Christmas Island is a part of Australia lying in the Indian Ocean. It is 2,600 Km (1,600mi) away from the continent and very much close to Jakarta. Similarly, Cocos (Keeling) islands too are a part of Australia and are 975 Km (606 mi) away from Christmas Island. The islands have wonderful beaches and sunny weather. Plan and travel to the Christmas Islands for a nice family vacation.

Tourism

Christmas Island has a wonderful sea life around it and has a number of endemic species in its waters. If you love the ocean and want to enjoy some real fun, try the following when you are at the islands:

Scuba diving: Best time November to April.

Red crab migration: It is called “One of the wonders of the natural world” by ecologist. A must see phenomenon.

Nature walking: 63% of the island is a national park. Gives first-hand knowledge of the endemic flora and fauna.
Bird watching: More than 80,000 sea birds nest here.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are divided as northern and southern islands.

This place is heaven for nature lovers. Activities you could indulge yourself in:

CI walking tours: Alternate routes for moderate walkers and challenge seeking walkers.

Scuba diving: View over 500 species of fishes, intact coral ecosystem.
Bird watching: More than 60 species of birds flock here annually.
Visiting the Pulu Keeling national park

Planning a Holiday

To travel to Christmas Islands or Cocos islands, you will have to fly up to Perth, Australia. From Perth there are twice weekly flights. There are flights between the two islands too. Island explorer holidays offer ‘Double Island Combination’ packages from Perth starting at A$ 2000/person inclusive of taxes. Feature of the package are:

Return flights from Perth to Cocos Islands and to Christmas Island with Virgin Blue
7 nights of accommodation in each island.
Orientation tour for both the islands during the respective island’s trip.
A copy of ‘Reflections of Cocos Island Photography’ Book
The good part of this package is that you can customize it according to your needs.

Tips for Travelers

While travelling to Christmas Islands, you need to do the following well ahead of time. The islands are small places and the number of tourists flocking, are great in number. So avoid disappointment and plan ahead.

Local transport: You will need a vehicle to go around and for sight-seeing. So book in advance.
Food: Coco islands do not have many dining options. So it’ll be best if you can get your own cheese, meat and stuffs to last for few days.
Shopping: Apart from few souvenir shops, there isn’t much for shopping.

The islands give you the best of nature’s creations. Wide beaches and coral studded atolls. Mild sun and great waters. Don’t forget you underwater cameras! Travel to the lovely Christmas islands and Cocos Islands and become one with nature.

Getting the Christmas travel deal can be a stomach churning experience, especially if you haven’t planned it yet and your kids and wife are already planning what to do at the holiday destination. Here are some deals to get the best out of each cent you spend. Here are some cool Christmas travel deals to look forward to this year.

Why Travel Deals?

They are cheap.
Include hotel accommodations, sight-seeing.
Can be customized according to your needs.

Best Christmas Travel Packages

London: This package from Virgin holidays includes round trip air fare, hotel accommodation for 6 nights and inclusive of breakfast and taxes. Sight-seeing, complimentary airport drop and pick-up and 24 hour traveler assistance are available too. Trips to countries in Europe start from $ 550/adult. Virgin holidays, specializes in customized vacations.

Orlando: Southwest Vacations offers dearth cheap vacations starting from just $49 which includes round trip, hotel accommodation (incl. taxes), and 24 hours traveler assistance. This turns out this cheap as you are travelling with the US. Foreigners will have to pay $700-1000 more. The best Christmas travel deal ever.

Las Vegas: Visiting the USA and not visiting Las Vegas, the most happening city in the entire continent? To experience the ultimate indulgence Southwest Vacations offers the trip and back to Sin city from $160 which includes, 2 nights of hotel accommodation (incl. taxes), and 24 hours traveler assistance.

Caribbean blast: This holiday from Funjet Vacations is an all inclusive vacation package starting at just $200/adult during Christmas. Can choose from Aruba, Jamaica, Punta Cana and many more.

Alaska Cruise: Want to spend a freezing cold Christmas this year? Get the ultimate thrill out of cruises in Alaska. CruiseExperts.com offers a 7 night balcony cabin cruise for just $700.

Well you can also get special deals on the website of the vacation providers which will definitely be cheaper than your travel agent. The best time to book your tickets is not before a week away from Christmas.

Tools for Christmas Travel

As you are now all set for you travel, hunted down the best Christmas travel deal, you need certain tools to help you keep track of your money and budgeting software and spreadsheets are best suited for this. You can download any of the following for this purpose.

Holiday spending worksheet from Smartmoney.com
Holiday Budget Spreadsheet Template from W Network
Holiday Gift List Spreadsheet Template from SmartMoneyTips.com
Spreadsheets for your budget on Suite101.com
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Hot deals and tools. All you need to do now is patiently wait for holy Christmas to come by so that you can escape to a world with no worries!

Christmas is said to be a time to spread the joy of love and happiness. Maybe that is why the tradition of giving presents dates centuries back. This act shows we care for them and there by living the true spirit of Christmas. But the act is true only if you give your loved ones a good Christmas present.

Good Christmas Presents for Moms

Intellectual mom: A good Christmas present for such a person would be books, DVDs, poems and maybe some useful gadgets (not necessarily kitchen gadgets).

Family Oriented mom: A photo montage of herself, a bunch of flowers on the day of Christmas, Music DVDs, cook book, new stylish glasses, a spa treatment. Any of these would make her day.

Shopaholic mom: Trendy clothes, decent makeup kit, jewels, branded accessories etc would be perfect for her.
Nature lover: If your mom loves nature and is interested in photography you could get her a cool DSLR camera with tripod or a infrared binoculars for bird watching or a personalized notebook for her to take during her nature trips, exotic plants which she wanted for a long time and stuffs like that.

Good Christmas Presents for Dads

Intellectual dad: How about a nice book of his interest or items for his office desk or an organizer or useful office gadgets?

Handyman’ dad: Does your dad love repairing stuffs? Go in for sophisticated tool box with newest tools or you could get him other accessories such as helmet, protective glasses or gloves or jackets.
Sporty dad: Most men are into sports. You can get a cue from this and give your dad something to relive his youth. Maybe a personalized jersey or jacket with his team name, a photomontage of his youthful sporty figure, sports utilities, golfing set, a mini gym etc. will be greatly appreciated.

Other presents: Initials etched glasses, Coffee mug, cuff links, BBQ aprons

Good Christmas Presents for Teenagers

Fashion accessories, books, music DVDs, musical instruments, sports utilities, PSP, mobiles, gadgets, clothes, footwear, makeup, jewel, electronics, a trip to a game, a trip abroad, a spa treatment, photo frame and many more.

Good Christmas Presents for Grandparents

Grandparents are often neglected in families. But isn’t it a fact that we are here on this Earth because of them. Show them you love them by getting some good Christmas present that they can use.

Gloves and mittens, sweater, family tree kit, knitting kit, trendy glasses, flower bunch, lawn mower, rare plants, jewel, pocket clock, health regulators, organizers, heating bad for their knee and backaches, Garden bucket caddy to keep all their gardening items together, good books, chocolates, wrist watch and loads of affection – the best ever Christmas present!

Gift them and show how much they mean to you, because when you buy a gift for anybody, they will know you thought of them all the while! That makes the gift special.

Giving presents to each other is a way of living. But going back in history of Christmas present, you will find that this tradition evolved from different parts of the world over a period of time.

Romans the Pioneers

The first ever recorded tradition of presents goes back to the days of Romans who celebrated the year end in honor of their Gods. As a part of celebrating this, people used to bring food items for the king and make merry. This was not mandatory until the ruler Caligula made it a law to bring gifts on the day of New Year. Probably this tradition evolved into present day gift-giving.

Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus

Probing little more into the history of Christmas presents we come across the 4th century bishop, St. Nicholas. It is said that he used to leave presents for the residents during his time. This saint, remembered for his generosity, over many hundreds of years later, came to be known as present day Santa Claus. Following this, the tradition of present giving became prevalent world-wide by the 10th century.

It is said that a certain Father Christmas was responsible for distributing presents in England, a Pere Noel in France and Babbo Natale and Le Befana in Italy. These characters too can be compared to present day Santa Claus.

Victorian Christmas

In England, Henry III seemed to have forced people to pay him monetary tributes for Christmas and New Year. This was opposed by the Churches, but people came to like the idea of getting gifts and the tradition stuck. Journeying through the history of Christmas presents we see that most of our Christmas celebrations come from the Victorian traditions. Their renewed merriment towards this festival was a welcome change after centuries of decline.

The Three Wise Men

The three wise men bought gifts for the baby Jesus. It could be an act to justify that He was God’s gift. It is quite likely that present day tradition to bring gifts for the new born evolved from this biblical story.

Present Day Christmas Traditions

The simple tradition of gift exchange became totally commercialized in the 19th century. People wanted snazzier gifts and cheap gifts were looked down upon. Christmas time became a sales boom for stores and slowly, the tradition set in and is continuing tell date where last season items are a big no-no.

Today’s traditions have come a long way from the history of Christmas present giving when gift-giving was a voluntary gift-giving tradition. Now become a commercialized fashion statement. Yet, the spirit of merry making and the joy of sharing still remain intact. The core is the same, with a few extravagant price tags.

Traditions are a big part of every religious holiday. Christmas Eve is one such holiday celebrated all across the world. Christmas not only brings together the whole family but also brings happiness to the kids of the house. In this holiday season, most parents are trying hard to plan a special Christmas Eve for their kids.

Parents are concentrating on teaching their children more about Christmas Eve traditions. This is mainly because in the modern day and age, most children do not know much about traditions or religious practices. Therefore, it is a duty of their parents to impart such wisdom to their little ones.

Christmas Eve traditions for kids usually involve only presents and a lot of helping around in the house. It is important to include the teachings of the traditions to this list.
Nothing can be more perfect for this than the light dusting of the snow, the chill outside and the warmth within the four walls of your home.

There many things one can do to set the right holiday mood:

Decorations:   Candles, ribbons, colorful balloons, mistletoe with some Christmas music counts for the best Christmas day decorations. A cozy fire place to light up the whole house and the entire family huddling together to hear Christmas tales – are all memories that one’s going to hold on to throughout their life.

Mass At Church: A meaningful sermon this quiet time of the night brings the true meaning of Christmas — why we celebrate it. Most parents make it a point to take their children to Christmas sermons and the prayer times in church so that the children do not forget about their religion and find solace in the Lord. This is also one of the ways of emphasizing on Christmas traditions for kids.

Decking The Halls:  For children the most important things associated with Christmas are the gifts and the decoration of the Christmas tree. Trimming the tree, decking it up with ribbons, colorful canes, socks, bells, and stars are all the favorite activities of the children during the Christmas season.

Kids on Christmas Eve expect a visit from Santa who would fill the stockings that are hung by the fireplace with lots of goodies. It is customary on the day of Christmas Eve to read children some Christmas stories to complete their evening. The classic “The Night Before Christmas” is by far, the most popular short story of all.

Thus, we see how it is absolutely important for parents to teach their children about the Christmas traditions, the tales associated with the birth and life of Jesus Christ and various other stories that would not only mould them as a better person but also remind them of every Christmas Eve spent during their childhood with utter fondness.

Involving kids in the process of creativity is a wonderful way to make them think and accelerate brain development. It also relaxes them and gives them something else to look at, rather than TV or computer. This Christmas, get together and brain storm fun craft ideas for your kids and get ready to rock your home with all cool hand-made stuffs.

Entire family getting involved in making stuffs can be a good idea of fun crafts for kids. Assisting them with their work will keep them engaged to the work. Otherwise there are chances they might find it boring and your kids might get distracted all the time.

Ideas for Crafts for Kids

Pine cone Christmas tree: Take a pine cone and some green glitter paint, glue and something for the star. Old broken ornaments in shaped of a star will be great. Paint the edges of the pine cone and using the glue, stick the star on the top. Makes a pine cone Christmas tree.

Candy Cane reindeer: Take a 6 inch wrapped candy cane and fix a pompom on the crook as the nose. Take a discarded pipe cleaner and cut it into half. Insert one half on each side of the crook as antlers. You can manipulate them. Take couple of wiggle eyes and stick one on each side on the crook. Hang on your Christmas tree as a lovely ornament. A good fun craft for kids.

Tree ornaments from old Christmas cards: Take a circular thin plastic lid, a colored paper and an old Christmas card with your favorite picture. Trace an outline on the color paper using the lid. Cut it out. Take the Christmas card and cut out the picture carefully. Stick this picture on the color paper. Stick this on the lid and finally for the finishing touch, pierce a hole in the lid for a ribbon to pass through. Hang on the Christmas tree.

Beaded napkin rings: You will need some metallic beads and a sparkling pipe cleaner which is available in any craft store. Inserts the bead one by one. 20 to 25 beads would be sufficient. Leave couple of inches at the end free of beads. Make a circle with the beaded portion and twist it so that the circular loop remains intact. Twist the free ends into wriggly shapes. Fold a napkin and insert inside the loop while setting your dinner table.

Real fun craft ideas for kids, isn’t it? Bet your kid will bug you for more! While making these crafts you are also making unforgettable memories with your child. Share that special moment with your child this season.

Mini Christmas presents go a long way. They are very thoughtful gifts for someone who wants a subtle gesture. Also they make fine stocking stuffers, even in the tiniest of stockings. It is also great for collector’s items, are of low budget and very casual. Here are some mini Christmas present ideas.

Mini Christmas tree

Miniature Christmas tree will make a fine mini Christmas present for any body and it is pretty easy to make. You need a small artificial tree, few tiny ornaments (you can make these too), ribbons, glue and scissors. All you need to do is decorate this tiny tree the way you do your large tree. And that is it. Your Miniature Christmas tree is ready!

Mini Nativity Scene

Many miniature ornate Nativity scene set are available in metal. They cost less than $5 and can be a wonderful present for someone religious or miniature collector.

Mini Watch Ring

These are rings for your finger, but contain a watch. The stone studded top opens up to reveal a tiny little watch. Great for fashion oriented women and teenagers.

Craft Supplies as Mini Gift

Crafty things take up some regular stuff in making like glue, thread, needle, etc. Why not present this as a mini gift to someone really crafty.

Mini Poker Guard

This is a kind of weight to hold the playing cards down from being blown away or getting flipped while playing poker. A very thoughtful gift for a poker player. Good for co-workers and even your boss.

Mini Albums and Scrapbooks

This tiny home-made item is going to bring smiles on your friend’s face. Very easy to make and requires only some of your photos with your friend.

Key Chains

To many people key chains are collectibles. Buy a bunch of them and stuff into the stockings!

Some Miscellaneous Miniatures

Bookmarks
Nail polishes, buffing block, cuticle oil, scented oil
Money clip
Brooches and accessories
A movie or music DVD
Momiji Friendship dolls
Samples of wine in a tiny bottle
Travel size toiletries and cosmetics
Mini crystal ashtray
Mini wine glass
Christmas tree ornaments

Small doesn’t mean less quality. Sometime the tiniest of thing can be of great significance. Looking at the big picture is easy, but not at the tiny details. Choosing a mini gift essentially means you have observed the person carefully to boldly go in for a mini gift.

Mini Christmas presents are wonderful for friends and family and also for co-workers who are not yet close. It is the thought that counts and not the size or price. Make someone smile with your tiny little miniature Christmas presents.

Talking about presents, you cannot possibly leave out your employees and co-workers. They form an integral part of your day today life. But you have trivial impediments on the way, like cost. You also can’t try to personalize each and every gift you give. So to make matters simple, here is a list of possible options for Christmas present for your employees.
Gift basket with chocolates, wine and gourmet food items. These generally tend to go well with both the genders.

Office desk items. Desk clocks, embossed pens, mini desk vacuum cleaner, decision maker, paper weight, levitating globes etc.

Gift certificates. Your employees will thank you for this thoughtful gift which will come handy sometime later if not during Christmas.

AAA Premium road kit: This handy tool and guide can a life saver for your employees. And it comes under $20! Comes with emergency car repair tool and car repair guide for common problems.

Grandiose Christmas Party: Can raise your budget a bit? Then you might just be able to throw an unforgettable office Christmas party. A perfect Christmas present for employees.

Coffee mugs with company logo: Gift an entire set of coffee mugs so that your employee and his/her family will be benefitted by this sensible yet useful Christmas present.

Extended paid vacation. Do this only if it suits your pocket.

Scented candles for women. They are hit with any woman. You get to choose from a wide range of candles here.

Personalized Business card holders. This is a relatively less expensive Christmas present for your employees. But personalizing it or not depends on how long you know your employees and if this doesn’t bite your pocket.

An interesting book. A book on how to handle stress, toxic co-workers or funny office one liners could be a change in the usual ‘monotonous’ gifts your employees receive each year.

Office supplies. You know what a pain in the neck it can be when you run out of paper, pencil, pen, paper clips! Why not empathize with your employees this year and get them a gift basket of office supplies with a holiday card and a gift certificate? It would go a long way.

Buying unisex Christmas presents for your employees will save a lot of time. Doing a bit of research on what your employees need, will be a good way to avoid repetition of gifts. Also, giving money isn’t a good idea, but giving that in form of a holiday bonus will be highly appreciated. If you still want to go in for gender based gifts, then try to buy both kind of gifts within the same price range. This way, your employees wouldn’t feel biased.

This is one time you get to thank them for working their head off all year for you. Make that ‘thank you’ a special moment for them. Merry Christmas!

Christmas is becoming increasingly interesting each year with amazing novelties flooding the markets. Here is a comprehensive list of some really good Christmas novelties you can buy this year for yourself or as a gift for someone.

Novelties – Toys

Stuffed toys: Stuffed Santa, Reindeers, elves, Christmas tree, Snowflakes, the Nativity, Baby Jesus are some common toys specific to Christmas
Nativity set: The nativity set are available in wood, plastic, porcelain as toys as well as display items.

Snowman toys: Snowman is loved by kids. We have a bendable snow man, stuffed snowman, snowman bubbles, Snowman shaped kaleidoscope and inflatable snowman to name some few which are a craze during Christmas.
Hats: Christmas tree shaped hat, Antler hat, Santa’s hat, Snowman hat, etc

Novelties – Decoration Items

Tree ornaments: This is probably the most sorted after Christmas novelty of all. There are umpteen things that can be included in this list like: Wooden decoration items, glass ornaments, personalized tree ornaments, etc.
Cake ornaments: To give your Christmas cake a twist, you can add edible decoration items over your iced caked! How cool would that be? You can place a baby Jesus or Santa on his sledge with his reindeers or couple of gift wrapped cubes along with Santa’s elves or even a mini Christmas tree with its own tiny ornamentations!
Picks: This year try the new Santa picks, Christmas tree picks, Christmas light bulb picks, double bell flat picks, Snowman face picks and so much more!
Return gifts: You might want to give return gifts at Churches or for your customers. You can go in for 3D ceramic dolls which are attractive and fit your budget. Eg: Santa Claus with the gift sack, a decorated Christmas tree, the Nativity scene, Pinecone, Snowflakes.
Fiber optic ornamentations: Fiber optic flowers and Christmas trees are new age Christmas novelties. They are trendy and give you an edge.

Novelty Songs

Novelty songs are comic songs. They are usually spoofs or a parody. The all time favorite novelty songs for Christmas are:
1. “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” written by Donald Yetter Gardner (1944) and first performed by Spike Jones and his City Slickers (1948).
2. “Green Christmas” by Stan Freberg
3. “I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus,” by Kip Addotta
4. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” by Thomas P. Connor
5. “The Chipmunk Song” (Christmas don’t be late). Alvin and The Chipmunks
6. “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo & Patsy (1979).
7. “Christmas Carol” by Tom Lehrer
8. “Jingle Bells” by The Singing Dogs
9. “Rusty Chevrolet” by Da Yoopers (1987), a parody of Jingle Bells.
10. “I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas” by Yogi Yorgesson

Crack yourself up this season with some of the timeless Christmas novelty songs and hot novelties and find the joy of sharing it with your families and loved ones.

Waking up on the day of Christmas everybody wishes one thing, whether it’s a child or an adult, ‘Let it snow today’. If it does, you’ll be in for a sparkling White Christmas! So basically it means that the ground and everything else is covered with snow on the day of Christmas or even the eve.

Places Blessed with White Christmas

Unfortunately, not all countries get to see a white Christmas. The probability depends entirely on the extreme temperatures the places record during December. Places where there are chances of snow, then the parameter is set on the basis that at least a single snow flake falls over certain central locations to designate the day as white Christmas.

Chances of such a Christmas are less in southern hemisphere as it is summer there during the month of December.

Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’

Bing Crosby was a famous American singer-actor. His musical success came with the song ‘White Christmas’, from the movie Holiday Inn, which remained no.1 in the charts for 11 weeks. Though there are several versions of the same song, Crosby’s remains the best even now. In fact this song is recorded as his best ever musical hit.

Sinatra’s ‘White Christmas’

Frank Sinatra was a very close associate and fan of Bing Crosby. So naturally the next best selling version of the above mentioned song is Sinatra’s.

Other Singers

Male

Michael Buble
Nat King Cole
Neil Diamond
Wayne Newton
Elvis Presley (with Amy Grant)
Brian Setzer
Frank Sinatra

Female

Lena Horne
Mahalia Jackson
Etta Jones
Diana Krall
Peggy Lee
Martina McBride
Anne Murray

Lyrics of White Christmas

Writer(s): Irving Berlin
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write.
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.

Hope this year you too get your share of such a snowy Christmas and enjoy the spirit of this wonderful holiday and make this world a better place to live!