highlights holiday to-do list

This holiday season, highlights visited two local buisnesses that offer affordable and unique gifts along with a recipe for a festive pizza dish

BY MARCELA RONDON AND OLIVIA REBULL, STAFF WRITERS

As the holiday season approaches, homes and shops are slowly being decorated with twinkling air. Warm gatherings will not happen with the rising COVID-19 pandemic. With limited options as to how to have a fun and safe holiday lights and the welcoming holiday spirit fills the season, highlights has found plenty of fun and unique venues to visit. Luckily, Miami has a variety of unique spots, such as a customizable candle making experience to make this year’s unconventional holidays feel closer to home.

highlights Guift Guide

Coco Bella

When customers wander into Coco Bella — a small boutique in Coral Gables — during the holidays, they are greeted by vibrant red and green decorations. Every holiday season Coco Bella stocks up, selling festive gifts at an affordable price.

When searching for the perfect stocking stuffers customers do not have to venture far. Located on 305 Alcazar Ave. this small business is the perfect place to get holiday shopping done.

While seasonal products like their Hanukkah themed tote bags or “Merry” wood and marble cheese boards are only offered in December, Coco Bella sells products that loved ones can cherish all year round.

Know an animal lover? Look no further than the adorable sticker pins. Featuring otters, snails, frogs, cats and more these miniature pins are certain to bring a smile to anyones face.

Since opening in 2012, Coco Bella has focused on providing the public with items to make their home smell and feel ready for the holidays. They offer various candles ranging from $7 to $105, depending on the size, which are a favorite of employees and customers alike.

Coco Bella sells some of their signature adorned jars — recycled bottles used for decorative or giving purposes. Another extremely popular option are the holiday-themed cookie jars for $13.50, stuffed with the perfect bite-size chocolate chip cookies and tied with green ribbon. Coco Bella also offers hand towels that come in different holiday patterns such as green and red plaid, these can be purchased for $12.95.

Coco Bella offers nose-enchanting candles to fit everyone’s holiday mood and aroma preference.

Coco Bella is the perfect place to get last-minute holiday shopping done.

Candle Land

Candles are a staple for every Holiday celebration. Their warmth and light is both physical and symbolic, bringing friends and family closer together with lovely scents and colors. What better gift to give this season than a candle made at Wynwood’s Candle Land. Located at 2311 NW 2 Ave., Candle Land is an immersive experience for craft lovers who seek an aromatic getaway.

Upon entering, customers are greeted with scents ranging from white orchid to sandalwood, blending in the air, creating an entrancing aroma. The focal point of the shop is the organized crafting stations, equipped with all the tools to make a perfect candle.

Candle making is a hands-on experience with reservations to join a class costing $50 per person, but the experience outweighs the price. Each guided class is one hour long and by the end customers can take their candle home.

Their soy candle wax is FDA-approved and cruelty-free and more than twenty oils are available to make a unique aroma. The candles are completely customizable — they can be decorated with dried flower buds and petals — and serve as a perfect personalized gift this holiday season.

“I went to a candle making session with some friends and needless to say it was a delightful bonding experience,” customer Briana Sanchez said.

Gift giving brings as much joy as receiving gifts does and Candle Land is the perfect place to make customizable candles for loved ones.

Having opened in March, Candle Land owner and manager Stephanie Kokoszka keeps her business safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kokoszka has established procedures such as mandatory mask-wearing and limited class sizes to properly enforce social distancing.

Holiday Recipe

Candy Cane Pizza

Ingredients

- One 8-ounce tube of rolled crescent dough

- 1/3 cups of prepared pizza sauce

- 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella

- 24 slices of pepperoni

- Two tablespoons of white sesame seeds

- A handful of fresh basil leaves (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °.

2. Overlap two pieces of parchment to make a 24-inch-long piece.

3. Unroll the crescent dough and separate the triangles along the perforated lines.

4. Cut the triangles in half lengthwise so that you have 16 triangles.

5. Arrange the crescent triangles lengthwise in a long row on top of the parchment, with the pointy ends upright and the flat ends overlapping just slightly (the row should be as long as the parchment paper).

6. Gently press the overlapping pieces of dough together to seal. Spread the pizza sauce over the thickest part of the strip of dough (about 1 ½ inches thick).

7. Sprinkle the cheese over the sauce and top with a layer of pepperoni.

8. Fold the pointy ends of the dough over the top of the pepperoni tucking them under the dough to enclose the filling.

9. Gently curve the top end of the dough to the left to make a candy cane shape that is the length of the back of a baking sheet.

10. Transfer the parchment onto the back of a baking sheet.

11. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of the dough.

12. Bake for eight to 10 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

13. Tuck the basil leaves into the candy cane to make a bow.

14. Serve with more pizza sauce for dipping.

15. Serve and enjoy!