A free puff stitch crochet pattern for an 80 mm Christmas ball: a crochet ornament cover in chunky staggered rows, tied at the neck with a jute bow. Expect roughly an hour and 30 yards of yarn per cover.
A free crochet spiral Christmas tree pattern: a stuffed cone worked in back loops, with one raised ridge winding from the rim to the tip. About 7 inches tall in worsted yarn.
Nine crochet Christmas ornaments and the closest patterns for each: tree, snowflake, gingerbread house and man, ball, reindeer, Santa, candy cane and snowman.
20 Christmas mug gift ideas with the exact design and fillings for each mug, from a snowman hot cocoa mug to a teacher thank-you mug.
20 mason jar gift ideas for Christmas, with the tag wording, what goes inside each jar, and how to wrap it for everyone on your list.
30 Christmas gifts for kids from Pinterest: homemade games and non-toy ideas, class gifts to hand out at school, and Christmas gifts made by kids for parents and grandparents.
30 Christmas gifts for girlfriend from Pinterest: DIY gifts to make in an evening, sentimental letters, cards and photo gifts, and cozy Christmas baskets.
25 Christmas gifts for friends from Pinterest: homemade kitchen gifts, small gifts for friends and neighbors, easy DIY crafts and personal ideas for a best friend.
25 Christmas gifts for dad from Pinterest: homemade gifts from kids, photo gifts from a daughter, funny candy and beer builds, gift baskets for his hobbies and small presents.
25 Christmas gift ideas for women from Pinterest: cozy boxes, unusual gadgets, flowers and bubbles, easy DIY gifts and two lists of odd finds.
25 teacher Christmas gifts from Pinterest: classroom kits, pun gifts, things kids can make, kitchen treats and practical presents, each with the original pin.
25 Christmas gifts for coworkers from Pinterest: pun gifts with printable tags, goodie bags, homemade treats and easy DIY gifts, each with the original pin.
25 Christmas gifts for mom from Pinterest: gift baskets, DIY and homemade gifts, treats from your kitchen and presents to buy, each with the original pin.
25 Christmas gifts for boyfriend from Pinterest: burr baskets, stocking stuffers, DIY gifts and ready-to-buy ideas, each with the original pin.
A parrot that smells of honey, a vulture that dyes its feathers with iron-rich mud, a hummingbird with racquets on its tail: twelve weird and rare birds and the odd things researchers have recorded about them.
Souling and guising are old, but the words trick or treat first appear in Canadian papers from 1917 to 1927. In the 1930s US papers called it a shakedown; by the 1950s it was everywhere.
Orange and black were already “Hallowe’en colors” in 1913 newspapers. A crepe paper company’s yearly Bogie Book helped fix the look, and by 1923 it was simply “the usual way”.
The flying witch appears in church and court writings of the early 1400s; the first known picture dates from 1451. The broom was chosen because it was an ordinary household tool.
In Scotland it was dooking, in a washing tub on the kitchen floor. In Ireland apples spun on a wooden cross with lit candles, and the game named the night: Snap-Apple Night.
Candy corn dates from the 1880s and was sold as Chicken Feed, a farmyard joke in an age when corn was animal food. It only became the Halloween candy in the 1950s.
