How to make a Christmas Card. Step 3. Other decorative elements & American inspiration.

We can make a card with only lettering and ribbon, but we can also add other decorative elements. I’m not going to impose exact way of doing it. Just try to get inspired by examples of the most loved American Christmas Cards!

1. FAMILY

Make your card more personal, and draw your family on it! Also look on beautiful frames that are present on those pictures. Most common for the most American households is to make a photo and print it out as a Christmas card. But if you don’t want to do this, you can do simple drawings.

2. REMEMBER ABOUT OTHER RELIGIONS

Also, we have to remember that not all people celebrate Christmas or they do it in different way than we do.

3. ADD SOME AMERICAN ELEMENTS





4. INTERRACIAL CARDS
 
 
 

Homemade Peanut Butter

Although you may think that American food is all 'Burgers and fries and apple pies' that is dripping with fat you could've been more wrong.

  Apart from being delicious peanut butter is high in protein, full of fiber, dietary minerals, vitamins and the most important thing - it is really easy to make it on your own. You can also add anything you like to it and create your own unique taste. It can be perfect snack, extra tasty ingredient to your breakfast or even a healthy dessert. 


All you need for your own homemade peanut butter:
450g of roasted peanuts (you can use raw ones but you will need to roast them on a pan or in the oven)
1 pinch of salt
Blender or food processor
Optional: 1-2 tablespoons of honey/30g of cocoa/50g of desiccated coconut

How to make it:
Put the peanuts into blender/food processor. Run it for 5 minutes. Remember to scrape down the sides.
During this time you can make your favourite cup of tea :)

Remember!

Your homemade peanut butter will never be as smooth as the one from a supermarket but obviously it will be healthier. The ones from shops (apart from peanuts) contain preservatives, additional sugar, too much salt and flower oils.

How to Make a Handmade Christmas Card. Step 1 - Theory & Lettering

       As many of you have probably noticed, Christmas celebration in the USA starts with the end of the Halloween. There are Christmas decorations in malls, Christmas advertisements in Tv and radio. However, these are all about BUYING STUFF. So if you like Christmas, but you don't want to spend huge amount of money on gifts etc., you can easly make a gift by yourself, for example a simple Christmas Card.

 

       Anyone can make one, even if you cannot draw well.So together, let's try to make a perfect Christmas Card. Let's start with something simple: lettering. I will present you the basics of typography which is easier than traditional caligraphy. However, the effect looks more or less similar to caligraphy lettering.

YOU WILL NEED:

- a sheet of paper (preferably in some kind of Christmas colour)

- a pencil

- a rubber

- a marker (any kind, try to match the colour to your paper)

1. ORGANISATION

It's important to keep our text organised, it can be in two lines, or in one, depends on how long your text is. However, our letters should also stick to some kind of straight or curved lines. The easiest method is to draw a graph, as shown below. The line in the middle divides space for "merry" and "christmas". Draw your grid with pencil, because we wil erase it later. Remember to use your pencil gently!

2. SKETCH

Pencil sketches are really useful if you wan't to practice. Sketch te letters, use the most basic shapes you know from primary school.

3. TRACE

Now take a marker of your choice and trace your sketch. Add loops, some curves, and I recommend you to try to connect the letters. It's super simple and thanks to that your lettering looks more like caligraphy.

4. HIGHLIGHT

I don't want to get into much detail about the anatomy of letters. But it is useful to know that letters have spines. Spines are the vertical lines or curves and are often the most important parts of them. So let's emphasise it by making every vertical line or curve more thick.

<REMEMBER TO ADD PHOTO OF MY CARD LATER>

American Advent

 

I know, as it was previously mentioned in an aritcle on religion,
(see it:http://i-can-culture.blogspot.com/search/label/religion) that according to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 70,6% of the American population identified themselves as Christians (46,5% of them attended to a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant and 20,8% professed Roman Catholic beliefs). 


About those last ones. 

They currently celebrate their Advent. Beginning the Church's liturgical year, Advent (from, "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to") is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas.

The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. 

The final days of Advent, from December 17 to December 24, focus particularly on our preparation for the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas).

Advent devotions including the Advent wreath, remind us of the meaning of the season. 

The wreath, typically a circular garland of evergreen branches, is a symbol of eternity and unending love. Five candles are arranged on the wreath, and one is alighted each Sunday as a part of the Advent services. Each of the Advent Candle colors represents a specific element of spiritual readying for the celebration of Christmas.


 
Purple or Blue

Purple (or violet) has traditionally been the primary color of Advent, symbolizing repentance and fasting. Purple is also the color of royalty and the sovereignty of Christ, demonstrating anticipation of and reception of the coming King celebrated during Advent.


The first candle of the Advent Wreath, the Prophecy Candle or Candle of Hope, is purple. 
The second, called the Bethlehem Candle or the Candle of Preparation, is also purple in color. 

Likewise, the fourth Advent Candle color is purple. 
It's called the Angel Candle or the Candle of Love.
 
Pink or Rose
Pink (or rose) is also one of the colors of Advent used during the third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday in the Catholic Church. Pink or rose represents joy or rejoicing and reveals a shift in the season away from repentance and toward celebration.

The third  Candle, named the Shepherd Candle or Candle of Joy, is pink in color.
 
White

White is the color of Advent representing purity and light. Christ is the sinless, spotless, pure Savior. He is the light come into a dark and dying world. Also, those who receive Jesus Christ as Savior are washed of their sins and made whiter than snow.

Lastly, the Christ Candle is the fifth Advent Candle, positioned in the center of the wreath. This Advent Candle's color is white.

Spiritually preparing by focusing on the colors of Advent in the weeks leading up to Christmas is a great way for Christian families to keep Christ the center of Christmas,
and for parents to teach their children the true meaning of Christmas.

So maybe you should give this a try and do your own simple Advent wreath?
You will be surprised at how enjoyable it may be. 
Light your own candles, make an Advent resolution so that you enjoy your Christmas more than special dishes and gifts. 
 

Old-fashioned American apple pie

Apple pie is one of a number of American culture icons. Everyone has a favourite way to make it and here is one of the most old-fashioned, traditional ones. 

 

You will need about 1h 30 minutes.

 Here are the ingredients you need to prepare it:

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 7 1/2 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
• 1 cup rasins
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1 egg
  
  

And here is how you prepare it:

• Preheat oven 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Spray deep dish pie plate with cooking spray. 

 

• Combine white sugar, brown sugar, flour, lemon, cinnamon, and mix well. Add apples and raisins to sugar mixture; stir until fruit is well coated.

 

• Spoon apple mixture into pie crust. Place second piecrust on top of filling, and trim edges. Lightly glaze top of pie with a beaten egg, then sprinkled with a little sugar.

 

• Bake till golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Place on a wire rack, and cool 30 minutes. 
   
   

 

 

 

 

You can also serve an apple pie with whipped cream, ice cream or cheddar cheese. 

 

 

 

 

 

Task: write a recipe for your favourite cake. Remember about all the ingredients and directions. 

Turkey Day

     

Since, the American Thanksgiving Day is around the corner (24th of November) it would be nice to know something about its traditions. This day is sometimes called "The Turkey Day", mainly because Americans celebrate this holiday by eating a big feast with families and the main course is always a turkey (I don't know what kind of eco-turkeys do vegetarians eat). Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. 

THE HISTORY

   
  The history of the Thanksgiving turkey is a bit of a mystery. Nobody knows exactly why it became a traditional dish, but historians have a few different theories.

       Thanks to letters and records kept by early American settlers, we know that when the colonists sat down to dine with the Wampanoag Indians, beef and fowl were on the menu. This historical meal would later become known as the first Thanksgiving. A letter written by pilgrim Edward Winslow mentions a turkey hunting trip before the meal.

        Another theory attributes the Thanksgiving turkey to the Queen of England. During the 16th century, a fleet of Spanish ships sunk on their way to attack England. According to legend, Queen Elizabeth received this news while eating dinner. She was so thrilled that she ordered another goose be served. Some historians say the early settlers were inspired by the queen's actions and roasted a turkey instead of a goose.

      The wild turkey is a native bird of North America. As a result, Benjamin Franklin claimed this made the turkey a more suitable national bird for the United States than the bald eagle. Not everyone agreed with Franklin, however, and the bald eagle became the national emblem for the United States in 1782. The bald eagle may be America's bird 364 days a year, but the turkey has one day all to itself — Thanksgiving.

America Explained to non-Americans by The Oatmeal

TURKEY FOR THE ULTIMATE-DUMMIES

Not everybody can cook these traditional dishes, but let's do something else. Let's draw a fabulous turkey. 

2. Draw a curvy line at the bottom. You should be
 left with a simple outline of your hand.

1.First, place your palm on a piece of paper, spread your fingers,
and trace it.

3. Draw the most elemental parts of the turkey.
A thumb will be your turkey head, draw an eye,
 beak and wattle here. Legs should be at the bottom.

4. Add a wing in the middle. Colour it. Traditionally,
all of the feathers have different colours. But honestly,
you can colour it however you want.

If you don't have a thumb or a spare hand you can use different templates:






Sources:

• National Geographic Kids
• Wonderopolis
• Instructrables