Tag: Christmas

Why does every store play the same Christmas songs from 1950? Turns out there used to be a stigma around recording holiday music. That stigma accidentally created the canon. When it disappeared, so did our ability to make new classics.

Not your typical baseball card. My 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter #XR-7 card features a turtle X-ray, but the real star is the Christmas tree reflection.

Handwoven mittens, regional belts, and county shields tell Estonia's story at @msichicago's Christmas Around the World exhibit. Each ornament carries centuries of tradition!

This year’s Christmas tradition: a 10-hour playlist with 158 versions of Last Christmas! Next year? Maybe Marshmallow World. What’s your holiday anthem?

Do you have an artificial Christmas tree? If you do, you might have done some comparison shopping before purchasing your tree. This is our first time buying a fake Christmas tree, so we are new to the variety of fake…

Local squirrel confounded by tree's new 'horizontal living' choice. Neighbors report it's been dabbling in avant-garde landscaping.

National Illinois Day falls on Dec 7th, and it's a reminder to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas! 🌲 Discover more fun facts and festive musings.

Are you looking for a unique Christmas decoration? Consider decorating a Christmas pineapple.

A great Christmas surprise this year? Christmas ninjas! With these fun little guys around the house, you’ll find everyone asking, “Hey, what happened to the Christmas cookies?” Ninjas. These little guys bearing peppermint weapons will surely bring a fresh breath…

Do you love stamps? And do you love Christmas? Then you might enjoy how the Canadian Stamp News nabbed one of my photos for an article about the Christmas Philatelic Club. Normally, I’m not a huge fan when websites just…

I’m sorry everyone, I should be stuffing my Christmas cards into envelopes to get them mailed, but I’m writing a blog post instead! Soon I’ll publish a fun blog post about a wonderful (and relatively unknown) artist I discovered at…

I love keeping the envelopes from mailed Christmas cards. Handwriting What did so-and-so’s handwriting look like? Nowadays the only time we see someone’s handwriting is on the envelope of a Christmas card. Is it messy? Neat? While spring cleaning in…

How to fit 100 columnists, 15 comic strips, and 50 employees into one holiday invite. This year I was asked to design the invite to our company holiday party this year. Normally, this would be finding some nice holiday stock…

I have a penchant for creating really complicated Christmas cards. This year I decided to print fifty photos onto strips of paper. Then slide those strips into a clear plastic ornament. Kinda crazy. But also kinda fun. Here’s a preview…

Do you know those projection Christmas lights? I can’t decide if they are incredibly awesome, or incredibly lazy. I suppose it depends on how you implement the projection lights alongside other decorations. Pair it up nicely with other decorations, and…

Walking down the alley in suburban Oak Park, Christmas trees lay next to most garbage cans. The alley becomes like a Christmas tree lot, post-Christmas. Need a Christmas tree? Take your pick. Most trees are lightly used and varying degrees…

Tree mulchers are crunching all the Christmas trees on curbs and in alleys. The plethora of trees will soon be a handful of wood. How much mulch does one Christmas tree produce? I’m guessing about six handfuls of mulch. What’s your…

When you throw away your tree, make sure to literally THROW it away. Walk your tree out to your curb / dumpster / alley. Stop about 20 feet short of where you would normally place your tree. Then try to…

Have problems with your Christmas tree? Consider a Christmas stick. Sound crazy? Yeah, it is, but I’ve been doing it for three years and I love it. Love your Christmas tree? Of course you do, Christmas trees are beloved. You…

You know those really cool stained glass things you can make? You drop little plastic pellets into a wire frame and then throw them into the oven, and the plastic pellets melt. When the entire thing cools down, you take…

What makes you joyful? Not just happiness. But joy. The comfort and pleasure of joy. We set out to answer that question a couple years ago in my bible study group. We were to write about what brings us joy.…

I’ve always wanted a gun that shoots out strings of Christmas lights. I would hold the Christmaslightstring Machine Gun in the G.I.Joe Roadblock style and yell out in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, “MERRY CHRISTMAS AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!”…

Here’s what the Art Institute should do for their lion sculptures for Christmas 2011. Wrap them entirely in crochet. People would love it. Photo from http://animalnewyork.com/2010/12/wall-street-bull-crocheted/ Here’s what the Art Insitute of Chicago did in 2010: And what the lion…

The old marble walls are lit up with alternating green and red lamps. It’s simply majestic. During lunch I walked from the Tribune Tower down to Daley Plaza looking for Christmas things to photograph. The Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza…

In celebration of Christmas coming up, here are some of my favorite Christmas photos shot around Chicago.

I put a web address on my 2009 Christmas card.

Every Christmas season, Chicago’s greatest hipster crafters get together and sell their ironic, cool, stylish wares. Here’s a few reasons why Renegade puts on a great holiday show. 1. Great location The Pulaski Park Fieldhouse is worth the trip alone.…

I hereby declare the day after Christmas to be called “Christmas Adam.” Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas, so it only makes sense to declare Christmas Adam for December 26. It’s really cool how Christmas is such an important…

Almighty powerful God. The one who can move mountains. Who formed the planet with His hands. That same God. He was funneled into a baby. All that glorious power squeeezed into a baby. Christmas is an amazing day. You’ve heard…

Christmas shopping. ta la la. ta la la. Christmas shoooooping. That should be a song. Why is there no song about Christmas shopping? All the stores could play it! Are there any songs about Christmas shopping?

Note in the literal English translation it says, “Blessed boy in curly hair.”