Design Crafters

It’s been a while since I shared a Christmas tree adventure with you. So here’s yet another Christmas tree story for your enjoyment in today’s photo Christmas cards blog.

This is a true story of yet another couple with an enormous Christmas tree as a decoration for their Christmas wedding. It first started when they had to cut the bottom of the tree a little bit more to fit the tree into the room. As they started cutting the bottom with a regular hand saw the tree was vibrating and shaking. The shaking caused all these little tiny bugs to start falling out of the tree and scattering all over the place. Of course this caused a gross-out panic, so they ended up spraying the tree down with some kind of insecticide.  Unfortunately the event was so close and they could still smell the insecticide on the tree. They had to bring in scented candles, diffusers and air sprays to try and mask the smell of the insecticide.

During the reception people stared having asthma attacks and allergic reactions. It turns out some people there were highly sensitive to the insecticide and started having the asthma attack.  Others had chemical sensitivities to artificially scented products such as the candles and air sprays.

Although bugs are inevitable in real Christmas trees, don’t let that stop you from enjoying a real tree. We’ve had real trees for years and never had a bug problem. But just in case, before bringing it inside, do a “shake down” for bugs. Chances are most bugs in the tree are harmless anyhow.

With that though in mind, happy decorating.

Every Christmas I often think back to the days when I still lived in a part of the world that actually has Christmas tree farms. As a kid, my family and I would often go out to cut our own Christmas tree.  Every year I’d always hear of someone finding a squirrel, bird or even bat in their tree.  But none of those beat what we found in our tree…

One year we had the opportunity to go out into the real woods and cut our own wild tree. (We had the property owners permission of course). The fresh sparkling snow was covered with animal tracks of all kinds. We finally found our perfect tree. It was very tall, so it was just the top we were going to cut off.  We didn’t see any nests or animal homes in it, so we figured it would be ok to cut down. As the top of the tree was falling, something jumped out! It was a wildcat! I never heard of anyone finding that in their tree before :0). 

There were so many wonderful “kodak” moments that I thought “if only I had a camera with me”, I could have captured some great things. Live and learn I guess. But that was the problem, I never did learn. I always forgot the camera. I was probably too caught up in the excitement of it all.

This year, if you have a Christmas tree adventure, remember the camera and use those pictures for your photo Christmas cards.

For beautiful Christmas cards depicting a tranquil winter scene, check out our exquisite snow scenes Christmas cards. Some look cozy, some look cold, but all look tranquil. Most of our snow scenes Christmas cards have some foil and/or embossing making them very elegant.

One of the real pluses of our snow scenes cards is that they are very generic and so give you an opportunity to send these without worrying about cultural differences as they cross all cultural barriers since they are basically just a winter snow scene. There are a couple of cards that have a lighted Christmas tree in the forest and one with red bows on its branches but for the most part, they are very generic.

The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days that separate Christmas day on
December 25 from Epiphany, which is celebrated January 6. Depending on
the church, January 6 may mark Christ’s baptism (the Catholic
tradition), or more traditionally, it may mark the day that the wise men visited the baby
Jesus with their gifts.

In the past, there was a tradition of giving gifts throughout the 12 days, rather than stacking them all up on
the morning of December 25. That tradition, as you might imagine, has never really caught on in America! We just
aren’t that patient. The song, however, demonstrates that some people once stretched out their gifts (and
gave some fairly elaborate gifts…) over the full 12 days.

Drennon’s Twelve Days of Christmas offers some interesting perspectives on the 12 days of Christmas and the song of that same title. You may have received Christmas cards in tne past and probaby will again in the future that feature a Christmas tree with partridges in them. That idea was stimulated by that song.

Whether you teach your children to believe in Santa or not, is a personal choice.  Most do, and having to tell your child at a later time that it all was a fantasy is always hard on everybody and a bit of a disappointment and let down for the child, but they can still learn the concept and joy of giving to others as they have learned by example from Santa (their parents).

Be prepared for the fact that they will quickly be able to put two and two together and on their own after being told that Santa was not real, they will figure out that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are also fantasy. It is one of the hard things to have to deal with in growing up. But many feel that the initial disappointment soon passes as their child has learned how much fun it can be to give anonymously.

Some families choose not to let
their children believe that Santa Claus is a real man. There are many reasons for this, but mostly
it is because they believe that the birth of Jesus Christ is the reason for the
season, and they do not want anything to diminish that truth. Just because children know that Santa is not
a living breathing person who will actually visit their house on Christmas Eve,
does not mean that these children will enjoy Christmas any less than children
who do believe in Santa. 

Remember the story about little Virginia who wrote to the New York Sun asking if there was a Santa Clause? Find the heartwarming answer at this Christmas site.

The first Christmas observance in what is now the United States was celebrated in an authentic Spanish style.

Hernando
de Soto and his army set up their winter camp in the present day city
of Tallahassee, Florida in 1539. Since that time, the holiday
traditions of nearly every nation on earth have moved into, around, and
across the U.S. Every ethnic group has its place in our society, and
they bring their own traditions for December celebrations. In addition,
the diversity in our climate helps to set the stage for various types
of festivities ranging from a picnic on the beach at Waikiki or Key
West to candles in a window during the twilight of a cold day in
Alaska.

For
most people, turkey is the main dish and presents are found under a
Christmas tree. Families gather together and the gifts come from Santa
Claus. These are the basics and the varied pleasures take off from
there in all directions.

Over the next few days I will discuss the traditional ways that certain parts of the country (USA) celebrate Christmas.

This week I thought I would discuss some Christmas Trivia. I’m sure at some time or another you have wondered about the origin of the Christmas tree, the nativity scene and Christmas stockings as well as Christmas cards.

Have
you ever taken a moment to think about why during Christmas we cut down a tree,
bring it into our house, and decorate it? Although the origins of the Christmas tree date back for many years, it
was not until Queen Victoria’s
husband, the German Prince Albert, brought a pine tree to the Windsor
Palace in 1834 that the tradition
took hold in England.

The United
States was skeptical of this European
tradition at first, and took a while to warm up to the idea of inviting a tree
to spend the holidays inside the living room. The first retail Christmas tree
lot opened in New York in
1851. In 1856 the trend had reached the
American government and President Franklin Pierce became the first president to
decorate a tree in the White House. However,
it wasn’t until 1923 that the first national Christmas tree was lighted on the
White House lawn. During the last
seventy years the Christmas tree has become an endeared part of Christmas
tradition in the United States. Just like sending out Christmas cards, the
picking out and cutting down of a tree has become a staple part of the holiday
season! The fame of the beloved
evergreen will always be associated with Christmas, and many Christmas cards
feature a Christmas tree on their cover. Tomorrow I will discuss the origin of the nativity scene.