Tara Spencer-Nairn wants Christmas to be as special for her two boys, Foster, 4, and 15-month-old Carson, as it was when she was a little girl, waking up to discover Santa's "boot marks" emerging from the fireplace. "Christmas becomes dull as we get older; now that we have kids it's so magical and exciting," the former Corner Gas star says. "My neighbours don't like it when I start to put decorations up mid-November, but I feel like it happens so quickly!"

The 37-year-old and her husband, Josh Glover, opened the doors of their charming east-end abode, which the actress calls "modern but still like a 100-year-old home," for a special photo shoot and to chat her favourite holiday traditions (old and new!), what she wants from Santa and that time their Christmas went the way of the Griswolds.