Making your own gifts and decorations this year 2017

Making your own gifts and decorations this year.

This year now that both of my children are older I am looking at celebrating this year with them for the fist time and to try and teach them the true meaning of the festive season.

For me it is “The Gift of Giving” so we are in the process of doing this and celebrating Yule.

So this year their dad is already underway with making the boys their Yule gift and I am looking at decorating the house and what food and events that we are going to take place.

So it is the 20^th November 2017 and a month before I will be looking at decorating the house and the tree.

So where do I start.?

One of the things that I am looking at is what I have in the house and how I can use what I have instead of buying things new and also about what I can forage from the !!br0ken!!

One thing that I have been looking at is the following links for inspiration and Facebook pages and group that I am in.

Cloves

one of the things that I am looking at for The festive season is buying Cloves.

What are Cloves?

Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice. Cloves are commercially harvested primarily in Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Cloves are available throughout the year.

Buying them “Fair Trade”

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en/what-is-fairtrade

Because they they are from over seas I am looking at buying them fair trade and to also look at selling them whole sale when I set up my own business. I am looking at selling dried products for making things with in the future. Cloves can be brought al year and can be purchased form any supermarket so why use them them for the Winter Holidays what makes them so important?

Health benefit can be found by following the links below.

Cloves are a good source of manganese, selenium, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin K, dietary fibre and vitamin C.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=69#healthbenefits

http://www.antioxidants-for-health-and-longevity.com/benefits-of-cloves.html

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/cloves.html

What do they have to do with the Winter Holidays?

With cloves coming to the UK from places like Indonesia but the region with the largest production is Zanzibar in eastern Africa; most people know of Cloves being Used in Mulled Wine and Christmas Cake.

Now that the UK is so divested with culture, and traditions it would be nice to see Cloves used more and why not start by using them at this time of the year to decorate the home and in cooking.

Make Cloved Orange: A Regency Pomander

This is the art of using Cloves and Oranges to decorate the home and to give as gifts of family and friends at this time of year. For the history y of Clove Orange: A Regency Pomander please follow this link below.

https://www.janeausten.co.uk/cloved-orange-a-regency-pomander/

One thing that Make Clove Orange: A Regency Pomander look like are Christingles.

What is Christingle?

Christingle's is a lighted candle symbolizing Christ as the light of the world, held by children at a special Advent service originating in the Moravian Church.

It is sally on the First Sunday of advent which is a Christian way of celebrating this time of year. You can attend a Christingle celebration at your local church and get a Christingle as part of the services whilst collecting money for charity.

Useful Yule recipes./links

http://recipesforapagansoul.weebly.com/yule-dec-21-23.html

https://Wiccan/celtic/akasha/yule.htm

Use full link about Spices

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/grow-to-eat/where-do-christmas-spices-come-from/