We don’t celebrate enough holidays. Sure, I may feel this way because I design handmade greeting cards, but still… In America, we live for holidays. From Thanksgiving to Memorial Day, they’re a pretext for partying and a reason to skip school, clock out early from work and generally make bad decisions. Holidays give you carte blanche to drink up, pig out and chuck confetti at unsuspecting friends and family. Here are three lesser-known holidays for you and yours to start celebrating this year.
1. National Ding-A-Ling Day: December 12th
National Ding-a-Ling Day is a holiday that’s all about catching up with old friends. The titular ding-a-ling refers to the sound made when a phone rings.
“That’s not what it meant in my song.” - Chuck Berry, probably
Photo: John Matthew Smith
If, like me, you’d rather have bamboo shoots wedged under your fingernails than talk on the phone, dole out some charming text messages, unexpected emails or funny greeting cards instead.
2. Hobbit Day: September 22nd
You don’t have to rock giant feet to celebrate this fantastic holiday that pays tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved race of ravenous hole-dwellers. Hobbit Day is the perfect day to feast, send a few handmade greeting cards to your friends in the next shire over and go on an epic adventure.
How epic? That’s up to you. It can be a family road trip to those caves you’ve always wanted to explore, or you can simply brave Costco on a Saturday. On Hobbit Day, the choice is yours.
3. National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day: January 31st
Between receiving supplies for wholesale birthday cards and sending out orders, it’s basically Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day around here 24/7/365. Any leftovers go to my four-year-old for destruction (his favorite hobby), but there’s more than one way to pop some bubbles. Why not hold a Project Runway-caliber fashion show using bubble wrap and only bubble wrap? Bubble-popping races are another way to revel in bubble wrap’s majesty. (High-stakes wagering strongly encouraged but not explicitly endorsed.)
Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's bubble wrap.
This year, go beyond Halloween and New Year’s Eve with your holiday parties and handmade greeting cards. Start with these three little-known holidays and before you know it, you’ll have no shortage of causes for celebration.
Does your family celebrate any non-traditional holidays? Start a trend in the comments below! I'll bring the buffalo wing dip and the Chuck Berry playlist.