Walmart Christmas Deals and offers

CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL, which is on December 25 has every one excited. Christmas, a universal celebration, is also famous for the exchanging of gifts. On this day people exchange Xmas gifts including X-Mas Cakes, Stars, Lanterns, Fresh Flowers, Chocolates, Christmas Hampers, Santa Soft Toys, Decoratives, etc. with loved ones.
It is expected that the December 23 is likely to be the second busiest shopping day of the year. Many retailers such as Walmart, Toys R Us, Target, Sears, etc. have announced that stores will remain open late on Christmas eve for the last minute Christmas deals.

Walmart has offered last minute online special to its shoppers for the Christmas with free shipping to home. The retailer is offering Kodak EasyShare C183 Black 14MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom, 3.0" LCD Display for $59, Philips 19" LCD 720p 60Hz for $149, Sylvania 7" Dual-Screen Portable DVD Player for $88.86, Toshiba Satellite Black 15.6" Laptop for $398, Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor for $128.

In the festive season of Christmas, Walmart is also offering items to tempt your family and children including Nintendo DS Lite with choice of colour from $129, Mrs. Fields Snowman Tin with 48 Cookies for $19, Call of Duty: Black Ops (Xbox 360) for $49.96, Sterling Silver Channel-Set CZ Hoop Earrings for $39, Mattel Dora Links Doll for $14.88, FurReal Friends Furry Frenzies Scoot & Scurry City Play Set for $15, 24" Huffy Girls' Cranbrook Cruiser Bike, Burgundy for $74.

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Cherry chocolate chip cookies : Christmas dessert recipe

Chocolate and cherry is a great combination that is often blended.You’ve got chocolate covered cherries, cherry flavoring is a common ingredient filled in chocolate candies and, well, there are a lot of examples. That being the case, why not make a batch of cookies that blends those two flavors together? It’s a classic combination and one that your guests this Christmas season are sure to enjoy.

Cherry chocolate chip cookies

1 cup maraschino cherries
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter-flavored solid vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Drain maraschino cherries and chop coarsely. Place on a paper towel to soak up excess liquid.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, shortening until creamy. Beat in extracts and egg. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Stir into creamed mixture. Stir in chips and cherries. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

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Christmas 2010: Make Christmas 2010 Special

Christmas 2010 is on December 25th and is the last Christmas of the decade. At it’s heart the Christmas holidays is about family, friends and celebrating all good things.

It’s time to dust off the decorations, put up the Christmas tree and bring a sense of joy and warmth to your family and others around you. From tinsel to trees, ribbons to wreaths, and ornaments to gingerbread men, the holiday season is upon us.

We bring you fresh ideas, tips and the latest news about all things Christmas. We offer tips on planning a great Christmas party, reviews of the latest hot new gift ideas, food favorites, games and treats for the kids on Christmas Day and most of all, how to enjoy it stress free with your family and friends. So with Christmas dinner in the oven, its time to open the presents and have the best ever Christmas 2010.

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Christmas 2010 is around: Know the main traditions of the festival

THE LITERATURE reveals that the history of winter or December time festival dates back over 4000 years. It is said that the festival traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ Child was born and gained eventual acceptance of the Church to be the part of Christmas Day.
According to the ancient descriptions, the 'Twelve Days of Season' had the traditions of lighting fires, the Yule log, carnivals, carols, feasts and processions and all were observed by early Mesopotamians.

Furthermore, members of the pagan order celebrated the Winter Solstice or Saturnalia. During the celebrations, the Roman halls would be cleaned and decked with garlands of laurel and green trees adorned with lighted candles.
As Christianity spread, the Church tried to prohibit Saturnalia revelry and the pagan festivals held in December, but it was to no avail. Eventually, a decision was made to tame such celebrations and make them into a festive occasion better suited to honour the Christian Son of God and as 2010 Christmas Day.

The literal meaning of Christmas is ‘Christ's Mass’ and is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth and baptism in December. With some controversy, the Christmas Day is now largely accepted to be celebrated on December 25.
Some common and mainstay Christmas traditions are as follows:

Colours: The colours most often associated with Christmas 2010 decorating are green, red, white, blue, silver and gold. These colours have been used for centuries and as with most traditions, the reason may be traced to religious beliefs.

Snow: Snow has an important significance in Christmas traditions. So the festival days are full with fun activities on snow playing such as making snowman, skiing, snow boarding, sled riding, etc.

Wreath: Christmas 2010 days exclusively represent greenness to represent life and vitality. In these days, evergreen is worshipped as a holy entity representing eternal life and the crown of Jesus.

Yule log: Yule logs are a part of red oak trees. They are burned during Christmas 2010 Eve and Christmas 2010 Day.

Cookies:

The cookies are left for Santa to appease him and thanksgiving occasion.

Santa Claus:

This tradition is as old as fourth century. Santa Clause was born on the memory of Saint Nicholas for his loving and caring nature towards children by giving the gifts.

Christmas trees:

This was made popular during the rein of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by bringing a tree inside the Palace and decorating it with apples and other pretty things.
England also has the tradition of hanging stockings to receive Santa's presents. The tradition of Christmas celebration is very old but keeps on evolving with time.

Traditionally, it involves 12 days of Christmas 2010 Season with mainly dazzling fires, the Yule log, and exchange of gifts, feasts, carols, and the church processions as the integral parts of Christmas traditions.

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Christmas 2010: Last minute Christmas shopping boosts sales across U.S.

MORE LAST- minute shoppers flocked to stores this year on the final Saturday before Christmas than last year, but spending is expected to be even higher late this week.

U.S. retail sales on Saturday were up 15.1 percent from last year to $7.58 billion as many people wrapped up their gift buying, research firm ShopperTrak said on Tuesday. This year also benefited from its comparison to the weekend in 2009 when a blizzard hammered the East Coast.

That storm contributed to a 16.5 percent drop to $6.58 billion in so-called "Super Saturday" spending in 2009. This year's totals were below the $7.87 billion Americans spent for the day in 2008, said ShopperTrak, which analyzes the retail industry.

Yet with less than a week to go until Christmas, many shoppers are still procrastinating. Some eleventh-hour gift seekers will even be out on Christmas Eve - about 23 million, according to a separate survey on Tuesday from the International Council of Shopping Centers.

"Now that we are down to the wire, consumers have stepped up their shopping pace, as well as their purchases," ICSC chief economist Michael Niemira said in a statement. "All and all, retail shopping trends are shaping up to be very favorable for holiday sales, as well as December sales performance, for retailers."

Consumer spending makes up about 70 percent of the U.S. economy and analysts have said they expected the 2010 holiday season to show the biggest sales gains since 2007.

December 23 is likely to be the year's second biggest day in sales and third biggest in foot traffic, said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin.

"Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, saw $10.69 billion in sales, according to ShopperTrak, making it the biggest shopping day so far this year. It is called "Black Friday" because retailers hope it will put their accounts solidly in the black through strong sales.

Saturday's foot traffic was up 10.1 percent compared with last year, ShopperTrak said.

Nearly three quarters of Americans completed their shopping by the end of Super Saturday, according to the ICSC. The previous week, 56.6 percent had finished their holiday shopping.

The Saturday shopping binge boosted sales for the entire week, which rose 4.2 percent from a year ago, according to an ICSC-Goldman Sachs weekly chain store sales index.

As usual, the spending will not end on Christmas, the ICSC also found. Nineteen percent of consumers plan to go shopping the day after, and 47 percent said they would be out the week between Christmas 2010 and 2010 New Year's.

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Children celebrate advent of Christmas 2010 in Kolkata

CHILDREN CELEBRATED the advent of Christmas by singing carols and various colourful events to spread the message of love and peace here during the weekend. Children gave various performances such as a magic show, puppet show, songs and games.

Ruth Crizzte, the organiser said the event was meant only for children but their parents came along, as well.

“It is basically children-oriented show, only for children. The purpose of Christmas is that Jesus is born on Christmas day and Santa Claus brings toys for children. So, we organised it only for children and their parents also came and enjoyed, because they want their children to see that their children are happy and enjoying themselves, and that is why we bring this event forward, one week before Christmas,” she said.

The children enthusiastically participated in the event.

“I have come here because ahead of Christmas, they are having this Christmas celebration and I came here to attend this event and I had a lot of fun and lot of happiness is there. I chatted with Santa, I saw the magic show, puppet show and it was very lovely and enjoyable,” said Akhil Ansar, a school boy.

Christmas 2010 will be celebrated across the world on December 25.

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Brangelina planning adventure trip for Christmas

HOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are looking for an exotic location to spend the Christmas holidays with their six children. Angelina Jolie told Ryan Seacrest on his 102.7 KIIS-FM radio show on Friday December 17, We're going to travel with the kids and go to a random part of the world. We're going to travel and have an adventure because...that's what we love to do."

The 35-year-old Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie is currently promoting her latest thriller film 'The Tourist' with Johnny Depp, which released on December 10. This film is remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer. Both Jolie and Johnny Deep are nominated for Golden Globes Award for their performances in film 'The Tourist'.

Angelina Jolie also said that she has finished her Christmas shopping and the family is preparing for an adventure. "I've got it all boxed and ready to go." Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the parent of six children including adopted children Pax, 7, Maddox, 8, and five-year-old Zahara, as well as their own children Shiloh, 4, and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

It is rumoured that the 35-year-old Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who turned 47 today, have planned to get married in an Indian wedding. According to reports, the actor couple can wed at the ashram of their spiritual guru Ram Lal Siyag in Jodhpur during Valentine's Day next year. Both the Hollywood superstars have been together since 2005.