I'm not sure who came up with the idea of dyeing baby chicks a rainbow of colors as if they were Easter eggs, but whoever it was sounds sick to me. Lawmakers in Florida who have made the practice completely legal? Even sicker. Yeah, apparently, this actually goes on. Approximately half of U.S. states have bans in effect on dyeing animals, but thanks to an overzealous dog groomer who wanted to enter a contest, Florida recently overturned their 45-year-old law that would prevent this from happening.

Animal activists are outraged, as they should be. The mere description of how chick dyeing works is enough to make anyone with a soul cringe: The dye is either injected in the incubating egg (uggghhh) or sprayed on the hatchling. Poultry farmers claim that it is harmless (as long as the dye is nontoxic), but please! How could that possibly be true?

Even if it's cheesy, I love getting into Valentine's Day. Whether it's making valentines with my kids, scheming up a sweet gift for my husband, or crafting festive decorations for the home, I think it's fun to celebrate. Now that February is here, I'd better get cracking. Here are some projects I'd love to try out this year.

First, I want an entire ceiling full of these darling hanging hearts made from book pages. 

There are two kinds of people who celebrate Christmas in this world. The fake tree people and the real tree people. The fact that I'm in the latter camp is something of a Christmas miracle.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. My first Christmas as a married woman was the stuff of nightmares. Big spider-infested nightmares. Arachnophobes beware, this one is not for the faint of heart.

When I was growing up, Christmas wasn't always white. But it was, without fail, bitterly cold. We might have stepped outside long enough for a photo op, but mostly it was playing with cousins inside and admiring our new hats, gloves, scarves, long underwear, fuzzy socks, electric blankets, seven-hour hand-warmers (please, I only wish they had existed then), and earmuffs.

Which is why it was such a shock to move to California. No, it's not beach-friendly all year. But after my first winter here, I realized I hadn't experienced any of the usual winter woes: frozen tears, chapped nose, flaky scalp, lizardy skin.

Of course, I also missed any chance at a White Christmas. People here freak out at a flurry, shiver when it's 50 degrees, and truck snow into the middle of town for one-day sledding events. (See photo to the left.)

If you're shivering your way through the holiday season, maybe it would amuse you to see how Christmas looks in warmer climates. Like, for instance ...

I've always been kind of terrible at gift wrapping. I'd like to be one of those people who consistently folds perfect corners and doesn't resort to pre-printed bags every time a gift is oddly shaped and can wrap one medium-sized box without using, like, an entire roll of tape. But sometimes you just have to acknowledge your weaknesses along with your strengths, you know?

That said, I feel like I have been doing a somewhat better job during the last couple years, and that's because I stopped buying themed wrapping paper. It seems like wrapping paper mainly comes in two varieties: cheap and flimsy and tears whenever you look at it, or gorgeous and durable and just $57 per roll.

There are so many creative ways to make gifts pretty without using traditional holiday paper (not that I have a thing against wrapping paper -- that would be a really weird thing to have). Here's a quick rundown of some of the easiest, least expensive, most awesomest gift-wrapping ideas I've come across:

It's a Christmas miracle! A family in Florida woke one morning to discover that their collection of holiday yard decorations -- valued at $500! -- had been stolen. But in the spirit of Christmas, they magically reappeared!

On the suspect's own lawn less than a block away!

Seriously, people. Who steals Christmas decorations and stashes them in their own front yard in the same neighborhood?

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah! You know what that means? While you Gentiles still have time to get overnight shipping on your last-minute gifts and decorations, we Jews are totally screwed!

I realized last night that my sisters and their families will be stopping by tonight for a little light-up-the-winter cheer. Though it's not a big to-do, I did want to make some cute homemade Chanukah decorations. I scoured Pinterest for stuff that wasn't shaped like dreidels and candles (come on, people, surely we can do better than that) and threw together these neat-o ideas in only a few hours. (Note: A quick color-change can make these decoration appropriate for Christmas, too.) Take a look: