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50 DIY Christmas Crafts to Get Your Home Ready for Festive Season AheadIt is that time of the year when the chill in the air gets stronger, the lights around us get brighter and a smile inevitably starts appearing across most of our faces almost magically. It is a time that we look forward to dearly and everything from fun family holidays to hectic shopping and grand decoration of our homes takes up most of our time in the next month and a bit. Time from now to the New Year seems to absolutely fly by and you never have enough of it. For those who love to decorate every nook of their home with festive cheer, you simply cannot start soon enough. So why not get things going with the best DIY Christmas decorations and Holiday Season crafts!Tiny wood DIY Christmas Tree with lovely lighting [From: Live Your Style]It is safe to assume that as soon as Thanksgiving is, the makeover that leads to Christmas is something that we are ready for. As we alluded to earlier, it is never too early to start. And the best DIY ideas make holiday season decorating all the more fun. Beyond getting everyone in the family involved, these projects are cost-effective and also add a personal touch to your home. From DIY Christmas lighting ideas to garlands, wreaths and Christmas trees, these are 50 easy and awesome Christmas crafts that offer everything you can ask for. Enjoy!Time to Welcome the Holidays!We start off with the most obvious additions to your home that signify the arrival of Holiday Season to one and all in the neighborhood – holiday wreaths. Christmas wreaths ordinarily come with a mix of white and red and ideas like the straw DIY wreath and the simple wreath in red and white are upper easy to create. They take no more than an hour to make and add plenty of festive cheer to the front door and the entryway. Those with a more green inkling can try out the velvet DIY mistletoe wreath or even the gorgeous cushion moss wreath.Lovely DIY mini window wreaths fill your home with festive cheer galore!Make your own cushion moss wreath for a green ChristmasMini presents garland can be used in more ways than one! [From: Oh Happy Day]MORE INSPIRATION2021’s Top Bedroom Trends: Rest, Relax and Rejuvenate in the New YearTrendy and Classy- Fabulous Gray Home Office Ideas and Photos to Flip Through.mp4Ombre Christmas Tree Garland DIY [From: Design Improvised]Perfect wreath to welcome the festive season with ample cheer! [From: decofleur]Once you have the wreath in place (something that should take no more than an hour two of your weekend’s time), it is time to move on to the Christmas banner. The homemade Merry Christmas banner in white and red hanging above the fireplace mantel is a perpetual favorite while garlands that still capture the charm of fall gone by can be used to add that touch of surprise. Wooden vintage signs and illuminated boards with season’s greetings are an added bonus!Simple and easy to craft Merry Christmas banner DIY [From: The Craft Maiden]Beautiful DIY straw wreath in red and white is super easy to craft [From: Paper Source]Delicate and smart velvet DIY mistletoe wreathGorgeous vintage Christmas sign in red DIY [From: The Wood Connection]DIY Alternate Christmas TreesYes, you still want the real thing as Christmas rolls in, but it helps a great deal to get things rolling and spread the holiday cheer when you have an alternative Christmas tree that is already standing tall with still three or four weeks to go for the big day. Alternative Christmas trees are also a hit in studio apartments and small homes where there simply is not enough space for the Christmas tree itself. A tree crafted using wrapping paper, one with wooden logs or just a pineapple decorated beautifully with strings lights and Christmas ornaments. Take your pick and get started right away.Christmas tree crafted using ornaments with chevron pattern in the backdropColorful and easy wrapping paper Christmas tree DIY [From: Wonderful DIY]DIY punny Christmas ornaments [From: Brit+Co]Easy, no-sew Christmas Tree Skirt can be prepared in absolutely no time!Minimal and easy Washi Tape Christmas TreeStylish and elegant Holiday vignettes [From: A Beautiful Mess]Trendy Pineapple Christmas trees are as fashionable this year as they were last yearYarn and button DIY Holiday TopiaryArtistic String DIY Christmas TreeDIY Lighting Ideas for HolidaysLighting is such a huge part of Christmas that the first things we drag out of those giant boxes tucked away in the attic each year at the start of December are a bunch of dazzling string lights. This year, get creative and trendy by using Mason Jar lighting fixtures instead of just the string lights. Mason jars with cool motifs ranging from the snowflake to Santa on his sledge are a hit this year. DIY snow lanterns is also an idea we adore as it seems to add magical, white glow to the entryway and the garden. You can also unleash a bit of meanness with the Grinch-themed Christmas lights – a themed we will get into more in the next section.DIY autumn leaf fairy lights look great during Christmas as well [From: Wallfower Kitchen]DIY Mason Jar Luminaries for Christmas and beyond [From: Modern Masters]DIY snow lanterns add to the snow-clad landscape outside on Christmas Eve!Gold, glass and green make for a lovely combination on the Holiday mantelGreen meanness of Grinch adds a bit more fun to your Christmas lighting scheme [From: Bullocks Buzz]Magical DIY Christmas Lantern crafted using Mason Jars [From: Adventure in a Box]Mason jars coupled with string lights for a cool holiday lighting idea [From: World Market]Twinkly wall tree lights up your home this Christmas [From: Tara Dennis]Christmas tree motifs combined with Mason Jars always work well [From: Mason Jar Crafts]Combining lantern, string lights and Christmas ornaments in a fun and cheerful manner! [From: Dimples and Tangles]Grinch, Santa and Reindeer CraftsIt is the season where all those memories from our childhood come rushing back and you are once again watching those old cartoons and shows on YouTube with nostalgia taking over. Give into it a bit more and start decorating your home with DIY crafts that are inspired by all things Christmassy – from reindeer and Santa to even Grinch and snow. The DIY Grinch pillow is an idea that is inspired by an expensive Pottery Barn original while the fun Santa wood slice ornaments bring a bit more cheer to the setting,Fun Santa Wood Slice Ornaments DIY [From: The Country Chic Cottage]Make your own Grinch Pillow this holiday season [From: Woodshop Diaries]Mean-looking Grinch pumpkin DIY with Christmas hatSmall reindeer figurines crafted using wood and sticks in the neighborhood look absolutely awesome when done right and ideas like the clothespin Santa ornaments take your creativity to a whole new level. We love how you get a balance between the fun and the fabulous here with your kids’ enjoying these holiday decorations as much as you!Quick and easy DIY Santa DecorationRustic Log Reindeer DIY captures the magic of holidays in the mountain cabinSmart Christmas DIY reindeers look super-cute [From: Martha Stewart]Wine Cork DIY Reindeer craft ideaGold leaf holiday ornaments – From: DIYS.comClothespin Santa Christmas Ornaments are easy and quick to craft [From: Ho Ho Ho Boken]DIY beer bottle reindeers are bound to be a hit in the Christmas partyDIY Gift Boxes, Signs and MoreWith Christmas less than a month away, now is the time to get that advent calendar up on the wall and a few, super-cute angels watching over you all over your home do not hurt as well! The Christmas treat holders that you make at home can be used in more ways than one while the rustic light-up Christmas sign is a craft that can be reused each Holiday Season with ease. Christmas tea trees for those who prefer more than a cup of festive refreshment and personalized gift boxes that look cooler than the gifts they hold – it is time to think out-of-the-box this Holiday Season.DIY wood block snowman idea [From: Anikas DIYLife]Easy-to-Craft Holiday Shakers IdeaFabulous, red Christmas Eve Gift Box ideaHeirloom Advent Calendar DIY adds festive mood to your home [From: A Beautiful Mess]Merry Christmas DIY Gift Box with modern designRustic Light-Up Christmas Sign DIY [From: the American patriette]Uber-Crafty DIY Gift Box ideas for ChristmasUltra-Cute Wine Cork Angel Idea [From: One Little Project]Christmas Treat Holders DIY Idea[From: consumer crafts]VIEW IN GALLERY

Presentism and self-inflicted historical amnesia on the part of the Quora questioner.Simply... The Stolen ContinentSpiritual malaise and social turmoil were rife in 15th century Europe. Epidemic diseases and famine raged. Death was omnipresent. War was widespread and institutions of authority like the Church were venal and corrupt. The 'discovery' of America offered the possibility of a new beginning for Europe. Unfortunately, the invading powers chose to solve their problems at the expense of the new land and the native Americans who lived there.Source: Jack Weatherford, from his book Indian Givers (Ballantine Bocka, New York, 1990).……Someone paraphrased John Willian Draper : writing of the eleventh century, speaks of the vast superior social and artistic development of the swarthy Moors, who, he says, might well have looked with supercilious contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France and England, which were scarce better than stables—chimneyless, windowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape like the wigwams of certain Indians.Книга History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume II (of 2) - читать онлайн бесплатно, автор John Draper, страница 2Civilization and splendour of the Spanish Arabs. Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in Spain when they commenced a brilliant career. Adopting what had now become the established policy of the Commanders of the Faithful in Asia, the Emirs of Cordova distinguished themselves as patrons of learning, and set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with the condition of the native European princes. Cordova, under their administration, at its highest point of prosperity, boasted of more than two hundred thousand houses, and more than a million of inhabitants. After sunset, a man might walk through it in a straight line for ten miles by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years after this time there was not so much as one public lamp in London. Its streets were solidly paved. In Paris, centuries subsequently, whoever stepped over his threshold on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in mud.Other cities, as Granada, Seville, Toledo, considered themselves rivals of Cordova. The palaces of the khalifs were magnificently decorated. Those sovereigns might well look down with supercilious contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France, and England, which were scarcely better than stables – chimneyless, windowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape, like the wigwams of certain Indians. The Spanish Mohammedans had brought with them all the luxuries and prodigalities of Asia. Their palaces and gardens. Their residences stood forth against the clear blue sky, or were embosomed in woods. They had polished marble balconies, overhanging orange-gardens; courts with cascades of water; shady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat of the day; retiring-rooms vaulted with stained glass, speckled with gold, over which streams of water were made to gush; the floors and walls were of exquisite mosaic.Here, a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a glistening spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil sound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool air was drawn from the flower-gardens, in summer, by means of ventilating towers, and in winter through earthen pipes, or caleducts, imbedded in the walls – the hypocaust, in the vaults below, breathing forth volumes of warm and perfumed air through these hidden passages. The walls were not covered with wainscot, but adorned with arabesques, and paintings of agricultural scenes and views of Paradise. From the ceilings, corniced with fretted gold, great chandeliers hung, one of which, it is said, was so large that it contained 1804 lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns surprised the beholder with the vast weights they bore. In the boudoirs of the sultanas they were sometimes of verd antique, and incrusted with lapis lazuli. The furniture was of sandal and citron wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and precious malachite. In orderly confusion were arranged vases of rock crystal, Chinese porcelains, and tables of exquisite mosaic.The winter apartments were hung with rich tapestry; the floors were covered with embroidered Persian carpets. Pillows and couches, of elegant forms, were scattered about the rooms, perfumed with frankincense. It was the intention of the Saracen architect, by excluding the view of the external landscape, to concentrate attention on his work; and since the representation of the human form was religiously forbidden, and that source of decoration denied, his imagination ran riot with the complicated arabesques he introduced, and sought every opportunity of replacing the prohibited works of art by the trophies and rarities of the garden. For this reason, the Arabs never produced artists; religion turned them from the beautiful, and made them soldiers, philosophers, and men of affairs.Splendid flowers and rare exotics ornamented the courtyards and even the inner chambers. Great care was taken to make due provision for the cleanliness, occupation, and amusement of the inmates. Through pipes of metal, water, both warm and cold, to suit the season of the year, ran into baths of marble; in niches, where the current of air could be artificially directed, hung dripping alcarazzas. Libraries and works of taste. There were whispering-galleries for the amusement of the women; labyrinths and marble play-courts for the children; for the master himself, grand libraries. The Khalif Alhakem's was so large that the catalogue alone filled forty volumes. He had also apartments for the transcribing, binding, and ornamenting of books. A taste for caligraphy and the possession of splendidly-illuminated manuscripts seems to have anticipated in the khalifs, both of Asia and Spain, the taste for statuary and paintings among the later popes of Rome.…..The following passage is taken for the best-selling book: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is a 1995 book by James W. Loewen, an American sociologist.Historians have chronicled the rise of racism in the West. Before the 1450s Europeans considered Africans exotic but not necessarily inferior. As more and more nations joined the slave trade, Europeans came to characterize Africans as stupid, backward, and uncivilized.Amnesia set in: Europe gradually found it convenient to forget that Moors from Africa had brought to Spain and Italy much of the learning that led to the Renaissance. Europeans had known that Timbuktu, with its renowned university and library, was a center learning.When the Moors Ruled in Europehttp://topdocumentaryfilms.com/when-moors-ruled-europe/Join British historian Bettany Hughes as she examines a long-buried chapter of European history--the rise and fall of Islamic culture in what is now Spain and Portugal.Although generations of Spanish rulers have tried to expunge this era from the historical record, recent archeology and scholarship now shed fresh light on the Moors who flourished in Al-Andalus for more than 700 years.This fascinating documentary explodes old stereotypes and offers shocking new insights. You’ll discover the ingenious mathematics behind Granada’s dazzling Alhambra Palace, trace El Cid’s lineage to his Moorish roots, and learn how the Iberian population willingly converted to Islam in droves.Through interviews with noted scholars, you’ll see how Moorish advances in mathematics, astronomy, art, and agriculture helped propel the West out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. What emerges is a richly detailed portrait of a sensuous, inquisitive, and remarkably progressive Islamic culture in Christian Europe.…….The history of the Moors across ancient and Medieval Europe is part of the history of the black Other. The theatrical Moor of early modern Europe was an actor in blackface. The Moor’s black complexion is permanent and marks all who comes from Africa. The etymology of the word Moor implies clearly that the part of Africa referred to as Mauretania was inhabited by blacks. The inhabitants of that region were so black that they and their country were named after their complexion.Liber VIII - The Etymologies of Isidore of SevilleSaint Isidore of Seville wrote in the 6th: "the Moors have bodies as black as night while the skin of the Gauls is white"In Isidore’s day, Moors were black by definition…” (Staying Roman: Conquest and identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439-700. Jonathan Conant, 2012 Cambridge University PressTravels of Sir John MandevilleSir Jean Mandeville, wrote that: "and men of Nubia be Christian, but they be black as the Moors for great heat of the sun"Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys'Moors' from Oxford Islamic Studies OnlineABOUT THIS RESOURCEThis article explains the term "Moor" as background to Menocal's Ornament of the World and Maalouf's Leo Africanus. The article by David Assouline is reprinted from The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World in the Oxford Islamic Studies Online.The earliest European account of the Moorish invasion of Spain, the Chronicle of 754, refers to the Visigothic capitulation, the so-called “loss of Spain” (perdida de España) at the hands of the “Arabs and Moors sent by Musa,” or Musa Ibn Nusayr, the Muslim governor of North Africa. In the Estoria de Espanna (History of Spain), the first vernacular chronicle composed in Spain, we find a characteristic portrayal: “All the Moorish soldiers were dressed with silk and black wool that had been forcibly acquired … their black faces were like pitch and the most handsome of them was as black as a cooking pan.Al-Andalus - WikiquoteWho were these conquerors, who had so quickly and so completely overturned the strongest western European monarchy of their day ?It is customary to refer to these stirrings events as 'Arab' or the 'Islamic' invasion and conquest of spain. But only in a very limited sense was it either Arab or Islamic : it was mainly Berber. The Berbers were, as they still are, the indigenous inhabitants of northwest Africa, the Maghrib.Richard A. Fletcher, Moorish Spain, California Press, 1993, p. 19'Moorish' Spain does at least have the merit of reminding us that the bulk of the invaders and settlers were Moors, i.e. Berbers from northwest Africa. Richard A. Fletcher, Moorish Spain, California Press, 1993, p. 10The Andalusians themselves were of varied origins. The numerically tiny Arab elite had intermarried with other people, including local Iberians, ever since they arrived. Berbers were still the most numerous of the conquerors, while the Jewish community was also large and influential. The descendants of African and European slaves were fully integrated; but the most numerous Muslim community stemmed from local Iberians. By the 11th century these had fused together to form a new Andalusian people.David Nicolle & Angus McBride, The Moors: The Islamic West 7th-15th Centuries AD, Osprey, 2001, p. 8After the Moors were conquered, defeated and bleached (by mixing with European women), they became toys for Whites and turned into universal ridicule. Whites flipped the script of history and Moorish legacies were confined to the taboos of European history. This is particularly true in Western countries who had colonies in Africa and participated in and benefitted from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.Ignoring the etymology of the word Moor makes history illiterate.In the etymological dictionary of the French language by” Gilles Ménage (xvii century) More is defined as black or blackish man.About the Moors of Spain we read in the same dictionary, we have called Moors or Moorish Arabs who conquered Spain because they came from Mauritania, that is to say the land of black or blackish men.Dieu, l'homme et la parole, ou La langue primitive / par J. Azaïs, père.... [Précédé d'une Notice biographique / par A. Durand]-------Dieu, l'homme et la parole, ou La langue primitive par J. Azaïs, père (1778-1856)MAURE, nom d'un peuple dont la peau est noire; Moor: the name of a people whose skin is black.morou languedocien, mourou provençal, maurus lalin, mor, moren langue romane, morien vieux français, moro catalan, moro espagnol, mouro portugais, moro italien, maour, mauryan bas-breton, mohr allemand, moor anglais, moor hollandais, mohr danois, mor suédois, mour, maar, brûler, hébreu.Ignoring the etymology of the word moor makes history illiterate.Origin and meaning of moor by Online Etymology DictionaryMoor (n.)"North African, Berber," late 14c., from http://O.Fr. More, from M.L. Morus, from L. Maurus "inhabitant of Mauritania" (northwest Africa, a region now corresponding to northern Algeria and Morocco), from Gk. Mauros, perhaps a native name, or else cognate with mauros "black".Being a dark people in relation to Europeans, their name in the middle ages was a synonym for negro; …Glossary of Archaic and Provincial Words: A Supplement to the ..., Volume 2 Jonathan Boucher, ‎Joseph Hunter, ‎Joseph Stevenson – 1833 : A Moor that is a black as the negro races were formerly accounted MoorsStrabo: Geography, c. 22 A.D., XVII.iii.1-11And I have heard this man say that beyond the country which he ruled there was no habitation of men, but desert land extending to a great distance, and that beyond that there are men, not black-skinned like the Mauretanii.6th A.D. – Procopius in his History of the Wars book IV contrasting the Germanic Vandals who had settled in North Africa with the Moors claimed the Vandals were not “ “black skinned like the Maurusioi……The West (Europe and its overseas extensions like the USA and Australia) are developed but eastern Europe not so much.Joel Augustus Rogers , the late a Jamaican-American author wrote the following :The white man picks out the cream of his own and endows the remainder with all the good qualities of this portion. Inversely, he picks out the worst of the Negro and measures the good by the conduct of the bad.I have always asked myself why the developing countries of Europe never make the headlines on international news channels. Little is known or shown about the developing countries of Europe; the same applies for the poorest regions of Europe.It is clear that books are banned and the press is censored.Poorest Countries In EuropeEastern Europe’s major economies are having an underappreciated “Goldilocks moment”The IMF now forecasts that “emerging and developing Europe” economies to grow 4.5% this year, upping their prediction by 1.5 percentage points from six months ago. This increased optimism is based, in part, on bumper growth in the second quarter of 2017, when Romania’s economy increased 5.7% versus a year earlier, the Czech Republic’s by 4.7%, and Poland’s by 4.4%. By comparison, the EU averagewas 2.4% growth over the same period.Rich Land, Poor Land: The EU’s wealthiest and neediest membersList of countries in EuropeEurope is a unique continent, which is not surrounded by water from all directions and has an overland border with neighboring Asia. Physiographically, it occupies the northwestern part of the large landmass known as Eurasia and surrounded from the north by the Arctic Ocean, from the west by the Atlantic Ocean, from the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and from the southeast by the Black Sea.Definition of the correct border between two continents was a big question for geographers and politicians. Nowadays it is commonly delineated by the Ural Mountains in Russia, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains.Now Europe includes 51 independent states. Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey are transcontinental countries, partially located in both Europe and Asia. Armenia and Cyprus politically are considered European countries, though geographically they are located in the West Asia territory.Europe's largest country is Russia (37% of total continent area), and the smallest one is Vatican City, which occupies only a tiny territory in the center of Rome.Developing Countries 2020A developing country is also known as an LMIC, or a low and middle income country. It is less developed than countries classified as “developed countries” but these nations are ranked higher than “less economically developed countries.” These countries are characterized by being less developed industrially and a lower Human Development Index when compared to other countries. However, developing countries do have the potential for high growth and security when evaluating factors including the standard of living, gross domestic product and per capita income. The term refers to the current state of a nation and is not used to determine changing dynamics or future progress.There are several characteristics that are commonly held throughout developing countries. This includes health risks such as having low access to safe water, as well as sanitation and hygiene problems. There may also be high levels of pollution and a high percentage of people with infectious diseases. Other common characteristics include widespread poverty, low education and literacy levels and government corruption. There are also challenges in energy and higher rates of violence against women.The United Nations has set a list of Sustainable Development Goals designed to help developing countries overcome these challenges. Development aid through federal governments and other agencies are distributed in order to help tackle the social, political, economic and environmental problems faced by these countries.…….Developing CountriesWorld Bank Country ClassificationsDeveloping countries are defined according to their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita per year, as calculated by the World Bank Atlas method, December 2020.AlbaniaArmeniaAzerbaijanBelarusBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaGeorgiaKazakhstanKosovoMacedonia, Rep. of NorthMoldovaMontenegroRomaniaRussian FederationSerbiaTurkeyTurkmenistanUkraine

Vintage Travel This beautifully put together travel-themed wedding will give everyone wanderlust. The wedding featured vintage suitcases, postcard centerpieces, map-covered ring holders, tables named after famous cities and antique globe décor. Source: Green Wedding Shoes Photo credit: Joe + Marianne of Marianne Wilson Photography image: Cat Party At this purr-fect wedding, all the signs were adorned with cats, and there were ceramic cats on the wedding cake. To complete the wedding theme, the bride and groom brought their own cats to the ceremony! You might feel this interesting: Best event planners Toronto Source: Green Wedding Shoes Photo credit: Let's Frolic Together image: Full Hearts Everyone definitely felt the love at this heart-themed wedding, featuring plush heart plate decorations, heart-s(more)