Steal these holiday hacks from Chrissy Teigen and John Legend to make the season merry and bright

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are the ultimate Hollywood power couple. She's a model and best-selling cookbook author; He's a Grammy Award-winning musician. But, while the two lead very busy lives, they make a point to have a very special holiday experience for their kids Luna, 5, and Miles, 3.

"There's so much newness happening at our kids' ages," Teigen says as part of the Yahoo Life Holiday Home and Tell series. "They look at everything so bright-eyed and excited."

Everything isn't always perfect, though: "We definitely blackened a turkey on accident in a deep fryer, which is near impossible," Teigen says. "It was a mess," Legend agrees. But they put a lot of heart, soul and fun into the experience.

So, how do the holidays work in the Teigen-Legend household? They follow five simple steps for making the season next-level for everyone involved — and you can steal their tricks for yourself, too.

Video Transcript

CHRISSY TEIGEN: There's so much, um, newness happening at our kids ages, you know? They're 3 and 5. And they look at everything so bright-eyed and excited, and they just are really embracing the holiday now. Honestly, I don't even know if I believed in Santa or how long it went. But I definitely always remembered, like, giggling, watching my dad, like, remember that he forgot to eat the cookies we put out.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JOHN LEGEND: I started playing a Christmas playlist the day after Thanksgiving. It feels good to, like, get in the mood. Our kids want to listen to Christmas music all year round. Miles is, like, requesting daddy's Christmas music all year round.

We have a tree that already is in the house. And it's just kind of in the middle, in the place where you might put a Christmas tree. And so we've just decorated that tree.

[LAUGHTER]

We've been, like, trying to, most years, for Christmas, get away from LA. We grew up in colder weather. And we feel like Christmas isn't Christmas if it's not cold. And so that'll be part of our tradition. Hopefully, we'll keep that going.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: Haul all the stockings--

JOHN LEGEND: And escape California.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: --and escape.

[LAUGHTER]

JOHN LEGEND: We love the matching onesies. We love doing that on Christmas morning. And when we open presents with the kids, it's just corny and sweet. And we love it.

Also, food was so important. And we'd have Granny's greens. And she taught Chrissy and me the recipe, and we were able to share it with everybody else. And we definitely have some of those soul food traditions. And then Chrissy comes from a-- a multicultural house where, like, she learned Thai food, American food, all kinds of stuff. We were able to bring it all together and have just some of the coolest food in the world.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: I just love to be in the kitchen. And getting the kids involved in tradition and bringing the family together makes me so, so happy. And I think the kitchen should be a place of congregation. Let people come. People want to see things being made.

That's why, if you're having a holiday party, it's so fun to be able to do a Chex party mix bar and to create a long table of, like, these cute little dishes of mini marshmallows and pretzels and bagel chips to make it fun for people. It makes me happy to see them, um, creating something delicious and fun together.

JOHN LEGEND: We try to find little things like that where they can just remember the experience.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: We definitely blackened a turkey on accident--

JOHN LEGEND: Yes, I-- I deep-fried--

CHRISSY TEIGEN: --in a deep-fryer, which is near impossible.

JOHN LEGEND: I deep-fried the turkey, and it cooked the outside too quickly. And it was, like, deep brown. And then the inside wasn't cooked. It was a mess.

Christmas is going to be amazing. We love getting away for the holidays together and just enjoying the kids.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: It's like a time to really look back and--

JOHN LEGEND: Reflect.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: --and reflect, and really understand, like, wow, we've been through so much. We've been through so much as a family. It's been really just a time of growing so much compassion and empathy and love for people and-- and our friends and family--

JOHN LEGEND: And gratitude, too.

CHRISSY TEIGEN: --and, yeah, so much-- so much gratitude.

[MUSIC PLAYING]