Welcome to part 2 of our Christmas Gift Guide where we’re helping you find something for everyone on your list.
Part 1, which features our first 12 categories, was posted on Dec. 16.
With just a few days left until Christmas, we hope the rest of this guide eases some of your Christmas shopping anxiety. Here’s the final 12 gift guide categories:
The Christmas Obsessed (For the one who has had their tree up since Nov. 1)
If you’re looking for Christmas gift inspiration or you’re at a loss as to what to get the person that has everything, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve created a gift guide with 24 categories to help you find the perfect present. Because we have so many suggestions, we are splitting this guide into two parts. Check back for the next installment on December 20. For now, here’s the first 12 categories:
The Cat Parent (This is for the one who constantly has cat hair on them)
Plants are a beautiful, traditional way to celebrate the holidays.
However, some of the plants associated with Christmas are dangerous to our furry friends. If you have a pet and are planning to use live plants to decorate for the holidays, it’s important to know which plants are toxic to pets and how to keep your pets safe.
Holiday plants that are dangerous for pets
Mistletoe
According to the Pet Poison Helpline the American and European variety of mistletoe are not good for animals. Although both types can cause issues for pets, the European variety is the most toxic.
Signs that your pet has ingested mistletoe includes drooling, vomiting and diarrhea which is all caused from the polysaccharides, alkaloids and lectins in the berries on the mistletoe. If a large amount of berries are eaten there can be more serious side effects such as an abnormal heart rate, low blood pressure, ataxia, seizures, collapse and even death.
Holly
The English, Japanese and Chinese varieties of holly have toxic saponins, according to the Pet Poison Helpline.
English holly is the traditional plant used for Christmas decorating. Signs an animal has eaten holly includes vomiting and diarrhea.
Poinsettia
Arguably the most popular Christmas plant besides actual Christmas trees, poinsettias can be found in many houses during the holiday season. These plants are often used to decorate for holiday parties and grace entryways and are often given as gifts.
Contrary to myths, which are hypothesized to have started over a hundred years ago after a child was found dead next to a poinsettia, they are not deadly.
According to the National Capital Poison Center, poinsettias can cause some issues like vomiting, nausea and diarrhea when eaten by pets, but it will not kill them. Some pets may also experience skin irritation if they brush up against the plant.
Amaryllis
The ASPCA states that Amaryllis plants are toxic to dogs, cats and horses because they have lycorine. When ingested, Amaryllis can cause animals to have vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hypersalivation, anorexia, tremors and depression.
What to do if your pet eats any of these plants
If you even suspect your pet has eaten any parts of these holiday plants, immediately seek veterinary assistance and contact either of these hotlines:
ASPCA 24/7 Poison Control Hotline: 888-426-4435
Pet Poison Helpline: 855-764-7661
Tips for keeping pets away from dangerous plants
If you are planning on having any of the listed plants in your home and have pets, it is imperative that you take precautions to keep them away from your animals.
Keep your plants in rooms your pets are not allowed in or place them high up in areas they don’t go, such as on the kitchen table. Consider using the plants as decorations for your front porch as opposed to inside with your pets.
Make sure that even if the plants are out of reach that no debris like leaves or petals fall on the floor where a curious critter can find them.
Place the numbers for the previously listed pet poison hotlines somewhere you can immediately access, like on the fridge, just in case of an accident.
Pet safe holiday plants
Rosemary and Christmas Cactuses are both non-toxic holiday plant options for those with pets who find a way to get into everything.
Rosemary is often shaped to look like a mini Christmas tree for the holiday season. Christmas cactuses add a pop of color with their bright pinkish-red flowers in bloom. Both are safe and festive options for households with pets.
If preventative measures are taken and you are observant of your pet, your holiday plants and pets can safely coexist together.
“And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.”
Having a mantel in your home offers the opportunity to create a stunning Christmas scene. We’ve compiled some ideas to help you make a “Pinterest worthy” mantel for the holidays.
1. Make the Wreath the Star
Wreaths aren’t just for the front door. A wreath can act as a focal point, an anchor for a room. Placing a wreath above a mantel is the perfect festive touch. No matter what you put actually on the mantel, the look will feel complete.
2. Make a Village
Use the top of your mantel as host to your Christmas village. If you don’t want to place your whole village on the mantel, consider adding one or two houses on the ends for a whimsical feel.
3. Don’t Forget the Floor
Utilize the space around your mantel to enhance your Christmas look. Including lanterns and boxwood trees, which look like mini Christmas trees, will extend the magic.
Consider using a lantern that is adorned with seasonal greenery to make the area around the mantel pop.
There are also of course traditional holiday plants, like poinsettias, that when placed around the mantel will create a timeless holiday look.
4. Incorporate Flowers
If the shelf of your mantel is wide enough, consider incorporating flowers into your decor. Add a festive fresh arrangement of flowers to brighten the room or a silk arrangement that will last the entire holiday season.
5. Color Coordinate
Firstly, if your mantel is in a room with a Christmas tree make sure the mantel decor is color coordinated with the tree. For example, if you have a classic red and green Christmas tree, give your mantel a classical look too. But if your tree is pink, blue or any other unusual color combination, make sure your mantel compliments those colors.
Consider making all of the decorations on and around your mantel one color. For instance, if you appreciate the “snow day” feeling, make all of your decorations white. If you’re adding flowers to the mantel’s decor,
6. Hang Ornaments
Stockings are the traditional option to hang from the mantel, but what about including some ornaments? If you have greenery draped over the mantel adding ornaments to it creates a fun look.
Boxwood trees are the perfect Christmas decoration.
They look just like miniature Christmas trees, making them great for those who wish they could have a tree in every room of their house and for those who want something small. They are also great for those who want something festive in their office at work.
Once you get a boxwood tree, you of course want it to last as long as possible, especially through the holiday season.
The best way to keep your boxwood tree looking fresh is by giving it water. To keep your boxwood tree happy, simply add water to the bottom of the container, like you would with fresh flowers.
Your cut boxwood tree won’t last forever, but by keeping it hydrated, it will last you until the holidays come to an end.
A circle has no end, which is one of the reasons why a Christmas wreath is a symbol of eternity.
One made from natural evergreen won’t last forever, of course, but you can take some simple steps to get the most out of it.
Make a noble gesture: Just as not all Christmas trees are created equal, the same holds true for wreaths. They have different characteristics, one of which has to do with needle retention.
Balsam wreaths are among the most fragrant, but they have a reputation for shedding needles. It has to do with where they are grown: Canada, northeastern states, the upper Great Lakes and Pennsylvania.
Noble fir wreaths, on the other hand, hail from the Pacific Northwest, where they are tested by high altitude, heavy rain and frost, and high winds. That makes them hearty in the face of what the holiday season throws at them.
The noble’s blue-green needles are rounded, giving them a fluffier look than the flatter balsam branches.
While noble fir might cost more than balsam because of growing time and shipping costs, it more than makes up for in longevity and construction.
Soak it: Any plant is on borrowed time once it is cut; however, keeping it moist will delay the inevitable. You can soak it in a bathtub or utility sink filled with room-temperature water for 24 hours to give it a deep hydration before you hang it.
Spray it with hairspray: You can seal in the wreath’s moisture with hairspray, which acts like glue and holds the needles on. To avoid a mess, it’s best to spray outdoors before hanging the wreath on a door, window or wall.
Mist it: Every day or every other day, lightly mist the wreath to keep it moist. To avoid getting walls wet or creating streaks on glass, remove the wreath from where it’s hanging while doing this.
Keep it shady and cool: Avoid direct sunlight and hang it on the outside of a door; otherwise, it can get cooked behind glass if hung between a main door and a storm door. The space between the doors suffers from reduced airflow, lower moisture and heat.
These steps will keep your Christmas wreath delivering joy throughout the holiday season.
Laura Burke, executive director of the American Red Cross’ central Pennsylvania chapter, and Amber Charnoff, marketing manager, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts.
From Oct. 14 through Nov. 16, all Royer’s Flowers & Gifts stores collected holiday cards and coloring pages from generous members of the public for area military veterans.
It’s a favorite annual tradition for Royer’s, which has a decade-plus affiliation with the American Red Cross “Holidays for Heroes” program.
In fact, Royer’s is the largest contributor among a list that also includes a senior-living center in Centre County, other corporate partners and school districts, said Laura Burke, executive director of the Red Cross’ central Pennsylvania chapter.
Amber Charnoff, Royer’s marketing manager, presented more than 3,000 cards and coloring pages to Burke on Nov. 20.
Next, Red Cross volunteers will review and sort the cards. They will be placed into totes destined for Veterans Administration hospitals, veteran homes and senior-living facilities within the 11-county chapter, which stretches from Centre in the north to Adams in the south.
Burke will be among the people making the deliveries in early December.
“I like to see how they’re received,” Burke said, “and it’s always met with gratitude and thanks. For people to just get a bundle of cards that have some personalized message in them, thanking them for their service, hoping they have a great holiday season, is always a meaningful thing.”
Burke said there’s a through line of support for service members and veterans from the Red Cross’ origin in 1881, in the aftermath of the Civil War, to Holidays for Heroes.
“Supporting our military community is a core of what we do as the Red Cross,” Burke said. “That carries through case work and helping veterans in distress and helping our active military on bases overseas. And also through supporting our veterans in giving them goodwill and well wishes during the holiday season. So it is a core of our mission.”
Poinsettias are America’s No. 1 potted plant, with red being the most popular color.
Christmas is celebrated around the world, but it clearly leans into cold weather.Red poinsettias are the most popular color.
Santa lives at the North Pole, after all. Among the most common holiday imagery are snow-covered evergreens, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose.
But it doesn’t take a lot of sleuthing on the Internet to find a stock image of Santa unwinding after a globe-trotting Christmas Eve. He’s lounging in a beach chair, his red pant legs rolled up, his bare feet in sand. Often, there’s a colorful drink in his hand, a turquoise-blue body of water nearby.
It is the season of believing, after all. But if a sun-soaking Santa seems far-fetched to you, here’s a warm weather connection to Christmas that you don’t have to take on faith.
It’s a fact that the poinsettia – the official plant of Christmas – is native to Mexico. It’s a tropical plant that finds its comfort zone between 65 to 70 degrees during the day.
The plant takes its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, a native of South Carolina who is credited with bringing the poinsettia to the United States while he was serving as the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
Red poinsettias remain the most popular, but they come in more than 100 varieties, “including shades of white, cream, pink, purple, orange and yellow,” FFA noted. We source our poinsettias from Pennsylvania, but they are grown in all 50 states.
The colorful part of the plant is a modified leaf called a bract, which often is mistaken as the flower. You must look in the center of the bracts for the small yellow flowers, known as cyathium.
No matter the size or the color of your poinsettia, you’ll want to take these steps to make it last long.
Average room temperature is fine. Poinsettias can’t tolerate cold (including icy water) and can suffer from droopy leaves (a condition known as epinasty) if exposed to cold temperatures.
Epinasty also can result from a build-up of ethylene gas. Big-box retailers are notorious for leaving poinsettias in plastic sleeves, which trap ethylene and essentially ruin the plant.
Bright, ample light is best for the plant, mimicking conditions in Mexico.
Keep the plant moist but not sitting in water. Like people, poinsettias don’t like wet feet. The frequency and amount of water will vary depending upon the amount of sunlight, humidity and pot size to which the plant is exposed.
Poinsettias are sensitive plants, so you want to avoid banging them into things as they can bruise easily.
Not only are poinsettias a prominent part of Christmas, but they are the subject of their own holiday.
National Poinsettia Day, celebrated on Dec. 12, marks the anniversary of the day that Joel Roberts Poinsett died in 1851.
By day, Jennifer Davis of Lebanon is an engineer, writing test plans for satellites.
At night she comes back to earth with what she called her “email wind-down routine,” which is how Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ name-the-arrangement contest came into her orbit.
She submitted a couple entries, winning with “Merriment,” which put a figurative bow on a new holiday design. The arrangement features carnations, poms and a rose with noble fir and boxwood, ribbon and berries, all in a silver and red tin.
The contest runner-up was Joanne Beasy with “Berries & Boughs.” Beasy, of Grove City, Ohio, entered the contest through Royer’s sister company Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts, which has three stores in the Columbus, Ohio, area.
Davis and Beasy each will receive a Merriment arrangement as their prize.
Christmas in July is giving way to the holiday arrangement of August.
This year’s Royer’s Flowers & Gifts name-the-arrangement contest focuses on a new holiday design.
The arrangement features carnations, poms and a rose with noble fir and boxwood, ribbon and berries, all in a silver and red tin. What it lacks is a name.
To view the arrangement and enter the contest, visit royers.com/contest. Limit one entry daily per email address, through Aug. 18.
One winner and one runner-up, selected from entries submitted to Royer’s and its sister company in Columbus, Ohio, will receive the arrangement (retail value $39.99) as a prize.
