We have our own New Year’s traditions in the USA. In almost every major city there is a grand firework display. People gather around their TVs to watch the ball drop in Times Square, and champagne is the drink of choice. We have hats and glasses, noisemakers and confetti. In many parts of the USA eating black eyed peas is rumored to bring you good luck, and they’re often served with collard greens and pork or ham. We make resolutions for the New Year, and kiss each other at midnight.
But what are other countries’ traditions around this date?
Japan
At midnight on January 1st, Buddhist temples across Japan ring their bells 108 times, to ward off the 108 sins in Buddhist belief. Traditional food on this date is a dish of seaweed, fish cakes, mashed sweet potato, burdock root, and sweetened black soybeans, called osechi, as well as kagami mochi, which are rice cakes topped with oranges. Postcards are sent to friends and family celebrating the New Year, and haiku poetry is celebrated with themes of new beginnings.
Mexico
In Mexico it’s traditional to eat 12 grapes at the chimes of midnight, making a wish with each one. Houses are decorated in the color red, and wishes are made for the New Year. In Mexico City the New Year celebrations occur in Zocalo, which is the main large plaza of the city.
Finland
In Finland there is an old New Year’s eve tradition that involves dropping hot pieces of tin into cold buckets of water. The shape that they assume can be interpreted as indications of the New Year. Different shapes have different meaning, signifying wealth, happiness, sickness, sorrow, and love.
Scotland
Scotland has a New Year’s Eve tradition referred to as “first-footing”. The first-footer is the first person to cross the threshold and enter a house in the New Year. Signifying a bearer of good luck, the first footer (often young and dark-haired) carries with them a coin, bread, salt, whisky, or coal, depending on what the family is wishing for in the New year.
Panama
Panama celebrates the New Year by the burning of Muñecos, effigies of celebrities or politicians during bonfire parties. Contests are held as to who has the best muñeco. The burning of muñecos is believed to fight off evil spirits in preparation for a new year.
Let’s say Happy New Year! in:
Gleðilegt nýtt ár! (Icelandic)
Bonne Annee! (French)
Feliz Ano-Nuevo! (Spanish)
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! (Welsh)
Gelillog Nieuwjaar! (Dutch)
Sretna Nova Godina (Croatian)
Sawadee Pee Mai (Thai)
And from all of us at Tea – Best Wishes for a very happy New Year!
(artwork by gracehesterdesigns)
1. Uno 2. Dos 3. Tres 4. Cuatro 5. Cinco 6. Seis 7. Siete 8. Ocho 9. Nueve 10. Diez
On the theme of numbers, have a look at our Cubist Stripe Tee and Romper this season – do you know a little Numero Uno?
For more numbers posts check out Count to Ten in Hungarian.
After the chaos of the holidays my favorite thing to do is to clean and re-organize. If you have the same urge but don’t have the time, maybe the photo blog Things Organized Neatly will help calm the craving:
found via laMotif
Our Semi-Annual Sale begins today with up to 50% off seasonal favorites! Shop now online: http://www.teacollection.com/clothing-sale
Also, save an additional 10% on already reduced sale prices when you shop in participating stores! A comprehensive list of the participating stores can be found below.
Be sure to print out the following image and present it to a participating store to receive the additional 10% discount. Offer is good until January 2, 2010.
Retailers Participating in the Additional 10% Off Promotion:
Baby Bliss 6721 Snider Plaza Dallas, TX 75025 (469) 759-7831 Bambini of Bend 1052 NW Newport Ave. Suite 102 Bend, OR 97701 (541) 385-1806 Bambini’s World 22 South Main StDoylestown, PA 18901
(215) 230-4572 Bella Boo
(717) 509-5700 Busy Bees 1544 Laskin Road #216 Virginia Beach, VA 23451 (757) 425-2337 Cassis 819 W. Idaho St. Boise, ID 83702 (208) 345-5501 City Sprouts 6303 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63130 (314) 726-9611 Clothes Pony 111 North College Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80524 (970) 224-2866 Crackerjacks 4009 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611 (510) 654-8844 Cupcake 641 4th Street Santa Rosa, CA 95404 (707) 579-2165 Epiphany Children’s Boutique 290 West Main Street Northborough, MA 01532 (508) 393-5437 Fiddlesticks 508 Hayes Street San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 565-0508 Gaga Chic 712 West Shaw Suite B Fresno, CA 93704 (559) 226-0462 Itty Bitty 307 West 8th Street Columbia, TN 38401 (931) 380-5434 Jumping Jellyfish 107 S. Fair Oaks Ave Suite 107 Pasadena, CA 91105 (626) 578-1838 Kairos 533 Main Street Grand Junction, CO 81501 (970) 241-0460 Lil’ Lamb Shop 167 Jennifer Road Suite Q Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 266-3303 Mako the Children’s Shop 732 NW 23rd Ave Portland, Oregon 97210 (503) 274-9081 MamaBaby 4029 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard Portland, OR 97214 (503) 233-8130 Maya Papaya & Tony Macarony Children’s Boutique 1917 Central Street Evanston, IL 60201 (847) 866-6292 Milk and Honey Kids 3303 Bath Pike Bethlehem, PA 18017 (484) 821-1399 Mulberry Road 46 Gloucester St, Boston, MA 02115 (617) 859-5861 Nurture 433 Massachusetts Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 423-1234 O Child 101 W. Kirkwood Suite 108 Bloomington, IN 47404 (812) 334-9005 Over the Moon 38 W Main Street Avon, CT 06001 (860) 676-9599 Petit Armoire 156 E. Main Street Spartanburg, SC 29306 (864) 585.3222 Posh Boutique 809 NW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97209 (503) 478-7674 Pout Baby Boutique 4325 13th Ave S # 6 Fargo, ND 58103 (701) 356-7688 Preggers 900 N. Michigan #L5-21 Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 943-6262 Rocky Mountain Kids 2525 Arapahoe Ave #H12A Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 447-2267 Seal & Co. 410 Springfield Avenue Summit, NJ 07901 (908) 277-1777 Shima 105 Main Street, North Adams, MA 01247 (413) 346-1055 Small Frys 3022 Birney Ave Scranton, PA 18505 (570) 344-6565 Style Child 1070 University Ave San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 220-0480 Sweetbriar Fair 443 Highland Ave Augusta, GA 30909 (706) 738-8386 The Kid’s Court 1724 E Battlefield St Springfield MO 65804 (417) 889-4427 The Lollipop Shop 4357 Forsyth Road Suite 160 Macon, GA 31210 (478) 475-0609 The Lolly Garden 2046 Utica Square Tulsa, OK 74114 (918) 742-6300 The Nest Denver 2808 East 6th Avenue Denver, CO 80206 (720) 287-1372 The Picket Fence 1108 Carter Street Vidalia, LA, 71373 (318) 336-7155 Tiny Toes 4 N. Main Street Bel Air, MD 21014 (410) 420-6727 Tulips 5817 Kavanaugh Boulevard Little Rock, AR 72207 (501) 614-7343 Wild Child 5 Medford St. Arlington, MA 02474 (781) 483-3566 A Woman’s Work 2401 Rice Blvd. Houston, TX 77005 (713) 524-3700 Y & Z Kids 711 W Hillgrove Ave La Grange, IL 60525 (708) 579-1507
Welcome to Catalonia, Spain! We are so excited to share our discoveries of this unique region of the world with you, and what inspired us to create our new collection.
“Viva el Artista” is the name we gave the first delivery of clothing for this season, which is greatly influenced by the abstract and artistic beauty of Barcelona. Inspired by the architecture and buzz of the city, our designers also found themselves being drawn in again and again to the work of one of Barcelona’s most famous residents – Pablo Picasso.
This season we have several items that reference not only to his work, but also his fashion sense. Picasso was known for his love of striped shirts, as some of the most famous images of him prove:
This style of stripes, either in black and white or navy blue and white, are a timeless icon, often associated not just with Picasso but with 1960s fashion across Europe.
We have two pieces this season that reference Picasso’s stripes – a comfy knit sweater for boys, and a chic and playful tunic for girls. And ladies if you like stripes, keep an eye out for our brand new Catalonia-inspired women’s items that will be premiering soon….
You’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more about Picasso this season, and how his work has influenced different pieces in this line. We look forward to sharing this exciting new destination with you. Stay posted!
Gingerbread is one of those deliciously international foods that appears in many countries around the holidays. It is rumored to have been introduced to Europe in 992 by a monk named Gregoire de Nikopolis, and today different variations can be found in Germany, Sweden, England, France, Poland, and many other countries.
The award for gingerbread enthusiasm, however, must go to the town of Bergen in Norway. Every year they build Pepperkakebyen, a town built entirely of gingerbread. It is tradition for every child under the age of 12 to contribute towards the event, and is believed to be the biggest gingerbread town in the world.
For a great compilation of 15 Gingerbread cities around the world, check out MightyGirl’s recent post.
Although I love gingerbread my skills are not quite that advanced, so I think I’ll be sticking with this simple gingerbread house interpretations this year:
Want to make your own? You can find instructions for these here.
I was holiday shopping last night and found a wonderful book in one of my favorite stores, Little Otsu. The Little Otsu Living Things Series Volume 1 is entitled “A Guide to Eastern European Wildlife”.
Illustrated by Lizzy Stewart, this little 16-page book is filled with intriguing and detailed drawings of animals, half in color, half in black and white. Some of the images resemble beautiful children’s book illustrations with little villages in the background, and others are more surreal:
Want a copy of your own? I do too! But they won’t last long – there were only 1000 copies made. You can find them here.
For this Holiday season, we were inspired by the Maramures people of Translyvania. Located in the northwestern region of Romania, the Maramures live in villages where countless century-old traditions are still encorporated into daily routines.
During celebrations, the Maramures wear their traditional costume, which is primarily black and white with hints of red. We love this classic outfit because of the mix of plush textures and the heavy embroidered embellishments.
While this influence is found throughout our entire Hungarian Holiday collection, the Bucharest Floral dress reflects our true love of these Maramures traditional outfits. With an elegant embroidered pattern and texture on plush velvet, the Bucharest Floral dress is the perfect party dress!
Bucharest Floral Dress
To share our love for these Maramures traditions, we are now offering the Bucharest Floral dress at the great price of $49.50! Regularly $85, this promotional price is available on our website and at participating retailers [see below]
Ladybugs & Lizards Children’s Boutique1389 E. 15th Street Suite 128
Edmond, OK 73013
(405) 348-2121
Donna Ryan Photography and Boutique
5218 42nd Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98136
(206) 909-0189
The Lolly Garden
2046 Utica Square
Tulsa, OK 74114
(918) 742-6300
Kairos
533 Main Street
Grand Junction, CO 81501
(970) 241-0460
Babinski’s
1324 Foothill Blvd.
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
(801) 583-2229
Kustum Kribs
147 North NW Highway
Park Ridge, IL 60068
(847) 825-5742
Style Child
1070 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 220-0480
Lil’ Lamb Shop
167 Jennifer Road Suite Q
Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 266-3303
Jumping Jellyfish
107 S. Fair Oaks Ave Suite 107
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 578-1838
Stuhlbergs, Inc.
1801 Queen Anne Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 352-2351
Cassis
819 W. Idaho St.
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 345-5501
Red Balloon
5407 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 989-8500,
Red Balloon
2060 N. Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(877) 969-9800,
Tiny Toes
4 N. Main Street
Bel Air, MD 21014
(410) 420-6727,
Rocky Mountain Kids
2525 Arapahoe Ave # H12a
Boulder, CO 80302-7867
(303) 447-2267,
Fiddlesticks
508 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 565-0508
Baby Blossom
2623 Montrose Ave
Abbotsford, BC Canada
(604) 556-4993
My Little One
123 Waite Ave North
Waite Park, MN 56387
(320) 253-4141
Check out this amazing project started by Candy Chang, called “I Wish This Was“. Candy lives in New Orleans, and saw so much potential in vacant store fronts and buildings around the city. She designed and distributed stickers in stores around New Orleans that people could take (for free) and use to label buildings and spaces with their ideas and hopes for the structure’s future.
The project really took off, and participants were encouraged to photograph and share their stickers here. I love this project – it can be funny or serious, and encourages us all to re-imagine our surroundings and articulate what we wish the world was.
For a curated look at more stickers and locations in Candy’s project, visit her site here.
