The Halloween holiday is a combination of a number of different cultural celebrations, so our traditions come from all over the world. Brush up on your Halloween costume trivia, history, and other interesting facts about Halloween. Related Video

1. Divide your garden with an arched trellis. Arched trellises provide a way to emphasize different sections of your garden. To mark the transition between areas, install one above the entrance to give a simple gate or walkway more prominence. Match the design to the surrounding fence to create a cohesive look. 2. Create a DIY trellis arch using an old window frame. Repurpose architectural salvage to craft your own arched trellis....

Moreover, scientists observed an even greater drop in heart rate when students broke into a “Duchenne smile” (the type that engages the eyes and the mouth). “Smiling can jump-start the process of happiness,” says Jeff Brown, MD, a Harvard psychologist and the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Great Health ($9.95, amazon.com). “When you smile, you trigger a psychological and neurobiological alignment with positive emotions.” “Refueling with food is the main reason we stop in the middle of the day, and it’s important to step away from your desk to do this,” says Regina Ragone, MS, RD....

Season of Bloom: Mid-spring Size: Up to 20 feet tall and wide Buy It: Adams Crabapple Form: Narrow, upright oval Season of Bloom: Mid-spring Size: Up to 18 feet tall Buy It: Adirondack Crabapple ($200, McKay Nursery Company) Season of Bloom: Mid-spring Size: Up to 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide Buy It: Callaway Crabapple Tree ($28, Ison’s Nursery & Vineyards) Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide Buy It: Cinderella Dwarf Crabapple Tree Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 25 feet tall and 25 feet wide Buy It: Harvest Gold Crabapple Tree ($100, Planting Tree) Form: Spreading to weeping Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 15 feet tall and wide Buy It: Louisa Weeping Crabapple Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 20 feet tall and wide Buy It: Prairiefire Flowering Crabapple ($34, The Home Depot) Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 30 feet tall and 35 feet wide Buy It: Profusion Crabapple Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 15 feet tall Buy It: Crabapple Red Jewel ($250, Crabapple Red Jewel) Form: Upright when young; rounded with age Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 25 feet tall and wide Buy It: Robinson Flowering Crabapple Form: Upright rounded to vase shape Season of Bloom: Spring Size: Up to 20 feet tall and 16 feet wide Buy It: Royal Raindrops Crabapple ($400, itrees....

Sometimes living large means thinking small. If your outdoor space lacks square footage, it might seem like your outdoor entertaining dreams are far-fetched—but with a bit of creative thinking, solid design advice, and clever additions, you can make the most of your yard. 1. Add a Multifunctional Outdoor Bar Cart Fear not if your yard or patio is too small for an outdoor bar. Create your own portable drink station with a weather-resistant cart....

1. Mount a Towel Rack Use vertical space to help clear out space in your bathroom cabinets or linen closet. A wall-mounted rack or storage unit with individual open cubbies is ideal for storing extra hand towels, washcloths, and small bathroom essentials. Try rolling larger towels so they fit inside the small slots. 2. Add Storage to the Medicine Cabinet Boost the storage capacity of your bathroom wall cabinet with this behind-the-door hack....

Editor’s Tip: They freeze well, too. Related Video

1. Embrace earth tones. Lean into an organic look by pairing a brown sofa with earth tones. Colors like olive green, watery blue, terra-cotta, and rusty red all work well with brown because they’re often seen together in nature. So choose an earthy wall color and decorate your brown sofa with neutral pillows or throws for a warm, inviting living room. Pillows with subtle texture (like this oversize ombre Better Homes & Gardens pillow, $25, Walmart) help create a cohesive and interesting collection of neutrals on a brown sofa....

The post office’s flat-rate boxes are a great deal—they come with two-day priority shipping, tracking, and up to $100 of insurance. Mail packages by December 19 to avoid express fees. — Brianna Firestone, founder of the School of Betty, a financial platform Instead of gifts, we give gelt, which means “money” in Yiddish. If you give your kid $5 per night at most, you’ll spend $40, whereas a toy might cost you $15 each night....

Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 10 feet tall and wide Buy It: Diabolo Ninebark ($40, The Tree Center) Name: Sambucus black ‘Eve’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 8 feet tall and wide Buy It: ‘Black Lace’ Elderberry Plant ($31, The Home Depot) Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 15 feet tall and wide Buy It: Winecraft Gold Smokebush ($30, The Home Depot) Name: Weigela florida ‘Alexandra’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 5 feet tall and 6 feet wide Buy It: ‘Wine & Roses Weigela Plant ($10, The Home Depot) Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide Buy It: Jazz Hands Variegated Fringe Flower ($12, Etsy) Name: Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Dart’s Gold’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in lightly moist, well-drained soil Size: To 5 feet tall and wide Name: Sambucus racemosa ‘Sutherland Gold’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in medium to wet, well-drained soil Size: To 10 feet tall and wide Buy It: ‘Sutherland Gold’ Elderberry Plant ($40, Sooner Plant Farm) Name: Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 20 feet tall and 7 feet wide Buy It: ‘Gold Threadbranch’ Cypress Shrub ($31, The Home Depot) Name: Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in lightly moist, well-drained soil Size: To 6 feet tall and wide Buy It: Tiger Eyes Sumac Plant ($130, The Tree Center) Name: Deutzia gracilis ‘Duncan’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 3 feet tall and wide Buy It: Deutzia Chardonnay Pearls ($69, Woodies Garden Goods) Name: Spiraea japonica ‘Lisp’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide Buy It: ‘Double Play’ Gold Spirea Plant ($15, The Home Depot) Name: Salix integra ‘Hakuro-nishiki’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 6 feet tall and 7 feet wide Name: Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ Growing Conditions: Grow in part or full shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 10 feet tall and 9 feet wide Buy It: Variegated Gold Dust Aucuba Plant ($33, The Home Depot) Name: Abutilon pictum ‘Thompsonii’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide Buy It: Variegated Peach ‘Thomsonii’ Plant ($23, Little Prince Plants) Name: Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 10 feet tall and 9 feet wide Name: Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide Buy It: Variegated English Holly ($60, The Tree Center) Name: Cornus alba ‘Bailhalo’ Growing Conditions: Plant in full sun or part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 6 feet tall and wide Name: Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bailey’ Growing Conditions: Plant in part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: To 5 feet tall and wide Name: Daphne burkwoodii ‘Carol Mackie’....

Print and cut out each design. Glue the images to a strip of pastel construction paper. Wrap the strip into a ring large enough to hold an egg and secure with glue. Fill each holder with a white egg. To make a cozy: Purchase or make white shadowboxes. Line the back of each box with colorful paper. Then add your favorite pieces of Easter decor. Vintage Easter figurines, bird’s nests, and other antique Easter decorations create a lovely treasure trove of memories....

Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite pumpkin recipes you’ll want to cook this fall, from a classic easy pumpkin pie recipe to rich ricotta roll-ups with a creamy pumpkin sauce, pumpkin martinis, pumpkin bread with a streusel-pumpkin seed topping, and so much more. In case you’re wondering, we’ve been serving these since July. Why not? It’s pumpkin spice season, after all. Related Video

1. Size Matters Choosing a new container begins with identifying the size of pot you need. Here’s a handy guideline: increase pot size by one to two inches in diameter for plants that are growing in pots 10 inches in diameter or less. For larger plants, those growing in pots greater than 10 inches in diameter, increase the pot size by two or three inches in diameter. For example, a brand new ZZ plant in a 4-inch plastic nursery pot is ready to transition to a container that is 5 inches or so in diameter....

Plus, it turns out: Money can be a metaphor for almost anything. The problem was that, despite this being a significant source of friction, we didn’t have the language to speak about it productively. But is it normal to argue over money? Many cultures treat finances as a taboo topic, not to be breached in polite conversation—and the United States is no different. A 2018 study found that 39 percent of Americans feel that salary and household income are off-limits for discussion with peers or friends....

Brain blips can be unnerving, but they’re completely normal. The good news is they’re rarely the sign of a declining mind. We tend to think of youth as a time of peak mental capacity and that once our child-prodigy days are gone, there’s no hope left. But the human brain is most likely at its best during midlife, when life experiences combine with decades’ worth of neural connections, resulting in peak intelligence and ability....

1. Focus On Bark Deciduous trees lose their leaves in wintertime, leaving their branches and trunks in focus—but that can actually be a good thing, Pierson says. “If you have any interesting ornamental trees that have really visually distinctive bark, they will end up adding winter interest.” Many of those trees and some shrubs are smaller, meaning they’re easier to find spots for in the landscape. A few of Pierson’s favorites include dogwood shrubs and birch trees, both of which offer outstanding winter color and texture....

To tackle the clutter, invest in one of the clever entryway storage ideas below. In a small apartment, a storage shelf can help. In a mudroom, opt for a hall tree. No matter which of these ideas you choose, it will make a great first impression. To buy: $169, urbanoutfitters.com. To buy: $32, containerstore.com. To buy: $879, homedepot.com. To buy: $500, potterybarn.com. To buy: From $26, henryelle.etsy.com. To buy: $2,199, roomandboard....

Makeup artist Julia Dalton-Brush recommends cleansing, toning, using a facial oil (if appropriate), and moisturizer. “Unfortunately, many people see applying makeup as the only thing they need to do, and when they do not get the flawless look they are searching for, they blame the products,” she says. “A fully hydrated and prepped face will do wonders, not only for your skin under the makeup, but also for the end result....

For the best results, look for a top-quality pizza stone from Emile Henry or Pampered Chef, which make pieces that can withstand heat of up to 550 degrees, have handles for easier maneuvering, and are dishwasher safe (really!) to boot. So what, exactly, should you be making on this adaptable piece of equipment to put it to the test? Chefs around the country share their top tricks for making the most of your pizza stone....

Shearer and Teplin shared their best tips for a big move with Real Simple—from prepping weeks before to getting everything organized the day of and unpacking afterward. Take a look at their step-by-step guide, and you’ll be ready to tackle moving day, so you can go straight to celebrating and decorating your new home. But beware of being too eager to pack unless you want to live out of boxes for a long time....