Twitter

Invite the spirits of holidays past, present and future into your home this year. Blend the best of then and now, here and there, and try a few twists on tradition.

This holiday season, all your senses can enjoy novelty and traditions.

For instance, deck the halls with a theme in mind. Go Victorian with lots of rich velvet and satin fabric on table and windowsills. Fresh fruit was a novelty in winter in the 19th century so plenty of apples, oranges and pineapples, real or not, can add to the old-fashioned appeal. Alternatively, go futuristic with plenty of white lights, stark outlines and tons of tinsel.

As for food, go international for your holiday feast’s finale. Include a buche de Noel, or Christmas Yule log cake from France. It consists of a thin vanilla Genoise cake rolled up around chocolate buttercream frosting and then iced and decorated to look like a log. The original, it is said, was cleverly created by a 19th century chef. Or try a sweet, round Chinese New Year’s cake made from rice flour and brown sugar. The shape represents togetherness. In Israel and many other places where Jews gather, a favorite dessert for Hanukkah is the jelly doughnut. Perhaps you would prefer to take a taste trip to Italy and enjoy tiramisu, made from finger biscuits, egg yolks, sugar, coffee, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder.

You can get more good advice from Genevieve Gorder, American celebrity interior designer, television host and co-star of “Trading Spaces” on TLC.

She offers these four tips:

1. For holiday entertaining, keep a bag or two of cranberries in your freezer so you can add some to a glass of wine as a fun alternative to ice cubes.
2. Buy a vintage skirt or dress and use it as a tree skirt.
3. For rooms where you don’t have enough space for a Christmas tree, cut the back half off and put the tree against a wall.
4. Scent is the most important piece of holiday decor at home. Gorder suggests you spread the joy of the season in your house by using Air Wick limited edition seasonal scents, such as her favorite, Woodland Pine.

That’s just one of the limited edition Seasonal Scents available from Air Wick this year. The others are Sugar Cookies, Warm Apple Crumble and Warm Mahogany.

Learn More

For further facts and tips on having a “scent-sational” home, go to www.airwick.us.

• Next >