Boxing Day, Shopping, and Sales

Christmas morning at my house

While today may be the 2nd most popular shopping day for my fellow Americans, across the pond our UK friends celebrate Boxing Day. I honestly had no clue what that  meant...it sounds like a rather morbid holiday as I think of the "sport" where people pummel each other in a ring.

So I did a little bit of internet research. I suppose I could have asked the British contingent of the team, but I came up with this idea while they were snug in their beds, then managed to way oversleep myself this morning. Internet research it is.

There are a few theories where the term Boxing Day, a secular holiday, comes from.

-'Christmas Box' refers to Christmas present.

-Possible reference to the boxes churches placed on Christmas for a special collection of money for the poor.

-Or the boxes placed by churches for a special collection for the Feast of St Stephen. It is unclear in my brief searches, but this may or may not be related to the above.

-Another theory is my favorite...only because I love the series Downtown Abbey so much (season 3 starts in 11 short days!) and it reminds me of that. Wealthy Brits needed their servants to run the house on Christmas Day. Therefore they would get the following day off to spend with their own families and would be sent on their way with a Christmas box filled with food and gifts.

What do people DO on Boxing Day? Well...according to Wikipedia, it may have originally been a day to spend with family and friends, eating and relaxing, it's morphed into a big day of sporting events and is in the process of morphing into a big day of....wait for it....SHOPPING!

In fact, when I went in search of images to use in this post, my first search was Boxing Day images free. Which turned up a bunch of sale ads and sporting events. Hmmm...

So I changed it to Boxing Day images. Which turned up a bunch of ads, people waiting in lines at shopping centers, and sporting events...

Lesley Watt, half of the British contingent of AJE, just posted a status update on her THEAjewellery Facebook page this morning that she's spending the day tearing apart old designs to reuse the beads in new designs.

Personally I am going to sit here and watch the snow that just started a little bit ago as it comes down over the lake.

And shop for deals online...especially from my AJE mates who are having sales because I've been coveting a few things. So if you have some Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, this week is a great time to shop handmade jewelry (jewellery) components

Jen Cameron- coupon code: HOLIDAY20 gets you 20% off through December 31st.

Linda Landig-coupon code: ENDOFYEAR2012 for 15% off 

Joanne Tinley-15% discount is currently in place on her website. For discounts in her Etsy Jewellery shop and Etsy component shop, use coupon code: HAPPYHOLIDAYS to get 15% off

Rebekah Payne-coupon code MERRY15 for 15% off

Susan Kennedy-coupon code: ENDOFYEAR for  25% off

Melissa Meman - coupon code: HOLIDAY for 20% off through the end of December

Happy Boxing Day! 

-Jen Cameron

Glass Addictions

Welcome to our Holiday Open House

Good morning! Rather than braving the crazy on the streets and in the shops, we're staying in and inviting you to our virtual holiday open house.

Here's how it's going to work...and this may get a bit crazy at times. But what's a party without a little bit of crazy?

-Starting right now, most of the AJE team has discounts just for our AJE readers. The code is: AJEholiday and the full details will be at the bottom of this post.

-There will be a new post about every 30 minutes until 10pm est. That's 29 posts in a single day.

-Why should you keep coming back? Well...because not only will there be discounts, but you will have the chance to win door prizes, get new recipes, and learn some folklore.

-posts will be short and sweet. Who wants to spend an entire party reading? We want you drinking and making merry too! Maybe do some beading between posts...

To thank all of you, our awesome AJE readers, we are offering this discount code. Feel free to share AJE with your friends if you think they would enjoy reading AJE and also enjoy the discount.

Discount code: AJEholiday 

You can use the code at the following shops:

Jen Cameron: Jen Cameron Designs for 20% off today through Cyber Monday (Nov 26)

Francesca Watson: Francesca Watson Designs 15% off today through Cyber Monday

Diana Ptaszynski: Suburban Girl Studio 20% off today through Cyber Monday

Linda Landig: Linda Landig Jewelry  20% off today through Cyber Monday

Lesley Watt: THEAtoo and THEA jewellery  20% off today through Cyber Monday

Jenny Davies-Reazor: Jenny Davies-Reazor 20% off today through Cyber Monday

Joanne Tinley: Daisychain Extra and Daisychain Jewellery  20% off today through Cyber Monday

Melissa Meman: Melismatic 20% off today through Cyber Monday

Rebekah Payne: Tree Wings Studio 15% off today through Cyber Monday

Susan Kennedy: Sue Beads  20% off today through Cyber Monday

Kristi Bowman: KristiBowmanDesign 15% off through Cyber Monday

Karen Totten: Starry Road Studio 20% off through Cyber Monday

Grab that cup of coffee or tea and have fun browsing the shops. But make sure you come back in 30 minutes.

-Jen Cameron
Glass Addictions