The holidays are a time of year when many people embrace traditions of old and continuously create new ones. During this season, a renewed interest in homemade or handcrafted gifts, crafts, and hobbies is often seen.

These personal touches can help set the holiday festivities apart.

"Growing up, the holiday season was always an important and special time of year for my family. Now that my own family has grown, I've been able weave personal and homemade touches to these time-honored traditions, providing greater meaning for holidays spent with my children and grandchildren," says Lynn Doyle, host and executive producer of CNN's "It's Your Call With Lynn Doyle."

Doyle is a multi award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of television news experience, who has two daughters and twin grandsons. She also enjoys her time at home in Pennsylvania with husband Michael.

She likes to shares with others her secrets to a homemade holiday. One of these is to bring the outside inside.

Borrow from the seasonal color around you and collect festive greenery from your own backyard, including pine cones, branches and berries, to be used as decorative household accents, centerpieces or garland, offers Doyle.

Children can help add some sparkle to these arrangements with a little bit of glue and glitter for the pine cones. This tip will also bring the natural scents of the season into your home!

Personalize with photographs and movies.

"As a grandmother, I am always eager to see how the kids in the family have grown from year to year, so I include my own family photos in holiday correspondence," says Doyle.

For example, recent pictures can be used in personalized calendars and E-greetings for friends far away. Help your children customize their own photographs for relatives.Another idea is to compile old holiday home movies onto a DVD or a holiday highlight reel."This is something that is also fun for children to be involved with. Everyone can laugh at how clothing and hair styles have changed through the years," adds Doyle.Showcase these photographs and movies during holiday parties and celebrations as festive entertainment.You can create family trees and embark on a new tradition.Set up and decorate a number of small family trees assigning a special theme for each, said Doyle. Children can help to decorate their own, or pet-lovers can create a pint-size tree for four-legged friends."I have added a 'Grandson Tree' to my own collection this year, adorned with homemade ornaments and family photos." she says.Customize gift wrappings can help protect the environment and create a unique gift.Re-use paper grocery bags when wrapping gifts and allow children to color, stamp and paint their own festive designs on the paper.Adorn gifts with small items that the recipient will enjoy such as tie a cookie cutter onto the box for the baker in the family, use homemade ornaments or handprint cut-outs as gift cards.If you need a natural bow, tuck a sprig of holly beneath the ribbon on your boxes.You also can host a friends and family cookie swap.Cook up something special in the kitchen for loved ones, and involve extended family and friends in a holiday cookie swap.

Lynn Doyle