Top Ten Reasons to Spend Christmas in Tenerife

Having splashed and sloshed our way through the wettest summer in living memory, many of us Brits are severely in need of a bit of light relief. Recent statistics reveal a desperate rush to leave the country over Christmas and head to the gloriously sunny climes of Tenerife. The statistics, from a survey by TravelRepublic, show a massive increase in winter sun holidays in general and Christmas breaks in Tenerife are the most popular of all.

There has been a drop in Tenerife travel prices this season with many one-week packages to Tenerife coming in at under £300. Cheap trips to Tenerife are clearly a big draw to those of us keen to escape the grim British weather, but could there be more to it than this? Christmas is getting bigger every year and the pressure to get it right is immense. A Tenerife Christmas can remove such hassles, and more. That's why I've compiled a list of ten aspects of Christmas hell and how jetting off on a sunny holiday to Tenerife will turn them all around!

1) In the UK: Presents and shopping

Us Brits spend an average of £384 on 18 Christmas presents. Significantly more than you might be spending on your whole Tenerife holiday!

On holiday: Spanish souvenirs

It's impossible to list all the Spanish souvenirs you could find for your loved ones, but here are five of the most popular items you could pick up whilst in Tenerife:

Abanico - hand held fans elaborately decorated or carved from wood make a great Tenerife Christmas present.

Football Souvenirs - items brandishing the Real Madrid crest or a miniature replica of the stadium are ideal gifts for footie fans!

Bullfighting Souvenirs - you can buy a representation of the three matadors or even a replica matador's jacket.

Toro - these miniature Spanish bulls vary in quality from moulded plastic to elaborate pieces hand made in leather.

Art & Paintings - from the country that gave birth to Salvador Dali and Picasso there is a large selection of cheap scenes of everyday Spain.

2) In the UK: Enforced jollity

At Christmas there is no greater sin then appearing to be grumpy. Never mind if it's raining again when it ought to be snowing. Never mind the awkward family tensions. If your mood isn't up you're in trouble - you're 'ruining Christmas'.

On holiday: Real jollity

Waking up to the bliss of no responsibilities and a day of sunbathing will put you in a naturally good mood, so there's no need to fake it!

3) In the UK: Inappropriate outfits

Christmas seems to inspire the oddest outfits: fluorescent antlers, hair tinsel, 'fun' paper crowns, ridiculous knitted festively themed woolly jumpers - the list is endless and another example of that enforced jollity.

On holiday: A good tan

Developing a healthy glow in Tenerife will make you the envy of all your friends when the glitter of Christmas has died down to a dull fizzle and everyone's feeling pale and miserable. Ha-ha!

4) In the UK: Guzzling excessive cheap alcohol

To get through the emotional rollercoaster of another family Christmas, many of us, despite our best intentions, will turn to the bottle to ease the pain. The following day's hangover only makes it that much worse.

On holiday: Sipping cocktails by the pool

There are so many fabulous bars in Tenerife that you'll be spoilt for choice, and there's no need to overdo it when you're already having so much fun!

5) In the UK: Office parties

You can already picture the scene: watching what you drink in case you say exactly what you think about your unbearable boss or colleague, whilst pretending not to be disgusted by the cringeworthy advances of the office letch. Finally, you end up dancing wildly with said letch in a mad drunken stupor. The Facebook photos won't make it any easier to forget.

On holiday: Beach parties!

A beach party in Tenerife will really blow away the winter cobwebs. For daytime fun, the main beach of Playa de las Americas is where the party people go to recharge their batteries before the next clubland assault and when the sun goes down you can head to Enramada Beach near La Caleta, where Chiringuito Beach Club hosts parties at the weekend. Many revellers choose to camp on the beach at Las Galletas, bringing their own food and drinks and listening to music into the small hours. Christmas in Tenerife is such fun!

6) In the UK: Christmas lunch

First of all, whoever's cooking is incredibly stressed, and claims you have no idea how much work there is to do (if you try and help then you're inevitably doing it all wrong). This leads to petty arguments and numerous kitchen disasters. Meanwhile one member of the family has suddenly decided to become a vegan without telling anyone and refuses to eat a thing, glaring grumpily while everyone else tucks into their turkey.

On holiday: Tapas & fresh tropical fruit

Food in Tenerife is very tasty and a lot less stressful than Christmas dinner. Tapas are Spain's appetizers, scrummy little dishes which are often flavoured with garlic, chillies or paprika, cumin, salt, pepper or saffron. It often comes with seafood such as anchovies, sardines or mackerel in olive oil with tomatoes and sometimes peppers or olives. On your Tenerife holiday you can also sample many delicious tropical fruits like mangoes, paw paw and 'platanos fritos' - fried bananas.

7) In the UK: Christmas television

Saccharine Coca Cola adverts, endless repeats of 'Only Fools and Horses', soap extravaganzas and 'Celebrity' Christmas specials.

On holiday: singles - Find a winter romance

For goodness sake, forget TV and get out there onto the lively Tenerife singles scene. If anything's going to boost your sprits at Christmas it's a sizzling holiday romance!

8) In the UK: Christmas number ones

Slade's 'So here it is Merry Christmas', Band Aid's 'Do they know it's Christmas' and Aled Jones' 'Walking in the air'. Haven't you heard them all enough?

On holiday: iPod

Forget the naffness - when you set off for your holiday in Tenerife you make sure you've got all your favourite tunes at your fingertips so you can sunbathe in peace.

9) In the UK: Carol singers

Expecting you to give them money for one chorus of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' when half of them don't know the words and the other half are miming.

On holiday: iPod

See above.

10) In the UK: Unrelentingly grim weather

Grrr. Grrr. Grrr.

On holiday: Sunshine

Mmm - what a relief!

Creatively Decorating the Outside of the Home With Christmas Luminaries

Making simple tin can luminaries is a wonderful way of adding a cozy, homemade feeling to your outdoor area and are a great craft you can do yourself. Put them in groups scattered around the landscaping, on either side of the front door, or line a path or the walkway to the door for a truly festive touch.

The supplies you will need for making your own tin can luminaries are:

- Candles
- Cardboard
- Hammer
- Nail
- Newspaper
- Paint brush
- Pencil
- Tin cans
- Various Christmas cookie cutters such as a star, Christmas tree, and bell
- White paint

To make the luminaries:

1. First, wash the cans and remove the labels, then dry completely.

2. Paint the outside of all the cans with white paint, allowing it to dry thoroughly.

3. Apply two more coats, waiting between each for the paint to dry.

4. Next is time to add the shapes using the cookie cutter of your choice and the pencil to trace around the edges onto the front of a can. Choose shapes that are relatively simple, such as a Christmas tree, bell, or star for the best results, and add extra lines drawn freehand to signify snow if you like.

5. Stuff the cans as much as possible with newspaper and cardboard after tracing the designs in order to help them retain their shape while punching the holes through.

6. Now use the nail and hammer to punch holes through the cans, placing the nail's point directly on the penciled line before firmly tapping it with the hammer until you have broken completely through. For larger holes, keep tapping the nail through until it reaches its roundest and largest point. Alternately, for smaller holes, just let the very tip of the nail enter the tin. Try to space the holes evenly apart at regular intervals for the neatest results.

7. After finishing the holes, inspect the cans to see that there are no scratched areas where the paint will need to be touched up a bit.

8. After the touch-up coat has dried, place the candles inside your new luminaries using a long-tipped match to reach down in for lighting. Tea lights will burn out after only an hour, so choose larger votives to keep your decorations aglow for an entire winter's evening.

Start a new holiday tradition that everyone will come to love year after year and create a new luminary for each season, punching the new year into the can, or simply painting the number on the can's bottom. Now, your visitors will have no trouble at all finding their way to your home this Christmas Eve as your beautiful luminaries will be lighting their path.

The Evolution of Christmas Ornaments

Things have come a long way since a Christmas ornament was likely to be just a ball hung by the window, or later on a Christmas tree.

Historians believe that this original Christmas decoration descended from a witch ball. The original purpose of a witch ball was to fend off evil spirits. However, being traditionally glass made, these balls were also very decorative, and people started to see their use for decorating the home. They were great decorations, so they started to move around the house a bit, and the original green colour was varied as time went on.
Over the centuries, and gathering pace in the Victorian era, they were made in different colours and sizes, and even the material from which they were made started to be varied.

Also by Victorian times, it became fashionable to decorate the home for Christmas, so Christmas ornaments started to take a hold in Victorian homes. Less concerned about evil spirits, people looked at ornaments as a festive display, a symbol of celebration. Instead of warding off evil spirits, they started to accompany a surge in other spirits, most notably brandy and whisky.

From Victorian times onwards the range has increased steadily. The decorations have been hung in different places too: the mantle, windows, and front door being favourites, as well as the Christmas tree, but there is really no restriction where to hang Christmas ornaments these days. Inside, outside, it no longer seems to matter.

A lot of the increase in the use of Christmas decorations has come from the desire to impress friends, neighbours and family with the decorative display, as well, of course, for one's own enjoyment.

The Christmas ball that was supposed to have been derived from the witch ball, is still a clear favourite of the Christmas ornaments used to decorate the Christmas tree. Over the years Christmas tree balls have been designed in a great variety of colours and finish, with an increasing variety of sparkling balls.

Another favourite for Christmas decorations nowadays are the coloured fairy lights. Flashing coloured lights are often a feature of outside Christmas ornament displays, as well as for the tree and other places inside the house.

It also became quite normal in the 20th century to hang a new type of Christmas ornament on a tree; some sort of food, especially chocolate, that would be covered with a colourful, shiny paper wrapping to add a festive decorative effect. On top of the Christmas tree, a fairy has been a popular adornment over the years, but that has been changing in recent decades, and other Christmas ornaments often now take pride of place at the pinnacle.f

As with so many things over the last hundred years, Christmas decorations have just got bigger and better, as well as with a greater variety. Now, in some localities, you will get local communities where house owners go to great lengths to decorate the outside of their homes with giant Christmas ornaments and lighting displays. Some such localities become well known simply for their Christmas display. Even here in the Philippines, some localities become well known in the Christmas season for their exuberant Christmas ornament displays.

For most of us, however, Christmas ornaments are about decorating our own little piece of territory to make Christmas a special occasion for the family, and it is unlikely that that will ever change.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roy_Thomsitt

Christmas Decorations Bring Fantasy to Life

Christmas decorations bring fantasy to life. Your yard starts as a beautiful green carpet. Then you add Santa and his sleigh, or Santa in a huge snow filled ball. Bring in the lights with deer to roam and you have a wonderland in your front yard.

When the snow comes your decorations are in their glory with the wonder of the natural snow. The trees bow to the weight of the snow and add calmness to the scene. For those in the north the snow is an added charm to the decorations that the people in the south usually do without.

Adding your Santa inside that talks and sings is a great entertainment for the little kids. They love talking and singing with him even though hes not the real deal. They are still happy to be reminded of Christmas glee. The season is one for the little ones that are still believers and we as adults make it as real as we can. We have just as much fun getting the stage set for their delights.

We loved believing in Santa and its great to pass the fantasy to the next generation. What brings back the memories to us? Santa was a special guy at your favorite store that wanted to listen to our list and send us off with a small candy cane. When we look at our photos that were taken, we wonder why we were pitching a tantrum.

Remember when creating your winter wonderland, you are creating memories that will last forever in your children's lives. This all leads up to the special day when the presents are opened. We have kept the magic of Santa alive for another year.

The magic of Christmas starts with the Christmas Decorations that are set up in your yard and in your home. After Thanksgiving is a special time to get your decorating started leading to the big event.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Greer

Why are outdoor Christmas Decorations fun?

Decorating outdoors can be done many different ways. The choices in outdoor Christmas decorations are overwhelming and you can see this in many people's outdoor displays. When it comes to decorating outside, sometimes you need to remember that less is more.

For example, you will be overdressed if you wear your formal gown along with seven diamond bracelets and four diamond necklaces. In much the same way, you want to refrain from overdoing your yard during Christmas. Showing your Christmas spirit is great, but too many Christmas decorations can possibly detract from your outdoor decoration.

It begins to be a problem when you start picking and choosing among all of the different choices available. It is best to have a few related outdoor Christmas decorations than many unrelated items, because it makes the whole yard look uncluttered and too busy.

I have seen yards with revolving reindeer, Santa, his sleigh, lighted palm trees, icicle lighting, and even several of those blow-up decorations. This yard was overshadowed by all of these outdoor decorations and ended up looking busy and disturbing, rather than giving you that Christmas spirit.

You may want to jump into your decorating with both feet, but with outdoor Christmas decorations it is best to refrain. You can use restraint in your outdoor Christmas decorations choices and help to make your yard festive, without turning it into the brightest spot in the neighborhood.

To help yourself stay on track it is best to choose a theme and then stay with it. You don't want to put the Grinch on top of a manger scene. If you choose the nativity as your theme then choose traditional decorations over the characters. It will make the yard more cohesive and more interesting to your friends and family.

Another thing to remember is that just because you have a certain decoration does not mean that you have to use it every year. You may love the Nutcracker fiber optic Christmas decoration that you have, but you want to do your yard in a more traditional nativity theme. You can just not use the Nutcracker set this year and save it for another Christmas.

It is very exciting to decorate for the Christmas season. It can be difficult to tone it down because all of the decorations are so fun and interesting to look at, but you need to keep it simple. Keep in mind that the people passing your home only have a couple of seconds to see your entire yard. Simpler is better, especially when we are discussing outdoor Christmas decorations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Caxton