Ep. 445: Holiday Throwback Special, Pt. 3 - Carson Kressley's Holiday Must-Haves

27:25Carson Kressley:Yes, exactly. You know, zhuzh it up a little bit. that's a great way you know if you have an artificial garland that's kind of your base for your mantle or i do one on my stairway um banister you can always supplement it with real greenery and it really looks fantastic yeah yeah like adding in a little bit and then a great ribbon i mean you're done yeah yeah and that's some of those garlands that's where i'll change it up a little bit. Like my stairway garland that goes down the banister in my living room, that room is very kind of like has a lot of aqua and pale green. And I have like the antelope, those topi antelope rugs.

28:10Carson Kressley:So I decided I was going to do like an aqua inspired like garland coming down the stairs. So I added aqua poinsettias and they're very like silvery and very 1950s an aqua ribbon in velvet and it looks really pretty and i've never done that before so sometimes these like trendy little like tryouts become your traditions as well so now i'm going to do that again in that space so do you um yeah are you like a red and green kind of christmas fan or you you do mix up the colors every year i mix it up um and this is a this is very controversial but I don't do the same holiday color story throughout my house.

28:55Carson Kressley:I do it based on the room. So like I said, my more formal living room has a Robin's egg blue tufted velvet Chesterfield sofa. So there's a lot of aqua kind of tones in there. So in that room, I just do like the 1950s shiny bright ornaments which are all kind of very metallic and aqua and magenta and silver and gold and then I do that aqua ribbon down the staircase so that's a very like non-traditional palette for holiday but it's still sparkly and festive and then my family room is more it's got warm walnut paneling and it's much more traditional, I guess. So in there I do like a red and green, very traditional, lots of tartan.

29:49Carson Kressley:In my foyer, I do almost like no color. It's just white lights on two like skinny Christmas trees. And that's very like neutral and I have a big magnolia wreath hung over a mirror. And that's another great tip. You know, wreaths aren't just for doors. Hang them in windows. Hang them over your bookcases. Hang them over a piece of artwork. Hang them in front of the mirror. I think a wreath is just, you know, so chic and classic. And I try to put them everywhere I can, literally. Yeah. Hi, listeners. If this episode has inspired you to tackle a project in your own home, we want to help with a special offer just for podcast fans.

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31:07I mean, there's nothing prettier than a great, especially like an antique mirror with a pretty wreath on it and great bow. I mean, yeah.

31:15Carson Kressley:Yeah, you're done. It's actually really simple and can be really cost effective and just have a lot of impact. I really love the idea of choosing your decor for your room. So you're not rearranging your entire life around this holiday. You're really crafting the holiday to you. That's really good. sometimes people are like oh my gosh I've got to change all my plants and my artwork or some people go a little cuckoo bananas and get all new bedding that's holiday inspired. I don't do that. That would be way too much of an overhaul. So yeah I kind of tailor my decor to the space as it already exists and like I said you know maybe I'll just go around in every room and add boughs of greenery.

32:05Carson Kressley:That little simple thing of just putting, you know, a magnolia swag above a painting can do the trick and it makes it feel festive and special, but you're not changing out your entire design. Yeah. And there's so many holiday colors. I mean, blue and white, I think, is a great holiday. Like purple, deep purple is a Christmas color. Pins and reds. Yeah. I mean, Yeah, mauves. You know, you could do something more Victorian. You could do all of the neutrals and do like a very like, you know, prairie farmhouse-y kind of, you know, neutral look. I'm a big believer that, you know, the holidays are like every single color.

32:47yeah and why not pick something that is going to complement what you already have it's like you would never pick a lipstick that was going to just be red but not match your outfit or not coordinate with your outfit you know what i mean you're going to pick something that goes so

33:01Carson Kressley:yeah exactly it just it makes it um because the decor can be like over the top also i feel like if the colors kind of work with the room already it's not jarring because you don't want it to be garish, but you do want it to be, you know, over the top and festive because that's what the holidays are all about. And if you, no matter what color it is, if you put some like metallics and some greenery, some garland in a wreath, like it'll look Christmassy. Yeah, absolutely. What about at Christmas time? Are you typically in Pennsylvania? Are you in New York? And what is your hosting situation? Yeah, Christmas, I like to hunker down.

33:44Carson Kressley:Usually I'm working like right up until like maybe mid-December. And then when that rolls around, I like to decamp at the farm and tweak all the decor. And then the only like big entertaining I do at the farm is I will have Christmas Eve for my immediate family. My sister has a farm next to mine, so it's very easy. She makes some of the food. We're not Italian by any means. We're all German and French, but we somehow do an Italian Christmas Eve and lasagna and a little bit of the Feast of the seven fishes ish with like a shrimp cocktail, blue cheese wedge salad. Um, so I will do Christmas Eve and that is a great time to just, you know, have all the lights twinkling and have, um, I have a couple fireplaces and I have one.

34:43Carson Kressley:I'm so fortunate. I have one in one of my dining areas in my breakfast room. And because there's only like six or eight of us, we'll have it in there and I have a fire going and it's, you know, the wood is crackling and you're having some nice, you know, red wine. And, um, yeah, you can see some pictures on my Instagram. I think I've saved some of those, you know, where you tag the story permanently. I think they're up there. Um, you can see Thanksgiving and I think Christmas Eve. So it's all about keeping it cozy and family focused. And I just love the farm at the holidays. And sometimes, you know, we'll get a little snow and it's just quite courier and ives and very idyllic.

35:28Sounds magical. You know what I love about the idea of a Thanksgiving or a Christmas Eve lasagna is as much as a pain in the neck, the lasagna is, at least you can make it even two weeks in advance and put it in the freezer

35:41Carson Kressley:and just bake it. and it's not, you know. Yeah, for those of us who are not, even though I do some things with the Food Network, I am not a food maker. I'm a food eater. So any of these holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, whatever, baby showers, any kind of entertaining you can do where it's kind of a one-pot superstar like lasagna that can be made ahead of time, you're going to thank yourself because then you're not preparing food while people are there and you're supposed to be hosting and handing out glasses of wine. Are you a good multitasker? Do you like people to be in your kitchen when you're cooking?

36:24Or are you more of like, you can't, you know, focus if you're...

36:29Carson Kressley:Yeah, I'm very bossy, naturally. And if people are in my kitchen and they're moving things, they're saying, where's the spoon for the... I'm just like, I've got it. So I try to, you know, have people run interference and keep them away until everything is ready. And then I pop in and say, hey, do you need a wine? Oh, here's some more spiced nuts. And then when dinner is served, I will see you. So I'm probably not a great hostess in that way because you're supposed to have everybody pitching in and helping, but I just like it to be perfect. So I just do it my way. Now, what about your bar? Do you have just wine or do you do a signature cocktail for the holidays?

37:13Carson Kressley:yeah um i'm really lucky because when i bought my house in pennsylvania just in from the foyer so you like enter a foyer and then the next doorway you go through there is an actual full-on bar like with bar stools i have the um they're like a natural like wicker bar stool they're actually from ballard i have four bar stools there it has a big um kind of a marble slab It has underbar lighting. I have a beautiful lamp on the bar. I have an old, big, giant brandy snifter full of antique matches from restaurants in the area from like the 70s. It's giving regal beagle from Three's Company vibes. And it's great because, and I didn't design this house, but the architect who did, it was really smart because you come into the foyer, get rid of your coats, say hello.

38:13Carson Kressley:And then the next moment that you experience is an actual bar. It has a little room behind it with a full-on freezer and refrigerator, wine fridge. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, it's a dream. It makes entertaining so easy. So if I'm having a party party, I will have a bartender there. Every Christmas, I forgot, I also have this one thing that I do. My mom is 86 years old. and her friends were never getting together except for sad things like funerals or awful things. So I was like, now that I have a big house in the country that's perfect for entertaining, I do a little holiday brunch for her and her friends.

38:57Oh my gosh, that's so adorable. I love that idea. Yeah.

39:02Carson Kressley:Usually the first Saturday in December, it's not super cold, hopefully. Hopefully the weather's decent. I get a valet car parker person. Um, so the little old ladies don't have to park their car. And then we do like, um, it's an afternoon. It's like from one to four and I'll do like a tea and it's finger sandwiches and, um, little sweet treats and holiday cookies. And none of them like to drink, but we'll have like, they do like a little bit of Merlot. so we'll have some wine and for that I do have a bartender I have one of my favorite you know wait wait staff people at my restaurant that I go to she volunteers and comes over she's a volunteer but she comes over and she is my bartender so I have a big bar I have everything in there and people can just order up whatever they want um that is such a good idea yeah yeah Yeah, I just, if you're going to have a holiday party, like a big party with like 25 or 30 people or more, I always say, if you have a favorite wait person at your favorite restaurant, like whatever it is, most of them during the holidays, you know, on Saturday afternoon, they're not working, they would love to come and get some extra cash in their pocket.

40:20Carson Kressley:and they can help make drinks and they can help clean and kind of keep your house organized and tidy while the party is going on so you can flit around and be the hostess with the mostess. So it's well worth it. Yeah, that's smart. Especially because when you are hosting, I mean, I think we all want to be able to like go refill the ice bucket or, you know, get another pack of tonic or whatever, but there's just so many things to do and so many people to talk to that you probably aren't able to be as, you know, observant as you. Yeah. It's great to, it's great to have that extra person. I also, like if it's a lot of people, I'll have, um, just, um, a local like friend of the family, like a teenager, I'll have them be like coat check and they're there to greet people at the door.

41:14Carson Kressley:Can I take your coat? And that keeps things really organized as well. So one or two little extra sets of hands is so worthwhile. Yeah. I think last time when we spoke last summer, you were talking about having a little rolly cart for coats for your Christmas party. And that's such a smart idea. And you can usually get those and like take them apart. So You could always just keep it in a closet or something, put it together for your party. They go under the bed and they're great. Just the little collapsible rolling racks are great for party coats. I have them at the farm. They're even great for if I'm going on a big trip.

41:56Carson Kressley:Say I'm going on a cruise for like a week or if I'm filming a show, I'll use those rolling racks to like just put all of my outfits on for the trip. And I pack day by day. and when you see them, it goes back to my stylist days where I just have all the looks and I'll literally Polaroid the looks and have a look number and they can go in a bag. Smart. You do that for packing? I'm a very lonely, sad person, you guys. That sounds genius to me. Totally. I do that for important trips. If I'm shooting a TV show, like Barbecue Brawl, we make in Austin, Texas every year. I do not live in Austin, Texas, So I have to bring everything with me.

42:38Carson Kressley:I bring my own wardrobe. And that I will actually like do the complete look, put everything, you know, in three hangers and put that in a garment bag and be like, this is look one for day one. And then I have a unique outfit for every episode. I'm not forgetting the belt or the shoes or the socks or the underwear. It just all goes in the bag. When you do that and you're taking the Polaroid, is it like a Polaroid of you in it or is it like laid out? all styled on the bed or something. It's laid out on a checkerboard tile floor. Yeah. In like a bathroom. I like that. I love that idea for a... Just because that's the way I do it.

43:16Yeah. But even for a trip, especially if you're trying to fit everything into a, you know, like a small bag or a carry-on, it helps you kind of either say, okay, I can repeat this. I don't know. It helps you plan and not overpack.

43:30Carson Kressley:Also, when you use the rolling rack and you see all the looks together, you can see what's going to work with other outfits like just seeing the whole landscape of everything and knowing every day what you're doing um it's really helpful because uh over packing is what causes you to have like overweight luggage and too many things so if you have it all laid out for the whole trip and you can see every piece you're not going to duplicate as much it's like a design board but for your it is yeah for your i love that for your week or wherever how many days you're going away i'm gonna copy that because i do like to have a christmas party and the coat thing is a problem because people don't you know they're always like where do i put the coat but then where do i hang my bag you don't want to carry your bag so yeah yeah and in new york you know the way i entertain in new york versus the way i entertain at the farm is so different.

44:27Carson Kressley:In New York, I have the rolling racks. They're out in my hallway. We won't tell the fire marshal. No, I know much to the chagrin of my building, but no one needs to know. And I invite all my neighbors so they don't turn me in. And I don't have the space in my apartment, so I do rolling racks out there. And nobody has room in their closets. Even if you have a coat closet in your foyer. Mine's full of my own coats. Like I am a coat fanatic and I have like 85 coats and they're like in my front hallway. So I still have to do the rolling rack and put it like in the laundry room. And I don't want people opening my closet.

45:07Like I don't want you to see that mess. You know?

45:09Carson Kressley:No, I know. I know. I try to keep mine pretty organized. But at holiday time, there's a lot of things just shoved in there. So you could have a closet avalanche very easily. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, you tell everyone in case they have not heard, because like I mentioned, I went back and listened to our episode from last time. You were talking about the menu for your Christmas party. And so I wanted you to tell everyone about that here in case they didn't hear that episode. Yeah, in New York, again, smaller space, not quite as many people, although I've had probably 100 or 150 people in my New York apartment at one time.

45:53Carson Kressley:It is a one bedroom. They were jammed in there, but it's so fun and so festive. For that party, I do a buffet. I order chicken tenders from Kentucky Fried Chicken. I do a catering order. I get 100 pieces. I put them on a silver platter, like an antique horse show platter from the New Orleans horse show from 1951. and I stack them beautifully. I make a homemade champagne mustard dipping sauce, which the chicken tenders from KFC are so freaking delicious. People go mad over them. And then you have like a delicious, like really high-end dipping mustard. People go bonkers. They love it. And then I'll do, maybe I'll do like a country ham, like a pre-sliced spiral ham and a bunch of biscuits.

46:48Carson Kressley:And I do a very Southern kind of thing. And also people in New York are like, what are these ham and biscuit things? I'm like, that is a Kentucky staple. Um, and then I'll do like crudités, um, some cheeses and different crackers and dips. And you're basically done. Like it, it can be really, really simple. Um, and then people can just, you know, help themselves. And again, even in New York, I do invest in a bartender. that's really important for a New York City party. I'll usually have a pitcher of a signature cocktail, you know, maybe it's some kind of like, you know, mistletoe martini and it's, you know, red and it's made with like some special ingredients that make it holiday.

47:32Carson Kressley:And then I'll still have like a full bar with just the basics. Like I don't have any like, you know, blue curacao or whatever, but I have, you know, all the classic, you know, gin, vodka, rum, whatever. And like the mixer, the easy mixers. Yeah. Yeah. And the easy mixers for sure. I loved the idea of the chicken fingers because I mean, who does not go to a spread that has chicken fingers and not want one? I mean, they're just so they're just so good. I think parties are the time to serve things that people like to eat. So I am not, like, I don't get fancy with it. Like, who doesn't love a Swedish meatball out of a crock pot?

48:19Carson Kressley:Like, they're so warm and yummy and delicious. So things like that, party classics, pigs in a blanket, those types of things, I just, I serve them and people love them. Mm-hmm. But just that personal twist of the homemade dipping sauce is perfect. And on the silver bladder. Yeah, perfect. And the silver bladder. Yeah. It's presentation. It's having the right kind of accessories. And you just want it to be delicious. And I think if you do those homemade sauces, that makes the difference. What about glassware? Do you use a real wine glass? Do you use a plastic cup? What do you do for glassware? Because that's trickier, I think, than a plate.

49:00It is, yeah.

49:02Carson Kressley:What I do is I use, there's a company called American Stationery, and they do frosted plastic cups. And I know they're plastic, and I know that's bad, so don't judge. and then I get them monogrammed with either my monogram, like in New York, it'll have a CLK, it'll be in a diamond pattern, it'll be hunter green on a frosted cup, and everything goes in there, wine, cocktails, whatever. But then everybody's holding the same cup. I am a person who washes their plastic throwaway cups and I reuse them again because I'm guilty and I also just feel like, why not? I mean, I hate throwing things away. So if I have barbecues at the farm in the summer, it says Fox Hill Farm, like 4th of July, I get those custom printed cups again.

49:56Carson Kressley:But you reuse them for each party. That's smart. And I do reuse them. When I have those little tea parties for my mom and her friends, I get her monogram, you know, in like the very frilly, you know, 1970s on a sweater kind of monogram. So that's my trick. And then I get cocktail napkins that have the same monogram or have Fox Hill Farm and a little fox head. And I order those in advance, but I usually have a lot of leftovers and I almost always have extras on hand. So those custom tricks, like the monogram napkins and the monogram cups, just make your party feel really thoughtful and cohesive.

50:38Carson Kressley:and I think people really think it's cool and think, wow, this is great. You really thought of everything. And they feel taken care of, which is what hospitality is all about. Yeah. I love it. You are such a wonderful host and I love getting to hear your system. And I feel like it's a good reminder to people like you have been doing it for a long time And therefore, each year you can kind of iterate and make it better and you get more comfortable. So it's just like have people over. Like don't worry so much in the beginning. Just start having people over and then you can build your, you know, arsenal.

51:19Carson Kressley:Yeah. You build kind of like your framework and you make it foolproof. And then you can just focus on having fun. And I think the thing that trips people up a lot is they think it needs to be fancy. and people just love simple, delicious things like pigs in a blanket and a monogrammed cup and a delicious homemade eggnog. Like you don't need a million choices and you don't need it to be like really elaborate, simple and delicious and simple and good looking, you know, in your design is always going to be appreciated by your guests. And the thing that they're going to remember is like how much fun they had at the party, how yummy the food was.

52:01Carson Kressley:how pretty your tree was. Those things all make for a great event. Well, I am so like inspired now to host a Christmas party and get ready to decorate. I always find it's hard kind of this time of year to like, it feels very daunting a little bit going into Christmas. So yes, feeling much better about it now. Yeah, there's so much to do. and I was a chronic overdoer. I would have like 85 things to eat and half of it would not be even touched and I would decorate every single surface. Now it's about strategy and you have like five or six really delicious things and you have one or two moments in your home that are gloriously decorated.

52:52Carson Kressley:It doesn't need to be really elaborate. it. You just need a couple of those great ingredients. And the more you do it, the better you will become at hosting and the easier it becomes. And it just kind of becomes second nature. And it's kind of like how I think our parents entertained. Like they would crack open a can of, you know, like Virginia cocktail peanuts and make whiskey sours. Like it doesn't have to be complicated. Yeah. And people just want to get together. So, you know, I think like, the host, you're going to put a lot of pressure on yourself for it to be perfect, but your guests are not at all putting that pressure on you.

53:35They're happy to be included, happy to come and bring wine and they don't, you know, they're not like judging your, you know, what you haven't done. Well, I am, but, um, no, no, I, I agree with you.

53:50Carson Kressley:I think everybody's there to just have a great time. And when people laugh and enjoy good food and good drink and good company. That's all they're concerned about.

54:04Hi team. I'm a long-time listener from Gothenburg, Sweden. Hope I said that right. Thank you, Liz, for that. A little bit of a dilemma that I hope that you brilliant ladies and Carson can help me with. The problem I have is with windowsills. What to put on them, how to make the windows look gorgeous, stylish, and nice. Pictures in magazines and on sites usually cut off by the windows or the windows are huge and missing windowsills. I have regular size windows with a regular size windowsill in a small house with no special features. I want to know how to decorate with plants and lamps and what else one can have on the windowsills.

54:35Not the curtains. I'm not too fond of empty windowsills, but I am doing something wrong because my curtains feel meh. I've included some pictures for my home, but I have this as a generic problem. So are there any guidelines to follow? When there is a patio door next to a window, when there is a sofa in front of the window, when there's a work table in front of the window, when there are a lot of plants. Do you have some ideas on how to make windows look good and stylish? What am I missing and doing wrong? Can I, and how do I move from meh to gorgeous? I don't really care about people looking in and I never draw the curtain.

55:08So privacy is not an issue, but during the winter, the outside is black from four to 5 PM and eight to 9 AM. So basically all the time we're at home, the windows are dark. And so lamps are a bit of a must. Please help. I would love your input. but any specific products you can suggest would be highly appreciated. And I can drool on your website, and then I need to look elsewhere for alternatives in Sweden. Sorry about that, Pia. Carson, do you need me to pull up?

55:34Carson Kressley:Yeah, could I see the photo? Yes. And it looks like she has radiators underneath a lot of her windows, and then she's got shelves over the radiators. So she's looking to really figure out how to decorate those spaces. Yeah, it's a common thing, too. Like in older, like Pennsylvania farmhouses, they'll have very deep windowsills. People want to put things on there. Or the radiator is right in front of the window with like a case over it that looks almost like a piece of furniture. You're thinking like, what do I put here? Right. Or a console, if someone had a console in front of their window. she's got a beautiful taste.

56:19She has these. Yes. Wallpapers. Yes. So she has the radiators in front of the windows.

56:27Carson Kressley:Do you hear that? Sounds like breakfast is ready because Quakers coming in hot with morning nutrition, 100 % whole grain oats and a good source of fiber to fuel the rhythm of your morning and kickstart your day. And that sounds absolutely delicious. Fuel to start whatever's next. Quaker, official sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26.

56:56And she sort of added some little accessories onto a ledge that is, looks like it's mounted above the radiator. Right. I mean, what are your initial thoughts?

57:13Carson Kressley:I mean, my initial thoughts are she's doing everything that you're supposed to be doing, which is, you know, your go-to, if you have a deep windowsill, if you have an older house with thick walls and has those inset windows, it is a great place to, you know, put like a marble slab and put several different potted plants in gorgeous containers because, you know, the go-to is a plant in the window. It's the best scenario for everything. And it looked, you know, it makes sense. I also like how she has a small lamp there. That's really charming from inside and also from the outside. Like seeing that lamp in the window is like a old fashioned symbol of hospitality.

57:55Carson Kressley:So at my farm, I have a couple different, you know, window setups where I have little lamps, or maybe I have a pharmacist's kind of like stand lamp in the window. So I think she's doing it right. I think you have to be careful with decorative items in front of a window because they will fade tremendously. So if you did, you know, like coffee table books or decorative boxes, those things can fade. So I think, you know, the beautiful porcelain pots with gorgeous plants in them is certainly a great go-to. Also, I was thinking, you can also kind of make the window the superstar. And I see these windows are just basic.

58:42Carson Kressley:They're casement windows with white frames. But in this particular room that we're looking at, which has a green floral wallpaper all over, even on the ceiling, wouldn't it be fabulous to do a little bit of a different green, a shade lighter or darker and lacquer the window frames and make the window frame the actual star because I know she lives in Sweden where Elske is, Sveira. I did one season of Sweden's Next Stop Model and I learned how to say that. That means we love you, Sweden. But they don't get a lot of light, especially in the winter. So you want to keep your windows kind of open and bare.

59:22Carson Kressley:Why not paint those window frames in a beautiful lacquer and maybe ditch the curtain panels and make the frame the star and kind of highlight that architecture and then just keep the actual windowsill scape simple with two or three beautiful plants in gorgeous containers. Yeah, Pia, I think you're doing a much better job than you think you're doing. I mean, this particular one where she's got these little sort of like miniature busts and she's got all white pots and then she's got one with these sort of great like funky white candlesticks i mean i think she's doing it right like she's got levels she's got different shapes i mean i love all of your ideas about um i love the idea of painting some of the windowsills especially in that wallpaper room that would be so pretty yeah And certainly the fading thing is something to consider.

1:00:22Carson Kressley:Yeah. The other thing I was thinking too, I know you want to have a lot of light and the panels going up to the top of the ceiling are exactly what you should be doing. But if you wanted to change up the aesthetic a little bit and maybe make it a little bit more modern, I would even think about doing cafe curtains on, you know, a slim black rod and slim, you know, kind of matte black rings to hold the cafe curtains. And that gives you just a beautiful backdrop for some of those vignettes she's creating on the windowsill in front. And then they can easily be opened up when you need more light. But when you don't, you have kind of a nice, beautiful textile backdrop to the vignettes in the windowsill, if that makes sense.

1:01:16I do love how she's kind of gone monochromatic with the items. you know like um it's very sculptural which i think keeps it from looking like cluttered it

1:01:29Carson Kressley:feels yeah it could i think if they were all different colors it would look like a lot of tchotchkes and i love tchotchkes but you've got to keep them organized either on a tray or uniform in color like she's doing here. So again, yeah, I think you're doing better than you realize because you're creating some really cohesive vignettes that make sense and look pretty. I mean, I always think that in terms of styling, it's about texture, shape, and height. So if you've got different heights, you've got some round, you've got some square, you've got, you know different textures all combined together then and you've got some negative space like that's kind of you just sort of play with those four until you see you you kind of hit the right like yeah the right formula yeah the right balance yeah yeah it feels like this particular picture where that um kind of um illustration little um model is there a little human figure i would even And put a stack of three vintage books that you don't care about getting faded from a flea market.

1:02:44Carson Kressley:Just to give that a little bit more interest and create some different levels. But I think she's doing a great job. Yeah. And thank you for listening all the way from Sweden. That's amazing. I know. That's incredible. I love that. She has great taste. I love all that she's done in each of these rooms. Especially this wallpapered room you mentioned. She's wallpapered the ceiling and the walls because it's sort of vaulted. Very charming. Yeah, that's lovely. Well, thank you for listening, Pia. We appreciate it. And thanks for writing in. And thank you, Carson. And I'll say it again. Vir elske sveria, Pia.

1:03:32Carson Kressley:That means we love you, sweetie. Hopefully that's what that means. Yes, it's been a while. Well, Carson, thank you so much. You know what? Actually, can you tell everybody what you're up to? What sort of projects are you working on that we can check out? Well, hopefully we will do another season of Barbecue Brawl that airs every summer on the Food Network. And my pal Bobby Flay is kind of at the helm. And I get to be one of the judges and a little kind of host on that. RuPaul's Drag Race We Are entering I believe our 17th Season is going Into production which is insane And that Usually airs you know right after the Holidays so like when you're looking for Your new show to get into in January Or February Yeah check out RuPaul's Drag Race On MTV And And gosh, I think that's it.

1:04:34Carson Kressley:But you can always check on my Instagram. I'm much more of an Instagram person than I am Twitter or X or whatever it's called. And or Facebook. But you can find me on all those platforms. But I really you can see exactly where I'm going to be and what I'm doing on my Instagram. Right now, I'm hosting a show on the strip in Las Vegas for a couple of weeks at the Flamingo Hotel. so that's RuPaul's Drag Race live it's super fun amazing and I get to live out my Donny Osmond fantasy and host a show in a Vegas showroom with round tufted velvet booths and it's really fun fabulous and who knows we didn't talk about it but I love flea marketing and thrifting so you might see me at a place like Scott's in Atlanta or I adore going to Round Top Texas in the spring and the fall for their big giant antique markets.

1:05:35Carson Kressley:So I get around. So follow me on social media and you can see exactly where I'll be and what I'm doing. Amazing. Well, thank you for, of course, joining us and we would love to have you back anytime because we're a big fan. I'm a big fan of you guys and I would love to come back anytime you want me. You just say the word. Will do, will do.

1:06:04Carson Kressley:Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just$15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. What a treat it was to listen to that conversation with Carson.

1:06:38His energy and passion for all things holiday are just so fun. His tips for holiday decorating and hosting remind me that throwing a party doesn't have to be overwhelming. like his genius tip for making decor work with your existing room and choosing colors with themes that complement what you already have or creating those personalized cups for the event because it's those thoughtful details that show your guests that you care about this special celebration. Personally, I followed his strategy for having a post-Thanksgiving tree trimming party and it was amazing. It's all about making those beautiful, abundant, and luxurious moments happen without any unnecessary stress.

1:07:20Thank you so much for joining us for this special holiday throwback series. This was the third and final part, and we hope that it brought some festive inspiration and joy. As we head into the thick of the holiday season, from all of us here at How to Decorate Podcast and Ballard Designs, we want to wish you and your family the happiest of holidays.