Have Yourself A Merry Kooky Christmas

The intoxicating scent of clove, mulled cider and cinnamon fills the air. Chimneys are releasing the
sweet-smelling smoke from warm roaring fires. The stockings are hung ready for Santa to fill them with gifts. The idyllic festive season is well and truly upon us. It doesn’t matter whether you are 8 or 38, Christmas has a way of luring you into a fuzzy and warm sense of security.The traditions of
Christmas have captured the hearts and minds of those people who aren’t even religious and see this special time of year as an opportunity to unwind and take in the familiar twinkling lights, Santa grottos and kitch decorations. This may be the only time of the year when you partake in a tipple of port after
your cheese and biscuits. Simply because it’s Christmas.
There’s nothing better than realizing you’ll get to spend some quality time with your nearest and
dearest, have a chance to reflect on the past year and relish the opportunity to show your soulmate just how much you love them.The traditions of Christmas are firmly rooted in reds, golds and greens, the tinsel adorning a Norwegian Fir and the turkey gracing the table at lunch.”
While many of us find comfort in these traditions and wouldn’t do anything to rock the boat, others
are keen to have a go at something a little bit different. The chances are that you may have chickened out at the last minute in previous years for fear of getting it wrong and ruining the festive season.
However, there are plenty of ways that you can revolutionize your Christmas and enjoy bringing a
little bit of kookiness to your festive season.

Location
The easiest way to feel that your Christmas has taken on a whole new facet is to change the location in
which you spend it. Ifyou’ve always stayed inyour hometown and enjoyed turkey and all the trimmings followed by the ubiquitous game of char ades with your family while the snow is falling
outside, you might want to change it up a bit. Ever thought of Christmas on the beach while the sun beats down and you’re enjoying shrimp on the barbeque? On the other hand, you might not have ever experienced a cold Christmas so would relish the opportunity of whipping on some snowshoes, telling your huskies to mush and heading to a ski lodge or secluded snow-laden retreat. What is one
person’s tradition is another person’s kooky.
Food
The easiest aspect of Christmas to change up is your food. Ifyou think of yourself as quite the creator
of culinary masterpieces you might want to experiment with your festive menu. While you still might want to harness the tradition of turkey,you could serve it in a different way.How about jerk turkey curry or a festive turkey pie? Ifyou want to forgo the turkey altogether and venture down the ultimate quirky path,you could opt for an Asian inspired five spiced roast duck or slow roast lamb in sloe gin. just because you don’t have turkey,you don’t have to entertain the boring and mundane. You can still create the most spectacular meal that your guests will remember for a very long time.”

When it comes to puddings, delight your diners with a chocolate ganache bar with gold leaf topping.”
Try out a homemade mulled wine and chestnut tart or have a go at creating a salted caramel and
brandy pavlova. $imply by adding some unique quirks to your cooking,you are changing your Christmas menu just enough to turn it from traditional to kooky.”

Gifts
When you consider what gifts to buy your friends and family this year, try and think outside the box.”
Sure, socks are nice, and a new leather wallet doesn’t go amiss at Christmas time but why not mix it up a bit with some more quirky additions? You could purchase an experience or two for your loved ones. Think about how Uncle Bob has always been going on about how much he wants to learn to fly. A one-hour taster session in his very own light aircraft with an instructor is the most thoughtful and awe-inspiring gift he could receive – much more worthwhile than those silk handkerchiefs you were going to get him.”
Experience days aren’t to be physically opened, but they are to be enjoyed and help memories to be
made. The possibilities are endless. Your cousins could go quad biking,your dad could try his hand at kite surfing,and your mum could experience the joys of a reiki head massage followed by an
introductory session to Bikram yoga.
Another fantastic way of adding a touch of the odd to your gifts is to purchase a charity present. If
grandma has everything and you have no idea what to buy her, why not purchase her a goat. This doesn’t mean taking a bearded species around your nan’s after Christmas lunch but purchasing a goat on her behalf to be used in Africa. By gifting to charity on someone’s behalf,you are helping those less fortunate while also making the recipient feel good.”

It’s not just gifts that can feel the benefits from a wave of the quirky wand. The taxing task of writing
out nigh on a hundred Christmas cards to then stamp out and post can be the least enjoyable part of the run-up to Christmas. This year, why not send your nearest and dearest some photo greeting cards so they can see you smiling at them from the mantelpiece as they tuck into their festive lunch.”
You can head online, select a photo, upload it onto a card and then get them posted directly to the recipients. You don’t have to lick another stamp ever again if you don’t want to and your pals will have
a quirky little greetings card that is pretty much unique.
Party Time
Ifyou’re hosting a Christmas party this year, why not veer away from the traditional festive fancy
dress and embark on a different theme. Keep hold of all things festive and hold a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ themed soiree. Marvel at the jack Skellingtons partaking in the nibbles that you so lovingly created. You could ask your guests to dress up as characters from their favorite Christmas movies.
How many grinches or John McClains might you see? Ifyou fancy something a tad more formal,send out invitations to a Christmas masquerade ball.By introducing something different into people’s
social calendars, you are breaking away from tradition.”
Christmas is a time for giving,a time to eat, drink and be merry and a time to ensure goodwill to all
men.There’s no law saying that you must eat turkey,you must partake in a game of charades, or you must purchase someone a pair of socks. It’s ok to change up your Christmas experience. You might even entertain the revolutionary idea of foregoing a fir-like tree for a more scaled back and minimalist twig like creation.It’s up to you. You aren’t reinventing the wheel,merely tweaking it here and there.”
Who knows? Next year you may veer back towards the more traditional after your jaunt into
something a little outside the box. Whatever you are doing for the festive season this year, have a very merry kooky Christmas.”