Magnolia Tree Gardening Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

Wilton Armetale developed the aluminum alloy based material that they called Armetale, combining ‘art’ and ‘metal’. This metal was capable of being cast and worked upon by hand.

The Wilton Company’s emphasis was on producing themed cook and serve ware, and incidentals with the new material. This was not a problem as US Food & Drugs Administration had approved the material for food service.

The range of themes was varied, and included Antique, Natural, Classic, Americana and Artistic. In this article, we look at products with themes of different holidays.

Christmas Season

The 12 Days of Christmas series consisted of Christmas Tree ornaments, depicting Partridge to the Drummers, one each year. While 1978 saw the Partridge the last one in 1989 showed the Drummers. These are not being produced any more.

Wilton Armetale has continued to introduce other items like collectible plates, and serving pieces such as trays, dinner plates, mugs and bowls each Christmas season. Traditional Christmas songs, Street scenes, Angels and other religious depictions adorned these items.

Christmas tree motifs, in alternating green and red, were the theme of a festive Christmas service series that included a goblet and a crested mug with a ceramic insert. A more formal alternative to the trees series was the star topped tree in an oval signet, accented in red.

The White Holly series that included three plates, a wine bottle coaster, a trivet and a goblet had decorative rim motif and was accented in white.

The Christmas series are collectibles and heirlooms, and could be used for presenting food on the table, or for displaying on the wall.

Halloween

A dancing skeleton is the theme of the dancing skelly series of Halloween season products that include an oval tray, large round bowl, trivet, large round tray and wine bottle coaster.

Easter Collection

The Easter collection combines the scenes of spring and the traditional celebrations associated with Easter.

The collection includes a bunny egg tray and bunny bread tray depicting a bunny among undergrowth and hen egg tray with a hen on her eggs in the middle.

Wilton Armetale Holiday Range

Though probably not as extensive as many other themes, such as artistic and Americana, Wilton Armetale’s holiday collections do effectively celebrate the spirit of the holidays. The products are both collectibles and utility articles that could last a lifetime.

The holiday range is supplemented by Grill ware that can be used for both grilling and serving. The grill range includes trays, saucepots, bowls, platter, griddle, trivet and a vegetable griller.

I’ve bought for everyone but my grandfather. He’s 82 and loves gardening and water gardening. Usually, I get him a bird feeder (he loves bird watching) or something that has to do with hummingbirds. This year I’m at a loss. I’m a first year teacher on my own and on a very limited budget. Any ideas?

The holiday season is probably the most economically demanding time of the year. Nonetheless, there are a lot of ways to locate affordable X-Mas gifts.

Make It

If you are a do-it-yourselfer or have any unique skills, you can make a gift. For example, if you weave you can make the recipient a quilt. If you are a closet rhymester or jingle writer, write a poem or song relating to the recipient. Sing or read the song or poem and have the original framed.

Coupon

A custom made coupon book can be a an excellent Holiday present. Create special certificates for doing chores, organizing, and clean-up for the person. You might propose to organize their pictures into albums, do a week’s worth of chores, or clean their house. If the person is a spouse you could offer loving delights such as foot massages and date nights. A coupon book can be created by printing off blank coupons that can be located on the web and put together with staples or ribbon.

Gift Baskets

If you’re searching for a present for a whole family, and don’t have an idea what they like, a gift basket might be the best solution. You can fill a reasonably priced basket with homemade cookies or muffins, packs of cocoa mix, coffee mugs, and ripened fruit. You might also want to consider outdoor decoration gifts such as bird houses, bird baths, or yard sculptures. A child may enjoy a gift basket full of gifts from the dollar store. Some ideas could be chalk, rubber balls, jump ropes, balloons, multicolored windmills, teddy bears, play dough, and candy.

Adolescent girls may appreciate a gift basket filled with hair ties, clips, combs, lip gloss, nail polish, and a magazine or two. A new mother may like a gift basket full of soothing bath gels, foot creams, and lotions. If you are able, add a gift card to a spa, beauty salon, or a department store. The important thing is that you include thoughtful X-Mas present ideas that take into consideration what the recipient likes.

Treasure Trunks

Children adore getting treasures, so why not present them a treasure chest? This X-Mas present is relatively straightforward and you can add products from dollar stores, Internet stores, and even your own home.  To begin, locate a box with a safety lid. This could be a decked out plastic tub, cardboard box, or a real trunk. Next, choose a theme. If your theme is dress-up, you can fill the chest with necklaces, hats, used clothes, pretend batons and swords, footwear, ribbons, and flags. Other theme ideas include cowboys, royalty, medieval, animals, spacemen, or extraterrestrial. 

So, with a bit of consideration you can come up with inspirational Holiday present ideas that are relatively affordable. All it takes is a small amount of digging to find out what the recipient’s interests are, if you don’t already know what they are, and a trip to the local convenience store. Don’t forget, it’s the thought that counts.

        The moment you gaze upon a Christmas Tree, you will instantly think about Christmas or the Yuletide season, festooned with glittering lights and beautiful decorations. Beneath the Christmas Tree are pretty gift-wrapped parcels, destined to be opened on Christmas Day itself.

          Have you ever decorated a Christmas Tree and wondered how this tradition came about? Similarly, how creative can you be when it comes to making tree decorations?

          Let’s take a look at ancient roots and modern-day offshoots.

Ancient Roots

        The traditional decorating of the Christmas Tree has its roots in rituals of Autumn and Winter of old Northern Europe. For the Teutons, Celts and Gauls, trees like pine, fir and spruce symbolized eternal life. For the Teutons, they would hang pieces of cloth, fruit and other gifts on these evergreen trees during the Winter Solstice. The people would ask for renewal of life and fertility at the tree.

          As Christianity became dominant, such pagan practices became subsumed under Christianized traditions. The Christians basically integrated existing beliefs into more acceptable norms of thinking. There is a German myth about St Winifred made a miraculous young fir tree appear with shining lights on its branches and the image of the baby Jesus above.

Evergreen Joy

        The Christmas Tree is predominantly an evergreen. So, you get to see live Douglas firs, pines and spruces for sale in major supermarkets during the Christmas season. Some people would opt for the paper and plastic tree options. But having a live tree itself is a special occasion.

          In North America, families would go to tree orchards and farms to chop their choice Christmas Tree. They would decorate their trees with shop-bought or home-made decorations, draping fairy lights on the branches. It is a time for families to get together and decorate the tree.

          For live evergreens, always remember to give them water, because they would ultimately wilt away after the end of the season. If you are an advocate of eco-friendly practices, do think of ways how to recycle your Christmas Tree. You can make wreaths out of the branches or chop the wood down for firewood. It is sad to see many trees discarded after Christmas. So, recycling them would be a good idea.

Decorations From Home

          There are some families who would make popcorn chains to decorate their Christmas trees. More creative families would dry fruits and hang them on the branches, making their trees uniquely theirs.

          If you are keen to make your Christmas tree decorations, why not take a look around your backyard or garden. If you have seed-pod producing trees, you can collect the seed-pods (if they have fallen from the tree) and use them as decoration material. Make sure the seed-pods are not poisonous! Clean them with a slightly wet cloth. You can start coating them with gold or silver paint (whatever color you desire). After they have dried, you can tie strings on the seed-pods. There you go – your very own tree decorations.

          If your taste leans towards the more edible, you can hang crystal-glazed grapes or berries. Get fine sugar and the berries of your choice. Coat the berries with egg white and dust the sugar gently on them. Tie durable string on the berries and tasty decorations are ready to be hung. Remember to take them quickly, because they are perishable!

Have Fun

        So, remember to have fun with your Christmas tree. May your Yuletide season be filled with festive joy!