Gary Brown: Celebrating Christmas by (buy?) catalog

I love the approach of the holidays, when we can begin to celebrate the season loudly with "Jingle for Jesus" noisemakers and "Happy Birthday Jesus" clappers.

We can start to proudly display our holiday spirit by hanging brightly colored ornament balls from the thin prongs of a futuristic-looking white metal tabletop Christmas tree.

And, we can re-emphasize the true meaning of Christmas by giving our children and grandchildren such educational and theologically correct artifacts as nativity Rubic's cubes, "Oh Holy Night" yo-yos, and giant manger scene jigsaw puzzles.

Before those gifts are opened, however, we can instill in our offspring the proper attitude for the season by hanging giant "Jumbo Stockings" – that are as big as many of our kids – from our fireplace mantels.

The most energetic among us can bring joy to the world by throwing around "Happy Birthday Jesus" mini flying discs or playing with a toy called "Happy Birthday Jesus Mini Springs."

If you haven't already guessed, my "Oriental Trading Fun & Faith" holiday catalog arrived the other day.

Some pretty unique ideas

All kidding aside, I enjoy both fun and faith-based gifts, and the Oriental Trading Company sure does have some creative ideas for them.

By creative I mean crafts, and by crafts I mean children's projects, and by children's projects I mean coloring your own Christmas crown, nativity bookmarks, "Wise Men" binoculars, holiday bracelet, or kid-sized stable playhouse. When I was a kid, we just got out the crayons, listened to our mothers say "just don't color the wall," and then engaged in what our parents called "finding something for the kids to do" during Christmas vacation.

For adults, there are DIY nativity ornaments, which are unfinished wooden ornaments that catalog customers buy and color to their liking. Granted, it sound a little like the kind of Christmas give that my brothers and I used to start when we were kids, but couldn't finish, so Dad took over. Still, the generous intention is good.

And, there are scratch-and-reveal advent counter calendars in the catalog, along with Christmas countdown paper chain craft kit devices – in case the official "Shopping Days Until Christmas" feature in most newspapers isn't accurate enough for you.

Some personal favorites

Personally, I'm a fan of the family Christmas costume sets. It's difficult to argue about politics over Christmas dinner when everybody is dressed like they're Mary, Joseph, angels, kings, shepherds, and animals in a grade school nativity play.

It's only $69.99, according to the catalog, for a seven-piece "Child's Wise Men Costume Kit with Props," which include containers to carry gifts for the Christ child. (Presumably, like batteries in electronic nativity scenes, the gold, frankincense and myrrh are not included.)

I also liked the dancing and ice skating penguin Christmas tree ornaments. No, I'm not particularly sure what Christmas story or tradition includes penguins as primary players, but who can keep from smiling when you see a penguin with a scarf around its neck?

There are a lot of other items in the catalog. Holiday knick-knacks. Candy. Clothing. Wall hangings. Christmas decorations. Yuletide gag gifts.

The latter are my preference. I've been known to don an "ugly" Christmas sweater, elf hat, red and white Santa cap, floppy reindeer antlers, or goofy novelty glasses in an attempt to make a festive holiday even more fun.

I noticed in the catalog that there was a special "Color Your Own" Christmas headband that looks like a Santa hat except it has green where the headband is.

The Grinch.

It sends a message.

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Gary Brown: Celebrating Christmas by (buy?) catalog