That's a Wrap

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Well, here it is two days to Christmas and I am less organized than I have ever been!! Somewhere in the distant past, I had the house decorated, cards sent, packages wrapped, all well before Christmas. There was a year or two when I even made cards by hand. What an idea!

We bought our tree on the first of December, a week earlier than I like but we were afraid our favorite tree lot would sell out. (Last year I waited too long and it was slim pickings.) But even starting early this year, it took me ten days to get the lights on and another few before I got all the ornaments hung. 

Here is a cheat photo of LAST year's Christmas tree with wrapped presents!

Last Saturday I did manage to decorate the mantel, which is one of my favorite Christmas things. But the dining room is still bare, and my lovely Santa collection that normally graces the little writing desk in the living room is still slumbering in an attic box.

Here's last year's table. I love my little woodland critters, the fox and the hedgehog, frolicking among the garlands, but they don't really show up in the photo.

I did actually finish a last bit of Christmas shopping yesterday, all online. (Can you say TWO DAY SHIPPING?)

But wrapping, oh heavens, I shudder to think of it. I vow every year that I will not, WILL NOT, end up wrapping on Christmas Eve. But there I fear I will be. I suspect there is going to be lot of stuffing things in dilapidated Christmas gift bags left over from previous years.

Yes, I save gift bags. And package decorations. And ribbon. Frugal and environmentally friendly, but mostly I just can't bear to throw a pretty piece of wired silk ribbon in the trash. I'm a good wrapper, however. In my family it was my dad who did the wrapping and he taught me early. My mom, conveniently for her, was a disaster at it.

There is a certain zen to wrapping, which I don't think my mom ever got. The trick is to get everything out that you need (especially good scissors and a good tape dispenser), make a cup of hot chocolate (or pour a glass of wine!), put on some Christmas music, and enjoy. On pre-Covid Christmases, my daughter and I would wrap together and I have really missed that.

So, REDs and readers, have you checked everything off your Christmas to-do list? Are you a wrapper or a bagger? Or a stick a gift card in an envelop-er?

Give us a status report!

And don't forget to tune in to First Chapter Fun today for Hank and Hannah's special Christmas reads!

Ho ho holiday reading! A very special treat on Hank's First Chapter Fun – – you know it, right?  Every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30 PM ET on Facebook and Instagram live, Hank and Canadian Bestseller Hannah Mary McKinnon read the first chapter of a brand new book out loud. (As Hank always says: it's live! What could go wrong?) 

Tomorrow: Episode 223 – – can you believe it? – – is a special holiday reading. You’ll hear some holiday classics, so don’t miss it!

Join the private Facebook group here today https://www.facebook.com/groups/firstchapterfun/ so you can be in on the fun.

Or view on @FirstChapterFun on Instagram. 

It's the perfect lunchtime break!

 

 

Deck the Halls With Instagrammable Holly

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It's the first day after the start of Advent, the second day of Hanukkah, the third day of December. However you count it, the holiday season is upon us, and you know what that means: time to drag those cardboard boxes out of the basement/attic/garage/back of the closet and begin turning your house into a winter wonderland.
This year is the first time I'm 100% in charge of the decorating. As you might imagine, last year was pretty subdued, although even in the depth of grief I still felt a small burst of joy at the realization that I didn't have to put Ross's Santa's Marching Band on the mantle, where it would give me seasonal headaches with ear-splitting electronic music. It's staying in the attic again this year; kids, if you want it, come and get it.



For many years, once the Smithie was old enough, I put her in charge of the non-tree decorations, with the command, "Make it look like Christmas barfed all over the house." Let's face it, when you have three kids in high school and middle school in December, you are WAY too busy to do any holiday job you can reasonably delegate. Still, I've always enjoyed having the place done up, and every year I would buy new ornaments or wreaths or brush bottle trees on December 26th or 27th (also the best time to buy seasonal cards, btw.)

Over the years, a certain decorative rigidity set in, a combination of efficiency - it's quicker to put the same swags, balls and stockings up in the same spot as last year - and tradition. I managed to winnow out a few of the ugly decorations Ross received as presents from the parents of his students -

PUBLIC AFFAIRS ANNOUNCEMENT: Parents, your kids' teacher does NOT want another apple ornament for Christmas. Give him or her a gift card to Target or Walmart. Really.

- and to toss some of the oldest, dog-gnawed plastic balls that exclusively adorned our trees during the toddler years. But mostly, we kept bringing out the same decor season after season.

But this year is different. The Smithie doesn't live here any more. The Sailor is arriving on leave on the 15th, and Youngest finishes up the semester on the 21st. Essentially, I'm running a very, very cheap B&B, which means I can do it up however I want to. The freedom is staggering. I'm thinking of all aqua and red ornaments in the kitchen, and an exclusively gold and green theme in the parlor. The living room, home of the traditional red plaid everything? Olive and pink. MILLENNIAL pink! I'm going to take all those color-coordinated looks I see in HGTV Magazine and recreate them in my house. Yes, I know it's Basic White Mom, but it'll be fresh and pretty and new.

How about you, Reds? Are you going to be putting up decade-old decorations? Or are you going for novelty? Sentimental? Sophisticated? Or a mix?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, um, er. We got nothing. At all. But fantasy?  I'd adore plaid, I'd do the whole house in plaid if I could. Bows, and pillows and wreaths with, um, bows. OR-white! All all white and silver. With red bows. And candles. And candy canes.  Not gonna happen, though.  I do get several amaryllises. Amarylli?  But that's not decorating. That's scraping the bottom.
You're inspiring me, though.


LUCY BURDETTE: Since we're in Key West where we won't have a big tree, we're not putting up the hodge-podge collection of ornaments accumulated over the years. (My rule of thumb is anything growing mold can be secretly trashed. John is very sentimental about things the kids made in the ancient past LOL.)

 We'll do white lights on the balcony and Christmas pillows on the couch and I did buy a new Christmas cactus for the coffee table which is blooming nicely. Key West does such a good job of decorating with lights, that we don't need to go too crazy.


HALLIE EPHRON: When houses in our neighborhood go for sale, they're listed as in "St. Agatha's Parish" - as you might imagine, Christmas decorating is a big deal here. We love to drive around and look at other people's lights. I did buy an Amaryllis and have potted it, hoping it will be blooming when our kids and grandkids get here a few days before for Christmas. I'm going to Staples to get oak tag and markers and sequins so Franny and Jody can make some 'ornaments' for my glorious little Norfolk pine. We open presents Christmas morning and eat potato latkes for dinner.

Though I won't be decorating before everyone gets here, I will be making candy and cookies. Lots of chocolate-covered orange rind. Mandelbrot. And hopefully batches of Christmas cookies (I've been saving recipes including one for orange macaroons.)



DEBORAH CROMBIE: Last year I redid quite a bit of my Christmas decorations, including an entirely new and entirely Instagramable Christmas table! I loved it so much I'm doing exactly the same thing this year. I just sort of tidied up overall, less stuff, and threw out some of the rattiest things. We have a Santa collection that goes on the writing desk in the living room, and a display for the mantel, and needlepoint stockings. The best addition last year was the fabulous little battery powered lights for the table, the mantel, and the buffet. I'm sure you can get them lots of places, but ours were from Crate and Barrel.

Hallie, I wish we lived closed enough to share in your holiday bounty!





RHYS BOWEN:  we never do outside decorations. ( not quite British, you know, according to my husband). But I decorate living and dining rooms... Great big tree with ornaments limited to Angels, stars, hearts and glass balls, many from Europe.
In the fireplace are two large caroling bears from my dear friend who passed away. 




And I do host a big holiday lunch for friends so the table has to be perfect! I love decorating, put on Christmas music, light a fire and sip mulled wine.  John not at all interested and probably doesn't notice until he goes to the desk in the corner and finds a tree there instead!

 







JENN McKINLAY: The year before I turned forty, I went shopping for a fake tree because I felt environmentally terrible about cutting down real trees even if they came from a tree farm. I was immediately besotted by this gloriously dazzlingly brilliant white tree. My friend, Travis, happened by as I was staring and I asked his opinion. My mom who was buying the tree for me as a present was a hard no on the white tree. I asked Travis's opinion - he's an architect and a snappy dresser so I figured he wouldn't steer me wrong - and he said, "Sweetie, it's Christmas, go crazy!" 

So I did. I love that tree even though I have to wear sunglasses to look at it straight on. I put it up every year we're in town and I love, love, love it. Oh, and Hub does the outside lights on the house which are solar powered because that's how we roll!

JULIA: 'Gram-ready AND green! Yay, Jenn! How about you, dear readers? Do you do it up big? Or Charlie-Brown-Tree style? And when, oh when is Hallie going to write a cookbook for the rest of us?!?

For readers wondering: the first picture by my name, the tablescape by Debs and the two pictures illustrating Rhys's comments, ad of course Jenn's tree (with optional Hooligans) are from our own houses. All the rest are eye candy suggestions...