When you think of the Nutcracker, visions of ballerinas probably start dancing in your head. But the ballet we all know and love didn’t start as a ballet at all. The original story was written by E.T.A. Hoffman (a writer, composer, and painter) for the children of a friend, Julius Eduard Hitzig. Hoffman was born…
It feels like the calendar turned to December only a few days ago, but we are already approaching the deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery! If you hope to have Whitney English products under the tree this year, read on to find out holiday order deadlines—and if you are still working on your Christmas list, we’ve…
Front Door Santa goes a long way back. Back before I had kids. Before I was married. Back in those days, I babysat some pretty special kids. I’ve always liked to encourage those around me to stretch their creative muscles, so one night, near the holidays, I decided we needed to get crafty. So, we…
Marie hesitated to leave the table because she had spied on something no one else had seen. As Fritz’s soldiers marched away from the tree, a peculiar tiny man came into view. He stood calmly as if waiting for his moment to be acknowledged. To be sure, his physical appearance was not remarkable. His head…
On the other side of the double doors, a tall fir tree glistened atop a table in the middle of the room. It was decorated with gold and silver apples, and every imaginable kind of candy, from sugar almonds to comfits. Lemon drops hung like flowers from its branches. But the most spectacular thing about…
CHRISTMAS EVE During the long, long day of the twenty-fourth of December, in an expansive home, somewhere in Germany, a little dark man was seen gliding softly through the entryway. He carried a large chest under his arm. All the residents of the big house, even the three Stahlbaum children, knew it could only be one…
Editor’s note: the post below was lovingly written by our team member, Laura Bass. I added a few thoughts of my own, but I want to give credit to her for helping me get to the finish line on this creative project! Everyone knows of the Nutcracker and most of us have probably seen some…
Many of us are getting ready to host guests for the holidays, and I know you already have a lot on your plate (Decorating! Shopping! Baking cookies! Making magic!) so I wanted to give you a quick checklist for making your home guest-ready! Welcome & Wi-Fi A vintage welcome sign or a framed welcome poem…
A few weeks ago, we talked about managing your to-do list. I mentioned the “do not do” list in that post, and I wanted to go a little more in-depth on that today. To quickly recap, the steps to managing your to-do list were: You now not only have a list to work from, but—even…
