Design Crafters

Endless debates rage on around the country about one topic. No, we’re not talking about the upcoming presidential election! The debate in question is actually this: What goes into a winning Christmas card letter? Some folks prefer reading the newsy types of letters, while others argue that their favorites are the letters that rhyme. The funny letters are skyrocketing in popularity (both to send and to receive), as are the ironic or very clever ones. You’ll occasionally see themed letters, top ten letters, letters as jigsaw puzzles, and even letters with multiple choice quizzes about the family’s year. One extremely popular letter format is to use a photo essay approach to the year-end wrap-up—after all, pictures speak a thousand words, right?

Maybe it’s hard to believe for some, but in some circles, writing The Best Christmas Card Letter to enclose with your family’s Christmas card makes for some heavy competition. No one wants to be that family with the letter that is unintentionally hilarious in its dour and bland recounting of the past year, after all. No, the big rewards come with the wittiest letters, the ones that best reflect the sending family’s personalities while also giving a quick (trust us, keep it to a page) written snapshot of the past year’s events.

Wherever you stand on the Christmas card letter issue, you’re likely to agree that when it comes to the letter to accompany your Christmas card, you simply can’t please every single person in your audience, but if you start off by pleasing yourself, you’re likely doing fine….but we would like to add that using red or green somewhere in the letter is a great start.

To continue with exploring Christmas trivia, I thought we’d discuss the advent of the advent wreath. The Advent Wreath is a Lutheran custom that originated in Eastern Germany.
They are round as a symbol of God’s eternity and mercy, of which every
season of Advent is a new reminder; and it is made of evergreens to
symbolize God’s "ever-lastingness" and our immortality.

Green is also the
Church’s color of hope and new life. Four candles, three purple or violet
that represent penance, sorrow, and longing expectation used to be used but have since been replaced with blue - the color of anticipatiion while expectantly awaiting the birth of Christ -  and one rose or
pink that represents the hope and coming joy are placed within to represent
the four weeks of Advent. They are replaced with white candles for the
Christmas season which ends with Epiphany.

Wreaths are an ancient symbol of
victory and symbolize the "fulfillment of time" in the coming of Christ and
the glory of His birth. In old German tradition, on the first Sunday of Advent, the children write
their Christmas letter to the Christ child, Christkindl, who accompanied by
His angels, will bring the Christmas tree and all the good things on it and
under it.

In Denmark, the Christmas season begins on December 1, with the
lighting of the calendar candle. The candle is marked with 24 lines, one
for each day before Christmas; the burning of the candle represents the
waiting and preparing for Christ’s coming.

There are so many different ways you can make up gift
baskets that would be so much less expensive than if you were to purchase them
already assembled. You especially can do well if you can find some baskets
either at yard sales or discount department store sales.

I will give you an idea today and in a couple more days, I’ll give you some
more. Know your friend and what he/she is interested it and build on that. If
they are into coffee or tea in a big way, why not purchase a couple of cute
mugs. Again, what are they into? The selection of mugs is endless.

You can use any or some of the following depending if you want to fill several
preferences or just one. Fill them with different herbal flavored tea bags and
a honey pot, small gourmet flavored sample packs, hot chocolate packs. Include
sticks of cinnamon, biscotti, and/or individual cookie packs. Homemade cookies
or brownies or coffee cake would even be better and more appreciated (probably
cheaper too).  Always stuff the bottom of the basket with some tissue or
fake grass like is used in Easter baskets. Add a personalized Christmas card and you are all set.