Tag Archives: Celebration

Celebration – Sock Party

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If you are looking for a theme for a fun party, here is a wonderful idea … a sock party!!  The theme can be used for a birthday party for teenagers or during any time of year for a party with family and friends.  Socks, all different kinds of socks, are very popular right now and having a sock party is also a great opportunity to go on a shopping spree!  Socks can be used to make party invitations, decorations, party favors and even socks can be used for games at the party.

Invitations

Here is a clever way to send the invitations for the Sock Party.  Purchase inexpensive white baby socks. Then, print the following on light-weight cardstock and attach to a pair of socks. To mail, send in an envelope that fits the size of the socks and extra postage may be required.

You are invited to a Sock Party!

Where:

When:

Time:

Prizes will be given for the prettiest, craziest,

funniest and most colorful ones!!

Decorations

Hang a clothesline across the room from one corner to the other corner, crisscrossing in the middle of the room and then attach some colorful socks with old-fashioned clothespins.  More socks can be scattered around the room by hanging them from the lampshades or the chandeliers.

Make a banner using socks.  Cut some paper letters spelling out “Welcome to the Sock Party” or “Happy Birthday to _______” and using straight pins attach the letters to the socks.  Add pieces of cardboard into the socks so they lay better.

For the food table, make a centerpiece using socks.  Using solid colored socks roll each sock individually and secure with pins, these with be the flowers for the centerpiece.  Next, attach the sock flowers to long sticks and arranged in a vase with some artificial greenery.  The result should resemble a floral centerpiece.

Games

What is a party without games, so here are a few suggestions!

 “Smelly Sock” –

This is a great game for the younger guests and it can get rather silly.  The game is played like musical chairs.  One sock is deemed the “smelly sock”. Start by gathering the guests in a circle; begin by playing some music as the guests pass the sock around.  When the music stops whoever has the sock takes a whiff and then pretends to swoon from the smell.

“Pile the Socks On” –

Divide the guests into teams.  Start the game with a pile of socks in the center of the group.  One team member is selected as the one to “dress”.  After a countdown, team members race to the pile to pick up a sock and hurry back to the designated team member and “dress them with a sock, it could be on the feet or hands and it could be tied to the elbow or hung on the ear.  After a predetermined time is up – the team with the most socks wins!

“Sock Hop Race” –

Divide the guests into teams.  Start the game with a pile of socks on one side of the room and line the teams on the other side of the room.  After a countdown, one team member races to the sock pile and puts a sock on one of their feet and hops back to their group of team members.  They tag the next team member who repeats the same routine until everyone has gone twice and the quickest team wins!

Party favors

“Sock cupcakes” – For this craft project buy a selection of really nice colorful socks, the number of socks should equal the number of guests.  Individually roll the socks tightly to resemble cupcakes.  Roll the socks into a normal sock ball and with the rolled part facing up then place it in a paper cupcake holder.  To display at the party, arrange the sock cupcakes on a tiered stand.     

Celebration – The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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When I was child, I loved waking up in the morning on Thanksgiving Day and turning on the television to watch the Macy’s Parade from New York City.  The truth is … I still like watching the parade and I’m … hey I’m not giving away my age!!  The thing I enjoy about the Macy’s Parade that makes it so different from the Rose Parade and any other parade is that at a certain times during the parade it will stop and have a musical performance from a recording artist or a Broadway show right there on 34th Street in front of Macy’s Department store and then afterwards the parade continues until the finale with Santa Claus.

The History of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

1924 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - advertisementThis year the Macy’s Parade will be celebrating 89 years of the annual Thanksgiving Day tradition which originally started in 1924.  Back then, the majority of the employees at Macy’s Department Store were immigrants who were very proud of being new citizens of the United States and they wanted to celebrate the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving with a festive event.  The Macy’s employees dressed in costumes and with the addition of some professional entertainers, bands, decorated floats and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo the parade traveled 6 miles from 145th Street in Harlem to the Macy’s store located on 34th Street and Broadway in New York City.  The first parade was advertised in the local newspaper before the scheduled date and had a crowd of over a quarter of a million people.  It was a great success and Macy’s decided to make the parade an annual event.

Soon after that first parade Macy’s hired Anthony Sarg who was famous in New York City for his use of marionettes and small balloons.  He had come to the attention of Macy’s and they requested that Sarg make his puppets into an animated window display they were planning to promote their annual parade.  Later in 1927, Sarg used a large animal-shaped balloon made by the Goodyear Tire Company specifically for the parade.  Basically he took the concept of his marionettes literally upside down and the balloon had the controls underneath that were operated by several Macy’s employees instead the controls on the top like a traditional marionette.  This first balloon in the Macy’s parade was Felix the Cat, a popular cartoon character.  In the following years, several more large balloons were added to the Macy’s Parade, such as a new cartoon character named Mickey Mouse in 1934.  These newer balloons were filled with helium to make them float. Also, at the end of the parade the balloons were released into the sky with an address label sewn into the material with a message that if they were found to return the deflated balloons safely to Macy’s for a special gift.

1927 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Felix the Cat    1934 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Mickey Mouse

The Macy’s Parade continued to grow in the size over the years with more participants and performers and even more balloons.  The parade was starting to attract crowds of over 1 million people along the parade route and the annual event was now being broadcast on a local New York radio station from 1932 to 1951. During the years of 1942 to 1944 the parade was not held because of World War II.  The reason for this was that the military needed the rubber and helium for the war effort that used the materials for the balloons.  The Macy’s Parade gained national attention when the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street” was released and featured actual filmed footage from the 1946 parade.  The title of the movie refers to the location of Macy’s flagship store which plays a significant role in this charming movie featuring Natalie Wood as the adorable but precocious little girl who does not believe in Santa Claus!

Miricle on 34th Street movie

The Macy’s parade was first televised locally in New York City in 1939.  The first national broadcast was in 1948 on CBS.  Since 1952, NBC became the official network to cover the event.  Originally the program was only an hour long but currently the coverage has expanded to three hours, including the pre-show portions of the program.  Since 1960, the parade coverage changed from a black and white broadcast to color version when this technology became available on television sets.

More balloons were added to the parade over the years and they were always familiar characters from television or movies, such as Superman and Spiderman, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Donald Duck and Kermit the frog and even one year an astronaunt.  Since 1984 the balloons are made by Raven Industries located in South Dakota.  By 2006, in response to previous accidents and balloon related injuries, new safety standards and restrictions were implemented.  Along the parade route wind measurement devices were installed to alert the parade organizers to unsafe conditions.  Some actions taken in response to high winds are that the balloons are kept closer to the ground by the handlers and if the wind speeds are predicted to exceed 34 miles per hour the balloons are removed from the parade.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Spiderman    Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Kermit the Frog

In addition to the world famous balloons, the parade also features musical performances that will stop on the street in front of the Macy’s store located on 34th Street and Broadway.  College and high school marching bands perform live music and recording artists perform from their floats or Broadway shows take to the street to lip-sync to prerecorded music.  Other performers include the world famous Radio City Rockettes and also college or high school cheerleader and dance squads from around the country. Of course the highlight and the grand finale of the parade is the arrival of Santa Claus.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City    Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Santa
 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Rockettes    Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Rockettes 1

Celebration – Halloween

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Vintage Halloween postcard

One of my favorite holidays growing up as a kid was Halloween; I loved dressing up in the costumes, treat or treating in our neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and then bringing home a bag filled with candy!  Today, kids celebrate the holiday by going to spooky haunted houses, trick or treating at the local mall or going to a Halloween party.

Part of the fun of Halloween was selecting the perfect costume.  Back in the 1960s, the children’s costumes were often made by their mothers or sometimes they just purchased Halloween face masks from their local stores.  Luckily my mother was very good with her sewing machine and she made most of our costumes. When I was little girl, she made a clown costume and I wore it for Halloween in 1963.  She saved that costume and when my son was about 3 years old he wore for his first Halloween.  Many years later, my daughter wore it as her Halloween costume, too.  What a lovely family tradition!  That clown costume is now almost 50 years old and I will carefully pack it away and save it for my future grandchild to wear on their first Halloween!!

1980 October - Chris  2003 Halloween - Cassie

The History of Halloween

Halloween, sometimes known as All Hallows’ Eve, is celebrated on October 31st.  It is a festive time for trick or treating, carving pumpkins, attending costume parties and maybe bobbing for apples … but what is the origin of Halloween and the meaning behind some of those traditions and customs?

Some historians say that the origins of Halloween are based in the Roman feast of Pomona or in the festival of Parentalia or the Celtic festival of Samhain.  Samhain was an old Irish celebration held at the end of summer and it was on or about October 31 or November 1.  The festival marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of preparing for the coming winter.  Centuries ago, the Samhain festival was believed to be a time when the souls of the dead came into our world and would visit the homes of their relatives, some people wore costumes to disguise themselves from the evil spirits.  The tradition of carving pumpkins may have come from the Samhain festival and the custom of carving turnip lanterns, these lanterns were used at night when the children would be lead door to door to collect food for the festival.  People would gather and light bonfires and play divination games as part of the festivities.

Halloween is also influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day when the custom is to pray for the saints and the recently departed who have not yet reached Heaven.  Originally the days were celebrated in May but in the year 835 Pope Gregory IV changed the dates to November 1 and 2.  The custom known as “souling” is the tradition of baking soul cakes to honor those in purgatory, then the soul cakes are collected by the children as they go door to door.  It is believed that the souls of the departed wander our world until All Hallows’ Eve, a date which is their one last chance to seek vengeance on their enemies and this is the reason the people wore costumes to disguise themselves.  In Britain, these customs were deemed unacceptable by the Protestants during the Reformation.  So when Guy Fawkes Night, celebrated on November 5, gained popularity those traditions were incorporated into that holiday.

It wasn’t until the late 18th and early 19th century that the Irish and Scottish immigrants brought their traditions and customs to the United States.  In the early 20th century, the holiday known as Halloween gained popularity and was celebrated nationwide regardless of people’s social, religious and racial backgrounds.

1963 Halloween - Barbara  1984 Prince Christopher of Langdon  2002 Halloween - Cassie

Halloween traditions and customs

  • The turnip lanterns were traditionally used in Ireland and Scotland for the Celtic festival of Samhain and the immigrants brought those traditions to the United States but substituted the turnip for the North American native pumpkin.  Eventually the American tradition of carving pumpkins became popular nationwide and pumpkins were grown commercially and specifically marketed for Halloween.
  • Turnip lanterns were hallowed out, carved with faces and light inside by a candle.  During the Celtic celebration of Samhain, people would set the lanterns out on their windowsills to confuse the evil spirits from entering their homes and haunting them.  For Catholic children, it was a tradition to carry jack-o-lanterns to honor the souls of the dead as they went door to door collecting the soul cakes during All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day.
  • Trick or treating is usually the highlight of a children’s Halloween.  Dressed in costumes, the “treat” when the children go from house to house is asking for candy and the “trick” refers to the mischief that would happen if there was no treat!  Trick or treating became popular nationwide in the United States during the 1930s.
  • In the late 1800s in Ireland and Scotland children went “guising”, the children would dress in costumes and carrying carved turnip lanterns as they would visit homes and receive cakes, fruit or money.
  • In Medieval times there was a practice known as “mumming”.  People would wear costumes and go to door to door offering prayers for the dead in exchange for treats such as “soul cakes”.
  • Halloween costumes were traditionally ghosts, skeletons, witches and devils.  In the United States, costumes became popular in the early 20th century and the first mass-produced costumes started selling in stores in the 1930s.  Today, Halloween costumes include popular characters from storybook and comic book heroes and villians, while other more adult costumes are based on movie and television characters or sometimes current celebrities and politicians.
  • In Scotland there was a custom known as “dooking” or apple bobbing.  Apples were floated in a large basin of water and people would traditionally use their teeth to remove the apples from the basin without using their arms or hands.
  • Since Halloween is celebrated during the fall harvest season there is an abundance of apples available and during October the grocery stores will sell candy apples or caramel apples.  (Caramel apples are one of my favorite fall treats, I like them with or without peanuts!)
  • Haunted houses are a favorite Halloween entertainment activity and there are a larger number of local and national venues that offer mild to extremely scary haunted houses.  Sometimes at the venues, they will offer corn mazes and hayrides out to the pumpkin patch and at the night there can be the possibility of encountering the Headless Horseman!
  • Telling ghost stories at Halloween parties and watching horror films on DVD in the weeks leading up to Halloween can be alot of fun.  Television series will have special Halloween themed episodes or the networks will show Halloween specials, like “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”.  (Watching the Peanuts special is one of our family’s holiday traditions.  We also like to watch the “Nightmare Before Christmas” every Halloween … for more information about the Tim Burton film, please check this month’s post, Nightmare Before Christmas the Movie)

Celebration – Grandparent’s Day

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Grandparent’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in September and has been an official nationwide holiday in the United States since 1978.  As a result of the baby boomers, the number of grandparents is expected to rise from 65 million in 2011 to 80 million in 2020.  In recent years, grandparents have slowly become the choice of working parents that are in need of childcare.  Statistics from 2012 indicate that 30% of the children under five years old are cared for on a regular basis by a grandparent.

So, let’s take the time to remember and honor the grandparents in our lives who have brought so much unconditional love and support into our lives.  Through my experience over the years in celebrating Grandparent’s Day I have come to the wonderful conclusion that grandparents truly enjoy receiving homemade gifts from their grandchildren.  This is always a great idea because the kids get the pleasure of creating a truly personal gift for their grandparents and the grandparents are so happy to receive something special from their grandchildren, it’s a win-win situation!!

Any kind of craft project using a child’s handprint is a fun activity for the kids and the finished “artwork” is makes a wonderful gift idea for grandparents.  Here are a few craft ideas from previous blog posts: Childhood Handprints is a more traditional craft idea using your child’s handprints and a lovely poem and Zoo Animal Handprints is a fun creative way of using your child’s handprints and making them into zoo animals.  After the handprints are completed be sure to let the paint dry, then beautifully frame them to make a great Grandparent’s Day gift.

Child's handprintZoo hand print - monkey 1

Photos are also a great gift idea for Grandparent’s Day.  My husband takes amazing photos and every time we see the grandparents we always try to take those great three generation photos, on my husband’s paternal side he is very lucky to have four generations.  These types of photos are great to copy and send with Grandparent’s Day cards or enlarge the photos and frame them to make wonderful gifts.

A few years ago when my Mom came to visit shortly after we moved to the Midwest we were taking our traditional three generation photos and I thought, “let’s do something fun and different”, so we took a photo of our hands.  It made an interesting photo of the contrast of a grandmother, mother and child hands.  Of course, I made an enlarged copy of the photo and it was an unusual and great idea for a Grandparent’s Day gift.

Three generation hands

Listed below are some ideas and suggestions for Grandparent’s Day gifts –

  1. Create a handmade card instead of a store-bought one.
  2. When giving or sending a card, it is a great opportunity to include the grandchildren’s school photos.
  3. Beautifully frame a picture drawn by the kids.
  4. Create a collage of 10 -20 photos of your children with their grandparents.
  5. Using photos, create a personalized calendar, be sure to note family birthdays and anniversaries.
  6. Help the kids bake a special dessert treat, make sure to consider the grandparent’s dietary needs such as sugar free cookies or cakes.
  7. Cook dinner at their home, bring a bouquet of flowers and set a beautiful table, this is a great idea for grandparents that are home-bound and have mobility restrictions.
  8. Have the older children offer to do chores for the grandparents, such as: cleaning the house or yard work.
  9. Arrange to go over to their home for an afternoon or evening of playing cards or board games.
  10. For out of town grandparents, plan ahead to have a delivery of flowers or food items.
  11. Plan a private recital for the grandparents if your child has a special talent like dance, choir or playing a musical instrument.
  12. Finally, here is a wonderful and easy craft idea –
  • Trace the handprint of the child, parent and grandparent individually onto a piece of paper; be sure to use the same right or left hand for all three hands.
  • Cut out the traced hand prints.
  • Arrange the “hands” by stacking the grandparent’s first, then the parent’s and use the child’s hand on top since it should be the smallest one, or arrange them side-by-side from oldest to youngest person.
  • Once you are pleased with the arrangement glue them to another piece of paper.
  • Be sure to write the date on the bottom portion of the paper.  Next to each individual hand write the person’s name and age.

Celebration – A Royal Birth and Christening

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Princess Victoria's chritening

Since the news that the royal couple, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, were expecting their first child was announced in December 2012, shortly followed by the Duchess’ hospitalization early in her pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum and then the seemingly endless wait for the child to be born, there had been much anticipation and worldwide attention for the joyous event.

Finally on July 22, 2013, Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge, the first child of Prince William and the former Kate Middleton, was born and he will be third in line of succession to the British throne.  The royal baby will be the third great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II (her eldest grandson and Princess Anne’s son, Peter Philips has two daughters) and the first grandchild of Prince Charles.  The last time a serving monarch had a great-grandchild born in a direct line of succession to the throne was over 120 years ago, in 1894 when Queen Victoria was sovereign and the future Edward VIII was born.

Queen Victoria - four generations  Queen Elizabeth - four generations

Interesting Facts and Traditions of the Birth of a Royal

  • Royal Highness Prince George was born in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London, England.  It is the same hospital where 31 years earlier, Prince William was born to Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana.  This was not always the case of a heir to the British throne being born in a hospital, Prince Charles was born at Buckingham Palace and the Queen was born at the home belonging to her mother’s parents at 17 Burton Street in Mayfair, England.
  • Prior to 1948, the Home Secretary was required to attend the birth of a royal baby to ensure that the child born was a legitimate heir to the throne.  Since that time it was determined that there was no constitutional requirement needed for his presence. This number of birth witnesses is very small in comparison to the 42 witnesses that were present to verify the birth of the son of King James III in 1688 when the legitimacy of the pregnancy was called into question and the true heir to the British throne was in doubt.
  • An official public proclamation with information on the baby’s gender, time of birth and weight and it is signed by the royal doctors and this framed announcement is traditionally placed near the gates of Buckingham Palace after the Queen and the immediate families of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed of the birth of the royal baby.  This old-fashioned custom is still observed even in the modern age of worldwide mass media coverage.  For the birth of Prince George an announcement was also made on the royal website.
  • Royal births are traditionally celebrated with gun salutes, 41 rounds fired in Green Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and 62 rounds fired at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company.  The British flag will also be flown from all of England’s government buildings, Royal Navy ships and military installations.
  • The names given to royal babies are not usually revealed to the public for several days.  When Prince William was born in 1982, the name was not made public and announced until seven days later.  When Prince Charles was born in 1948 it took even longer and it was a month before his name was revealed just prior to his christening.  Normally royal babies often have several forenames; the Duke of Cambridge was christened Prince William Arthur Philip Louis.  Royal babies with the title of Royal Highness (HRH) normally do not need surnames, but if one is used there are three possible choices: Mountbatten-Windsor, Wales or Cambridge.

After the royal birth, there is always the customary photo of the newborn baby with their royal parents on the steps just outside the hospital for the hundreds of worldwide press that is waiting.  Shown below are the photos in 2013 of Prince George with his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and in 1982 of Prince William with his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Left - Prince George Right - Prince William

Details of a Royal Christening

  • Traditionally, royal christenings are generally private affairs usually held at Buckingham Palace in the Music Room.  For Prince George, his christening will take place at  the small chapel at St. Jame’s Palace on October 23, 2013.  The royal baby will be a three months old and the Archbishop of Canterbury will perform the ceremony.  Besides the royal baby and his parents, there will be a small group of family, close friends and the child’s godparents.  After the ceremony the group will sit for formal portraits that will be released to the media.  On the occasion of Prince William’s christening, it was the Queen Mother’s 82nd birthday.  Shown below are the christening photos from 1982 of Prince William, from 1948 of Prince Charles and from 1926 of Princess Elizabeth.
    Princess Elizabeth - christening  Prince Charles - christening

    Prince William - christening  Prince George's christening 2013
  • In 1840, Queen Victoria commissioned a special silver baptismal font when she was expecting her first child with husband, Prince Albert.  The font was made by Barnard & Co. and the symbol of the lily was used to represent purity and new life.  The christening ceremony of Princess Victoria took place in February 1841 in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.  According to a painting by C.R. Leslie, the font was placed on a circular table and the Archbishop of Canterbury used water from the River Jordon.  For the new royal baby, the same silver font and water from the River Jordan will be used for his christening in the chapel at St. Jame’s Palace.

Lily font

  • For the birth of her first child, Queen Victoria also commissioned a lovely christening “robe” made with Honiton lace and lined in white satin, it has a very long skirt with an elaborate collar and bow.  Since 1841 over 60 royal children have worn it for their christening including four Kings, King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI.  Queen Elizabeth II wore it for her christening, as well as all her children and every grandchild except one.  The last to wear it was Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex in 2004.  The original robe was very old and fragile by that time and to preserve the historical outfit an exact handmade replica was made by the Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly.  Viscount Severn, the son of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, was the first to wear it at his christening in 2008.
  • Royal babies usually have five or six godparents, although Prince William had eight.  Possible godparents for William and Kate’s new son will more than likely include Prince Harry, Pippa and James Middleton.  In addition royal experts expect at least two more godparents which would have to be someone from William and Kate intimate circle of friends.
  • At the reception following the royal baby’s christening, it is traditional to serve the top tier of the parent’s wedding cake.  This is a tradition that Prince William wanted to keep and after their wedding in 2011 the cake was specially preserved in the freezer awaiting the birth of their first child.

For more information the Music Room in Buckingham Palace where several royal christenings have taken place throughout the centuries, please check out yesterday’s Travel Post, “Buckingham Palace“.

Royal Update: On May 2, 2015 Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, the second child of Prince William and the former Kate Middleton, was born in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London, England which was the same hospital where her brother, Prince George, was born in 2013.  Princess Charlotte’s christening will take place on July 5, 2015 in St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England.  For more information on Sandringham, please click on the link.