In fact, a battery of studies by Diana Tamir and Jason Mitchell of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University found that talking about ourselves lights up the same brain pleasure centers as food, money and sex.

FORBES: Talking About Yourself: The PR Impact

Still, we really liked a lot of the ideas and chose to focus on projects that could be done quickly, such as placing battery-operated lights in jars or vases in the windows instead of faux candles and filling clear-glass ornaments with confetti to hang on white tabletop trees as part of the dining-room-table centerpiece.

WSJ: Interior Designers Deck the Halls From Afar