Author's posts
Dec 30 2023
Maximize the Joy: Proven Techniques to Make Your Christmas Tree Last Longer
There is something wonderfully nostalgic about bringing a real Christmas tree into the house. The fresh evergreen fragrance, softly glowing lights, favorite ornaments, and unmistakable shape of natural branches can instantly make a room feel like Christmas. The challenge is keeping that beautiful tree looking beautiful. A freshly cut Christmas tree can remain attractive for …
Dec 23 2023
Cozy Up by the Fire: The 10 Must-Watch Christmas Movies for a Festive Night In
There is something wonderfully comforting about a Christmas movie night. The tree is glowing, the lights are turned down, something warm is waiting in a mug, and for a couple of hours the outside world can disappear behind snow-covered streets, twinkling storefronts, mischievous elves, family disasters, and improbably perfect Christmas miracles. The best Christmas movies …
Dec 23 2023
How to Bake the Ultimate Christmas Log
Few Christmas desserts make an entrance quite like a chocolate Christmas log. Rich, dark, and covered in snowy white decorations, it looks as though a tiny piece of a winter forest has been carried straight onto the dessert table. This version combines a light chocolate sponge with a soft vanilla cream filling and a generous …
Dec 22 2023
The Stories Behind Your Favorite Christmas Songs
Christmas music has a peculiar kind of magic. A song can disappear from our lives for eleven months, then return in December and somehow feel as familiar as the ornaments we have hung on the tree since childhood. The opening notes of “White Christmas” can conjure an old-fashioned snowy street. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” …
Dec 16 2023
Dark Chocolate Christmas Crack Recipe
There is something irresistible about a Christmas treat that manages to be buttery, crisp, salty, chocolatey, and nutty all at once. Dark Chocolate Christmas Crack checks every box. A simple layer of saltine crackers becomes the base for bubbling brown sugar toffee, a generous blanket of rich dark chocolate, and plenty of crunchy chopped pecans. …
Dec 15 2023
How to Bake Perfectly Festive Christmas Sugar Cookies
There’s something about a box of beautifully decorated sugar cookies that feels instantly like Christmas. Snowflakes edged in snowy white icing, bright green Christmas trees dotted with tiny ornaments, cheerful snowmen, reindeer faces, Santa cookies, candy canes, and little winter scenes turn an ordinary batch of cookies into a holiday centerpiece. The cookies pictured on …
Dec 11 2023
From Holly to Noel: The Charm and Meaning Behind Beloved Christmas Names
Christmas has a language all its own. Certain words, colors, plants, songs, and even names seem to glow a little more brightly once December arrives. A name such as Holly immediately brings to mind glossy green leaves and brilliant red berries, while Noel sounds almost like a Christmas carol before we even stop to consider …
Dec 10 2023
The Symbolism of Christmas Flowers in Holiday Traditions
There is something especially meaningful about flowers at Christmas. Against the bare branches and muted landscapes of winter, brilliant red poinsettias, snowy white hellebores, elegant amaryllis blooms, and fragrant evergreen foliage bring color and life indoors at exactly the time of year when nature seems quietest. Yet many of the plants we associate with Christmas …
Dec 09 2023
10 Fun and Easy Christmas Crafts for Preschoolers
Christmas feels especially magical when you’re little. A cardboard tube can become Santa Claus, a few pieces of green felt can turn into a tiny Christmas tree, and two fuzzy pipe cleaners can suddenly look like a candy cane ready for the tree. Preschool Christmas crafts don’t have to be complicated to be memorable. In …
Dec 09 2023
21 Christmas Appetizer Recipes for a Festive Holiday Party
There is something irresistible about a Christmas appetizer table. Before dinner is served and before anyone starts thinking about dessert, everyone seems to gather around the platters—breaking into creamy Brie, reaching for crackers, sampling little skewers, and going back for “just one more” bite. The prettiest Christmas spreads don’t necessarily require complicated recipes, either. A …
