

I decorate simply for Easter/Spring in pastels. I use prelit easter egg garlands and a wreath to decorate our family room.

What are you planning?

Well if we celebrate nine magical flying reindeer we can celebrate a giant bunny with a basket of eggs lol. But I always try to make Easter as special as Christmas, but obviously it's very hard. This year I want to try and get Easter LED lights for the outside.

[FatherChristmas]

Aren't these pretty? http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Pastel-Add-A-Light-Set-18-5/dp/B002V1D52Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327776017&sr=8-1

[Noel+]

Aren't these pretty? http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Pastel-Add-A-Light-Set-18-5/dp/B002V1D52Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327776017&sr=8-1

OOOO they're so pretty I ordered a set! Even at Christmas I can tuck them in plants and for Easter let them truly shine in pastel beauty! THANKS!

[FatherChristmas]

Aren't these pretty? http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Pastel-Add-A-Light-Set-18-5/dp/B002V1D52Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327776017&sr=8-1

OOOO they're so pretty I ordered a set! Even at Christmas I can tuck them in plants and for Easter let them truly shine in pastel beauty! THANKS!

You're very welcome glad I could help. Happy Easter

[Jolly O'Leary]

WE finished packing Christmas away today and yesterday and had our end of season "snackfest" with a chex type mix made with swedish cereal, which I did NOT incinerate this year. Last year I smoked up the kitchen because I got Farhenheit and Celcius mixed up. This year it came out good. The recipe needs tweeking, but I can live with that. And we had pigs in the blanket both american and english style. We also booked out pre-Valentine's day cruise for Feb. 10-11. It will feel almost like Christmas again!

[kiwidogy_max]

Last night I watched an SNL episode from this past Christmas. It was a cute funny reminder.

[kiwidogy_max]

400 posts before the end of January!! Way to go Christmas All Year crew!