How We Got a Puppy For Christmas

How do you say no to kids who want a little dog to have a home for the holidays?

It all started when my daughter found out animal shelters allow people to foster a pet-- without having to permanently adopt it. After she pleaded, and I made her sign a contract that said she would walk it in the morning and late at night and do all the feeding and cleaning up, we began to fill out online forms for fostering. PAWS Chicago, a no-kill humane shelter on Clybourn Avenue, was the first to respond, and soon we became the proud foster home of Goldie, a female boxer-pit bull mix. She's three months old.  Earlier: Foster your own pet I have my reservations about pit bulls, but little Goldie has a sweet face and disposition.  My daughter, a teen, spends hours playing with Goldie--whom we now call Bailey--and she and my son do their…

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So You Don't Celebrate Christmas Today, What's Your Plan Instead

Whether for religious reasons or because of work, not everyone is celebrating the holiday today.

For those who don't celebrate Christmas today (or any day) Dec. 25 can still be a nice day. Almost everyone has the day off, so maybe you take advantage of that to spend the day with family and friends. Downtowns, parks and streets are usually empty, so perhaps you hit a favorite ethnic restaurant that's open or go for a quiet run or long walk.  For those working, the day often means visits from family bearing the gift of a home-cooked meal and the promise of a Christmas celebration on another day. What's your non-Christmas Christmas Day tradition?

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Track Santa's Journey on Christmas Eve

Track Santa's trek around the world on Christmas Eve with NORAD's Santa Tracker.

NORAD will have its Santa Tracker live on its website on Dec. 24. Be sure to check back throughout Christmas Eve so you can track Santa as he begins his journey around the world. 

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Make Your Own Marbleized Ornaments

A step-by-step guide on how to make your own elegant additions to the Christmas tree, and avoid expensive manufactured ornaments.

This past holiday season, I set out to look for new decorations for my Christmas tree. My living room was newly decorated with items from Thailand, accented with warm blues, greens, and browns. I hoped to find ornaments that would compliment the color additions to my home. Unfortunately, most of the holiday decorations were bright green, red, and white, and none of them matched my decor. I eventually discovered a glass ornament stand on the upper-level of the mall filled with a spectrum of swirling tones in warm rich colors. I selected a few that I loved the most and checked the price tags - $35 each! Disappointed but not defeated, I sought out a less expensive way to decorate my tree and still keep a sophisticated look. Using a little bit…

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Robert Morgansfield

12:48 pm on Monday, January 24, 2011

My grandson and I followed the steps, he was excited because of all the colors were swirled. On the glass as well as him self. It was fun   more ›

Holiday Recipes: Cookies, Candy and More

Patch editors from across Chicagoland share some of their favorite Christmas recipes.

Patch.com editors from across the Chicago area dug into their cookbooks and came back with some of their favorite holiday recipes to share with readers. We hope you enjoy. Happy Holidays! Share your favorite holiday recipes with Patch! Send your recipe as well as any photos to Editor Amie Schaenzer at amie.schaenzer@patch.com and we will include your recipe in this article.

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Interfaith Couples Find a Balance During the Holidays

Christmas trees and Hanukah menorahs sit side by side in many homes.

During Hanukah, Glencoe residents Renata and Greg Bregstone light a menorah and give their children a small gift for each of the Jewish holiday's eight days. But at the same time, their children, ages 3 and 5, are also counting down to Christmas with an Advent Calendar. Decorations for both holidays are displayed in the window and a Hanukah banner that their children decorated hangs above the fireplace beside a Christmas tree. Renata is Catholic and Greg is Jewish and both wanted to raise their children with the holidays they grew up with, but have come to value the different perspective celebrating both traditions provides. “I want them to be open-minded and understanding of others,” Renata said. The challenge of getting that balance …

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Where to Cut Your Own Christmas Tree

Patch put together a map of cut-your-own Christmas tree farms for the northern Chicago suburbs.

Are you one of the 21 percent of United States homes that have a real Christmas tree? That's the number of people that opt for the real deal, according to the University of Illinois Extension's Christmas Tree fact page, compared to 48 percent who chose to have an artificial tree. (The rest don't have a tree.) If so, then perhaps you're also part of the 21 percent of those with real trees who like to cut them down yourself at a tree farm. Patch has assembled this map of cut-your-own Christmas tree farms in the vicinity of the northern Chicago suburbs. Click on the pins for more information about the farm or move the map around and zoom in on an area near you. Happy chopping!

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Yuji and Kai

Celebrating Hanukkah, and Christmas, Too!

Anticipating a week of special moments.

We are one of THOSE types of families. Yes, we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah.  Well, kinda, sorta.  We have a Christmas tree and a menorah. And our Christmas tree has a dreidel ornament. But please don’t ask me too many questions about the Maccabees.  My knowledge only goes so far. My wife and I grew up celebrating Christmas, so the Jewish holidays are still rather new to us. The details of why we now celebrate them are for another time. Suffice to say that we now have dear family members who are Jewish. Because of our joint celebrations, this is a huge week for our son.  The past two years, there was no overlap between Hanukkah and Christmas.  Last year, for example, Hanukkah began in early December. So there was a clear …

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Betsy and Sal

Wrap It Up

Finding a gift is only half the battle.

Did you know that 33 percent of all Americans have, at any given time during the year, at least one wrapped, yet-to-be opened Christmas present stashed in a basement or a closet or an attic?  I know this is true for two reasons. First, because my sister-in-law Collette told me, and she’s smart. Second, because right now, as I sit upstairs typing, there lurks in my basement not one but two pristinely wrapped gifts from two years ago, languishing in the deepest recesses of the furnace crawl space, simultaneously gathering dust and emitting low-levels of guilt. To the young, or the newly married, or the men, it may seem odd to harbor a backlog of gifts. But among my cohort of been-there, done-that, given-and-received-and-returned all of it, …

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