12 Best New(ish) Holiday Songs

12 Best New(ish) Holiday Songs

With about 12 days left before Christmas, here is my list of the 12 best new(ish) holiday songs.  Some songs were released this year, the oldest was released in the 1980s.  To make the list it had to be a happy song - I know holidays can bring up mixed emotions, and I love some of the darker holiday songs ("Father Christmas" by the Kinks and "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues come to mind), but I'm going for more upbeat songs here!

Some of the songs are Christmas, some are winter in general, one is even just about light, but they all seem to fit in with the season.  Read the list and add your favorites that I missed in the comments!

12. (It Must Have Been Ol') Santa Claus

 Harry Connick, Jr.

I've loved this song since it came out, a lot of fun with a surprise ending!

11.  You'll Never Find my Christmas 

Bishop Allen

Target put out a free Holiday Album a few years ago with some great tracks including this one, you'll see a few more on the list!

10. Baby, It's Cold Outside (Glee Version) 

Darren Criss (Blaine) and Chris Colfer (Kurt)

Fantastic duet here, and to my mind one of the first times on prime time tv featuring a love song by a same sex couple!  They have such great chemistry here.

9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings 

Barenaked Ladies Featuring Sarah McLachlan

I love both Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan, but despite being great musicians from Canada, I usually don't think of them together.  However, they are fantastic on this Christmas mashup.  (More mashups later!)

8. Mrs. Claus Aint's Got Nothin' On Me 

Little Jackie

Another gem from Target!  I love the empowerment here that Christmas can be hectic, but she is handling it with fierceness.

7. Nova

VNV Nation

This one is not technically a holiday song, but it is all about light and renewal, so it could be Christmas, Hannukah, Diwali or Kwanzaa!  It sounds good on my Holiday playlist.

  

6. There'll Be No Tomorrow 

Erasure

This is the newest song on the list, from Erasure's 2013 album.  Great New Year's Eve song! I like holiday songs that you can dance to.

5. You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch 

Whirling Dervishes

I know I said no negative songs, but for me knowing how the Grinch ends, I feel like it belongs here.  And the Whirling Dervishes do a great job on the song!  I just wish they had done the whole thing...

4. Christmas Wrapping 

The Waitresses

The oldest song on the list, but always one of my favorites (I am a child of the 80s). Another surprise ending!

3. Deck the Rooftop 

Glee Cast

One more Glee song and one more mashup!  This was a great mix of these two songs and a great performance.  My kids like to each take one of the songs when they sing it.

2. All I Want for Christmas 

Mariah Carey

I must confess that I am not a big Mariah fan, but I love this song.  It is so infectious, and again great for dancing!

1. Tiny Tree Christmas 

Guster

This is probably the song I most look forward to every year (also from Target!).  It doesn't discount the melancholy that sometimes comes with the holidays, but manages to incorporate it into the joy of the holidays.

Have a great holiday!  

What songs did I miss?  Add your own favorites in the comments!

Bizarre Bazaar - Maplewood, Dec 8

The Bizarre Bazaar in Maplewood was my last art show of this season, and far and away the best one I attended!  It took place on Sunday, Dec 8, at the Women's Club in downtown Maplewood.

From the start, it was well advertised and organized by Studio B.  I first learned about it from posters that were hung up around Maplewood (I saw it at Maplewood Karate where my son takes lessons).  While it was initially full, I was able to get in off of the waiting list.  It was very easy to register and pay online.

In addition to advertising it themselves, Studio B was also very active in getting the participants to advertise by offering graphics to use on their own websites and also sending out e-mail reminders.  They also were very active on their Facebook page advertising it.  The one improvement they could have made was a good landing page for people interested in the event (I created a Facebook event page to invite people to attend).

Graphic to use on website

The show started at 10 am, and I arrived around 8:45.  There was easy access to park and unload, and many volunteers helping out with the show to ensure that it ran smoothly.  One of the organizers, Elizabeth, showed me where my table would be, and they even had helpers to carry in boxes!  I should have taken pictures of the volunteers as they were all decked out in wacky holiday dress, definitely added to the overall atmosphere!

Get Well Games table - think I had it perfected by this show!

The reason I didn't take pictures is that I was too busy once the show began!  I'm not good at estimating numbers, but the show was very busy, starting right at 10 am and almost to the end.   The attendance fee was quite reasonable ($50), and I broke even around 11:30 am and continued to sell throughout the day.
There was a lull around 3 pm, and things died down around 4:30, but other than that there was a steady stream of people all day.  I would up selling 13 units, my best show of the season!

 It was a great crowd also, a very diverse mix of ages and ethnicity (what else would you expect from Maplewood?).  Lots of kids running around, they even had an abominable snowman the kids could take pictures with.  Great mix of vendors, with sculpture, photography, jewelry, ornaments, bric-a-brac, crocheted suffed animals, even cool pet supplies!  I walked around a little before the show, but didn't leave the table too much afterwards!  I'm sure location played a role in the great turnout.  The Women's Club where it was held is in downtown Maplewood, which has a great community of artists and creative types.

I wound up not playing the game too much (only 4 people played) as it wound up being a distraction from selling to others walking by.   No one who played purchased it, but lots of people purchased without playing.  I did also get 6 people to sign up for the mailing list.  But most people who walked by were interested, supportive, and some even took my business card to connect me with others who might help me!  So just a wonderful environment for my business.

My biggest lesson from this show was really the need to diversify.  There were quite a few people willing to buy, but just didn't have much need for a card game on back pain.  So a wider selection would have allowed me to have even more sales.  I think 13 or so is probably the most I will do with Back Up! at a show like this, but if I had other card games or even other items, I could have been even more profitable.  I will definitely return next year!

Birchwood Manor 11th Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Extravaganza

I attended the Birchwood Manor show (in Whippany, NJ) on Dec 4, 2013.  The show is held every year the Wednesday after Christmas, and this is the 11th annual show.  It was rather expensive to register ($120), but 2500 attendees according to this site: http://www.craftlister.com/E1502149/Holiday+Arts+%26+Crafts+Extravaganza+-+Whippany%2C+NJ
Being new to all this, that seemed like a high number, but I've since learned you want closer to 10,000 for a busy show.

I have at least mastered booth set up (although not photography!):

It seemed to grab attention.  The show opened at 10 am, and I had a sale at about 10:15!  Two women bought one for a friend who had just had surgery.  Then another woman was interested, and after playing the game she bought one also!  2 sales before 11 am, was very hopeful.  One other pair of women played the game, but didn't buy it (they did sign up for mailing list).  But then nothing...

My sister joined me around 1 pm, and we played together.  This attracted one more buyer, probably around 1:30 pm.  By this time traffic had slowed considerably.  Some people were interested, amused, thought it was a good idea, but couldn't even get anyone to stop and play.  There were a few with back pain that did not want any reminders of it, but they seemed to be the minority.

The show lasted until 8 pm, and never got busier.  I have no idea how to estimate the number of people.  It could have been 2500 as predicted.

Registration was ridiculous.  The woman wants you to send a self-addressed stamped envelope so she can let you know if you will be in the show (e-mail anyone?).  Otherwise you just have to look for a canceled check.  This should have been a tip off.

When I arrived I was not on the list (despite getting a canceled check and also an e-mail about changes to event set up time), but think I scored a pretty good location.  The other annoying part of the show was that they had a raffle every hour, and had to talk for about 3-4 minutes each time about the rooms, food, when the next show was going to take place, etc.  If you were in the middle of speaking with a customer, it was very disruptive.

So bottom line, I would not do this show again.  Most of the vendors seemed unhappy with results.  I'm not sure organizer advertised at all, relying solely on lawn signs, word of mouth and people returning every year (this was 11th annual).

Holding steady at 50% sales for people who play the game, so that was good.  But need to find a venue where I can get more people to play and buy!