33 DIY Ways to Deck the Halls in Gold

Easy Christmas Sugar Cookies

If there’s one recipe you 100 percent need to crank out some seriously festive Christmas dessert ideas, it’s the classic, basic sugar cookie. This vanilla-bean-speckled version sure holds its own under all that royal icing. (via Brit + Co)

These chewy Brown Sugar Maple Ginger Cookies are a cross between a really great ginger cookie and a delicious chocolate chip cookie, made with dark brown sugar, rich molasses, ginger, and the real secret…chocolate chips! (via Half Baked Harvest)

You're going to want a glass of milk with these gooey hot chocolate cookies, complete with big marshmallows and chunks of melted dark chocolate. (via Averie Cooks)

These chewy White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are loaded with flavor, and they're so easy to make. Betcha can't eat just one! (via Hello Little Home)

We say take the cannoli...these delicious bites are packed with Italian classic cannoli flavors with a soft, fluffy texture. Have for breakfast or dessert! (via Kathryn's Kitchen)

Made with buttery, crumbly shortbread cookie dough, warm spices, and holiday-perfect pecans, these cookies make the best edible gifts! (via Pink Owl Kitchen)

The secret to these dark chocolate shortbread cookies? Two words: Cacao nibs. They’re like brownies but make it shortbread! This recipe is vegetarian and easily vegan too! (via Vanilla and Bean)

From the cookbook, Sally’s Cookie Addiction, these classic cookies are fun to make with kids and are the perfect holiday treat to leave for Santa! (via Two Peas & Their Pod)

This flavorful pumpkin pie cookies recipe by Chahinez of Lifestyle of a Foodie is totally share-worthy and is sure to pump up the party with pumpkin pie goodness. (via Brit + Co)

These buttery eggless treats have a soft and crumbly texture that melts in your mouth, hence the name! (via Give Recipe)

Peppermint Sparkle Sugar Cookies

Make your sugar cookies sparkle with crushed peppermint and white sugar! Just one bowl needed! (via Bowl of Delicious)

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Roll these lemony treats in powdered sugar before baking to get this delightful texture. (via A Spicy Perspective)

Think Santa is a Swiftie? We followed Taylor Swift’s chai cookie recipe and were starstruck by how painless they were to make! Read on as B+C editor Meredith Holser tackles the ultimate Swiftie cookie recipe. (via Brit + Co)

The hojicha (Japanese green tea) brings out a nutty flavor in these soft and chewy gingerbread cookies – the perfect canvases for holiday decorating! (via Takes Two Eggs)

How cute are these snowman macarons? Filled with eggnog buttercream and decorated with royal icing, they will be the star of your cookie party! (via Barley & Sage)

You can never go wrong with a classic chocolate chip cookie, add a dash of cinnamon to make them extra seasonal and delicious! (via Cozy Cravings)

Linzer Cookies

Crisp, buttery almond-scented cookies with a sweet raspberry filling say holidays without saying a word. (via Culinary Hill)

Get all your holiday flavors in with this one cookie: peppermint, brownie and chocolate cookies. Say no more! (via Salt & Lavender)

Fennel and Rosemary Cookies

Every once in awhile a more savory dessert is what will hit the spot, and these will not disappoint. (via Local Milk)

Get more holiday recipe ideas on our Food page and be sure to sign up for our weekend scroll for more inspiration!

Lead image via Vanilla and Bean

SOMETHING SWEET

Taylor Swift Chai Cookies

Taylor Swift adapted this cookie recipe from Joy the Baker and our editor Meredith Holser gave them a go in her kitchen. She was starstruck by how easy they were to make!

Dolly Parton's Walnut Pie

• 1 fold-out pie crust (thawed)
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• whipped cream

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Roll out the crust and line a 9-inch pie plate with it.
2. Beat eggs in a large bowl with hand mixer. Gradually add the sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Continue mixing until combined. Add the melted butter and beat until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the pie shell. Add the walnuts, spreading them evenly within the mixture. Bake for 10 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake 45 minutes more. Place a collar of foil around the edge of the crust after 30 minutes.
5. Serve with a Dolly-up of whipped cream.

Kristen Bell's Everything Cookies

For your next cookie party serve up the Bell's favorite Everything Cookie (oats, butterscotch and chocolate, oh my!). Get points for gluten-free too! (from Today)

Carly Pearce's Pumpkin Pie

The country music singer, based in Nashville, shared her mom's pumpkin pie recipe with us and we are all over it.

Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling:

• 2 cups of unsweetened pure pumpkin puree
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/3 teaspoon of ground cloves (we like to add an extra pinch!)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1. For the dough, mix together flour, sugar and salt evenly in a bowl
2. Lightly beat in butter and egg
3. Cover the dough in plastic and let chill in refrigerator for 2 hours
4. Once chilled, sprinkle flour on a flat surface and roll out dough, then roll dough onto pie pan. Leave about half an inch extra around the edge and fold underneath the edge of the crust.
5. Pinch edges of pie with your fingers, then freeze the shell for 30 minutes.
6. Add parchment paper over the pie shell and fill with pie weights (this can be dried beans or even sugar)
7. To prep the dough for the filling, bake on a baking sheet for 30 minutes on 375 degrees, or until pie shell is golden brown
8. Take the crust out of the oven and remove the weights, then let the crust cool.
9. Set oven temp to 350 degrees
10. For the filling, mix the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, half-and-half, light brown sugar and spices and eggs into a bowl. Whisk until smooth.
11. Pour mix into pie crust, bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
12. Remove from oven, let pie cool for 30 minutes

Sarah Michelle Gellar's Gingerbread Cookies

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum makes this adorable Gingerbread family at home with her two little ones. (from Us)

Chrissy Teigen's Sweet Potato Streusel Pie

Buttery pecan topping? Yes, please! Thanks to Cravings by Chrissy Tiegen for the recipe.

Amy Grant's Fudge Sauce

The 6-time Grammy Award winner shared with us her mom Gloria's recipe for fudge sauce. Dip cookies, add to ice cream or drizzle on pie:

• 4-5 unsweetened chocolate squares
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 stick butter

In a double-boiler, melt Chocolate Squares and Sweetened Condensed Milk, then fill empty can with water. Add water, a little at a time, to the melted chocolate mixture. Allow it to cook down, and add more water and repeat. After about 20 minutes, remove from heat, add butter and beat until shiny.

Martha Stewart's Shortbread Cookie Wreaths

Slay your cookie party with these candied flowered cookies from the baking queen.

SOMETHING SAVORY

Whether you're heading out to a potluck or tasked with the whole meal (or a meal) these recipes will give you a head start on what to prepare. We've got breakfast, lunch and dinner served.

Blake Lively's Sausage And Brie Puff Pastry

Lively recreates one of her favorite personal recipes using locally sourced meats and ingredients with Elletra's Goodness. (via Vogue)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Roast Chicken with Lemon Pepper Rub

If you're over turkey and turkey leftovers, this flavorful roast chicken from the Modern Family star will mix up your holiday meal with lemon-y deliciousness.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Potato Apple Latkes with Smoked Salmon

We never met a fried potato we didn't like. This Hanukkah hit from GP makes a great holiday breakfast or side dish. (from Goop)

Joanna Gaines' Friendsgiving Casserole

This chicken casserole is the perfect one-pot meal to take to your holiday potluck or just whip up for a delicious winter meal for days. (from Magnolia)

Kylie Jenner's Famous Matzo Ball Soup

Warm up a winter holiday day with a bowl of matzo ball soup courtesy of the Kardashians star. She walks you through her recipe — the matzo balls can be made by following the instructions on the box.

SOMETHING SPIRITED

Get in the spirit of the holidays with hot and cold spirits! Enjoy a cocktail or two with the help of a few celeb friends and ring in the new year right. Cheers!

Jamie Chung's The Moet 75

A twist on one of our faves, the French 75, this official Golden Globes cocktail created by the The Misfits star has a kick of tequila. (from Haute Living)

Meghan Markle's The TIG Cozy Cocktail

The duchess calls this warm and cinnamon-y bourbon-based drink "the very best apres ski drink I can think of." Cue the roasting fire. (from The Mail)

Kourtney Kardashian's Pomegranate Champagne Punch

So easy and so tasty! Give this festive Champagne-based cocktail a swig to ring in the new year in style. (from In Style)

Cheers and happy holidays! Want more trending entertainment news? Follow us on Facebook for the best pop culture updates.

Lead image via Today.

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!