In today’s commercialized world, people seem to think that Christmas simply means presents and parties, shopping and Santa Claus, bright lights and late nights. The truth is that it is really easy to forget the real reason of Christmas in the midst of the frenzy of activities held during December, from parties with friends to visits from relatives.If you want to celebrate the season differently, you can look for more meaningful traditions or activities. After all, Christmas is all about God the Father giving His only Son to the world because of His love for us. Therefore, the best way to enjoy Christmas is through activities where we give to others or show our love to one another. Here are some ideas that you may want to try with your family to celebrate Christmas in a more meaningful way.Give Love on Christmas DayIt’s not enough to just give love, sometimes you need to give more material things as well. Here are some creative ideas to make giving more enjoyable for your family. If you know a family who is financially struggling in your neighborhood, you can prepare a huge gift box for them that contain the things they need such as the ingredients for a Christmas dinner, and other things like clothes, books and toys.You can also visit a children’s hospital, an orphanage, a homeless shelter or an old folks’ home and distribute small gifts. Bring some food and treat them to a simple Christmas snack which can be composed of anything from pasta to candies. You can do this with friends, colleagues or even your entire family. Activities such as these, where you reach out to those who are in need, will remind you for sure of how blessed you are and how important it is to share your blessings to those who are less fortunate.Remember the Christmas StoryGet your Bible out and read the Christmas story with your children every night, while sipping hot chocolate. Start on the first day of December and read only short passages, culminating on the passage describing the birth of Jesus before you have your Christmas Eve dinner. You can even have your children act out the story. Sing traditional Christmas carols together to get you in the holiday mood. This is a wonderful time not only to remember the Christmas story, but to spend quality time with your kids and help them understand the real meaning of Christmas.Start a New Christmas Tradition It’s time to start a new family Christmas tradition. You can spend the first Saturday of December cleaning the house, setting up the tree and putting up the decorations. Make sure you have traditional Christmas carols playing in the background while you’re all working. Afterwards, settle down with a mug of hot chocolate and some popcorn. You can divide the family into two – the first half will go out to find a good Christmas tree, while the other half will stay at home to prepare a special meal. Whatever you choose, just remember that the most important part of Christmas is in the first syllable of the word – Christ. Enjoy your holiday!  GP

Fancy dress ideas party themes can determine not only the tone of the party but also how much fun people will have leading up to the night. Gone are the days when fancy dress was restricted to children’s birthday parties and rowdy hen nights – people all over the country are discovering the sheer amusement at spending their weekend dressed as a pirate!! Whether you choose to showcase your weird and wonderful costumes at your local club/pub or in the relative privacy of a house party –

fancy dress is a great way to have a brilliantly different night! Regardless of how much money you have to spend there are loads of options available for the fancy dress connoisseur! Feeling Flush? Why not splash out on ready made costume with all the trimmings? Watching the pennies? Then put on your best Blue Peter hat and get creative at home. Whatever your budget being dressed up has a great effect on people and is bound to result in an amusing night! Here’s my top 10 favourite themes…

Position 10 – The ‘P’ party* This theme is great as it gives people scope to apply creativity, while condoning plagiaristic laziness. Say ‘Arrgg matey’ and say hello to join the plethora of Pirates, Prostitutes and Pikies. Thankfully you’ll be in the semi-safe hands of the reasonably pissed up paramedics and police. * This idea is transferable to any letter of the alphabet – or why not try asking guests to come as something beginning with the first letter of their name!

Position 9 – Superheroes Whether it was Superman or He-man, Catwoman or even Supergran, we all had our favourite superheroes as a child – well now’s your chance to finally be just like them!! The standard lycra & pants element is bound to turn heads (although not always for the right reasons!!) or why not be a bit different and go as the hero’s alter ego?

Position 8 – Tarts & Vicars The classic fancy dress theme – your chance to be seen in public wearing your shortest skirt and highest heels – teemed with the obligatory fishnets and that’s only the guys! For the more reserved amongst us the vicar costume is an easy alternative.

Position 7 – Charity shop night Have fun and get some good karma whilst you do it! Set a price limit and your guests have to buy their whole outfit (shoes and accessories included) from your local charity shop. The results are always hilarious and no two outfits are ever the same – just keep an eye on the number of guys dressed as women – they love it!!!

Position 6 – Uniforms Every girl loves a man in uniform!! And I’m sure the other way round is no exception!! From sailors and firemen to nurses and air hostesses this is a great theme for stag and hen nights and is bound to get you lots of attention. Just be careful not to lose the keys to those handcuffs!!

Position 5 – What you want to be when you grow up Not only is this a great theme with loads of options but you also get to find out what your friends aspired to be when they were kids. There’s always a few policemen and nurses – however you bound to see some slightly more unusually career goals like your lawyer friend who actually wanted to be a zoo keeper or your posh sister in law who secretly yearned to be a bin man!!

Position 4 – Films Stars Always fancied yourself as a bit of a Hollywood Starlet? Think you’d make a good 007 or Lara Croft? Or do you see yourself as more of a Fred Flintstone? The options for this theme are endless and with more films arriving at your local multiplex each week there’s no excuse not to come up with a great costume!

Position 3 – Cowboys and Indians Another classic theme and so easy to do – throw together some denim and a checked shirt – and I bet you ladies have at least one pair of cowboy boots in the cupboard somewhere! Plus you get a chance to play fight with the obligatory toy weapons!

Position 2 – Heaven and Hell Are you a dirty devil or an innocent angel – or why not combine the two and come as a naughty nun? Whatever you choose this is a great theme – even dressed as an angelic being I’m sure you’ll get some cheeky devil’s heart racing!

Position 1 – Goodies and Baddies Whether you go for a famous duo like Austin Powers and Dr Evil or a classic coupling like cops and robbers this is a theme with loads of scope for imagination and a great idea for couples.

We hope this helps if you are struggling to find a theme for your party.

www.123fancydress.com

Traditional Christmas Fancy Dress parties are very popular, but some of you out there may prefer a little variety away from the obvious Santa, Elves and Angels costumes. You will have to decide whether you’re going to stick to one theme or have a free-for-all. For the little ones in the family, there is an endless choice of costumes, some for fun, some pretty and others pretty hilarious. Here are a few ideas to look at.INFANT TEDDY COSTUME – There’ll be plenty of aaaahs when you take your little Teddy out on Christmas Day in this outfit. Designed for babies’ comfort, these brown chenille fur and flannel jumpsuits have cream-coloured tummy and feet. They usually come with detachable hoods that have cute bear ears. This is perfect if it’s cold where you live, but, always remember when your baby wears this kind of costume, make sure they don’t overheat if you’re indoors for a while. This is a hugely popular style of costume.THEMES – Think of Disney and the choice of Fancy Dress costume is endless for both boys and girls from princesses to princes, from Snow White to dwarves, from Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella to evil Witches. We have traditional cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Scooby Doo, plus animals and superheroes in the style of Spiderman, Batman and Robin, X-men, Captain America, Iron Man and Power Rangers. Pirates, Ghouls, Monsters and Vampires are all high up the popularity list for those who don’t want traditional.INFANT PUMPKIN PRINCESS COSTUME – She’ll be the ruler of the Pumpkin Patch in this little stunner. A beautiful vegetable costume often used for Halloween, this is just too gorgeous to wear only once a year. The dress is made up of a frilly, puffy skirt in a vivid orange colour with a green bodice section imitating the leaves.  Have some sort of matching headband and your little sweetheart will take centre stage wherever you are.

INFANT BUZZY BEE COSTUME – Amid the fabulously fun costumes for both boys and girls, the Bumble Bee is a winner with the little ones. For the girls, it’s all pretty and cute with typical black and yellow striped dress. For the toddler costumes, you will find most of these are elasticised around the chest for ease and comfort. Adorable detachable wings should fit on the back. Adding black tights and little ballet-style pumps creates a great finishing touch as your little bee buzzes around everyone’s feet all night. She’ll be an absolute honey all night.INFANT PRETTY PRINCESS WITCH COSTUME – It may be Christmas, but your darling little girl will still look a smasher in her Princess Witch costume. A wide variety of designs and colours are available with this outfit so choose one that matches her character. Most have mock corset fronts with coloured criss-cross ribbon as decoration. Long sleeves tend to be the norm with full tiered skirts. You will find many designs beautifully decorated with glittery thread and/or sequins. Make sure you have a tall witch’s hat for the right effect. Black leggings and ballet-style shoes make this a gorgeous alternative. Your little girl will have everyone enchanted.

TODDLER LITTLE DEVIL – If you have a boy and girl in the family, then an ideal match to the Princess Witch could be the Little Devil. For the baby boy and toddler, these typically come as red all-in-one bodysuits with a matching removable hood, sporting cute attached black horns, and detachable black wings. Little black booties would be a devilishly stylish final touch.TODDLER ANIMAL COSTUMES – Just a few of the many hundreds to choose from that are cute, cuddly and funny. The toddler Frog will have youngsters on the hop, while Scaredy Bats see boys and girls in full flight for a real fright night. T-Rex could be a roaring success, and infant Lobster and Lil Man-Eating Shark are all set to make a big splash.