Holiday treasures: moving beyond the ordinary

The Etsy Beadweavers November challenge theme is ‘Holiday Treasures’ and what a treasure of a theme is it. There are literally hundreds of holidays around the world during November that could inspire jewelry to treasure. I have listed a site below that you can use to search public holidays around the world. It can be fun to see just who is holidaying for what reason in countries beyond our own.

Public holidays are days in which people are officially given permission not to work. The idea of ‘not working’ on a holiday has its history in the English language with the Christian church in medieval times. In those times workers were given time off work so that they could go to church to mark a special holy day for the church. It was a day out of the ordinary for the workers and for the church. Around the world, holidays are still associated with religious holy days but just as many holidays now are secular in origin and linked to events out of the ordinary that have local or national significance to a country or a region. In recent times the United Nations has established days of international observance that are used to commemorate special events and promote action on specific causes. Few very of these days are public holidays but they are opportunities to do something out of the ordinary to mark something that matters. So when you think of designing ‘Holiday Treasures’ perhaps you could design something for a day that you think should be a holiday but isn’t or for a holiday in a country you don’t live in. It’s easy to Google information about holidays in other countries and wonderful images exist to inspire us as beaders to move beyond the ordinary and beyond what we are familiar with. Imagine what holiday treasures might emerge if you think beyond what you know. To tempt you to think beyond the ordinary I have generated a list of possible holidays and days of observance from different parts of the world for November that offer lots of possibilities - some fun, some more serious. Imagine what you could make to treasure Sandwich Day in the USA or World Hello day internationally. Imagine if the International Day for Tolerance was a public holiday – what would you do to commemorate it in your jewelry?

What would you design to wear to Unity Day in Russia or for the women wearing this amazing red hat to the Melbourne Cup in Australia?

Possible points for inspiration

• International Days of Observance
  
• Public Holidays Internationally