How We Holiday

Storage Solution: Our Favorite Products for Putting Away Holiday Decor

Cleaning & Organizing

Dana Eisenberg

Holidays

Storage

Whichever category you fall into, putting decorations away is a difficult, time-consuming task that everyone has to do at some point. We can make it easier for you! With our must-haves for holiday organization, you’ll be able to put everything away and when it comes time to decorate next year, you’ll find yourself less likely to procrastinate.

Keep Ornaments Organized

If your current ornament storage situation involves tossing everything into a box and hoping for the best come next November, you need one of these bags. You’ll be able to safely stow your precious ornaments (up to 72!) in lightweight trays. There’s also room for ornament hooks, and the large front pocket works great for a tree skirt. When it comes time to decorate next holiday season, open the bag. Lo and behold, your ornaments will be intact, sorted the way you left them, and ready for hanging.

If you need more room, try these two spacious storage options for larger items like tree toppers and up to 112 ornaments.

That’s a Wrap on Wrapping Paper

Holiday wrapping paper is a lot of fun, but there always seems to be a lot of it left over. Once the season is over, use this storage bag to protect your paper from wrinkling, fading, and getting dusty. Best of all, it has a ribbon dispenser that holds four spools of ribbon, keeping it detangled and easily accessible.

Put Away Wreaths and Trees with Ease

For artificial trees and wreaths, a proper, dedicated storage bag is key to longevity. The zipper closures on these will keep dust and insects away, and the handles make it easy to carry. And, come next year, no one has to ask “Does anyone remember where we put the wreath last year?”

Cooking & Entertaining

Recipe

Recipe Roundup: Holiday Desserts

Whoever came up with dessert is an absolute genius. You&rsquo;re finishing your food by eating more food, and to top it all off (literally), it&rsquo;s usually the best dish of all.

<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/spice-layer-cake-with-browned-butter-frosting-and-salted-pecans-recipe">Spice Layer Cake with Browned Butter Frosting and Salted Pecans Recipe</a>

This cake has what you want in a holiday dessert: pumpkin pie spice and cloves. It also has what you want in a regular dessert: browned butter and sugar. These flavors come together to create magic in a cake you&rsquo;ll eat during the holidays and then think about all year long.

<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/easy-pumpkin-pecan-pie-ice-cream-recipe">Easy Homemade Pumpkin and Pecan Pie Ice Cream Recipe</a>

Making ice cream sounds really intimidating, but in this case it&rsquo;s not, since you don&rsquo;t have to make the actual ice cream itself. You&rsquo;re just adding to and improving on it by adding pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, pecans, and other deliciousness. If that sounds like cheating, we don&rsquo;t care. You won&rsquo;t either once you try it! It&rsquo;s that good.

<a href="Chai-Spiced Swirl Pumpkin Pie Recipe">Chai-Spiced Swirl Pumpkin Pie Recipe</a>

Pumpkin pie gets a fresh upgrade here with chai flavors and cream cheese swirls. It looks great, it tastes even better, and it should absolutely be on your table when you&rsquo;re looking to impress this year.

<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/crazy-easy-buttermilk-pie">Crazy Easy Buttermilk Pie Recipe</a>

This recipe came from one of our associates, and has been tested and approved by a panel of experts&mdash;so you know it&rsquo;s good! The prep time is also just about five minutes. Yup, you read that right. Five minutes. So you have no excuse not to make this crazy easy, crazy good buttermilk pie.

<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/double-chocolate-chip-swirl-cookies-recipe">Double Chocolate Chip Swirl Cookies Recipe</a>

If you find yourself asking the question, &ldquo;White chocolate or regular chocolate?&rdquo; just know that there&rsquo;s a secret third option and the answer is obviously both. Sally from <a href="https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/">Sally&rsquo;s Baking Addiction</a> gave us this recipe and we&rsquo;re really glad she did. It&rsquo;s slightly more involved than making run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookies, but is totally worth it.

<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/outrageously-decadent-tiramisu-recipe">Outrageously Decadent Tiramisu Recipe</a>

What&rsquo;s outrageous, decadent, and delicious all over? Our outrageously decadent tiramisu recipe, of course! The best part of this dish is that you can (and should) make it ahead. By doing it a day or two in advance, you&rsquo;ll allow for the cookies to soften and the flavors to blend. Plus, you&rsquo;ll have one less thing on your to-do list the day you&rsquo;re entertaining (or bringing dessert to a holiday party)!

Did someone say dessert time?

How to Use Your Whole Thanksgiving Turkey

Audrey Scrivener

Thanksgiving

For many of us, the turkey carcass in the fridge is the elephant in the room: enormous, smelly, and there, no matter how hard we pretend it isn&rsquo;t. Unlike elephants in the room, however, most turkey carcasses do get addressed&mdash;directly to the garbage, taking with them the potential for so many delicious eating opportunities. To avoid that fate and get everything you can out of your bird, follow these simple steps.

Don&rsquo;t Park That Carcass 
It&rsquo;s best to conquer and divide the beast immediately after the Thanksgiving meal. The amount of effort and plastic wrap that goes into wrapping a greasy tangle of flesh and bones for cold storage is great enough to discourage even the stout-hearted from revisiting it the next day. Or ever again. It helps to have a couple of recipes in mind as you begin this process. Even with a belly full of pumpkin pie, dreams of, say, a spicy turkey gumbo can motivate you to roll up your sleeves and get down to work.

Remove the meat from the bones. Use a cleaver or high-quality kitchen shears to break up the bird so you can access all the meat. Set the bones and skin aside to make a stock. If the wishbone is intact, pick it very clean&mdash;you can even run it through the dishwasher&mdash;and let it dry in a well-ventilated spot for several days until it&rsquo;s brittle enough to snap apart in the traditional holiday game of good fortune. Whoever gets the big half wins.

Sort the meat for various purposes, e.g., white meat for sandwiches, dark meat for sandwiches/turkey enchiladas/casseroles, mixed meat for soup. Store it in separate bags, like these reusable silicone numbers from Stasher, and freeze what you don&rsquo;t intend to use within a couple of days.&nbsp;

Make Stock 
Once the meat is organized and stored, things get interesting. The pile of skin and bones and parts you can&rsquo;t name will render quarts of this <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/leftover-thanksgiving-turkey-stock-recipe">rich turkey stock</a> that you can use in a soup over the long Thanksgiving weekend and/or freeze for soups of the future.&nbsp;

Simmer your stock in a high-quality stockpot like this stainless steel model from SALT. It has a heavy base, which helps avoid scorching, and the glass lid is a bonus for monitoring long-simmering preparations like soups and stews. Don&rsquo;t worry if bits of meat and vegetables make their way into the stockpot&mdash;they&rsquo;ll add to the flavor, as will pan juices&mdash;but avoid an excess of grease. A fine strainer will catch any flotsam once the stock is cooked&mdash;or you can put everything in a soup sock at the beginning, saving straining efforts at the end.

If you start out with a large turkey, you may end up with a lot of stock. These glass storage containers from Rubbermaid will help you organize your stock according to its intended use: The 9.6-cup size could store the base for a family-size soup, whereas the smaller ones could store quantities for smaller recipes. You could also freeze some of the stock in an ice cube tray to add small amounts of broth to recipes for extra flavor or moisture in a pinch. Option C: Put some in a Thermos and sip strengthening bone broth on a chilly day.

Take Stock 
Speaking of sipping, with your turkey bones taken care of, it&rsquo;s a great time to rest your own bones. Curl up with a cozy pillow, blanket, cup of tea, and cookbook, and start planning what you&rsquo;ll do with your delicious golden stock.

How to Thaw a Turkey

Getting the turkey ready isn’t hard–but it’s important to do it the right way. These three turkey-thawing methods will help you prepare properly.

One note: Don’t even think about speeding up defrosting by leaving the turkey out on the counter. It puts you and your guests at risk for food poisoning.

Refrigerator Method

The method: You take the turkey out of the freezer and place it on a rimmed baking sheet to thaw in the fridge.

What you need to know: Plan on one day (24 hours) of defrosting in the refrigerator for every four pounds of turkey—so even a relatively small 12-pound bird needs to come out of the freezer (and into the fridge) at least three days before the holiday.

Remember: Don’t skip placing it on a cookie sheet (or another pan that can catch the juices as the turkey thaws), or you’ll have a real mess in your fridge.

Cold Water Method

The method: To defrost a bird faster than the freezer method, you take it from the freezer and place it in the sink or a large pot with enough cold water to cover it completely.

What you need to know: This is definitely not the easiest way to thaw a turkey, but good to know if you forget to take it out of the freezer on time. Immerse the sealed, wrapped turkey, breast-side-down, in enough cold water to cover it completely. Allow at least 30 minutes per pound, and change the water every half hour to make sure it’s cold. (Use a thermometer to ensure the water isn’t warmer than 40 degrees F.)

Remember: You must change the water every 30 minutes, so be prepared — that’s still 10 hours of defrosting for a 20-pound turkey.

Microwave/Last Resort Method

The method: You speed things up to warp by putting the turkey into your microwave, carefully following the manufacturer’s directions for thawing a turkey.

What you need to know: This thawing technique is doable, but it’s far from ideal. First, you’ll need a really large microwave (or a really small turkey)! It’s easy to end up with a turkey that’s already cooked in some parts while other parts are still frozen.

Remember: If you defrost in the microwave, you must cook the turkey immediately after defrosting.

If you do forget and it’s really too late, don’t risk anyone’s health over a turkey. Just laugh it off, order up some General Tso’s Chicken, and have the turkey another day. There’s always pumpkin pie to soften the blow!

How to Make Your Home More Festive This Holiday Season

Home & Decorating

Christmas

You’ve planned your perfect mantel and created a winter wonderland outside. But this year, you may want to do something more. You’ve come to the right place—we’re feeling like being extra, too. When you think of holiday decor, you likely think of the fireplace, the front yard, and of course, the Christmas tree. But, with a little creativity, you can add holiday cheer to every corner of the house. Here are some ideas.

Ornaments: Not Just for Trees! 
If you have extra ornaments, don’t put them back in the closet! And if you don’t, you may want to purchase additional ones. Fill up hurricanes, vases, and bowls with ornaments in different colors (or in one color for a bold look) and put them on your tables and countertops. It’s easy to do, easy to clean up later on, and looks really festive.

Small Changes Make a Big Difference 
Making your home feel like the holidays doesn&rsquo;t have to be tons of work. Swap out your usual throw pillows and blankets on your couch for something more on-theme. It&rsquo;s welcoming, comforting, seriously easy to do, and you can reuse your pillows and blankets year after year! Definitely our kind of decorating.

Spread the Cheer 
Thinking outside the mantel means using all of your available space. Get creative! We love to drape garlands over the handles of our bar carts and around banisters on our staircases. Plants in deep reds and greens (real or not&mdash;we won&rsquo;t tell!) make great temporary additions to all of your surfaces. Luminara&reg; flameless candles can go just about anywhere, and since there&rsquo;s no actual fire, you don&rsquo;t have to worry about them getting knocked over.&nbsp;

We also love this porcelain village, which comes with 31 pieces. Place them in various windowsills and on countertops for a whimsical touch. Fill in with additional knickknacks where necessary on the floor and on any shelves. The whole house is fair game!

Make It Personal 
We&rsquo;re huge fans of anything personalized, and that absolutely does not change during holiday time. Switch up your guest towels for a custom holiday-themed set&mdash;you can choose your name or any phrase you like. Shelf blocks add a nice touch and can be used on virtually any surface. For something fun that will also help you track your memories, hang this embroidered cardholder on your door. You can personalize it with up to two lines of text, and we love the little Santa on top.

How to Have the Perfect New Year's Eve at Home

family & you

New Year’s Eve is approaching. Maybe you’ve got plans, maybe you don’t. Or maybe you just aren’t ready to commit yet. If you fall into the third category, might we recommend an evening in? You won’t have to deal with waiting in line anywhere, and you’ll save a lot of money in the process. You can keep it casual, comfortable, and you won’t have any less fun. No matter who you’re with, there are plenty of great ways to ring in 2019—all in the comfort of your own home.

For Couples

If you and your sig O are celebrating with a night in, go big! Make a fancy dinner, starting with cocktail hour and topping it off with decadent desserts. You probably don’t get many nights during the year when you have time to go all out for a dinner at home. Set the table—like, really set it. Make a great playlist. Try that new recipe you’ve been eyeing. And don’t forget the champagne toast at midnight!

For something more low-key, try a spa night: Cozy up in robes, diffuse some essential oils, put on face masks, and relax with a foot bath. You’ll go into the new year feeling calm and rested, plus it’s super romantic!

For Friends

If you’re having friends over, <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/how-to-build-a-gaming-nest">game night</a> is a great thing to do and gets everyone going. We’re huge fans of What Do You Meme? It’s the perfect adult party game, and, as the name suggests, memes are involved. Another fun option is 5 Second Rule™Uncensored Card Game. Each player gets five seconds to spit out answers to prompts like “Name 3 reasons to call in sick.” For a bit of nostalgia, we love this 80's 90's Trivia Game from Outset Media®.

If you spend most of your nights with friends drinking Diet Coke with some sort of not quite definable liquor out of a Solo® cup, another option is mixology night. <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/our-favorite-drinks-to-ring-in-the-new-year">Find the recipes</a> for your favorite drinks, buy the ingredients (even the ones you have to muddle–it’s a special occasion!), and play bartender. You’ll enjoy taste-testing everyone’s concoctions.

At the end of the night, give away party favors if you’re so inclined. It could be something a baked good that guests can enjoy for breakfast or something special to commemorate the evening. It’s a nice touch everyone will appreciate.

For Family

Everyone loves movie night! Cozy up with lots of blankets, make some popcorn, and top it with some sriracha salt, truffle salt, or rosemary-garlic seasoning to make it extra special.

If you’ve got kids who want to get in on the fun but can’t stay up until midnight, do a mock version earlier in the evening. Pour some sparkling cider and toast to the New Year. If you’re not afraid of the cleanup, throw confetti into the mix!

Happy New Year!

How to Deck the Halls (and Table and Walls)

Bonnie Vengrow

Gifts

How-to

Décor

Let&rsquo;s face it: Come holiday time, your living room will get the most attention. After all, it&rsquo;s home to the twinkling tree, stacks of presents, or a shiny menorah. Still, that doesn&rsquo;t mean the <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/how-to-make-your-home-more-festive-this-holiday-season">rest of your house</a> shouldn&rsquo;t see some holiday love, too.

Go Beyond the Mantel

Resist the urge to put all your non-tree decorations on the mantel (or whatever shelving you&rsquo;ve got) and you&rsquo;ll be rewarded with beautiful, creative looks that are surprisingly easy to pull off. Take garland, for instance. Ditch the mantel and stairwell, and drape it around a large mirror, over doorways, or on the backs of dining room chairs.

Instead of lining up holiday cards side by side, hang them on the wall, or on a photo display in the shape of a festive lighthouse, or on a seasonal clip collage.

Dress the Table

The dining table is a hotbed of holiday happenings, so make sure it&rsquo;s dressed accordingly. Think special-occasion tablecloths, runners, placemats, chargers, dinnerware, napkins, napkin rings, decorative bowls&mdash;whatever comfortably fits the space and shape of your table. Metallics and pops of color serve the season&rsquo;s bright lighting scheme brilliantly.

Using linens of the same pattern or print is hassle-free, but mixing different colors, textures, and designs is more visually exciting. To pull it off, start with a simple, neutral tablecloth&mdash;we like plain white or off-white&mdash;and layer with a smaller printed cloth or a patterned runner or two. Top off with napkins in coordinating accent colors.

Spice Up the Kitchen

Putting a holiday feast on the table requires some serious time in the kitchen, right? Make the hours spent slaving over a hot stove much more festive by way of holiday-themed oven mitts, potholders, aprons, and dish towels.

Add Inspiring Accents

A few accent pieces can transform a room from ho-hum into ho-ho-ho. Some simple ideas: Hang a row of stockings, seasonal wall hangings, or a <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/go-to-guide-wreaths">beautiful indoor wreath</a> in a common area like the entryway or guest bathroom. Or go DIY and print out a greeting like &ldquo;Merry Christmas&rdquo; or &ldquo;Happy Holidays,&rdquo; leaving one or two letters to a page. Then frame each page and hang them all gallery-style.

Coffee or end table centerpieces are also a cinch to make. Fill a large glass vase with lighted branches or layers of small bulb ornaments and pine cones, or stack shiny red apples in a decorative bowl. Put a candle in a large bowl and surround it with unopened chestnuts (nutcracker optional)&mdash;or simply line up flameless candles in a seasonally rustic holder and place it among some boughs on your mantel.

And don&rsquo;t forget about the sofa. Liven up yours with a cozy patterned throw blanket or whimsical throw pillows.

And if all else fails, there&rsquo;s always the leg lamp! What more do you need, really?

Here&rsquo;s to a very merry decorating season!

How to Cook a Large Holiday Meal Successfully

The holidays are upon us, and the everyday bustle of life has shifted into hyperdrive. When you invited the crew over for Christmas dinner weeks ago, the holidays were but a figgy-pudding-filled fantasy. Now that time&rsquo;s moving at warp speed, you may be fretting about how, given the laws of time and space, every element of this incredible feast is going to get to the table hot, on time, and tasting delicious. Power up the multitasking multi-cookers.

Multi-Cookers Bend Time and Space

Since traditional holiday mains such as roast birds and meats tend to monopolize the oven, plan side dishes you can prepare in advance and reheat, or ones that lend themselves to alternative cooking methods. Multi-cookers come in handy here. The Ninja&reg; Foodi&trade; Digital Air Fry Oven is an air fryer, convection oven, and toaster oven all in one. It can roast your vegetables, reheat stuffing you&rsquo;ve prepared in advance, and warm dinner rolls. An incredible space-saver, its unique design allows you to flip it up and store it vertically when not in use.

Since you&rsquo;re cooking for a crowd, you may wish to add an extra bird or roast. If the oven&rsquo;s occupied, the Ninja&reg; Foodi&trade; Pressure Cooker with TenderCrisp&trade; can turn out a tiny turkey or a good-sized chicken up to 70 percent faster than your oven&mdash;including the delicious golden crunch. A ham&rsquo;s a cinch under pressure, too. And with this cooker, you can produce a batch of mashed potatoes&mdash;from peeling to pur&eacute;eing&mdash;in less than 20 minutes.

While the main course roasts, the hard-working nine-in-one air fryer from Emeril can assist with the rest of your of your holiday meal. It packs a range of functions so varied it&rsquo;ll help with everything from <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/little-life-changer-the-emeril-lagasse-360-power-air-fryer">roasted brussels sprouts</a> and potatoes to <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/20-fantastic-thanksgiving-side-dishes">baked stuffing</a>. Plus it does pies.

Welcome to the Multi-Cooker Multiverse

You can make your holiday meal for a crowd even easier by forgoing the standard dishes in favor of recipes that are scalable. Search online for stews and hearty soups that have traditional holiday flavors. Try a multi-cooker like the Instant Pot&reg; Duo Evo Plus. It makes one-pot prep easy and keeps things warm on the buffet table. Why not go old-school with a luxurious boeuf bourguignon prepared in half the old-world time? Or consider this nonstandard crowd-pleaser: chili. It&rsquo;s easy to whip up in large quantities and makes a festive presentation when surrounded by bright garnishes like chopped onions and herbs, shredded cheese, and pickled jalape&ntilde;os.

To grill flatbreads for a holiday buffet in a flash, try this Ninja&reg; Foodi&trade; 5-in-1. It&rsquo;s an indoor grill that acts like an outdoor one, heating up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and imparting a char without the smoke and flames. We love these flatbread recipes for party appetizers:

<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/steak-flatbread-recipe">Steak Flatbread Recipe</a> 
<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/potato-leek-flatbread-recipe">Potato Leek Flatbread Recipe</a> 
<a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/recipe/clam-flatbread-recipe">Clam Flatbread Recipe</a>

You can also improvise with seasonal combos like cranberry and goat cheese; sage and prosciutto; or pumpkin, walnut, and ricotta.

Crispy-gooey toast bites are a fine delivery system for holiday flavor combos, and with a sandwich press like this 3-in-1 griddle from Cuisinart, it&rsquo;s easy to pump out panini for a mob. Cut into small pieces, they&rsquo;re appetizers. Served whole as sandwiches, they&rsquo;re a comforting and satisfying main course.

Thanks to these prodigious powerhouses, phenomenal feats can and will occur in your kitchen&mdash;even with a full house and holiday schedule. Cheers!

Glee Under the Tree: Holiday Gift Guide for Kids

Mary Potts

From treats to traditions, the holidays are all about making special memories that last a lifetime. No pressure or anything if you’re a parent, grandparent, or other special grown-up in a child’s life. Let’s make it easier this year. Use these gift ideas as your guide and relax a little knowing you’ve already nailed the hardest part. From there, it’s just cookie-baking and “Jingle Bells” all the way. You’ve got this!

A Flurry of their Faves

Have Frozen fans on your list (we know, they’re so rare!)? Look nowhere Elsa for the perfect gift! Go with something cozy like Pillow Pets and Frozen 2 bedding. Or inspire creativity with an easel and craft set. And of course, there’s the ultimate crown jewel: a sparkly Frozen bike, complete with snowflake pedals and basket.

Hot Cocoa Accompaniments

Chilling out at home is even better when you’re less… chilly. So add a plush hooded blanket sweatshirt to your gift-giving list (and maybe get one for yourself, too!). Or go snuggly and stylish with classic Minnetonka slippers or a weighted throw blanket from Therapedic®. We love this one, which comes with a super cute plush toy!

Most Wished-For by Young Wizards

Send a Harry Potter fan back to Hogwarts (or bed) with a silky personalized blanket. Be sure to throw in a reversible-sequin pillow of the school crest! Other gifts like a light-up replica wand, Funko POP! figure set, and luggage tag bring pure holiday magic.

Gifts from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ah, the holidays, when children (and grown-ups!) can set aside their differences and gather ‘round the colorful glow of lightsabers. Just about everyone has a favorite Star Wars™ character, and we’ve got toys, games, bedding, and plush huggables for light years.

Merry and Bright Idea-Builders

Gifts that let kids play with science are even hotter than the earth’s molten core (and that’s nearly 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit, whew!). Choose an outer space kit or a mini planetarium for a future astronomer. Dinosaur-building and chemistry kits will also rock their world, so keep those safety goggles on.

Uncommonly Awesome Personalized Presents

“Snow” that you really care this season with wooden play sets, doll furniture, and storybooks that feature a child’s name. Bigger kids will love beanbags, lap desks, and other gear that’s uniquely theirs. Personalized totes and mugs are also thoughtful (and easy!) gifts for teachers.

That’s a wrap for now! We hope your holidays are filled with the best gifts of all: love, laughter, and togetherness.

Kristy Ojala

Gift Ideas Under $30

We set a holiday gift-buying budget with the best of intentions, but it can be tricky to stick to it. Last-minute gifts and forgotten obligations on top of picking up thoughtful items for our family and friends can challenge our limits. Here’s how to slot in everyone on your list—by sticking to a lower price tag for each recipient.

Make and Bake Holiday Treats Together

Oh what fun it is to share some quality time in the kitchen! These gifts allow your favorite foodies to wake up with easy waffles, then get everyone in the family involved with these no-sweat, no-bake gingerbread houses—and a gingerbread volcano, for the more explosive pastry chef. Come nighttime, they can whip up some old-fashioned popcorn for a holiday movie.

Go to Your Gifting Happy Place

Winter can be festive thanks to the holidays, but the dark, chilly days of January through March can take their toll on even the shiniest of optimists. Combat the blues with the Verilux&reg; HappyLight Lucent&trade; Light Therapy Lamp, said to help boost energy, balance moods, and improve sleep quality using HappyLight&reg; LED technology.

For more restful nights and a fresh face in the morning, your recipient will welcome the cooling, cosmetic-safe Brookstone&reg; BioSense&reg; pillowcases. Upon waking, they can pop out the Flawless&reg; facial roller and massager. The rose quartz feels great on puffy eyes, and can help reduce dark circles and improve skin tone and circulation&mdash;essential amid dry indoor air common in winter.

Kids’ Corner

Christmas gifts can be challenging when you have a lot of littles to shop for! Make your dollars stretch with these rewarding toys that brighten the day while helping build manipulative, motor, and creative skills.

A Tisket, a Tasket, an Awesome Gift Basket

You know how everyone loves stockings? It’s a joy unpacking all the little doodads and whimsical treats, a process that one can either savor or tear through in a matter of minutes. Gift baskets are the same philosophy—filled with like items intended to bring pleasure to your palette, caffeine addiction, or sweet tooth, they too can awe and delight, bit by savory (or chocolatey) bit.

Here’s to a happy holiday filled with lots of little treats!

Gift Guide: Gifts for the Overbooked

Sometimes the best gift you can give someone is time. And in this case, we’re not even talking about giving them your time (although that’s always nice, too). We’re talking about giving a gift that will help your busy loved ones get their time back.

We all have someone (or someones) on our list who never gets a free moment. Here are our favorite time-saving “Why didn’t I think of that?” gifts they’ll love.

Good Hair Days

Having a selfie-ready head of hair with less effort and in less time sounds like a pretty ideal gift to us. The Revlon® Pro Collection Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer will do just that. It works as both a hair dryer and styler, saving time and leaving them with an extra hand they’d ordinarily be using to hold a round brush. With that free hand they can check email, respond to messages, or, if we’re being honest, scroll on Instagram (also very important). With the extra time, they can do anything. Dyson’s hair dryer increases smoothness, shine, and decreases frizz and flyaways—and it does it all really quickly and quietly.

Effortlessly Clean Floors

Floors are the worst thing to clean. There’s a bunch of equipment involved, you have to carry said equipment from room to room, and if you actually want to do a good job, you’ve got to put in a lot of effort. Enter vacuuming and mopping robots. Yes, the robots have arrived, but this is one job your loved one will be happy to hand over. And the robots don’t just vacuum anymore. They mop, too.

“Flawless” Hair Removal

Hair removal couldn’t be less fun if it tried. When you shave, you feel like you just can’t get close enough. Plus, you inevitably miss spots. Tweezing is painful and takes forever. Waxing is painful and expensive. Ditto laser hair removal, which requires a commitment level and pain threshold most of us would prefer to reserve for raising offspring. And yet, hair removal is necessary for most of us. Enter Flawless®, which is here to save time by giving a close shave quickly, easily, and painlessly (no nicks, cuts, or irritation). This will save your recipient time, and they’ll look great.

Write It Down

We love tech, but sometimes it’s just better to use a good old-fashioned <a href="https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/blogs/story/planners-unplugged-rediscovering-the-classic-date-book">paper datebook or planner</a>. And a great-looking planner makes a great gift. No matter how packed their calendar is, they’ll be able to keep track of everything, which means there’s way less time spent saying things like, “I know I have to do something—I just forget what it is,” and way more time actually being productive.

Work It Out

Busy people have a tough time getting to the gym. And for those who love to exercise, that’s tough. For the fitness fiend who just doesn’t have the hours in the day, a piece of workout equipment like a BOSU® Balance Trainer, kettlebell, or exercise mat fits virtually anywhere and makes it simple to get their heart pumping, even if they only have a few minutes. If you’re looking for an add-on, sign them up for a fitness subscription like <a href="https://aaptiv.com/">Aaptiv</a>, an audio fitness app that has thousands of guided workouts.

Happy to Assist

Some people just need an assistant… so hire them a personal assistant! Kidding! That’s unrealistic and unreasonable. What you can do is get them a virtual assistant, which sets reminders, checks the weather, makes calls, and so much more. These personal concierges come in lots of different price ranges (with features to match), so they make great gifts for lots of different people on your list.

Here’s to having more time in 2020!

Anne Ventura

Gift Guide for the Wellness Buff

Make Your Loved Ones Even More Beautiful, Inside and Out

The road to wellness has no destination, it’s a journey—one we all want to be on because self-care is a pleasure and a gift we can give to ourselves every day. In this season of sharing, here are some of our favorite things to keep those close to you glowing all through the new year.

True Equality at Last

Men have been hiding one of the greatest beauty secrets of all time in plain sight for ages: shaving. The masculine daily ritual—<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marilyn-monroe-elizabeth-taylor-shave-74466">practiced</a> by such icons of feminine glamour as Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor—is hands down the best way to exfoliate the face. Why have we modern-day women been shut out, left to endure painful and inferior treatments like waxing or threading whenever we can gather up the courage and cash? It’s because we’ve been led to believe that shaving makes hair grow back thicker. Time’s up on that old wives’ tale! I’ve been proselytizing about dermaplaning—removing hair and dull skin from the face with a special razor—since I first read about it on a beauty blog a few years ago.

Wary but willing, I consulted my dermatologist, <a href="https://health.usnews.com/doctors/david-biro-15087">David Biro</a>, who dismissed my fears and the myth behind them. We all have some facial hair. You may need a well-lit mirror with magnification like this one from Brookstone to find it. We’ll wait. We promise that you will look and feel fantastic once the is fuzz gone. You might not even want to bother with makeup, but if you do, it will be easier to apply and will stay on longer thanks to your shave, and you’ll be happy to have the mirror on hand to admire your newfound radiance.

This year I’m giving my smartest friends, the ones who took my advice (now also known as my loveliest friends), the Flawless Dermaplane. It has a special contoured stainless steel blade and a built-in light so you can see your way around delicate facial features. The newly revealed skin surface absorbs moisturizer and serum like never before—and relaxing with a sheet mask is great next step (and stocking stuffer). My A students are getting the Flawless® Contour Pro Micro Vibrating Facial Roller and Massager to further boost firmness and tone, and banish under-eye circles and puffiness.

Spread the word to all your best friends, and never mind if you can’t make it to that yoga retreat in Costa Rica this winter. These gifts from Flawless will have the whole gang looking luminous and relaxed, with none of the carbon footprint.

Kate Middleton, Eat Your Heart Out!

By now we’ve all figured out that being a princess is no picnic, right? Still, who would turn down the hair? Your friends probably don’t have a stylist following them everywhere like Kate and Meghan, so give them a Dyson Airwrap. It has everything they’ll need to get professional results at home—gentle waves, bold curls, or a polished look—without extreme heat. Dyson knows a thing or two about airflow. Their <a href="https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2018/05/17/james-dyson-designing-out-annoyances-2/">museum-worthy</a> vacuum cleaners made a dull chore fun and turned their founder into a knight. Sure, it’s a bit pricey, but you’ll save your friend a king’s ransom on salon visits, and they’ll be sure to thank you royally.

More Than Skin-Deep

Those who know there’s nothing like a good sweat to get that healthy glow all over, as well as those who are always just on the verge of starting a fitness routine (hi honey!), will thank or resent you respectively when you present them with the Slim Cycle™. Excuses will be tough to come by now that a full-body workout can be achieved in no time without leaving the house; plus, it’s easy to fold and store—but that’s never a good idea.

A massage—now that’s always a good idea. The ProTherapy Impact Massager is a truly inspired device for soothing and relaxing sore muscles. It’s cordless, rechargeable, and has three power levels to melt away any last kink or grudge.

For the full-on spa atmosphere, the salt crystal lamp provides just the right ambiance for relaxation and meditation. Made with real Himalayan salt crystals, it freshens the air so that you can truly breathe. Let in all the good, exhale the rest. Ooooooooooooom.

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Gift Guide: Gifts for the Overbooked

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Gift Guide for the Wellness Buff

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