Sunday, October 31, 2010

Christmas House Decorations

Christmas Decorations Pictures

Christmas Decorations Pictures Christmas tree pictures, wallpapers and screensavers are among the most popular categories of wallpapers, during the holiday season.


Christmas Trees Clip Art

Christmas tree pictures, wallpapers and screensavers are among the most popular categories of wallpapers, during the holiday season.

 

Christmas Trees Pictures

Pictures For Christmas

Christmas Tree Shop

Christmas Tree Shop Christmas tree is about as easy as you can get.Christmas Tree Shop can see it further A star is placed at the top of a Christmas tree for this reason
 
 

Christmas Tree Background

Christmas Tree Background Christmas tree is about as easy as you can get.Christmas Tree Background can see it further A star is placed at the top of a Christmas tree for this reason


Christmas Tree Ball Ornaments

Christmas Tree Ball Ornaments Christmas Tree OrnamentsChristmas tree is about as easy as you can get.Christmas Tree Ball Ornaments can see it further A star is placed at the top of a Christmas tree for this reason Pictures

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Christmas Tree OrnamentsChristmas tree is about as easy as you can get. Christmas Tree Ornaments can see it further A star is placed at the top of a Christmas tree for this reason Pictures

 

Christmas Coloring Pictures

Tree Coloring Page

Tree Coloring Page Christmas tree is about as easy as you can get. You can see it further A star is placed at the top of a Christmas tree for this reason

Christmas Coloring Pages Santa

Mickey Christmas Coloring Pages

Spongebob Christmas Coloring Pages

Christmas Coloring Pages

Merry Christmas Cats

Photobucket

Ho Ho Ho and Jingle all the way!! I laughed when I saw these adorable little cats! I hope they make you smile today too!!
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Time to get serious!

 String Of Lights   Well, today is Halloween. For me tomorrow is the start of the race for the holidays. I've decided it's time to get serious about the house cleaning in preparation for the three big holidays that are ahead. I went out and bought a Bissell scrubber to clean my carpets and furniture. I have three pets and it really needs done! I will probably be shocked when I see what comes out of the carpet! So I have a busy day ahead of me. I'll turn on my television Monday morning and I think they will be playing Christmas music on the Sounds of the Seasons channel. They usually do right after Halloween. So now it's time for me to get serious about cleaning my house!! Busy, busy, busy!






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A couple of games of Norenberc



Having got Norenberc before Essen on pre-order (gotta love the printers that White Goblin use), yesterday me and the wife played a couple of games. We used the brewer (obviously), the printer and the hatmaker. In the first game the price the guildmasters set was high all game. We was both struggling for money throughout the game.

We had both noticed that the guild shields would be a big scoring factor at the end of the game and tried not to let the other get to many. I think in a game of more than 2 the impact of shields would not be as great. Tina got the townsman that gave you money during the income phase depending on how many craftsman you had. Tina (wife) chose the brewery, she had 6 I had 2, that eased her money problems a tad.

That game ended, me 34, Tina 31

The second game was a little easier regarding money, when you have a guild master at 2 and you see the next one up is 7 gives some opportunities. The shields came out about even over the two games. Score for this one was, me 29, Tina 23.

I must say that this game plays fairly quickly with 2, first game was under and hour and the second 45 minutes. The game gives you some good decisions to make but is in no way a brain burner. Tina likes this game a lot so will get some more plays :D

Organize to Get Your Holiday Cards Out On Time

Christmas cards with angels, scandinavian “nis...Image via Wikipedia   Here's an interesting article I found at EzineArticles.com.

Some of you may have taken our advice in July and already snapped up Christmas cards on sale, but if you skipped over that article while sipping lemonade, don't worry. We're here to tell that you a little planning now will keep you from freaking out once December rolls around. We're not saying that you need to actually mail the cards now, but taking a few steps to get yourself ready will definitely save you some time, and a headache, later.


Sarah on "making traditions work for us"

"My husband and I both have large families, so I always groan a little when I realize that Christmas is coming. Between all of the parties and gifts, we've decided that trying to get out cards is impossible. The problem is, my husband and I love creating our card and sharing it with family, so we decided that doing away with the tradition isn't going to happen. Instead, we're starting our own new tradition and sending out New Year's cards instead. After the holidays, January can be quiet, so it's a perfect time to sit down and do our cards. We're finding that people pay more attention to them after the holidays because they actually have the time to look at them."
Alicia on "card craziness"

"I am a sucker for anything festive and so is my husband, so we take our cards very seriously. Each year, we try to outdo ourselves from the previous year. We do a different theme each year, so the year we moved to California we superimposed our faces on the bodies of Malibu Beach Barbies (my husband's head was superimposed on Ken's body). Everyone got a kick out of it and it was a fun way for us to mark the year's transition. I'm not telling what we're doing this year - you'll have to wait and see!"

Three ways to Get Organized in October:
1. Select Cards or Photo.
Unless you have a tiny infant, you're not going to change much between now and December. If you're creating a photo picture, take your photo now and have it ready. You can even order the cards this week and have them ready to go in early December.

2. Get that Address List in Top Shape.
Now is the time to gather those scraps of paper with new address labels and put them all together in one spot. It's ok if you're not putting them in an Excel spreadsheet, but just be sure that all of the addresses are together in one place.

3. Address the Envelopes.
Don't stamp them, since postage rates can change, but it's ok to go ahead and address the envelopes to the people on your list. Not only will you be ready to pop them in the mail before most people have even started thinking about Christmas, but you might even have legible handwriting since you won't be rushing!

Buttoned Up is dedicated to helping stretched & stressed women get organized. Co-founders Alicia Rockmore & Sarah Welch team up with a group of Gurus to give you tips & products for all your messy, stressed needs & introduce "imperfect organization." Visit http://getbuttonedup.com/to see which Guru matches your style & get info on Everyday Life, Life Essentials & Life Events

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alicia_Rockmore

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Friday, October 29, 2010

Christmas Elf Origins

Queen's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle 1848,...Image via WikipediaThe modern Christmas elf appeared as early as 1856 when Louisa May Alcott completed, but never published a book entitled "Christmas Elves". The elves can also be seen in engravings from 1873 in Godey's Lady's Book, showing them surrounding Santa while at work. I tried to find an image of this book, but could not. There were a lot of other images of her books, but not this particular one. I am always worried about copyright also. You get a lot of "images may be subject to copyright".  Additional recognition was given in Edward Eggleston's 1876 work "The House of Santa Claus, a Christmas Fairy Show for Sunday Schools".


The image of the elves in the workshop was popularised by Godey's Lady's Book, with a front cover illustration for its 1873 Christmas Issue showing Santa surrounded by toys and elves with the caption "Here we have an idea of the preparations that are made to supply the young folks with toys at Christmas time". During this time Godey's was immensely influential to the birth of Christmas traditions, having shown the first widely circulated picture of a modern Christmas tree on the front cover of its 1850 Christmas issue.

 St. Nicholas as an elf:

In Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (more commonly known today as Twas the Night Before Christmas), Santa Claus himself is described in line 45 as "He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf".


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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Christmas Postage Stamps

Image via Wikipedia
1973 Christmas stamp


German Stamp

Ukrain





1898

Hungarian nativity stamp, 1943

UK Christmas stamp from a 1983 set of five.

It is not unusual to see leftover stamps appear on regular mail during the first months of the new year, Except in Australia where Christmas stamps are only valid during the holiday season and cannot be used for regular mail, but only Christmas cards. This is because the Australian Christmas stamp is valued 5c lower than regular postage stamps. Interesting!







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