Coniferous Christmas

Christmas is so pricey and a lot of it is unnecessary, going against the point of the holiday. When I first moved out I get a little over-excited and went all out for Christmas, but over the years it has worn a bit thin. Getting home from work and balancing on a foot stool in a pencil skirt to put up a million lights is a little dangerous for someone as coordination-challenged as I am. These days I prefer to opt for more low-key decorations. This particular one I made using a hurricane lamp, some conifer branches I picked up on my walk home and some ribbon that I used to wrap last year’s presents with. Add a candle and it gives a nice seasonal glow. 

Deck the halls with bowls of baubles

I ordered two baskets a couple of months ago in my favourite material, copper. I love the colour and how it makes utility items beautiful. The trouble with buying something that could have so many different uses and different ways to brighten up your home is that I have trouble deciding which option to choose. But, happily, I’ve found a festive use for them, which had the added bonus of making use of some of my excess baubles, of which I have many (love baubles), and puts off having to make that decision for a while longer. For now, it’s festive and pretty.

 

It’s comin’ on Christmas…

We've waved farewell to Fireworks night and hasta la vista to Halloween, now it’s time to start the Christmas countdown.

Every year I see a picture of a new colour scheme and I'm inspired to re-think my Christmas decorating plan. But apart from being a very expensive way to do Christmas, often the colours and styles just don’t fit with my house. As much as I might love the Scandinavian pure white and evergreen style I have to opt for something else. I like my decorations to be creative and different and that means getting out the paint brushes, super glue, double-sided sticky tape and scissors.

This year I'll be starting simple with the humble pine-cone. I pass a pine tree on my way home from work so every day for a week or so I have been picking up a couple of cones to take home and wash off. To keep things interesting I went for cones of all shapes and sizes and today I’m going to paint them. I saw a lovely vignette on Pinterest with pine cones painted in a baby pink and blue so I'll be using this colour scheme.

Painting the cones can be a little fiddly but it’s really quite easy so put down some newspaper, settle in with a Christmas film (yes, The Muppet Christmas Carol again) and you'll be done with them in no time. Leave to dry and arrange wherever and however you please. 

Christmas countdown started.