Holly, with its spiky leaves and red berries, has been traditionally connected to Christmas for centuries. In fact it was considered unlucky not to have holly in the house at Christmas. It was hung around the doors and windows to keep away evil spirits, goblins, witches and lightning!
“The Holly and the Ivy” is a traditional British Christmas carol – here sung by Loreena McKennitt.
We spoke about Christmas cards a few days ago, and how we love to send out Christmas greetings. So what exactly can we write? Here are a few examples I’ve collected for you:
We wish you a merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year.
Christmas greetings and all good wishes for your health and happiness in the coming year.
During this season of giving, let us take time to slow down and to enjoy the simple things. Wishing you a very special Christmas …
Best wishes to you and your family during this holiday season.
The gift of love, peace and happiness. May all these be yours at Christmas.
It’s the time of eggnog, candles, cakes, songs, reindeer, carols, laughter – and most importantly LOVE. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
May your home be filled with Christmas songs, cakes, candies and all the love that this festive season brings.
The spirit of Christmas should not be just for one day but for the whole year! Wishing you love, joy and peace the whole year round. Merry Christmas.
We hope that this Christmas will be for you a cheerful ending to the year and a great beginning to a happy new one.
And something a bit different …
You know what I got for Christmas this year? Stress from shopping around for the presents. Backache from decorating the house with Christmas lights. And 20 pounds from eating all the yummy Christmas food! Seriously though, it’s a wonderful time to spend it with great friends and family like you 🙂 Merry Christmas.
Gingerbread men make great Christmas presents or decorations. Here’s a recipe I found on the BBC website which you might like to try out.
It’s difficult to create that magical environment for Christmas without fairy lights. They are the ‘Lichterketten’ you’ll find on Christmas trees, although we now see them all over the house and even outside in the trees and bushes.
Children in the UK are told that it is Father Christmas (or Santa Claus in the US) who comes down the chimney to fill up their stockings on Christmas Eve, so that they can find their presents when they wake up on Christmas Day. In the German-speaking world, children are told that their presents are brought by the Christchild (in German: Christkind).
Eggnog is a liqueur made with milk or cream, sugar and raw eggs, spices and brandy, rum or bourbon. It is traditionally drunken around Christmas – perhaps more in the US than in the UK?
I’ve never liked this drink, but if you’d like to make it yourself, give this recipe a try. Or look for more Christmas cocktails here.
What would Christmas be without its decorations?
Christmas lights on the high streets are generally switched on in the UK in November. And people start putting up their decorations in their homes in early December. You’ll see the outside of homes decorated with lights and illuminated snowmen and sleighs, and the inside with Christmas trees, mistletoe, holly and ivy and even paper garlands (which shocks quite a lot of my German language learners!).
Christmas Dinner is traditionally eaten on Christmas Day (the 25 December). The main course usually consists of roast turkey (with stuffing), duck, goose or pheasant, and is served with roast, boiled or mashed potatoes and vegetables (like Brussel sprouts – my favourite!). Traditionally this is followed by Christmas pudding with brandy sauce or brandy butter, or trifle.
My Christmas preparations usually start with the making of the Christmas cake about six weeks before Christmas. It’s a fruit cake (link to bbc.co.uk), fed with brandy, covered with marzipan and icing, and then decorated with ribbons, marzipan trimmings and little edible silver balls.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without Christmas cards. I start writing mine at the beginning of December. And, in the traditional way, I hang the ones I receive on the wall (I don’t have a mantle piece!). If you like the idea of decorating your place with them too, you might like to look at sas interiors for some inspiration.
A Christmas carol is a song traditionally sung on Christmas itself or during the surrounding holiday season. My favourites? Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Deck the Halls, O Christmas Tree and God Rest You Merry Gentlemen. But I also like listening to some of the old Christmas songs, like Santa Baby and White Christmas!
Christmas crackers are cardboard tubes, wrapped in brightly coloured paper and twisted at both ends. They are placed on the table at Christmas and are traditionally pulled by two people either before the meal starts or some time during the meal. When a cracker breaks, it goes ‘bang’ and the contents fall out. You’ll normally find a crown made of tissue paper, a little gift (usually a cheap plastic thing) and a slip of paper with a motto or a joke. And, what German people really can’t understand, people wear the paper hats during the meal! 😉 Take a look a this wonderful video clip to see Christmas crackers in action and for a bit of Christmas etiquette (link to: youtube.com)!
Christmas Eve is on 24 December. This is when presents are exchanged in Germany. In England, this is done on Christmas Day. That’s 25 December. (We don’t have a 1st day of Christmas!) On Christmas Eve, people might go out carol singing, go to church or even go out to the pub. And, of course, it’s the time for children to hang up their stockings before going to bed, hoping that Father Christmas will come in the night with all the presents.
