CBS News
Best winter decor for your home this Hannukah and Christmas 2023
The fastest way to get in the holiday spirit is by decorating your space. We’re talking putting up wreaths and adding a touch of classic green and red for Christmas, or breaking out the menorah and adding some blue to the home for Hannukah.
Start shopping now and check out our favorite winter decor picks. Explore our coziest finds from Anthropologie, Walmart, Williams Sonoma and more. There are reviewer-loved options for a range of budgets here, including candles and Christmas trees.
Get ready to fall in love with the winter pieces and holiday decor ahead.
Philips Hue Christmas Festavia 65′ string lights
Even Santa would approve of decorating your Christmas tree, as well as your mantle, your curtains and your windows, using Philips Hue Festavia 65-foot smart string lights.
Each string includes 250 individual mini smart LEDs that are app-controlled and can work in conjunction with all other Philips Hue smart lighting products that use a Philips Hue Bridge (sold separately or as part of a smart lighting kit).
The Festavia string lights are also available in a 130-foot length that includes 500 individual mini lights ($360). Both sets can be set up to sync with your favorite holiday music.
Why we like these lights:
Forget about your old basic string lights that go out after every holiday season. These are even app-controlled.
The Pioneer Woman LED village decor
Looking for an affordable Christmas village piece? This LED light-up decorative holiday village is a fun indoor decor piece to add to your home this Christmas. It features a red building with a vintage truck parked out front and some quaint lights. It also shares a bold, cheerful “Merry Christmas” message at the bottom.
Why we like this decor:
This cute decor piece with a fun vintage look offers a slice of Oklahoma. It’s battery-operated and easy to set up.
The Pioneer Woman mug Christmas ornament bundle: $15 (25% off)
Add a bit of holiday joy to your tree with these adorable mug holiday ornaments from The Pioneer Woman. The set of four includes mug ornaments with festive sayings like “stay cozy” and “be jolly.”
The ornament bundle includes red and green ribbons to hang on your tree. It’s a fun decoration for hot chocolate or coffee lovers.
Why we like this ornament bundle:
Each mug ornament is filled with faux whipped cream and a peppermint stick, creating the appearance of a festive holiday cocoa cup.
Hanukkah string party lights
Who says that only a Christmas tree can light up your space? These Hanukkah string party lights shaped like menorahs instantly add a pop of light and decoration to your home. These lights can decorate your walls, windows, floors, pianos, gardens, tabletops, fireplaces, doorframes, gateways, stair handrails and more.
Not only are these lights adorable, but they’re also ultra-affordable. Walmart has the string lights on sale for just $6 (regularly $11).
Batteries required.
What we like about these Hanukkah string party lights:
These adorable lights are shaped like menorahs. They can decorate and brighten many spaces in your home.
Williams Sonoma Hanukkah doormat
Welcome everyone to your space with a sweet Happy Hanukkah doormat. This mat is woven from natural coconut fibers and decorated with fade-resistant dyes. Not only is it festive, it’s also functional. Its rugged bristles absorb moisture, resist mildew and trap dirt.
This door mat makes a cheerful Hanukkah addition to your entryway.
Why we like this doormat:
The decoration is made with fade-resistant dyes. It will also help keep your interior floors clean thanks to its rugged bristles.
Mr. Christmas Alexa compatible 7.5′ Christmas tree
This reviewer-loved artificial Vermont spruce Christmas tree from Mr. Christmas is at the top of our Christmas yard wishlist. It comes in 5 sizes, but right now you’ll get the best deal on the 7.5-foot version. It’s currently 10% off on Amazon.
This Christmas tree’s lights feature 40 colors and functions, including a gorgeous sparkle setting. You can also schedule the lights to turn on and off. Just tell Alexa.
Why we like this Christmas tree:
There are 40 ways to display the lights on this tree. It offers voice control with Alexa. It’s quick to setup and easy to store.
Lego wintertime polar bears building kit
The festive 312-piece Lego set includes two adorable polar bears and a Christmas tree to build. Reviewers report that it makes a fun activity to do with children, and doubles as a holiday decoration.
“My daughter had so much fun building the polar bears,” said one Walmart customer. “It even looks cute with our Christmas decorations!”
“This is the perfect pre-holiday gift that will get your little ones excited about the season and add to your holiday decor,” said another buyer. “You can never go wrong with (a) Lego Set.”
The set is recommended for ages 9 and up. Get it on sale now for $10 (regularly $31) at Walmart.
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Reporters’ notebook: A reflection on our return to Butler 84 days later
It was hard to miss the massive American flag towering over the Butler Farm Show ground on July 13 as it waved over the rally site where former President Donald Trump was set to speak, just days before a crucial running mate selection and the Republican National Convention.
On July 13, the two of us, who had been tag-teaming coverage of Trump’s third run for president for over a year, went to what we thought would be a typical Trump rally in an open field in a Pittsburgh suburb, a crucial electoral area in a crucial battleground state. It ended with a gunman trying to take Trump’s life, and the death of a fireman, Corey Comparatore.
We stood front and center in the press area at 6 p.m. and Trump took the stage (an hour late, as can be the case) and knew right away that something wasn’t right when what sounded like firecrackers went off to our left. That’s where shooter Thomas Crooks had climbed up onto an unprotected building just outside of the security perimeter and fired multiple shots.
A hydraulic lift that held up a massive stack of speakers was struck, sending smoke shooting out and the speakers slowly fell towards the ground, and as we took cover (ground twice), all we could think was to pull out our phones and get to work. Olivia recorded the sounds of panicked journalists and attendees alike huddled along the press riser and bicycle racks separating us, the shrieks of scared children, and, realized only upon listening many times since, the sound of those around Corey Comperatore yelling for assistance.
Jake spoke with emergency room Dr. James Sweetland, who ran to help Comperatore, and said that he heard the gunshots and went to assist, finding Comperatore “jammed between the benches” before attempting to save his life.
We both stood in shock as the crowd turned on us in the moments after Trump’s motorcade sped out of Butler, with one man yelling “This is your fault!”
What was to be a typical Trump rally wasn’t so typical anymore.
Eighty-four days later Trump returned, and so did the two of us, taking the same route from downtown Pittsburgh, parking in the same location, and enduring a similar heat with no shade in the press pen alongside fellow reporters who, just like us and the former president, chose to return and confront our trauma.
The stage was set up in the same location, with that same American flag looming over Trump and the crowd behind him on that day.
But for everything that was the same that day, there were striking differences. The building where the gunman had climbed up, crawled across, and ultimately fired fatal shots, was completely obstructed from the view of the crowd by tractor trailers. Several teams of snipers were stationed throughout the rally site. It was perhaps the largest crowd we have seen thus far at a Trump rally.
And we are not the same people. Witnessing the events of July 13 took away our feeling of safety while doing our jobs, and the effects of that continue to impact us. There was a moment of shock at one point, when the speaker on stage paused as the crowd shouted “medic” for a woman who fainted. We were frozen in fear hearing the same words that were shouted in the seconds after Trump’s assassination attempt, as people were shouting for a medic to take care of Comperatore.
But like July 13, we had to go to work. Like those in the crowd of tens of thousands that chose to return, there was a sense of unfinished business on this fairground. We had continued on to Milwaukeee and the Republican National Convention to cover Trump’s first public appearance since Butler, but we knew that we had to come back here, no matter how painful it was to land back in Pittsburgh, head north on Route 79 and pull off at the Butler Farm Show, and finish the job: for the two of us, for CBS News, for the country.
Unlike other speakers on the stage Saturday who championed Trump’s words of “fight, fight, fight,” Sweetland went out of his way to mention he is a former Democrat and pleaded with the crowd to reach out and find five Democrats with whom they could find commonality.
“Democrats are like teenagers,” Sweetland said. “You think they aren’t listening, but they are.”
Eight-four days later, the entire race has changed, and so have we.
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