Staying home for the holidays

Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Festivus, the next week centres on the home more than any other time of year. We light fires, gather friends, bring trees inside and festoon our porches with lights. We even craft tiny houses out of gingerbread and gumdrops. It’s hard not to catch the spirit, whatever your beliefs.

We’ve spent the year covering the news and made our predictions for 2017. We’ve seen the ups, the downs and the legislative changes that will continue to affect us all. So let’s take a break, and talk about carefree holiday stuff.

My favourite discovery this year is Iceland’s “Book Flood,” or jólabókaflóð. In the fall, the bókatíðindi, an annual catalogue of books that will be published in time for Christmas (Icelanders are voracious readers and writers) appears, and residents pour over it to decide what they want to read over the holidays, and what they think others will enjoy.

Much discussion about the new crop ensues. Once choices are made and purchased, folk settle in on Christmas Eve for a formal meal around 6 pm, and then exchange books. Fresh sheets and comfy pajamas are next, when everybody crawls into bed for a late night of reading.

Especially if you’re ensconced in a new home for your first holiday season, don’t be afraid to start fresh with something that leaves you satiated as well as stress-free.

“Hosting a traditional dinner is both expensive and time-consuming,” says Oshawa chef Deb Rankine, the “Fridge Whisperer.” “More families are turning instead to a laid back, brunch-style family gathering. It’s a lot easier on the nerves, and because a lot of brunch food can be prepared in advance, you can enjoy your own party. That never happens with a turkey dinner.”

Whether you decide to go for brunch or dinner, Deb says she ran across an idea years ago in a bridal magazine that stuck with her, and it would work wonderfully for the holidays. Get yourself a pale-coloured tablecloth or table runner to drape the dining table for your big holiday meal. Include in your centrepiece a jar with laundry markers, and invite guests to sign or leave messages on the tablecloth. Throughout the year, get the needleworker in your life to embroider the writing. Bring it out next year and continue the tradition until there’s just no room left.

If rampant consumerism has got you down (or you’re just too broke to shop after coming up with a hefty downpayment), consider an in-kind exchange instead of gifts. It also builds some nice memories. Help a friend paint their living room and they can help you put up bookshelves. If you’re an avid gardener, chef Deb suggests giving a home version of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares to loved ones. “Basically, you give them a piece of your future bounty. Starting in, say, April or May when your asparagus first comes up, they show up at your doorstep with a monthly coupon, one for each month through the growing season. You fill their basket — let’s face it, you can never eat it all yourself — and you have an excuse to make sure you get together every month.”

If you’re in a new low-rise home this year, tell those likely to buy for you that you’d like gifts that keep on giving — ask for trees that can stay inside until spring, when you can plant them outside. You’ll think of the gift-giver every time you step outside.

Even if you haven’t got room for Santa’s Village, you can still decorate for the festivities. A tabletop tree and some twinkly lights around the doorways is enough to spruce the place up. Try using the walls instead of the floor, to hang wreaths instead of putting up trees, and temporarily switch out artwork for something with a holiday theme.

If you’re really crafty, use an old pallet or other scrap wood and hang them on the wall in a triangle shape, then hang lights and ornaments on them. If you don’t have a fireplace, hang stockings on the wall too.

Wherever you are, whatever you’re celebrating, and whatever experience you decide to create in your new home, we at NewInHomes.com wish you the very best for the season, the new year, and beyond.