Give Christmas Art or Handmade Gifts
For people who you don't have ideas for, it can be nice to make something such and some art or handmade gifts. This shows a lot of thought and time has gone into the present. One idea for Christmas is a wreath.
Wreaths - Used well before Jesus's birth date was decided to be the 25th. Romans used wreaths shaped as a circle they represented the sun and thanked the sun for their ability to survive due to its warmth. In Scandanavia candles were placed around a circle to symoblise hope in the future warmth of the sun that would soon come, and the wheel could have been used to symbolise the earth that would turn towards the sun in spring. The church changed the meaning to signify eternal life and God's infinite love.
Wreaths are made of evergreens to symbol the continuous life: laurel (victory over persecution and suffering), pine, holly (the crown of thorns) and yew, (immortality); and cedar (strength and healing). The circle shape symbolises the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul and the everlasting life found in Christ. The four candles symbolise the 4 weeks of advent (each week representing 1,000 years, to sum to the 4,000 years from Adam and Eve until the birth of the Saviour). Three candles are purple (prayer, penance and preparatory sacrifices and good works or hope love joy) and one is rose (lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday of rejoicing - peace). Some modern day adaptions include a white candle placed in the middle of the wreath, which represents Christ and is lit on Christmas Eve.
So these are the materials you need to make a wreath:
- Oasis (soaked)
- Wire (to wrap around the oasis)
- Evergreen branches and leaves
- Holly
- Small candle holders placed at 4 points on the oasis
- Pinecones etc for decoration
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