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Blog entry
Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 5
Week 5 of the Countdown to Christmas has come and gone. A plethora of handmade beauties by talented artist friends were shared. Christmas will be here before we know it. According to the ever ticking Christmas Clock, there are only 68 days until the merry gentleman in red leaves gifts (or chunks of coal). Hopefully Santa (and you!) will make it a handmade gift giving Christmas this year!
With the quickly approaching gift buying and gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 featuring artisan handmade items on their The Blu Print blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.” This week, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared in the Countdown. Included are all styles of beautiful jewelry, lovely crocheted and knitted items for many members of the family, breathtaking photography, eye catching original art, glowing lampwork glass beads, art glass plates, dog owner accessories, cute holiday tags, collectible thimbles and Christmas ornaments . . . all these, and more, perfect Christmas gift ideas were shared.
Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 4
Do you hear the tick, tick, tick of the Christmas clock? As we are all probably aware, Christmas will be here before we know it. According to the ever ticking clock, there are only 75 days (when this blog was posted) until the day of gift giving and merry making.
With the approaching gift buying and gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 of artisan handmade items on their The Blu Print blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Week 4 has come and gone on Julie and Blu's "Countdown to Christmas 2017." In its wake, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared. They included all styles of beautiful jewelry, lovely crocheted and knitted items for many members of the family, breathtaking photography, eye catching original art, glowing lampwork glass beads, dog bandanas, cute holiday stickers . . . all these and more creative beauties were shared.
Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 3
Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas sharing of artisan items has ended. Where did the week go? As we are all probably aware, Christmas will be here before we know it. According to the Christmas Clock shows that there are only 82 days left until the jolly man dressed in red shows up to leave gifts . . . or a lump of coal depending on if you were good or not.
With the approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 of artisan handmade items on their The Blu Print blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.” As was mentioned above, week 3 has come and gone on Julie and Blu's "Countdown to Christmas 2017." In its wake, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared: from all styles of jewelry to crocheted and knitted items; from photography to wooden clocks; from original art to lampwork glass beads; from dog bandanas to ACEOs; and many, many more creative beauties!
Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 2
Tick, tock, tick, tock . . . the Christmas Clock shows that there are only 89 days left until the Jolly Man in red arrives.
With the approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of BlueMorningExpressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 of artisan handmade items on their BluPrint blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Week 2 has come and gone on Julie and Blu's "Countdown to Christmas 2017." In its wake, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared: from jewelry to crocheted and knitted items; from lampwork glass beads to wooden Christmas ornaments; from photography to original art, and many, many more creative beauties!
Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 1
WOW, wasn't last Christmas like . . . last month? Yikes! According to the Christmas clock, there is only 96 days, 20 hours, 54 minutes and those rapidly descending seconds until Christmas is here . . . once again! And it's even closer by the time your read this!
Christmas is Almost Here! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
What more can I say, but “Christmas is almost here!” Today I’m sharing some beautiful holiday cheer, many of which are one of a kind items, from a bevy of talented Indiemade artists. I hope you enjoy these creations, any of which will make a perfect Christmas gift for that special loved one.
Christmas Jewelry Gift Ideas from Shadow Dog Designs
Christmas is almost here . . . but there is still time to check off those special gifts on your list. Artisan handmade jewelry is always a welcome treat, somethign that is not mass produced. Most handmade jewelry are one of a kind necklace and earring designs that come from the artist's heart and soul, such as the beauties featured below. All of the jewelry below are unique - the wearer would be the only one with that design - except for the snowmen earrings with Swarovski emerald crystals. Seven new designs can be found in my Indiemade shop since the last post sharing my jewelry. The last three featured are oldies but goodies that are still looking for a loving home.
Think Green for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Red and green are colors that are closely associated with Christmas. Last week I shared how red became a Christmas color. You can read that post here: Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts. This week, green, the other Christmas color, is explored mainly through the symbolism of holly, mistletoe and evergreen trees.
The color green and its association with the time around Christmas has a pre-Christian origin, more specifically tied to the Winter Solstice. Evergreen plants, like holly, mistletoe and pine, spruce or fir trees have been used for thousands of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long, dark, cold winter when life could be very tenuous. Ancient peoples were scared of the short days and freezing nights and mistakenly believed that the Sun might disappear altogether. Evergreens reminded people that spring would come and that winter wouldn't last forever. Historical records show that the Romans wove wreaths of holly to hang on their walls and doors to celebrate the winter solstice / Saturnalia. They also exchanged evergreen branches as a sign of good luck. The ancient Egyptians would bring green date palm branches into their homes during their mid- winter festivals as a symbol of "life triumphant over death." To the ancient people, the color green represented life, nature, peace, eternity and the hope of the future.
Countdown to Christmas - Week 12 - Wales
The Mari Lwyd entering a bar as part of Christmas celebrations in Llantrisant; photo by visitwales.com
Y Nadolig (Christmas) celebrations in modern times in Wales are similar to the celebrations in the rest of Great Britain. Several days before Christmas, a small tree (sometimes artificial) is hung with lights, ornaments and trinkets. Paper decorations and streamers often lavishly decorate the rooms of the house. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Day. The Christmas meal traditionally consists of roast turkey with all the trimmings, a wide array of vegetables, followed by a Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. BUT . . . it is the older traditions that are the most interesting to me, some of which are still practiced, some of which are making a comeback and one, thankfully, that has fallen by the wayside (for obvious reasons, as you will see). As with all traditions, the same tradition can be different in different parts of the country. I chose my favorite to share here.
Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The color combination of red and green is closely associated with Christmas - for example, Santa’s red clothing and green holly with red berries. But how did this come about? From ancient history to modern time, color has been an integral part of cultural awareness and even an understanding of life; it touched all members of society and conveyed deeper messages (such as, only royalty could wear the color purple). Red and green as Christian symbolism can be traced back to Medieval Miracle Plays and rood screen painters. The color combination can be traced to the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh stories from the 13th century. And these stories were probably based on an oral tradition that dates back to the pre-Christian Celts many centuries before where a half-red, half-green tree figures prominently in one of the tales. In pre-Christian times, red and green represented male (red) and female (green), strength and harmony, desire and fertility.
