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Personalized Family Photo Frames

By Lori | August 9, 2007

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The holidays are a perfect time to take memorable family pictures. Holidays may be the only time of the year when the entire family is together. Who wouldn’t want to preserve the special and limited time when parents, children, relatives, and close friends are together? Perhaps the best way to do this is with a photograph.

One of the most common places to take a family Christmas photo is in front of the beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Since many Read the rest of this entry »

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Baking Christmas Cookies

By Lori | August 2, 2007

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Every year during the holiday season, one of my favorite things to do is to bake cookies for my family and friends. Baking is something that I love to do and homemade cookies are a thoughtful and personal gift that I can give to anyone. After having done this for a few years, it’s now a tradition that I plan on continuing. imageHomemade cookies are a great way to spread some love and cheer during the holidays. Cookies make a perfect gift for everyone on your gift list, even during other times of the year.

Another fun cookie tradition is to have a cookie exchange. This is a great way to get together with your neighbors or friends and family. Each person makes a batch of cookies to share at the party. Everyone at the party exchanges their cookies and their recipe. Not only do you get to spend an enjoyable time with good people, you get to try new cookies, and also acquire some new recipes to add to your collection.

And don’t forget to make some extra cookies for Santa. There is also the tradition of leaving out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. As a child, this was one of my favorite things to do. I would pick out the best cookies for Santa and then try as hard as I could to stay awake and wait for him to arrive. I never could stay awake long enough to see that he ate them, but every Christmas morning I woke up to find that both the cookies and the milk were gone.

I often watch the Food Network on TV and I am always amazed every time I see how clean the chefs can keep the kitchen. Is it just me or is this an impossible task? My mess seems to start as soon as I start taking out the ingredients. No matter how hard I try, I cannot keep the kitchen clean. I guess making a mess can be part of the fun of baking, although cleaning up is usually not very much fun.

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Personalized Christmas Stockings

By Lori | August 1, 2007

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A common Christmas tradition is for children, and usually adults, too, to hang up a Christmas stocking. These empty socks or sock shaped bags are left out for Santa to fill up with small gifts during his visit on Christmas Eve. These stockings are typically hung over the fireplace, but if there is not a fireplace in the home, they can be hung just about anywhere else. Other places where stockings are hung include the backs of chairs, on doorknobs, on bed posts, and along stairs. These suggestions are just a few of the possibilities.

The traditional Christmas stocking is red with white trim. Stockings today are available in just about any size or design that you can think of. A personalized stocking is a special gift that can be used year after year during the Christmas season.

Hanging up a stocking is similar to traditions in other countries. One variation that may have brought about the hanging of stockings is the Dutch tradition of children leaving their clogs out near the fireplace for Sinterklaas to find so that he could fill them with gifts or treats.

There are many legends that describe the origin and history of the Christmas stocking. No matter where this tradition started, one thing is certain, the stocking is a commonly practiced American custom and highly recognizable Christmas symbol.

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