Merry Christmas - a Christmas Glass Block with lights

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S !  !

 I made a lighted Christmas glass block as a gift for my secret Santa gift this year - I loved how it turned out and especially how pretty it was when the lights inside were plugged in!  The crumbcake tulle from Stampin Up's holiday catalog was wrapped around the ends of the block and tied into a bow on top and the pleated satin ribbon around the pictures on both sides is a retired Stampin Up item, as well as the little tinsel-type bow.  You can still get the tulle ribbon as the holiday catalog doesn't end until Jan. 2nd!

 

The first Christmas Tree lit with electrical lights was in 1882. Edward H Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison, was Vice-President of the Edison Electric Light Company, which is now known as Con Edison. Johnson had bulbs the size of walnuts, hand wired, in red, blue and white specially made for him. They were initially called Christmas Tree Lamps! The tree was in his private home on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Most newspapers ignored this phenomenon considering it a marketing ploy. The story was published in a Detroit newspaper which dubbed him as the “Father of Electric Christmas Lights.” By 1900, businesses started stringing lights in their windows. For the average person, this was still an expensive decoration. Up until 1930, candles were still used in most homes, and then lights started becoming the majority replacement in most homes.

In 1895, President Grover Cleveland proudly displayed the first electrically lit tree in the White House. It was a huge tree featuring more than 100 multicolored lights. The first commercially manufactured Christmas tree lamps were produced by General Electric Co of Harrison, NJ. They were strings of multiples 8 sockets and each socket took a miniature two-candela carbon-filament lamp. From that point on electrically illuminated Christmas trees, but only indoors, grew with mounting enthusiasm in the United States and elsewhere.

The cube I made has a string of 50 lights inside it along with a silver and gold glittery garland.

 

I used 2 Thomas Kinkade pictures on the large flat sides of the cube so it is reversible!  The Stampin Up red sticky tape worked great to adhere everything to the glass.

 The other 2 white ribbons used were from another craft store - one of them is a wired ribbon so it can be puffed up into a beautiful bow that stands up nicely.

I just bought some purple mini-lights on sale so I can make up one of these glass blocks for myself!

One popular tradition of Christmas is singing Christmas carols. These traditions have their origins in the past well before the terminology “Christmas Carols” was actualized. Most of the popular carols were written in the 19^th century and were sung from house to house near the Christmas season. The Church adopted this tradition in the 1820’s, giving these songs a greater sense of reverence. Hence the term “Christmas Carols” was born.

Popular Christmas Carols, their author, and the year they were written –

Away in the Manger – James Murray – 1885

Deck the Hall’s – John Perry Ddall – 1784

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – author unknown – most likely written in the 1700’s

Hark the Herald Angels Sing – Felix Mendelssohn – 1840

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – Henry Longfellow – 1863

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – Edmund Sears – 1849

Jingle Bells – James Pierpont – 1857

Joy to the World – Isaac Watts – 1719

Messiah – George Frideric Handel - 1741

O Christmas Tree – Ernst Anschutz – 1824

O Come All Ye Faithful – John Wade et al – 1200’s

O Come, O Come Emanuel – John Mason Neale – mid 1800’s

O Holy Night – Adolphe Adam – 1847

O Little Town of Bethlehem – Phillips Brooks – 1865

Silent Night – Joseph Mohr – 1816

The First Noel – Davies Gilbert – 1700’s

Twelve Days of Christmas – author unknown – 1500’s

We Wish you a Merry Christmas – author unknown – 1500’s