All right. Enough is enough. We’ve been inundated with requests for Christmas gifts for guys, mostly from women who don’t understand the men in their lives. We’re going to lay it out to you right here, gals, and it’s not going to be pretty. What it will be is direct, practical and effective.

To answer this, we went and did the unthinkable. We asked guys what they’d always wished their girlfriends or lady friends had given them. Now, all identities have been changed to preserve the guilty…and unlike similar things you’ll find in Cosmo, these aren’t “filtered by what we expect a dream guy to be”. Nor are they the gift guides from Maxim or FHM – though they’re closer to that than anything else.

In particular, don’t be expecting your guy to get this as some sort of subtle relationship signal. Guys don’t think like that. Guys are direct, think that pickup lines like “That dress should be in a pile on my bedroom floor” is subtle, and think playing Halo 3 together on the couch is at least as good as a movie date. And you know what? We really, honestly, wouldn’t them any other way.

So, the next question to ask:

Is your guy a geek? If so, he’s probably made your life a lot easier. You don’t have to be a geekette to figure out what he wants. Go rifling through his video game collection some night when he’s in the bathroom, listen to what some of his friends are geeking out over, and keep mental notes – is there a game that’s getting good word of mouth buzz that he doesn’t have yet? Your shopping list just got a lot easier. If you’re worried about him getting that game from someone else, get him a GameTap subscription. Now, be warned – if you get him the Uber Game Of The Year, you don’t get “whining privileges”. Guys will obsess about these things until they finish them; really, it’s the outlet for the same kind of thinking that brought food back to the cave when it was mastodon season.

Does your guy like sports? Either as a watcher or as a participant? If he’s a watcher, and he’s got a cable package or DirecTV, see if there’s a network package or satellite package to let him get the games he wants to see. If there’s a professional team he follows, assorted fan gear is usually safe…and admit it. Sprawling on his couch wearing a sports jersey for him to keep and your intimate underthings would certainly spice things up. (Feel free to tie a ribbon around yourself in strategic places to get the hint that he should be unwrapping you, too…) If he likes to play sports, you’re going to have to do a bit more research on what sports he likes, and here, as with the computer game examples, talking to his buddies and doing a bit of Google searching are your friends.

Is your guy good with his hands? This one takes a bit of research as well. Nothing is as much of a disaster as being the only chick checking out power tools at Lowe’s. You’ll get patronized – not deliberately insulting, but patronized. Here’s where you recruit one of his buddies to be your “shopping escort” – preferably one who works on guy projects with him. Remember, it doesn’t have to be the spiffiest tool on the rack, it has to be one he’ll actually use, and appreciate using. Same applies to buying car parts, or car accessories, or most electronics gadgets.

Lastly, one thing that nearly every guy likes is looking at half naked to naked girls. Yeah, yeah. We know, he’s with you, and he doesn’t need to look any more. Get real. He’ll look – the trick is to remind him that looking is OK so long as he never wanders, and a good way to do that is a subscription to a pinup site. And trust us, he’ll remember that you bought him that subscription for a very long time. Two tasteful ones are MET-ART and DOMAI – you can Google for exact URLs.

outdoor christmas decor

Christmas is usually the time which we spend with our family, friends and loved ones. As some songs go, it is the season to be jolly and to be full of good cheer. The holiday season has so many icons and symbols that these can fill up and entire Christmas tree as ornaments and decorations. Some people literally cover their homes and surrounding with lights and decorations to celebrate the holidays.

Due to the immense marketing and advertising during the season, the true meaning of Christmas is often lost. People nowadays equate the holidays as a time of gift giving and receiving. Although this is not a bad thing, it is also a very materialistic point of view which is magnified by the recurrent advertising that shows the holidays as a time when the tree is full of presents and people are happy to receive boxes left, right and center.

The meaning of Christmas is actually how a person understands the season. Some people who only understand that the holidays is a time in which one spends money to buy gifts will always be stuck in this rut for as long as he believes in it. For those who view Christmas as an exclusively Christian celebration and does not celebrate it, then he would have missed the true meaning of Christmas as well.

Season of Love

Christmas is actually a representation of the love we universally feel for mankind. Christians have always believed that it is a celebration of the birth of Christ and the renewal of our belief in God and Christianity. However, the love we have for our fellow man is not an exclusive Christian trait and can be felt by many other religions and cultures. It just so happens that the season is widely celebrated by Christians that it is believed to be for Christians only. In actuality, Christmas can belong to anyone as long as we express our love for our loved ones and show them that we care for them.

Even if this holiday is generally celebrated by Christians, it is symbolized by many other cultures beliefs and we will be united for as long as we realize that Christmas is a gift given to us by our ancestors to celebrate life and happiness. It should be taken as it is and no malice or prejudice should stain the purity of the season.

Outdoor Christmas Decorations outdoor christmas decor christmas trees

If you’re wondering how to tie a ribbon bow, this is one of the easiest ways to do it. It’s very simple and anyone can make a perfect bow in minutes. It doesn’t take long to learn my technique. You can do it with any type of ribbon but wired ribbon is the best for this bow.

For this bow you’ll need about three yards of wired ribbon that’s about 2 ½ inches wide and some floral wire. You can make this bow using ribbon that’s not wired but it won’t be as sturdy. It’s a good idea to save money and practice on some cheaper ribbon. After you get the technique down you can use wired ribbon or beautiful metallic wired ribbon.

First, make a loop on one end of the ribbon. Leave a tail about equal in length to the first loop. Pinch the ribbon firmly keeping it between your thumb and forefinger. Gather the side of the wired ribbon at the base of the loop.

Now make a second loop about equal in size to the first one. Put it on the opposite side of your thumb. Now twist the ribbon as much as needed so you keep the right side of the ribbon showing. Now firmly pinch the ribbon between your thumb and forefinger as you gather in the sides at the base or bottom of the loop.

Now repeat the above instructions making loops of equal size until you have six loops that you’ve gathered between your thumb and forefinger.

Now twist the ribbon so you can see the right side and make a smaller loop on the top of the first loop that you made at the beginning. Make five smaller loops putting each loop on top of a larger loop until you have six smaller loops.

Now leave a tail on the wired ribbon that’s the same length that you left hanging after making the first big loop.

Take your floral wire and wrap it around the center of the ribbon bow. Bring in the ends of the wire behind the bow. Now firmly twist the ends of the wire to firmly secure the bow.

To finish the bow you can make a fork cut in the ends of the tail of the ribbon.

That’s all there is to it. You can easily tie a ribbon bow or make wired ribbon bows anytime you need to for birthday or Christmas gifts or any other gifts, or you can put them on your homemade gift baskets.

Christmas ornaments outdoor christmas decor christmas trees

Christmas is one of the festivities that is being celebrated all around the globe. And I am sure that during these days almost everyone is busy decorating their house with different ornaments for this holiday season. And it will never be complete without door wreaths as it symbolizes the Advent hope in Christ. Nonetheless, have you ever thought of asking how wreaths became associated with this celebration?

We usually have door wreaths and it was believed that this started in ancient Rome to represent victory. While during the Roman times it was said that wreaths are considered to be an emblem of royalty and achievement. It is also known as the wreath of Laurel. These holiday wreaths that we know today have different representations depending on culture, beliefs and views. For pre-Christian Germanic, it has been a practice d during the cold December to gather wreaths of evergreen as a sign of hope and a new light towards the spring. And this also shows the preparation for the coming of Christ and the circular shape means God himself.

And for a while these Christmas wreaths have also been used as ornaments and headdresses as attire for ceremonial events in many cultures all over the globe. Perhaps that’s the reason why we have different fancy wreaths like ribbons wreaths, floral wreaths and leaf wreaths.

With all those various kinds of wreaths, customarily, this ornament is made of four candles encircling evergreens with the fifth candle in the center. These candles are lighted before the evening meal one after the other until December 25th. This will be followed by a prayer and the fifth candle will be the last and this happens on Christmas eve as it represents that Jesus Christ is born.

Today, holiday wreaths are attractive welcoming decorations that add style to your home. May it be an assortment of flowers, leaves, twigs or fruits. Whether you put it there for just the thought of it or maybe you believe in its promise of hope or as a symbol of advent, whatever it is make sure you celebrate this holiday with full of happiness circled with love as the wreath suggest.

Outdoor Christmas Decorations

If you are a style maven who is a bit bored with the traditional then you might be interested in unique christmas tree themes. Here are some unique suggestions for christmas tree themes that are sure to be real conversation starters.

The Christmas Cocktail Party Tree

This christmas tree theme looks great on both big and small trees. First, if your tree is not a prelit tree try stringing it with a string of novelty lights instead of the usual egg shaped lights. You can buy plastic novelty lights in the shape of Chinese Lanterns (for a 50’s feel), chili peppers (for that modern martini bar feel) and Pink Flamingos (for that Tikki cocktail party atmosphere.)

Then try decorating the tree with tiny cocktail parasols and multicolored cocktail picks. If your tree is really big you could also decorate it with plastic champagne glasses into which you have glued sequins or glitter. Miniature chocolates filled with liquor also make nice tree decorations.

The Gingerbread Tree

This most gorgeous of christmas tree themes never goes out of style. It looks best on a green or red tree. Decorate it with gingerbread man cookies, red glass balls, tons of candy canes, red velvet bows

and homemade paper snowflake ornaments.

This tree looks great accented it with white or gold beaded garland or a bushy red or white tinsel garland. or icicle-look garland. Top it with a Christmas themed stuffed white or brown teddy bear.

The Chocolate and Gold Tree

This is probably the trendiest of the christmas tree themes described here. It looks great on a red artificial tree. The color scheme in this case is reds, browns and golds. Tiny twinkling gold and red

lights look best. Think of the eighties when you decorate this one. Decorate this tree with walnuts, pinecones and chocolates wrapped in foil. Gold coins are a nice touch. Then tie large transclucent gold

and red ribbons, using the kind of ribbon that has bendable wire inside onto the ends of the trees. The ultimate effect of this tree should be very opulent and lush.

The New Baby Tree

If you are celebrating the birth of a child or a child’s first birthday this is a great tree to honor how happy you are about the new arrival in your home. The decorations suggested look great on

any kind of tree but you could consider buying a small blue or pink artificial tree. This is a good idea so any toddlers or infants around can’t get ahold of any shed needles. Also if you buy prelit artificial trees then you don’t have to worry about them yanking lights and pulling the whole thing down. If you have lots of toddlers around then you might want to opt for a small ceramic christmas tree until they are old enough not to grab at decorations and xmas tree limbs.

Pink, mint green, lavender and blue frosted glass christmas balls look particularly nice on pink or blue artificial trees. You can also decorate these trees with baby toys, baby bottles filled with candy,

teddy bears, baby booties and socks, pacifiers and wooden alphabet blocks. Little stuffed animals look great on this type of tree and a larger teddy bear or soft plush toy makes a great tree topper. If the

baby is a girl you might want to consider topping the tree with a doll dressed as an angel.

The Peppermint Twist Tree

This most minimalist of christmas tree themes looks fantastic on a bright white, prelit artificial tree. The color scheme of this is red and white but you can add a touch of green in the lights that you

string around it. Purists however think that keeping the whole thing red and white in every way looks best.

When it comes to the decorations stick with red and white round glass balls. Red and white frosted glass balls look much better than the conical ones. Also festoon the branches with as many red and white peppermint candy canes as you can find. Remember too that you can also stripe red or white christmas balls with white or red glitter by simply adding some glue in a striped shape to the ball and rolling it in the glitter.

You can also accent this look with red and white ball shaped peppermint candies. A large lollipop with red and white striping and surrounded by a sunburst bouquet of candy canes makes a great tree

topper.

The Sea Side Tree

This most unusual of christmas tree themes looks best on artificial trees in aqua or light blue colors. However it would also suit any tree that has a coral color such as light orange or pink.

This tree is decorated with treasures from the sea including seashells, sea horses, and ornaments made from aquarium decorations (treasure chests, coins and corals.) Strings of pearls can be used as

a garland and novelty lights shaped like seashells or even fish can be strung to enhance the aquatic theme.

The Snow and Ice Tree

This is one of the most unusual of christmas tree themes as it is white and icy blue instead of the more familiar red and green. First decorate it with a garland of novelty lights shaped like icicles or snowflakes. Your decorations should be made of see through plastic or crystal so it looks like the tree is dripping with frozen, glittering shapes. Instead of cotton batten, drape the tree with faux spider

webs or cotton shreddings to simulate boughs heavy with snow. You can even mound this cotton at the ends of the bough so it looks like it has been clumped there.

Your final step is to spray the whole thing down generously with flocking. Flocking is simulated snow that comes in an aerosol can. You can spray this stuff on just about any kind of tree including artificial prelit christmas trees and ceramic trees to make them look frostier.

This treatment is stunning on a white artificial tree but it also looks great on red, purple, blue or other artificial trees as all of the white provides a nice contrast to the tree’s original color.

outdoor christmas decor Outdoor Christmas Decorations Christmas ornaments