My 5 days of Christmas Feature: Final thoughts

After finishing my last blog post I wanted to take some time to reflect on my blog feature. My initial idea was a Christmas themed blog, called My 5 days of Christmas feature. I chose this theme because I personally love Christmas and I felt it allowed a lot of different styles of content and articles.

I wrote five blogs; one news piece, one personal opinion article, a travel type piece and two christmas based recommendation articles. I was pleased with all the articles that I posted for my blog, although I struggled to find ideas for my final blog entry so I came up with the personal opinion article on why I love Christmas. 

My favourite post was the expensive Christmas presents post. I enjoyed writing this post because it was fun to research and it was a more light hearted fun post, compared to the news post before it. I was pleased with the style of writing that I followed throughout my feature because I tried to maintain a conversational style that both informed and drew on my personal opinion and experiences.  

My target audience would be quite broad, from housewives looking for Christmas ideas to bored office workers. I tried to target a broad audience in my feature by keeping the articles varied and not targeting a specific audience.

In terms of competition I found that there are quite a few christmas blogs, but a lot of the blogs that I found were personal experience blogs about Christmas, for example Santa Claus Blog.  I feel that my blog overs a wide coverage of many different topics of Christmas, though on reflection the general theme of Christmas may have been a too wide topic to cover. 

My 5 days of Christmas Feature: Why I am like a kid at Christmas!

Some may say that the novelty of Christmas wears off for those over 10 years old, but I have to disagree. I am 19 years old and I still act like a five year old kid at Christmas!

The magic of Christmas for me is not just the presents (though they are a nice surprise after the Christmas dinner in the afternoon) but the food and the family aswell.

For the past 19 years my Christmas have all started the same, though I get up at 8am now rather than 5am when I was younger. Even though I tell my mum every year that she does not need to do me and my brother a stocking she still does (though I think deep down she enjoys buying the presents just as much as we enjoy opening them).

After having a champagne and smoked salmon breakfast (it is not as posh as it sounds, just another family tradition) we open the presents and then go see family for the rest of the day. I enjoy every part of Christmas, though the party games do start to wear thin after 19 years (there are only so many times you can play town, road, river without getting bored!).

As you may have already guessed from this post and the posts before it I love Christmas. Though we follow the same family traditions every year and the day seems to go so quickly I look forward to Christmas day throughout the year. I will always act like a little kid at Christmas, well it is the only time I am allowed to!

(Image from Vermont Christmas Trees)

My 5 days of Christmas Feature: Christmas Day TV

When the family have finished munching on turkey and Christmas pudding, the presents have been opened and all thats left to do is help with the washing up then it must be time to sit down in-front of the television, but what is on to entertain us on Christmas Day?

At 6pm Doctor Who fans get their Christmas dose of David Tennant as the BBC screen the Doctor Who Christmas special, The Next Doctor. In the special the Doctor travels back to Christmas Eve 1851 where comes face to face with familiar foe the Cybermen and another doctor!

This is followed by Strictly Come Dancing's Christmas special at 7pm (BBC1). Though the outcome of this year's contest is still undecided (as I write this) the Christmas special sees the return of former winners and contestants including Alesha Dixon, Jill Halfpenny and Kelly Brook.

My final choice is EastEnders (BBC1 8pm & 9pm). As per normal we get a double dose of Christmas joy on Albert Square and 2008 sees the truth spill out over the spuds as Sean finds out about Amy's paternity and Nick returns to visit his mother Dot.

 

But if none of the above take your fancy then the return of Top of the Pops at 2pm and a Christmas Day movie selection including Harry Potter and Shark Tale are sure to keep you entertained.

(Image from The Sun)

My 5 days of Christmas Feature: Some of the most expensive Christmas gifts

With the big day only a week away the mad rush for last minute Christmas shopping is upon us. But with all the last minute deals and offers and the stress of trying to find the perfect present for a loved one, here is my list of the most expensive gifts available this christmas for those lucky enough to be immune from the credit crunch. 

When boyfriends or husbands look for underwear this Christmas one sure way to surprise their loved ones could be to wrap up Victoria Secret's maximum lift diamond-encrusted bra, worth a staggering £3 million! This expensive piece of lingerie is encrusted with nearly 3,900 precious gems, thousands of black diamonds, 117 one-carat round diamonds and 34 rubies. Despite this impressive array of jewels, it is beyond me why you would spend £3 million on any piece of clothing, let alone one that people don't even see under your clothes.

Which little boy does not wish for a new toy car from Santa? Well if any shopper wants to stretch beyond the classic hot wheels set from Argos then the Hot Wheels diamond encrusted miniature car is a possibility, but only if you could stretch to spending around £72,000 in auction! The toy car is encrusted with 18-carat white gold and decked out in more than 2,700 blue diamonds. But if I had spent that much money on a toy, I am not sure I would want anyone touching it, let alone playing with it!

My final expensive gift is for the men but this time the gift is not diamond encrusted (a theme of my last two gifts, because adding diamonds to the most ordinary of gifts seems to send the prize sky rocketing!) but it does include moon dust! It is the The Moon Rider Watch made by jeweller Romain Jerome, worth around £275,000. So if anyone you know wants moon dust strapped on their wrist then hopefully the price wont put you off!   

(Image from Product Reviews)

My 5 Days of Christmas Feature: French chef for Christmas?

French chef David Duverger has auctioned himself off on Ebay for charity and the lucky winner will get a full Christmas dinner made by the chef on Christmas Day.

Duverger, 32, the head chef at Chelsea resturant Papillon, will serve a four course traditional French Christmas dinner including foie gras terrine, braised turbot with champagne sauce, chicken stuffed with truffles and buche de noel.

The chef is offering to cook for up to eight people from anywhere in Britain and the proceeds of the auction go to the Children with Leukaemia. He said: "Hopefully, I can offer the highest bidder and their guests the best Christmas dinner of their lives."

The idea of not having to cook or wash up on Christmas Day may sound appealing (not that I contribute greatly to these tasks, but I am sure my mother would agree with me) but the prospect of having a Frenchman who can cook in my kitchen on Christmas Day is definitely an ideal Christmas present.

(Image from thisislondon.co.uk)

My 5 Days of Christmas Feature: Belgium Chocolates and Brussels

To get into the festive spirit my mother and I visited Brussels Christmas Market last weekend.

We decided to venture to Brussels because last year we visited the Lincoln Christmas Market and unfortunately the experience was dampened (literally) by heavy rain the whole day.

After our experience last year we decided that a visit to a European market to soak in the Christmas atmosphere.

We had high expectations for Brussels because we based our decision to go there on very positive internet reviews and the lure of Belgium chocolate!

When we eventually worked out where the market was within the back streets and squares of the centre of Brussels we enjoyed looking around the picteresque chalets, trying the mald wine, waffles and delicious Belgium chocolates.

But we were slightly dissappointed that the market only stretched around a few streets, even though there were many chalets spread out through the streets I was expecting more. Brussels is a highly recommended European Christmas market and unfortunately its size and range of stalls let it down (though I am unsure if we found all the market whilst we were there).

Despite the criticisms, both myself and my mother did enjoy visiting Brussels. The slightly-smaller-than-expected market was still good and the city itself is beautiful, with gorgeous shops and fantastic resturants (though always bring a few extra euros in the back pocket, things are very expensive!).

Brussels market may not have been quite what I was expecting but a visit to the Belgium city is definatley worthwhile. If a trip across the channel isn't possible then Lincoln or other UK Christmas markets would be a worthwhile and slightly closer alternative, just always remember to pack a umbrella!

(Image from TravelandLeisure.com)

My 5 Days of Christmas Feature: Introduction

My online feature is based around Christmas and I will be posting over 5 days, my five days of Christmas posts!

With Christmas fast approaching (only 10 days as I write this!) I decided it would be a good time to cover the topic. I also felt there was a lot of information out there that could be displayed to readers on a blog.

My final reason for writing this feature was purely because at Christmas time I turn into a 5-year-old child again, it is the best time of the year so I knew I would enjoy writing about it!

In this seasonally themed blog I will be covering all apects of Christmas, from festively themed news to the best presents and my personal experiences.

(Image from Lycos)