book review: deck the halls

Deck the Halls! With Boughs of Holly! FaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa!

Back in the fall, I saw Country Living Deck the Halls on Amazon, and I was *this close* to buying it. I really wanted it, but decided to wait, and then forgot about it. Oh boy. I very nearly missed a winner!

Fortunately, the publisher emailed and asked if I would be interested in reviewing the book. Not only was I reminded of the book I wanted, but it showed up at my house a week later! So, thank you Hearst Books for reminding me of this title, sending it to me, and publishing such a great book!

Now, let's dig in to this fun little book that is titled so perfecting for us to Craft a Song of Christmas!




The first section of Deck the Halls is all gifts you can make. 20 gift projects are included, and each one is something that I wouldn't mind receiving. They are simple, classy and very doable (you'd still have time to make most of these before Christmas!). Some have step-by-step instructions, while others are more of an idea that you could run with easily.




Following the gifts is the food chapter. There aren't tons of recipes, but they all look good! I especially like that most are the kind of treats you can gift. How fun is that gingerbread cookie puzzle? My mom loves to bake giant cookies to give our neighbors at Christmas, and I do believe this puzzle will be something our neighbors will soon be enjoying!



The sections on table and home decor are as charming as the rest, with a simple and sophisticated country style. Displays and new variations on traditional holiday decor abound!



To wrap up the book (pun intended), the final chapter is on gift wrap and packaging! Ideas for gift toppers and tags are included, but my favorite grouping was of the packing material substitutes, like the candies shown above. A gift wrapped in a gift!




But that's not all! What makes this book unique is that it comes with 50 pages of pullouts you can use straight from the book! Things like tags, stickers, place cards, labels, gift boxes, ornaments, napkin rings and more. This might be my favorite thing about Deck the Halls, but it's also the thing I'm hesitant about. I'm just not sure I can take this pretty book apart to use these pages!

It's a hang-up I have...destroying a book even when that's what it was made for. So maybe I should look at this as a practice for getting over that little issue I have? I might need to, because look at this:



These are paper decorations you can add to a gingerbread house! And how's this for an idea? My dad suggested that I make a corrugated cardboard house to attach the paper candies to, and then I could keep it for years! Yep, I think I'll be taking some pages out of my book.

If you have no fear of pulling the pages apart, get Country Living Deck the Halls and you'll have lots of lovely ideas and goodies to get you through Christmas. But even if you're like me and can't bear to use the book as intended, there's still a lot to enjoy here (if you order very soon, there will be enough time to make things before the big day!).



The publisher also sent me another Country Living title, and I've been enjoying it also. Even after all the decorations are done for this year, flipping through The Farm Chicks Christmas gets you inspired to start planning for the next. It's a little less DIY (although there are still plenty of ideas and some explanations) and I think it would make a really great gift!




Do you have any favorite Christmas books?