Grandma knew a little secret when she baked those cinnamon and sugar cookies during the holiday season. She got how that intoxicating scent would bring everyone to the house for that old-fashioned family holiday get-together.

In these days of the hustle and bustle, Grandmas home baked cookies are uncommon treats. But you can recreate that warm ambiance in your own home by simply burning a seasonal scented candle.

However, not all candles are created equal. The smell in Grandmas House is a natural byproduct of her baking cookies. Many candles on the market are not as natural using synthetic chemicals to create the fragrance. These synthetic fragrances go through the nose directly to the brain. Candles with artificial scents are cheaper to produce than the natural candles made with essential oils.

Why breathe in synthetic chemicals when you dont have to? There are other candles on the market that are natural and more nature friendly.

Cost can be a factor for choosing the artificially scented candles over the natural ones. A company called WholeMade Natural Lifestyle Products offers a variety of great, healthy candles via an Amazon store this season.

But since the holiday season comes only once a year, its worth a small splurge to get your home or the home of those you love that perfect Grandmas House scent without the risk from artificial chemicals.

Scents typically associated with the holiday season include: warming cinnamon and cloves, fresh pine and peppermint, and mouthwatering sinfully rich cookies.

You can find natural candles scented with essential oils made with either bees wax or soybean wax online. Here are some craftspeople on eBay trying to start a soy candle business, support what they do.

All Spice is a key ingredient to wassail. In many hearts and minds it wouldn’t be Christmas without it.

As far as caroling; a warm punch bowl or pot of wassail that has been brought to a simmer and left to continue to warm is paramount to the experience.

While caroler are meeting in the kitchen of living room of a friend before heading out, wassail is usually served with pride.

All spice (one table spoon of less), lemon, lime, and orange wheels float about in a gallon of apple cider with a bunch of whole cloves. Add a quart of orange juice, a quart of unsweetened pineapple juice, a cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice, a cup of sugar, and several cinnamon sticks. See wassail crock pot punch recipe on cooks.com.

In many places such as PI Philippine Islands; carolers will sing or perform dances in the cities. This is very much like trick or treating. Some are done by city folk, some by rural folk, and some done by real rural folk. From the real rural folks the dances maybe cool and done half or pretty much innocently.

Here in the United States where caroling is sadly almost a dead tradition: The idea of being prepared for carolers is almost unheard of anymore. But if your hosting some friends, or a choir group that’s decided to head out singing: Then a warm batch of wassail before and after the caroling effort will warm their systems, and as is tradition, make the season right!

Posing as your yard art the Grinch has relapsed you into his meanie pants emotional defensive mode. That isn’t yard art! Its the Grinch making off with your Christmas presents. Quick! Everybody panic!!!! No wait. Something is happening. Oh My! It looks like he is actually giving them back!!!!

Grinch epiphany yard art is a great reminder to everyone that sees this piece to take life a little lighter.

The Grinch is caught in action in this piece. He is about to give the presents packed and intends also to finish by returning your absconded tree, when he looks up to see who? The Grinch seeeees YOU! As he stands there in a confident poise giving back presents too little who girls and boys.

The Grinch will tower in your yard at an intimidating forty eight inches high, and radiate his persona with one hundred and fifty lights that, all scream GRINCH!, in bright greens, whites, and reds.

He is dressed in his Christmas Santa suite best. This grinchly Grinch yard art is better than the rest.

The Grinch is powered by more than snowflake Whoville magic or the mind of Dr. Suess himself: the yard art is powered by a thirty inch lead cord.

Remind your friends, family, neighbors, and passing strangers to give Christmas Season good cheer their very best. With the Grinch setting the example, like Scrooge setting the bar for who can actually change their ways and set the bell curve for the rest.

Every year, Christmas brings the same Yule tide chores, including the wonderful experience of going through the storage and getting the tree out, lugging it up or down stairs, putting it up, taking it down, and then having to store it somewhere out of the way for next year.

Most people just dont enjoy transporting the Christmas tree around as much once the Christmas carols have been sung or the presents opened, nor do they enjoy packing them up when it comes time to move.

This is why Christmas Tree Bags were invented, and at the beginning of next season, a bag like this one will really make the difference when it comes time to put the tree up and take it down.

Nine feet is about as tall as they come nowadays, anymore than that is just too tall for most ceilings, but six footers are already big trees, and as long as your tree is made from separate parts, great, most of the decorations will fit for smaller trees, which is why this bag measures 56 x 13 x 28, that is about all the space most people need to use to store their artificial trees.

A Christmas Tree Storage Bag can keep imitation pine trees and even decorations all in one place, protect them from moisture, dust or damage during transportation and storage, all year round, for a more fun loving family moment.

This year was surely the year of the outdoor Christmas decoration. Has anyone noticed how Christmas yard decorations keep getting bigger and bigger each season? My neighbor had a blow up lawn decoration that was a snowman, it must have stood 15 feet high. In the spirit of supporting crafts people I will be looking for homemade decorations for my yard again next year, or I will be making them myself.

What kinds of outdoor decorations were popular this year in our neighborhood?

1. Blow up Snow Globes – At first, these large air filled decorations looked great until I noticed that many of them were filled with frost after just a few nights out in the cold.
2. Blow up Christmas Characters – These weather the storm a little better than snow globes but they turn your neighborhood into a Disney theme park.
3. Colored Lights – Last year white strings of Christmas lights where popular but this year it seemed that more colored lights decorated the neighborhood.

What types of outdoor decorations will never go out of style?

• Sleighs – I passed a beautiful old sleigh out in a big yard that had a light pointing up at it from ground level. The light cast a magical hue of colors over it and you could not help but think Christmas when you looked its way.

• Decorated Trees – Decorating fir and blue spruce trees out in a yard from year to year will never go out of style. Lights that shine through freshly fallen snow on a big live Christmas tree bring back memories of past holiday seasons.

• Wreaths – Christmas wreaths keep getting more and more intricate with their attractive bows and tied on dried carnations. The lady down the street was selling them faster than she could make them this year.

• Outdoor Lights – Outdoor Christmas lights look good on any home or object, from wreath to tree to fence to sleigh.

Decorations will come and go but the ones that stay are those that are not bought in stores. An old wooden sleigh or sled strung with Christmas lights just represents the season better.

What is the perfect gift for fishermen? Is it a new fishing rod and reel? Rods and reels are great but how about something that brings back memories of days out on the water? Terry Cowden makes unique homemade wooden reel ornaments. What makes this fisherman’s gift even more meaningful is that it is made by an avid fisherman with an interesting story.

Terry Cowden was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2003, and used eBay as a welcome addition, financially, to supplement his “meager income” as he describes it. So needless to say, he will really appreciate any exposure of his craft. I asked Terry to describe his outstanding gift for fishermen and here is what he said.

I have a passion for all things fishing related. I was disassembling an old ocean city fishing reel one day, and marveling at how basic the construction of these old reels were. This happened to be last year around this time, and my wife was involved in a holiday, craft related show. I’m always looking for something to keep me busy, and out of my wife’s hair, so I decided to take some stock wood I had laying around, and replicate this old fishing reel as a ornament, designed to catch the eye of the avid fisherman, as something unique, to hang on the Christmas tree. These are totally handmade, except for the line spool, which is an old, wooden, sewing thread spool. (My wife’s donation to the project).

My original inspiration was to incorporate a wooden fishing pole of some kind, to be used as display for old fishing lures, my major passion, and of course searching for a marketable item to supplement our income. I kind of dropped the pole idea, at least temporarily, because my wife thought they were pretty cool the way they were, and thought they would sell as an ornament, hence the handmade hook, and extra line. I worked construction for over 24 years, and like to think I’m relatively mechanical, so defiantly enjoy hands on work. Specifically, the sheet metal field of construction, I unfortunately had to take an early retirement, after 24 years as a Union sheet metal worker.

I can not add a thing to this story, but I can encourage you to purchase a reel or two to give as gifts or keep for yourself. If you are a fisherman you will appreciate the quality of this oustanding handmade fishing reel. Very nice work Terry, I wish you the best and can’t wait to give a few of these to friends and family! Here is Terry’s eBay store, which allows you to contact him if he doesn’t have any items currently displayed.

A brief history of the Christmas ornament

To know the history of Christmas ornaments one must go all the way back to ancient Germany, study pagan ritual and tree cults that celebrated the renewal of life. With the spread of Christianity this German ritual eventually transformed into making Christmas pyramids and then to decorating fir trees. We must credit the Germans for their export of glass ornaments as well as acknowledge the ancient celebration of life. Plants that remain green in winter have been cherished and decorated probably even further back than record can provide but let’s not spoil the mystery of Christmas.
Popular Types of Christmas Ornaments

Glass Christmas Ornaments – Mouth blown glass ornaments have been made and exported by artisans in Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic for years. Glass ornaments are colorful and intricate and should be handled with care.

Felt Christmas Ornaments – Felt ornaments are popular homemade decorations, felt can be cut to look like Christmas trees, cats, dogs and anything else your can think of.

Personalized Christmas Ornaments – You often find people at craft fairs offering personalized ornaments to give as gifts to friends and family during the holiday season. A personalized ornament usually has a name embroidered, sewn or printed on it.

Beaded Christmas Ornaments – For those who enjoy beads a beaded ornament is a nice Christmas gift.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments – These ornaments are often made by folks to celebrtate the holidays, you can find ideas for making your own in crafts stores and books. If you are not crafty you can purchase homemade ornaments from a crafts person and support their art at the same time.

The Christmas stocking is an important part of holiday cheer. You can purchase personalized Christmas stockings at stores but why not buy a stocking from a crafts person or find a free pattern and make your own homemade Christmas stocking?

A Brief History of the Christmas stocking

The Christmas stocking is a major part of holiday celebration and tradition. The most well known story of the practice of hanging up stockings is said to have originated with St. Nicholas. While trying to help out a poor man who needed a dowry for his daughter, he is said to have tossed a bag of gold through the man’s window. The bag landed in a young lady’s stockings that had been hung up to dry. Others believe the practice of hanging stockings started during the 16th Century in Holland. Children would leave their shoes outside to be filled with toys from Sinterklaas. Over the years, the shoes (clogs) were replaced with Christmas stockings but who really cares to know the mystery behind the magic of Christmas anyhow.

Types of Christmas Stockings

Handmade Christmas Stockings – These are the stockings that are most cherished within a family. There is nothing more enjoyable than making or receiving a handmade Christmas stocking from a friend or family member. Handmade Christmas stockings can be knitted, cross stitched, crocheted, embroidered, quilted and made from felt or even velvet.

Personalized Christmas Stockings – When I was a child we had beautifully patterned stockings that where handmade by a friend of our family and given to us as a gift. Each of our stockings had a different theme and our names were thoughtfully monogrammed on them. These types of stockings become Christmas heirlooms.

Christmas Stocking Kits – For those who do not like throwing together a stocking on a whim, a stocking kit is a good choice. You can easy follow the provided instructions and make a good looking stocking with little effort. Choose a kit below!