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Make Money This Holiday Season

What if you could make more money than you spend this holiday season? Sounds like a pretty good idea, you say? If you’d like to be on the making money end during the holidays, now is the time to start preparing. Below I’m going to give you several money-making ideas. Pick the one or two that interest you the most and have fun!

SANTA LETTERS

Making a child feel special during the holidays is something I think most adults strive to do.   Selling Santa letters to parents, grandparents, daycares and preschools are a great way to build a business. And once one child starts telling their friends that THEY got a letter from Santa. News will start to spread. These children will turn into little walking advertisements for you. If you really enjoy this business during the holidays, you can run this type of business all year long with letters from the Easter Bunny, Cupid, the Great Pumpkin…just to name a few.

 CRAFTS

It doesn’t matter if you’re into woodworking, sewing, painting, pottery, or creating handmade paper. More than ever, people enjoy giving that one-of-a-kind special gift. You can sell your crafts via the Net, at holiday bazaars or craft shows, or even consignment style. Once you become known for your crafts, word-of-mouth will keep you very busy.

A HOLIDAY GRATITUDE SERVICE
Here’s a way businesses can say ‘Thank you ‘to the community. It’s also a way to help plump up the retailers business in December. Talk with your local business about what they’d like to contribute to your holiday kit that you will be offering to local residents. It could be a free gift, a discount, coupons etc. It’s a win win situation for everyone. The community receives some discounts and the businesses get more business. This type of service can also be run all throughout the year by offering newcomer packets to those who have just moved into the neighborhood, new baby and new pet packets etc. You could have a lot of fun with this one.

RUBBER STAMPING

One idea is to create your own line of holiday cards with rubber stamps.  This is your opportunity to break out into business and create unique hand-stamped holiday cards. Or why not offer a class teaching this great hobby? Rubber stamping can be worked into so many different businesses.   If you are into rubber stamping, seriously consider having a rubber stamping card party. You would supply everything needed, and could charge either a flat fee or charge per card made.

T-SHIRTS

You can also run a T-shirt business and find  a way to make extra cash during the holidays. You can create inexpensive holiday sweatshirts, and long- and short-sleeved T-shirts. And you do not have to stop at T-shirts, but also include tote bags, felt and cloth ornaments, advent and traditional calendars, aprons and many other items that you can purchase wholesale and sell at retail prices!

FLEECE BLANKETS

I don’t know about you, but I love fleece blankets. I was really excited when I found out I could make these awesome “Snuggly” blankets without having to sew a stitch.  There’s no sewing or needlework involved; all you do is cut and tie. Making Snugglies is a great way to start and create a business, make a little extra cash, or just make them for gifts. It’s all up to you!”

 ONLINE AUCTIONS

The hype of eBay has not gone away, but has only grown. When among a group of people, I can usually find someone who has either bought or sold something in an online auction.  Start thinking about what you might have that you could sell online.  Others have found that the items that sell well are those that can be used for stocking stuffers, are limited editions, or are signed items.

BAKING

Then there are the people who cannot stop baking during the holidays. Are you the type of person who finds that at the close of the season, all of your neighbors’ and friends refrigerators and cookie jars are bursting at the seams because baking is just your thing? Believe it or not, this is not the favorite activity of everyone.

The niche market that has been Stacy’s holiday bread and butter since 1991 is selling gingerbread houses to real estate agents. She leaves a gingerbread house with order information in large real estate offices for a few days. She also offers free delivery to the real estate office, or delivery for a fee to their home-buying customers and other colleagues, such as mortgage brokers, closing attorneys, etc.

PLAN IT RIGHT

These are just a few ideas you can use to make a little extra cash this holiday season. Use your imagination. Remember, people are more than willing to spend money for that special gift and holiday service. Why can’t you be the one who pockets that money? This is such a great time of year to make your business work. Being your own boss has never sounded better, now has it? Start thinking now if you want this to be seasonal work, or if you want to continue your business into the new year. All of the business ideas I listed above can be run throughout the year. This could be the start of something very profitable!

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Tis The Season For Volume

Do you know how many turkeys are eaten during the holiday season? Below are a few interesting facts regarding the volume of turkeys eaten, cards sent, and much more.

Christmas Cards
Do you enjoy receiving cards in the mail? How many do you think you get each season? There are roughly 1.9 billion Christmas cards sent in the United States every year to friends, family members, and acquaintances, making Christmas the #1 card sending occurrence, followed by Valentine’s Day.

Packages
The number UPS is expected to deliver this year is over 340 million. The busiest day is expected to reach 20 million deliveries, which translates to 230 packages being delivered every second during that day.

Turkey
There are approximately 60 million turkeys consumed in the United States through the holiday season. Each American eats around 13.7 pounds of turkey every year! You think you are tired of turkey once Christmas is over? This may be why.

Christmas Trees
Next time you are lugging your tree home, remember this little fact. There are 20.8 million Christmas trees cut in the U.S. every year, with Oregon being the largest producer. Tree farmers retail roughly $506 million from the sale of trees. There is $69 million worth of artificial trees imported from China alone. Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real trees every year since 1991.

Christmas Tree Ornaments
China is the largest importer of Christmas ornaments which totals $561 million between January and August. Apparently those little trinkets are purchased year-round to have handy when Christmas time approaches.

Decorating
Most malls and other stores begin decorating for the holiday season on November 1st.

Holiday Shopping
Holiday sales are expected to hit $439.53 billion this year if the economy begins to improve. December accounts for roughly 15% of stores’ yearly sales, except for in the case of jewelry stores, which is closer to 24%. However, most Americans only expect to spend an average of $681 each this holiday reason. On Black Friday, approximately $8.01 billion was spent, totaling $16.8 billion for the weekend. Residence of the New England states are expected to spend the most, with the South expected to spend considerably less.

Toys
Roughly 45% of shoppers this year will be purchasing toys, with Barbie and video games being the most sought after products.

Holiday Music
The most frequently played holiday song is “Jingle Bells”, with “White Christmas” running a close second. Bing Crosby’s “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” is the #1 best selling Christmas single of all time.

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Christmas Season Versus Holiday Season

In the United States, the month of December is the Christmas Season, not the Holiday Season. To the best of my knowledge there is only one holiday in December recognized by our government. December 25 was made a legal holiday in order to celebrate the birth of Christ. There are no other legal holidays during the month of December. Chanukah, Hannukah, or Hanukah is a celebration and, some say, a Jewish Holiday but it is not a legal holiday. Kwanza is a celebration and not a legal holiday. Christmas Eve is not a day and New Years Eve is not a day. We don’t call the month of May, the Holiday Season, even though that’s when Memorial Day is celebrated. On Martin Luther King Day we don’t have holiday parades, we have Martin Luther King Day parades. We don’t say happy holiday on the Fourth Of July, we say Happy Independence day or Happy Fourth Of July. Why then, do some people insist that we say happy holiday and holiday season when we are celebrating Christmas?

I’ll tell you why. It is because the organized religion of atheism (Yes atheism, is an organized religion, it is a religion of non belief.) is waging war against Christianity as the first battle in a war against all other religions. If they can defeat Christianity in this country of Christians, then they can defeat all religions that believe in a God or higher power.

I am a Christian. I don’t, however, know for sure, if Christ is the son of God or if he was a teacher or what. I do know, that I believe in the teachings ascribed to him. I do know, that even though we are humans and therefore can not and do not always follow all of those teachings, that if we all tried to live by those teachings of love and kindness, the whole world would be a better place. I also know that, I want Christ to be the Son of God because then it would mean that God did and does care about us and that there may very well be a Heaven.

I disagree with the director of special projects for the American Family Association when he says, “Christmas is not a holiday” and that calling Christmas a holiday “devalues our nation’s most holy day.” Christmas is a holiday. In fact, I consider Christmas and the Fourth Of July to be this country’s two most important and happiest holidays. The Fourth Of July celebrates the birth of our nation and Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ. Workers are given Christmas Day off with pay, school children are given several days off for Christmas vacation. Offices hold Christmas parties. Families get together, listen to Christmas music, stuff themselves with food and give each other gifts. Marines collect “Toys For Tots”. The Salvation Army puts out it’s kettles and collects money which is used to help needy people all year long. Many family members who have been feuding all year round get together and forgive each other. Christmas is a holiday of love and forgiveness.

Christmas is a holiday that everyone, not just Christians, should celebrate. Almost no one denies that Christ did exist at one time. The controversy is, whether or not he is the son of God. Putting that controversy aside, Christ preached or taught “peace on earth and goodwill towards men”. If people bemoan the fact that John Lennon died because he was a fighter for peace, how can they not celebrate the fact that Christ was born? Christ was arguably the original teacher of peace, forgiveness and goodness. He lived and died promoting peace. He not only promoted peace, he lived peace. He not only taught forgiveness, he lived forgiveness. Christ set an example that has lived for over two thousand years.

A note to other religions: You should support Christmas. If you allow the atheists to kill off Christmas, it could be your religion that they go after next. There is a war being fought today. I’m not talking about the war in Iraq. I’m talking about the war against religion being brought by atheists and certain hard line fanatics on the far left. Right now, they are winning the war because religious groups are not fighting back in a cohesive manner. If religious groups don’t help each other, someday they will all cease to exist and the United States will become another Soviet Union. Taking away our right to participate in religion and to celebrate our religion is a first step in taking away our other freedoms.

One of the main reasons that the United States was able to become so great is that, contrary to what the atheists and some others tell you, we are not a secular country. Our whole method of government and our laws come in large part from our forefathers religious beliefs.

It may not seem so, but I am not against all atheists. They have a right to believe in non belief and I support that right. I am just against the activists that are trying to force their non beliefs down my throat. I am willing to leave them alone if they are willing to leave me and mine alone. The problem is that they won’t leave us alone. They don’t want to allow us to believe as we wish. They want us to believe as they do. They don’t believe in Christmas so they want to take Christmas away from us.

One final note to all you major retailers who want to sell me gifts for me to give as Christmas presents, if you won’t acknowledge the Christmas Season in your advertising and in your stores, then don’t expect me to shop in your stores. If you insist in saying holiday season and happy holidays instead of Christmas Season and Merry Christmas, then I will insist in not dealing with you. For the time being, at least, you are free to do as you wish and I’m free do as I wish. My wish is to boycott you, not only during the Christmas Season but for a long time to come.

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Should christians celebrate Christmas

Should Christians celebrate Christmas or, How should a Christian celebrate Christmas? These are questions of concern for many sincere believers. In fact, many believers dislike how we celebrate the season and have refused to participate in the popular way it is celebrated. A number of reasons are given, and while I might agree with some of their concerns and some of the reasons offered against the observance of Christmas, But I do think that the true meaning of Christmas should be shared with all family and friends that are Christian.

Should Christians celebrate Christmas? A number of unorthodox new religions which profess to follow Christ insist that Christmas is a pagan festival to be shunned by all true Christians. Probably the most notable of these religions is the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who publish stinging attacks on the celebration of Christmas year after year. Other religions that take the same position include the World Wide Church of God (led by Herbert W. Armstrong) and the Assemblies of Yahweh.

The question of whether Christians should celebrate Christmas seems like a foregone conclusion. However, a number of Christians are strongly against celebrating Christmas.  Are there good reasons for or against celebrating Christmas? How should we celebrate?

Christmas is for the most part everyone’s favorite holiday of the year. Whether it be because of the presents that are given and also received, the huge feast that one may eat on for days after, or the true meaning of Christmas and that is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a day just like any other day of the year that has been recognized as the most important day in history. I as a Christian believe that it is because of the birth of the man by the name of Jesus that I am alive and well today. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and yes some opinions are a little more extreme than others but still, everyone is entitled to have their own.

The World Book Encyclopedia says, the early Christians “considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.” The only birthday observances mentioned in the Bible are those of two rulers who did not worship God. (Genesis 40:20; Mark 6:21) Birthday celebrations were also held in honor of pagan deities. For example, on May 24 the Romans celebrated the birthday of the goddess Diana. On the following day, they observed the birthday of their sun-god, Apollo. Hence, birthday celebrations were associated with paganism, not with Christianity.

Scripture doesn’t specifically command believers to celebrate Christmas–there are no prescribed “Holy Days” the church must observe. In fact, Christmas was not observed as a holiday until well after the biblical era. It wasn’t until the mid-fifth century that Christmas received any official recognition.

If you truly believe in what Jesus represents as a Christian, the celebration of Christ’s birthday is an every day experience.  To know that through him rests our salvation, all Christians need to take time each day to reflect what salvation and eternal life means and celebrate life with everyone in which they meet.  Maybe more Christians need to go door to door and spread the good news of Christ to turn around the path that Christmas has taken over the years.

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Favorite Foods of Christmas

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Favorite foods enjoyed by Americans for any given holiday, season or special occasion will likely include some ethnic dish, given the many ethnic groups that reside in the country. Despite this variety of melting pot cuisine, there are some similarities in dishes that will be a part of most meals during celebrations such as Christmas.

 Christmas in the United States comes almost one month after another big holiday, Thanksgiving, in which the traditional meal must consist of a turkey as the main dish. This dish also carries over into Christmas as roast turkey is one of the main dishes that
may be served for Christmas dinner. But unlike Thanksgiving, which is solely devoted to turkey meat, Christmas dinners may also include other birds or poultry.  These include roast goose or duck. Roasted ham may also be served. Cranberry sauce, vegetables, pumpkin pie and a plum pudding or fruity Christmas pudding for dessert tops off traditional Christmas dinners. Mince pies and pastry that is filled with a mixture of chopped, dried fruit may also be added to the menu.

 For drinks at Christmas dinner, a bottle of champagne is very popular, as well as wines. But the everyday beverage of beer is a must for many people to make a meal truly enjoyable.
Before Christmas Day and the big dinner arrives, there’s also another type of food that Americans enjoy in large quantities during the Christmas season. The consumption and sales of candies, gingerbread and other cookies and holiday treats increases rapidly during the holidays. Similar to how department stores seek to attract shoppers to buy items for Christmas gifts, candy manufacturers also put out special boxes and types of candies for Christmas and the holiday season.
 A survey done in 2004 by the National Confectioners Association found that many adults derived much pleasure at Christmas from giving and receiving candies and other treats. In their responses the survey participants said that giving decadent boxes of chocolate to friends and family, placing candy canes on the Christmas tree and hiding candy treats in Christmas stockings
were favorite ways to give and receive candies, cookies and treats during the holidays.

 Sweet treats remain popular at Christmas despite a constant message about dieting that is present in everyday life in the media, in billboards and from some food manufacturers. At Christmas time, people feel free to enjoy the festive season without constraints. But they also know that they can enjoy candies and cookies that are health conscious by eating ones that are targeted to the low-carb dieter by having ingredients that are sugar-free and fat-free or both.

 Cookies that are enjoyed at Christmas are often home-baked ones and usually include gingerbread items.  The tradition of gingerbread cookies at Christmas is also believed to have originated in Germany and brought to America by German immigrants. German bakeries began baking very fancy gingerbread houses with icing as edible snow and other decorations after the Grimm
Brothers published their children’s story, Hansel and Gretel. That story had a description of a house that was made of bread,  a roof of cake and windows of barley. The popularity of the creations by German bakeries gave rise to cookie cutters that were made in a variety of shapes, enabling small gingerbread cookies of various shapes to be baked at home. Some of these cookies that had the shapes of little people and animals were used to decorate Christmas trees.

 More than one hundred years ago from today, German homes in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania would have cookies that were up to one foot high in the front of windows of their houses as decorative items during winter. The cookies were often giant gingerbread men and women that had colorful rows of buttons and big smiles. Passersby were often cheered and intrigued by the sight and brought the idea to their homes on a smaller scale.

 Being able to enjoy special dishes, candies, cookies and other goodies during Christmas and the holidays adds a sweet flavor to the season and also helps to create warm and cherished memories.

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