Tagged: Christmas Decorations
Baubles x
Each year the aim is to hunt down and buy one new decoration that has the ability to tug heart and tummy in a warm, I must have that, embrace. This year, it’s a skating rabbit from Graham and Greene – there’s something about the retro tinsel, the nostalgic pose, the subtle colours that makes me smile. In fact, Graham and Green possibly richest vein of baubles this year….
(All pics Graham and Green and Pinterest)
Simple pleasures.
Laters, Kate x
Christmas x
The chandelier is decorated. Tick.
New mirror inserted. Tick.
Large star in kitchen? Tick.
Christmas tree? Done. Finally got the damn lights to work.
Elves? Here. Every day. When we remember..normally in bed at midnight..
Christmas to do list? Still long – buy presents, wrap presents, hunt holly, find mistletoe, find stockings, clean chimneys, make gingerbread houses, ice cake, plant carrots. It’s still reading like something the sorcerer would leave for his apprentice except without the hope of any magic. So what am I going to do today? I’m going to add a bright pink trim to the side of our kilim stair carpet.
Just because I can.
Laters, Kate x
Christmas Fair x
It sort of reached peak Christmas in the Bentley household at the end of last week – a festive mishmash of hosting meals for many, nights out and the culmination of 4 weeks of creative playdates with Bella and 4 friends to help produce stock to sell at the School Christmas Fair. The idea was simple – to show them the cost and effort it takes to turn raw ingerdients into real money.
But it played into my love as well – to me, sitting around a table making is what Christmas is all about.
We had an amazing amount and variety of stock. Spot the pompom Christmas puds? An excellent seller!
And we virtualy sold out – before costs, the girls made £395 on the day! Not to be sniffed at.
Damn. They might want to do it again…
Laters, Kate x
Deck the Halls..
Each Christmas there’s a delicious delight in unearthing the carefully collated christmas decs from across the years – the nursery school wonders, the vintage glitter, the Mexican gold…
There’s also a perverse joy in choosing the one decoration to buy to represent the current year and add to the ecletic mix.
(All pics Royal Doulton)
This year I’m going posh – Royal Doulton no less – and it’s this one just because she looks like my Bella.
Let it snow!
Laters, Kate x
Christmas Creative x
It’s the last day of the term for the kids, which would normally herald my favourite time of the year – hunkering down with crafts and an open fire to embrace everything glitter, festive and fun. It’s not the same with builders in the house…but why – really – should it be any different? In fact, with all our decorations in storage, the call to make everything is stronger than ever..I’m just thinking we need to keep everything as cheap and as simple as possible…decorations from paper?
Surprisingly effective: Cut out the shape, glue 2 sides together..and keep going. Miniatures for a garland..larger for a tree..
Or these globes? Fun with scissors and a hole-punch..
If we get really carried away…. a spot of origami?
(Or maybe we’ll just stick to to the good’ol paper chain….)
Laters, Kate x
Divine Decs…
If you don’t have the time to make your own, then Graham and Green have the best vintage-style-glass-bauble-bling for your ker-ching.
Or you could just see them as beautiful inspiration and an incentive…
Laters, Kate x
Best Christmas Craft EVER!
Bella and I had a festive Saturday afternoon covered in glue ‘n’ glitter, making our own Christmas cloche dioramas…they were so simple…yet so satisfying!
In amongst our renovation/building chaos we gathered all our bits together: A glue gun, uhu glue, foam plates, plastic wine glasses, glitter and all the little Christmas ornaments we could find.
We carefully, using a sharp knife, cut the end of the plastic wine glasses off, and cut out oversized circles from the foam plates.
Then we arranged and glued on our festive scenes.
The upturned glasses were glued down and had glitter added through the still open stems.
Finally they were topped and glued with the hanging part of an unwanted bauble and the bottoms trimmed off.
So effective.
Such fun!
Making them together and seeing them all…just made us smile.. and want to make more and more!
If you can..just do it!
Laters, Kate x
Our Day x
We wore the leather off our soles and the skin off our feet with our trip yesterday..I thought it was such a cunning and devious plan to link the Mexican shop and the Tower of London together – they’re both on the same side of the river after all – but sadly there’s no transport link between them..we ended up pounding the streets of London. Although, having said that – it’s a good place to pound. First stop was Milagros in Columbia Road – at the weekend this is a bustling, heaving flower market with much more besides (well worth a visit – there’s a Spanish restaurant at one end that does the best breakfast ever..) but during the week all the old shop fronts literally close their shutters – we were very lucky our destination was one of the few that was open..
We indulged..Frida Kahlo is my favourite..
It’s a fascinating area bridging hip Shoreditch and lively Brick Lane.
The kids took pictures of each other..
With varying degrees of success…
The Tower was magnificent. It’s such an iconic part of London with it’s foreboding stance against the march of time, combine that with the pure brilliance of this installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ to commemorate the allied fallen in the First World War and it’s a combination made in heaven. Tom Piper is the designer, Paul Cummins the ceramicist, both have captured something utterly unique: Is it Art..or is it theatre?
Each handmade ceramic flower represents a fallen soldier.
It’s as if the very stones of the Tower are bleeding.
It was a brilliant decision to allow the planting to happen gradually in waves. It started in August and by the 11 November, Remembrance Day, 888,246 poppies will proudly stand, filling the moat – it has made this edifice to death into a living, breathing structure both celebrating and mourning loss.
At 4.55 every day – dusk – a solitary trumpet plays the Last Post and a roll call of 180 of the dead are read out.
I so wanted to hear the trumpet …but there’s always a limit with children and mine – after a long day and with 25 minutes to wait – had reached theirs..
We headed home..
But if you think my two are always angels..
Think again…
Laters, Kate x
Book of Life..
We’ve just been to see the ‘Book of Life’ at the cinema..perfect for the run up to Halloween – a family friendly fiesta of Mexican culture bursting with vibrant colours and life where you can literally touch the heat of the Mexican sun..you don’t need to be a kid to enjoy this one – I absolutely loved it! If I could jump on a plane now and head to Mexico to see the Day of the Dead celebrations for myself, I would.. I’ve been utterly seduced by the folk art and magical artistry…
It’s inspired me to look at Mexican decorations for Christmas: We buy one special decoration for the tree each year – last year it was this one, but this year I think I’m rather spoilt for choice. Just one??!
So today we’re heading to Columbia Road (has a wonderful flower market at the weekend) to check out this Mexican shop..then we’re heading home via the poppies at the Tower of London..what’s more the sun is shining and the sky is blue my chilaquiles!
Adios! Kate x
Xmas Decs..
(From Horsefall & Wright)
What sort of style is your Christmas tree? Monochrome? Minimal white? Decadent perhaps? I’d say mine is definitely ‘eclectic’ where anything goes – Christmas isn’t something I can contain with a single theme..I like my decorations to be treasures collected over the years which are a joy to see again, carefully unwrapping them from their tissue slumber. For me Christmas is sparkly wonder that sings a siren call to my inner magpie..I’m virtually powerless to resist..but I do try and limit my decoration purchase to one special one each year. And this delicate bauble of happiness in honour of our dog Molly (nice excuse) is this year choice of delight..but there’s a delicious range of tantalising gorgeousness…
(Now..how could I let this cute beauty slip through my fingers??!..Molly needs a friend!)
Laters, Kate x
