Merry Christmas Everyone!

Only a few days to go until Christmas Day! We have a particularly excited 4-year old in the house who is counting down the sleeps, and her younger sister is equally excited although she doesn't quite understand the concept yet. Christmas is such a lovely time and with children who still believe in Santa, it is even more magical. They got me excited too.

In my previous post I promised I would share with you some of my own decorations, so here it goes.... I feel a bit apprehensive about it as I feel anything but confident about taking my own pictures and incredibly amateur. And yes, one of my new year's resolutions for 2013 is to learn more about photography!

My colour for Christmas is red, which I know is traditional, but it gives a lovely splash of colour in our mainly grey and white interior and is a good colour for children. Firstly, we always have a wreath on our front door and I love simple decorations as time is always very precious in our house. Lots of candles, baubles and pine cones go a long way. The little tea light houses with some pine cones dotted around didn't take much effort but create a nice effect. 

The antique chest with marble top and mirror (which I inherited from my grandparents) is used for a display of bell cloches with pine cones and baubles and HKliving twig candle sticks (new - available on the Nordic Rose website very soon!) together with our little Christmas Treat Tree. A friend of mine and I baked cinnamon cookies with the girls, which they decorated themselves. We had such great fun and it's a real nice way of getting little ones involved.  

I hope you're enjoying this special time as much as I do and I'd like to wish everyone wonderful festive days together with their loved ones. Merry Christmas!

Lots of love,
Trinske x

Creating a Festive Atmosphere

So, are you ready for Christmas? Are you feeling stressed or relaxed? Have you done all the decorating you wanted to do? I love this time of the year, although I wonder sometimes where the time goes... It has been some time since my last post! And my eldest daughter Kirsten is asking me every day how many sleeps it is until Christmas (clearly someone is VERY excited... and at the age of 4 she is a bit young to work out the maths on the advent calendar). But boy, it is approaching fast... Only just over a week to go!

I'm feeling rather relaxed, or organised is perhaps a better word, but it's taking me some time to get my decorations to the point where I feel good about it. Somehow I don't seem to be able to make up my mind! So, I wanted to share these ideas that I found inspirational and I will try to photograph some of my own creations next week. 

 Image Source: Regards et Maisons blog

Image Sources: 

Hyancinth image: Nordic Design

Glass Dome image: My Little Box

 Image Source: Wunderschoen gemacht blog

I love the idea of some simple branches with the odd decoration that gives a lovely subtle festive feel. I won't be having real candles in mine though! I think the idea of alternating hyacinth bulbs with tea lights is very cute and I have a soft spot for glass domes, as they really give a vocal point to something you want to show off. I've now got some and am trying to work out how style them. And what do you think of that simple frame with letters and that lovely splash of colour? The neon pink really stands out. 
I tend to lean towards an interior with mainly whites, greys and some dark wood pieces, but for Christmas I inject some splashes of red. I know it is traditional, but it is such a festive colour and it is also great for kids. And that brings me onto those cute little DIY reindeers.... 

Source Reindeer images: Kiertoidea blog

So simple and great fun to make with young children. Aren't they effective?!? Children love making things from toilet rolls, and I think I may give these a try on the first days of the school holidays. I'm pretty sure our ones will need to be given some red noses though... Particularly our eldest Kirsten is a big fan of Rudolf and hey, the red fits in with our colour scheme!

Hope you'll have fun decorating YOUR house!

Lots of love,
Trinske x