The Holidays

     Hey everyone, I am back! Alright, I wanted to mention the holidays and a few ways you can get excited for them. First off, many people feel that the holidays are not very important or special and should be barely acknowledged. Then, there are those people who love the holidays and look froward to them all through the year. Now out of those two people, which would you rather be? The excited one right?! But it is not always easy to become exited for things, I mean when you are little it is easy and it is wonderful. Excitement is what makes life worth living and as far as I am concerned, everyone need a little more excitement. So, here is how you can come across some excitement for the upcoming holidays.

     Last year I was not excited for Christmas till the day before, and that was absolutely no fun. So this year I have taken it upon myself to become excited. Here is what I have been doing:

     First since I love graphic design, (like most of you who are reading this) I use many electronic devices; my phone, computer, and Ipod. I figured since I look at them about everyday, I should make them festive. So I searched Deviant Art for the most perfect desktop wallpaper. I found a beautiful snowy golden one with little birds on it. Now every time I open my computer I am greeted by the snowy wonderland. I also have an Ipod Touch which I decorated with a Christmas tree lock screen and a green main background. I also spiced my Ipod up with seven Christmassy apps, three of which are advent calendars. So overall, my electronic devices are pretty festive. By looking at these images everyday, you gotta admit the excitement starts building up. An even better way for doing this by creating your own backgrounds.

     What next? Well after you get all of that beautiful graphic design love out on your electronics, it is time to steer back to the basics. When I say basics, I mean BASICS! I am talking paper snowflakes. Yes I know that paper snow flakes are something you make all through elementary school and once you get out, they feel like a little kids activity. But when it gets down to the look, they are very unique and cool looking. So here is what you do: You cut ten four by four inch white printer paper sheets. Then you fold the sheets to make a snowflake (if you are so old you forget how to do this, you can find directions on google).  It is difficult to cut the snowflakes since they are so small but once you do, they will be perfect. Now once you have ten little snowflakes, you tie a piece of white thread (each different size threads from 5 to 10 inches long) to each of them, then you tape each of them to the ceiling over the head of your bed. If you have time like I do, then you can make many more then ten and go all out with snowflakes all over your room. This way when you wake up you find yourself in the winter spirit. Plus the are very fun to look at. You can use different size snowflakes, but always keep them on white paper, if you do a lot of colors you start getting the springtime flower look.

     In variation to the last decorations, you can easily tape snowflakes up on your walls. This year I got two parakeets so the hanging thread snowflakes may be bad for the birds. I am putting snowflakes up on my walls for the sake of this. If you do put them on your walls, just put them on the top of your walls, If they are all over the place then you feel cluttered and do not get the great look you are going for. Of course as artists you are all welcome to change up this recipe to your own liking. Also, have fun with it, if you are sick of cutting out snowflakes than go do something else for a while and come back to it. The end result is worth it though.

     Next, think about holiday shopping! I know this is very scary to many of us who like to hide in the house while our family does all of the shopping. Many people I know, like to skip the shopping because it is overwhelming and unnecessary. But in truth, shopping is part of the holiday season. When you start thinking about what you are going to get people, you get excited to give things to them and to receive things yourself. Last year I waited till the last minute to go shopping and I felt no excitement or joy from it. Shopping was a hastle since I had no idea what to get people and frankly, I didn't care. But this year I started thinking about presents for my family a month in advance, yes this was extreme but I am so excited to get them these things! For me presents are a big part of the holidays but the best part is giving them to others. It is so wonderful to imagine their face when you give them a present. So start thinking about what you want to get people, even though it may sound early.

     My last tip for getting some holiday excitement is to decorate your house with the people you love. No, I do not mean decorate the outside of your house with cheap plastic candy canes, I mean decorate your living room with warm decorations you have gathered over the years. Since I celebrate Christmas, my family gets a Christmas Tree. My family has gathered about a hundred unique ornaments over  the years. Each ornament has a meaning and if it is one that we don't care for, we leave it off the tree. What I am trying to say  is that decorating a Christmas Tree is so exciting and beautiful. I love decorating with my family but over the past two years I have been left to do it by myself. Now this is no fun, the fun is to be with people you love and reminisce while adding each ornament. So have fun and set out some cookies, and decorate. People decorate for the reason of fun and celebration! Try it.

     So those are my tips, I hope they help you and I hope you become more excited for the holidays than you ever have before.

Let Them

Warning, The following post has next to nothing to do with graphic design. Abandon ship now, or read on.

Yep, as a warned you, this post is just about something I wanted to talk about that does not involve graphic design. So if you are not interested in graphics than this post may actually be interesting to you :P. Anyways, today I woke up to an old world full of little white snowflakes and drooping trees. My window is conveniently right in front of my bed so I could immediately see the outside universe, this meant that I could see the weather and realize that I had absolutely no intention of getting out of bed, crawling into the shower and getting ready for my day. But alas, five minutes after I awoke, the obnoxious screeching of my alarm clock threatened me to seriously get out of bed. So I did, I listened to the pressure my alarm clock was holding on me and I got up! I went to the shower, turned on the water and sat on the floor waiting for the water to warm up. Before I knew it, I was marching towards the car to go to school. My shoes were missing and I rudely accused my mother of throwing them somewhere. She calmly looked around and once I had given up and was ready to leave barefoot, she found them. I stuffed my feet in and drove away with my sister.

Whether it was the snow or my cozy bed or loosing my shoes, I had no right to get all snippy and start my day wrong. As soon as I realized this, a rainbow appeared in front of the car (nah just kidding), I actually felt terribly and figured today was just wasted day where I would just be upset. I knew tonight was going to be awful (because of "certain" things) and decided to not even try to make it better. Then I arrived at school, and had laughter crawling all over me. I felt unexpected joy and forgot my morning and tonight altogether. I saw then how one person can completely change your day, as long as you are willing. I was willing, I was so willing to let my day be overcome with joy. This day went well, and who would have thought it would. I certainly did not. My point here is, if someone wants to make your day better, let them, let them sweep you away with joy. You will be grateful in the end.