Snowmen greeting cards created with marshmallows and candy. But, I'd have more fun making them as a toilet roll version. An upcycled version with things from the recycling bin. I'm going to start saving finished toilet paper rolls and other bits and pieces and see what I can come up with. Everyone needs a project.
I buy at least one poppy pin from the Canadian Legion boxes or the people standing at the door of the grocery store, every year. I like the pin itself and I like supporting the Legion. The real problem is keeping the pins on. Also, not getting stuck by that long pin several times a day.
The solution I have found for both of those is to remove the long, bent pin and replace it with another pin, not from the sewing box but the jewelry box. I have been using a pin I got from an event in my town. It has the name and logo of the city I live in. Another idea is to put something on the end of the long pin to keep it from pricking you. But, this doesn't seem to work as well as taking the pin out and changing it for the short pin.
But, the Legion would prefer people wear the poppy correctly and remember the purpose it was intended for, both of them (fallen soldiers and helping the Legion financially).
So someone (probably more than one by now) came up with the idea of poppy centres. A pin which looks just like the original black centre of the poppy pin. A great idea! You can buy them online, but there will be a lot of orders as November gets close so order ahead.
You can also make your own poppy centre with a little glue and a blank pin from a craft supplies store or one of your own which you don't mind to cover with the black felt poppy centre (the one that comes with the poppy pin) and some glue. Instructables shows how they re-make the poppy pin centre this way. It's a great idea, simple and easy to do.
In 1915, John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Forces Artillery, wrote his famous poem, In Flanders Fields. Inspired by McCrae's poem, Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, pledged to wear the flower year round. Anne Guérin, of France, began to sell handmade cloth poppies for people to wear. She donated money from the sales to help people after the war.
A poppy should be worn on the left side of your body, just over your heart.
The poppy came to Canada as a symbol of remembrance in 1921.
Traditionally, the poppy should not be worn after November 11th. They were meant to be left at the graveside after the ceremony, the moment of silence, on November 11th, at 11:00 AM.
The period of Remembrance is from the last Friday in October until November 11. So you could begin wearing a poppy in October.
If you find a fallen poppy, pick it up. The pins should be worn and disposed of respectfully. I keep mine pinned to a curtain. I don't like throwing them away and they look pretty in a group. I add more to the curtain every year.
The centre of the poppy pin was originally black, but changed to green in the 1980s (which I remember them being). The poppy centre went back to black again in 2002 because the original flowers in France were/ are red with black centres. The green centre was to represent the green fields in France.
There is a campaign, from the Peace Pledge Union, for a white poppy. The white is said to include everyone who suffered during war, the families, civilians, and soldiers. You may see purple poppy pins which represent service animals lost in war.
Take a look at the Poppy Store online, to support our Canadian Legion all year round.
Royal British Legion - In the UK they have a different, paper, poppy pin.
Not everyone gets into the hearts, flowers, romance and sentimental pink fluffy Valentine's Day. There are those who don't get into Valentine's Day at all, but then there are those who like to spike their Valentine's Day with a little dark humour. Those are the people who could be your creepy, Gothic, zombie Valentine.
I found this on a kid's blog, no link back to the original source. I couldn't resist adding it when it says everything in it's own creepy Valentine way.
Don't think of it as gross or gruesome. A creepy Valentine can be just as sincere, passionate and loving as a regular Valentine. Creepy Valentines can have the same heart, brains too. A creepy Valentine is just a bit more playful and looking on the light side of life, in it's own unique way.
There's no need to run away screaming... unless you want to be chased by your new Valentine. However, give them a chance to catch you. It's not easy to run when you're all dark and creepy (with parts of you missing in some cases). There's also an image to maintain - not every creepy Valentine wants to be seen running after their prey... I mean, sweetheart.
Scary, Spooky, Creepy Valentine's Day
What makes Valentine's Day so scary, creepy and spooky? For one thing, the pressure. On one hand, there's a lot of pressure not to be single and alone. On the other hand, if you are part of a couple, there's a lot of pressure to find the right gift, create the perfect evening and be romantic. I've heard of couples breaking up over Valentine's Day. Some men have said they deliberately break up before Christmas and Valentine's Day because they don't want the pressure to perform. Obviously, these were not great relationships anyway. But, it does show the horror of the looming holiday.
Should you get chocolates? I found fuzzy zombie chocolates in a Valentine box which you can make. They aren't edible, but they can be kind of cute. Like a candy you find in the bottom of your purse or under the car seat, something like that.
Share the love with a zombie Valentine T-shirt. Show her you really love her, or him by wearing your heart in the right place - visible to all.
Give your coffee or tea drinking Valentine a new mug. Or a Valentine key chain.
Of course there are always flowers. How can you go wrong with sending Valentine flowers?
Of course, it's easier to pick a Valentine card and send it in the mail. Snail mail, so you don't have to actually be there when it arrives. That way your Valentine has some time to cool off and find the humour.
The Christmas tree for your computer - or yourself if you spend most of your time sitting in front of the computer. This bright little tree can plug into one of the USB ports on your computer and it will light up and change colours.
When I think about Christmas it is the Christmas tree, all lit up, which comes into my mind first. I love the bright colours, the sparkling ornaments, the smell of everything around the tree as people tended to gather there. We had our tree set up in the front room. Usually, this was the forbidden room. In a house with four children the front room was the fancy room, no kids allowed. But, when it came to family holidays we gathered there, with the fireplace in winter.
We would make so many goodies: pumpkin pie, apple pie, gingerbread, sugar cookies and have them all out there with the tree and the fireplace. My Grandparents (and some of their siblings too) would bring boxes of chocolates and candy canes too. We turned down the electric lights so most of the light came from the colourful lights on the Christmas tree. In the room people chatted, played cards and other games. I can remember the smell of gingerbread, the sound of people and the glow of the tree.
We had an artificial tree because my brother was allergic to the real trees. I never missed the real tree. No pine smell but no dry tree, shedding pine needles either. Plus, we had the same tree each year. Bringing it out was like having a friend come back again each year.
Now, so many years later, most of the family is gone or living far apart in one way or another. I don't mind being alone at Christmas. I have had the kind of family Christmases which people make movies about, so there are a lot of great memories I can look back to. Mainly, I love getting out there and seeing lights and decorations and displays at other houses, other places and being put up and taken down again by other people. I can have my own little Christmas and make it as big or little as I want. I had all my Christmas training. I can now bake the pies, cook the dinner, put up the decorations and enjoy the holiday season in the glow of my own Christmas tree.
Having a little tree just for the computer is a great touch. I can bring Christmas to my desk and have the big tree in the other room too. Every room can have a tree all lit up!
As the oldest of four kids, Thanksgiving was my least favourite holiday. I did like having the family come from all over Ontario, something I appreciate much more now that I am older.
My dislike of Thanksgiving was not for any of the popular political/ soapbox reasons about natives and the New World or even the mass killing of turkeys... I didn't like all the extra work and the arguing and the fact that we spent most of the day and the day before making pies, homemade bread, all those vegetables and then it was all over (for the men) in about 20 minutes.
For the rest of us, myself and my Mother and my Grandmother, there was another hour of clean up. My brother would help sometimes - he surprises me every family holiday now because he is the first one up helping to clean up and serve the dinner, every single time. My two sisters were very little help. Sure, they had the excuse of being younger, but they could have done more. Ironically, one of my sisters now says she always helped and I was the one who did nothing. Yet, somehow I remember peeling apples for pies and she was never there. I remember mashing potatoes, washing dishes, setting the table... no sister visible.
More than siblings, I resented the men at Thanksgiving. Not my Grandfather, because he would pitch in a bit and he would have helped more if we had asked him. But, he seemed to have a pass on the work, an old traditional kind of guy and a quiet guy too. I mostly would be angry with my Dad. He would sit back, doing nothing and lord it over as if he were king of the castle and never had to lift a finger. Maybe that was the big difference in how I felt, his attitude. My Uncle would be there too, he would bring plates out and mostly clear the table. But most years he was too full to do much and happy to watch TV with the other men.
In the kitchen, that's where Thanksgiving always seemed to be for me. We would be washing dishes before dinner, and again after dinner. Putting turkey and cabbage rolls and all those vegetables into serving dishes and platters and then putting all the leftovers into storage containers. Hours of time making pies and homemade bread. Some years we made apple strudel too, from scratch just like the bread and pies. My Mom and I worked together all Thanksgiving Day.
When my Grandmother (and sometimes my Aunt) came over they joined in. We talked about family history, people I had only met once (that I could remember) in my life. There was gossip too. But there really wasn't much conversation. We talked about what we were doing mainly, how to make the bread right. There were always instructions, especially for me, being the youngest and newest member of the baking/ cooking crew. My sisters, by almost never being there, missed out.
You may read this and think this isn't painting an anti-Thanksgiving picture. But, that wasn't how I felt about the baking and cooking with my Mother and Grandmother. I did like that part. I participated every year. Sometimes I would get impatient with being overloaded with instructions, as if I didn't already know what I was doing. Sometimes I would become the topic of conversation and hear about everything I should be doing and thinking differently. As aggravating as that would be, I've come to understand it was well meant.
I'm less anti-Thanksgiving these days because of my brother. Isn't it funny how life moves back on itself? I was so angry about being left with the women working while the men watched TV as if that was all they had to do all day (it pretty much was all they did as far as I could see). I could never understand why men were allowed, even expected, to be so useless and yet (in the case of my Dad) so critical too. He would criticise everything I did, as I got older I would try to not be there and do less. Then he would accuse me of hiding to avoid work. Of course, he didn't have to hide to avoid work.
Anyway, my brother is different. I don't know how or when it happened. He could have grown up to be a TV watching on Thanksgiving, like his Dad. But, he didn't. It wasn't while we grew up, he did help some but not the way he really pitches in now. I can go to his house for Thanksgiving and it can be me that does nothing but watch TV. I'm still kind of amazed by this every time.
So I'm less anti-Thanksgiving but it will never become one of my favourite holidays. What do you really think and feel about Thanksgiving in a personal way? Most people talk about the natives and old history that doesn't affect most of us personally. For me that's not what Thanksgiving is about. It's not about the culling of turkeys, the native peoples or religion and being thankful to any god. Thanksgiving is about family, the good, the bad and the ugly, all part of a pack of people working together one way or another.
I don't really understand the point of the politically based anti-Thanksgiving theme. Why do people need to bring old history into a family holiday? Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for the things we have, each of us, individually or as a family.
I know negative people and I know people who take on the woes of the world as if they were responsible for all of them, even though they could never have been in all those places at the same time. I don't understand this way of thinking. You will never change everyone and even to try is breaking your own rules for everyone having freedom of thought and expression. So, why keep flogging a dead horse?
Enjoy Thanksgiving for what it is. Why make it so complicated with old news? I'm not going to take responsibility for something done before I was even born. I'm not going to drag religion into a holiday when I haven't been inside a church in at least 10 years. I'm also going to eat turkey, guilt-free. I like meat. I don't like tofu.
If you don't like Thanksgiving and refuse to celebrate the holiday - do it for your own reasons.