Its Christmas Time Articles in July, 2010

Archive for July, 2010

Tips for Better Photo Christmas Cards

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 6:47 am

During the Christmas season, almost everyone is going to get a Christmas card from someone else. It is always great to send nice Christmas cards to all of your friends and family members. Although, rather than simply sending a generic Christmas card (which recipients may find to be dull), many people decide to make the card extra special by having it be a photo Christmas card. The photos on the front of the card can be of one's family, the family dog, a new baby, or any number of other possibilities.

In order for a photo Christmas card to be aesthetically pleasing, great care should be given to the photo that will be used. Taking a good picture is quintessential for a solid photo Christmas card. Without a good picture, the card will seem cheap, and friends/relatives may think no effort was put into it. That's certainly not the goal of any Christmas card! In order to avoid this catastrophe, be sure that the photo is taken with good lighting. Taking time to plan out the pose can also help tremendously. It seems simple enough, but many people don't use the best cameras for Christmas card photos. A cheap camera will produce a cheap photo. One way to make sure that the photo is high quality is to take several pictures in several different poses. Spend time reviewing all of the photos and choose which one would compliment the card best.

Careful consideration should be put into the selection of the company that you choose to print your photos. A good company will have better service and almost undoubtedly produce better results. Many companies can take orders online; so don't hesitate to search around on the Internet. As a rule, a company with a well-designed, user-friendly web site will probably give more customer satisfaction than other companies. Also take pricing into account. Some companies may offer discount rates depending on the amount of photos needed. Taking a look at all of the possibilities and comparing is a great practice for choosing a provider.

Keeping the provider in mind, be sure to find out how they print the photos. Some companies may use ink-jet or dye sublimation print, which will not look as good as the use of actual photos. Good providers will probably provide potential customers with a plethora of information about how the photos are produced. Finding this information shouldn't be too difficult if the company has a well-designed web site or an informative customer service line. Once again, quality is paramount when making a Christmas card. If the photo Christmas card is high quality, it will surely be displayed on friends' and family's mantels long after Christmas is over.

Alison Hodges recommends http://www.photoaffections.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=5 for high quality photo Christmas cards.

Technorati Tags: Better, cards, christmas, photo, Tips

The History Of Christmas Cards

Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 3:32 am

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The world's first commercially produced Christ...

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The History Of Christmas Cards

Ever since Sir Henry Cole commissioned John Calcott Horsley in 1843 to create some Christmas cards because he was too busy to write to his friends like he usually did during this holiday, they have been a popular way for people to send Yule greetings to friends and family. No one truly expected these cards, printed first in black and white, and later colored by hand, to become a tradition. However, once the printer sold off the leftover cards from the original 1,000 cards printed for “Old King Cole,” people loved them.
Following the popularity of this new way of acknowledging Christmas and sending greetings to loved ones, creating Christmas cards became a big business. It also offered new opportunities for artists to create beautiful works of Yule themed art to be reproduced on cards that would be shared with many people. These artists would be paid and their art would be seen.
Over the years, the types of greetings have changed. The choices include serious, religious, funny, along with specialty cards for husbands, wives, grandparents, lovers and just about any other type you can think of. For a very long time, choosing Yule cards was one of the favorite activities in preparation for the holidays. Gift cards also became quite popular because they provided a simple way to give the gift of money to loved ones who lived far away, or were just hard to shop for.

There have even been crafts and decorating ideas formed around Christmas cards. Many mothers, grandmothers and daughters used these cards following the season’s end to string together and make decorative wastebaskets. During the season, each eagerly anticipated card was immediately taped or tacked to frame a doorway, or define a mantel. The cards were also saved to use on next year’s gifts as name tags.

As with many other things, the introduction to personal computers and printers changed things regarding Christmas cards. Now everyone who owns, or has access to, a computer and a printer can design their own cards. There are even programs to buy to do it for you. With this software, all you really need is the proper cardstock, a printer and color ink. With a little time and effort, these cards can be quite beautiful and meaningful creations that come straight from the heart.

Another way that computers have changed the system of sending Yule cards is through the advent of ecards, or egreetings. Some very nice free ones can be found all over the internet. You can also find some pay websites with extra special egreetings. All of these sites allow you to add your own personal message as well as music. The really nice thing is that you save on postage and can send as many of these as you want or need to for free.

No matter what type you choose for your Christmas cards, they will never go out of style. This will always remain the time honored tradition that was started so many years ago. People will always love sending them, and receiving them.

Technorati Tags: Christmas Cards, history of Christmas cards, Xmas cards

100 Multi-Color Miniature Light Set

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 7:36 am

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100 Multicolored Lights!
Green wire
Indoor/Outdoor Use.
If one bulb goes out, the rest stay lit!
End Connectors Let you string together multiple sets

Product Description
The best prices on 100 Light Sets on Amazon. Also, avaialble in Clear, Blue, Red, and Green. Compare at $3.50!... More >>

100 Multi-Color Miniature Light Set

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Make your Own Christmas Cards

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 6:42 am

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Are you tired of sending the same old Christmas cards depicting boring baubles and dreary bells year in and year out? Have you ever thought that you could design better Christmas cards yourself? Why not have a go this year?

The best time to begin collecting material for making Christmas cards is during the previous year's yuletide season. Collect as many seasonal clippings, ribbons, bows and small decorations as possible from magazines, wrapping paper, gift tags, Christmas cards, advent calendars...the list is endless - you won't have to look far for inspiration during the Christmas period.

Once you have amassed all of your material, store it in a special craft chest. You may wish to divide your material into different themes and put it into individual drawers in your craft chest.

You can then decide when to begin making cards for next Christmas. This will depend on how much time you have throughout the year and how many cards you wish to make - do you want to make a card for everyone on your Christmas card list or just a few for close friends and family?

Before starting to make the cards, you will need to buy either some card for cutting, folding and making your own card blanks or some ready-made card blanks with envelopes - this is the quickest and easiest way. Look in the crafts-paper crafts-card making section of eBay for good value packs of card blanks and matching envelopes or try your local craft store.

White or cream is a good background color as it enables you to use a variety of colors on top but you don't have to restrict yourself to this color, you can be as creative as you like. Red and green also make good background colors for Christmas cards.

You may also wish to buy peel-offs, which are stickers with such greetings as 'Happy Christmas,' 'Season's Greetings,' etc. They are useful for giving your cards the finishing touch but are not essential, as you could write a greeting using a silver gel pen, for example, or not include a greeting on the front of the card at all.

Sticky pads are another useful addition to your Christmas card craft making kit. These small foam pads with adhesive on both sides give certain images a slightly raised effect, allowing them to stand out from card slightly. They are excellent for giving more prominence to centerpieces.

You could also buy other materials like handmade or mulberry paper but these are not necessary if you have amassed a lot of your own Christmas material.

Alternatively, if you do not have any materials for making the cards, you could buy a Christmas card making kit. This will include several card blanks as well as many bits and pieces that you can use to design and make cards. It may even have suggested designs and instructions, which are great if you lack a little inspiration.

As far as tools are concerned, the only essential tools are a pair of scissors, a ruler and some glue. A glue pen is very useful as it allows you to apply glue very finely to small decorations.

Now the fun begins...just sit down and let you imagination run wild. Try out different designs on the cards without sticking them down. If one design doesn't work, discard it and begin again but don't be too judgmental - the idea is to have fun. Some designs will be better than others but you won't develop your own style if you don't give your creativity full rein.

As a finishing touch, you could add a little sticker on the back saying 'handmade by...' These stickers are available to buy or you could print them yourself from your computer. If people like your cards, you could have orders coming in for next year's cards and before you know it, you will have set up your own card making business. You could even sell your surplus cards to friends, at local groups and fairs or even on the Internet. eBay is a good place to start selling hand-crafted items online.

If you do begin selling your cards, bear in mind that you can only sell your original designs. If you have copied someone else's design either from a book, magazine, website or another source, you cannot sell it as it would be a violation of copyright, unless it is explicitly stated that it is a copyright-free design.

So, sit down, relax and enjoy a creative pursuit in the run-up to Christmas. The rewards could be greater than you expect.

Author Ian White is founder of Housecarers.com House sitting Directory Find a live in House Sitter to mind your home, pets and gardens while you are away. Exchange rent free accomodation for house sitting

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Family Photo Christmas Cards – 6 Smart Solutions to the Top Challenges

Saturday, July 17th, 2010 at 6:43 am

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Taking a great photo for the family photo Christmas card looks like it should be easy. But as any parent who has attempted this holiday ritual can tell you, it's not as simple as it looks. What you want is a unique, beautiful photo Christmas card. And what you usually get is fidgety, uncooperative kids that blink just as you're taking the picture. But don't give up and throw in the Santa hat just yet. Here are 6 easy, smart solutions to those top challenges.

Challenge 1: You want a festive holiday background for your family photo Christmas cards, but don't want to decorate your house with strands of lights and tinsel in November.

Solution: Use the Mall. Department stores and shopping malls are decorating for the season earlier and earlier, many times right after Halloween. These holiday backdrops are perfect for family photo Christmas cards. Gather the kids in front of the twinkling lights and a few camera clicks later, you'll have a great shot.

Challenge 2: Your toddlers won't sit still long enough to take the photo.

Solution: Bring in the props. Get out the oversized teddy bear or other toy that fascinates them. Try posing them with the dog or cat. Give them something simple to do, like ring a Christmas bell or kiss their sister on the cheek. Use trial and error until you find the item or activity that interests them long enough for you to take a few pictures.

Challenge 3: Your teenage kids don't feel like posing for a family photo.

Solution: Don't make them pose. Instead, make action the focal point of your photo Christmas cards, highlighting things that your teenagers love to do. Take photos of them showing off their abilities. Whether they are in the swimming pool, a canoe, sinking a basketball, riding a horse, baking holiday cookies, playing with the dog, or enjoying another activity, your holiday cards will offer a glimpse into your family's interests and personality.

Challenge 4: You'd like to send photo Christmas cards that are witty and fun, just like your family.

Solution: Create your own holiday story picture, by setting up a scene. Here's some ideas. The kids can discover Mommy kissing Santa Claus (Daddy in disguise). Put the young kids in a bubble bath with Santa hats and bubble beards. Capture a snapshot of each family member grabbing a slice of pizza with the message "pizza on earth". Photograph an empty plate of cookies and finished glass of milk in front of "guilty" looking kids with the caption "sorry Santa!"

Those after Halloween costume sales can come in handy when trying to set up a whimsical photo. How about posing your little angels with angel wings you picked up at discount? Other possibilities could be your kids dressed as cats (Meowy Christmas), super heroes (have a super Christmas), a baby in a pea-pod costume ("peas on earth") or a lion and a lamb costume for two children.

Challenge 5: You'd like a beautiful photo Christmas card that doesn't look like the same, tired, group family photo you send out every year.

Solution: Change the location of your photo shoot. If you're within driving distance to a beach, there are a lot of unique photo opportunities. Pose the kids on a sleigh on a sand dune. Write Merry Christmas on the sand, and have everyone sit behind the inscription. Build a sand snowman with a straw hat, sunglasses, and seashell nose.

Autumn provides a lot of great possibilities for photo Christmas cards. Try taking photos of the kids playing in a pile of leaves, in a pumpkin patch or on a hay ride. Make lovely scenery your backdrop and it can create atmosphere that elevates your photo Christmas card to a new level.

Challenge 6: When you struggle to take a family group photo, someone always blinks their eyes, turns their head or doesn't smile. It seems nearly impossible to get one perfect shot where everyone looks good.

Solution: Choose a card company that offers photo Christmas card designs that contain multiple photos of your family. The latest trend in holiday photo cards is to include several of your photos on one card in a unique, holiday layout. This has become popular because it is much easier to take great, individual photos of your family members than one acceptable group picture.

Whatever particular challenge you face when composing your photo Christmas cards, there is an easy solution. Try these creative approaches and soon you'll be hearing from your friends, relatives, coworkers and neighbors how much they loved this year's family holiday photo card.

Linda Kling is the owner of www.photo-party-favors.com, which offers personalized photo favors and custom photo invitations and announcements. Visit her website for more information on photo Christmas cards, featuring your multiple photos. Christian photo Christmas cards are also available.

Technorati Tags: cards, Challenges, christmas, Family, photo, Smart, Solutions

Verkhoyansk for christmas……?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

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Is it ok to have christmas and have a christmas shopping trip in Verkhoyansk? Or wont Russian law allow that? Is there a lot of shop in Verkhoyansk to do christmas shopping? Is it ok to come to verkhoyansk to ski over the christmas period? Please explain....Thank you.

Verhojansk is a very small town with only around 1500 or so residents. It is the coldest permanently inhabited region on Earth. The winter temperatures can drop to almost -70 C. Also, because of its high Northern latitude, there would be no daylight if you visited at Christmas. If you went there to ski, you would probably die quite quickly.

Because of the harsh climate and because it is such a small and remote settlement, Verhojansk attracts very few tourists. Although I'm sure Russian law does not forbid tourism, there are probably no hotels and no, I can't imagine there'd be many shops either.

If you're looking for somewhere cold to spend Christmas, try Lappland or somewhere else a bit more open to tourism.

Would you pay someone to address and mail your Christmas cards for you? What would be a good price?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Comments (3)

I know a bunch of people don't have time to write, address, and mail out Christmas cards. What would be a good price to pay for someone to do this for me?

it depends on if they supply the cards or if you furnished them yourself.

I normally try and support a charity when I purchase Christmas Cards. Do you?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Comments (11)

I found this one just today. I think they are great.

I always insist on Charity cards for the festive time, I think they are what Christmas is all about, giving!.
To me, Christmas cards are a good way of keeping in contact with people who touch your life in some way. I'll be sure to send you one "D".

Christmas Lights: The Ultimate Way to Decorate Your Home

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 6:26 am

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Yuletide lights ; we've all seen them and many of us have used them before.

When talking about Yuletide lights, we frequently associate those lights with Xmas trees. While Yuletide lights are most frequently utilized to embellish Xmas trees, do you know that they can also be utilized for much more? If you're planning on decorating your house for Xmas this year, you are advised to look at what else Yuletide lights can be employed for. After a close inspection, you'll likely see that they can be employed for a load more than you'll have originally thought.

As formerly discussed, when referring to Yuletide lights, we frequently associate Yuletide lights with Yuletide trees. This is as a big number of people decorate their Yuletide trees with Xmas lights. What's good about using Yuletide lights on a Yuletide tree is that the lights come in a range of sizes and styles. It is easy to purchase Yuletide lights with little lights along with giant ones.

Standard Xmas lights come white coloured or with a mixture of all different colours. Recently, the idolization of different coloured lights has zoomed. You can now purchase single coloured Xmas lights or lights with a particular colour combo. These kinds of lights are ideal for those that are looking to theme their Xmas tree. Though many people opt to use Xmas lights for their Yuletide tree, as explained above, there are more uses for them too. One of those uses is for decorating the exterior of your house. Online and in numerous retail shops across America, you can find Christmas lights that are made for outside use, particular around a home. These type of lights are sometimes called icicle Christmas lights. Icicle Yuletide lights permit the lights to hang off the side of a place. While it's actually possible to find multicoloured out of doors Xmas lights, you'll find they're most frequently sold in the normal white color. As well as decorating the exterior of the outside of your house with Xmas lights, you may also decorate the trees outside of your house. A bunch of house owners, annually, decorate the trees outside their home, regularly precisely like their indoor Xmas tress. Many times, these trees are comparatively little in size ; the same types of Yuletide lights that can be employed on a constant tree can also, infrequently, be used on an outside tree. Decorating the little trees in your yard is a smart way to bring a hint of Yuletide to your area. You may also use Christmas lights to embellish any one of the rooms that may be found within your home.

There are numerous people who hang Xmas lights along the head of their walls. This is a smart way to bring extra Xmas spirit into the room that your Yuletide tree is in in addition to other rooms.

In reality you may even use Xmas lights to embellish one of your home's bedrooms. This idea is sometimes loved by teenagers and other children ; many enjoy the bright lights and colours. Decorating your home's bedrooms is a terrific way to bring the Xmas spirit into a room that you will have otherwise not decorated. As nice as it is to brighten your house for Christmas, you may additionally want to embellish your office or your workspace. Sadly , not everybody celebrates Xmas . This could set a problem, when it comes to decorating your office workspace. Nevertheless you can still, in several cases, use Yuletide lights to brighten your office. In most situations, you'll find that it's the decorations that scream Christmas that cause the issues, not the lights themselves. if you supervisors approve, you might simply hang Xmas lights around your office walls or along the sides of your work desk. Isn't it fantastic all the different ways you can use Xmas lights to decorate your house or your office? What's far more amazing is the already mentioned examples are merely a few of many tactics you can use Xmas lights to bring the vacation spirit into your office or home.