Desert Sun Retreats 12/16/22

Bennion Deville Homes Voted Best Real Estate Company in the Desert

Bennion Deville Homes, the #1 real estate brokerage by production in the Coachella Valley, is honored to announce it has been voted the Best Real Estate Company in the desert by readers of The Desert Sun. The announcement was made at a recent Best of the Desert Awards Gala, held at the J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in scenic Palm Desert. In addition to taking home top real estate company honors, Scott Histed of the company’s Rancho Mirage office was voted the Best Real Estate Agent in the Coachella Valley, with Michelle White and Valerie Murphy of the Bennion Deville Homes Palm Desert office rounding out the top 3 vote getters. Bennion Deville Homes has won The Best of the Desert voting 3 of the past 4 years, taking home the honors in 2019 and 2020. Scott Histed has won the Best Real Estate Agent category for 3 straight years.

States Bob Deville, C.E.O. of Bennion Deville Homes, “Thank you to everyone who voted for us in the Best Real Estate Company category in the Best of the Desert voting this year. We would also like to recognize Scott Histed for taking home the top honors as the Best Real Estate Agent for the third year in a row, and congratulate Michelle White and Valerie Murphy for placing in the top 3 of the voting. Real estate is a relationship-driven business, so being voted as the best company by our peers and the communities and neighborhoods we serve means a lot to us. We have held the title of the number one company by production for going on 14 years, but it is the voice of the people that rings the loudest. Earning and justifying your trust and confidence in our agents and business

is everything, and we are proud to build our legacy in the Coachella Valley. The year ahead holds plenty of promise and opportunities in our market, and for our company. Whether you are currently working with a Bennion Deville Homes agent, or we have helped you in the past, we are excited to help you unlock possibilities for your real estate needs now and in the future.”

About Bennion Deville Homes

Founded in 2001 by real estate industry veterans Bob Bennion and Bob Deville, Bennion Deville Homes serves home buyers and sellers throughout Southern California. Bennion Deville Homes is a wholly owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. HomeServices is the largest real estate company in the nation based on closed transactions, strengthening Bennion Deville Homes and its standing as a top brokerage on the local, regional, and national stages.

Bennion Deville Homes agents serve in the primary markets of the Greater Palm Springs Area (Coachella Valley) and surrounding mountain communities of Riverside County. Coachella Valley offices include locations in Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, and La Quinta. Bennion Deville Homes also has an office in Garner Valley, Mountain Center in Riverside County.

Visit BDHomes.com for the location of the Bennion Deville Homes office nearest you. Follow us on major social media platforms @BDHSoCal for the latest local and national real estate and lifestyle news.

Bennion Deville Homes Palm Springs office.

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How to hygge

Stay cozy and content

Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is a Danish term that refers to a sense of coziness and well-being. These items help boost that sentiment in winter.

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Games and puzzles bring families together. Try the Darren Gygi collection from Sullivans Brands. $15.99 at sullivanshomedecor.com.

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USA TODAY NETWORK

Mini but very merry

Holiday villages a flexible tradition

Kim Cook ASSOCIATED PRESS

Whether in cardboard, wood or porcelain, little villages – with houses, shops, miniature figures and snowy fir trees – have long been part of many families’ holiday decorating tradition. They’re also popular now as part of an ongoing love of the cozy and the do-it-yourself. h “Nostalgia is at the forefront of holiday decor this year,” says Dayna Isom Johnson, a trend expert at the crafts site Etsy.com. “So it’s no surprise that tiny Christmas villages are trending.”

Crate & Barrel’s collection includes alpine homes and hotels as well as mid-century split levels and ranch homes. CRATE & BARREL VIA AP

Villages

“From classic scenery with snowy layers to modern ceramics with clean lines, families are putting their creative spin on this decades-old tradition,” she says.

Little 19th century-style villages came to America with European immigrants and were further popularized by the father of five-and-dime stores, F.W. Woolworth, who sold tiny German-made cardboard houses.

In the 1970s and ‘80s came ceramic houses; the company Department 56 began making their popular ones in 1976 and still do today. These sturdier buildings were easy to store seasonally.

Robin Zachary, who works as a prop stylist on commercial photo shoots, has amassed a collection of vintage cardboard houses, matchbox cars, bottlebrush trees and little people that she likes to set up for the holidays in her New York City home.

She advises checking out model train shops for accessories: “The scale is perfect for a holiday village vignette.”

She also suggests using fake snow to dress your display, “with a dash of silver or gold glitter mixed in, and snips of fresh evergreens placed in tiny containers.”

And if you’ve got limited space for a holiday display?

“I’d create a village as a centerpiece on a dining table or console,” Zachary says. “A large platter can serve as the base, lined with fake snow and fresh evergreen branches that encircle your village. That’s easily moved if you need to use the space temporarily.”

Sarah Fishburne, Home Depot’s director of trend and design, says fireplace mantels and side tables also make great display spots for mini Christmas villages.

“You could also place one on the floor surrounding your Christmas tree, or distribute your pieces throughout a bookcase,” she says.

If you’re making a Christmas village yourself, Fishburne says, get everybody in the family involved, whether decorating a miniature tree, assembling a little structure or adding other personal elements.

You’ll find sets of unfinished wood and cardboard miniature houses online; you add the paint, washi tape or other decorative trim. Some will fit nicely over a battery-operated tealight to glow in the evenings.

Kelly Mandell, a DIY blogger in Los Angeles, transformed birdhouses into a modern holiday village using pastel-hued craft paint and loads of glitter. Drifts of fluffy snow and colorful bottlebrush trees added to the playful vibe.

Another creative option: a village of snow globe houses. Buy ready-made ones, or make your own using clean jars, distilled water, a droplet of glycerin to suspend your tinsel glitter, and then whatever elements you’d like to attach to the jar lid. Cyd Converse, a DIY blogger in Watertown, New York, shares a howto at thesweetestoccasion.com.

You might even weave village elements into the branches of a wreath, Fishburne suggests.

Beyond the traditional, Dickensian look, Fishburne suggests creating a vignette that reflects your family’s

favorite activities. Are you all ice skaters? Do you love to bake? Is a visit to grandparents a holiday must? You could depict these things in your village display with mementos and other items.

Or get inspired by the places you’ve visited on your travels. Fishburne says her family always brings home a little building or other miniature from a destination.

Etsy makers offer a variety of creative and decorative miniatures to bring a holiday scene to life, and retailers have a wide selection.

Balsam Hill’s plywood Victorian village has intricately carved houses, trees and street elements integrated into a single base. A remote controls the warm backlighting. There are little houses with a sturdy hook to use as stocking holders, too.

If your vibe is contemporary, West Elm, for in-

stance, has a collection of ceramic-and-wood, minimalist buildings and trees. Or create your own modern neighborhood with ceramic ranch houses and split levels, from Crate & Barrel. All will glow nicely at night with some battery-operated tealights.

Anthropologie has shelf-ready wooden monogram letters carved with vignettes of snow revelers and evergreens.

Finally, if there’s no space for a 3-D display, Zachary suggests a different kind of family craft project: a village mural of sorts.

“Why not have the kids draw and decorate houses, then pin them up in a row on the wall? Make sure they make some trees, as well as any of your town’s significant buildings,” she says. “You can pin up a glittery garland of stars or fairy lights above the skyline.”

Balsam Hill’s Christmas Mantel Villageis crafted of plywood and hand painted. With built-in lights, it’s a charming Victorian-era decoration for mantels, windows or tabletops. BALSAM HILL VIA AP

Don’t let Alexa spoil the surprise

Rachel Murphy Reviewed.com USA TODAY NETWORK

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, chances are you may have an Amazon package or two show up at your door in the next several weeks. If you have an Amazon Echo speaker or smart display in your home, you may have noticed that Alexa announces when an Amazon Prime delivery arrives (including what’s inside).

This can ruin the surprise if the present is for someone who is within earshot of your Echo speaker or happens to see the package delivery notification on the screen of a nearby Echo Show (and we don’t want that).

If you’ve been wondering how to stop Alexa from announcing deliveries, the good news is that it can easily be done in a few simple steps. This way, Alexa won’t spoil that special gift you ordered on Amazon.

Here’s how to stop Alexa from announcing packages.

How to stop Alexa from announcing deliveries

Step 1: Download and open the Alexa app. Log in with your Amazon account credentials.

Step 2:. Tap More in the bottom right corner >Settings > Notifications > Amazon Shopping.

Step 3: Under the section titled “Say or show item titles,” tap to toggle the “For items in delivery updates” to off.

Step 4: For an extra layer of protection, you can turn off package alerts in the Delivery Notifications section right below.

Christmas ornament honors gingerbread White House tradition

Darlene Superville and Nathan Ellgren ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON – This year’s Christmas ornament from the White House Historical Association honors the tradition of displaying a gingerbread model of the executive mansion as part of the holiday decorations at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The 2022 ornament – a gingerbread house shaped like the mansion – honors President Richard Nixon’s administration. It was first lady Patricia Nixon who first put a gingerbread house on display in the State Dining Room for the holidays. That was long before the talented White House pastry chefs began making hundred-pound replicas of the executive mansion.

Now, holiday time at the White House would feel incomplete without one.

“Initially these were A-frame houses, but now they are actual White Houses, gingerbread houses built in the shape of the White House,” Stewart McLaurin, president of the association, told The Associated Press in an interview. The privately funded association began selling the popular annual White House Christmas ornament in 1981.

The 2022 ornament shows the north and south fronts of a gingerbread White House that is decorated with white piping, red-and-white candies, gumdrops and candy canes. Each ornament comes with a booklet on the history of that particular presidency, and this year’s is gingerbread-scented.

The gingerbread White House currently on display for thousands of tourists and guests attending holiday receptions weighs 300 pounds and includes a sugar cookie replica of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, in keeping with first lady Jill Biden’s theme of “We the People.”

But it all started in 1969 with Mrs. Nixon and a pastry chef who was German. An A-frame gingerbread house was customary in Germany and one became a fixture for the holidays at the White House.

“Chef (Hans) Raffert’s Gingerbread Houses were a precious A-framed house that in later years began to add some special touches to reflect the current first family,” such as jelly beans, representing President Ronald Reagan’s favorite candy, or replicas of the family’s pets, wrote Jennifer Pickens, author of a book about Christmas at the White House.

“They became so popular that during White House tours it actually became necessary to post a Marine guard beside them to stop the quick hand (or teeth) of a child from grabbing a piece,” Pickens wrote.

The gingerbread White Houses are not edible.

Every year since 1981, when first lady Nancy Reagan gave approval, the historical association has designed an ornament honoring a president or a key White House anniversary.

The association is working its way through all 46 presidents. The 2023 ornament will honor President Gerald Ford. McLaurin said he already has approved the design, which will be revealed on Presidents Day in February.

The White House Historical Association’s 2022 Christmas Ornamenthonors President Richard M. Nixon’s administration and gives a nod to first lady Pat Nixon, who first put a gingerbread house on display in the State Dining Room for the holiday season. AP

Following these steps will help Alexa turn off shipping notifications for all of your Echo devices. Yes, this means you can be confident that Alexa will not announce your upcoming deliveries – or show them on your Alexa smart display. Disabling this will keep Alexa from letting you know when a certain gift is out for delivery or when it gets delivered. Finally, scroll down and turn off “order updates.”

Am I doing this right?

The second best thing you can do to safeguard against Alexa spoiling any surprises this holiday season is to make sure your new settings work as they should.

To test it out, say, “Alexa, where’s my stuff?” Typically, she would announce the name of the product you ordered.

But, if you’ve turned off the above settings, she will only tell you when the shipment will arrive.

Usually, the base of your Echo speaker flashes yellow, alerting you that your order is on its way. When you turn off

delivery notifications, the light will no longer blink yellow.

Now you can rest easy knowing that your Echo speaker or Echo Show won’t ruin any gifts you’ve ordered on Amazon.

Make sure to go back in and adjust the settings after the holidays are over, so you can quickly and easily keep track of your Amazon orders and when they will arrive.

Finally, if you’re used to getting Alexa delivery notifications, don’t forget to sweep your porch for packages each day to ensure you don’t miss anything.

Get deals and shopping advice delivered straight to your phone. Sign up for text message alerts from the experts at Reviewed.

The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews, and more.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

Adjust your Amazon Shopping notifications in the Amazon Alexa app to keep Alexa from ruining your holiday surprises. REVIEWED/RACHEL MURPHY

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