Holiday Crafts

Looking for some craft ideas for the upcoming holidays? Look no further than the library. We have plenty of craft books to choose from. Here are just a few of the titles available.

Halloween:

-- Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects by Susan Wasinger - These 30+ costume, pumpkin, and home-decorating ideas are not just beautiful--they are scary beautiful. From unique pumpkin decorations to a “blood”-splashed dinner-party centerpiece to a Yard Specter made from two poles, a string of lights, and torn, draped fabric, these creepy but stylish Halloween projects will give your home a spooky, sophisticated look . . . with gothic flair!

-- All You Frightfully Fun Halloween Handbook by Carole Nicksin - From adorable pumpkin families and classic jack-o-lanterns to down-right scary giant spiders (eek!), the All You Frightfully Fun Halloween Handbook packs in more cute and creepy crafts for tabletops, porches and yards than you'll have room to display. The best part? Every idea comes with simple instructions and a clear list of budget-friendly supplies you'll find online or at nearby stores.

-- Best of Halloween Tricks & Treats from Better Homes and Gardens - Cool ideas for a personalizing any Halloween party From spooky to whimsical and everything in between, this all-new edition of Best of Halloween Tricks & Treats is a treasure-trove of neat ideas and helpful how-tos for adding a personal touch to Halloween parties and celebrations.

Thanksgiving:

-- Thanksgiving Day Crafts by Arlene and Herbert Erlbach - Using these easy-to-follow directions and traceable patterns, readers can make their very own miniature pilgrims, a leaves-in-the-wind glitter globe to give to someone special, pumpkin napkin rings to help decorate the table for a Thanksgiving feast, and more!

-- Martha's Classic Thanksgiving by Martha Stewart - This DVD covers the traditional Thanksgiving basics plus offers more ideas for those interested in trying something new. Includes turkey, stuffing, side dish and dessert recipes, centerpiece, table setting and decorating ideas and Thanksgiving crafts for kids.

--Thanksgiving Crafts by Jean Eick - Through easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step illustrations, this book shows readers how to make Thanksgiving crafts and decorations using everyday objects and craft materials. Activities and games are also included, as well as a brief description of the holiday.

Hanukkah:

-- Hanukkah Crafts by Karen E. Bledsoe - Provides information about the origin and customs of Hanukkah, ideas for celebrating this holiday, and directions for making such crafts as a dreidel mobile, holiday cards, and candle candy holders.

-- Happening Hanukkah: Creative Ways To Celebrate by Debra Mostow Zakarin - Explains the history and customs connected with Hanukkah and provides ideas and instructions for making greeting cards, gift wrappings, presents, decorations, and holiday foods.

Christmas:

-- Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas: Crafts, Decorating Tips, and Recipes, 1920s-1960s by Susan Waggoner - Inspired by the most sought-after treasures from the 1920s through the 1960s, Waggoner recreates a tempting array of decorations and provides step-by-step instructions that allow anyone to deck their halls with cellophane wreaths, glittered glass ornament balls, beaded bell garlands, and whimsical, tinsel-bedecked treat cups.

-- Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ornaments to Make: 101 Sparkling Holiday Trims -The wondrous assortment of handcrafted trims in this book provides hundreds of ideas to spark your creativity. The step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and patterns ensure each beautiful Christmas ornament you make is filled with the beauty of the season.

-- Christmas Crafts by Fay Robinson - Using these easy-to-follow directions and traceable patterns, you can make a stuffed snowman to keep you company on cold nights, a photo frame to give to a friend, some evergreen boughs to decorate your home, and more!

Kwanzaa:

-- Kwanzaa Crafts by Judith Hoffman Corwin - Kwanzaa Crafts offers creative projects for making a Kwanzaa place mat and candle holder, and other Kwanzaa symbols, and for holiday decorations, gifts, games, and wonderful treats to eat.

-- Kwanzaa Karamu: Cooking and Crafts For a Kwanzaa Feast by April A. Brady - Kwanzaa Karamu is full of fabulous foods you can make for a Kwanzaa feast or for your dinner tonight. Its pages are packed with easy-to-make crafts for Kwanzaa time and for all the year-round.

--Post by Tracy

Home for the Holidays: Last-Minute Resources For Planning the (Almost) Perfect Holiday Gathering

So, something scary is happening at my mother's house this holiday season: I'll be preparing my first-ever Christmas dinner.

I always spend the holidays at my mom's -- but every year since I can remember, she's always been the cook. Over the last few years, it finally occurred to me that she's been preparing massive holiday dinners three or four times a year, every year, for nearly three decades -- and therefore definitely deserves a break. Which inspired me to volunteer to prepare the big Christmas meal this year instead.

I've been cooking for years, but this is the first time I've ever attempted a full-blown holiday feast. (I'm already wondering if my menu -- which includes roasted walnut and pear salad, potato gratin, and green beans with almonds and caramelized shallots (none of which I've ever made before) -- might prove to be a bit audacious.) I'm hoping I don't end up with a meal inspiring such reactions as you can see from the Barone family (of Everybody Loves Raymond) in the video above.

So as I busy myself preparing for my big Christmas cook-off (such as it is), I thought I'd share some of the online resources I've found to be particularly useful in preparing for the big holiday events. We have some wonderful holiday cookbooks and craft guides here at the Library -- but if you find yourself in a pinch and need some last-minute ideas for your holiday celebration, be sure to check out these sites.

-- Ms. B

RECIPES

AllRecipes.com -- Great for recipes, menu ideas, and how-tos.

FoodNetwork.com -- Another great resource, along the lines of AllRecipes. Features recipes from your favorite Food Network chefs!

Cooks.com -- Users submit their own original recipes, with other cooks logging in to rate and review after trying the dish themselves.

Betty Crocker -- Kitchen expertise from Betty Crocker "herself."

Epicurious -- Some fancier dishes for your inner gourmet chef. Includes resources like recipe-specific shopping lists, wine pairings, and a food dictionary.

Rachel Ray -- Rachael Ray is my favorite chef, and her holiday recipes are not to be missed! Particularly useful if you're planning a holiday brunch, or looking for a different kind of dessert.

CookingLight.com -- For those watching their waistline, or just hoping for healthier holiday treats, check out Cooking Light's ultimate holiday online cookbook.

Healthy Eating at Your Holiday Party -- Another list of healthy holiday choices (with recipes) ... from the Mayo Clinic!

Joy of Baking -- This site is a baker's dream resource. With tons of recipes, baking tips, and instructional videos, this is a must-visit. (Be sure to check out the holiday cookie section!)

Cocktail Enthusiast -- For the sommeliers (or just if you're a cocktail fan), here are some holiday mixed drinks, from eggnog and beyond.

CRAFTS AND PREPARATIONS

Martha Stewart -- Craft projects, entertaining tips, and also plenty of recipes.

Better Homes and Gardens -- A one-stop shop for ideas on decorating, entertaining, and cooking tips.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft - Christmas craft projects from Jo-Ann Fabric! Includes centerpieces, candy decorations, and even holiday outfits.

Michael's -- Some more ideas for Christmas projects from Michael's craft store.

DIY Network's Christmas Decorating and Craft Ideas -- Decorations, gift ideas, and tips on how to design your very own outdoor light display.

Good Housekeeping -- A different sort of holiday guide. Features step-by-step guides to getting your house "guest-ready," gift-wrapping tricks and tips, and product gift reviews.

HOLIDAY SURVIVAL GUIDES

Holiday stress can get to us even during the merriest of celebrations -- because there's just so much to do! Let these "survival guides" give you some tips and tricks to surviving the season with your sanity intact -- and enjoy the holiday season.

Making the Most of the Holiday Season -- The APA offers five quick tips to ensure a worry-free time of the year.

Dealing with Holiday Family Stress -- NPR interviews humorist Brian Copeland for some advice on using humor to deal with our more difficult relatives.

Coping Tips for the Holidays -- The Mayo Clinic steps in again to offer tips for preventing holiday stress and depression.

Holiday Stress-Busters: for Parents -- How to make the holiday season memorable for your children and for yourself.


Happy Holidays from Ms. B, Tracy, and all of us at Monroeville Public Library!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December is a month jam-packed with holidays. Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are all well-known celebrations at this time of year, celebrated by families the country and world over.

But December is chock-full of other, lesser-known holidays, anniversaries, and celebrations. From Festivus to Bacon Day, here's a look at some of the other special days in December that you've never heard of before:

December: Bingo's Birthday Month
The game of Bingo was created into its modern form by Edwin S. Lowe in 1929. (An older form of the game dates back several centuries.) Lowe, a toymaker, would also develop Yahtzee.

December 3: Anniversary of the First Heart Transplant
Dr. Christiaan Barnard, a South African surgeon, performed the world's first successful heart transplant at Cape Town in 1967.

December 5: Krampuslauf (or Krampus Day)
An Austrian holiday celebrated as being the day before St. Nicholas's Day. In Austrian folklore, the Krampus is a devilish companion of St. Nicholas's who is out to scare bad children. Kids are encouraged to throw snowballs at the Krampus (played by someone, usually a young man, in a Krampus costume).

December 10: Melvil Dewey's Birthday
Born in 1851, Dewey was an American librarian. He was also the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, which many libraries (including our own) still use to sort and organize their non-fiction book collection.

December 11: The United Nations' International Mountain Day
Mountains cover a quarter of the Earth's total land surface, and are home to 12% of the world's population. The UN General Assembly uses this declared holiday to help raise awareness of the importance of mountains and mountain communities, to highlight the opportunities and considerations to be taken for mountain development, and to build partnerships for positive change to the world's mountain and highland regions.

December 12: Bonza Bottler Day
Elaine Fremont invented Bonza Bottler Days in 1985 to ensure that every month had at least one holiday. How do you know when it's this month's Bonza Bottler Day? Easy -- it's the date of the month that has the same number as the month itself. (January 1, February 2, March 3 ...) "Bonza" means "super" or "fantastic" to Australians.

December 15: Cat Herders Day
If you can say that your job -- or your life! -- is like trying to herd cats, than this is the day to celebrate! (Er ... or not.) Created by Thomas and Ruth Roy, this is one of the many humorous holidays they've invented (and popularized) to celebrate the "unsung" joys (or at least humor) of everyday life.

December 17-23: Saturnalia
Perhaps the earliest December holiday? The Ancient Romans used this week-long festival to honor Saturnus, the god of agriculture. It was a time of celebration after the work of seasonal harvesting and wine-making. (Like a few other December holidays, gifts were even exchanged.)

December 21: Yalda
Celebrated on the longest night of the year (at least in the North Hemisphere), this Iranian holiday has an Indo-Iranian origin. Light and Goodness are said to spend this long night struggling against Darkness and Evil. People are encouraged to stay up all night -- telling stories, eating special food, and waiting to see the sun appear triumphant with the dawn.

December 23: "Festivus"
"A Festivus for the rest of us!" This humorous holiday was invented for an episode of Seinfeld and is meant to be celebrated by anyone who wants to enjoy the holiday season without getting bogged down in all the holiday pressure and commercialism. Charlie Brown might approve.

December 23: Humanlight Celebration
Started by the New Jersey Humanist Network in 2001, this holiday is meant to celebrate humanist values: tolerance, compassion, empathy, honesty, free inquiry, reason, rationality, and more.

December 26: Junkanoo
Celebrated with, among other things, a street parade, this day of sound and spectacle may put you in mind of Mardi Gras. Celebrators wear colorful costumes and play instruments (often homemade) in many towns across the Bahamas. (The largest parade generally takes place in the capital city of Nassau.)

December 30: Bacon Day
A particularly specific gift-giving occasion! Created in 1998, it's been celebrated in many cities the county over. Celebrate with a party and serve ham, pork rinds -- or even facon.


Happy Holidays!



-- Post by Ms. B

Holiday Edition of MPL's Podcast

Check out our special holiday edition of Sound WAVs, Monroeville Public Library's official podcast. (Podcasts are free, online audio files that you can download and listen to on your computer, iPod, mp3 player, or even burn to CD.)

This month's podcast features our teen volunteers reading a Hanukkah poem by Nicholas Gordon, a dramatic reading of Clement Moore's "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," and some information on the history and significance of Kwanzaa. There's also a "highly exclusive" interview with two of our best teen volunteers! Drop by our website to download the episode.

Happy Holidays!