Why bother decorating your own house for the holidays, when you can go to the Florence Griswold Museum and see how it can be done artfully and gorgeously?

Palettes — painted by professional artists — hang from four towering trees inside the Krieble Gallery. Over at the museum’s Griswold House, mantels are decorated as if the Lyme Art Colony participants were competing to make the most impressive display.

And if you haven’t already bought your ticket for Miss Florence’s Teas, I have sad news: they’re sold out. Better luck next year.

“Holiday Magic,” through the end of the year, Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme; hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; $10 adults, $9 seniors, $8 students, free to age 12 and under; visitors between Nov. 25 and Dec. 31 are asked to consider bringing a non-perishable donation for the Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries; (860) 434-5542.