Reese Witherspoon tried to make gingerbread house from scratch: 'Epic disaster'
Reese Witherspoon gets sentimental around the holiday season.
In a recent interview with People, the 48-year-old actress reflected on her family traditions for the Christmas holiday and some of her favorite memories over the years, including the gifts she has received.
"I was obsessed with Teddy Ruxpin," she said of her favorite Christmas present she's ever gotten. "My dad found the last one at some store, and I played with it every single day. It was basically a big glorified tape player, so I put all my music in it. I just loved it."
The actress and businesswoman explores the idea of the best Christmas present in her new children's book, "Busy Betty & the Perfect Christmas Present," which she said she was inspired to write after her 12-year-old son, Tennessee, expressed he didn't know what to buy anyone for Christmas.
REESE WITHERSPOON 'FOUND' HER VOICE AS A SINGLE MOTHER: 'NO ONE'S COMING TO HELP'
Witherspoon, who is also a mother to two older kids, Ava, 25, and Deacon, 21, explained she hopes the book "reinforces that homemade gifts are the best" and that people will appreciate the thought behind the gift.
"When one of my kids were little, they gave me a jar filled with very specific memories and compliments," she shared. "It's everything from 'I love when you hug me after school' to 'I love when we sing this song in the car.' To this day it makes me want to cry."
On another occasion, one of her children gave her five letters that she was instructed "to open at different times," calling it "a lovely, lovely gift."
After becoming a mother, Witherspoon began pulling out all the stops to make Christmas a special time for her children by creating their own traditions, including "decorat[ing] the porch with poinsettias and ribbons and garlands," ice skating and making gingerbread houses together.
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"We use a kit," Witherspoon explains. "Back when I was a 'Do anything that Martha Stewart says' woman, I tried to make my own house and it was an epic disaster. My engineering was not up to par. It just collapsed."
The "Legally Blonde" star shares her two older children with her ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe, and her younger son with ex-husband Jim Toth.
In a panel discussion for her production company Hello Sunshine's annual Shine Away event with fellow actors, Laura Dern and Octavia Spencer, Witherspoon shared that becoming a single mom with two kids at such a young age helped her find her voice.
"There's a moment in all of our lives when you realize, no wait, no one's coming to help, no one's coming to make that decision," she said. "For me, I have to make that decision. I've had a lot of those. Being a single mom when I was in my late 20s, I had to make a lot of decisions for my two kids and a lot of financial decisions, too."
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She married Phillippe in June 1999 when she was 23 years old, with the couple finalizing their divorce in 2007 when she was 27. She would go on to marry CAA talent agent Jim Toth in 2011, later announcing their separation in March 2023 after 11 years of marriage.