“Christmas waves a magic wand over the world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” Norman Vincent Peale

A few weeks more, and we will be at the threshold of the Festival that transmogrifies individuals and communities across races and faiths into cheerful, merry, altruistic, joyful beings. When Season’s Greetings and Christmas Wishes and Prayers, and Santa’s Secrets are blithely distributed in good spirits, amidst much merrymaking and reflection.

Over the decades, Christmas has become a cultural and social festival, as much as its cornerstone is religious. While it is universally known that Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, this day was commemorated as His birthday only in the 4th century by the Western Christian Church, following the Gregorian calendar. Some Eastern Christian Churches celebrate this day on January 7, as they follow the older Julian calendar.

Did you know that the Christmas celebrations have pagan roots? Pagan, or non-Christian, traditions are showcased in this most popular winter holiday, a consequence of early church leaders melding Jesus' nativity celebration with pre-existing midwinter festivals. Since then, Christmas traditions have changed and borrowed from other cultures over time, metamorphosing finally in their current state a little more than a century ago. Incidentally the current custom of celebration came to life courtesy Charles Dickens book, ‘A Christmas Carol’, published in 1843, where he described a white Christmas with roast turkey, gift giving, snow and frost, church bells, carol singing, mulled wine, holly, charitable donations and Christmas pudding. Dickens in fact is variously credited with ‘inventing’ and more realistically ‘reviving’ Christmas. The Christmas Tree incidentally, was a German custom, while Santa Claus was a blend of the historical Saint Nicholas (a fourth-century Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra), the British figure of Father Christmas and the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas (himself also based on Saint Nicholas). And kissing under the mistletoe harks back to Norse mythology, just as Yuletide. A synonym for the Christmas season, this involved burning of a ‘yule’ log, as it was thought to have the power to ward off misfortune. Yule logs are now often symbolized by a cake shaped like a log.

No wonder then, that Christmas from the 20th century onwards is a festival of cheer, decking-up, gifting, love and peace, celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike, all over the world.

Homes, hotels, buildings, roads (apart from churches) are beautifully dressed in lights, stars, and Christmas trees adorned with glittery gifts. Santa Claus makes his appearance in schools, malls, offices and homes for disadvantaged children and the elderly, distributing gifts, amid the singing of carols and merry-making. ‘Joy to the world’ is manifest everywhere!

Dress up your home in the traditional Christmas colours of green, red and white, without necessarily changing the existing colour scheme. A green Christmas tree, with a white star atop, and gifts wrapped in shades of red and white placed by the tree, and some red and white stockings, and voila, your Christmas vibes are set. Place a wreath with natural rustic elements like pine cones and berries, on a bare wall. Spread colourful, ribboned gift boxes across the room. In place of name tags, stick photos onto the gift boxes for your family and friends. If you have a fireplace, hang up small Santas and stockings above it, and set the mood for Santa’s entry into the house. Make your fridge a snowman – get the kids to work! They will love it. And probably attack the fridge more often – so stock up the inside with healthy snack/chocolate options – a great way to get fussy kids to eat more! On the outside of your home, string your doorway with a red and green garland, festooned with lights, with a star at the centre on top. Watch the guest waltz in!

Enhance your Christmas Cheer quotient with these special artefacts from Artisans Rose, thoughtfully curated for Christmas; on offer is Christmas décor of Christmas Tree Ornaments in wood, such as the Gingerbread Man, drunk star, elf ice skating, snow ballerina, Santa assortment, star, reindeer, Badass Santa and Gift Sack, and an eclectic variety of tea lights in metal and wood, covering the gamut from traditional to contemporary, with quirky thrown in, at
https://www.artisansrose.com/web/index.php/christmas-decor.html
These are also available on ecommerce platforms like Pepperfry, World Art Community, Amazon, Engrave, Etsy, and Artyowl.

Please visit our website, https://artisansrose.com/ for more on what we do.

If you like what you see and want us to design and manufacture distinctive décor and furniture to enhance the experience at your home/establishment, do write to us at [email protected]
You can also call +91 90727 87773, Monday to Saturday, 10 am – 7 pm.

We spearhead interior design and architecture projects along with our esteemed partners and elevate and enhance spaces (home and commercial) to our clients’ complete satisfaction.