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The Verge home tech holiday gift guide

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Sugru Mouldable Glue

Sugru is Play-Doh for grownups. You mold it into whatever you want and then let it harden into things like a headphone holder, a curtain hook, or a cable organizer. I’ve also used it to repair a faucet handle. It’s the fixit solution for those of us who are normally not handy. Price: ~$10

Amazon

Target

Sugru

Mueller Austria Ultra-Stick 500 hand blender

Being home more than usual has enabled a lot of people to cook more than they would usually, and having the right tools makes things even easier. This immersion hand blender has multiple uses — use it to whisk some eggs, or puree some veggies to make some salsa for Taco Tuesdays. Price: ~$35

Amazon

Instant Pot

The Instant Pot could become one of the most-used items in your kitchen. It makes great soups and stews, can serve as a pressure cooker for tasty

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DIY Holiday Decor: Don’t feel like shopping? Make your own decorations this year | Life

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Eye-catching, mood-enhancing centerpieces for events and just-the-right decorations for your dining room table or mantle can sometimes be difficult to find.

And, finding something custom-made with the colors you need can also be tricky. This is how I ended up making ribbon topiaries many years ago.

As the marketing director at my place of employment, I was responsible for our community events and activities. We always looked for ways to decorate that were unique.

Having seen ribbon topiaries online and on Pinterest, I decided to try to make some for the event. They were so popular, I had friends asking me to make them for other events and their homes.

Then I started making ribbon ornaments, trees and then badge reels and jewelry, which were items I loved to make when I was younger.

Eventually, I did what thousands of crafters before me have done: I became a part of

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Fire safety tips for holiday decorating

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RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – With Thanksgiving now behind us, many people will be putting up holiday decorations this weekend.



text, whiteboard: Tips from Henrico Fire Department when you're decorating for the holidays

© Provided by Richmond-Petersburg WWBT
Tips from Henrico Fire Department when you’re decorating for the holidays

Doug Reynolds, a Battalion Chief for the Henrico Fire Department, says keeping your house safe starts with a safe tree.

“Make sure that you get a nice green tree, grab those needles and pull on it, because if you end up with a big handful of needles that is not a fresh tree and it’s already starting to dry out, and it’s going to be a problem in your house,” he said.

Reynolds also says if you’re using a real Christmas tree, you want to keep any heat source 36 inches, or the length of a yardstick away.

When you grab last year’s lights, he says to make sure they don’t have any broken

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Netflix’s Jeremiah Brent Shares His Best Holiday Decorating Tips

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A good cup of coffee can be hard to come by, especially with so many making their java at home nowadays. The thing is, even the fanciest at-home coffee makers have limitations and let’s face it, they’re not always the most aesthetically pleasing.

Finally, thanks to the functional and fashionable Saeco Xelsis machine, coffee lovers can invest in a beautifully designed product that’s able to meet all their beverage needs. Don’t just take our word for it, Netflix’s Say I Do star Jeremiah Brent stands behind the machine and uses it on a daily basis with his family. From bringing his husband, interior designer Nate Berkus, coffee in bed every morning to giving his daughter warm milk or hot chocolate with the machine’s variety of settings, to say the device is versatile would be

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‘COVID chat’: Officials urge Americans to stay home over holiday

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By Susan Heavey, Maria Caspani

(Reuters) – U.S. health officials and politicians pleaded with Americans on Tuesday to stay at home over the Thanksgiving holiday and abide by constraints placed on social and economic life as record coronavirus caseloads pushed hospitals to their limits.

The chorus of public appeals intensified heading into a holiday weekend expected to further fuel an alarming surge of infections nationwide, while the daily U.S. death toll climbed above 2,000 – at least four deaths every three minutes. It marked the highest 24-hour loss of life from the pandemic since early May.

“We are on fire with COVID,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on CNN, defending unpopular restrictions he ordered last week that included new limits on retail activity and school closures. “We’re just trying to do the right thing.”

More than half the nation’s governors have imposed – or reimposed – statewide measures this month

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Missing ‘The Nutcracker’? How to Get Your Holiday Fix at Home

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We all have our holiday traditions. Maybe yours is seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and gazing at the Rockefeller Center tree, all done up in lights. Well, this year “The Christmas Spectacular” is canceled, and that Norway spruce is just sorry looking (though organizers swear the tree will be beautiful by the time of its lighting on Dec. 2).

Still, many rituals endure this season, repurposed for online viewing. Below is a selection of offerings — some beloved mainstays, a few cheeky upstarts — which you can indulge in watching from home.

Dance

The company that presented America’s first full-length “Nutcracker,” in 1944, is now offering what it calls the first “virtual Nutcracker experience.” Don’t expect cutting-edge VR. It’s a point-and-click tour of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House with extras embedded: a video class about pantomime, a printout activity book. Click on

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Denver mayor travels for holiday after urging others to stay home

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Denver’s mayor apologized on Wednesday for traveling out of state to visit his family for Thanksgiving, in a statement that came on the same day that he urged residents to “stay home as much as you can.” Health experts have repeatedly asked Americans not to travel for the holiday, warning that it could lead to a severe spike in coronavirus cases and further tax an already overburdened healthcare system. 



Michael Hancock wearing a suit and tie: Virus Outbreak Colorado

© David Zalubowski / AP
Virus Outbreak Colorado

“I have shared how my family cancelled our plans for our traditional multi-household Thanksgiving celebration,” Democratic Mayor Michael Hancock wrote on Twitter. “What I did not share, but should have, is that my wife and my daughter have been in Mississippi, where my daughter recently took a job. As the holiday approached, I decided it would be safer for me to travel to see them than to have two family members travel back

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7 Stylish Holiday Decor Ideas You Can Leave Up All Winter Long

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Holiday decorating rules don’t apply this year. Start hanging mistletoe and blasting holiday music whenever you want—whatever sparks joy for you, we’re not here to judge. But we’ve picked out some sophisticated accessories that feel less holiday-specific and more seasonal, meaning you can put them up early and leave them out well into the new year.



a table topped with plates of food on a plate: Elegant Christmas Decor Eucalyptus Garland

© Provided by Real Simple
Elegant Christmas Decor Eucalyptus Garland

RELATED: 15 Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas That Take Five Minutes or Less

Holly Dish Towel

Holiday kitchen items must check two boxes: useful and festive. This cotton dish towel does both. Covered in bright red and green holly sprigs, it will make hand washing those extra holiday dishes more colorful—and since it’s machine washable, you won’t mind using it to wipe up drips and spills. 

$20, anthropologie.com


a close up of a flag: Elegant Christmas Decor, Holly Dish Towel

© Provided by Real Simple
Elegant Christmas Decor, Holly Dish Towel

Ceramic House Figurine

Consider these ceramic

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Here Are The Top Holiday Design Trends Of 2020

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The holiday season is here and due to the shutdowns, many people have started decorating early. After all, the pandemic has had an overarching influence on every design trend this year from home offices to DIY and renovation. Decorating for the holidays is no different.

Maximalism is the biggest holiday decor trend of 2020. After all, with fewer people making travel plans and more people staying home, there’s plenty of time to obsess over the details, take design risks and achieve the look you really want. And while our lives might feel less than glamorous right now, these decor trends certainly don’t reflect that. Here are this season’s top trends along with some helpful tips on how to decorate for the holidays in 2020.

Gold And Pink Christmas Trees

In 2018, black Christmas trees were a major trend. Two years

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Why This Is the Year to Go All Out With Holiday Decor

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The weekend before Thanksgiving, designer Eneia White took to Instagram to unveil a video of her swathing her Queens apartment in over-the-top Christmas decor. “Since I’m not going home for Thanksgiving, I used the final leg of my vacation last week to create a holiday explosion in my apartment,” she explained in the caption. While she may physically be solo this season, White is hardly alone in her newfound attitude towards holiday decorating. In a year that has been tumultuous at best, often difficult and depressing—and at a time when we’re spending more time than ever at home—there might be no better reason to pull out all the stops for end-of-year merriment. Early decorating timelines, larger-than-life ornament displays, whole-house decorations: We’re dubbing this reinvigorated passion for holiday decor Christmaximalism—and many of our favorite creatives are in on the trend.

This content is imported from Instagram. You may be able

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