Make Your Resolutions The Babylonian Way

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This New Year, instead of focusing on how to improve yourself going forward, why not think about settling up.

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DO THE RIGHT THING | The stats don’t lie. According to resolution research conducted by noted psychology professor Richard Wiseman at the University of Bristol, in England, 78 percent of those he sampled who made New Year’s resolutions failed to achieve their objective.

When the overall success rate is this dismally low, resolution making begins to feel like a whole lot of why-bother—though maybe it wouldn’t if we began the new year the way Babylonians did back in their day. Read more

Paperless Post

Send Out Fabulous, Free New Year’s Cards

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No, Virginia, it isn’t too late to send out gorgeous, free Christmas cards—really.Paperless Post Christmas Car

HOLIDAY 2012 | ’Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house disquietude prevails. Though your intentions were good, you have yet to snail mail holiday greetings to family and friends and you’re feeling like a slouch. Well, maybe you did fumble this one, but it won’t seem that way to your nearest and dearest when they receive a sophisticated holiday card with a personal message delivered directly to their inbox long before Santa slides by. Read more

Stack of Old Letters

Why A Christmas Letter Is The Perfect Gift

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All I want for Christmas is one simple thing no amount of money can buy.

Stack of Old Letters

 

HOLIDAY 2012 | Somewhere around the first of December every year my kids ask me what I want for Christmas. This year I threw them a curve ball. I don’t need a lot of new stuff, and the few new things I might want (a Vitamix down the road, maybe) are insanely out of their price range anyway. Read more

Bakers Twine from Cox And Cox

Where To Find Baker’s Twine In Metro Van

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Wired and curly have been the most popular ribbons for adding pizzazz to presents; now bakers twine is giving them a run for their money—here’s where to buy it locally.

Scandi Home - Maria Laitinen

 

HOLIDAY 2012 | Blame it on Kinfolk—the magazine that celebrates all things beautiful, simple and uncontrived—or on the makers and lovers of plain-made and plainly presented goods in places like Portland or Brooklyn, or even Etsy, but bakers twine, the string commonly used by pastry shops worldwide to tie up their boxes of baked goods in a way that makes them easy to carry, is the ribbon du jour for stylish Christmas presents. Read more

Spiral Ham shutterstock

Why Not Do Spiral Ham This Holiday Season

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One alternative to the turkey is “going spiral” this holiday season.

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EASY & DELISH | So many people I know are casting around for an alternative to turkey for Christmas dinner this year. Turkey for Thanksgiving is immutable, but for Christmas people are experimenting with goose, duck, pork or beef to get away from the same-old gobble-gobble. Read more

Gingerbread Men Ice Cream Sandwiches - C. Rule

Make Gingerbread Man Ice Cream Sandwiches

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How to make yummy ice cream sandwiches using gingerbread men—both scratch and cheater versions.

Gingerbread Men Ice Cream Sandwiches - C. RuleHOLIDAY 2012 | Forget lettuce, tomato and leftover turkey stuffed between toasted ciabatta. The sweetest, most memorable holiday sandwich—the one that screams You Need to Eat Me for Christmas—is pictured at the top of this story and is made from a layer of chilly ice cream and chewy gingerbread men. Read more

Pear Place Cards by Brendan Power - Martin Tessler

Make Our Favourite 3 Place Card Holders

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These three easy-to-make holiday place cards are going to charm your guests.

Pinecone Place Cards- Project WeddingCREATIVE SOLUTIONS | While place cards can seem a little silly for intimate dinner parties, they make perfect sense when you’re hosting a long-table meal and want to deliberately mix and match up your guests, or you’re doing a sit-down meal with multiple tables and desire a semblance of order.

Here are our three current favourite easy-to-make place card holders, all suited perfectly to this holiday season. Read more

Cool Clay Cookware Is On Sale Right Now

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All we want for Christmas is the latest clay cookware made from an ancient recipe—at a bargain price, of course.

 

WHAT TO GIVE | There is something so cool about cooking with equipment that can trace its beginnings back to the days when Christopher Columbus and John Cabot first discovered North America—and if you stew, bake or simmer with the voluptuous clay cookware from the Andean region in Columbia, you will be doing just that. Read more

Plain Kraft Wrap With A Wire Bow

5 Top Kraft Paper Xmas Gift Wrapping Ideas

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Plain Kraft Wrap With A Wire BowTHE CREATIVE SOLUTION | Inexpensive white or brown kraft paper, the kind that comes in big rolls from art supply stores, is the perfect blank canvas to use for wrapping holiday gifts. Here are 5 ways to make it look special. Read more

Papterwhites In Bloom

How To Make Flower Bulb Arrangements

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All we want in winter are early signs of spring—and forced flower bulbs are a way to make it happen.

Hyacinths in Forcing VasesEASY & AWESOME | If you’ve been casting around for the perfect mid-winter gift for someone who loves flowers but may not be a gardener, we recommend this beautiful low-maintenance no-brainer: flower bulbs in clear glass containers (so you can appreciate their roots) ready to burst into midwinter bloom. Read more