Santa Claus is coming to town this weekend in Toronto. However, I was in Niagara Falls last evening and it was very pretty and cold as well. As you can see from the above collage, the snowfall we had yesterday stayed on some of the branches of the trees there and gave that white, picturesque, wintry scene. And who isn’t dreaming of a white Christmas? To top it all off, the Show at Fallsview last night by Kenny Rogers was half his hit tunes and half Christmas music. That got me right into the Christmas spirit. He sang “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow,” as well as many other favorite hits. 
All the decor in the collages are images that I took in the Christmas store at Niagara. There were many people hustling and bustling in there trying to take in the sights of Christmas and many serious shoppers as well. 
As far as Christmas decor goes, there is decor in every color, size, and shape. You don’t need to worry these days that you will run out of ideas for decorating your tree or home. The above ornaments are all pink as you can see. This Christmas tree was one of my favorite ones there. I will be adding other collages over the next little while to this post. For now, I will just share the lyrics to “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” with you. Perhaps you are having your own little epiphanies wherever you are about the onset of the Christmas Holidays. Watch out for the other collages!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Everywhere you go; Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again With candy canes and silver lanes aglow. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Toys in every store But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be On your own front door.
A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots Is the wish of Barney and Ben; Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk Is the hope of Janice and Jen; And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again. School days school days dear old golden rules day don’t have to study don’t have to go look out the window it’s starting to snow
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go;
There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
When we think of Christmas, the colors red and green flash in our minds immediately. They are lovely colors and brighten our spirits when December is upon us and it is wintry and cold outside. I didn’t know the origin behind the use of these colors and decided to find out. There are different stories about this but I liked this one particularly. It comes from Sensational Color which is internet-based:
PINE GREEN & APPLE RED
I think the most likely root of the red and green tradition dates back to the 1300s when Adam and Eve’s Day was celebrated on December 24th. Each year on this day churches traditionally presented a Paradise Play depicting the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.
Now you can’t have a story about Adam and Eve without an apple tree but since it wasn’t easy to find a real tree full of ripe, red apples during the winter apples someone came up with the idea of fastening apples to the branches of a pine tree. This decorated pine tree represented the Tree of Good and Evil. But the tree wasn’t only seen in the play. Churches began adding a tree donning red apples into their Christmas displays.
The decorated tree that began as a prop for the Paradise play was so popular especially in Germany, that people began to put pine trees up in their homes during the holiday, decorating them with red apples, as the church folks had done and the tradition of having a Christmas treee was born.
The idea spread and both Christmas trees and the color combination of red and green were well on its way to becoming official symbols of the Christmas holiday.
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Isn’t that a lovely story about the origin of using red and green at Christmas time?
As I left the Fallsview Casino, I saw some staff just putting up one of the indoor trees. The huge outdoor tree is standing but has not yet been lit up. I can’t wait to see how pretty they will look when they are all decorated. The Christmas card in the right hand corner is one I made and recently sent to someone special in Colombia. As you can tell, preparations are well underway for Christmas 2014.
How about ballet dancer ornaments?
Or do you fancy peacock colored ones?
What would Christmas be without the angels?
“The earth has grown old with its burden of care but at Christmas it always is young, The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair and its soul full of music breaks the air, when the song of angels is sung.” (Phillip Brooks)
That’s all for “Looking like Christmas” and hope you liked the collages.
Bi Toronto. Going to see this ballet is a Christmas tradition for many families. This may be the reason why ballet dancer ornaments are so popular for many at Christmas. In the above collage, you can see some of the lovely ornaments