Christmas Tree Traditions

We like to enjoy and admire our decorated Christmas tree as soon as possible after Thanksgiving until New Year. For this reason I have switched to my 6 foot artificial tree over 20 years ago. Sure, it will never have the charm of a real tree, but is beautiful when decorated with the oodles of treasured ornaments I have collected over the last 35 years, and it doesn’t drip sticky sap onto our carpet or dry out over the 4 week period it is on display.    

We love our Christmas tree in all its splendor! Generally we have always brought it up from the basement after all of the other Christmas decorations have been carefully placed, and I have lots of them, but this year I decided that we would put it up first and I’m surprised how much more we’ve enjoyed it. I think I may have started a new Christmas time tradition at our house.

  

Christmas trees have a long and varying history of tradition. The custom of decorating a Christmas tree actually started in Germany as early as the 15^th century. They have traditionally been evergreen trees such as spruce, pines, or fir but I was surprised to find out that artificial trees were already used in Germany during the 19^th century due to deforestation in that area. At that time they were often made out of wood and goose feathers versus our more familiar contemporary PVC trees.

 

When I was growing up in Germany in the 60’s and 70’s, there was no deforestation and I do not remember ever seeing any of those old fashioned artificial trees. I do however, remember numerous times, going out into an nearby forest with my dad and a couple of my  siblings, usually on Christmas Eve, where we picked out and chopped down the Christmas tree of our choice and hauled it home in the family car. I then stayed up, usually with my mom and my older sister, and we decorated the tree with mostly handmade ornaments, a few glass bulbs, and candles (this was before electric candles were available) after all the younger siblings went to bed. We would enjoy the tree for a brief couple of days before we took it down again. During that time we would occasionally gather around the tree and very carefully and only briefly light the candles under close supervision. It was always a magical moment when we lit the candles for the first time on Christmas morning . . . but to this day I am still extremely grateful that we never started a fire.

For me it is too much work and not long enough time to enjoy my tree for just a couple of days. However, I still have a lot of family and friend contacts in Germany, and it is still not uncommon that one or more of them will tell me that they are putting up their Christmas tree on Christmas Eve as part of their Christmas ritual . . . and although the real candles are still a traditional part of the Christmas tree decorations for most of us, they are no longer lit on their tree or on ours. Gratefully we now enjoy the twinkling of our safe and colorful electric lights on timers !

 

We love our Christmas tree traditions and I hope you are enjoying yours as much as we are ours.

 

 

Happy Holidays

 

 

 

My Website has a new look !

My Christmas Holiday section of my website has a new look with greatly expanded information  similar to my etsy shop just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Take a look at my ever expanding

Handcrafted Christmas and Winter Tissue Box Covers 


Here are just a few of my beautiful new designs that I've added this year.

 

 

 

Find my whole selection of My Handcrafted Christmas and Winter Tissue Box Covers  through this link

   

Thanksgiving in America

A little bit about Thanksgiving in America

Thanksgiving was originally founded as a religious observance among many regions and religions around the world, but in this country it naturally dates back to colonial times. On this day, near the end of harvest time, members of the community would give prayers of thanks for the blessing of the harvests received in these special Thanksgiving ceremonies.

Early traditions of Thanksgiving migrated with early settlers from Europe and merged with Native Americans celebrations. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states in their own individual ways and it wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national ‘Thanksgiving Day’ to be held and celebrated on the final Thursday each November.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to break with this tradition. November had five Thursdays that year (instead of the more-common four), and he declared the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving rather than the fifth one. His plan was to establish this holiday on the next-to-last Thursday in November from then on. However, Roosevelt's change was widely disregarded by numerous states and they continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on the traditional last Thursday of November.  Even after it was signed into federal law, in December 1941, which fixed the date of Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November, a few states continued to celebrate this holiday as they had been, until as late as 1956.

In the US, we are used to serving certain traditional food at Thanksgiving meals. Baked or roasted turkey is usually the main item on most Thanksgiving tables, so much so that Thanksgiving is also often called "Turkey Day"      . Long time favorites such as stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, yams, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, and various fall vegetables such as squashes, . . . and off course . . . pumpkin pie, is rarely missing from a American Thanksgiving dinner. Surprisingly enough to me, according to history, all of these foods with the possible exception of turkey were actually native to the Americas at the time and they were introduced to the settlers when they arrived. Yum . . . Yum. What a treat !  

Thanksgiving Day has become an entrenched national tradition in this country, celebrated by most. It is a time when we give thanks for everything good in our lives, when we give thanks for all of our blessings throughout the year, including the bountiful harvest that allows us to fill our tables with delicious and plentiful foods while gathered in celebration with people we cherish most in our lives. But let us also remember that it is also a time to share the bounty of our good fortune with people who are less fortunate than us and who are in need of our help. May we all find plenty to be grateful for and enjoy a day filled with blessings of peace and joy . . . great food and even greater company.  

 

 Happy Turkey Day !

 

Where did Halloween come from?

Have you ever wondered where Halloween came from?

Here is a short history of what I found out about its origin. 

Halloween's origin (also known as All Hallows' Eve) dates back to the Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. It was their celebration of their New Year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became very thin and that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. To commemorate this event, they built huge sacred bonfires, where they wore costumes, danced, and attempted to tell fortunes.

Halloween Comes to America

The celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in North America until the mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the early to mid-1800s.  It stayed very confined to these immigrant communities until it gradually spread into mainstream North America by the early 1900s. Originating from these Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.

 

Seasonal Change

Summer will soon be coming to an end and Autumn will be knocking on our door. Get ready and embrace this seasonal change by adding one of my beautiful and very practical Autumn / Harvest tissue box covers to your seasonal home décor. My beautiful covers will stand out in any room and they also make a fabulous gift !

Visit my Etsy Shop or visit my website TissueBoxCoversEtc  for my complete Fall listings.

 

How to use my tissue covers with any brand

This post is for my detail oriented user. Although I attempted to design my covers to fit the family size Puffs box as perfectly as possible, it is not 100% precise. At times you may be able to get a slight glimpse of the store bought box underneath your beautiful cover. If you would like to fix this, as I did, you can do so easily.

 

Here is how:           Note: you only do this one time

 

1)   Buy one Family size Puffs box (approx. 9" x 5" x 5")

2)  With a marker or pen, mark approximately one inch around the front opening as shown by the dotted line in picture 1 below. 

 

3)   Use scissors or an Exacto knife (knife works best) to carefully cut off the top of the box as shown in picture 2 below.  

4)  Use scissors to carefully cut approximately one inch off around the front opening as shown by the dotted line in picture 2. 

 

 

5)   Reinforce each of the upper corners of the box with Scotch tape or a little glue as shown in picture 3 below. If you use glue, secure each corner with a paperclip or a cloth pin until the glue is dry.

6)  Refill the box with your favorite brand as needed.

7) Slide your great looking tissue cover over your favorite tissues and ENJOY !

 

Thank you for visiting.

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How do my tissue box covers work?

In this post I would like to answer the most FAQ I get asked:

How do your covers work?
I think this questions is best answered by a few pictures.

All of my beautiful covers are carefully handcrafted by me. They are constructed of sturdy cardboard and then covered with various beautiful fabrics . . . therefore they never lose their shape. My covers slide right over your Family Size Puffs box (approx. 9" x  5" x 5"), but with a little adaptation you can use them with any brand or any size tissues except the boutique size. See the previous blog post for details.


This is how my covers work:

Picture # 1: This is the family size tissue box you would buy at the store. It measures approx. 9" x  5" x 5"

Picture # 2: This is one of my beautiful Patriotic tissue box covers without a tissue box inside.

 

 

Picture # 3: This is what the inside of my covers look like.

 

 

 

Picture # 4: This is how my tissue covers slide right over the store bought box.

 

Picture # 5: This is the finished product. Enjoy !

I hope this helps explain how my covers work. Please let me know if you have any other questions that I can answer. Thanks for stopping by.

A unique gift for her on Valentine's Day !

Valentine's Day is only 2 weeks away. If you are on the prowl for a romantic and unique gift for her, consider one of my beautiful and romantic tissue box covers. You'll be giving her a great functional gift that she will appreciate and remember every day she uses it. Many of my fabulous tissue covers are great to use all year long while some are more seasonal. Browse my website Valentine Tissue Box Covers  for my complete Love / Heart/ Valentine's Day selection or visit my Etsy Shop

  I Woof You Tissue Box Cover
 
Messages of Love XOXO Tissue Box Cover

 

 

Love You Tissue Box Cover 

 

Elegant Hearts Tissue Box Cover                                

 

You've Got Mail French Post Tissue Box Cover

 

 

Love Letter - Vintage Love Tissue Box Cover

                                       

Magical Hearts Tissue Box Cover

                                                                                                     

  

Heart Scribbles Tissue Box Cover

                                                                   

Sparkling Hearts Tissue Box Cover

                                                                  

Sparkling Pink Hearts Tissue Box Cover

 

American Hearts - Country Style Tissue Box Cover

                                             

World Peace Tissue Box Cover

  

Valentine Cupcakes Tissue Box Cover