Christmas – Salem Happenings

Alex and Ani: Charity by Design

Do you have a friend, significant other, daughter, niece, or other individual in your life who’s really into charm bracelets and/or necklaces? Would you love to buy some jewelry as a gift and give to charity at the same time? Well, if you would, you’re in luck because it just so happens that Alex and Ani has a collection of bracelets that will allow you to do exactly that. In fact, Alex and Ani will donate 20% of the proceeds from any of the bracelets or necklaces purchased from their Charity by Design collection. This collection features a number of different designs and each design is associated with a different charity, including well-established charities such as the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Heart Association, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, March of Dimes, Toys for Tots, UNICEF, and a whole lot more. For more information and/or to purchase items from the Charity by Design collection straight from Alex and Ani, please visit the Charity by Design Collection page on the Alex and Ani website.

Photo via JamesDeMers via Visual hunt

Shop for Charity This Holiday Season

If you’ve been reading my posts from the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed that there is sort of a theme developing. This theme is, of course, charity, and with the Christmas season rapidly approaching, there is probably no better time to explore a sense of giving than now. In fact, with all of the events happening in the world around us, there is certainly no shortage of individuals who could use a hand. Fortunately, if you would like to try to alleviate some of the “darkness” around you, there are a number of ways that you can lend a hand to your friends, families, and communities this holiday season.

One of the easiest ways that you can help others this season, however, is to shop. Yes, you read that right. Shop. You see, there are a number of vendors who will actually donate some of their sales to various charities in order to not only help others but also to encourage you to buy more products from them. As a result, you may be able to support your favorite charity and get your holiday shopping done at the same time by using sites like Amazon Smile, which will give the charity of your choice 0.5% of everything you spend on Amazon. This means that you can actually help a local, national, or international charity without spending anything more than what you would normally spend on gifts this year anyway.

Some of the other major retailers that give a portion of your purchase to charity include Target (5% of their profits are donated to charitable organizations), Macy’s (approximately 7 – 8% of their profits are donated to charitable organizations each year), Walmart (they give hundreds of millions of dollars to charitable organizations each year in the form of grants), and a number of other companies that try to give back each time you make a purchase through their brick and mortar stores, their own websites, and/or websites like Shop2Care.

Photo credit: FutUndBeidl via Visual Hunt / CC BY

Last-Second Christmas Gift Ideas

It seemed like a good time to take a break from some of the lengthier blog posts since today is Christmas. However, if you’re looking at the gifts under the tree and you just realized that you forgot to get something for one of the gamers on your Christmas list, fear not. It just so happens that the annual Steam Holiday Sale is going on right now, so if you don’t have a gift ready for the gamer you love (or, at least, like), all you have to do is fire up your computer and pick from one of the thousands of games that are currently on sale for up to 90% off on Steam.

And, if you forgot to get a gift for someone who isn’t a gamer, all hope is not lost. In fact, if you’re desperately looking for a last-second idea, you may want to try one of the suggestions from 2013’s or 2014’s post on last-minute shopping ideas:

Last-Minute Christmas Ideas from 2013

Last-Minute Christmas Ideas from 2014

Photo credit: blakespot via Foter.com / CC BY

Superstitions and Their Origins: Part V

I don’t know about you, but it certainly seems like Christmas snuck up on everybody this year. In fact, we’re exactly one week away from the holiday, and it’s still warm enough in the Boston area to be the beginning of fall. However, Christmas is, indeed, almost here, so what better way to finish off the 13 Superstitions and Their Origins than with some superstitions about Christmas Trees.

12. Christmas Trees and Spring: It is important to make sure that your Christmas tree is well decorated because if you forget to decorate the tree, the spring may forget to come.
Origin: The roots of this superstition actually date back to long before Christmas trees even existed because it is actually based off another superstition that has existed since ancient times. A number of ancient cultures believed that greenery such as evergreens, holly, ivy, mistletoe, and pretty much any other plant that was green could be used to ward off evil and bring new life. As a result, it became a common practice for people to use greenery, especially winter greenery, to decorate their homes in the hope that it would protect their families from harm and encourage the plants to come back a little sooner in the coming year. In fact, this superstition is where the tradition of Christmas trees originated because the very nature of evergreens (the fact that they are “ever green”) made them the ultimate plant to protect the home and bring the spring back. Over time, the origins of this tradition were eventually forgotten in most households, but the tradition itself and the widespread need to make sure that each home is well-decorated with greenery has endured.

13. Taking Down the Christmas Tree: It is bad luck to take a Christmas tree down on any day other than the 6th of January and, once you take it down, you should burn it to avoid misfortune in the coming year.
Origin: This superstition actually has some interesting roots that become rather obvious when you stop and think about it. If you look at a calendar and you count the days from Christmas to January 5th (counting Christmas and the 5th), you will notice that there are exactly 12 days. These are actually the 12 Days of Christmas, which run from the 25th of December (Christmas Day) to the Eve of Epiphany (a Christian feast day, which is also known as Three Kings’ Day.) This means that the 6th of January would be the 13th day, and since 13 is a particularly unlucky number, many people believed it was a good idea to take the tree down before the celebration had reached a full 13 days. This also helped to ensure that the celebration of Christmas continued until Epiphany, but it didn’t interfere with life afterwards (because many people felt that 12 days of merrymaking was really enough.)

However, with all of these Christmas trees coming down at the same time, there would have been huge piles of trees that would have been difficult for individuals without modern equipment to dispose of. As a result, in order to prevent a large amount of work and waste, it became a tradition to burn the trees to dispose of them and generate some much needed heat for at least one night during the cold winter months. Burning the trees would also eliminate any of the evil spirits that might be attracted to them because it was believed that the strange spirits and creatures that inhabited the forests that the trees were originally taken from might return to inhabit them.

Photo credit: silver marquis via Foter.com / CC BY-ND

Works Consulted

“Christmas Superstitions.” The Holiday Spot. The Holiday Spot Network, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.

“Christmas Superstitions.” Superstitions Online. Superstitions Online, 13 Dec. 2009. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.

Laura. “Christmas Superstitions About Trees.” Christmas Lore. Simply Smarter Inc., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.

Wikipedia contributors. “Christmas tree.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 18 Dec. 2015.

Wikipedia contributors. “Twelfth Night (holiday).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.

Unique Holiday Gifts

With 21 days until Kwanzaa, 20 days until Christmas, 16 days until the Winter Solstice, 11 days until the beginning of Chanukah, and less than 30 days for whatever other December holiday that you celebrate, you may be trying to find the perfect gift before time runs out. In fact, you may already be tearing your hair out trying to figure out what to get your loved ones this year because you want to get something uniquely awesome, but you have no idea what that is. Fortunately, if you are looking for a unique gift idea, there are several events this weekend that are devoted to one-of-a-kind gifts that your family is sure to love (and if they don’t, they’ll learn to love them because some of these gifts are awfully hard to return.)

First, if you’re looking for a gift that would be considered part of the apparel, accessories, and/or food family (and don’t worry, the food isn’t actually part of the clothing until you wear it for the first time and spill it all over yourself at dinner), you should definitely check out Boston’s Downtown Holiday Market. The Downtown Holiday Market, which is located at 459 Washington Street in Boston, will feature a different set of local vendors each week from now until January 10, 2015. Some of the vendors that you can expect to see this week include Alex’s Ugly Sauce, Epoca Amber Jewelry, Golden Rule Honey, Karol Peralta Jewelry, Mao Sim Silk, and Recycled Glass Jewelry. For more information on the Downtown Holiday Market, which is open from 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 PM Monday through Saturday and 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Sunday, please visit the Downtown Boston website.

Secondly, if you’re looking for a hand-crafted gift or a gift that is truly one-of-a-kind, you may want to head over to the Hynes Convention Center this weekend. This is because the Hynes Convention Center is hosting the CraftBoston Holiday 2014 show, which will feature 175 artists and crafters that are planning to exhibit and/or sell their carefully crafted apparel, baskets, ceramics, furniture, glassware, jewelry, leather, metal art, wood crafts, and more. For more information on the event, including a complete program guide with all of the artists and crafters that will be exhibiting their work, please visit the Society of Arts and Crafts CraftBoston Holiday page.

Finally, if you’re looking for a truly unique gift that you can get without making the trek into Boston, you may want to check out the Lexington Arts and Crafts Holiday Marketplace. The Lexington Arts and Crafts Holiday Marketplace, which is located at 130 Waltham Street in Lexington, MA, is a large arts and crafts fair that runs from now until Christmas Eve (December 24, 2014.) This fair will feature dozens and dozens of artists and crafters who will be more than happy to sell you baskets, beads, cards, ceramics, decorations, jewelry, metal art, needle art, paintings, photographs and prints, and more. For more information on the Holiday Marketplace, which is open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Saturday and 12:00 to 6:00 PM on Sunday, please visit the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society website.

Photo credit: John Drake Flickr / Foter / CC BY-ND

Keeping Your Kids Busy During The Holidays

With Christmas less than two weeks away, the countdown has truly begun. In fact, most parents and children are now running around faster than their electric meters in anticipation of the arrival of Old Kris Kringle. As a result, many mothers, fathers, and other guardians are currently in the process of trying to figure out how to alleviate some of their children’s excess excitement before they go out to get the gifts that their children are so excited about. Fortunately, if you are running around trying to find a way to keep your kids busy or, at the very least, find a way to keep them from tearing your house apart, there are a couple of holiday events this weekend that are sure to help.

First, if your children really love to see all of the holiday decorations and/or you prefer holiday decorations when their attached to someone else’s electric meter, the Somerville Illuminations Tour may be the way to go. This tour, which begins at Somerville City Hall, will allow you and your family to see all of the decorated houses in East or West Somerville (depending on the tour your choose) from the comfort of a trolley car. Best of all, you will not only be able to see all of the lights without driving around aimlessly, but will also be able to enjoy coffee, cookies, hot chocolate, kid’s crafts, and music while you wait for the trolley to arrive. For more information on the tour, which runs from 4:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. on Saturday (December 14, 2013), please visit the Somerville Arts Council website.

Secondly, if you’re looking for something to do later in the weekend or you had a traumatic experience with holiday decorating at some point (perhaps you never found the one bulb that burned out), the Charles Hotel in Cambridge may have the event for you. This is because the Charles Hotel is officially opening their ice rink on Sunday and, in honor of the occasion, the Hotel is hosting an Ice Rink Opening Party from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. This party will allow you and your family to skate for free, drink hot chocolate, watch professional skaters demonstrate their skill on the ice, and keep your kids busy with arts and crafts if skating really isn’t their thing. For more information on the Ice Rink Opening Party at the Charles Hotel, please visit the Ice Rink Opening Party’s Yelp Page.

Photo credit: Minnesota Historical Society / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Friday Fun: Christmas…before Thanksgiving?

I have to admit when it comes to the holidays, I’m definitely a one holiday at a time kind of guy. Now, don’t get me wrong. I like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I just really prefer it when I can celebrate one holiday before I have to start thinking about the next one. However, if you’re one of the fine upstanding individuals who is already looking at the calendar thinking to yourself “forget the turkey, it’s time for Christmas”, Boston has everything you need to get into the Christmas spirit this weekend and then some (even if it is still a little early for some of us.)

First, if you’re a firm believer in the idea that nothing says Christmas like a Christmas tree and you really want to share the goodwill this season, Mahoney’s Garden Centers has an interesting program that you should definitely check out. You see, this weekend is not only the start of the holiday season (depending on how you look at it), but also Veteran’s Day Weekend. As a result, it is a time to honor the hard work, diligence, and sacrifice of all the men and women who are serving or who have served at home and abroad. Fortunately, Mahoney’s Trees for Troops® program will give you a way to not only get into the Christmas spirit, but will also give you a way to give back to our troops this holiday season. This is because each Mahoney’s Garden center store, starting on Monday, November 11, 2013 (Veteran’s Day), will give customers the opportunity to purchase a special Christmas tree that will be donated to a military family. Each of these trees only costs $24.50, and the store even has special cards that you can use to send a note with the tree. For more information on Mahoney’s Trees for Troops program®, please visit the Mahoney’s Garden Centers website.

Secondly, if you’re a big fan of gingerbread houses and Christmas crafts, the 27th Annual Boston Christmas Festival is definitely the place to be. This festival, which runs from Friday the 8th to Sunday the 10th, is a collection of all things Christmas, as it features a gingerbread house competition, over 300 artists and craftsman, and more handcrafted Christmas gifts and decorations than you will find anywhere else. In fact, the Festival will give you the opportunity to browse and purchase from an enormous selection of Christmas stockings, clothing, figurines, food, garden flags, jewelry, ornaments, wreaths, and other handmade goods. For more information on the 27th Annual Boston Christmas Festival, which is being held at the Seaport World Trade Center, please visit the Boston Christmas Festival’s website.

Photo credit: Foter.com / CC BY-SA