Michaels Redeems Its Holiday Decor Lineup with a New Jonathan Adler Hanukkah Collection
After weathering a design disaster during the previous holiday season, crafting retailer Michaels has bounced back by teaming up with renowned designer Jonathan Adler for a striking new Hanukkah collection. Last year’s missteps left the bar exceptionally low for 2026. Retail observers and shoppers alike were left shaking their heads in 2025 when Michaels managed to market a Hanukkah garland featuring the Hebrew letter "chet"—a character famously absent from the traditional four letters found on a dreidel. To compound the error, the company photographed the garland with the letter facing backward and proceeded to enlarge that exact photograph for prominent in-store holiday displays.
Fortunately, the retail giant shifted its strategy dramatically for the current season, bringing in Jonathan Adler to elevate its festive offerings. Adler, known for his bold aesthetic and playful approach to modern interior design, shares unexpected roots with Jewish agricultural history in South Jersey, where his great-grandparents settled as egg farmers. His great-grandfather even helped establish the historic Garton Road Shul in the 1890s, offering a fascinating personal connection to a lesser-known chapter of American Jewish heritage.
Adler has long integrated Jewish traditions into his commercial and high-end design work, frequently producing contemporary Judaica that doubles as modern sculpture. With a track record that includes sleek brass and acrylic ritual objects, his collaboration with Michaels was anticipated as a major highlight of the holiday shopping season. A close inspection of the new line reveals a mixture of high-concept modern art pieces and traditional motifs reimagined through Adler’s distinct lens.
Acrylic Hanukkiyah
The market for new hanukkiyot has experienced a relatively quiet year, making Adler’s blue acrylic creation a standout addition. The piece features a solid, translucent blue block with the familiar curved branches of a traditional hanukkiyah cast directly inside the material.
The design successfully bridges the gap between contemporary art and functional ritual objects, presenting a clever and visually striking profile that bears Adler’s unmistakable signature style. On the practical side, the item is surprisingly heavy—a common characteristic of Adler’s metal and acrylic home goods, which often possess the heft of free weights. While the monolithic block is undeniably striking, some users may note that the corners feel slightly sharp to the touch. Despite these minor physical quirks, the piece offers a compelling aesthetic that appeals to modern design enthusiasts looking for a fresh take on holiday traditions.
Hanukkah Candles
The collection also introduces three distinct varieties of Hanukkah candles: solid shades of blue, classic blue-and-white combinations, and a striking metallic gold. The gold candles are particularly notable for their shiny, shimmering finishes, which incorporate three different textures within the same color family, creating a visually dynamic presentation that transforms a standard holiday necessity into a design statement.
While the aesthetic appeal of the boxes is undeniable, their performance during the eight-night festival remains to be tested, particularly regarding burn quality and wax residue removal from decorative surfaces. Nevertheless, the elevated packaging and sophisticated colorways succeed in making a routine holiday purchase feel genuinely special.
Gelt Coins
Adler’s collection reimagines decorative Hanukkah gelt by offering both translucent acrylic coins featuring blue and gold holiday symbols and hefty metal coins available in two different sizes. This design choice nods to the historical origins of Hanukkah gelt, recalling a time in the late 1800s when children received actual currency before foil-wrapped chocolate coins popularized the tradition in America during the 1920s.
The decorative metal and acrylic pieces provide a sophisticated option for living room console styling and seasonal tablescapes. Because they are crafted from durable materials rather than chocolate, they eliminate the risk of melting onto fine furniture during extended holiday gatherings, though hosts will still need to supply edible chocolate gelt for traditional dreidel games and seasonal hot chocolate.
Ceramic Bowls
Two gold-rimmed ceramic bowls anchor the tabletop portion of the collection, each utilizing distinct geometric and symbolic patterns. One bowl features repeating blue dreidels adorned exclusively with the Hebrew letter "shin," while the other nests smaller Stars of David inside larger ones across shades of blue and silver.
While home decor lines occasionally misstep by utilizing single dreidel letters out of context—such as a previous competitor’s set of appetizer plates that featured mismatched letters—Adler utilizes the repeating "shin" as an intentional stylistic choice where the geometry of the Hebrew character integrates seamlessly into the overall pattern. The result is a surprisingly sophisticated motif that stands out as one of the collection’s strongest design elements, contrasting with the more conventional appearance of the Star of David counterpart.
Hanukkah Table Runner
Rounding out the collection is a vibrant, reversible blue-and-white table runner that incorporates the same nested Jewish stars seen on the ceramic bowls alongside complementary geometric patterns. One side features a circular pattern reminiscent of small blue-and-white cookies, adding a playful culinary nod to the holiday aesthetic.
While the textile piece coordinates well with the broader collection, it relies on familiar motifs that evoke traditional ritual textiles rather than pushing the creative boundaries seen in the acrylic hanukkiyah or the "shin" bowl. Overall, the Jonathan Adler x Michaels collaboration delivers a cohesive, thoughtfully executed holiday assortment defined by sophisticated shades of blue.
As holiday decor trends continue to evolve, future collections may benefit from minimizing reliance on standard stars and leaning further into the unexpected, avant-garde creativity that characterizes Adler’s broader body of work. Integrating unique design elements from his existing lines—such as his work with game-inspired motifs—could offer fresh avenues for future festive housewares, ensuring that major craft retailers continue to improve their seasonal offerings while avoiding past design pitfalls.
