Christmas in Ohio

Christmas in Ohio | Christmas in your home
These pages share the Ohio Heartland experience of Christmas

You are in the right place for more Christmas celebrating

T

he page of Christmas Places is a loose compilation of some of the things we can do during the Christmas season to enjoy the festivities of our community. This usually involves going someplace. While everyone has differing levels of tolerance for a dizzying social whirl, most people have to make choices among the many opportunities offered. I've listed a few things our family has enjoyed at different times, some years we've included a number of them and some years we just had a quiet celebration at home. It is wonderful to have the choice!

A Christmas wish for Jewish friends

hat traditions have your family passed down? Or are you interested in starting some new ones for your Christmas celebrations? Our favorites have always involved our Advent log and devotions, cookie baking, and decorating our tree. A combination of tree decorating and advent celebration is the Jesse tree; perhaps that would interest you especially if you love crafts or want something meaningful for young children. Of course, certain foods are traditions in many cultures. Italian "la vigilia" begins on Christmas Eve with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, Sicilian Fish Dinner is a similar tradition, French "La Buche de Noel", or Swedish smorgasbord with a rice pudding for dessert are other ways to incorporate special Christmas memories through food. Choose one from your heritage, or choose a theme from a different culture. Many of the traditional foods or menus have symbolic meaning attached.

Whether it is for a meal, or to exchange cookies, or any other activity or event, the important thing is to meet together. While everyone wants to have some of that holiday goodwill and merriment rub off on them, I think people are much happier making sure that time for the people really important to you, like family and good friends, is given first priority. Office parties, this party and that party, should be far down the list, especially when considering how they drain time, money, and energy.... leaving you cranky and feeling more like Scrooge BEFORE his visions.

Christmas Wreaths: make your own

Ido make my own evergreen decorations each year. I guess that is my Scotch thrift. For a fraction of the cost you can have a very pretty wreath for your door. The most economical, of course, is cutting your own branches of pine, juniper with its berries, fir ( or whatever is native to your yard!),even magnolia and pepperberries if you live in warm parts of the country. Then on a wire circle, bought from a craft store or made with a wire coathanger, lay the branches along the circle (in one direction) and tie in with fine florist wire. I buy bundles of evergreens at the store and use those to make the wreaths (although I used my own cuttings one year).

The nice thing about the store-bought bundles is the variety of greens: incense cedar, variegated holly,...things like that. If you like a natural look just some pinecones and ribbon tied on for decoration; if you like more color the florist picks of gold cones or plastic fruits with fancier ribbons are placed in a circle around the wreath evenly. Make a circle of wire connected to the main base and hidden in the back for hanging your completed wreath.