Martha Stewart Living December 2018

THERE IS UNDOUBTEDLY a lot of truth to the credo All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (by Robert Fulghum). Its basic tenets to share, play fair, clean up after yourself, and avoid taking things that aren’t yours are vital at any age—and fortunately easy to abide by in adult life (except, apparently, for those who steal parking spots during holiday shopping season). I find myself thinking about these principles often as my preschool-age son is exposed to them for the first time. It gives me great hope for the future to see him learning the importance of kindness at home, but also at his amazing public school in the heart of New York City. He recently told me about reading Fill a Bucket, by Carol McCloud…

ON THE ROAD TOYLAND EXPRESS Attention, holiday shoppers! The iconic New York City toy store FAO Schwarz—home to toddler-size teddy bears and piano keyboards—is back in a new Rockefeller Plaza flagship. Can’t get there? Fill stockings at these online shops. MAISONETTE Discover Banwood bikes, plush Blabla Kids mermaids, Cabbages & Kings beanies, and more at this site, which is curated by Vogue alums. maisonette.com JUNIPER BOOKS Custom-designed jackets—Harry Potter in Gryffindor red, Nancy Drew in apt lilac—make these classics even more collectible. juniperbooks.com LITTLE MISS WORKBENCH Find hand-carved wooden toy cameras, binoculars, and a smartphone with a chalkboard for scribbling—now that’s “screen time” we support. littlemissworkbench.com SECRET SOURCE Frog Hollow Farm “We love their organic Warren pears, which are incredibly juicy and sweet, with an unusually silky texture.” —Living deputy food editor Greg Lofts From $31 for 3 lb., froghollow.com. ON OUR…

St. Cloud, Minnesota Gift-wrapping ninjas break out the Scotch tape from December 8 to 24 to benefit Tri-County Humane Society animals. In 2017, they raised $7,000. tricountyhumanesociety.org Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Deck out gifts for busy mall shoppers with the cheerful crew from the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Central Pennsylvania, December 3 to 24. ucpcentralpa.org Kaukauna, Wisconsin Let Kaukauna Public Library volunteers gussy up your purchases on December 15, and give the gift of enrichment, too: The proceeds support kids’ programming. kaukaunalibrary.org Nationwide Barnes & Noble supports gift-wrapping events to benefit local charities in its stores. See a manager for details, or to organize one of your own. stores.barnesandnoble.com…

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED in landscape architecture and design, and when traveling I love to visit spectacular places, like the great châteaux in France and the stately homes of England. I’m endlessly fascinated by the vast ness of these masterpieces, and how the designers could comprehend their visions when they had no aerial photographs of the land they were asked to transform into the parks and gardens we enjoy today. This is the beauty of drones. They make capturing a bird’s-eye view simple—there’s no need for hot-air balloons, helicopters, or planes. I received my first one about five years ago, as a birthday present from a friend who knows how much I adore trying out new technology. It was a single-rotor model (meaning it had only one set of blades).…

| FOR WEE ONES | Happy Days Youngsters can hardly contain their excitement this time of year. But you can, with a fun-filled Advent calendar. We stenciled numbers onto a 24-pair canvas hanging shoe bag, stuffed some compartments with wrapped gifts, and filled the rest with supplies for holiday merriment. (The ninth, for instance, holds kid-size utensils for a cookie-baking spree they’ll love looking forward to.) Customize the countdown to your family’s celebration: Do all 24 pre-Christmas days of December, or trim off a few rows to encompass Hanukkah’s eight nights. For sources, HomeCrate 24-pocket hanging canvas shoe organizer, in Beige, $27; Ann Clark Cookie Cutters Christmas set, $20 for 11; Pick a Toy wooden paddle-ball set, $12; Toysmith pickup-sticks game, $10; and Animal Alley stuffed Labrador, $35, amazon.com. Imagi Knit Holiday…

PROJECT NO. 1 A MAGIC MENORAH The matte white base of this display lets its gold accents shine. We covered a manzanita branch and faux ferns with chalk paint to give them a plaster-like finish, then secured the ferns onto the branch, along with brass flower-shaped taper holders and accent leaves. We positioned the candles organically: The shammash has its place of prominence atop a bend, and a few are nestled closely together in a hollow. (For the detailed how-to, go to marthastewart.com/holidayhandbook.) PROJECT NO. 2 A SIGNATURE GREETING Woodworking details like this laurel often appear on furniture, but it’s ultra-elegant on our stylish wreath alternative, which can stay up until well after the new year without shedding a single needle or berry. We brushed a wooden round from a crafts store with white chalk…