Christmas Card Making 🎄 December 18th

We decorated Christmas Cards today at Lexis Byron Bay and had Christmas music playing in the background while we worked away 🙂

It was quite the festive morning! 🎄

Materials we used were:

  • glitter
  • cardboard
  • glue
  • paper
  • stamps
  • ink

It was a lovely day to be outside. Though it got a little windy towards the end!

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Lucky we had Yuya to keep everything from flying away!

Above is some of the finished works for family and friends 🙂

While embellishing away we were practicing English skills and sharing our plans for Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Cookie Decorating 🍪 December 12th

The festive spirit was alive and well at Lexis Byron Bay this morning when we did Christmas Cookie Decorating!

We had a Christmas playlist made on Spotify in the background playing while we decorated our cookies.

Ingredients used:

  • cookies/ biscuits
  • icing sugar
  • butter
  • water
  • cherries
  • sour worms
  • pretzels
  • desiccated coconut
  • sprinkles
  • smarties
  • chocolate buttons

Students were creative in what designs they made! Some examples were:

  • Christmas trees
  • stars
  • hearts
  • gingerbread men
  • snowmen
  • baubles
  • lights
  • Christmas wreaths
  • Christmas puddings
  • reindeers

It was a messy and yummy morning!

Hope you all enjoyed this fun activity and eating the creations afterwards 😋

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Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Byron Bay Carols by The Sea

Byron Carols by the Sea

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Date: Friday the 13th of December
Time: 6.30pm
Where: Apex Park, Byron Bay

The iconic Byron Carols by the Sea event is happening again with special guest Chang Po Ching (featured on “The Voice”), local schools, carols choir and more guest artists! Stop by the Byron Rotary Club’s sausage sizzle, and grab a spot on the grass as you watch the sun set over the Bay and sing some beloved carols!

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Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Traditions: History of the Christmas Tree 🎄

History of the Christmas Tree 🎄

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we do certain Christmas Traditions? Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter.

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In the 18th century, it began to be illuminated by candles, which were ultimately replaced by Christmas lights.

Today, there is a wide variety of traditional ornaments, such as garlands, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes.

An angel or star might be placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehem, respectively, from the Nativity.

Modern Christmas trees have been related to the “tree of paradise” of medieval mystery plays that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and of Adam and Eve in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red balls.

 

When you’re in the office next at Lexis Byron Bay make sure to check out our own little Christmas Tree!

 

 

 

Information adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree
Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Traditions: History of Cookie Decorating 🎄🍪

 History of Cookie Decorating 🎄🍪

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we do certain Christmas Traditions? Did you know that Cookie decorating dates back to at least the 14th century in Switzerland? Springerle cookie molds were carved from wood and used to impress Biblical designs into cookies. One of the earliest recorded forms of cookie decorating is the springerle, and the oldest known springerle mold is housed at the Swiss national museum in Zurich, Switzerland.

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The artistic element of cookie making also can be traced back to Medieval Germany.

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Lebkuchen was crafted into fancy shapes and decorated with sugar. Lebkuchen is a traditional German baked Christmas cookie, somewhat resembling gingerbread.

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During the 17th century, Dutch and German settlers introduced cookie cutters, decorative molds, and festive holiday cookie decorations to the United States.

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Today cookie decorating traditions continue in many places in the world and include such activities as cookie decorating parties, competitions, creating cookie bouquets and cookie gift baskets, and simply decorating cookies with others can be a fun activity.

Join us at Lexis Byron Bay this Thursday the 11th of December at 11.30am or 2pm for our own version of Christmas Cookie Decorating!

Make sure to sign up at reception!

 

 

Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas in Byron Bay 🎄

Christmas in Byron Bay can be hard for students to get their head around.

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It’s been said around the campus “but it doesn’t feel like Christmas! It’s too hot!” or similarly “there’s no snow, and not many people have lights up!”

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For a few of the students from colder climates in the Northern Hemisphere the idea of no snow, or a hot Christmas is unheard of!

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Much like everything else, Aussie’s just do Christmas differently.

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For Christmas lunch or dinner many will have a traditional roast, though additionally the barbie will be fired up! Prawns are very popular to have in the Summer time. It’s also not uncommen to find the men around the BBQ, women in the kitchen getting everything else ready, and chilren playing under a sprinkler or swimming in a pool.

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And for dessert we have pavlova with fruit on top. Sometimes in the shape of a Christmas Wreath. Christmas Pudding will still be feautured, though because it is Summer the fruits are a favoured choice.

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Then in the afternoon if you’re not napping and sleeping off your Christmas lunch, you might play a game of beach/ backyard cricket! It might be children vs. adults, cousins vs. ‘the other’ cousins, or boys vs. girls. It’s all about having fun, being silly and not taking it all too seriously.

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It can be an unusual adjustment, though Christmas in Australia can still be enjoyed! Spend time with friends, and create your own traditions. Swim at the beach, play cricket in the backyard, and revel in the fact that you’re in a t-shirt! Make memories that will last that can be shared back home and one day you can say “I had a Christmas at the beach one year!” 

 

 

 

 

Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Decoration Making! 19 December – PM

Last Wednesday we set about making some beautiful decorations to adorn our Christmas tree in the Lexis Byron reception!

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Orla led the morning session and explains how you can make your own, here on her blog: https://lexisbyronbay.com/2018/12/19/christmas-decoration-making-morning-19-december/

The most important thing to remember, and which I kept repeating to the students, is ‘two down, one up’! It’s very easy and relaxing once you get into it!

Check out the wonderful creations made by our students…

 

Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Decoration Making! (morning). 19 December

We’re getting into the festive spirit here in Lexis Byron Bay this week with some Christmas-themed activities. Today’s was Christmas Decoration Making! 

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We set out to make a beautiful decoration for the tree, which required cardboard, wool, fancy paper, scissors, glue and straight pins. We also had some optional extra bits like wood beads, silver beads and wire.

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We started out by gluing our two cardboard squares together. The next step was to stick pins in all the corners, followed by wrapping the wool around each of the pins.

You repeat the steps, moving inwards until all the corners of the card are covered and you end up with a beautiful star shape!

Check out some of the beautiful decorations made by Islania and Orla!

The countdown to Santa’s arrival is on! Is your Christmas tree up yet? 🙂

 

 

Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Decoration Making! 21 December

Yesterday we made some beautiful decorations for our Lexis Byron Christmas tree!

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For our morning session we made pretty stars and beach themed baubles with sand, shells and lotus flowers!

In the afternoon we got creative making paper ball ornaments and some more stars!

It was great fun and the tree looks amazing covered in the students brilliant craft work!

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Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.