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Is

> クリスマスの休みだよ！

an appropriate expression? For instance, as a Facebook post or what have you?
The main part I'm wondering about is よ. My understanding is that よ usually
implies that you're doing something to the audience that falls somewhere
halfway in between _informing_ them of something and _instructing_ them of it.
Here it's really being used mainly for emphasis, but I'm not sure if this is
loosely correct. And if it's not correct, should だ be omitted as well?

My understanding also is that なあ is fairly feminine.
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2014-12-24T04:40:42.523
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2014-12-24T07:43:01.030
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question
meaning sentence-final-particles
Is "クリスマスの休みだよ！" an appropriate expression?
It depends on what you want to say.  
First, の is not necessary:

> クリスマス休み

or

> クリスマス休暇

よ is genderless and mostly used for slightly assertive expressions, like さ and
ね.  
On the contrary, なあ is a masculine expression. Its feminine version is わ. But
they will not be a proper replacement for よ.

If you want to say "It's Christmas holiday!" (the "yay!" feeling), you can
use:

> クリスマス休みだ～！
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2014-12-24T08:05:37.760
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2014-12-25T05:59:03.940
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answer
As BurakUeda said, the 「の」 is unnecessary. Likewise, as Broccoli Forest
mentioned, 「冬休み」 is the word you normally hear in Japan. So I'll talk about
the meaning of 「よ」.

According to Bonjinsha's _Basic Japanese-English Dictionary_ , 「よ」 can

  1. _emphasize the force of one's intent, emotion, judgment, etc._

> 「それなりに美味しいよ」 "It's delicious for what it's worth. (so don't judge it)"
>
> 「今、冬休みだよ」 "It's winter break. (so I'm not going)"
>
> 「これはあの子に買おうと思ってるよ」 "I think I'm going to buy this for her. (so tell me
> that's a good idea)"

  2. _appeal to the listener as an order, request, urging, etc._

> 「あした必ず来てくださいよ！」 "Be sure to come tomorrow!"
>
> 「二次会に行こうよ！」 "Let's go for round 2!"
>
> 「それはダメですよ」 "You mustn't do that."

The same meaning is echoed in Kodansha's _All About Particles_ :

  1. _Urges a course of action._
  2. _Indicates a request. (Somewhat stronger than 「ね」)_
  3. _Indicates a statement of certainty._

The basic meaning of 「よ」 being, therefore, to suggest that the listener should
agree with you. So you'd only really say 「冬休みだよ！」 if someone had previously
said something that merits informing them that it actually is Winter Break.
Usually you'll leave the 「よ」 out in this case.

And, when you mentioned 「よ」 being primarily feminine language, it's only
feminine when used without 「だ」: 「あたし、試験よ」 "(No,) I'm taking a test." When used
with 「だ」 it's pretty masculine.
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