Best Christmas Gifts for Unemployed

Given the state of today’s economy, as well as the current unemployment rate, there will be many who will find it necessary to cut back on Christmas expenses this year. Chances are, there is at least one person on your Christmas list that is currently unemployed. Deciding what to give this person may be a difficult decision for some. An expensive, frivolous gift that they may not get much use out of is probably not a good decision. For the person who is currently unemployed, a thoughtful, more practical gift will likely be much more appreciated. Here are a few suggestions:

•Everybody loves to greet their friends and family with a fresh Christmas wreath hung on the door! In addition, a
Christmas wreath can help bring joy and Christmas spirit to the person who may find it necessary to cut corners on Christmas this year. The person who is unemployed this season will likely not spend money on Christmas decorations.

•Buy them a gift certificate or tickets for some fun event or entertainment that their whole family can enjoy. If they love movies buy a gift certificate to the movies, skating,
sports events are all things they wouldn’t treat themselves to which would be a real treat for them. Also, gift certificates to restaurants are always a great gift.

•Buy a large, useful container, such as a laundry basket or trashcan, and fill it with everyday items. You may also include a few snacks or pampering items they may not think to buy for themselves, such as a package of fresh herbal tea, or some relaxing bath oils or candles.

•Take Christmas to them this year. Bring a little excitement and joy to what might be a bit of a depressing season for them this year. Load up your car with Christmas essentials, such as decorations, Christmas music, cookie or candy making supplies, and a bright, cheerful smile, and haul it all over to their home for some Christmas fun. You could even tie a tree to the top of your vehicle.!

•Think of a creative way to give them money, such as tied to the branches of a money tree. While some may consider a simple gift of money to not have much thought behind it, it may be the most thoughtful gift you could give to the person on your list that is currently unemployed.

Lynn Jebbia is the owner of Acadia Wreath Company. Acadia Wreath Company, based in Bar Harbor, Maine, which handcrafts a fresh Maine balsam fir Christmas wreath, Christmas Centerpiece and Kissing Ball which are shipped directly to customers and corporate clients throughout the United States.


   

A Christmas Centerpiece for Christmas Dinner Table

The Christmas season is about celebrating life and all the joy it brings with your friends and family. What better way is there to celebrate the season than with a traditional Christmas dinner? Every year families gather around the table to partake in delicious morsels while enjoying each others company. While a lot of the focus is on the delectable turkey or grandma's famous pecan pie, there is another tradition that stands out in one's mind – the Christmas centerpiece as the central focus of the table.

The reason why a Christmas centerpiece stands out in everybody's mind is because it is the anchor of the table; it is a beautiful reminder of the Christmas spirit and everything the season represents. The traditional Christmas centerpiece was most similar to today’s advent wreath, which is often decorated with holly, poinsettias, pine cones and candles. Many will also add other familiar Christmas decorations, such as bows or Christmas tree ornaments. The Christmas table centerpiece is as old of a tradition as Christmas dinner itself, and people often wonder what exactly the components of the Christmas centerpiece represents.

A pine or balsam bough or any evergreen branch is wrapped into a circular wreath, which in itself represents many things. The green color symbolizes hope and new life, while the circular shape alludes to everlasting joy. Traditional Christmas wreath centerpieces were decorated with four candles, which marked the beginning and end of the Christmas season, otherwise known as the four weeks of Advent. The first candle would be lit on the Sunday closest to November 30th, and another one would be lit every Sunday until the last candle was lit on Christmas Eve. The candles not only represented weeks, however, but also hope, joy, love and peace.

Christians adopted decorating with holly from the Druids, who believed that the prickly green plant and its little red berries stood for fertility and eternal life. While the Druids believed that cutting down a holly tree was bad luck, Christians believed that decorating with holly brought good luck to the home. Nowadays people often refer to the red berries as symbols of Christ's blood and the pointed leaves represent the crown of the thorns that was placed on Jesus' head. The pine cones used to decorate wreaths are meant to symbolize the seeds of faith sown by Christ, and poinsettias represent genuine love.

No matter what you believe, decorating the table with a Christmas centerpiece is always a fun tradition to take part in. A beautiful centerpiece is bound to be the focal point of any table, and is something you can enjoy year after year. A Christmas centerpiece is a reminder to love, to be joyous and not to fight over the dinner rolls!

Shopping for a Christmas Wreath

I always know when the Christmas season has officially begun when my mom and dad tell my brother and I that it is time to shop for a new Christmas wreath. Every year on the first of December we go as a family to pick out a wreath for the front door. I really like helping pick out a Christmas wreath because it is the first thing people see when they walk up to our house, so we always pick out a Christmas wreath that is sure give visitors a warm welcome.

There are always a lot of different wreaths to choose from. We always see a lot of wreaths made out of plastic that are covered with decorations like lights or fake fruit, and sometimes we see wreaths that are made out of shiny tinsel. Plastic and tinsel wreaths can be really pretty, but I wouldn't want one hanging on our door because our guests may think our welcome is fake, just like the wreath. One time I saw a wreath that was made out of feathers! A lady told us that they were fake peacock feathers, and that they are supposed to bring good luck to the home. The feathers were really bright blue and green, and even though it was beautiful we decided that it just wasn't Christmas-y enough. We want a wreath that reminds people that it is the most joyous time of the year!

My favorite Christmas wreaths are definitely fresh wreaths, because they smell as good as they look. Last year we picked out a fresh Balsam Fir wreath that we decorated with pine cones and ribbons, and I always loved walking up to the front door after school. There's nothing like smelling Christmas as you walk up to the front door! Any problems I might have had during the day just melt away when I smell that fresh wreath. Every time I see a fresh Christmas wreath it reminds me of home. It reminds me of walking through the front door to find my mom baking gingerbread cookies and warming up by the fire after playing in the snow. Fresh Christmas wreaths remind me and my family of all the good the holidays have to offer.

That is why every year we always pick out a fresh Christmas wreath for our front door, even if we look at all the other types of wreaths first. I just don't think that any other type of wreath would be as welcoming as a fresh wreath and they don’t have that Christmas-y smell. My dad always tells us that a wreath symbolizes eternal joy, and I can see why he says that. Every time I get home from school and see a wreath on the door the joy of Christmas fills my heart.

Lynn Jebbia is the owner of Acadia Wreath Company. Acadia Wreath Company, based in Bar Harbor, Maine, which handcrafts a fresh Maine balsam fir Christmas wreath, Christmas Centerpiece and Kissing Ball which are shipped directly to customers and corporate clients throughout the United States.

Why I Like the Kissing Ball

A tradition in my family is hanging the kissing ball. The kissing ball is always the last decoration we hang, and we always have a giant party to celebrate. My family, friends and neighbors come over to eat dinner and dessert, and halfway through the evening my dad hangs the kissing ball in the doorway between the dining room and the living room.

After it is hung everybody takes turns walking underneath the kissing ball to the living room, where they leave a piece of paper with an act they forgive another person for in a bowl, and something they hope to be forgiven of. We mix up all the papers and throughout the night my mom reads the forgiveness slips out loud. This is my favorite part of the night, because whenever something that is forgiven corresponds with something that somebody hoped to be forgiven of, we all cheer “to peace!” and take a sip of our drink. There are never any names written on the slips, so nobody gets embarrassed, but it's always nice when you know you're being forgiven for something. I also like it because sometimes it's easier to forgive somebody on paper than it is to say it out loud.

Also, whenever you pass underneath the kissing ball at the same time somebody else does, you have to give them a kiss! Every year Melissa, the neighbor girl, always tries to trick me into walking underneath the kissing ball with her. I try to avoid her, but somehow she always manages to sneak in beside me as I'm walking underneath it! It's not that I mind kissing her on the cheek so much, but my brother and my uncle always tease me afterwards, which can be pretty embarrassing. Sometimes I write down that I forgive them for embarrassing me on my forgiveness slip.

I've always wondered where the tradition of the kissing ball came from, and this year my teacher explained it to my class. Hanging the kissing ball comes from the tradition of hanging mistletoe, which comes from a Scandinavian belief that mistletoe was a plant of peace. An ancient custom from Scandinavia was that if enemies happened to meet each other beneath mistletoe, they would lay down their arms until the next day, and that is why we kiss underneath mistletoe.

We used to hang mistletoe, but one year some of the berries fell off and my mom was afraid my little sister or our cat, Missy, would eat the berries and get sick, so we started putting up a kissing ball instead. I like the kissing ball better than mistletoe because it is still a symbol of peace and forgiveness, but it is safer and prettier than mistletoe.

Lynn Jebbia is the owner of Acadia Wreath Company. Acadia Wreath Company, based in Bar Harbor, Maine, which handcrafts a fresh Maine balsam fir Christmas wreath, Christmas Centerpiece and Kissing Ball which are shipped directly to customers and corporate clients throughout the United States.