The snow sprinkled down on the land as the moon glittered on the night before Christmas. The whole world was engulfed in a tranquil state of darkness, yet there was nothing haunting about it. It seemed there was a special magical mist in the air. Footsteps led up to the door of a regal mansion that was draped in Christmas lights. A little girl stood cowering in front of it, bundled up and warm cloaks and coats. Her scarf was too long, it sweeped the snowy ground. The numerous coats she wore were of odd colours, and they looked quite hideous together. It didn't matter that the girl was dressed in most unthinkable attire. She clutched a box tightly to her chest as she stood on the doorstep of the manor. The box gleamed, wrapped neatly in pink wrapping paper. The gentle smile on her face was not forced, it was natural and her rosy cheeks and starry eyes made her look unbearably adorable. She brushed back a strand of long blond hair and knocked on the door. She suddenly felt very small, standing in front of the huge towering building as she waited for it to open.
When it finally did, she was looking up at a woman, wearing an elegant gown. Precious pearls were strewn along her neck and wrists and shone on ears. She looked down at the girl disdainfully, her red lipsticked mouth forming a sneer. "Who are you supposed to be?" She snarled. Then her expression softened, when she had realized who it was. "Dear, I'm sorry." She said, smiling. "I didn't recognize you under all those clothes. What brings you here?" Even the though the cold was sharp and fierce, and it made her voice shake, the girl spoke ever so clearly as she explained her presence. "S-Seeing as it's probably my last night here on Earth, I thought I would give you a present, because you are my neighbour. I just wanted you to know I really cared about you. I remember how you were the one who donated so much money to help cure me. I just felt like I needed to thank you." The woman stared at her, recalling her memories. The girl was a victim of cancer, only 4 years old, and it had long past the point when they thought there would be a chance for her. But the girl was brave. She didn't cry, or whine or get bad-tempered. She handed the woman the silvery box, her hands shaking. Gulping back tears, the lavish-looking woman unwrapped the box gently. "I used pink because it was our favourite colour. I felt like it was a bond between us." muttered the girl silently. When she opened the box at last, she found that it was empty. "My dear girl! This box has nothing it except for air!" the woman exclaimed in protest. The girl's lip started to quiver."What do you mean nothing except for air? I spent an hour pouring my heart out, saying how much I loved you and cared for you. I spent an hour blowing kisses into it, just for you." she mumbled, on the verge of tears. The woman had tears running down her cheeks by the end of this little speech, and wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling her close. When she let go, the woman whispered. "I don't want you to die." The girl started to smile. It was a bittersweet smile as she said wisely. "Everyone has their time to go. Just know that I will die in peace. And... I hope you will remember me whenever you celebrate Christmas." With those parting words, the girl hugged the woman a last time and scurried off back to her own dimly lit cottage. She died the very next morning peacefully. She opened her eyes, to see everyone gathered by her bed. The woman from last night held her hand. The girl smiled weakly, whispered a faint Merry Christmas and Goodbye. Then she closed her eyes. Her chest stopped rising and falling. Her heartbeat ceased. She had left this world. The woman still remembers her, and cries silent tears every Christmas for her. She sets a special place at the dinner table for her, she keeps an empty box wrapped with pink wrapping paper under the tree for her. And every once in a while, she opens the box and blows kisses to her. The girl with the pink box.
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Today, I'll be interviewing, the one and only Santa Claus!
S stands for Santa. Me: Hi there, Mr. Claus. Thanks for being here. S: My pleasure. Well, it's the holiday season, and there's a lot to talk about. Me: Are you ready for Christmas? It's just 3 days left! S: Of course. This year, I have a great schedule, and guess what? my elves found out how to make some great machines. Me: So, speaking of that, how are the elves doing with the gifts? S: It's great! I've had an elf, Snowball, create a factory and thousands of presents are made with just a push of a button. Me: Wow, that's great. Have any kids sent you letters lately? S: I've had a few, but ever since one of my elves set up an email account, kids only seem to want so send me emails! Me: How are your reindeer? S: They all are finally getting along with Rudolph and have stopped teasing him. Although Blitzen still despises Rudolph, the other reindeer are trying to calm her down. Me: So, do you actually know when each child is asleep and awake? Do you really have a naughty or nice list? S: Can you keep a secret? I can't actually watch every kid in the world all the time. I have so many elves that each elf just watches one child the whole year. And the naughty or nice list does exist, but nobody ever sees it. Even I don't know who's on it! Me: So what are you looking forward to this Christmas? S: Hmm... probably just stopping by at houses and giving gifts to those kids who are going to be so happy in the morning! Me: What do you plan to do after Christmas? S: I'll just hang out with the Easter Bunny. He told me that he needed help with decorating the eggs. And Mrs. Claus promised me some excellent turkey on Christmas day. Me: What's something you want for Christmas? S: I do wish I had a new suit. But maybe not a red one. How about a violet one? And I need some white hair dye. This beard doesn't stay pearly white with no effort! Me: What's your least favourite thing about Christmas? S: I guess it would have to be the last minute rush on December 24th morning, where all the elves and I are packing up the very last presents and getting coal for the naughty ones. Me: Is there anything else you dislike about delivering gifts? S: Well, probably that the families always leave out milk and cookies for me. I could use something a little healthier, maybe like carrots or apples. I'm really trying to lose some fat. And also, I hate kids who don't believe in me. I'm as real as the tooth fairy! Me: Er... about that... Ever wonder what merry(or not very merry) character your personality is most similar to? Well, there's only one way to find out, do this quiz! I always get tempted to try a quiz when I see one, do you?
Question 1: You and your friends/family are hosting a Secret Santa. You have to anonymously give a gift to someone else. What do you get for them? a) Find out what they would really want and buy something that they would really want. b)Try and make something homemade, that's always the best! c)Buy something very expensive and keep it for yourself. You can give them something old and broken. d)Get them a really touching gift that would mean a lot to them. e)Who has time for pointless things like that? Question 2: Fresh-baked Christmas cookies are lying on the table, undecorated. What do you do? a)You're an expert at this, so you frost them quickly and neatly. b)Attempt to decorate the cookies, but when you are down they look horrible. So you end up just eating them. c)Slip a few into your pockets and stuff a few in your mouth. Who cares if they aren't decorated? d)Frost the cookies with your friends. It's fun to do that with everyone! e)Glance at the cookies and return to whatever you are doing. Cookies do not interest you much. Question 3: Everyone is going Christmas Caroling. When they ask if you would like to join, what do you say? a)I would love to, but I'm busy during the holiday season. b)I want to, but I have a horrible voice. I can't sing to save my life! c)Do we get candy or something in return? d)Of course, I love spreading holiday cheer! e)*laugh* Christmas Caroling is a silly. Question 4: You get 50 dollars to buy a present for a loved one. What happens? a)Spend most of it on some extravagant gift and pocket the rest. You need it to buy gifts for other people. b)Buy craft materials and make a present. You know that they will love it. c)Buy a gift for them and keep the 49 dollars change for yourself. Your gift is from the dollar store d)Use all of it on a gift, and throw in a box of chocolates from your own money. e)Don't give them anything. At all. Question 5: Why do people like spending Christmas with you so much? a)Because you know so much about it, you're just so good at everything related to Christmas. b)Because they know you care about them a lot. c)... I don't know, but I like spending Christmas with people because I get presents. d)Because you are jolly and friendly, getting everyone in to the festive spirit. e)They don't really like to celebrate Christmas with me. But I don't care. Your Results- Mostly A: Santa Claus You are a really holiday spirit, because your knowledge about Christmas is endless! You know exactly how to decorate the tree, wrap the presents, buy gifts for people, host parties, and even more. People come to you when they are confused, and just like Santa Claus, you love helping people and making them happy. Mostly B: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer You are joyful and fun, you think Christmas is all about giving, not receiving, You would go to all extents to make a person feel special, and want everyone to know you care about them. You can be clumsy, occasionally making Santa tell you off. You believe that store-bought presents can never be better than something from your heart. Mostly C: The Grinch Most people would say you are greedy and that there's a hole in our heart, or something. Just because you think that Christmas is all about getting gifts, candy, presents, candy, money, candy did I mention candy? You probably don't really like people who have more gifts than you, which might make you jealous. But don't worry, Christmas is really about the people who you spend it with. Mostly D: Frosty The Snowman Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly, happy soul. That's how the song goes. You are always jolly and happy, with a smile on our face. Christmas is your favorite time of year, because there's so much holiday cheer. You are really festive and love doing things with epople you love, like friends and family. Keep on making people smile! Mostly E: Ebenezer Scrooge It's a known fact that you don't enjoy Christmas, so why does everyone keep celebrating it? You plainly don't like Christmas celebrations, and it could be for any reason. You don't like giving gifts. You don't like having any Christmas food. You particularly would rather have nothing to do with it at all. But that's okay. You're just different from some people who love Christmas. So this was the quiz I had created myself! Sorry if it's not accurate, I'm clearly not very good at making quizzes. Hope you had fun with this, because I love quizzes, as I mentioned earlier! Need a quick last minute card to give to your friends, but don't have any craft material lying around? Don't fret, just download Photoshop to make a simple, yet very gorgeous and intricate card in just ten minutes. You don't have to be Photoshop Master to do it either. Here's a design I created myself. I used Photoshop CS6 Trial Version. If it is unclear, zoom in your browser screen so you can see it better. I hope that was clear and easy enough to understand. If you have any questions, you can comment below.
Everyone loves Christmas, people from all around the world. The merry festival with Santa Claus and held on December 25th... except for in Ethiopia, because they celebrate it on January the 7th, eating thick, spicy wat. Wait, what does that even mean?
They celebrate Christmas on the seventh day of January because they follow the Julian Calendar, Not the Georgian Calendar like us. Most Ethiopians fast on the day before Christmas and celebrate it the next day, January 7th. They also eat wat. What's wat? A stew with meat, veggies and eggs! Mexicans, who have Christmas from the December 12th to January 6th, also play with pinatas. They are paper-mache objects hung from ceilings and they are filled with candy. The children furiously bash them with a stick while they are blindfolded. When it breaks, all the kids rush to pick up the treats. Hungary calls their Christmas Eve Szent-este, and spend the whole evening decorating their tree. They also sometimes do it without their kids, so they can tell them that the angels decorated it. St. Nicholas visits on the sixth of December. Hungarian kids leave their shows out on the windowsill so he can come and fill it up with sweets! You know what, Christmas sounds really exciting in some countries. I wish I could experience it there! The lights flash and all eyes are on the Christmas tree. Everyone admires how the evergreen branches spread out in a dignified style, how the ornaments hung on it gleam, how perfectly the streamers are draped around it. Today, I got out my camera and decided to snap pictures of my Christmas Tree. Mine is small, but I've decorated it elaborately and strewn bright lights and colourful streamers around it. I'm not the best photographer, but I hope you like this Christmas Tree Photoshoot! And that's pretty much it! I had fun taking these pictures, and I hope you have as much as fun looking through them!
Buying a gift and slapping a bow on it is not very special. If you really care about someone, you should put effort in to making it unique for the person. Confused? Don't be, here are some tips. Special Message Write a heartfelt note on your gift. For example, if you are giving all your closest friends a similar present, write a different note or message saying how much you care about them and why you like being their friend. Everyone likes knowing how much they are loved. Make a Card Better than just handing somebody a gift and a store-bought card, it might mean more to them if you take the time to make a hand-made card. So grab some markers and make a really pretty card. Don't just scribble a greeting and throw some glitter on it, because that just shows that you didn't take the time to make it extravagant. Make a Gift You know that somebody really loves you if they give you a present that they made themselves. Search through the internet to find ideas, like painted mugs or coupon booklets. I mean, you can put a small piece of jewelry in an origami box, and it'll really be special. So have a great Christmas, and make sure you show everyone how much they mean to you and spread the Christmas Cheer with these presents. Christmas! That means decorating Christmas trees, cookies, lot's of presents, and of course, hope Krampus doesn't attack you with branches! That's right! You might not have heard of Krampus, but children in Austria are absolutely terrified of him. He is said to be a Christmas Devil who does, in fact, beat naughty children with branches. Christmas can be weird in some parts of the world. Let's see what's happening this Christmas...
On the Dinner Table In South Africa, the table's loaded with Emperor Moth caterpillars. Deep fried, of course. And in Japan, KFC is what they dig in to. And in Slovakia, the loksa pudding isn't for eating. The oldest man of the family throws a spoonful of it at the ceiling. Santa Claus is here There's no Santa Claus in Italy, instead Italian children wait for Befana. She's a friendly witch who delivers presents on the fifth of January. Netherlands's Santa Claus is like ours, except for the fact that he has a side kick called Zwarte Piet who kidnaps bad children and takes them to Spain. That's way worse then coal. The Christmas Tree Germans hide a pickle in their Christmas tree. The first child to find it gets a small present. According to Ukrainians, using tinsel and bells to decorate the Christmas tree is getting old. Artificial spiders and spider webs are what they use. Hope you liked the third Christmas post this month! There's one every day till the 25th! Hello! Today's post will be a holiday-themed tutorial where I will show you how to draw a Christmas tree. This is a quick tutorial and goes great on Christmas cards, charts and posters. Anyone can draw this, since it's really simple yet beautiful, but don't give up hope if it doesn't come out the way you want it the first time. Get out your pencil and some paper, let's start drawing! So that's how you draw a Christmas Tree! Hope it put you in the festive mood! You could colour the tree too to make it more appealing.
(Sorry if the images are a bit blurry.) The first day of Blog-Mas! Today's post idea was: Other Celebrations during Christmas Season. Near December, these festivities are not as popular as Christmas. Whenever you think of December, the first thing that comes to your mind is probably Christmas. But let's take a look at some other celebrations. 1. Hanukkah This is a Jewish Holiday, and takes place between the 6th of December and the 14th of December. It's known as the festival of lights and the festival of dedication. Since there are nine days, a nine-branched candelabrum called a hanukiah or a menorah is lit; one for each day. The menorah is usually a candelabrum with four branches on each side, and the ninth given special importance, usually higher or below the rest. During Hanukkah, Jews usually play dreidel and eating foods like doughnuts and latkes. 2. Kwanzaa It is a week long holiday usually observed in the United States by people of African-American origin. Starting on the 26th of December and ending on the first of January, the celebration is named after the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits of the harvest." During Kwanzaa a special candle holder called a Kinara is used. A Kinara consists of seven candles, three red ones on the left, three green ones on the right with a black candle in the center. Each night during Kwanzaa a candle is lit. The black, center candle is lit first. This is similar to the lighting of the menorah in the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. 3. Saturnalia A very little known Ancient Roman tradition, Saturnalia is held in honour of the deity Saturn. It's held from 17th December to the 23rd, as a predecessor to Christmas. It follows the Julian Calendar, which is similar to the Gregorian Calendar we use except for slight differences. They usually celebrate this with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, a banquet, gift giving, and of course, partying continuously.
So this was a quick, short, very informational post! So you see, there's so many more celebrations than just Christmas. Ever think of celebrating some of these? There are even more, so you can do a little bit of research and find out if you want.
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