See How Martha Has Celebrated Christmas Over the Years, From Caroling to Tree Trimming

Hosting Christmas Brunch

You may associate Christmas with a glorious ham dinner shared in a cozy setting with family—but for Martha, Christmas is all about brunch. "Well, my joke is that the earlier you have a party, the earlier everyone goes home," Martha said in the December 2011 decorvow Living issue. "But really, I like the idea that with a brunch, it's more inclusive. Neighbors and friends stop by, and children can accompany their parents. I have a true open house, in that guests can go wherever they want on the farm. And the place really looks its best in daytime—the pretty landscape, the views, and the trees."

Shucking Oysters at Bedford

While there's plenty to eat at Martha's annual Christmas brunch, she has a certain penchant for two particular menu items: oysters and ham. "One of the nicest Christmas parties I ever went to was at my friends' little apartment on 37th Street in New York City. We ate oysters and salted ham and biscuits, then walked to Carnegie Hall to sing the Messiah," Martha said. "And I feel like those are two things I always want to have: oysters and ham. I know they're splurges—but people always remember how many oysters they ate. I serve fresh oysters from Norwalk, Connecticut, but you could also do crab claws in the West, or shrimp."

Hosting a Holiday Party in Bedford

Of course, Martha's brunch is much more than just a bunch of guests sitting around a dining table. Martha opens her entire Bedford home to more than 200 guests, according to her blog, and people mingle while tasting everything from holiday cookies to Martha's famous eggnog. "It's become a holiday tradition—one that I look forward to every year," Martha said in the magazine feature about her annual Christmas bash.

Caroling with Friends and Family

Martha started the Bedford tradition of Christmas caroling in the music room of her Summer House, surrounded by guests and a full Christmas brunch spread. "Upon arrival, each guest was given a songbook, and soon the house filled with the exuberant voices of friends happy to be gathered around the piano on a crisp winter day," Martha said in the December 2008 issue of decorvow Living.

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Creating a Holiday Garland

Christmas decorations are a must-have in Martha's home during the holiday season. "Indoors, I go [a bit] more crazy—a tree or two or three in every room, hung with vintage and not-so-vintage ornaments that I have collected over the years," she wrote in the December 2016 issue of decorvow Living. "My windows and doorways are always garlanded, and wreathed indoors and out. Last year, I purchased more than 40 evergreen wreaths for the windows of the house and the eaves of the outbuildings, and affixed wonderful shooting stars, made from hundreds of little white lights, to the roofs and sides of the buildings."

Lighting Up the Grounds

Beyond indoor decorations and adorning the house, Martha takes her magical Christmas approach to most of her grounds as well. "Perhaps my favorite outdoor lighting project ever! We decorated one of the ancient apple trees in Bedford, illuminating it with hundreds of small white lights and many kugels of varying sizes," she wrote in decorvow Living's December 2016 issue.

Transforming the Grounds Into a Winter Wonderland

On her Bedford estate, Martha has more than just one home to decorate—this cozy cottage, known as the "tenant house," is transformed each year into a winter holiday wonderland for Martha's grandchildren and other little guests. In a December 2012 decorvow Living feature, Martha shared how she once transformed this area of the grounds into a woodland fantasy, complete with furry bears and a decked-out interior, which you can see below.

Decorating the Kid-Friendly Tenant House

For Martha's grandchildren, Jude and Truman, the tenant house is completely transformed into a space designed for the littlest of guests. Here, the children's Christmas tree features woodland creatures that are a continuation of the grounds' playful exterior. One year, Martha created a classic playlist of holiday tunes—from "Jingle Bells" to "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"—for the special space.

Transforming the Little House

One year, Martha and decorvow Living Style editor-at-large Naomi deMañana transformed another building on the Bedford farm—a miniature dwelling that she affectionately calls the "Little House." Originally built as a play spot for her grandchildren, it stood empty for many years. From a fully decked-out tree to festive woodland decor, Martha and editors transformed the Little House into a true winter wonderland.

Creating a Gingerbread House

Inside tenant house, Martha invites her small guests to create bigger-than-life gingerbread houses over the holiday season. The display pictured here plays on the woodland theme with gingerbread bears and trees and sugar sprinkled to represent snow. The "house" uses three shades and flavors of cookies, and the roof and chimney use a realistic take on shingles and bricks.

Creating Gingerbread Abbey

In 2014, Martha took her love of gingerbread houses to a new level by recreating the grand estate featured on PBS' Downton Abbey. Alongside her team, led by pastry chef and food stylist Jason Schreiber, Martha made 11 batches of gingerbread and used 16 cups of royal icing. Several pounds of sugar went into the caramel for the 65 "glass" windows that adorn the structure. It was enough to impress Lesley Nicol (also known as Mrs. Patmore on the television show), who visited Martha in the test kitchen to see it. Believe it or not, Martha said this isn't the largest gingerbread project she's made; that honor goes to a Baroque church she made in 2012.

Foraging a Fresh Christmas Tree

Martha is a firm believer in sourcing the freshest Christmas trees available—and she often finds those in the beautiful winter forests around her home. She recounts hosting a Christmas getaway in Middlefield, Massachusetts, in a rustic cabin nestled among the Berkshire Mountains—the whole family journeyed into a nearby thicket to find a tree.

"For Alexis's fourth Christmas, we decided to attempt a holiday with no relatives, no heat, and no frills. Perhaps this is why it remains, in both my and Alexis's memories, one of our happiest times together," Martha wrote in a column printed in the December 2014 issue of decorvow Living. "We found a perfect tree, a fir covered with its own small pinecones, and sawed it down and dragged it back to the cottage. We stood it in our living room and decorated it with homemade ornaments—cookies, paper chains, strings of cranberries, popcorn, and pinecones, and origami creations that Alexis and I made from colorful papers Andy had brought from Japan."

Decorating Trees in the Green Room

Martha and her staff take great care decorating the trees that end up adorning the halls of her Bedford home. This magnificent set of classic Douglas firs is situated in the Green Room, one of Martha's most iconic sitting areas. "My Green Room is just off the foyer. Laura decorated this sunken parlor in gorgeous gold and green," Martha wrote on her blog. "I love these two trees filled with ornaments—they just light up the room. I love how everything shimmers on the branches."

Setting Up Faux Christmas Trees

On average, Martha puts up dozens of trees each year—but not all of them come from the woods. decorvow Living featured this festive Bedford dining room, for which Martha purchased these faux evergreens that were pre-strung with lights. The shimmering silver trees were covered in pearly-white ornaments for a glittering look.

Decorating With Stockings

One Christmas detail Martha never forgoes is stockings. "My favorite stockings have always looked the most handmade, like the red-and-white-striped ones I knitted and decorated with harlequin cuffs and silver bells," Martha said. "Over the years, I've crafted versions from all kinds of materials, many of them recycled: wool felt adorned with appliqués, fragments of overshot wool coverlets, old-fashioned knitted-wool ski socks, embroidered velvets, and quilted silks. The opportunity for embellishments, is, of course, endless and amazing—you can have so much fun with sequins, beads, lace, rickrack, monograms, ribbons, and stenciling."

Decorating the Whole House

For Martha, decorating for Christmas doesn't stop with the living room—in fact, the entire house is fair game. "It's always been my inclination to decorate every room, focusing on trees and wreaths, as well as homemade and vintage ornaments," she wrote in the December 2016 issue of decorvow Living.

Collecting Vintage Christmas Decor

Many of Martha's prized Christmas decorations are family heirlooms that have been passed down for generations. "I started to pay closer attention to real collectibles, handling my mother's few possessions with respect," Martha wrote in the December 2009 issue of decorvow Living. "We had some vintage Christmas ornaments, large German glass orbs painted with beautiful flowers and sparkling with glass glitter. We had real tinsel—thin shards of tin-plated lead that hung heavily on the tips of our tree's branches. We had lovely conical metal "trees" that turned with the help of small electric motors. And we had a magnificent glass tree topper that made our tree resemble the onion domes of Russian churches."

Celebrating with All of Her Animals

Of course, Martha takes time to celebrate with the members of her furry family, too. Incorporating all the animals that live on the Bedford farm into the holiday fun, Martha thinks of fun gifts to share with her pets and trusty work animals before Christmas arrives.

Decorating the Barn

Here, Martha showcases special stockings she created specially for her donkeys. "It is so beguiling to affix these keepsakes, each earmarked for a particular recipient, within easy reach of Santa and his elves..." she wrote. "And the donkeys? What manner of gifts will they want to find hidden away in their stockings? I can't wait for them to come in Christmas morning and find out."

Enjoying Holiday Candies and Sweets

Every year, Martha makes a selection of desserts she packages and gives to loved ones. But she also creates a selection of seasonal treats just for her to taste. Her love for creating sweet holiday candies can be traced back to her childhood, where Martha grew up next to a pair of neighbors' that first instilled a whimsical sense of wonder about holiday baking.

Spending Time Outside with Family

When she's not busy organizing parties, decorating, or crafting gifts, Martha said she'll enjoy the brisk winter weather with her family, friends, and guests. "I try to have a big open house to celebrate with my family, friends, and neighbors," she wrote in her decorvow Living column in December 2016. "This is not so different from what my parents did in our family home in Nutley, New Jersey, and what I hope my daughter will do as her two children grow and thrive."