Five Things

I was going to do my usual "Three Things" post but with all the pretty things I got for Christmas and my birthday earlier this month I decided to add two more items to the list. There are many more lovely new things in my possession, of course / I'm afraid, but I had to draw a line somewhere ...

- a very pretty (and very pink) mug & plate set

from Accessorize

- another little angel for my bedroom wall

- a gorgeous warm scarf from Fraas

- yet another incredibly beautiful angel pendant

- and a yummy new leather purse from Joules!

Happy & grateful :)

Winter Neutrals

A bit late, but never mind - 

my Christmas Day outfit! 

Not really my usual colour scheme 

but I wanted the accessories to stand out

(including my 'neutral' grey hair ...)!

Outfit details:

- boots - Stroll

- tights - home closet :)

- dress - Tom Tailor

- woollen top - local store

- coat - Benetton

- scarf - my Mum's

- hat - Boden

- wrist warmers - I made them

- holly corsage - Etsy (Vanessa Cabban)

- red corsages - handmade by Alix from usedtobees

- Nativity pendant - Christmas tree decoration from the local florist :)

I liked the outfit despite the lack of colour ...

Angel Ring - Check!

Remember the wishlist? 

Apparently, I've been a good girl.

According to St Nick :)

Check in tomorrow for the whole outfit!

Taking It Easy

Now this is what I call a slow start into the new year. Nearly half of January has passed already and I'm on my second blog post! Well, it's been busy at our quarters in the last couple of weeks, what with my birthday celebrations and all ... And now I'm finally ready to embrace life at its usual pace :)

For a proper start, I'll make your mouth water with some of the Christmas & birthday goodies we made. As usual, I'm still not one for carrying my little camera around the house and taking photos of everything I do, so here's a very limited selection of our makings:

I always make shortbread for Christmas, following the above recipe. Always a success :)

Another batch was a chocolatey one - one half of the rice flour substituted by cocoa powder. Yummy!

The ones below are seriously the best biscuits ever. My little girl (with a brand new hair do) has been a busy bee :) And a great helper!

Next project and more help - I love making yummy treats with my girl!

The biscuits turned out absolutely gorgeous - and delicious. Looking forward to this year's Christmas :)

(P.S.: an Easter Bunny has hopped onto our plate of Christmas biscuits - no wonder, considering the weather!)

The Tea Was Delicious

My advent calendar this year: 

 

All gone now. I enjoyed every cup.

Have a very merry Christmas, my dear friends!

Nearly There

All four candles are burning ...

Christmas Is Coming

So many pretty things! 

This sweet little Harris Tweed robin 

was another love -  

handmade by my dear blogging friend Alison - 

how clever is she?

 Photo: source

 

It had to, just had to be mine! 

With a bit of luck, 

it's already winging its way 

to its new home - to me :)

I've Been A Good Girl

I must have been a good girl this year. This is what I got from Father Christmas:

1 A gorgeous silk bag from a local crafter - beyond gorgeous, actually! I spotted it at our local Christmas Fair a while ago and told my little girl I'd write a letter to Father Christmas and ask for it. Guess what! She did it for me, and the bag was right there, under the tree (with a little help of the elf, looking very much like myself, but who cares?)...

2 Another gorgeous handmade thing - a pair of Fairisle gloves from Etsy seller helengraydesigns. One of the nicest sellers I've ever come across, as well! The gloves are stunning, and so warm!

3 A 'lipstick' lamp from Varta. This was a real surprise from my husband! I keep it with me at all times when I go out in the dark, it's really handy.

4 Last but not least, a necessity for my skin in the winter months. I go through masses of this particular hand cream, it's one of the few that actually works for me.

Thank you so much, Father Christmas :)

Happy Christmas!

This pretty Christmas bird 
is the work of my very talented cousin, 
an artist and illustrator.
 

My dear blogging friends, may you have a lovely Christmas this year!

Wreaths

Our advent wreaths this year: 

The one on the front door was made by my eight-year old daughter! I've said it before but let me do it again - congratulations, well done, K.!

And this is the one I made. There's a lovely creative workshop at my daughter's school every year just before advent starts where we gather together, mums (sometimes dads) and our children, and we make advent wreaths and Christmas decoration. These are such enjoyable afternoons, year in, year out.

We lit the second candle on Sunday. Two more to go and it's Christmas, yay!

P.S.: My first post on advent wreaths...

Tweedy Christmas

Oooh, I just have to share this, it's absolutely precious! All these yummy tweedy decorations are made by my blogging friend Alison from Tweed Thoughts - wouldn't you love to have this Christmas pudding hanging from your tree? I definitely would!

And the birds! All of them!

A gorgeous soft cushion, perhaps?

Not hanging from the tree, of course...

A croft house tweedy pouch?

For the phone? Or the camera?

Or a sweet little stocking?

The choice is yours! 

Have a happy month of December!

Illuminated Music!

My Christmas present! Apart from some other bits & bobs I found wrapped under the Christmas tree. This was the best, though, it was exactly what I'd longed for!

I love Josh' music and I knew he'd just had a new CD out but what I didn't know was that between Noel and Illuminations he'd made another collection of his brilliant songs. I wasn't paying attention, apparently...

So, instead of one I got three CDs as there's a bonus one in his Collection! Lucky me! I'm off now to enjoy some music...

Merry Christmas...

... my dear blogging friends!

And may this holiday season fill your hearts with the peace of Christmas night!

Christmas Bazaar

Last week at my children's school. Both my boy and my little girl performed on stage as they both sing in the school choir. Together! It makes my heart melt when I see (and hear) them sing... It was a lovely performance and after that we could purchase some lovely Christmas decorations, hand-made by the school children. I couldn't resist, obviously. It was for a good cause, as well...

I got a lovely piece of hand-painted pottery - my little girl chose this particular bowl with white & silver decorations. Then I chose two pretty gift boxes - I can never resist any sort of polka dots... Can you?

Four Christmas tree decorations, one for each family member: the fairy is for my little girl (of course), the sugar cane is for my boy, Santa's boot for my husband, and I chose the red present for myself. So pretty!

I loved the wooden plaques as well. I might hang them on our tree, but then again I might not. There are so many places one can hang a Christmassy wooden plaque, aren't there?

Last but not least, two little creatures made of polymer clay, chosen by my children - the bumble bee for the girl and the penguin for the boy. Cute!

I love bazaars!

P.S.: The napkin was hand-embroidered by my Mum!

Good Girl

I had a very productive afternoon. I made:

- vanilla crescents

- another batch of shortbread and...

- ... coconut kisses!

They're all delicious! More sorts to follow - hopefully tomorrow afternoon, after my little girl's ballet performance.

Sooo Pretty!!! - Part II.

OK, so I owe you an explanation of Friday's post. The gorgeous images are the work of my incredibly talented cousin, a children's book illustrator. She has produced a series of cards, lively and colourful, suitable for Christmas wishes, and also Valentine's Day, birthdays, anniversaries... the possibilities are endless (the exception is the image below which is entirely Christmassy). If interested, you can purchase the cards directly from her; I'm afraid at this point the offer is only available to Slovenian readers and if you're interested you can check my Facebook page where you will find contact information.

As I've said, my cousin is a brilliant artist and I'm happy to say that we have a joint project! To be honest, it's nothing new, really, it's just that I'm quite terrible at self-promotion. Anyway, we've published five children's books together (so far)! So, yay, I'm a published author!!! The books are really pretty (you can have a taste of the illustrations by checking my cousin's cards) and I'm extremely proud of them, but, as I've said, I'm not a seller, I just keep them at home and admire them... Well, I've spoken now so I'll have to present them on my blog at one point, right? I will, I promise. They're only available in Slovenian at this point but who knows... I'll keep saying: Stay tuned!

Sooo Pretty!!!

Aren't these absolutely gorgeous? Just a sneak peek for now! I'll tell you all about it in the next days.

Stay tuned!