A Neopets Christmas: Traditions and Trivia

Happy holidays to all! It's that time of year again, and the year has passed by so quickly. Everyone has been anxiously waiting for December 25th, the Day of Giving. If you feel like you haven't done enough to celebrate, sit down with a hot cup of borovan, learn a little about Neopia's history on the Day of Giving, and get some ideas for yourself too.

Traditions

The most important part of learning about Neopets history on the Day of Giving is to know about the traditions. For example, did you know Neopets has been celebrating it for over eleven years? No wonder there's so many traditions! Don't forget: you can always come up with some traditions of your own.

01. The Advent Calendar: Ah, yes, perhaps every Neopian's favorite thing to do during the month of Celebrating is to wake up to find gifts of all kinds including toys, petpets, clothing, books, foods, and even cold hard neopoints. The best part is sometimes if you keep an Advent Calendar item long enough, it actually can be worth thousands of neopoints! For example, everyone received a snowbunny on the 6th day of the Advent Calendar in 2002 and now it's worth well over 100,000 neopoints!

02. Borovan: Borovan is a Neopian delicacy for those cold winter nights. It's essentially hot chocolate except with a hint of asparagus! Though the original taste was introduced as a "Cup of Hot Borovan", it can now be enjoyed in so many different ways like flavored hot borovan drinks, frozen or iced borovan, borovan baked goods (including cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, tarts), and now even in ice cream form! You can perfect your borovan with a Borovan Press to give it a fresh new flavor, keep your borovan in a Borovan Thermos, and look up recipes to be creative in 365.25 Borovan Recipes.

03. Christmas Pets: Christmas pets are some of the favorite pets in Neopia and Neopians often paint their pets Christmas when it is time to celebrate. They come with all sorts of adorable accessories to play with in your closet and truly show the holiday spirit of any Neopian! They come in all kinds of themes from angelic, elves, Santa inspired, candy canes, wreaths, reindeer inspired, Christmas tree, and even Christmas lights! Many have winter clothing to keep Neopets warm such as hats, scarves, mittens, coats, pants, sweaters, bow ties, and boots.

04. Stockings: Stockings generally restock in the Toy Shop, although they can come from many other different places. They're a fun gift to receive and give, they look very festive, and best of all sometimes they hold prizes inside! They're a great gift if you're unsure what to give since they hold a surprise. Consider your options for stockings. Be careful, because not all stockings will hold prizes; for example, the Bumper Prize Stocking are simply a collectable item.

Cheaper Priced: Acara Stocking, Blue Stocking, Bumper Prize Stocking, Green Stocking, Cybunny Stocking, Jelly Bean Stocking, Jhudora Stocking of Treats, Lupe Stocking, Petpetpet Stocking, Purple Stocking, Red Stocking, Sausage Stocking, Snot Dripping Stocking, Wocky Stocking, Faerie Fruit Filled Stocking and Tuskaninny Stocking.

Medium Priced: Christmas Gnorbu Stocking, Christmas Peophin Stocking, Sparkling Seasonal Stocking, Super Blue Gift Stocking, and Festive Stocking

Expensive Stockings: Candy Cane Stocking, Fruit Stocking, Patched Stocking, and Starry Stocking

NC Mall Stockings (some are retired): Stocking Garland, Stocking Stufftacular (packs of all sizes), and 2010 Stocking Stufftacular (packs of all sizes)

05. Gift giving: Gift giving is definitely one of the best parts of the entire holiday! Consider giving out gifts whether they are cheap or expensive, and remember that it's the thought that counts. If you feel like you don't have any neopoints to spare, consider using up some of your NeoCash for some seasonal gifts!

06. Art Gallery: The Art Gallery is similar to looking at Christmas light decorations. So much thought and effort is put into each piece that it's fun just to spend some time all cozy with your Neopets just gazing at some art.

07. Neopian Times: The Neopian Times generally has a Christmas edition. Looking at comics, articles, and stories about Christmas can put anyone in the spirit!

08. Caption Contest: Every once in a while, the Caption Contest will hold a competition where the image is holiday themed. Get in the spirit, enter some captions yourself, and read through what others have written. Don't forget to vote!

09. Poems: Some of the best poems were written in celebration of Christmas! Read poems of all moods and styles all about Christmas.

10. Christmas Dinner: There are all kinds of Christmas themed items to feed your Neopet. Nothing is better than having your Neopets sink their teeth into a hearty meal and take a nap after a long day of gift giving. Perhaps you'll consider some gourmet foods as a gift toward their Gourmet Club points?

Trivia

There's nothing more fun than reading trivia, so here is some Neopets Christmas trivia for you!

01. The Christmas Paint Brush was released on November 28th, 2000. This year will mark the eleventh year Neopets have been able to be the colour Christmas!

02. The Christmas Petpet Paint Brush was released slightly a year after the Christmas Paint Brush on December 12th, 2001.

03. The first Christmas morphing potion released was the Christmas Koi Morphing Potion on May 25, 2001.

04. In 2002, the Meridell vs Darigan war was over the day after Christmas!

05. For Christmas 2010, it was announced that there would be a Holiday Dream Neopet Giveaway and ten lucky winners had Neopets transformed into their dream pet.

06. The Plushie Petpet Paint Brush was launched Christmas Eve of 2002.

07. In December 2000, Adam asked Donna for Father Ted videos and the new Monkey Island game via the news page for Christmas.

08. It was announced for Christmas 2000 that the battledome would open for everyone – and Neopets would never be the same again!

10. Jazzmosis has been around since 2001 (their tickets were released on August 8th, 2001), but the Jazzmosis band had a special Xmas concert and the tickets were released on the 10th day of the Advent Calendar in 2002.

11. In issue 170, the editor explained that their Christmas wish would be for their dinner to be edible and for there not to be arguments over which film to watch.

12. In issue 323, the Neopets Team revealed it takes them a month and a half or so to plan out the Advent Calendar!

13. In the Neopian Times editorial of issue 166, it was revealed that Christmas Themed sidebars would be released.

14. In 2005, a Winter Themed Sidebar was released (as promised). It is still unsolved how the sidebar is achieved though there are "certain requirements" (issue 270) that need to be met and if you do meet them, you can collect it any time on the 31st day of the Advent Calendar!

That's all for now – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years to all!