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Raspberry Moon’s Blog

Spooky Season Costumes Resources & Tips

October 9, 2021

Believe it or not, costumes don’t have to be super complicated or expensive. Yes I know I literally have a closet full of things, but really it can be done with a little thought and some imagination. I never buy a store bought costume because I feel that is too limiting, plus they are usually really expensive and the quality is not that great. So, I thought I’d share some ideas to help you get creative and save money!

Start with the foundational pieces

There are a few things that I do spend money on because I can get multiple uses out of them:

Wigs – I have an assortment and you can really do a lot with them. 

Corsets – I only have 2.  I have a black one that is ripped up a little, thanks to my dog Cree who decided she did not like my brand new corset! Oh Cree Cree! I kept it and use it for zombie stuff, Day of the Dead, Steam Punk. no one has ever really noticed the pieces of destruction but I would not use it for “pretty”costumes. The other is black with pink designs. If you stay neutral you will get a lot more use out of it and they make some that are reversible! 

Crazy Lashes – I have a whole case of crazy lashes. I just removed them carefully, wipe off the glue and store them in my box. I get a lot of uses out of them. This helps save on makeup time since the lashes can really cover the eyes easily. I usually pick these up on clearance. 

Makeup – I do have a few Ben Nye colors. These colors are used a lot by clowns or performers. The makeup lasts a long time and generally stays on really well, though be prepared to wash your face several times – I usually use Skin Script’s Pomegrante Cleanser, then the Green Tea and follow up another round of Green Tea or the Glycolic Cleanser. When you paint your face green like the wicked witch, it takes a minute to get the color off! LOL

Tutus – I have 2 I bought and 1 I made – I use them all the time. 

Look for good deals on over-the-top clothing

I look for good deals on over the top clothing, such as:

  • $25 for a 70s wedding gown with a crazy amount of ruffles. Turned this into Madonna and used it in several other costumes as layering pieces. I cut the dress apart and just pin the skirt the way I want it. 
  • $3 Beautiful green velvet dress that has been used as several different fairy versions, and elf and Poison Ivy. So versatile!
  • $12.49 for this crazy teal blue, ruffled prom dress at Ross a few years ago. I was like this will make some kind of cool costume. How much is it? $12.49! Heck yeah, if this baby fits, I am buying it! It did fit and then ideas started to come in. I had thought to do it like the Queen of the Ocean or to go as the ocean. I was going to glue or pin sea creatures to the dress. I still might do that some day but that was getting a little pricey, I have been waiting to find something at the thrift store or at a yard sale that has all the pieces that I need. Then, thanks to my little cousin who loves Elsa and Zombies, Zombie Elsa was created.
  • I do have a lot of layering pieces and costumes from my former belly dance days and I pick up pieces here and there, especially if I see a good deal on something. I might borrow something but even in your own closet you can find something fun. 

A few fun costume ideas

Dia de Los Muertos – Really this is all in the makeup most of which you may have at home or can buy. NYX is a nice brand that is not crazy expensive. My Minnie Mouse version didn’t cost me anything! I pulled everything out of my closet and borrowed the Minnie ears and bow. I have had 4or 5 different versions. 

Zombie Elsa – Cost $25ish – My crazy teal blue ruffle dress, a blond wig that I teased it up kind of crazy. I had some fake blood, white and black makeup, black lashes and that was it. Since the dress was so long, I could wear super comfy shoes since you could not see them.

Cheshire Cat – $25 – I did buy my Cheshire Cat ears and Tail on Etsy. They were/are $25 which was really cheap. I could not have made them for that price. They are great and very well made. CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK I love that the ears are clips so you can set them where you need them. I have a pink wig, then I went through my closet and pulled out everything pink and purple. I had striped tights, a pink dress and at the time I had purple boots. I have worn these pieces several times. And if you didn’t have a pink or purple wig (or hair!;)) you wouldn’t even have to do that. The makeup will give a great finishing touch. Here is a great video for some versions of this.

50s Kitsch Zombies – $0 – Douglas and I did a 50s style Zombie, we dressed in 50s style clothing which we have, I painted our faces a light green and we had red lips. I made 2 large jello shots out of a brain mold and brought it to the party. 

Fairy/Elf/Poison Ivy all from my $3 green velvet dress. 

  • Fairy – $10ish I had an auburn colored wig that I had gotten for $3 so I decided to be an autumn fairy. I didn’t have time to get in a cool set of wings, plus big wings get in the way when you are dancing all night. I went to the Dollar Store and bought wings, some fake flowers and leaves. I made myself a flower crown and added flowers and leaves to the ankle of my boots. I have actually worn this several different ways. Different dress, no wigs, different boots, different makeup – it is always a great costume. 
  • Elf – $10ish just added my stripped elf hat and a belt – I do have elf ears just in case I have time to glue them one.
  • Poison Ivy -$40ish Red Wig, I took styrofoam cones (from the Dollar Store) that you use to make flower arrangements. I painted them red and then was able to take some of the wig hair to wrap around the cones. I then added some leaves and berries to my hair. I have long green gloves and I took some of the little leaves from the vine to make a kind of mask. I glued them on my skin with spirit or regular stick glue (the washable kind that kids use). I do have a cool pair of tall green boots I got a long time ago at Ross for around $18 (also used with my witches costume) and a long vintage green velvet coat from a thrift store in PA for $5. I had a different dress the first time I went as Poison Ivy. This has been one of my favorite costumes. 

The Joker – $0 clothes from my closet, crazy face paint and a green wig. Douglas also went as Joker 1 year and didn’t buy anything more than green hair paint. We used dress pants and a shirt he already had, made his hair and makeup crazy. 

Rosie the Riveter – $0 – I had everything – red bandana, jeans, grey denim work shirt and boots

Witch – $20ish – I bought a witches hat online. When it came it was that cheap foam stuff. I could not return it but I did love the shape. I pulled out my goodie box and had some tulle with purple spider webs, I cut the fabric to cover the hat and glued it in place, then I glued on Flowers, feathers, sparkly leaves that were left over from wreaths and another hat. I wore a black dress, stripped tights, boots and painted my face green and had bright red lips. I have worn versions of this costume several different times. 

Cruella Da Ville – $30ish So I bought a black and white dress for a gala and I wanted to get some more use out of it. I bought a black and white wig, red gloves, long cigarette, added some crazy blue eye shadow and voila Cruella was born. All of these extra pieces can be used later for other costumes. 

Some of the estimates are hard to give because I reuse my pieces and try to get the most out of them. Start building a little at a time and you can, too!

A sneak peek at this year’s costumes

Halloween 2021, here we come!

  • Woodland Creatures – Bad@$$ Biker Garden Gnomes and a Dark Fairy
  • Witches and the Witch Hunter
  • Dia de Los Muertos 

Then we also have actual Halloween night, Spirit Day at School and work costumes! LOL

Items we had to purchase: 2 hats (being slouchy beanie caps so they can easily be worn again), gnome beard (use this for another costume later), Fairy Wings (Who doesn’t need fairy wings?) and 1 more witch hat. 

Alright, it’s time to get your spooky on. Go have some fun and share your pictures with us on social at @raspberrymoonst!

Filed Under: Fun Facts, Holidays, Inspiration, Local, Makeup, Raspberry Moon Tagged With: halloween, Holiday, inspiration

Local and Online Resources While Social Distancing

March 31, 2020

Stay at home happily with all these ideas and resources

We provided a list of some resources in our blog post about COVID-19 but since then we’ve heard a lot more great ideas so our intent is to keep updating this blog post with new resources, both local and online, for ways to stay occupied, to learn new things, to teach the kiddos, and help the local community.

For general news and local updates related to the virus, Keller Williams has a Daily Greenville site with all of that information.

If you want to help local businesses in general

The Chocolate Moose in downtown Greenville has started a website called Kill COVID not Small Biz that lets local restaurants and retail shops provide information about current hours, online shopping and/or gift cards, and other ways that the Upstate community can support each business during this time.

If you want to cook more (or better)

Make some homemade pizza while staying home
  • Want to learn to make pasta and yummy Italian Food – Check out https://nonnalive.com/ – this is a paid class but seems like it would be super fun. 
  • Christina at Atlantic Institute posts a lot of things going on in the community – The Turkish ladies did an online cooking class last week and I think they’re going to be doing another one soon.
  • Maybe be creative with your cooking! Use Google or Pinterest and try something different. My friend Angela just did a challenge with her Dave Ramsey group in February to eat everything out of her pantry and freezer without going to the grocery store. She had to get pretty creative and not everything was a huge success but it was a challenge and I thought pretty cool.
  • Michelin-Star Chef Massimo Bottura is live streaming his family dinners on his Instagram account so those who are stuck at home, just like he is, can also enjoy a delicious meal while improving their cooking skills. He’s called the series “Kitchen Quarantine” and is recording in English to reach as many people as possible.

If you want to eat in

So many restaurants are offering delivery and take out. In addition to the list on the Kill COVID Not Small Biz website, here are a few small places you might not know about:

  • Kuka Juice – Love these ladies. They have a delivery service, as well as pick up. You can also get a free kids lunch! Go check them out. 
  • Sunbelly Cafe
  • My neighbors, Palmetto Fine Foods

Really just too many to name, maybe go out of your comfort zone and try something new. We are pretty stocked at home so we are cooking away. 

If you want to work out

Yoga Girl
  • If you enjoy yoga, check out Greenville Yoga – they are now doing their classes via Live Streaming and you can pay for classes as you go along. 
  • Jaidra with Niad is teaching her bellydance classes online! So if getting to class was hard now you can check it out online fro the comfort of your home. Pricing is on her site.

If you miss nature

  • You can do virtual tours in the National Parks thanks to Google Earth. 
  • Maybe take a virtual safari in Africa and then check out books online from the library if you can to learn more. 
  • Take a virtual tour at Cincinnati Zoo
  • Or right down the road at the Georgia Aquarium
  • Noni Chick – We visited the Real Noni Farm last year and it was so interesting. Every year they have albatrosses that come to give birth and raise their chicks and every year they have a contest on what to name one of the chicks and you can participate and maybe win a free gift!

If you love the arts

  • Logos Theater in Taylors is offering 2 shows online – I love their plays and look forward to watching this at home since my live version was cancelled.
  • Shelter at home with streaming episodes of Austin City Limits. The beacon of live music is opening its archives as a gift to music fans during the current live music moratorium.
  • So now that I have my Hoopla App I can listen to audiobooks (you can also watch movies or TV, listen to music, read comics and Ebooks) from the Library for FREE! Great books I have listened to:
    • The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar (based on historical facts about women that flew planes during WWII)
    • The Radium Girls by Kate Moore (based on a true story)
    • The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (based on a true story)
    • I am starting the Narnia Series now – I needed something lighter after the last 2 books! I loved them but they are on the heavier side. Radium Girls and The Tattooist of Auschwitz were amazing stories about strength, perseverance, survival and happiness. Yes, even happiness was found by many of the Radium Girls and Lalo.

If you have kids to entertain and educate (in addition to above ideas)

My rabbit is enjoying a facial during the Bear Hunt
My rabbit is enjoying a facial during the Bear Hunt
  • Dolly Parton has announced a new weekly video called “Goodnight With Dolly” which will feature Dolly reading a series of Imagination Library children’s books.
  • The author of Pete The Cat goes live at noon on Instagram! I believe it’s every weekday.
  • These virus test kits are something you have to pay for but I thought it was cool to explain what is going on now.
  • Go Bear Hunting – This looks super fun and is based on a Children’s Book.
  • Pull out those old board and card games that may have been collecting dust these last few years as we are always on the run and don’t slow down. 

If you want to tackle your home and yard

  • Do home repair projects that you have been putting off! Grab your paint today or any supplies today, make use of your time. 
  • Time to clean out those closets and drawers! https://konmari.com/ or see a Google search for Konmari tricks.
  • Get those garden beds ready for planting! Read ideas on the Clemson Home and Garden website.
A row of flowers

Filed Under: Books, Food, Garden, Health, Inspiration, Local, Raspberry Moon Tagged With: coronavirus

The History of Christmas Trees

December 9, 2022

Evergreen trees (and other evergreen plants) have traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals (pre-Christian/pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pre-Christian/Pagans used branches of evergreen trees to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. However, they were quite different to what we now think of as Christmas Trees.

Nobody is really sure when Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees. It probably began about 1000 years ago in Northern Europe.

Christmas Trees might well have started out as ‘Paradise Trees’ (branches or wooden frames decorated with apples). These were used in medieval German Mystery or Miracle Plays that were acted out in front of Churches during Advent and on Christmas Eve. In early church calendars of saints, 24th December was Adam and Eve’s day. The Paradise Tree represented the Garden of Eden. It was often paraded around the town before the play started, as a way of advertising the play. The plays told Bible stories to people who could not read.

Christmas Trees as they came to be now started around the late 1400s into the 1500s. In what’s now Germany (was the Holy Roman Empire then), the Paradise Tree had more decorations on it (sometimes communion wafers, cherries and later pastry decorations of stars, bells, angels, etc. were added) and it even got a new nickname the ‘Christbaum’ or ‘Christ Tree’.

Some early Christmas Trees, across many parts of northern Europe, were cherry or hawthorn plants (or a branch of the plant) that were put into pots and brought inside so they would hopefully flower at Christmas time. If you couldn’t afford a real plant, people made pyramids of woods and they were decorated to look like a tree with paper, apples and candles. It’s possible that the wooden pyramid trees were meant to be like Paradise Trees. Sometimes they were carried around from house to house, rather than being displayed in a home.

Some trees (or at least small tops of them or branches of fir trees) were hung from the ceiling, mainly in some parts of Germany, some Slavic countries and parts of Poland. This might have been to save space or they just looked nice hanging from the rafters! (If you have lighting hooks on the ceiling, they would also be an obvious place to hang things from.)

The first documented use of a tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations is argued between the cities of Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia! Both claim that they had the first trees; Tallinn in 1441 and Riga in 1510. Both trees were put up by the ‘Brotherhood of Blackheads’ which was an association of local unmarried merchants, ship owners, and foreigners in Livonia (what is now Estonia and Latvia).

Little is known about either tree apart from that they were put in the town square, were danced around by the Brotherhood of Blackheads and were then set on fire. This is like the custom of the Yule Log. The word used for the ‘tree’ could also mean a mast or pole, tree might have been like a ‘Paradise Tree’ or a tree-shaped wooden candelabra rather than a ‘real’ tree.

In the town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia, there is a plaque which is engraved with “The First New Year’s Tree in Riga in 1510”, in eight languages.

A picture from Germany in 1521 which shows a tree being paraded through the streets with a man riding a horse behind it. The man is dressed a bishop, possibly representing St. Nicholas.

In 1584, the historian Balthasar Russow wrote about a tradition, in Riga, of a decorated fir tree in the market square where the young men “went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame”. There’s a record of a small tree in Breman, Germany from 1570. It is described as a tree decorated with “apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers”. It was displayed in a ‘guild-house’ (the meeting place for a society of business men in the city).

The first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas. So he brought a tree into his house and decorated it with candles to represent the stars.

Some people say this is the same tree as the ‘Riga’ tree, but it isn’t! The story about Martin Luther seems to date to about 1536 and Riga tree originally took place a couple of decades earlier.

The custom of having Christmas trees could well have travelled along the Baltic sea, from Latvia to Germany. In the 1400s and 1500s, the countries which are now Germany and Latvia were them part of two larger empires which were neighbors. Fir, or other evergreen trees like conifers, were common throughout northern Europe at this time, so that’s why firs and conifers became the ‘standard’ Christmas Tree.

Another story says that St. Boniface of Crediton (a village in Devon, UK) left England in the 8th century and traveled to Germany to preach to the pre-Christian/pagan German tribes and convert them to Christianity. He is said to have come across a group of pre-Christian/pagans about to sacrifice a young boy while worshipping an oak tree in honour of Thor. In anger, and to stop the sacrifice, St. Boniface cut down the oak tree and, to his amazement, a young fir tree sprang up from the roots of the oak tree. St. Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith and his followers decorated the tree with candles so that St. Boniface could preach to the pre-Christian/pagans at night. St Boniface was certainly involved in spreading Christianity in parts of Germany, although the legends of the tree seems to have started several centuries later and they’re not mentioned in the early writings about St Boniface.

Haing Trees upside down has also been connected with St. Boniface. One story/theory says that he used the ‘triangle’ shape of an upside down fir tree to help explain the trinity in the Christian faith (God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit). Being upside down it that looked a bit like a cross and so also helped to explain the crucifixion.

There is another legend, from Germany, about how the Christmas Tree came into being, it goes:

Once on a cold Christmas Eve night, a forester and his family were in their cottage gathered round the fire to keep warm. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. When the forester opened the door, he found a poor little boy standing on the door step, lost and alone. The forester welcomed him into his house and the family fed and washed him and put him to bed in the youngest sons own bed (he had to share with his brother that night!). The next morning, Christmas Morning, the family were woken up by a choir of angels, and the poor little boy had turned into Jesus, the Christ Child. The Christ Child went into the front garden of the cottage and broke a branch off a Fir tree and gave it to the family as a present to say thank you for looking after him. So ever since them, people have remembered that night by bringing a Christmas Tree into their homes!

A drawing of the famous Royal Christmas Tree from 1848

In Germany, the first Christmas Trees were decorated with edible things, such as gingerbread and gold covered apples. In 1605 an unknown German wrote: “At Christmas they set up fir trees in the parlours of Strasbourg and hang thereon roses cut out of many-colored paper, apples, wafers, gold foil, sweets, etc.”.

Some other trees were used in different parts of Germany, such as box or Yew. In the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz it was common to decorate just a branch of a yew tree.

At first, a figure of the Baby Jesus was put on the top of the tree. Over time it changed into a star like the Wise Men saw or an angel/fairy that told the shepherds about Jesus. The ‘angel’ might also might have started as a version of the ‘Christkind’ which translates as ‘The Christ Child’ but is normally shown as a little angel figure with blond hair!

The first Christmas Tree in the UK was probably set-up by Queen Charlotte, the German wife of King George III. Queen Charlotte grew up in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and in the 1790s there are records of her having a yew branch in Kew Palace or Windsor Castle. She helped to decorate it herself and it became a popular event for the royal court. In 1800 she had a full yew tree set-up at the Queen’s Lodge in Windsor for a children’s party for rich and noble families. Dr John Watkins, who went to the party described the tree like this: “…from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds and raisins in papers, fruits and toys, most tastefully arranged; the whole illuminated by small wax candles.”. And “…after the company had walked round and admired the tree, each child obtained a portion of the sweets it bore, together with a toy, and then all returned home quite delighted.”.

Soon having a tree had become popular amongst some rich families. Queen Charlotte died in 1818 and by then, having a Christmas Tree was a tradition among much of the upper classes.

There’s no mention of a Christmas Tree in ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens, which was published in 1843.

They became very popular throughout the country from the mid 1840s, when reports of ‘the Royal tree’ were printed in newspapers. In 1848, a drawing of “The Queen’s Christmas tree at Windsor Castle” was published in the Illustrated London News. It showed Queen Victoria, her German Husband Prince Albert and their young children around a tree which was set-up on a table. The drawing was republished in Godey’s Lady’s Book, Philadelphia in December 1850 (but they removed the Queen’s crown and Prince Albert’s moustache to make it look ‘American’!).

The publication of the drawing helped Christmas Trees become popular in the UK and USA. The custom of Christmas Trees had been taken to the USA by settlers from Germany and other European countries. However, they were seen as a rather strange decoration until the publication of the drawing of the British Royal family’s Christmas Tree!

In Victorian times, the tree would have been decorated with candles to represent stars. In many parts of Europe, candles are still used to decorate Christmas trees.

Christmas Tree ‘skirts’ started as Christmas Tree ‘carpets’. They were made from heavy fabric, often decorated and with fancy frills around the edges, and were used either on the floor, or on tables, and went under the trees and their stands – rather than ‘around’ them. They were used to catch the needles from the trees and also protect the floor or table tops from dripping wax coming from the candles on the trees.

In Germany in the early/mid 1800s it was also ‘fashionable’ to have a forest scene and/or a nativity scene under trees (especially if the trees were placed on tables) and so these scenes also stood on the Tree carpets.

At this point trees were either normally put in pots (if they still had roots on them) or they were attached to a larger piece of wood or other heavy support (if they’d been cut) and so the scenes help to hide these.

In the 1860s proper metal tree holders, for cut trees, started being made. If you were rich, you could get them in very fancy shapes – and some even had music boxes in them, so they ‘plinked’ Christmas tunes!

Less expensive tree holders also became available and were made out of cheaper metals (and they also didn’t look so good), so the ‘carpets’ became smaller and were also put ‘around’ the tree holders and became the Christmas tree skirts that we have today.

Lead and glass decorations started being made in the 1860s and 1870s. Some of the first glass decorations were apples – and that’s probably where round, red, baubles on Christmas Trees comes from! Frank Woolworth started selling glass ornaments in his stores in the USA in 1880. There’s also the legend of The Christmas Pickle ornament!

Tinsel and The Legend of the Christmas Spider

Tinsel was first created in Nuremberg, Germany in the 1878 when thin strips of silver foil were sold as ‘Icicles’. In 1880 ‘angel hair, made from spun glass was sold. The first ‘tinsel’ garlands were sold in the 1890s from silver plated copper wire. But when plastic/man made tinsel was invented, it became very popular as it was much cheaper than metal tinsel and also lighter to go on the tree!

There are also folk stories about how tinsel was created – by The Christmas Spider!

These tales seem to have started in Eastern Germany, Poland or Ukraine but are also told in parts of Finland and Scandinavia. The stories are now also popular in other countries such as the USA; although I live in the UK and most people in my country have never heard of the story/legend!

All the versions of the story involve a poor family who can’t afford to decorate a Tree for Christmas (in some versions the tree grew from a pine cone in their house, in others the family have bought a tree into the house). When the children go to sleep on Christmas Eve a spider covers the tree in cobwebs. Then on Christmas morning the cobwebs are magically turned into silver and gold strands which decorate the tree!

Some versions of the story say that it’s the light of the sun which changed the cobwebs into silver and gold but other versions say it’s St Nicholas / Santa Claus / Father Christmas / das Christkind which made the magic happen.

In parts of Germany, Poland, and Ukraine it’s meant to be good luck to find a spider or a spider’s web on your Christmas Tree. Spider’s web Christmas Tree decorations are also popular in Ukraine. They’re called ‘pavuchky’ (which means ‘little spider’) and the decorations are normally made of paper and silver wire. You might even put an artificial spider’s web on your tree!

Christmas Tree Lights

There are a few different claims as to who invented popularised the first strings of ‘electric’ Christmas Tree lights. In 1880, the famous inventor Thomas Edison put some of his new electric light bulbs around his office. And in 1882 Edward Johnson, who was a colleague of Edison, hand-strung 80 red, white and blue bulbs together and put them on his tree in his New York apartment (there were two additional strings of 28 lights mounted from the ceiling!). The lights were about the size of a walnut.

In 1890 the Edison company published a brochure offering lighting services for Christmas. In 1900 another Edison advert offered bulbs which you could rent, along with their lighting system, for use over Christmas! There are records in a diary from 1891 where settlers in Montana used electric lights on a tree. However, most people couldn’t easily use electric tree lights at this time as electricity wasn’t widely installed in homes. But rich people liked to show off with lights installed just for Christmas, this would have cost about $300 per tree then, more than $2000 money today!

Electric tree lights first because widely known in the USA in 1895 when President Grover Cleveland had the tree in the White House decorated with lights as his young daughters liked them! The tradition of the National Christmas Tree on the White House lawn started in 1923 with President Calvin Coolidge.

In the December 1901 edition of “The Ladies’ Home Journal”, there was an advert for “Edison Miniature Lamps” which boasted ‘no smoke, smell or grease’; and you could buy or rent the lights. In 1903 there was an advert from Edisons with Christmas lights called festoons – which had eight lights per ‘festoon’. Sets of three festoons (so 24 lights) cost $12 or you could rent the lights from $1.50. This was still quite expensive, but much cheaper than $300.

Another claim to the first widespread sale of strings of lights comes from Ralph Morris, an American telephonist. In 1908, he used telephone wire to string together small bulbs from a telephone exchange and decorated a table top tree with them. Leavitt Morris, the son of Ralph, wrote an article in 1952 for the Christian Science Monitor, about his father inventing Christmas Tree lights, as he was un-aware of the Edison lights.

In 1885 a hospital in Chicago burned down because of candles on a Christmas Tree. In 1908 insurance companies in the USA tried to get a law made that would ban candles from being used on Christmas Trees because of the many fires they had caused. However, people still used candles to light Christmas Trees and there were more fires.

In 1917, a fire from Christmas Tree candles in New York, gave a teenager called Albert Sadacca an idea. His family came from Spain and made novelty wicker bird cages that lit up. Albert thought of using the lights in long strings and also suggested painting the bulbs bright colors like red and green. In the following years, he and his brothers formed the NOMA Electric Company, which became a very famous name in Christmas lights.

The most lights lit at the same time on a Christmas tree is 194,672 and was done by Kiwanis Malmedy / Haute Fagnes Belgium in Malmedy, Belgium, on 10 December 2010!

Many towns and villages have their own Christmas Trees. One of the most famous is the tree in Trafalgar Square in London, England, which is given to the UK by Norway every year as a ‘thank you’ present for the help the UK gave Norway in World War II. The White House in the USA has had a big tree on the front lawn since the 1920s.

The record for the most Christmas trees chopped down in two minutes is 27 and belongs to Erin Lavoie from the USA. She set the record on 19th December 2008 on the set of Guinness World Records: Die GroBten Weltrekorde in Germany.

Artificial Christmas Trees

Artificial Christmas Trees really started becoming popular in the early 20th century. In the Edwardian period Christmas Trees made from colored ostrich feathers were popular at ‘fashionable’ parties. Around 1900 there was even a short fashion for white trees – so if you thought colored trees are a new invention they’re not! Over the years artificial trees have been made from feathers, papier mâché, metal, glass, and many different types of plastic.

According to The Guinness World Records, the tallest cut Christmas tree was a 67.36m (221 ft) Douglas fir setup at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, in December 1950. The tallest artificial Christmas tree was 72.1m (236.5ft) tall and was made by the Arjuna Ranatunga Social Services (Sri Lanka), in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 24 December 2016.

In many countries, different trees are used as Christmas trees. In New Zealand a tree called the ‘Pōhutakawa’ that has red flowers is sometimes used and in India, Banana or Mango trees are sometimes decorated. In Puerto Rico you might use a palm leaf to decorate your home. In the Dominican Republic there’s a decoration called ‘Charamicos’ (a slang word for a dry tree branch) which are made from straw of flexible wood and painted white. They were originally made to look like small Christmas Trees but are now in lots of shapes like stars and animals.

You can decorate an online Christmas Tree in the fun section of the site!


Original post from: https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/christmas-trees

Filed Under: Raspberry Moon

The Complete Guide to Our At-Home Facial Treatment

April 2, 2020

Our At Home Facial Treatment Kit

Get your Glow on at The Moon…..I mean at home!

Just because you can’t make it in for a full facial doesn’t mean you can’t get beautiful skin at home. We’re now selling At-Home Facial Kits in our online store. Purchase your kit and then follow the instructions below to beautiful skin.

Tune into Facebook Live on Friday, April 10 at 4pm for a full demonstration of how to do an At-Home Facial with the kit. And we’ll have a YouTube video in the near future too.

Our At Home Facial Treatment Kit
Our At-Home Facial Kit

Also check out the Mini-Me kit further down this page so you and your little one can have spa time together!

If you already have full size versions of these Skin Script products, you’re good to go!

What you will need:

Do an At-Home Facial Treatment with our kit
  • Two hand towels
  • Microwave safe container to hold warm towels
  • Bowl of warm water
  • At Home Facial Kit
    • 2 Skin Script Cleansers
    • Skin Script Toner
    • Skin Script 2% Retinol Scrub
    • 2 Skin Script Serums
    • Skin Script Moisturizer
    • Mask from our Raspberry Moon Collection
    • Washcloth
    • Facial Mask Brush

The Step-by-Step

These are your basic steps to do an at home facial using Skin Script Rx Professional Grade Skincare Products.

1. Gather all of your supplies.

2. Soak your hand towels in water, wring out the excess and put in a closed container that you can microwave for about 3 minutes. If you have essential oils at home, you can add a drop or two to the water as you fill up the bowl to soak your towels. (Lavender is always a good option.)

3. Dispense about a large pea size of Pomegranate Cleanser, blend on fingertips and apply to damp skin. Massage the cleanser over the face and neck. If you are also doing your decollete, you will need a little more cleanser. I always start with less and then add more if I need it so I don’t waste product. Remove cleanser with warm water and a washcloth.

4. Repeat Step 3 with the Green Tea Citrus Cleanser, especially if you are wearing a lot of makeup.

5. Apply about a large pea-to-dime-sized (if you are including your decollete area) amount of Skin Script’s 2% Retinol Exfoliating Scrub/Mask – leave on for up to 10 minutes. Use your warm towels after about 5 minutes of the mask being on. Be sure to wring out excess water on the towels, cool them down some if they are too hot, fold the towel in half length wise, and wrap around the face like a moon. 

6. After a few minutes, use the towels to remove the scrub, you may also need to use your washcloth to remove any extra beads. 

7. Spray with Cucumber Hydration Toner.

8. Take 1 -2 pumps each of Ageless Hydrating and/or Vitamin C Serums on your fingertips, blend them together then apply over the face and neck (you may need more to do your decollete). You can tap the product on the skin in four zones in a cross design and then blend in from there. Every chance you get to do a little massage, make it happen! 

9. Optionally, apply your favorite Eye Serum around the bottom and the top of the lid IF your eye serum allows for that. Follow the directions in the Eye Treatment Kit if you have it or if you have cucumbers then you can slice them and apply those to closed eyelids.

10. Apply appropriate Mask with a mask brush or your fingers, massage the skin for a few minutes if you want and then rest for 10-20 minutes.

11. Remove Mask with a warm washcloth.

12.  Hydrate with the best Moisturizer for your skin type. Apply a large pea-sized amount of moisturizer to fingertips and apply to your skin, again in a cross-like motion. 

13. Enjoy your amazing skin!

Buy At-Home Facial Kit

Eye Treatment Kit How-To

Be one of the first four people to purchase your At-Home Facial Kit and receive an Eye Treatment Kit that you can do at the same time as your facial treatment or separately to extend your Me Time!

What you will need

  • Small Bowl with ice cold water
  • Eye Treatment Kit
    • 2 Smooth Stones
    • 2 Cotton Rounds
    • Sample Eye Serum
    • Collagen Eye Mask
  1. Put the stones in the ice water to chill.
  2. Cleanse the eye area (if doing at the same time as the At Home Treatment, do this when you cleanse in Step 3, above)
  3. Apply eye serum on the top and bottom eye area depending on your eye serum directions (see Step 9 in the At Home Treatment, above)
  4. Wet the 2 cotton rounds in the ice cold water, squeeze gently to remove excess water and have them nearby as you find a comfortable place to lay down.
  5. After applying your face mask in Step 10 above, place your eye collagen mask over your eye area, and top with the cotton rounds and then the cold river stones.
  6. Rest for 10-20 minutes.
  7. Return the stones to the ice water for a few minutes while you remove the collagen mask (but don’t discard yet) and remove the face mask as directed in Step 11, above.
  8. For a real spa experience, take any extra collagen from the mask (those sheets always have excess) and apply to your face and around the eye. Use the ice cold flat stones to do a massage around the eye area. Work from the inner eye out in circular motion. This is SO COLD BUT SO GOOD for the eyes, especially those suffering from allergies dark circles, puffiness and tired eyes. Keep expanding the massage outward from forehead to temples, down either side of the nose across the sinus cavities, even along the jawline and down the neck as long as the stones have some “slipperiness” to them.
  9. Finish with the moisturizer for your face in Step 12, above.
The Mini Me Facial Treatment Kit

The Mini Me Facial Treatment Kit

Have kiddos at home and you’re trying to keep them busy? You know they’re going to want to do facials too! They can basically do the same steps as you, minus a few products. We have a Mini Me Facial Treatment Kit that’s available on its own, or bundle it with the At-Home Facial Treatment Kit for a special add-on price.

What you will need:

  • Two hand towels
  • Washcloth
  • Microwave safe container to hold warm towels
  • Bowl of warm water
  • Honey, preferably local, in a small bowl
  • Mini-Me Facial Kit
    • Skin Script Cleanser (either Pomegranate or Green Tea)
    • Skin Script Toner
    • Skin Script Moisturizer
    • Mask from our Raspberry Moon Collection
Your little one can join you in spa time
  1. Pomegranate Cleanser or Green Tea Citrus Cleanser (Green Tea if your little one has Gluten Allergies) used the same way as Step 3, above, though they probably don’t need as much product.
  2. They don’t really need an exfoliator but you could use some honey on them. Put about 1-2 teaspoons of honey – local if possible – into a little bowl, apply a few drops of warm water to make the honey more liquid so it will spread better. Apply to face with fingertips and let sit for 5 minutes.
  3. Microwave a damp hand towel for 3 minutes, let cool slightly, and use it to remove the honey
  4. Spray with Cucumber Toner.
  5. Apply Mask and leave on for 10 minutes. If you have cucumbers then slice them and place them on their closed eyelids. 
  6. Remove Mask with a warm washcloth.
  7. Apply a pea-sized amount of Moisturizer to fingertips and dot on face before blending in.
  8. Enjoy your amazing skin!
Buy At-Home Facial Kit

or

Buy Mini-Me Facial Kit

Filed Under: Gifts, Local, Products, Raspberry Moon, Skincare Tagged With: Facials, healthy skin, skin script

Announcing the Raspberry Moon Store!

April 2, 2020

Raspberry Moon's Online Store is now open!

Hey everyone, I have some super exciting news! I finally have the Raspberry Moon Online Store up and running. This should make it so much easier for you to order your professional-grade skincare products and have them sent to your house. You can also elect to pick them up at the store. I will be adding more product lines as I go along.

SHOP ONLINE

Raspberry Moon's Online Store is now open!

I am so excited about the things to come this year. 2020 may have started off differently than many of us had hoped but we have to keep moving forward and doing the best we can with where we are now. 

Currently, you will find all of your favorite Skin Script Rx Skin Care online at The Moon. If you are unsure of the products that would best suit your skin type and condition, please contact me and we can set up a consult. 

Do you have dry skin? Skin that breaks out at the drop of a hat? Does your skin feel tight, look red, get irritated all the time? Well, I am here to help you create the ideal skincare routine that works best for your skin type and condition as well as your time and budget. 

Skincare doesn’t have to be complicated or scary. If all you can do is three products then do three products. Cleanser, Toner, and Moisturizer. (And for sure some kind of sunscreen to protect your skin from damage. This could be something like Colorescience SPF50 Total FaceShield so it is your sunscreen and has a little tint to it for coverage as well.) As Maria Forleo says “Everything is Figureoutable” 

Call or text me at 864.271.2710 or use our contact form and let’s get you started on a new, healthy, effective skincare routine today. 

Filed Under: Local, Products, Raspberry Moon, Skincare Tagged With: skin script

COVID-19 Resources and What We’re Doing at the Moon

March 17, 2020

Cheers with my elderberry syrup
Sending cheers with my elderberry syrup
Sending cheers with my elderberry syrup

Good Afternoon Raspberry Moon Fam,

Before we get into the serious stuff, Sláinte is Táinte (“slawn-che iss toin-che”), meaning “health and wealth” in Gaelic!

This St Patty’s Day is a little different than most, but some downtime never stopped the Irish and on St Patty’s Day everyone has a little Irish in them! So Sláinte is Táinte to you and your family. Stay safe and healthy.

I saw this Guinness commercial and really loved it so thought I would share it with you. 

Stay healthy and safe my friends,

Nicole

My Plans at The Moon

Right now, I am planning to stay open and help create a place to rest and take your mind off things. I will continue to wipe down the room after every client and we are wiping down the handles and shop every day. There are diffusers being used with 4 Thieves in most rooms. There is hand sanitizer in the bathroom and in my room.

Please wash your hands a lot! Sing Happy Birthday twice while washing to really clean your hands well.

It is so hard to do this BUT try to stop touching your face, eyes and nose. You don’t realize how much we do this all day!

Please check your appointment time – you receive reminders via email and some clients received texts based on your preference. If you decide you would like to reschedule please do so as soon as possible. 

How Do I Stay Home Yet Stay Sane?

This is going to be a challenge for a lot of people to stay home, keep the kids entertained or not go stir crazy. 

This is a great time to take advantage of reading, playing games, being creative, spending time to just regroup and just resting. Getting proper sleep is one of the best and cheapest things you can do to stay healthy. Your body needs time to regenerate so be sure to go to bed at a decent hour and get up after 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

I mean seriously, how often do you get a chance to just take it easy? I know this all can be scary but let’s see what kind of things you can do to increase your well being and how creative you can be!

Here are some ideas for you to sort of keep things business as usual:

  • If you enjoy yoga, check out Greenville Yoga – they are now doing their classes via Live Streaming and you can pay for classes as you go along. 
  • Do you have a library card? You can download audio books, movies, music, comics, Ebooks, television. 
  • Pull out those old board and card games that may have been collecting dust these last few years as we are always on the run and don’t slow down. 
  • Do home repair projects that you have been putting off! Grab your paint today or any supplies today, make use of your time. 
  • Time to clean out those closets and drawers! https://konmari.com/ or see a Google search for Konmari tricks.
  • Get those garden beds ready for planting! Read ideas on the Clemson Home and Garden website.
  • Maybe be creative with your cooking! Use Google or Pinterest and try something different. My friend Angela just did a challenge with her Dave Ramsey group last month to eat everything out of her pantry and freezer without going to the grocery store. She had to get pretty creative and not everything was a huge success but it was a challenge and I thought pretty cool.

We are pretty stocked here for a while but I am planning to get creative with things we have had for a bit we need to use up and I want to get the freezer cleaned out! 

Of course the Salvadorian LOVES beans! LOL this is what I came home to the other night.

He said when all we have left is beans I don’t get any since I was picking on him about it! (Ummm this doesn’t include the rice, pasta and beans we already had though we would have needed them at some point any how. LOL)

Some COVID-19 Resources

I know everyone has been inundated with Coronavirus information. I have been listening to this MedCram medical Course that is really in layman’s terms. The doctor does a fabulous job explaining things. I do better with this kind of information. I hope this helps you understand more about the disease and what actions to take. 

According to a video I just watched on MedCram here are some things that you can be doing to help keep others in the community safe:

  1. Get a Thermographer – know for sure if you have a fever! A fever is 100.4 F or 38.0 C
  2. If you have a fever – DON’T GO to the hospital UNLESS you need to. Your signs to know if you should go to the hospital include: Shortness of Breath, Severe Cough, Sleepiness.
  3. DON’T HOARD MASKS – Regular surgical masks don’t prevent you from getting Coronavirus! The surgical masks are used in the hospital to help prevent a SICK person from spreading disease! The N95 masks are NEEDED for Hospital workers. If they are not able to get supplies then they are more at risk and we need all of the hospital staff to stay healthy so they can do their job and take care of those who get sick!
  4. CALL BEFORE you go to the hospital! If you show severe signs such as shortness of breath, chest pain or are super sleepy then you should go to the hospital. 

There is just tons of good info on the MedCram site so just go check it out. The course is free and easy to understand, but you might need to create a free account first to view.

10 Things You Can Do to Manage Your Health at Home

if you have possible or confirmed COVID-19

Graphic courtesy of the CDC website.

If you’re not sure what products to use to clean and sanitize, the EPA website has a comprehensive list of cleaning agents that are effective against the virus. (Clorox and other familiar cleaning products are listed starting about page 5.)

Fifteen Days to Slow the Spread

These are new guidelines put out by the White House and CDC yesterday (3/16/2020):

  1. Listen to and follow the directions of your state and local authorities.
  2. If you feel sick, stay home. Do not go to work. Contact your medical provider.
  3. If your children are sick, keep them at home. Contact your medical provider.
  4. If someone in your household has tested positive for the Coronavirus, keep the entire household at home.
  5. If you are an older American, stay home and away from other people.
  6. If you are a person with a serious underlying health condition—such as a significant heart or lung problem—stay home and away from other people.

These guidelines build on the CDC’s general recommendations to help prevent spread of the virus. Americans should continue practicing strict personal hygiene, including washing hands regularly for at least 20 seconds at a time and wiping down surfaces in the home often.

Even if you are young and otherwise healthy, you are at risk—and your activities can increase the risk of contracting the Coronavirus for others. Everyone can do their part.

Please stay safe and healthy out there!

Filed Under: Food, Garden, Health, Local, Raspberry Moon Tagged With: coronavirus

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