10 Green + Gold Rooms to Envy This St. Patty’s Day

You don’t have to wait until St. Patrick’s Day to show your love for all things green — emerald has been hot in the interior world since Pantone declared it the Color of the Year in 2013. And when paired with its brassy BFF, the duo of hues is pretty much unstoppable. Whether you’re going for a few little colorful printable accents or a bold statement, you can’t go wrong with taking a few notes from this gold ‘n’ green home decor inspo. Scroll on for 10 inspiring ways to bring the colors into your own home.

1. Go for the Gold: This gold-accented fireplace really pops with the geometric green art piece over the mantel. The metallic hues all around the room blend seamlessly to create a serious statement. (via Douglas Mackie)

2. When Nature Calls: Green invokes all things nature, so don’t forget to incorporate a little plant or animal life in the mix. The palm tree etagere draws in a little more texture to play with the emerald sofa. And don’t even get us started on the elephant side table. Can you say showstopper? (via Interiors by Studio M)

3. Mix + Match Colors: It’s totally cool to play with more colors and shapes when it comes to this classic emerald/brass pairing. Introduce a lighter shade of green into the mix to add dimension, and throw in some grays and browns for a little extra balance. Just think of emerald as the ultimate color party hostess. (via Melissa Mercier)

4. Think Away from Emerald: Emerald isn’t the only shade of green that plays well with gold — just about any shade of green can be a metallic match in heaven. Draw in a few more hues with a large plant, and accent away. (via Anthropologie)

5. Breathtaking Bamboo: Bamboo-inspired pieces always work well with green — they just draw everything back to that natural element. Add a little metallic edge to that pairing and you’ve got yourself quite the interior moment. (via Horchow)

6. Make It Malachite: Green makes quite the statement on its own, but malachite takes it to a whole other level. The rich jewel tone of the desk shines until the brass lamps steal back the spotlight. (via Matters of Style)

7. Keep It in the Kitchen: Green isn’t just for bathrooms and living spaces — the right shade of green can also elevate any cooking space. Oh, and just the right amount of sparkle in the sink and on the ceiling wouldn’t hurt either. (via Black Lacquer Design)

8. Nice Accent: A subtle but contrasting pattern can really balance out a strong statement wall. Toss in some texture with plants and a brassy, botanical-inspired mirror, and you’ve nailed the look. (via Desire to Inspire)

9. Green With a Glow: We’re totally down to hang with Cameron Diaz, but we’d especially like to chill in her kitchen. Take a tip from her, and give the accent color a starring role for some A+ ambiance that won’t quit. (via Elle Decor)

10. Brighten Up the Bathroom: Add a pop to a bland powder room with a quick cabinetry update. Just pick a swatch, switch out the hardware and voila: You’ve got a whole new look. (via HGTV)

Got it bad for green and gold? Follow us on Pinterest for more interior inspo!

When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, coffee enthusiasts and cocktail connoisseurs gather 'round one of the most popular St. Paddy's drinks: Irish coffee! Made with piping-hot coffee, a shot (or two) of Irish whiskey, sugar, and fresh cream, Irish coffee makes for one totally irresistible coffee cocktail.

Grab your favorite mug and whip out the whiskey to create our easy Irish coffee recipe – it comes together in just a few minutes! We're spilling all the need-to-know secrets to crafting the perfect Irish coffee, from selecting the finest ingredients to mastering that signature whipped cream topping.

Irish coffee is guaranteed to warm both your heart and soul for the lucky holiday and beyond. Let's get into it!

What is the difference between Baileys coffee and Irish coffee?

Photo by Jill Wellington / PEXELS

The most obvious difference between Baileys coffee and Irish coffee is that Baileys coffee uses Baileys Irish Cream to make the recipe, whereas Irish coffee is made using whiskey and brown sugar. Both drinks use hot coffee as the base and are garnished with fresh whipped cream.

Because of this, Baileys coffee is a bit creamier and milkier than traditional Irish coffee.

How much alcohol is in an Irish coffee?

Photo by Maria Orlova / PEXELS

The standard recipe for Irish coffee calls for 1.5 ounces of Irish whiskey, which equates to one shot. You can always customize the ratio, though, adding less or more whiskey as you please.

Can you order Irish coffee at a bar?

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You can order Irish coffee at a bar as long as the bar is equipped to brew coffee and has all the ingredients on-hand. Most bars you visit might not have a full coffee bar, so it really depends. Baileys coffee is super similar to Irish coffee, and might be easier for bartenders to make for you since Baileys is more common.

Is Irish coffee a thing in Ireland?

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Yes, Irish coffee actually originated in Ireland and it's a fairly common bar order there. While it may not be as popular as Guinness, most bars in Ireland are prepped to serve Irish coffee at any time. Irish coffee is particularly frequented more on special occasions, holidays, and cold days.

How To Make Irish Coffee

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch / PEXELS

Ingredients

Serves 1

  • 1 cup hot coffee
  • 1-2 shots Irish whiskey (depending on how boozy you want it!)
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar (you can also adjust this amount based on your preference for sweetness)
  • Freshly whipped cream
  • Cinnamon or cocoa powder, optional for garnish

StableDiffusion

Directions

  1. Brew a hot cup of coffee how you like it. Just make sure it's fresh for optimal flavor and authenticity!
  2. In a mug, add the brown sugar and hot coffee, stirring until dissolved. Make sure you leave a little bit of room at the top for the booze!
  3. Next, add the Irish whiskey to the mug. Stir.
  4. To make the whipped cream, vigorously whisk a small amount of heavy whipping cream in a separate mug or bowl. You could use store-bought whipped cream, but it just isn't the same as fresh whipped cream. This version is a lot thicker and tastes less processed in the end.
  5. Once whipped, spoon the whipped cream over the drink to create a solid layer over top of the mug.
  6. If preferred, garnish the Irish coffee with a dash of ground cinnamon or cocoa powder for extra flavor and immaculate presentation. For an extra special treat, pair your Irish coffee with ourSt. Patrick's Day Rainbow Donuts!

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This edible crescent-roll cornucopia is our way of making a normal cheese boardmore festive — and definitely more fun — during the holiday season. Our go-to this time of year is a massive cheese plate that can stand alone and be the main attraction, or the starter for a larger meal. Press on for the surprisingly easy steps to braid a breaded cornucopia.

Chris Andre

Materials + Tools:

  • 1 roll of tin foil
  • 2 packages of crescent rolls
  • 1 egg (for egg wash before cornucopia goes into the oven), optional

Chris Andre

Instructions:

Start by sculpting tin foil into the shape of a cornucopia (it looks like a cone with an upturned tail). Pro tip: Lightly pack tin foil so it's easier to remove later from your baked cornucopia. Crescent rolls should be buttery enough that this shouldn't be difficult.

Chris Andre

Your tin foil mold should look a little something like this.

Chris Andre

Pop open the crescent rolls and cut the triangles into strips. Pinch together the ends of strips to make strips longer.

Chris Andre

Braid crescent roll strips. You can make these as fancy as you want. Not a braiding pro? Skip this step and leave those strips alone.

Chris Andre

Wrap tin foil cornucopia with braids/strips. Make sure you cover all the tin foil. Leave a little wiggle room at the opening of the cornucopia, so that when you’re done baking you can pull some of that tin foil out.

Chris Andre

Use any extra dough to cover the bottom of your cornucopia. Pinch the sides and anchor those braids/strips in.

Chris Andre

Brush on egg wash before placing your cornucopia in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Take out of oven and cover spots of cornucopia that are already golden brown with extra tin foil. Bake for another 20 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chris Andre

Let it cool down until it’s easy to handle. Remove tin foil.

Chris Andre

Place cornucopia in corner of your cheese plate. Arrange cheese on your serving tray.

Chris Andre

Add crackers — we like to have two or three options.

Chris Andre

Don’t forget to fill up your cornucopia. It's called "the horn of plenty" for a reason. Fill with fresh fruit like grapes, apples, and pears.

Chris Andre

Add nuts like walnuts and pistachios to fill in any empty spaces. Garnish with fresh herbs like rosemary and sage to finish it off.

Chris Andre

Voilà! Invite over your friends, open a bottle of wine, and dig in!

Chris Andre

A cornucopia cheese board will become your new favorite holiday tradition.

Show us your crescent-roll cornucopias on Instagram and check out our baking classes (and our Easy Thanksgiving Desserts piece) for more holiday food inspo!

DIY Production and Styling: Paris Fried

Paris Fried: Paris loves any excuse to celebrate and throw a themed party. She loves experimenting in the kitchen and has a terrible sweet tooth. When she's not crafting in her studio, she's at the farmers' market buying seasonal produce or at her favorite local theater watching double features.

This post has been updated.

And just like that, it's time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day once again, where rainbows are a staple and you’ll be sure to find a pot of gold at the end! 🍀 Rainbow food has yet to fade away any time soon, but what about turning your food into actual rainbows – clouds and all?

You’re definitely in luck (wink wink) for finding this rainbow donuts recipe now! Gear up for St. Paddy’s Day this year with a little sugary sweetness and tons of color with these rainbow donuts! Let's get into the recipe! 🌈

Ingredients for Rainbow Donuts

  • Plain glazed donuts
  • Rainbow sprinkles
  • Donut icing
  • Shredded coconut

Directions for Rainbow Donuts

  1. Cut your donuts in half using a sharp, serrated knife.
  2. Set your icing in a shallow dish. Dip the tops of each donut half into the icing.
  3. Starting with your pink (or red) sprinkles, line the outside edge of the donut, creating the first "arc" of the rainbow.
  4. Continue adding sprinkles in rainbow order until the whole donut is covered.
  5. Add a little more icing to the top of the donut ends and place a pinch of shredded coconut on top for the "clouds"!

Try to choose donuts that have a very round shape, so the rainbows turn out with more of an arc.

Be careful not to leave your donuts sitting for too long after you’ve iced them. You’ll need the icing to still be wet/tacky when you add the sprinkles so they stay on securely. Plus, you want 'em to look flawless for all the Instagram pics! 

Avoid making your rows of sprinkles overly thick or else you won’t be able to fit in all of the colors of the rainbow. We need the full spectrum!

🎶 Somewhere over the rainbow… there are rainbow donuts! 🎶 These rainbow donuts will be a fun recipe to make with everyone in the family since you can use pre-made donuts – no oven required.

We don’t know about you, but we’re all set for St. Paddy’s Day now! If you're in search of more fun St. Patrick's Day recipes, check out our list of lucky green cocktails, festive green pasta recipes, and try your hand at these delicious dessert shots!

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Though Black Friday is traditionally the official start of the holiday shopping season, we argue that it’s been kicking since mid-October. We know, we know: it still feels extremely early to start thinking about the holidays, but they’ll be here before you know it! Plus, many brands and retailers are already promoting their holiday goodies with plenty of sales and discounts available right now.

If you’re ready to embark on your holiday shopping journey, but still need answers to questions like ‘when’s the best time to shop?’ and ‘where should I shop for gifts?’ and even ‘how the heck do I save money this season?’, you’ve come to the right place. Consider this your go-to guide for holiday shopping in 2024.

Scroll on for our best guidance on navigating this busy time of year and finding the best gifts possible!

When's the best time to do holiday shopping?

Kaboompics / PEXELS

The best time to do holiday shopping really all depends on your personal shopping goals. Do you want to get a jump on items you know will sell out soon? Do you want to save the most money possible? Do you want to focus on handmade, personalized gifts? These factors will undoubtedly influence your holiday shopping schedule.

Cottonbro Studio / PEXELS

Shopping early can be advantageous for all of the aforementioned goals. A lot of retailers start promoting their holiday products early on, giving you ample time to snatch up that limited-time lip kit or fancy water bottle you’ve been eyeing way before the holidays.

Plus, some of the best deals for holiday shopping happen ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday – in 2023, Experian observed a surge in early spending in October, thanks to early discounts, a trend likely to continue in 2024.

Finally, shopping early can be especially helpful if your plan is to focus on handmade or personalized gifts, giving the artisan you buy from (or yourself, if you’re DIY-ing your gifts) plenty of time to craft the item with love and care.

Gallup reported in 2023 that one in four shoppers start shopping as early as September, a trend likely to continue in 2024 – so you might already be embarking on your shopping spree!

Mikhail Nilov / PEXELS

If right now is just still too darn early for you to start holiday shopping, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the best times to shop since so many retailers offer their largest discounts of the entire year. Plus, the late November-early December timeline can feel a bit more appropriate for the gifting season opposed to late October-early November, when everyone’s still recovering from Halloween.

The only thing to consider during this time is the shipping timelines for the items you purchase – but most retailers will typically advise their specific shipping schedules, so you don’t risk your goodies arriving late.

Where should I shop for gifts?

Ron Lach / PEXELS

You have three main options when it comes to where to shop for holiday gifts: online, in-store, and via our amazing gift guides. Of course, each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

Shopping in-store offers a tangible experience: the opportunity to hold specific items in your hands and gauge exactly what they’ll be like when you give them as a gift. The pitfall with shopping in-person is that it typically requires a commute and journeys through potentially very busy malls and shopping strips, which can add to the already-stressful holiday experience.

In-store shopping can be more physically exhausting, but it’s all about preference! Sometimes strolling through the stores that get all dolled up for Christmas is the best part of the season.

Andrea Piacquadio / PEXELS

Per Google, 65% of those planning to shop for the holidays say they will shop online more. Shopping for gifts online can be super helpful since you can centralize your findings in your browser’s bookmark tab or via virtual cart(s). Plus, shopping online can pose more opportunities for saving some money: lots of retailers typically offer discount codes for online users, especially if you sign up for their digital marketing channels (like email and text) and make a purchase.

Shopping online isn’t just shopping, either. The internet can be a stellar research tool to help you vet whether certain products are worth it, where they can be bought, and when they’ll be available. In fact, Google reported that more than half of U.S. holiday shoppers who went into a store last year say they looked up product reviews online and/or located an item in-store by checking it online.

Kaboompics / PEXELS

Last but not least, scrolling gift guides has to be our favorite place to shop for gifts – and not just because we write and publish them.

At their very core, gift guides help streamline the holiday shopping process, alleviating the stress that bubbles up when you’re wondering what the heck to shop for in the first place. Our gift guides are backed by real people, real experiences, and real opinions from our editorial team. We only promote products that we really love and believe in, oftentimes ones we’ve tested and reviewed ourselves.

We have gift guides for just about everyone on your list, with more on the way! Check ‘em out:

What are the best kinds of gifts to give?

Kaboompics / PEXELS

The best kinds of gifts to give are thoughtful gifts that consider the giftee’s interests, wants, and needs. These gifts can be sentimental, practical, or both simultaneously. What matters most in a gift is that it’ll be meaningful to them past just the holiday season, whether it’s helping them get through daily tasks, reminding them of a memorable trip or event, or giving them small doses of joy.

“Shoppers are increasingly looking for personalized and unique gifts that reflect the recipient's personality and interests,” says Mia Anderson, Owner of ChicSew. “With the rise of online shopping, many consumers are opting for curated gift boxes or experiences that add a special touch.”

Cottonbro Studio / PEXELS

Gift boxes, personalized items, books of interest, self-care goodies, and even gift cards can all be thoughtful gifts depending on the recipient. If you have no clue what your giftee is into, it’s not a bad idea to ask them what they want the most!

“My idea of a great gift is something that is in tandem with the recipient's interest and offers something new to the person, be it learning a new skill, enjoying a calming activity, or simply spending quality time with the family,” says Alfred Christ, Sales Manager & Marketer at Robotime. “This season, we encourage shoppers to shift their focus on quality and the memories their gifts will create and not just merely material aspects.”

When is Black Friday?

Sora Shimazaki / PEXELS

Black Friday is always the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year, Black Friday lands on November 29.

When is Cyber Monday?

Kindel Media / PEXELS

Cyber Monday is typcally the Monday after Thanksgiving. This year, Cyber Monday will land on December 2. Oftentimes, retailers and brands extend their online offers through the week (coined Cyber Week) after the event. Salesforce reported that 67% of shoppers in 2024 plan on shopping during Cyber Week!

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on our best 2024 gift guides, shopping advice, and all things holiday!

The holidays at Starbucks are creeping up on us, people! Peppermint Mocha season will return on November 7. If you’re a die-hard Starbucks fan, you know Red Cup Day is a whole holiday in itself – the frenzy for a free reusable cup is truly no joke. There’s even an entire website dedicated to counting down the madness! Even though there’s no official word on when Red Cup Day 2024 will be, there are several clues that cue us into the annual event. Scroll on for details!

What is Red Cup Day?

Starbucks

Red Cup Day is Starbucks’ highly-awaited annual event that marks the start of holiday beverage season at the coffee chain. For one day only (and while supplies last), customers who order any of Starbucks’ holiday drinks will receive a reusable red cup that features a bespoke design for the respective year.

Starbucks

Here’s a list of all the drinks rumored to be available on the Starbucks holiday menu starting November 7:

  • Peppermint Mocha
  • Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
  • Caramel Brûlée Latte
  • Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte
  • Chestnut Praline Latte
  • Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew
  • Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai

What do the red cups look like for 2024?

Starbucks

Starbucks hasn’t officially announced when Red Cup Day will be for 2024, let alone what the famed red cups will look like this go-around. The one obvious point is that the cups will be red! They’ll also likely feature some festive motifs that echo the holiday season. Last year’s red cups boasted playful white and green stars and ornament-like shapes.

Why should I participate in Red Cup Day?

Starbucks

Red Cup Day = freebies, which can feel really rewarding if you’re really into receiving free goodies. Plus, it’s just a fun way to lean into the holiday spirit. The red reusable cup keeps giving beyond Red Cup Day, though! Every time you use the reusable cup for future Starbucks orders, you get a 10-cent discount as well as 25 bonus stars toward your Starbucks Rewards account to save up for more discounts on drinks, food, and merchandise.

When is Starbucks' Red Cup Day 2024?

Starbucks

Again, Starbucks hasn’t alerted us on when Red Cup Day will be for 2024, but based on previous Red Cup Days, we can infer it’ll land on the third Thursday of November. In 2022, Red Cup Day happened on November 17, and for 2023, it was November 16. The third Thursday of November in 2024 hits on November 21, so mark your calendars, everyone!

Additionally, check back here for official info as Red Cup Day approaches.

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This post has been updated.