Evoking a Victorian Christmas, minus the swans.No effort was spared to bring the outdoors in. Ripe dessert fruits were offered up in grottoes of palm and fern. A grape-laden vine might ascend from ...

Much of the alabaster fruit in this country made its way here as tourist keepsakes (they can still be found in Mexico), but in the ’50s, options were also available in U.S. housewares shops.

Look around your yard for all types of evergreens you can use to create wreaths. Use pine or magnolia or aucuba leaves to create a wreath's foundation, then tuck in stems of smaller evergreens ...