Michelle Obama Sparkles On ‘Ladies’ Home Journal’ & Talks Traditions

The fashionable first lady looked so festive in the magazine as she spilled on the traditions the Obamas have brought to the White House.

Michelle Obama looks so stylish and chic on Ladies’ Home Journal, and we couldn’t think of a better choice for the December/January cover! The 49-year-old was just radiant in a sleeveless metallic dress that was perfect for the holiday season — and the silhouette allowed her to flaunt her favorite asset, her toned arms! Michelle admits that she loves celebrating the holidays in the White House with her daughters — and that includes lots of baking! “It’s one of the major activities the girls do when they have friends over. If they are bored and they’ve run out of things to talk about or do, I usually get a request: “Can we go down to the kitchen and make cookies?” And of course, the answer is always yes,” she said.

Inside the mag, she spilled on decorating the family tree — and how she loves to play festive songs! “Usually it’s the tree in the Yellow Oval room. We’ll have hot chocolate, light a fire, no matter what the weather is, get out a basket of decorations and then I’ll put on the first holiday music of the season. I have a phenomenal playlist that includes, of course, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” as well as James Taylor, Mariah Carey, Boys II Men and Nat King Cole.”

Decorating was always a very important part of the holidays for the first lady, even when she was a young girl. “Christmas has always been a special time in my household. Growing up, we lived in a little-bitty apartment, but my mom put her heart and soul into decorating that house. She would take cardboard and make a chimney over our radiator because she wanted us to feel like we had something for Santa Claus to come down,” she said.

Michelle Obama Wows In Red Jason Wu Gown

Cookies aren’t the only thing you could expect to see prepared in the White House! In fact, the first lady said, “One of my favorite holiday dishes is a simple and delicious white-bread crumb stuffing with oysters and spicy sausage. My mom got the recipe from my grandmother – my father’s mother. I’ve made it before, but it always tastes better when Mom makes it.”

Michelle admitted that some of her personal family traditions are now celebrated in the White House — how sweet? “Our extended family was so large, people couldn’t really afford to buy gifts for everyone. So a couple of my aunts would go out and purchase small gifts. They would put them in a basket and in order to get a gift you had to perform. You could tell a joke, read a poem, do a backflip – anything counted. It’s a tradition that we’ve carried on today. I’ve hula-hooped, done a dog trick with Bo and read poems. The kids will sing or put on plays. The President and some of the other dads will get together and do a song.”

She also hopes that her family leaves a special legacy behind. “I hope that it’s a legacy of inclusion. Congress comes and important famous people come. But I’m also thinking about a little kid from Kansas who is able to make the trip to see the house. We have a reception almost twice a day, every day, until December 21. That means hors d’oeuvres and eggnog and cookies for every guest who comes through. The house smells incredible for an entire month,” she said.