Entertainment

Holiday Happenings Pt.2

Elizabeth Chow, Raymond Zhang, Emanuel Leibowitz, Neil Marantz, Ryan Chen, and Sheba Chan

February 11, 2025

Last year, Liz and Raymond wrote their article Holiday Happenings, sharing their favorite festive activities. This year, they asked their mentor group to create a similar article, expanding our list of local, festive activities that keep the winter months exciting.

DIY Ornament Crafting

By Sheba Chan

Let Your Creativity Snow!—Painting over old ornaments is a simple way to freshen up your home decor. The fresh new color schemes can create your own holiday aesthetic. Want purple ornaments? Feel free to paint them yourself. The low-cost and colorful DIY activity is open to all and a great way to add a personal touch to your home.

During the holiday season, there are several fun activities inside and outside your home. DIY ornament crafting, for example, is a fun indoor activity to keep the winter joy going! It is a fun, festive activity perfect for bonding with loved ones and letting your creative side shine.

Picture glitter, colorful ribbons, paint, and other craft supplies scattered across your table. Amidst the chaos, however, a colorful ornament is taking shape. One way to bring your ornament-making vision to life is through paper. To make a paper ornament, you just need to model the paper into a sphere and then top it with a fabric of your choice. Another method involves ceramics — just mold clay into a custom ornament to bring your vision to life! Either way, there is no wrong way to enjoy this activity; just use whatever materials you have and let your creativity run wild! And if you’re feeling stuck, look to the internet for answers. Many online tutorials for ornament crafting offer ideas for every skill level, making it easy for anyone to join in on the fun.

Dyker Heights Christmas Lights

By Ryan Chen

“Just One More…”—Lucy Spata, a new resident of Dyker in 1986, grew frustrated with her neighbor’s lack of Christmas spirit. To bring some cheer into her neighborhood and honor her mom, who adored Christmas, she decided to be the only one to decorate her house that year. As she kept hanging up the decorations for “just one more” year and adding more decorations every year, she ended up getting her whole neighborhood, then the world involved, creating the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tradition.

Trudging through the chilly city night is gloomy, if not for the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights. Beginning right after Thanksgiving and ending after the New Year, the world-renowned Christmas Lights span the entire neighborhood! These lights truly shine, however, between 83-84 St and 10-12 Ave, where each and every house goes all out for their decorations. It is truly magical to spend an evening wandering through these streets, guided solely by the dazzling lights that bring you deeper and deeper into Brooklyn’s own Winter Wonderland. While the entire experience is free, you may also consider purchasing a festive drink or snack from Brooklyn’s local restaurants to supplement the sightseeing. With or without food, one thing is certain: these beautifully decorated houses will get you in the holiday spirit!

Movie Marathon

By Emanuel Leibowitz

Home Alone with Home Alone—After wishing he had no family, Kevin’s (Macaulay Culkin) wish unexpectedly comes true. With his family on a trip to Paris, Kevin navigates his life at home, watching TV, doing chores, and defending his home against an attempted robbery.

When the snow starts to fall, and the fireplace gets turned on, there is no better way to spend a day indoors than with a movie marathon. Wrap yourself in a pile of warm blankets, grab a cup of hot chocolate, and bring your favorite snacks to get ready for some serious holiday cheer. The best mix of winter spirit and joyful laughs can be found in Home Alone—a classic movie that follows Kevin McCallister, who gets left behind when his family goes on vacation and must fend for himself against two burglars. Filled with heart and humor, Home Alone also embraces the holiday spirit, taking place on none other than Christmas day. But why stop at one? The best way to enjoy a snowed-in day is with a movie marathon: the second film brings Kevin to New York City, and each sequel brings even more laughs. This day isn’t just for watching movies—it is about creating an atmosphere of comfort. There is something oh-so delightful about being wrapped in blankets, eating deliciously buttered popcorn, and losing track of time as you watch movie after movie. It’s the perfect activity to make staying indoors feel like the coziest holiday adventure.

Making Gingerbread Houses

By Neil Marantz

An Alluring Abode—An elf-on-the-shelf-themed gingerbread house made from a store-bought kit and designed to resemble the illustration on the box, including frosting-based snow and icicles.

You know what one of my new favorite Christmas activities is? Gingerbread houses. I mean, you get to construct and decorate a mini-house before eating it. Rich with the spiced scent of gingerbread, blanketed in frosting snowdrifts, and bejeweled with colorful candy and gumdrops—what’s not to like?

These edible edifices can even take a more competitive turn if you have family or friends over. See who can build the fastest or sturdiest house. People hold cupcake-decorating contests as a fun activity — why not gingerbread house-decorating contests?

If you plan to make a gingerbread house, I’d recommend a store-bought kit. As delicious as homemade gingerbread is, boxed kits come with most of the materials needed for gingerbread houses.

Even if you aren’t a fan of the store-bought flavors, gingerbread houses serve as excellent decorations. After taking family videos and Instagram photos with the houses, you can remove the candy decor and mash the house into a pile of crumbs for a future pie. Who says pumpkin pie is autumn only? And a simple cheesecake is definitely a year-round delicacy.

About the Contributors

Elizabeth Chow, Web Editor

Elizabeth “Liz” Chow is a senior at GNSHS, and was previously the News Editor and is now a Web Editor for The Southerner. She believes that the paper is an extension of student voices, and she aims to connect the student body through her coverage of various school events and relevant high school topics. Besides school journalism, she is interested in the intersections between politics, advocacy and journalism. She also plays volleyball and started a podcast called “Teenage Letters.”

Raymond Zhang, Entertainment Editor

Raymond Zhang is a Junior at Great Neck South High School and is the Entertainment Editor for The Southerner. Raymond likes to write articles on local subjects as well as entertainment. He often gets inspiration from his walks with his dog and from reading great writing. When he’s not so busy, you can find him enjoying a good book or playing with his dog Peanut.

Ryan Chen, Multimedia Editor

Ryan Chen is a senior at Great Neck South High School and the Multimedia Editor of The Southerner. Throughout his second official year on the paper, Ryan hopes to craft multimedia content depicting the many different facets, opportunities, and personalities that South High has to offer. Outside of the paper, he enjoys exploring the city, cooking new foods, and succumbing to a deep slumber.