#justchristmas

[aweirdlisa]

What a day, first the Antipocalypse and now I’m listening to Bo Burnham songs again. Today has been all over the place. At least I’ve updated my tumblr portrait to something more Christmassy, woo!

[ziggyvisuelle]

#nofilter #justchristmas #flashbackwheneveriwantday #fbwheneverthefuckiwantday (at Izmir University of Economics Fine Art and Design Faculty)

[pilukiki]

Christsmas in August #NiagaraOnTheLake #JustChristmas #Shops #Ontario #Canada #Traveling #MyPics #Photography #Canon #CanonEspaña #EnjoyingLife

[justloveoxford]

THE JUST CHRISTMAS GUIDE

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5

“The Christmas spirit itself ought to be a mark of every Christian all year round... The Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor – spending, and being spent – to enrich their fellow human, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others – and not just their own friends – in whatever way there seems need.” – J. I. Packer, Knowing God

At Christmas, we celebrate the best possible gift that God could have given us – his son Jesus Christ, through whom we have life and light. However, Christmas can often be a time of consumerism, stress, tension and loneliness for us and for so many others. We are called to bring light into the dark situations, as Jesus brings light into our own hearts. Are we really honouring the God who made himself poor when we buy cheap, cheerful gifts from companies that are using sweatshops or child labour?

At Just Love, Oxford, we know it’s really difficult to know how and where to make changes to what we buy, so we created this guide. It contains suggestions of what this could look like. It contains list of where we can be buying gifts that show concern for the people who have made them, caring for our planet and seeking to enrich our world. It also contains instructions for handmade gifts and a host of other things that can be done this Christmas to make it as just as possible.

Most of all, let’s be remembering what Christmas is truly about. Let’s remember the life that we have been given, the joy, peace and hope we now have and be looking to spread them to everyone we know. Let’s ultimately remember that knowledge of this truth should make our actions and prayer for our entire lives.

Gift Alternatives:

Open Doors Secret Santa: Instead of buying socks/something equally generic, donating £4 to Open Doors will provide a weeks’ worth of essential supplies to someone in Iraq or Syria, who has lost everything due to war, terror and instability. http://www.opendoorsyouth.org/give-now/secret-santa/

Oxfam Charity Gifts: Oxfam sell a range of alternative charity gifts, such as goats, chickens or safe water for those living in poverty worldwide. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfam-unwrapped

Experiences: Instead of giving someone more stuff, you could promise to give them an experience, e.g. a cinema trip, a meal, later in the year.

This website, Buy Nothing Christmas, has a great list of some alternatives to gifts that you could consider getting for your family or friends. http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/alternatives/index.html

Soaps and Bathroom:

LUSH – sells amazing smelling soaps and bath bombs in recyclable packaging. Everything is ethically sourced handmade and LUSH is actively against animal testing.

Faith in Nature – Locally made, environmentally conscious soaps made with all natural ingredients.

PHB Ethical Beauty – provides a range of skin care, hair care and cosmetic products made from safe, natural and organic ingredients that are 100% vegan and palm oil free. 15% of profits go to charity.

Chocolate is one of the best things to give and receive for Christmas. If you buy fairtrade, you know that the chocolate you give has been ethically sourced. Here’s a list of ethical chocolate brands: -  Divine -  The Meaningful Chocolate Company -  Green and Black’s -  Traidcraft -  The Co-operative -  Sainsbury’s -  M&S

Clothing and Houseware:

Local Charity Shops: Super ethical and affordable, often offering a wide range of new and second-hand things.

Some charities also have online shops: Oxfam: Aiming to end extreme poverty in the next 15 years. Oxfam sell clothing, music, books, DVDs and decorations all year round. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop

Amnesty International: work to provide justice, truth, dignity and freedom for those it is denied to. They sell a variety of clothing, accessories, books and homeware on their website. http://amnestyshop.org.uk/

Marie Curie: provide free nursing for terminally ill patients. Their online shop sells stationary, toys and games and other ideas for Christmas gifts. https://shop.mariecurie.org.uk/

Ethical Brands:

The Good Shopping Guide provides information about the ethics of most major companies and how they compare to one another. http://www.thegoodshoppingguide.com/

For clothing, Style with a Heart is an online guide to environmental and ethical fashion brands. http://www.stylewithheart.com/

TraidCraft: Sell homeware, toys, clothing, food and jewellary and accessories. They are committed to ending poverty through trade and have a range made from recycled materials. http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/

Truth Not Trash: Sells a variety of ethically made clothing and bags with Christian phrases on, such as “perfect love casts out fear” or “eat, sleep, be brave, repeat.” Their products are 100% ethically made and 10% profit goes to “A21 Campaign” and “Porn Scars”. http://www.truthnottrash.com/

Monkee Genes: About to morph into a trading charity called “Stop Taking the Pennies”, Monkee Genes sell jeans that are high quality, eco and fair denim. Stop Taking the Pennies will aim to raise awareness about the ethics within the clothing market. 50cents per item in their latest range goes to providing education for children in the areas where the clothing is made. http://www.monkeegenes.com/

Howies: Make high quality, environmentally friendly sportsgear and other clothing items. http://www.howies.co.uk/

Annie Greenabelle: Sells women’s dresses, skirts, casual and party wear that is made is ethically made in the UK (lowering carbon emissions) from completely organic cotton. http://www.anniegreenabelle.com/

Ethical Design: is a new company selling mens and womens fashion which is sustainably made, 100% organic and complies with the ‘Fair Wear Foundation’ Code of contract. http://ethical.design/pages/about-us

Handmade

Websites like Pinterest are full of ideas for handmade cards and decorations.

Make your own Christmas Cards: Charity Christmas cards are so great and if you don’t have time to make your own, definitely buy from your favourite charity instead of Tesco – but an effective and super fun way to reduce packaging is to make your own!

Knit a Scarf: If you’ve never tried knitting before, it’s a great thing to do while you watch TV or Christmas movies. There are lots of tutorials online that can show you how to do it if you have never done it before. http://www.wikihow.com/Knit-a-Scarf

What else can I do?

- Commit to praying for a justice issue everyday over the Christmas period - Clear out your wardrobe and bedroom; give your books and clothes to charity shops, neighbours or friends. - Avoid flying as much as possible – could you take the train instead? If you do fly, you can offset your carbon impact with Climate Stewards, who support community forestry and cookstove projects in Ghana, Kenya and Mexico https://www.climatestewards.org/ - Reuse wrapping paper or recycle. You can also paint patterns over old sheets of newspaper and use that to wrap presents in. - Buy all your vegetables for Christmas lunch unpackaged. - Do all your Christmas shopping with reusable bags. - Try out some veggie Christmas recipes: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/vegetarian-christmas - Give to a Christmas appeal. - Check items in your house, such as tea and coffee, and make sure they are fairtrade. - Spend time with people in your community who might be lonely - Check out Tearfund’s Different Christmas rhythm: http://rhythms.org/rhythm/different-christmas/

[jeansghost]

pick up line of the day: Do you live on a chicken farm? 'Cause you sure know how to raise a cock

AIMEE IM CHOKING PSL

[jeansghost]

daily pick up like: If you were a burger at McDonald's you'd be the McGorgeous

AIMEE IM CRYING ILYSM OMFG 

and you'd be the McBeautiful ;););););)