When I was a child, each year on December 1 my mom would post an advent calendar on the laundry room door. Each day from then until the 24th, my sister and I would pull open a little door on the calendar to see what was behind it. Some days it was a chocolate treat; others it was a little toy or sticker. Each day the anticipation grew as we inched ever so slowly closer to Christmas. I was reminded of that feeling when I was flipping through the Pottery Barn catalog the other day and I saw this gorgeous advent calendar. It's a little on the expensive side at $149, but you can fill it with Christmas treats and reminders year after year. If it's a little out of your price range, here are a few more adorable options in a range of price points.
House Advent Calendar ($129, PotteryBarnKids.com)
Christmas Courier Advent Calendar (on sale for $89.95, Lenox.com)
Gingerbread House Advent Calendar ($24.99, Target.com)
At the North Pole Advent calendar ($13, Galison.com)
photos (top to bottom): courtesy of PotteryBarn.com, PotterybarnKids.com, Lenox.com, Target.com and Galison.com
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Every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, we pull out the Christmas lights and plug them in to see if they still work. Inevitably, there are strands that don't and—my personal favorite—strands where only half the bulbs light up. Then we spend the rest of the afternoon swapping out bulbs and looking for the problem, only to give up in utter frustration after a few hours or days and head to the store to buy yet another string of lights at an exorbitant price.
For my husband's 40th birthday, our extended family all pitched in and got him the big flat-screen television that he's been craving. This, however, has left me with something of a dilemma—what to do with the old one. It's too ancient for us to sell, but it still works so it just seems wrong to put it out with the trash. Even if I put it out at the curb, it's not like they'll take it away with the recycling. I know I'm not the only one asking this question. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans discarded nearly 27 million televisions in 2007 and only about 6 million of those were recycled. It's a similar situation with old mobile phones, computers and other electronics.
It's getting chilly here at night now. In fact, the weatherman's forecasted the possibility of snow showers here tonight and, as a result, I'm starting to think about roaring fires and cups of cocoa. Of course, my fireplace it doesn't exactly say "holiday spirit" right now. Fortunately, interior designer Elaine Griffin gave me some tips for making my mantel stand out this holiday season.
If you've ever thought about renovating your kitchen, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed with the many choices. But at what point is it time to step back so you can appreciate all your hard work? Some Gardenweb members are having a hard time getting their minds off their kitchens both pre- and post-makeover. They call themselves TKO—totally kitchen obsessed. How do they know that they're kitchen addicts?