News Releases

Nov 13, 2006
Country Home December 2006 Issue Highlights
-Country Home Editors Available for Interview-

SEASON'S GREETINGS

THE NEST: HANDS-ON HOLIDAY STYLE – Page 20
This holiday season think handmade instead of store-bought. Country Home offers easy paper projects for crafting ornaments, tags, warp and a mantlescape that will make rooms merry and bright. Editor Matthew Mead also shares his secret online shopping sources for everything you need to make holiday decorating and gift-giving a breeze.

GREEN HOLIDAY TREES – Page 28
Country Home eco-expert Danny Seo shares ideas for green holiday trees. Since trees only live inside for a week or two, why not keep it simple and leave them outside? Whether it’s a large, existing tree on your property or a potted/ready-to-plant tree on your porch, decorate outdoor trees with durable materials such as brightly covered ribbon, craft-store bird’s nests and sprigs of berries, or give feathered friends a tasty treat by decorating a tree with oranges, apples, pears, frozen-grape garlands or wood balls, rolled in peanut butter then birdseed.

Another green tree idea – bring back a dead tree with red paint and a sprayer. After painting, decorate with chandelier crystals, clear beaded garlands and tin-can lids.

COLLECT IT: VINTAGE GLASS ORNAMENTS – Page 36
The first holiday trees were decorated with candles and edibles…then, in 1840, German glassmakers blew the first ornaments and by 1890, the United States was importing them. Country Home gives tips for starting a collection, displaying them beautifully, and hunting for both good deals and rare finds.

COOL JUNK: MAKING CARDS & WRAPPING – Page 38
Country Home’s very own JunkMarket masters, Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer, show you how to have a jolly time turning junk scraps into handmade holiday cards, gifts tags and wrapping.

WE LOVE IT: DELIGHTS OF YOUR “NICE” LIST – Page 54
Check out Country Home’s favorite finds for timeless gifts that everyone will love, but would never splurge on and buy for themselves. Consider a Retroglide 7-speed cruiser bicycle, stylish letterpress Les Animals Journals, classy cotton rope bones for Fido or wooden, vintage-style Sorry! and Scrabble games.

VISIONS OF CHRISTMAS PAST – Page 92
Inspired by iconic American folk art, Country Home Editor Matthew Mead celebrates the season with a new collection of holiday ornaments – and inventive ways to decorate with them. Mead designed a collection of ornaments for the American Folk Art Museum using classic materials (wood, metal, fabrics and paper) with the message ‘peace and unity’ and a very laid-back retro feel. Find the ornaments at www.folkartmuseum.org; select Macy’s stores and www.macys.com; and www.wedgwoodusa.com. And remember to consider ornaments for as holiday art for every room – try hanging ornaments on a clothes drying rack, stringing them across a four-poster bed or attaching them to your chandeliers and light fixtures.

MAKE-AHEAD HOLIDAY MENUS – Page 100
Got hungry houseguests? Country Home gifts you with fabulous make-ahead menus to see you through Christmas Day, wrapped up in one pretty package. Follow the ‘Countdown Christmas’ to prep for the celebration one step at a time, including a shopping checklist. Start now to dazzle your guests with items like Gingerbread Pancakes with Cranberry Maple Syrup, White Cheddar Cheese Ball, Standing Pork Rib Roast with Sweet Glazed Onions and Truffle Cake with Ice Cream and Hot Fudge Sauce.

HOW TO BUILD A GINGERBREAD-HOUSE – Page 114
Learn how to craft a sturdy and beautiful gingerbread house for the holidays with tips from Patti Dellamonica-Bauler, the pastry chef from the famed One Market Restaurant in San Francisco. Important features include – a strong foundation, adding stability and embellishing before you raise the walls. Also included: Prefab varieties; and information on an annual gingerbread house building charity event at the Gingerbread Inn in Larkspur, California.

The December issue of Country Home is on newsstands November 21.

CONTACT:
Lisa Bagley
212-551-7189
lisa.bagley@meredith.com