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Editor’s Lighting Tip: Worried you missed a spot? Step back from the Christmas tree and look at it with your eyes crossed. Where you see dark holes, rearrange Christmas lights, and fill in voids. Editor’s Lighting Tip: Thin out branches before decorating to make each light and ornament have more presence. Editor’s Lighting Tip: Use three 100-light sets per foot for a fresh Christmas tree, and 50-light strands for an artificial one....

Buy It: Clear Favor Boxes ($16, Walmart) Buy It: Polka Dot Tissue Paper ($2, Target) Editor’s Tip: Use hook-and-loop tape ($4, Walmart) to create an easy closure. Buy It: 3-Piece Tool Set ($10, Target) Editor’s Tip: Write your word on the plastic wrap using a permanent marker first as a guide for the design. Editor’s Tip: Do not wait for the oven to preheat to put the mugs in. Put the mugs in the oven immediately when you set the heat and set timer for 30 minutes....

Here are five newer houseplant varieties that can create a statement on their own, or can provide the contrast our eyes instinctively seek out in a grouping with all-green or lightly variegated houseplants. 1. Aglaonema ‘Golden Fluorite’ Aglaonema, also called Chinese evergreen, provides incredible foliage color in an easy-to-maintain package, and ‘Golden Fluorite’ is one of the best newer varieties. Yellows, greens, and white suffuse the shiny foliage with a beautiful blush of rose-red running down the center of each leaf....

And, of course, that feeling has never been more welcome. Carter documents his plant-collecting adventures on Instagram, where you can also sign up for his virtual workshops on topics like potting and propagation. He believes there’s no such thing as too much green, so here he offers six simple ways to fill every room in your home with houseplants. 1. Surround seating areas with plants. “The power that plant life has in a home is transformative,” Carter explains....

1. Roses Are One of the Oldest Flowers It’s no wonder that roses have been referenced in literature and music for centuries. Archaeologists have discovered rose fossils that date back 35 million years. Even more shocking, the oldest living rose is 1,000 years old. This impressively enduring rose grows on a wall on the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. 2. You Can Eat Roses Who knew looking pretty in a vase wasn’t the only way to use roses in the kitchen?...

The Top 7 Food Trends of 2022 Before we dive in, let’s walk down memory lane with our top food trends of 2021. It’s been quite the tasty year. After digesting several food trend reports and narrowing down the common themes, we asked a handful of savvy food experts to dish about the deliciousness ahead for food trends 2022. 1. Even More Nostalgia With the external world—viruses, natural disasters, political debates, and more—so unpredictable, it can be comforting to return to something familiar....

Buy It: GreenPan Ceramic Nonstick Griddle ($35, Target) Buy It: Mainstays Nonstick Muffin Pan ($6, Walmart)

Test Kitchen Tip: If you’re all about your multicooker, flip to the pressure cooker function and enjoy this as an Instant Pot chicken fajita recipe.

While it still has the iconic red plaid cover, the vintage Better Homes & Gardens cookbook from decades ago is a lot different from the current edition on my desk. For starters, the advertisement included on the cover states you could subscribe to receive your own copy for a whopping $1.50 per year! As for ingredients in the book, I doubt the average household keeps “variety meats” like chicken hearts and kidneys around (yes, these are actually called for in the 1943 book)....

Maximize your small square footage with patio seating that doubles as decor, or add a fresh coat of paint to make your space feel larger than it is. To help you create your own tiny backyard oasis, we’ve rounded up the best decorating ideas for small patios. 1. Opt for Folding Furniture Small patios call for versatile, space-savvy furniture. Enter: the sling chair. Bring the beach to your backyard with this old seaside staple....

From cheery garlands to bright wall signs, we’re sharing our favorite Christmas wall decorations to inspire your seasonal decorating. With a large-scale art print or a Christmas wreath hung in an unexpected place, you can quickly transform a blank wall into a stunning holiday display. Elevate your seasonal decor with these inspiring Christmas wall decor ideas.

Pickup Bottles This pickup bottle activity is one of our favorite outdoor games for kids! To play: To win, players try to stand the bottle up. Patriotic Scavenger Hunt For a festive and fun 4th of July game, send players on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood or backyard. Include patriotic items on the list, such as red, white, and blue things; a nickel in honor of Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration of Independence; and mini American flags....

We’ll walk you through planning and hosting a party for any size living area. With our best tips and tricks, you can be the host with the most—even if you don’t have the most space. Pick a Main Room Whether you’re hosting a seated dinner party or dishing up tapas and tequila drinks, you’ll want to have a central space for the partying to go down. Kitchen quarters too tight?...

½ cup sifted powdered sugar ¼ teaspoon vanilla Milk, fruit juice, rum, or liqueur Chocolate Glaze ½ cup sifted powdered sugar 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon vanilla Milk ** Do not use dried apricots or other fruit treated with sulfur.

Reasons for Staking Plants Perennials lean, topple, and flop for many reasons. Sometimes an otherwise sturdy stem tumbles when rain and wind, combined with weighty blooms, bend stems to the ground. In other cases, stems grow lush and weak because of overfertilizing; most established perennials thrive on little fertilizer. A mulch of compost in spring or an annual addition of an organic fertilizer scratched into soil power plentiful growth without creating weak stems....

On This Episode Host Mélanie Berliet talks with real estate investor Chris Lavergne. He shares how he built a successful real estate portfolio, including Clearing Farm, a multi-home compound in Upstate New York. Chris offers tips for finding the right investment property, renovating a fixer-upper, and what first-time home buyers should look for in a house. Meet Chris Lavergne Chris Lavergne, 34, is a real estate investor in New York and Florida....

Cool Weather Options Grow African iris as an annual in Zones 7 and below. Enjoy the bright white blooms in container gardens or planting beds for the season and replant the following year. You can overwinter African iris rhizomes by digging them up before the first fall frost. Allow the rhizomes to dry in a cool, dry place for about a week before packing them in peat moss for storage over winter....

3 tablespoon olive oil 3 ½ cup cubed ham 1 cup chopped onion (1 large) ¼ cup all-purpose flour 3 cup cold milk 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper ½ teaspoon dried sage, crushed 2 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley (optional)