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A mini-album is exactly what it sounds like, a scrapbooking album designed only to celebrate one memory or a few memories. While most scrappers search for Christmas scrapbooking ideas that “leap off the page”, perhaps it is better for scrappers to abandon the idea of the page altogether. When most scrappers think of Christmas scrapbooking, many images come to mind that are rather conventional.

The images you portray are much of what actually make up a good part of your holiday memories, and often depict a true representation of your family and friendships. The Christmas scrapbooking mini-book should use Christmas colors, including red and green patterns. Journaling is another important part of your holiday scrapbook.

Choose carefully, and have fun creating your holiday scrapbook. However, holiday scrapbooking ideas do not require a great leap of imagination. You can use pictures of your child sitting on Santa’s lap, photos of people opening presents, and images of everyone around the Christmas tree.

It is good to have pages showing pictures of your family celebrating the holiday, along with some text such as journaling precisely how your family personally celebrates the holiday and what it means to them. Urge others whose images are included in the holiday scrapbook to write down their memories and ideas. You can find various patterns in your local supply stores, or shop on the Internet to find, view, and purchase paper patterns. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing then how can you ever go against someone who does.

Make a system that works for you and will help you keep track of christmas cards. Since most photo card companies use 4 x 6 inch photos to produce your cards, trim a standard 12 x 12 inch scrapbooking page to 12 inches wide by 8 inches high as your background for your layout. There are also numerous web sites with pictures of holiday scrapbook pages that others have used, along with other paper pattern tips and ideas. For more interesting photo Christmas cards, try taking some candid photos of your kids doing things they enjoy.

With a little prepared pattern and some paper, along with some lettering, a mini-book is a snap to assemble. Encourage those around you to take part, and to continue the tradition.

While not everyone chooses to do this, it is a good way to keep track of the memories that go along with the photos. Or pose them with props that reflect their interests or accomplishments. Since the idea is to compile your own memories into your own personal album, it is important that you choose them carefully. One of the key ingredients of a holiday scrapbook is your photos. The more, the merrier. Even though the Christmas scrapbooking mini-album takes a lot of creativity, it is practically made for mass production. You can also choose different patterns for different types of images, and mix and match as you desire.

The use of colors can be important, and traditional Christmas colors such as red and green might seem the obvious choice for holiday scrapbooking ideas. Combine items where there aren’t enough to fill up one whole page, but be sure to keep it all in order.

Decide on striking images in attractive settings that will make the viewer stop to look at and admire them. The same rule applies to a Kwanzaa page, and it demonstrates holiday scrapbooking ideas where the scrapper’s family can showcase the meaning of the holiday and how the scrapper celebrates it.

If you liked these ideas, then look at these scrapbook christmas cards for more!

There are so many articles about Christmas, so I decided why not go the full distance and create one for the New Year as well. New Year is very much a time of celebration and should be just as jubilant Christmas.

But New Year has more global domination, as even poorer countries celebrate the occasion. So once again I ask the question what is the best choice? To stay at home or go abroad? Let’s take a look at the positives of both.

Let’s first look at the benefits of staying at home for the New Year.

The Parties
A great aspect about spending the New Year in the UK is the parties. Whether you are looking for a lively event, a live concert, or a quiet meal, than you can rest assured that you will find exactly what you are looking for.

The TV
Yet again I have to mention the TV, because TV really does not get any better than New Years day. Whether you are looking for a musical, great movie or a catch up on the soaps than New Years is definitely one not to miss.

Food
The part that I mainly look forward to at New Year is the food; there is nothing better than eating some delicious festive food. Even if you are going out for a meal, I would be surprised if the restaurant does not rustle up something unique.

Let’s now turn our attention to spending New Year abroad and look at a selection of benefits.

Traditions
I think a major benefit of going away for New Year is to get to see how in fact other countries celebrate. Every country does things differently so it would be absolutely amazing to get a taste of different cultures.

Weather
A main benefit for Christmas was that the weather was cold and snowy, but the same cannot be said for the New Year. The reason I say this is simply because of the fact that a lot of people tend to go out for New Year celebrations, therefore they do not want it ruined by cold snaps of weather. Therefore I recommend in visiting a warm country to get the most out of your celebrations.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I personally feel that spending New Year abroad is a better alternative. There is nothing better than spending a lovely Christmas with the family in the UK and then flying off to another country to see in the New Year celebrations.

Great Family Holidays, UK Family Holidays and Hotels in Devon

Christmas is a great time of year, the magic and festive fun makes it such an exciting time of the year. But for some the occasion can and will become very stressful and overwhelming, this is probably due down to the preparation. If you have a big family or alternatively lots of friends coming round for Christmas dinner, than you can and will probably get yourself in a huge pickle.

Besides from running around picking everyone’s presents up, you are left cooking a huge meal to feed everyone. Christmas is meant to be about fun and relaxation, there is no need to get stressed out.

A great solution to free yourself from the stresses and strains will come in the form of visiting a catered hotel or restaurant. There are a huge amount of places that are open on Christmas day where you can go to enjoy your meal. A lot of people think that this will take the magic out of Christmas, but I can assure you that it will not.

What is better than waking up in the morning and opening your presents, getting some breakfast together and then relaxing on the sofa until dinner time. You will then quickly pop out and grab some gorgeous Christmas dinner which is ready and piping hot, before making your way back home for a round of drinks and TV programmes.

Or you could choose to get away from it all with a fabulous break in a close by hotel. Hotels have a tendency to put on very good events around Christmas time, ranging from entertainment that is not only for kids, but will also cater for the adults. You could also get a visit from Santa himself! Once the morning entertainment has passed take a trip to the canteen, which will probably be decorated to a very high standard and enjoy a full Christmas dinner, just remember to leave enough space for desert!

Do these two options not sound very proposing? If so you should always try to book early, as spaces get snapped up in an instant. Plus most probably the earlier you book the cheaper you will get in. Do not get yourself stressed out this Christmas. There are so many options to choose from. Enjoy yourself to the best you can as Christmas only comes around once a year. Make it a time to remember, not only for your self but the entire family.

Great Family Holidays, UK Family Holidays and Hotels in Devon

Every family has it’s own personal christmas traditions. Whether it’s finding somewhere to hide Granny’s ghastly, cement-like christmas cake, the ritualistic unpacking of antique, heirloom decorations or watching that special Christmas film before bed on December 24th, everyone has their own special festive ritual. Around the world Christmas is celebrated in all manner of ways, from the twee to the downright odd yet the sentiment of family and togetherness remains the same.

Although the spirit of Christmas is strikingly similar wherever it is celebrated, the traditions that surround it vary wildly. It is easy to assume that wherever Christmas is celebrated, holly, mistletoe and stockings follow. Nothing could be further from the truth. In celebration of this, happiest of holidays, I have gathered three of the most unusual festive traditions the world has to offer. Enjoy.

La Befana - Italy
La Befana is an Italian folkloric character similar to the UK’s ‘Santa Claus’ with one major difference, she’s female. Her exact origins are uncertain, some believe that her name derives from the festival of Epiphany which became ‘Befana’ in Rome. Others see her as an evolution of ‘Strenia’ - a pagan deity who presided over new years gifts.

Traditionally, Befana visits all of Italy’s children on the eve of January 6th and she fills their socks with sweets and presents if they have been good, coal if they’ve been bad. In modern Italy coal has been replaced with black sugar candy.

La Befana is usually portrayed as an old woman wearing a black shawl, covered in soot (she enters homes through the chimney) and carrying or riding a broomstick. She also carries a hamper or sack full of presents and sweets and is usually depicted smiling.

Christian legend says that La Befana was approached by the ‘three wise men’ just a few days before Christ’s birth. They asked her for directions to his now famous manger but she did not know, instead she provided the wise men with shelter for the night.

Impressed with La Befana’s hospitality the wise men invited her on their journey to find the infant Christ but she declined, saying she had too much housework to do. After a while La Befana grew curious and had a change of heart. The old woman set out to find the wise men and Christ.

She never found them and to this day she wanders, searching for Christ, she leaves her gifts and sweeps floors wherever she goes.

Mari Lwyd - Wales
The Mari Lwyd is a Welsh new years celebration which has been speculated to derive from an ancient ritual for the Celtic god, Rhiannon.

The Mari Lwyd ceremony consists of a horse’s skull affixed to the end of a wooden pole; sheets are attached to the base of the skull thus concealing the pole and the person carrying the Mari Lwyd.

The eyes of the skull are filled with brightly-coloured objects, often bottle caps and coloured ribbons are fixed to the skull. The jaw of the skull is often sprung or hinged so the Mari Lwyd’s operator can snap it’s jaws at passers by.

If you are ‘given the bite’ (snapped at) by the Mari Lwyd you are expected to pay a cash fine.

In recent years the Mari Lwyd has come to represent the resurgence of interest in Welsh folk culture. Councils are now helping to organise bigger and better Mari Lwyds and the ceremony surround the ancient tradition is once again gaining popularity.

Krampuslauf - Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland
Krampuslauf is the night scary, devil-lke creatures called ‘Krampus’ carry cow bells, clanking chains and rods through the streets of alpine regions scaring children and adults.

Traditionally, young men dress as the Krampus and are accompanied by ‘Nikolaus’, (the local equivalent of Santa). The Krampuslauf typically occurs in the first two weeks of December, December 5 being the favoured date.

In rural areas the Krampuslauf traditions sometimes include giving those unfortunate enough to be caught by the Krampus a light birching. The Krampus monsters are often linked to legends of succubus and incubus, the nocturnal, sexually predatory demons.

The modern costume typically used on Krampuslauf consists of red wooden masks, black sheep’s skin and horns. The masks are typically hand-carved and many people enjoy Krampuslauf competitions, competing for titles such as ‘best costume’ and ‘most scary’.

The word Krampus has its origins in the old German word ‘Krampen’ which means, ‘Claw’. Many believe Krampuslauf to be a pre-christian festival, drawing on pagan influences which have survived due to the isolated nature of the Alpine region.

Samantha is an expert Research and Theatre consultant. She is currently excited about the upcoming West End revival of Oliver!

As Christmas fast approaches we take a look at some of the benefits of staying put at home or going abroad. Both have there positive effects, but which will you choose this holiday season?

First and foremost let’s have a look at some of the benefits of staying at home for the Christmas season?

Christmas Dinner
There is nothing better than staying at home for a lovely Christmas dinner with the whole family. It’s a time of celebration and communication and the feeling of having a huge family dinner cannot be beat.

TV
That’s right! Christmas television is one of the most hyped up events of the year, the soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street never fail to deliver and we have the Queens speech, plus the Christmas number one. Besides this there is a huge selection of festive movies to watch that will leave you with a smile.

Weather
Although we have not had a white Christmas for a while, we always dream of it. The British weather goes hand in hand with Christmas dinner, parties and TV.

Presents
The main attraction of the day, is that you get to open your presents that you have been waiting a whole year for. Will you get your new games console or a fitted kitchen? Or will it just be a pair of socks. No matter what it is, the excitement is worth it.

Let’s now turn our attention to spending Christmas abroad and look at a selection of benefits.

A Break
I think one of the best advantages for going away for Christmas boils down to just getting a break. Getting away from all the commercial aspects and treating your family and yourself to a well deserved trip.

The Magic
Going away to destinations such as Disney Land for Christmas is great. You can rest assured that they will put on an awesome display for you. Treat the kids to a magical time.

The Weather
I am again mentioning the weather but this time for the people that hate the cold. Why not fly to a hot destination such as the Caribbean and relax by the beach why everyone else is cooking a Christmas meal in the cold.

Well personally I would stay in the UK. Christmas is a great time and should be spent with the whole family. If you really do not want to cook then why not take a break in a UK hotel and have everything brought to your feet. Besides, you can go abroad any time of the year, Christmas only comes around once.

Great Family Holidays, UK Family Holidays and Hotels in Devon