A Candlelight Christmas

A CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS is an all day event held in Pittsboro, NC. Recapture the spirit of Christmas past amid the charming downtown of Pittsboro. Brought to you by the good folks at the Pittsboro Merchants Association, local artists, and people like you.

Our first event will be held on Saturday December 11th, 2010. There will be numerous (perhaps humorous) activities to experience throughout the day. Dressing up is highly encouraged.

The downtown will be filled with the sights & sounds of an old-fashioned Christmas - carolers, carriage rides, jugglers, magicians, musicians, bell ringers, and quite possibly a visit from the man himself, Santa Claus.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Throughout the day, we will have a variety of musicians & performers busking around the downtown area & stopping at local shoppes for some impromptu indoor entertainment.

11am to 5pm: Get a free handmade ornament from Liquidambar when you buy $50 or more.

12pm to 2pm: Carriage Rides - Take a little jaunt around the town.

12pm to 2pm: Gregory Blaine (of Rootzie) will be playing music at the Joyful Jewel.

2pm to 4pm: Avis Autry will be playing music at Urban Sampler.

2pm to 3pm: Jay Cartwright will be playing music at Davenport & Winkleperry.

3pm to 5pm: John Kincheloe will be playing music at Liquidambar.

4pm: "Fictitious History" Walking Tour; Join Emmett Davenport at the corner of Hillsborough & Salisbury for a rousing tale of Pittsboro's "History".

12pm to 6pm: OPEN HOUSE @ Starrlight Mead; Mead tasting $5.

1pm to 4pm: Thunder & Spice (a cappella medieval ballads, pub songs, holiday music) will be performing in the Tasting Room at Starrlight Mead.

2pm: Make Your Own Organic Bath Salts at Pittsboro Toys.

7pm - 11pm: LIVE MUSIC

Beginning @ 7pm, several downtown businesses will be playing host to some wonderful live music & performers.

The City Tap:
• Dave Quick

Davenport & Winkleperry:
Glitter & Doom: the Davenport Follies

• Silver Kitsune & Ginny Tonic (of Big Mamma's House of Burlesque)
• Sarah Shook & the Devil
• Kitty Box & the Johnnies

more festivities to be announced...

The Pittsboro downtown is an often overlooked wonder. One where a historic town with a tradition of small town atmosphere has challenged the concept of total modernization. It has continued to maintain its charm in a growing urbanized world. The shops are very up-to-date in their ability to service locals and visitors alike, with charming arts, clothing, services and eateries that rival larger areas. It truly is a community with a proud past and an exciting future.
Admission is free.

*If you are interested in getting involved with the event, please contact us*

Vintage Halloween Games

Guess How Many
Fill a jar with candy corn and have guests guess how many are in the jar. (Don't forget to count as you put them in the jar!) Place the jar near the door and hand each guest a 3x5 card to put their name, their guess and their favorite Halloween candy. Halfway through the party read them all off and announce the winner.

Halloween Memory Game
Place a few themed items such as a candy corn, apple, mini pumpkin etc. on a tray. Show the tray to the guests for a few seconds, then have them write down (or call out) as many items as they remember.

How Many Words
Hand each person a sheet of paper printed out with a Halloween word or phrase such as Haunted House, Trick or Treat, or Scarecrow. Do these on the computer so you can include some small Halloween Graphics. Ask each person to make as many words as they can out of the letters in the phrase or word you've given them!

Mummy May I
One child, or an adult, is "mummy". The other children stand in a straight line, with the mummy standing in front of them with enough distance for them to move forward towards him or her. (It's really neat if you can rip up an old pillowcase or sheet and stain them with leftover coffee or tea to wrap around the "mummy's" head.)

The children move toward mummy by asking permission to take steps. For example, a child could ask, "Mummy May I take ten steps forward?" The mummy can be creative as to the type of steps they ask to take, such as giant monster steps, pixie steps, as well as ogre, howling dog etc.

Mummy answers, "Yes, you may" or "No, you may not," and the child must follow her instructions. If the child moves when he or she has not been given permission, they must go back to the starting line. The first child to touch mummy becomes mummy in the next game.

Who's Got the Pumpkin
Place everyone is a circle. Start a song (Halloween themed songs like Monster Mash are neat to use!) and toss a mini pumpkin to one person, they throw it to the next, and so on until the music stops. The person who is caught holding the pumpkin has to leave the circle. The last one left is the winner and keeps the pumpkin!

Halloween Hunt
Using the same idea as an Easter Egg Hunt hide little bags of candy corn, or other fun candy around the back yard. Set the kids loose and let them find the candy. Be sure to keep back several extra in case someone does poorly. You can give them a few more!

Vintage Halloween Party

Mrs. Herbert B. Linscott, in the book, Bright Ideas for Entertaining, gives us a glimpse into the past with her tips on throwing a Halloween bash in 1905.

All formality must be dispensed with on Halloween. Not only will quaint customs and mystic tricks be in order, but the decorations and refreshments, and even the place of meeting, must be as strange and mystifying as possible.

The light should be supplied only by Jack-o-lanterns hung here and there about the kitchen, with candles in the dining-room. The decorations need not be expensive to be charming, no matter how large the room. Large vases of chrysanthemums and ferns and umbrella stands of fluffy grasses will be desirable; but if these cannot be readily obtained, quantities of gayly tinted autumn leaves will be quite as appropriate. Festoons of nuts, bunches of wheat or oats, and strings of cranberries may also help to brighten the wall decorations. The nuts and cranberries will be useful in many odd arrangements for ornamenting the refreshment table.

Have the table long enough (even if it must be extended with boards the whole length of the room) to accommodate all the guests at once. Arrange huge platters of gingerbread at each corner, with dishes of plain candies and nuts here and there, and pyramids of fruit that will be quickly demolished when the guests are grouped about the table. No formal waiting will be desirable.

Have mirrors everywhere; big mirrors, medium-sized mirrors, and little, wee mirrors, all reflecting and multiplying countless candles that burn in candlesticks of every description(most novel are those made from long-necked gourds and tiny squashes).

The dining table should be draped in pale green crepe paper, the lights above being shrouded in gorgeous orange. Pumpkins of various sizes should be scooped and scraped to a hollow shell and lined with waxed paper and filled with good things to eat, should be placed in the centre of the table. Lighted candles and quaint oriental lanterns will add greatly to the decorations.

The menu should include bannocks, scones and other Scotch dainties. If desired, droning bagpipes might accompany the feast. After listening to ghostly tales related by white-draped figures, the guests may receive all sorts of amusing souvenirs from a large pumpkin place at a table at the door.

Tea Stained Fabrics

You can tea stain patterned fabrics also to give them a vintage look. It is recommended that you use a pan and utensil just for dying. You can usually pick up an older pan, 16 quart works well, at a thrift store or garage sale. I keep an old pan on hand for messy jobs.

Tea Stain Directions
You will need:

Stainless steel 16 quart pot 3 gallons tap water 1 yard cotton or linen fabric

8 ounces loose black tea cheesecloth or muslin and kitchen string

strainer tongs mild detergent

Fill sink with cold water and soak your fabric completely. Bring 3 gallons of water to a boil in your pan. Tie the tea in a square piece of muslin (or cheesecloth) tightly with kitchen string. Add to the boiling water and continue to boil for at least 30 minutes. The longer you boil the darker the dye; so go an hour if you can. Remove the tea bag, and use strainer to grab bits of loose tea if necessary.

Wring out your wet fabric, and add to the pot of tea water. Turn off the heat and allow it to steep for several hours or overnight, stirring occasionally to dye evenly. Remember when checking the color that it seems darker when wet. When the fabric has reached the color you like, rinse it under cold water until the water runs clear, then gently wash with the mild detergent and rinse again. Wring out the fabric and hang or place on an old clean towel to dry.

One caution, if you are using expensive fabric or something that is dear to you, be sure to experiment with something else first! You can also test a swatch of the fabric first before doing the entire piece.