How to celebrate February 1st and 2nd during Wintertyde 2015

A check of the Wintertyde 2015 calendar shows that after January, February starts with a lot of celebrations.

First of all, so to speak, February 1st is not only Saint Brigit's Day but also Super Bowl 49 Sunday.  So, have an Irish-flavored Super Bowl celebration at your house.  Serve an Irish stew, during the pre-game shows, at some point during the day, and if green beer is already available, stock up plenty.

Your front door wreath should already have its Saint Brigit's cross and a bright green shamrock.  These ought to be attached 1 week prior to the 1st of February.  Ditto for your Wintertyde tree:  Saint Brigit's cross, shamrock, and a football for Super Bowl 49.

February 2nd is a more sedate observance than February 1st in 2015.  Two Wintertyde holidays fall on the 2nd:  Candlemas and Groundhog Day.  

Your wreath can take two ornaments at the same time the other go up:  1 week before February 1st.  Check online for a groundhog ornament and a candle ornament.  Both will take some time to find. Or consider making your own.  You'll want 2 of each.  One for the outdoor wreath and one for your Wintertyde tree.  Make sure that your candle ornament does not feature holly or anything

related to Christmas.  A tealight makes a good candle ornament because it's the right size.  Be creative in coming up with something.

More info here:

http://projectbritain.com/year/candlemas.html

http://www.groundhog.org/

Once these 4 holidays have passed, shift into Saint Valentine's Day mode.  Decorative items go up by February 3rd this year.

How to celebrate Saint Brigit's Day during Wintertyde

On the Wintertyde calendar, note that the holidays begin in February rather than January.  The latter month simply has no celebratory holidays of note except for Wintertyde's Eve and Wintertyde's Day.  Actually, the arrangement works out well as most Wintertyders are busy with the demands of January and the New Year. However, by the time February rolls around, people are in a more celebratory mood.

Wintertyde's February starts off with a quadruple-header of holidays!

Saint Brigit's Day falls on February 1st.  Do research on this Saint for celebratory ideas.  Saint Brigit is one of the patron saints of Ireland along with Saint Patrick.  Of course, as a woman she has been marginalized over the centuries, and now's the time to change things.  First of all, Saint Brigit is actually Irish, for starters.  Saint Patrick was English.

You'll want to get your Saint Brigit's cross onto your doorway wreath along with some shamrocks.  Stores such as Dollar Tree usually start stocking Irish items early, so check there.  Otherwise check online.

We recommend a  handblown glass shamrock ornament for your Wintertyde tree.  Try something more durable for your exterior front door wreath, which must contend with the elements.  Also, we recommend a Saint Brigit's cross ornament for your Wintertyde tree as well as a durable one for the exterior wreath.  You can make your own with straw or get something in silver online.

All of this means that about one week before February 1st, all your Saint Brigit's Day decor ought to be in place.  Your front door wreath will have the full-season chickadees, the shamrock, and the cross all in place.

Celebrate Saint Brigit's Eve by drinking green beer and listening to Irish music.  On Saint Brigit's day, serve some type of Irish stew.  Check here for more ideas:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid_of_Kildare

How to celebrate Wintertyde's Day, January 7th

OK, you had a cheery Wintertyde's Eve with your family, each member helping to affix your Wintertyde wreath to the door and to get up a small stand of clear or white lights at the doorway.  Plus something silvery on those window candlestick lights.

Now, it's Wintertyde's Day, January 7th, so it's time to set up your Wintertyde tabletop tree for the season.
Use a large size LED-style branching tree.  Cover the base with a snow-like cotton mat.

The next step is to affix your Wintertyde snowflakes.  Use about 12 of the same style that is not too large. About 2" is fine.  Arrange all 12 evenly throughout the branches. Use more if needed.

Now, place that special silver or silver-plated special snowflake you've selected for Wintertyde 2015.  It should be larger than the background snowflakes; 1 new, special silver snowflake goes up with the earlier ones each Wintertyde's Day.

Last step is the attach your artificial chickadees.  For a small tabletop tree, place the chickadee at the top.
For larger trees, use 4 chickadees.  1 on the top and the other 3 birds within the branches themselves.  5
in total is enough birds.

Also, leave room for Wintertyde holiday special ornaments.  For example, Saint Brigit's ("breet's") Day gets a shamrock and a Saint Brigit's cross of straw or silver.  These go onto the tree about 1 week before her day, which is February 1st.

Try a groundhog ornament for February 2, and a football ornament for Super Bowl, usually around the same time.

Later in February, put a Saint Valentine's Day heart on the tree, and something for Mardi Gras later on in the month.  March 1st gets a Saint David's Day dragon ornament, such as a small flag.

Everything comes down for next Wintertyde, on the season's last day March 6th.

Right after all your Wintertyde goodies are tucked away, immediately start preparation for Saint Patrick's Day on March 17th. Winter still has a grip, but there hope with the coming of the Spring Equinox on March 21st.

Each holiday gets a special meal to go with the affixing of the holiday ornament to the Wintertyde tree.
For example, serve something with leeks or onions such as soup for Saint David's Day.  Mardi Gras gets red beans and rice and a King's Cake.  Saint Valentine's Day gets chocolate items all day!

Wintertyde Greetings!

How to celebrate Wintertyde's Eve

Wintertyde's Eve falls on the night of Epiphany, which is always January 6th.  What you want to do this evening is to affix your Wintertyde wreath to the front door and put up whatever small strand of clear lights you have selected around the entry.

Wintertyde's Eve is a good time to make sure all the decoration from the Christmas just past are tucked away out of sight for next year.  Wintertyde is a completely separate season, so move beyond the Christmas holidays and ahead into the new year.

One of Wintertyde's goals is to ease the transition from the exuberance of Christmas to the quieter fun of events in the winter.

OK, after your Wintertyde wreath is up in all its silvery glory, make sure your lights are affixed sturdily at the entry for Winter.  Once everything is in place, congratulate yourself on celebrating Wintertyde 2015 and drink champagne or some fun drink.  Tomorrow you have more to do.

How to set up lights for Wintertyde

Christmas shopping is a good time to get small light sets because of the varieties and plenitude.  For Wintertyde mini-lights or white LED lights are used in 2 important places:  the Wintertyde tabletop tree and at your main entry. 

 

The latter is a bit more involved in the protocol.  Use a small strand of clear lights above the doorway to highlight your Wintertyde wreath.  Be sparing as you do not want it to look like Christmas again.  Use clear or white lights not colored. 

 

Use your battery-powered candlestick lights in windows.  The brass base should be accented with silver or white.  Wintertyde is a completely different season from Christmas, so make your design simple and clean.  All of your décor for Wintertyde should be ready to go up on January 6th, Wintertyde's Eve or the 7th, the first day of Wintertyde.

 

Have a good time preparing!

 

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/pure-white-led-mini-light-strings/

 

 

Prep for Wintertyde as you Christmas shop

First of all, Wintertyde is spelled with a capital "W."

Yes, take your Wintertyde accessories list with you as you Christmas shop.  That's a good way to get often hard to find items such as artificial chickadees for your wreath and tree, silver snowflake ornaments, and other silver-colored decorative items.  Recall the Wintertyde colors:  silver, white, earth-tones, and burgundy for accents.  No Christmas colors.  Wintertyde is a completely separate holiday.

Chickadees are usually sold in lots of 12.  That's fine as the often need to be replaced outdoors or you may want to use all of them around the house, wreath, and tree.

http://www.floraltrims.com/ben-black-capped-chickadee-foam-feather-bird.html