Any ideas for making your own Christmas cards?

How can I make my own Christmas cards that look good and professional? I would like to send a Christmas card to a friend in Italy, and it is not easy to find Italian language cards here. What are some good ideas to help me make my own? I know I should use card stock paper. I do have the program "Greetings Workshop" on my computer, but the cards never really come out looking professional.

Any ideas?

Well it can be really hard to get them to look right when they were made on the computer. Some tips for making cards in general (by hand or on the computer). Make sure the colours look good together. You don't want, say, black and brown. Be careful when using bright or dark colours with pastels, they don't always look good together. When in doubt, get a second opinion. Don't try to "overload" the card. Meaning don't put too much stuff on it. If you look at the cards at a store you'll see one or two things on them. Not Santa, four snowmen, two reindeer, and the sleigh. Which brings us to, look at professional cards to get a better idea of what you want. Study colour, the style of the drawing (cartooney, realistic?), the font of the words, everything. But don't try to copy one of the cards, just get an idea of what you like and what you don't. And the last, most important tip: HAVE FUN! If you hated making something, it shows.

Personally, I think one made by hand would be nicer. All you will need can be bought at a craft store: blank card and envelope, a calligraphy pen a book on calligraphy if you don't know how (you may prefer to pick one up from the library), stamps and ink, or some artist talent and pens, pencils, and whatever you use for colours. Take everything home and on a piece of scrap paper test some designs. When you find one you like, put it on the card. Practice your calligraphy until you can do it just the way you like, and write your message.

But, if you're doing it on the computer: Yes, use cardstock and make sure you have enough ink in the printer. You might try looking for clipart on a sight like photobucket.

This is kind of long, but I hope it helped! Merry Christmas!

How should I display my Christmas Cards?

This is my husband and I's first Christmas in our home. I've been very crafty lately by making most of our decorations. I'm trying to figure out a cute way to display our Christmas Cards and haven't found anything that I really liked. Any Ideas? Thanks!!

This really isnt "crafty" but Ive always used scotch tape to tape my cards around the doorway. By the time I receive them all, the whole doorway is filled with cards and it looks really neat when you come into the house.

Maude: Walters Christmas Gift 1/3

With money tight since Walter's bankruptcy, the family decides to make homemade Christmas gifts for one another. Meanwhile, Walter gets a generous business offer from Arthur and a fellow doctor, Hubie Binder. It seems Arthur and Hubie want to start a appliance business and they want Walter to run it. Walter reluctantly agrees but soon becomes fed up with the novice Arthur.-----Season 5

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Feminize – xmas gifts promo

If your wife or girlfriend needs help with your xmas gift maybe show her this.

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What are some uses for old Christmas Cards?

I receive several Christmas cards each year, and I would like to find a clever, crafty way to recycle them. I remember seeing a box sewen together with yarn, and old cards, years ago. Does anyone have the directions for this, or any other ideas to recycle old cards?

Ah, being the queen of recycle, I save all of my Christmas cards to reuse them the next year. I always try to get a couple more uses out of things before I recycle or throw them out. I save the handled bags from boutique and department stores throughout the year. Then I cut the front off the the cards to stick over the store logo with double sided tape or stick glue and use the bags to deliver bags of goodies during the holidays to neighbors, the post man, trash people, etc. They can also be used over the store names on shirt and gift boxes from stores, too, and it saves you from wrapping the gift. I just add a ribbon.

Some Best Christmas Foods to Remember!

If you're planning any kind of family Christmas or Yuletide celebration this year, especially if you're hosting the event. Or even if you're thinking of what you need to do in terms of preparing food for a family gathering then now, the beginning of November, is where you need to begin your cooking. Many Christmas cakes and confectionaries need to be prepared well in advance so that they can be allowed time to mature. This is particularly the case with rich fruit based cakes and puddings such as Christmas cake, for more details visit to www.300-dip-recipes.com Twelfth Night Cake and Christmas Puddings. Even Stollens are better if stored for a week or two before consumption.

With that in mind, and to help you with your festive planning here are some classic Christmas recipes for you. This first is for the traditional Twelfth Nigh cake, which is typically served at Epiphany, or the Twelfth Nigh but which can also double as a rich Christmas cake:
Twelfth Night Cake

Ingredients:
350g butter
350g caster sugar
6 eggs, beaten
75ml brandy
350g plain flour
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
700g mixed dried fruit
50g blanched almonds, chopped
45g apricot conserve or apricot jam
900g almond paste (or marzipan)
4 egg whites
900g icing sugar
3 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp glycerine
glacé fruit, candied angelica and silver balls, to decorate

Method:
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well after each addition then add the brandy. Fold-in the flour, spices, fruit and nuts. Grease a deep 25cm cake tin and line the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper. Tip the cake mixture into this and tap to remove any trapped air. Place the cake in an oven pre-heated to 150°C and bake for about 2.5 hours, for more details visit to www.chicken-wing-cookbook.com or until the cake is firm to the touch. If the top of the cake darkens too quickly cover with a sheet of folded greaseproof paper about half-way through the cooking. Remove the cake from the oven, allow to cool in its tin for 30 minutes then tip onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Once cold cover the surface of the cake with the apricot preserve or apricot jam. Roll out the almond paste and cut just enough of the paste to go around the side of the cake. Then roll the remainder of the paste out and use to cover the top of the cake. Allow the cake to set for at least two days then prepare the icing by lightly beating the egg whites and incorporating the icing sugar into this to form a stiff paste. Add the lemon juice and glycerine and incorporate well. Then, using a palette knife spread the icing all the way around the sides and top of the cake. Place in a tin and allow to set for at least two days. When ready form a crescent of the candied fruit and anjelica on top of the cake and decorate with the silver balls.

The next recipe is a 'twist' on the classic Christmas pudding that I call the 'Roman Christmas Pudding'. It's a traditional rich Christmas pudding but made with ingredients that the Romans would have had to hand. It also uses the classic Roman combination of fish sauce and pepper in desserts. This has been so successful a recipe that I have to make it for the family every year now!

neelkamal
http://www.articlesbase.com/recipes-articles/some-best-christmas-foods-to-remember-691053.html

How many Christmas cards are mailed annually, worldwide ?

If there is no statistic to this answer, then it might be easier to find out how many Christmas cards are bought annually. Thank You !

It might actually be QUITE difficult to find the Answer to this one- because most of the countries on the Planet have at least a FEW Christians who probably send cards... -Which means you'd have to take a count from all of THOSE Countries Post Offices, to get an accurate number... Maybe the EASIEST way to figure it out, would be to simply find out what Percentage of Christians here in the U.S. tend to send cards- & then apply that percentage to the World's Christian Population... Either way, the World's Postal Services deliver a LOT of Christmas Cards!!!

My Christmas Presents!!!

Here are my presents. Such great gifts I got... What did you get?!
http://www.davedays.com

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Christmas Traditions Around the World – With a Twist

Christmas season is something that is enjoyed in almost all parts of the world and each country has their own set of traditions; some are very similar while others are unique. Then there are some that are downright strange.

Aside from the country and culture specific traditions, there is also the set of family or personal traditions. A really different Christmas tradition is a very Old Norwegian one. It was an old belief that on the eve of Christmas witches and bad spirits would come about the towns looking for brooms on which to ride. So all the villagers would hide their brooms where they believed they couldn’t be found. Today’s modern age also sees vestiges of this custom. The men of the house gallantly go outdoors to fire off a shotgun; threatening and scaring off the witches.

In the Czech Republic, young ladies who dream of marriage have a very unusual Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve, these hoping to be brides, will stand with their back to the house. Next they will throw one of their shoes over their shoulder towards the door. Now if the shoe lands with the heels towards the door, then unfortunately she will remain unmarried for another year. On the other hand if the toe of the shoe points towards the door, she is believed to marry before the next Christmas. She will begin making her wedding preparations and move out of her parent’s house!

If you feel that the shoe tossing tradition is interesting, you will find the food tossing tradition quite intriguing. Now if you like a clean home especially at this festive time of year then you wouldn’t want to adopt this tradition. All members of the family sit down for the Christmas Eve dinner. The head of the family takes a good sized spoonful of a special traditional Christmas dish made from bread poppy seed filling and water. This is called Loksa. Then, he will throw this hefty spoonful of Loksa up to the ceiling while everyone watches to see how much of this gooey mixture has stuck to the ceiling. Now this is very important because the more that is stuck on the ceiling the better the crops will be. This is a tradition that is followed throughout Slovakia and the Ukraine. It provides great family amusement except possibly for the women who have to clean up the mess.

In many countries the people attend mass either Christmas eve or Christmas day. This is also true in Caracas Venezuela with one exception; everybody roller skates to the mass. It is such a big traditional event that all the roads within the city are closed to car traffic. It’s a great alternative to ice skating because the climate is just too warm for snow or ice.

What holiday traditions do you and your family enjoy? Why not share them at Boomer Yearbook, and who knows, maybe find a new and exciting tradition to try with their family and friends. Best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season to all.

www.boomeryearbook.com is a social networking site connecting the Baby Boomer generation. Share your thoughts, rediscover old friends, or expand your mind with brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join today to discover the many ways we are helping Boomers connect for fun and profit.

For www.boomeryearbook.com

Dr Karen
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/christmas-traditions-around-the-world-with-a-twist-717966.html

Make a Shared Christmas Gift for Under £20 (christmas Cake!)

Christmas time’s favourite phrase must be “do you remember when…?” as families catch up and remember past times with wry smiles, chuckles and the occasional foot stamp preceded by pantomimic exclamations of “oh no I didn’t!”.  The rush of memories flooding back as we dig into the purchased Christmas Cake of despair when the taste of an overly-sweet dry cake makes us hark back to stickier times when Christmas cakes were moist, moreish, fruity and baked at home, with love.

Barbara Walker, Co-Manager of the Jamaican boutique hideaway spot Hotel Mockingbird Hill, whose organic Restaurant Mille Fleurs has been acclaimed by Gourmet Magazine, believes this is the one time of the year that those who ‘don’t cook’ should take a Sunday afternoon to get back into the kitchen. 

Barbara says “I don’t have to go into the kitchen that often anymore and I am happy to leave the kitchen space to our wonderful trained Chefs, however the first Sunday of December is when I break that rule and the oven becomes mine, bearing in mind that I never bake.  There is nothing better than spending the afternoon stirring, whisking and beating whilst remembering my Mother’s wonderful Christmas Cake Recipe, which she is now passing on to her granddaughter. Just knowing that I can create something to share at Christmas, which is so good, that it is being handed down from one generation to the next without alteration – that is quite a rare accomplishment in today’s world.”

If you don’t have a family Christmas cake recipe to celebrate this holiday season why not try hers:

Barbara’s Rich Jamaican Rum Christmas Fruit Cake:
(for spices these are only guidelines – check and adjust to personal taste)

1.5kg finely chopped mixed dried fruit (use a blender or food processor if you prefer a smoother type of cake and preferably fruit that has been steeped in golden rum for a minimum of 2 weeks for before cooking date)
500 gm brown sugar
500 gm butter
750 gm flour (we use whole wheat but you could use white, if so you’ll possibly have to check the consistency) –if the mixture seems a little too wet add a little flour
1 tbsp. cinnamon powder
1 tbsp. nutmeg grated
1 tbsp.pimento powder (allspice)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 doz. eggs
2 tbsp. vanilla essence 
Pinch of salt

Method:
Cream sugar and butter until it is white and fluffy.
Seive the flour and mix in the dried spices, salt and baking powder
Alternatively add one egg at a time followed by a few tablespoons of the spiced flour mixture
When all eggs and flour are thoroughly mixed add the vanilla essence
Add enough of the fruit mixture until it gets a rich brown colour.
Put into baking tins which are lined with grease-proof paper and bake at a very low temperature 100C for approx. 2.5 -3 hours (and enjoy the aromas in the kitchen while the cake bakes!)

This cake is a moist cake so when you test it with a needle or pin, it will always be a bit sticky but check that the mixture is cooked through.

When cake is done, take it out of the baking tins immediately otherwise it will sweat. Leave to cool.

When cool, return to baking tin or to a storage tin and pour about 12 cl. (about 3 pegs or double shot) of rum and close the tin. Repeat this once a week till Christmas – the longer the cake is stored, the better it tastes!

The fun part about this mixture is that it can also make the Christmas dinner’s Christmas pudding: instead of baking all the mixture put some into greased and floured pyrex dishes, cover firmly with greaseproof our brown paper and steam -1½ hours in a pressure cooker or 2½ -3 hours in a bain-marie. When done, open up, pour over about 12cl of rum and put away for Christmas day. Repeat this once a week till Christmas – the longer the pudding is stored, the better it tastes! On Christmas day just warm up the pudding for about ½ hour in a bain-marie and serve with rum butter.

So an easy gift for your family & Father Christmas in 3 easy steps:

1.    Steep you fruit in golden rum
2.    Bake the cake and steam the pudding
3.    Let the cake soak “golden sunshine” rum in a minimum of 2 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Recipe courtesy of Barbara Walker, Hotel Mockingbird Hill, Jamaica

Shireen Aga
http://www.articlesbase.com/recipes-articles/make-a-shared-christmas-gift-for-under-20-christmas-cake-669603.html