That Friday Feeling...30/12/11

It's New Year's Eve eve... So this week's Friday Feeling is a welcome to 2012, the year of the Dragon. Here are just a few things that I found on Etsy this week. 

New Year's Banner by CowCountryCreations

Great sentiment quote from TheBestCaseScenario

LOVE these cute little dinosaurs by vilnone

Do you have any New Year's Resolutions? I generally make only one or sometimes two resolutions and I invariably last about 2 weeks before I break them. But hey, ho if I write them on here then maybe I'll manage to keep some of them this year! 

So... my 2012 resolutions are: 

• To read more than 50 books
• To do more exercise
• To have a stall at a craft fair.

I'm hoping those are all fairly achievable... 

Anyway, thought I'd throw in the usual random facts as well:

• January is named for Janus  - a Roman god who had 2 faces. It's the month at the start of the year because Janus was able to look behind at the old year and forward towards the new one.
• In old New Year's tradition, people would wait for dark haired visitors to come through the door soon after midnight carrying coal (symbolising warmth), bread (symbolising enough to eat), money (symbolising, surprisingly enough, money) and greenery ( symbolising long life). The visitor would take a pan of dust and ashes out with them symbolising taking away the remnants of the old year.
• January is often the coldest month in the year and in London between 1608 and 1815 the Thames occasionally froze over. When this happened Londoners held 'Frost Fairs' - fairs that were actually held on the frozen over Thames. The last one was in 1815 and only lasted 4 days. 
• In Japan, Buddhist temples strike a gong 108 times at midnight of 31st December symbolising that 108 weaknesses of man are being expelled.
• In Spain there is a tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight symbolising 12 months of prosperity in the coming year.
• Resolutions have been made by all nationalities for centuries - apparently this tradition may go as far back as the Babylonians who made resolutions at the start of the New Year. Early Christians thought the new year was a good time to reflect on the mistakes of the past year and resolve to do better in the upcoming one.