Do you hide a pickle ornament on your Christmas Tree? Do you know why? The most popular story of the pickle tradition starts in long ago Germany. How long ago is a bit fuzzy, but on Christmas Eve, while the children are nestled all snug in their beds, their parents …
Building gingerbread houses for Holiday-ish: Day 14 left us curious about the origins of this Christmas treat. Here’s what we discovered: While the tradition of making gingerbread houses during Christmas is fairly recent, the earliest known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 BC. Ginger root had traveled around …
Happy Hanukkah! Tonight marks the start of Hanukkah – or Channukah – or your choice of the 16 different ways this lesser of the Jewish holidays is spelled. When I married into a Jewish family, this shiksa (gentile female) was determined to holiday the craft out of those eight days. …
If you’ve ever struggled with an idea for a festive holiday tablescape, then landed on an homage to the dark movie Black Swan, HGTV’s Holiday Crafters Gone Wild is the must watch TV you didn’t know you needed. Hosted by Jay Manuel of America’s Next Top Model fame, the show …
From our newsletter: It’s no secret that we love craft projects at mutterhood. And if there’s ever a time for crafting, it’s the holidays. This felt stocking is a kindergarten creation, the first Christmas craft I can remember that didn’t involve coloring. Our after-school great-aunt/minder thought a craft was the perfect diversion …
It’s that time again. Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas. You know the recipe: Start with a former child star: Lacey Chabert from Party of Five; Danica McKellar from Wonder Years; or Candace Cameron Buré from Full House. Add a cup of BIG CITY event planner, marketing executive, lawyer or writer career …
“I had this grand idea that Elvira’s kind of the Santa Claus of Halloween.” Self-proclaimed Queen of Halloween, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, with her signature black bouffant hair and plunging neckline, is the campy queen of horror who started life as Cassandra Peterson, a midwestern girl from Kansas. At …
Turns out those folks in Salem Village, MA could have saved themselves a lot of trouble and a bunch of lives if they had just turned to science for the answers. In 1692, young village girls began experiencing violent fits that included contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. The general …
Some of history’s famous female feuds have turned ugly. From verbal lashings — Joan Crawford and Bette Davis sniped at each other for over 40 years. To assault — Tonya Harding had Nancy Kerrigan kneecapped. To the drastic — Queen Elizabeth I had her rival Mary Queen of Scots beheaded. …
A mother tenderly bathing her child. A mother holding her baby in her arms. A mother hugging her child. Although Mary Cassatt declared herself unsuited to marriage, her paintings of women and their domestic life are among her most enduring. As a leading figure in the Impressionist movement these works …