Country Woman December/January 2019

Confession time: I save Christmas cards. I love the pretty designs and the personal notes friends and family write in them, reminders of events from previous years. And if you have the same slightly sentimental habit, you have accumulated quite a stack, too. If it’s time to whittle it down, we have some great ideas for refashioning those old cards into ornaments, place cards, jar toppers and other clever crafts. Find all 12—one for each day of Christmas—beginning on page 20. Blame Sir Henry Cole for the surplus. He’s credited with creating the first Christmas card in 1843—a quick way to respond to the influx of letters he’d received after postal rates dropped in England. Cole had artist J.C. Horsley design a postcard depicting people helping those less fortunate. Today,…

Q: What are your special Christmas traditions? Each year I take a similar photo of my three little boys around the Christmas tree. It’s been so fun to see them grow and change each year. And the glow from our tree always looks so magical to me. MELISSA DEVOE WAKE FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA We begin Christmas Eve with takeout from a local Mexican restaurant. We put Christmas music on and have been known to play a few tunes ourselves. We have a violist, two cellists and a flutist in the family, and my husband plays guitar, so there is no shortage of instruments. HEATHER ECKMAN MARIETTA, PENNSYLVANIA The family gets together and we enjoy dishes from each generation’s holiday recipe book. We share stories of past generations and remember the…

Food for Thought Is there a recipe or meal that reminds you of another time? Did you learn to make cookies with the same mixing bowls you use today? Senses come alive in the kitchen—its sounds and smells are often tied closely to memories. Let’s hear yours! The Best Medicine Laughter is good for the soul. Tell us your ticklish tales and best “oops” experiences. If you make us laugh, your story could be featured in an upcoming issue of Country Woman. Brilliant! Whether with candles in mason jars or solar-powered strands, we want to know how you (safely) light up the outdoors at night. Vintage Machinery The click of a film camera, the clack of a vintage typewriter, the heft of an old sewing machine or rotary phone: There’s…

Our Circle of Friends volunteers help provide the creative ideas and stories you see in every issue of Country Woman. Visit countrywomanmagazine.com/circleoffriends for more information or to apply. AMY ADAMS TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT TERESA AMBORD ANDERSON, CALIFORNIA SHARON BLUMBERG MUNSTER, INDIANA TERI CAROTHERS PORTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA TABITHA COOPER COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE BRENDA DAVEY GREENBRIER, ARKANSAS SANDY ERDMAN WINONA, MINNESOTA HELEN FLETCHER SHAD BAY, NOVA SCOTIA DANIELLE GLASGOW UNION MILLS, INDIANA MARIE HILLIARD NEWBORN, GEORGIA MARGIE LYTLE WASILLA, ALASKA MELLANIE MCCREARY PALMER, ALASKA JENNIFER MILAKOVIC CAMPTON HILLS, ILLINOIS STEPHANIE MORGAN EWING, KENTUCKY HAYLEY MOSS HULL, IOWA SHELBY OPPERMAN MECHANICSVILLE, MARYLAND WENDY QUATTLEBAUM MCDONOUGH, GEORGIA MELODY RICHARDSON MIDDLESEX, VERMONT CATHIE SCHOER SHEPHERD, MONTANA JAMIE TAYLOR MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN JESSICA WAGNER VERSAILLES, OHIO WENDY WALKER EUSTIS, FLORIDA…

Air plants have a remarkably long shelf life and don’t require soil, which makes them ideal for holiday decorating. Liven up a simple evergreen wreath by weaving a couple of plants into the greens. This one has two Tillandsia tectorum woven into blue cedar branches with sprigs of berries.…

Jeff Chase, a lieutenant colonel with the Army, remembers the first time he was able to read to his children while deployed overseas. That was in 2009, after he heard about United Through Reading and signed up to record a video. When the day came, he headed for the USO tent, picked out two books and sat in front of a camera to read to Campbell and Caitlin back home in the States. “He went from military mode to Daddy mode, reading Olivia and Corduroy, and then it was back to the war,” says his wife, Lauren. “Later, he said it was one of the best memories he had.” Campbell, now 12, remembers how the experience helped ease her mind. “Just to see my dad—to hear his voice and see…