Dec 14 2025
Christmas in Hawaiʻi looks a little different from the snowy holiday scenes printed on greeting cards. Palm trees may be wrapped in lights, families can spend Christmas afternoon at the beach, and Santa is occasionally portrayed arriving by outrigger canoe rather than sleigh. Yet beneath those tropical details is a holiday shaped by Hawaiʻi’s long …
Dec 08 2025
Few movies look more like Christmas than White Christmas. There are snowy Vermont landscapes, enormous decorated trees, fireplaces, elegant costumes, military reunions, romantic misunderstandings, and enough Irving Berlin songs to carry viewers through an entire December evening. Released by Paramount Pictures in 1954, White Christmas brought together Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen …
Dec 07 2025
Some of the prettiest Christmas decorations are also the simplest. Salt dough ornaments need only a few pantry ingredients, a handful of cookie cutters, and a little time in the oven, yet the finished pieces can look wonderfully timeless hanging among evergreen branches. For this version, we are keeping the design deliberately understated: classic Christmas …
Dec 06 2025
Handmade Christmas ornaments do not have to be complicated to look special. This little felt candy cane uses just a few inexpensive materials, but the combination of snowy white felt, bright red stitching, and narrow red ribbon gives it all the charm of an old-fashioned Christmas decoration. The design is especially appealing because it does …
Dec 03 2025
Christmas music can fill a house beautifully without anyone singing a word. Instrumental holiday albums are especially useful during the moments when Christmas music should create atmosphere rather than command attention. Piano can accompany an evening of gift wrapping. Jazz works beautifully during dinner. Acoustic guitar feels at home beside a fireplace, while orchestral and …
Dec 01 2025
Christmas is one of the easiest times of year to have a little more fun with your manicure. Red and green suddenly feel completely at home together, glitter becomes almost mandatory, and tiny snowflakes, candy canes, Christmas trees, and reindeer can transform an otherwise simple set of nails into something unmistakably festive. The best Christmas …
Dec 01 2025
December is often described as the end of the year, but that description feels almost too final. The month is more like a threshold. One year has not quite released us, and the next has not yet begun. The calendar is crowded with holidays, gatherings, traditions, shopping lists, travel plans, school events, work deadlines, and …
Nov 30 2025
The Christmas tree is often the centerpiece of holiday decorating, but there is no single right way to decorate one. Some trees are covered with ornaments collected over decades, while others follow a carefully coordinated color palette. One family may love traditional red and gold, another may prefer snowy whites and silvers, and someone else …
Nov 30 2025
There is something especially beautiful about Christmas decorations made from ordinary natural materials. A few oranges, pinecones, and a length of twine can become a warm, rustic garland that looks lovely against evergreen branches, across a mantel, around a window, or woven through a Christmas tree. Dried orange slices are particularly striking because light passes …
Nov 28 2025
Handmade Christmas ornaments have a warmth that perfectly polished store-bought decorations rarely reproduce. A slightly uneven stitch, a bead that sits a little differently from its neighbor, or a shape cut by hand gives each ornament a character of its own. These simple felt Christmas ornaments embrace that handmade look beautifully. Soft gray felt creates …
