Want to Celebrate the Holiday Season Like Martha? Get Inspired by Our Founder's Favorite Christmas Traditions

Whether it's cuddling up to watch your favorite holiday movie or baking cookies with loved ones, most of us have traditions that we look forward to during the holiday season. This is especially true for our founder, who has her own set of favorite Christmas pastimes.

From her iconic brunch soirée and cookie making party to her extensive arsenal of decorations and faux trees, no one celebrates the holiday season quite like Martha. She is the person to turn to when you're looking for inspiration for your own celebrations—which is why we're highlighting the traditions no Martha Christmas would be complete without.

Hosting an Annual Cookie Party

On our founder's farm in Bedford, N.Y., friends and family gather annually to bake cookies the Martha way. "I've been throwing holiday parties since about 1980, when I was living in Westport, Connecticut, and writing my first book, Entertaining," she says. Now, the event has more than a hundred attendees who are invited to make cookies, walk around the grounds, and enjoy the holiday season in our founder's expertly decorated winter wonderland.

Setting Up the Vintage Faux Tree Collection

From colorful pink iterations to a classic-looking evergreen, it wouldn't be a Martha Christmas without her vintage faux tree collection. Not simply reserved for main entertaining rooms, the lifestyle mogul's glittery trees can even be spotted in the hallways of her residences. While she doesn't hang electric lights on the tenenbaums, she does go all out when it comes to ornaments. On aluminum iterations, she opts for balls and décor in one or two colorways, while her feather trees hold up to hundreds of baubles.

Brunching at Bedford

Score an invite to Martha's annual brunch, which she hosts on her farm, and you've officially made it. Complete with fresh seasonal fruits and decadent delights—think oysters, baked country ham, crepes with smoked fish, and creamed spinach and poached eggs—the menu is always chock-full of elevated favorites. Our founder has hosted this luxe annual fête for over 20 years.

Christmas Caroling

Here's a Martha-favorite holiday tradition that you likely do, too: Our founder loves singing carols during Christmastime. (She has even hosted events where guests, supplied with carol songbooks, gather around a piano to sing with Martha and the rest of her celebrants.) Some of her personal favorite hits include "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt, "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole, and "White Christmas" by Frank Sinatra.

Decorating the Grounds

Beyond filling her home with faux trees, Martha also enjoys decorating her outdoor space, too. For one of her favorite lighting projects to date, she illuminated the ancient apple tree that sits on the land of her Bedford residence. The tree was adorned with hundreds of small white lights and many different-sized kugels.

Making Gingerbread Houses

Our founder has many holiday traditions that children will love, but this one—making gingerbread houses—takes the cake. Of course, in typical Martha fashion, these aren't your average models with haphazard icing applications and a front yard made of gumdrops. In past years, she's created everything from a woodland forest with trees and polar bears to replicas of cathedrals and her homes.