Now Halloween is over and done with, the countdown to Christmas is underway in earnest. Let's be honest, there hasn't been an awful lot to look forward to for vast swathes of this strangest of all years, and thus the holidays have become important milestones as we all countdown to the end of 2020. Whether next year brings us all better fortunes remains to be seen, but I think we'll all be happy to wave this year off in the rearview mirror. This adorable police dog was caught red handed stealing Christmas presents: [[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/H0XjqSRz-sKUnNGKf.mp4||H0XjqSRz]] With social distancing measures in place throughout the year in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, we've been turning to new and inventive ways of keeping ourselves entertained in lieu of traditional leisure activities and large gatherings. Instagram has been awash with loaves upon loaves of banana bread, Netflix has been pushed to the very limits of its extensive back catalog of programming and some of us even took up jogging. And now, as the nights draw in and the weather turns colder, people might be looking for comforting foods and drinks to consume while bingeing the latest must-watch series. That's where these genius hot chocolate charcuterie boards come in. The aesthetically-pleasing and utterly delicious-looking concoctions have been popping up all over social media in recent days, and with good reason. I mean, just look at them: [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/B6BJspGHm_0/]] [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/B8PASyOp3j5/]] [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/B7JuekCJ76c/]] [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CHX-mqCgO9J/]] [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CHjbQwiD65W/]] [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CHjbclVjE1y/]] From marshmallows, to sprinkles, to cookies and even extra chunks of chocolate, these boards have everything you could possibly want for an indulgent and comforting night in - perfect for the run up to Christmas to share with your household while cosying up in front of a festive movie. If you're after yet more Christmas tips and hacks for this year, then one mom has shared her ingenious <a href="https://vt.co/lifestyle/mom-shares-genius-elf-on-the-shelf-for-parents-to-use-this-christmas">Elf on the Shelf hack for 2020</a>. Per <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/elf-on-the-shelf-quarantine-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fox News</a>, Hilary Soria took to Facebook on Friday, November 6, and shared a picture of her elf doll wearing a face mask in a snow globe-like mason jar, and holding miniature bottles of hand sanitizer and Lysol as accessories. A caption of the image reads: <blockquote>"ELF ON THE SHELF will need to quarantine for 14 days after his trip from the North Pole! This should help you mamas!! [sic]"</blockquote> Other parents on social media clearly loved Hilary's idea, and her post has since picked up more than 8,800 likes, 13,000 comments, and 387,000 shares as of the time of writing. [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1136247173129169]]

Hot chocolate 'charcuterie board' trend is sweeping the internet in time for Christmas

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