Christmas tree thread !
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whirlcool
Well-known member
Who remembers the Glass Wax stencils (50's-60's) for your windows at Christmas? There was this company that made this product called Glass Wax. They sold wintertime stencils that you could use to put on your window, rub glass wax on it. When dried, you pulled the stencil off and you had a nice design on your window. When the season was over you just cleaned the window and the design came right off.
Glass Wax had a particular smell to it, when I saw the windows in front of the tree in Glamwales second tree photo I immediately thought of the Glass Wax stencils.
www.vermontcountrystore.com
Glass Wax had a particular smell to it, when I saw the windows in front of the tree in Glamwales second tree photo I immediately thought of the Glass Wax stencils.
The Best of Vermont from The Vermont Country Store to your door!
The Vermont Country Store is proud to offer a great selection of high-quality and hard-to-find merchandise. Explore our general store today.
spiceman1957
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- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 724
Blue, Blue Christmas
My partner put up the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Its
the first real tree that I have had in 10 years.
View attachment 12-4-2007-19-59-47--Spiceman1957.jpg
My partner put up the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Its
the first real tree that I have had in 10 years.
View attachment 12-4-2007-19-59-47--Spiceman1957.jpg
spiceman1957
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 724
Let try that again
Here are my tree's
Here are the 3 tree's I put up starting the day after Thanksgiving starting in the living room:
Here are the 3 tree's I put up starting the day after Thanksgiving starting in the living room:
Dining Room
Tree #2
Tree #2
Den
Tree #3
Tree #3
lederstiefel1
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 484
Hi Rapunzel and all of you!
Well, first I have to say: What wonderful trees you have!!!
Yes, Rapunzel, Sinterklaas is in Germany the 6th December and is called "Sankt Nikolaus Tag" or just "Nikolaus-Tag" when people (adults and children) put a boot outside the entrance door to get some presents (cookies, nuts, oranges, apples and chocolate as well as small gifts like watches or matchbox cars or other stuff) from him. It's said he's coming along on a sledge together with Knecht Ruprecht (Serf Rupert) and he is said to be the re-incarnation of Saint Nicolas of Myra in Turkey (today Demre near Antalya) who lived there during the 3rd and 4th century.
He has a hugh book where he can find all the good and bad deeds a child has done during the year and so he gives them more or less presents and the worst will be beaten by Knecht Ruprecht with the twitch and will get no presents at all!
During my childhood Saint Nicolas and Serf Ruprecht came every year until I found out that it was the neighbours of us in full costumes...lol
Serf Rupert also has to carry the big bag into the homes for Saint Nicolas, who looks like on your photo from Amsterdam, with all the goodies and presents in for the good children, and has to listen together with St. Nicolas to each child's X-mas carol or X-mas poem before Niclolas refers to his big book and the goodies to see what needs to be done...!
Serf Rupert (= Knecht Ruprecht) is correct but I found a translation in a dictionary wich said Knight Rupert, so I thought I was wrong...
But Serf Rupert is not the "Father Christmas"!
Knecht Ruprecht comes in a brown frock and is the twitch, book and bag carrier and even sometimes a beater; he is Santa's Little Helper for the harder work!
One year I was the only child in the neighbourhood who did not get any present from Saint Nicolas but got the twitch and had to keep it one year as a warning next to my bed! My mom says it was for always quarreling with my younger sister...!
The wide range of imaginations and tales about Ruprecht and his different names in different parts of German speaking countries are to be read in WIKIPEDIA but are way too much to type here...!
You are absolutely correct, Rapunzel, about the actions of Serf Rupert! He could take the child away (and never to be seen again) in HIS bag (an empty one which he carries along) to be punished later by "Krampus" the cruel helper of Serf Rupert (for the bloody work like ripping and whipping) who was said to be the slaughter of bad children, waiting somewhere in the woods, awaiting little victims!
Rapunzel, you are also right to say that the Christmas-Child is supposed to be the re-incarnation of the Jesus-Child (at about the age of 10-12 years).
In Germany St. Nicolas comes on a sledge, torn by dears or elks, and not, like St. Martin (9th November), on a horseback.
The American Santa or Father Christmas is a newly introduced person by industry and advertisements, due to the americanization of the German society during the last 50 years.
Concerning your comments on German X-mas, Allan, you are so right!
During the Advent-Time (1. Advent Sunday until 24th December) we are making x-mas cookies and cakes, go to x-mas markets to have Glühwein (mulled wine) and buy all the presents for the feast (night of 24th December).
We light another candle each Advent-Sunday on the Advent-Chaplet and the kids open a door every day on their Advent-Calendar...
Everybody sends Christmas cards (and nowadays even e-mails) and packages to friends and family-members abroad!
The air smells from cinnamom, almonds, chocolate, orange peel, roast-apples, bees-wax candles, fir-trees, cookies (Christstollen, Lebkuchen, Pfefferkuchen, Speculatius, Honigkuchen, Heidesandplätzchen, etc.) and hugh roast ducks, geese and turkeys...
We have carp and fondue, roasts and lamb-lettuce, dumplings, cabbage and Sauerkraut and other yummy food in that time!
Oh, what a wonderful time...
Ralf
Well, first I have to say: What wonderful trees you have!!!
Yes, Rapunzel, Sinterklaas is in Germany the 6th December and is called "Sankt Nikolaus Tag" or just "Nikolaus-Tag" when people (adults and children) put a boot outside the entrance door to get some presents (cookies, nuts, oranges, apples and chocolate as well as small gifts like watches or matchbox cars or other stuff) from him. It's said he's coming along on a sledge together with Knecht Ruprecht (Serf Rupert) and he is said to be the re-incarnation of Saint Nicolas of Myra in Turkey (today Demre near Antalya) who lived there during the 3rd and 4th century.
He has a hugh book where he can find all the good and bad deeds a child has done during the year and so he gives them more or less presents and the worst will be beaten by Knecht Ruprecht with the twitch and will get no presents at all!
During my childhood Saint Nicolas and Serf Ruprecht came every year until I found out that it was the neighbours of us in full costumes...lol
Serf Rupert also has to carry the big bag into the homes for Saint Nicolas, who looks like on your photo from Amsterdam, with all the goodies and presents in for the good children, and has to listen together with St. Nicolas to each child's X-mas carol or X-mas poem before Niclolas refers to his big book and the goodies to see what needs to be done...!
Serf Rupert (= Knecht Ruprecht) is correct but I found a translation in a dictionary wich said Knight Rupert, so I thought I was wrong...
But Serf Rupert is not the "Father Christmas"!
Knecht Ruprecht comes in a brown frock and is the twitch, book and bag carrier and even sometimes a beater; he is Santa's Little Helper for the harder work!
One year I was the only child in the neighbourhood who did not get any present from Saint Nicolas but got the twitch and had to keep it one year as a warning next to my bed! My mom says it was for always quarreling with my younger sister...!
The wide range of imaginations and tales about Ruprecht and his different names in different parts of German speaking countries are to be read in WIKIPEDIA but are way too much to type here...!
You are absolutely correct, Rapunzel, about the actions of Serf Rupert! He could take the child away (and never to be seen again) in HIS bag (an empty one which he carries along) to be punished later by "Krampus" the cruel helper of Serf Rupert (for the bloody work like ripping and whipping) who was said to be the slaughter of bad children, waiting somewhere in the woods, awaiting little victims!
Rapunzel, you are also right to say that the Christmas-Child is supposed to be the re-incarnation of the Jesus-Child (at about the age of 10-12 years).
In Germany St. Nicolas comes on a sledge, torn by dears or elks, and not, like St. Martin (9th November), on a horseback.
The American Santa or Father Christmas is a newly introduced person by industry and advertisements, due to the americanization of the German society during the last 50 years.
Concerning your comments on German X-mas, Allan, you are so right!
During the Advent-Time (1. Advent Sunday until 24th December) we are making x-mas cookies and cakes, go to x-mas markets to have Glühwein (mulled wine) and buy all the presents for the feast (night of 24th December).
We light another candle each Advent-Sunday on the Advent-Chaplet and the kids open a door every day on their Advent-Calendar...
Everybody sends Christmas cards (and nowadays even e-mails) and packages to friends and family-members abroad!
The air smells from cinnamom, almonds, chocolate, orange peel, roast-apples, bees-wax candles, fir-trees, cookies (Christstollen, Lebkuchen, Pfefferkuchen, Speculatius, Honigkuchen, Heidesandplätzchen, etc.) and hugh roast ducks, geese and turkeys...
We have carp and fondue, roasts and lamb-lettuce, dumplings, cabbage and Sauerkraut and other yummy food in that time!
Oh, what a wonderful time...
Ralf
Fabulous!
Now who can tell us WHY we do Christmas trees and where the tradition came from?
Now who can tell us WHY we do Christmas trees and where the tradition came from?
seamusuk
Well-known member
Being as...
Im not really religious and dont have kids I dont bother normally.....
However I have to say the "tree" Gary posted is the sort that could be appropiate lol!!
Seamus
Im not really religious and dont have kids I dont bother normally.....
However I have to say the "tree" Gary posted is the sort that could be appropiate lol!!
Seamus
Chris, your trees are just beautiful. It must take you a lon
Thank you Terry. It takes me about 2 days to put up and decorate the trees. The tree in the living room takes the longest ( about 6 hours total ) as it is the largest one. Sometimes I cheat and will put the one in the den up the night before Thanksgiving but I wont decorate it till after. My goal is to have the whole house decorated in that weekend before I go back to work on Monday. That's been a tradition for me ever since I was a teenager. So thats been a while. lol. I didn't do as much this year as I normally would because I am leaving for vacation Friday and will be gone all next week. So I may do more when I return. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Chris
Thank you Terry. It takes me about 2 days to put up and decorate the trees. The tree in the living room takes the longest ( about 6 hours total ) as it is the largest one. Sometimes I cheat and will put the one in the den up the night before Thanksgiving but I wont decorate it till after. My goal is to have the whole house decorated in that weekend before I go back to work on Monday. That's been a tradition for me ever since I was a teenager. So thats been a while. lol. I didn't do as much this year as I normally would because I am leaving for vacation Friday and will be gone all next week. So I may do more when I return. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Chris
lederstiefel1
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 484
being religious
Hi Steve and Seamus!
Before I tell you what the tree comes from - something about religion and me...
I meanwhile have become a total atheist and once was a strict catholic (how could I ever be so silly and naiv?) as brought up in a stricly catholic family....
But I like Christmas, although there's all that bric-a-brac, but I really do like the mood and the sentiments and smells of that time - it makes live more colourful and gives it a certain miracle touch....
So now we can close the circle to the tree.
Mostly all the decoration and dos during that time are actually heathen stuff, so is the tree as well. The old Germans practiced that tradition to keep bad winter ghosts and gods out of their homes and keep a small twig of life (green) like a sullen resistance to a time of snow, cold, hunger and often death. They "protected" doors and the wind-ows (= wind-eyes = smoke escape holes under the roof, today better known as windows, as their houses had no real, modern windows...!) with twigs of fir-tree or mistel-toe, bound into chaplets and garlands. Inside the house was often put a tree which was later even lit with candles to welcome the light-god and keep the light as a pledge against the winter darkness. Easter, which was once the feast of the solstice, these winter decoration was burnt, what we call nowadays Easter fires. Also puppets were burnt together with the twigs and trees which were place-holders for the " father winter", and Carneval is the time to make much noise to shoo away the bad winter ghosts and to welcome the sunlight/summer again.
Later the christian church tried to fight these rites during the christianitisation but didn't succeed at least! Therefor they adopted them instead and gave them christian meanings (X-mas, Easter, etc.) and linked the dates with dates from the christian calendar.
Actually all these rites we do now are deeply heathen rites and much older than the church.
The X-mas tree was introduced into the anglistic world by Queen Victoria (same as the marriage in white) because her German husband brought it to Britain and she liked it so much that she introduced it in the British Court during mid 19th century.
Ralf
Hi Steve and Seamus!
Before I tell you what the tree comes from - something about religion and me...
I meanwhile have become a total atheist and once was a strict catholic (how could I ever be so silly and naiv?) as brought up in a stricly catholic family....
But I like Christmas, although there's all that bric-a-brac, but I really do like the mood and the sentiments and smells of that time - it makes live more colourful and gives it a certain miracle touch....
So now we can close the circle to the tree.
Mostly all the decoration and dos during that time are actually heathen stuff, so is the tree as well. The old Germans practiced that tradition to keep bad winter ghosts and gods out of their homes and keep a small twig of life (green) like a sullen resistance to a time of snow, cold, hunger and often death. They "protected" doors and the wind-ows (= wind-eyes = smoke escape holes under the roof, today better known as windows, as their houses had no real, modern windows...!) with twigs of fir-tree or mistel-toe, bound into chaplets and garlands. Inside the house was often put a tree which was later even lit with candles to welcome the light-god and keep the light as a pledge against the winter darkness. Easter, which was once the feast of the solstice, these winter decoration was burnt, what we call nowadays Easter fires. Also puppets were burnt together with the twigs and trees which were place-holders for the " father winter", and Carneval is the time to make much noise to shoo away the bad winter ghosts and to welcome the sunlight/summer again.
Later the christian church tried to fight these rites during the christianitisation but didn't succeed at least! Therefor they adopted them instead and gave them christian meanings (X-mas, Easter, etc.) and linked the dates with dates from the christian calendar.
Actually all these rites we do now are deeply heathen rites and much older than the church.
The X-mas tree was introduced into the anglistic world by Queen Victoria (same as the marriage in white) because her German husband brought it to Britain and she liked it so much that she introduced it in the British Court during mid 19th century.
Ralf
Here is ours
.
.
northernmary
Well-known member
Ours Went Up On The First December
This Year we bought a Black Christmas Tree with bright white led’s
NorthernMary
P.s
I’d like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!
This Year we bought a Black Christmas Tree with bright white led’s
NorthernMaryP.s
I’d like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!
RJ's tree, with pool and back yard lights in the background.
Beautiful trees by everyone. I do like the litho of the dancing people Christopher in your red room. I have seen it out here in art shops. My wife and I do love our tree and wish we had more room in this house for more. Our ceiling is not as high as our Oregon house was so we have to leave off the top and put on the santa. Bubble lights at the top are 48's. One string of 8 by Noma. Still a favorite of ours. I had somewhat of a problem with the camera and focus but here it is. Everyone have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. Love to you all, Dan and JoEllen (Bendix5)
View attachment 12-5-2007-22-55-15--Bendix5.jpg
View attachment 12-5-2007-22-55-15--Bendix5.jpg
I will try the picture again Dano
For anyone interested, here is a link to a website that explains the origins of the x-mas tree. Thank you for your input Ralf - I knew there was a lot more to Santa Claus than 'HoHoHo'. BTW, Santa's 'Hos' seem to be causing a little controversy of their own this christmas. A proportion of the female population seem to think it's directed at them. Personally, I blame the Jerry Springer show.
I, too, wish to express my amazement and enjoyment of everyone's photo contributions to this thread. All these trees are absolutely stunning and it is so nice to see that people still put so much love and effort into these festivities. Gadgetgary's bottle tree has a very special resonance, as christmas in Oz is a time of beach parties, barbecues and, of course, beer. We have a couple of bottle houses around the country and that tree would be just the thing for them. I've tried to take a photo of my tree with my cellular, but can't separate the jpeg file from the email to post on here. I really need a digital camera - that reminds me....'HEY SANTA, I KNOW WHAT I WANT FOR CRHISTMAS!
Gleaned from a recent internet article, black x-mas trees are apparently all the rage here in Oz right now. They say 'black' goes well with people's new 'minimalist' interiors. Last year it was upside-down trees - weird, but wonderful.
Toggles, you've got the cutest smile
). (Hey, you like my beauty spot?!)
Merry X-mas and all that goes with it to all you good folks.
Cheers
Rapunzel
I, too, wish to express my amazement and enjoyment of everyone's photo contributions to this thread. All these trees are absolutely stunning and it is so nice to see that people still put so much love and effort into these festivities. Gadgetgary's bottle tree has a very special resonance, as christmas in Oz is a time of beach parties, barbecues and, of course, beer. We have a couple of bottle houses around the country and that tree would be just the thing for them. I've tried to take a photo of my tree with my cellular, but can't separate the jpeg file from the email to post on here. I really need a digital camera - that reminds me....'HEY SANTA, I KNOW WHAT I WANT FOR CRHISTMAS!
Gleaned from a recent internet article, black x-mas trees are apparently all the rage here in Oz right now. They say 'black' goes well with people's new 'minimalist' interiors. Last year it was upside-down trees - weird, but wonderful.
Toggles, you've got the cutest smile
). (Hey, you like my beauty spot?!)Merry X-mas and all that goes with it to all you good folks.
Cheers
Rapunzel
