CHRISTMAS 2013!

ARE MY NINA PICTURES HARD TO FOLLOW?


WERE MY GIF'S HARD TO FOLLOW TOO?

WELL DAMN LOOKS LIKE I'LL JUST NEED TO TELL YOU DOESN'T IT!
CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

So, this Christmas, we admins have some fabulous events planned for you. And by fabulous, I mean fanastically fun and exciting and christmassy fabulous. For the whole month of December, you can enjoy many IC events, and nearly as many OOC ones too! Let's not dilly-dally, cause there's lots to explain and there's not that much time (Actually there's plenty of time).
The big thing this year is the return of.... drumroll please... WINTERFEST! That's right CHBians, Winterfest has begun. Snow has fallen heavily in Camp Half-Blood, and ice has covered the Lake. Camper's have spent the past couple days since it fell out having snowball fights and building snowmen. Then, last night, they fell asleep in their warm cabins, only to wake up and find some amazing festivities had been set up overnight! Things which you can see if you scroll down your page to the Winterfest section are;

• Ice Skating
  
• Snowball Fight Area
  
• Sled Hill
  
• A Collection of Cabin-Made Igloos
  
• Carol Service Stage
  
• Hanukkah Trees
  
• IC Christmas Store
  
• Christmas Tree
  

A few extra Christmas festivals, not under the Winterfest heading are;

• The Annual Ski Trip
  
• Winter Bonfire
  
• Christmas Dance!
  

Now! That's the IC events all named, and you can find all of those forums throughout the site.
Onto the OOC events, yes? This Christmas sees the return of two popular events which we decided would be fun to have with Winterfest. These are:

• Santa Hat and Christmas Tree Hunts: Throughout the site, in random topics, these little pictures are hidden
  
  

  PICTURES:

  
  You guys get the chance to hunt for them! When you find one, you PM either me, Bean, or Summer, with a screenshot of the topic you found it in so we know you aren't lying. For finding a Santa Hat, you receive 100 drachmas and for finding a Christmas Tree, you receive 200. And you can hunt for as many as you want :D (If you don't know how to screenshot, PM me and I'll let you know :) This starts on the 10th of December until Christmas Day!!!!!!!
  
• Secret Santa YAY!: Ok, so I realize some of you won't click the link to read it in that topic (Which was written by the fabulous Sniggle for last year and we're gonna use the same rules and such this year). BUT THERE IS ONE MAJOR CHANGE. YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 7TH TO SIGN UP, AND BY DECEMBER 8TH YOU WILL HAVE RECEIVED THE PM WITH YOUR PARTNER'S NAME IN IT So here is everything quoted;
  
  

  Zel (Written by Sniggle) wrote:

  Alright, are you guys ready for this year's secret santa?! If you answered no, TOUGH.
  
  So, let's get started. Secret Santa. How does it work? First, those of you who answered yes to the previous question, who want to take part in Secret Santa make a post here saying that you'd like to be included. The administrators will keep track of who all posts. And for the sake of keeping the list cleaning, only post that you want to join in this thread. Nothing else! Even if you're excited, it'll make the list a bit confusing if put here, so please refrain. Next, we randomly pair up people. So maybe admin would tell bob that he is to get a gift for sally. Then admin tell sally that she is to get a gift for Dan. Then admin tell Dan that he is to get a Jim. Then admin tell Jim to get a gift for Bob. It's a big circle of gifts, and, when it's done right, it's fabulous~~~
  
  You have until December 7th to sign up, and then by December 8th you will be sent a pm containing your partner's name on it. For the sake of secret santa do not change your name. It makes finding you difficult for both the administrators as well as your partner!! Those who change their name may not get a gift. D; ANYWAY. You'll have until 11:59 pm EST on December 24th to create/buy your gift for secret santa, and then from December 25th to 11:59 pm EST on December 31st to give your gift to your partner! Remember, it's a secret, so don't tell [b]anyone who you're giving a gift to. Don't ruin the surprise!! D: And to those of you who haven't received a gift by 11:59 pm EST on December 31st, you are to pm an admin explaining that you didn't receive one. We'll know who was paired up with who, and if it turns out you didn't give a gift to someone, you will not be able to participate in the next secret santa, plus you will get all your drachmas taken away! And that would be a bummer, wouldn't it? For both you AND the person who didn't receive a gift. Last year this happened a lot, which is a serious problem. It kills the joy and makes children cry. YOU DON'T WANT TO MAKE CHILDREN CRY, DO YOU?
  
  I hope you answered no to that. This isn't Teletubbies. So! Now that we've gotten through the rules, let's go to helping out your secret santa make the right gift for you!! A subforum will be set up where each person participating will make a thread containing their wishlist! You can name it "Gary's wishlist!" or "HAPPY RAINBOW JOY JOY [LEX]" Doesn't matter as long as your name is in the title so that your secret santa can easily find it. In this thread you will list a few of your interests--favorite books, movies, television shows, video games, your OTPs, music, you name it. Just name sure it follows the rules!! Then, your secret santa can take something from that list and make or buy something based off of that.
  
  Here are a few rules though. It's okay if you really want to go out and buy, say, a Simoleons gift card for your avid sim player, but real life gifts should not require an address to be given. So no trying to mail gifts to people's houses! That goes against site rules of giving personal info and yada yada. It's just safer for everyone. And if you're going to go out and purchase a gift, it doesn't have to be some crazy $50 gift card to shop at Hot Topic online. A ten dollar card will suffice, and make sure they work online. How dumb would you feel if you bought something for someone that can't actually be used? D;
  
  Anyway, I know a lot of you, most of you for that matter, don't have spare cash to spend or simply don't want you. And that's perfectly alright, I assure you. Each of us has a different talent. If you can draw a picture, do that for your secret santa! Maybe of their characters or their favorite scene in a book?  If you're an experienced coder, feel free to make a character template if they need one (yes, these are things you can specify on your wishlist! Though no promising you'll get art or coding or whatever--your secret santa may not be skilled at such things or have the time to make them.) Maybe you can write a song about something on your person's wishlist? Or a photoshopped signature. There are a lot of possibilities if you're creative, and I know for a fact that all you guys are! I also know a lot of us are crazy procrastinators too, so make sure you get that gift in on time! SO. That about covers the wishlist. And if you don't make a wishlist, you make your gifter's job difficult, so you might end up with something you hate. D: And that'd be a real bummer. Personally, if my person didn't put up a wishlist, I'd just fill their inbox with pictures of coal. >:C BAHUMBUG.
  
  That does lead me to another point though. You need to need to need to put effort into your gift. No half-assing, guys. We're not all perfect at everything, but the important thing is that you try. If you're gonna send a gift card or something, write a cute little note to accompany it. If you're going to make a drawing, don't just do stick figures. Put serious love into it! People here are worth the effort, and if you disagree you're a terrible santa. -sobs- Just try your hardest, that's all we ask. That being said, if you write poetry for you assigned person, don't write a haiku. Write something long and nice and meaningful, and put time and love into it.
  
  Don't be squidward.
  

  Spoiler:

  
  Alright, that covers it. If you have a question, pm an admin. And hopefully you didn't skim, because the admins don't want stupid questions that have already been covered. Remember, all of this post is important, especially squidward. And if you did skim, we can't be held accountable if you mess up, and you will still be punished for disobeying the event rules. C; And if you ask a question already answered in this post, then we will simply refer you back to it. A little reading never killed anyone. :P Unless you're reading Shakespeare. That's another story entirely.
  
  RAMBLING. I AM RAMBLING. Okay, you know the dates, so go sign up (if you want to and can commit) and have fun making someone's holiday. HUZZAHHHHHH. /flies off[/b]

And that's that! We've got a packed Christmas this year, and we hope you guys enjoy it! Our fabulous banner for this Christmas has been made by the ever amazing Sapphire! She's done an amazing job, I hope you'll all agree :D

On a side note, the After ZA events have ended, so if you want a topic moved back to finish it, please PM Bean.
Have fun guys!
From,
~The CHB Admin Team