Welcome to this week's Creativity Crate. Today, we're delivering a full care-package of fun and festive stuff to click on. Here we go!

How to make white chocolate chip cranberry cookies

A collection of good news from this year

Take a tour of America's oldest decorative hardware company

Hear an electronic version of Bach's Air on a G String

A woman held a virtual Thanksgiving for strangers

Scientists partnering with brewers to taste test ancient recipes

The most dangerous volcano

Contemporary artists on the works they made this year

How to reap benefits of your downtime

A student turns food waste into solar panels

Top creative projects made during Covid-19 lockdown

How to make colorful paper honeycomb ornaments

Ideas for delightful DIY wrapping paper

A dried citrus garland craft to inspire your space

Travel around the world through a variety of chicken soup recipes

NPR's Book Concierge returns, bigger than ever

How to cultivate a sense of creative purpose

Arkansas school installed solar panels to save money and pay teachers more

Performances Now until December 12 • Our GreenMarket stage is an intimate, open-air venue where our neighbors can safely enjoy live entertainment. And what better backdrop for a performance than the gorgeous Florida sky? Reserve your square for Kathy and Mo, a production that has all of the right ingredients to make you laugh the night away. Lauren Drexler and Kathy Grey star in this non-stop comedy which lends unique perspective to a variety of female and male characters in situations that leave audiences breathless with laughter.

Saturday, December 5 • Our Arts and Ends Holiday Sale is headed outdoors to our ArtsPark and GreenMarket grounds! Located on the walkways surrounding the Alliance building, artist’s tables will be set up in the beautiful open air and sunshine and you can buy directly from them – doesn’t get much more local than that! Avoid the malls and retail stores and cross off that gift list with unique items made by artists and artisans in your community. Plus, shop your local crop from framers, bakers, chefs and makers as this event overlaps with our weekly GreenMarket.

Sunday, December 13 • Reserve your square now for an outdoor, responsibly distanced concert on our GreenMarket lawn! Hwy 41 South has played about every major bluegrass festival in Florida and has had a great time doing it! This band met their heroes of bluegrass, and even played music with them! Hwy 41 has backed up James King, and shared the stage with some of the best in the business like Claire Lynch, and Jim Lauderdale to name a few.

Stay connected and inspired from your living room, kitchen table or studio with our online art classes or connect outdoors or in our classroom! Upcoming classes include:

Sunday, December 27 • Reserve your square now for an outdoor, responsibly distanced concert on our GreenMarket lawn! Songwriting musicians Roy Schneider & Kim Mayfield are the core duo of the Reckless Saints, an original Americana musical act based in the American south.

While the Alliance for the Arts continues to make ends meet with cost reductions and creative programming, we experienced $500,000 in revenue losses due directly to the pandemic. Put simply, ticket sales and class fees are not enough to sustain the organization.

We’re relying on you to help close the financial gap. To answer the call, two very amazing Alliance members have banded together to offer an end of year match challenge of $30,000. It’s an ambitious task, to say the least, but the Alliance is made up of people like you - people who believe, as we believe, that the arts have the power to transform lives and improve our community and that arts and culture are vital.

Any gift - from $1 to $30,000 - made between now and December 31st will be matched - dollar for dollar by the Bireley Family Foundation and Bruce & Janet Bunch. This is a big deal for the Alliance and we know we can do it with your help.

the @Alliance for the Arts and use the hashtag #CreativityCrate or encourage your friends to join by opting in to our emails at ArtInLee.org/CreativityCrate.