Things I like...(Christmas Edition)

Things I like: Design Within Reach (DWR) Advent Calendar
Build enthusiasm for Christmas by building this Advent Calendar upward. A modern take on a traditional decoration, 24 cylindrical boxes stack on top of each other to create a stylized red cardboard holiday tree. Place a small gift or snack under each box, revealing a surprise each day as you get closer to Christmas. A red foil number on the side of each box tells you what day you¹re on and the whole calendar can nest inside itself for compact storage during the rest of the year.

Easy DIY Shaker Boxes:
via Candi Mandi. She made her decorative boxes using holiday rub-ons. I would love to gift tons of Christmas cookies and sweets in these handcrafted beauties! Little Elf Ornaments
From Mirkah on http://www.esty.com/ these little elfs are a sweet addition to your Christmas tree.
PID:
A Swedish meaning PID is Personal Interior Design. And the Swedish do what they do best - helping to create a dream home. I mean who has not got some Ikea in their home?
Well let me introduce you Grinda. The Grinda is Swedish design at tit’s best – these Christmas lights are modern, but not too rebellious, so no one in your extended family will notice that you managed to bring a bit of contemporary amongst the traditional and too-well-known decorations.

Coffee-to-go
For the very first time, Starbuck’s is offering a collectible Starbucks® Christmas Blend ornament along with their classic to-go cup ornament. Or you can just grab a pair without the java!
Urban Outfitters Ornaments
Love the Cindy Lou and Where the Wild Things Are ornaments – for children of all ages!

What's underneath is just as important....

I am a true believer that your Christmas wrapping should be just as beautiful as the rest of your holiday decor. Here are a few steps that are guaranteed to make an impression under your tree.

Step 1:
Make space in your home for a holiday wrapping station that will double as a craft space all year long. It's easy, efficient, and pretty!
Step 2:
Next, pick a theme – usually this will coordinate with your holiday décor….and don’t forget about the little ones. A good place to start is on your Christmas tree and in your other holiday decorations. Something is sure to stand out, whether it is a color, animal, children’s character or holiday character.

I set up two Christmas tree’s in the house – one for the family in our living room (which is more traditional) and a smaller tree for my daughter in her play room (this one is more whimsical and fun).

Here are some traditional and fun themes to consider!
Step 3:
Look for wrapping paper that highlights the main theme of your Christmas decorations. For example, if you have a tree covered in Disney characters, look for Disney wrapping paper. The same goes for Santa Claus, snowmen, candy canes or gingerbread men. Highlight a rustic home décor scheme with similarly fashioned paper. Modern decorators can use geometric patterns, stripes or circles on wrapping paper to accent their taste. And remember – you don’t always have to use holiday specific paper – anything goes what it comes to matching your theme!

Step 4:
Choose two accent papers to go with the main paper selection. These should be a lot quieter than the main patterned paper. An illustration of this would be using a plain metallic paper in gold, a simple diamond pattern in gold, red and green and a paper with gold holiday ornaments.
Step 5:
Gift bags make excellent choices for wrapping oddly shaped gifts. Look for ones that match any of the paper chosen or pick out a plain accent color. Accent your bags with tissue paper and a little sparkle!

Step 6:
Pick out curling ribbon in one or two colors that are in the papers and a fancy over sized ribbon! I like to add a portion of the gift to the outside of the box – if I am giving a friend a luxurious bath set I may add a soft bath pouf in place of a bow!
Step 7
After wrapping the presents, arrange them artfully beneath the tree. Christmas trees by walls or in corners can have large presents in the back with smaller presents in the front. Trees that can be viewed from all angles can be arranged with the largest presents beneath the branches and smaller ones fanning out below.

So take some time to plan what's underneath your tree - your gifts with dazzle!

Hanging the stockings by the chimney.....

Just a few stocking ideas I adore....

Large over sized sequins from West Elm
Animal inspired and cute felt version from Horchow
Home -made felt stockings - spelling out "fun" words or try "joy" or "peace".

HoHoHeels' stockings - love em!!!

and now for my favorite of all time stocking.....

.....MONSTER STOCKINGS........

Arg.....Merry Christmas!

J Crew (I know it's clothing - but I can't resist)

There are very few catalogs I hunt for at Christmas time. Pottery Barn, William Sonoma and J Crew. I always love the fresh and airy fashions and holiday outfits in the J Crew line-up.

Their label “collection” is outstanding – I only wish I had somewhere to wear these exceptional holiday dresses and gowns!

I don’t really comment on fashion her on my blog, but I have compiled a few of my favorite J Crew outfits for the holiday season. The photography in all their catalogs is equally as beautiful – when I get my hands on one – I never throw it out! The colors this year are vibrant and fun – along with the classic looks of gold and silver. Oh, and did I mention they are so my style. The subtle hints of glitter and sequins paired with simple classic looks are timeless. I love the photo of the hoodie paired with the short taffeta skirt – so me!!!


And let’s not forget the little ones! These outfits are classic – never to become a hand me down!

Vintage Holiday

I love looking at vintage Christmas decorations and ornaments. Here are few I hope will bring back some wonderful memories for all of you.

Sap Buckets

Christmas records

Baubles

Mantel Décor

Candy Tins

And if you are from Toronto (or any other major city), you will remember windows such as this one (Eaton’s Department Store; Toronto 1964). I look at this picture remembering and feeling still to some degree, the anticipation of seeing the drapes over all the department store windows – knowing the wonder that lay behind them - peeking in to catch a glimpse of what was to be revealed.

And following the Santa Claus parade the windows were revealed, like seeing the original Mona Lisa – you were in awe. I would stand there in the cold, feet buried under inches of snow – and wonder how it was done. How did all those elves, toy soldiers and kids move within the display playing, trimming trees and making toys? How was this done?
I never got bored of those windows and would beg to see them several times through out the holidays. Thinking back I realize it’s time to take my daughter downtown and show her one of the wonders of a child’s Christmas world.

Unique Christmas Trees

To start this post I am showing you my fav – the tinker toy tree! Some other one-of-a-kind trees are……

The Origami Tree

Although there is no widespread Christmas tradition in Japan, people have learned a lesson of peace and goodwill from Sadako, a little girl who developed leukemia after the 1945 Hiroshima bombing. She learned of a legend that said if a person folded 1,000 paper cranes, the gods might grant his or her wish to become well. Although Sadako never reached her goal, after her death her classmates folded enough cranes to make up the difference. Since then, people all over the world have sent folded cranes to Hiroshima.

The Yarn Tree

Pom-poms, tassels, and snowflakes made of vibrant yarn create a cozy, crafty theme for a tree. A sewing basket is a fitting container (the tree sits in a separate pot surrounded by gravel); the gifts are wound with yarn.

The Cotton Ball Tree

With a few bags of cotton balls, you can blanket a tree with the softest snow. This would be great for kids – no breakables!

The Rainbow Bright Give your tree a rainbow effect by organizing bulbs in monochromatic sections along the tree. Here shades of yellow, pink, and blue create the desired effect. Connect the colors by adding a tree topper and skirt that uses all the colors on the tree.

Asian-Inspired Tree Combine homemade ribbon ornaments with purchased Chinese lanterns, umbrellas, and even silk slippers for this tree full of fun.

Things I like.....

Making a Scented Entrance:
Fruits and Passion has launched their Scented De-Icing Salt $16.00 which I think is a lovely touch and a warm welcome for guests arriving to your home…This set contains Holiday scented de-icing salt, a wooden scoop and re-useable bucket

Limited Edition Couture H2O:
First up is the "Haute Couture" bottle, an iconic version of the Prêt-à-Porter, personifying Evian’s natural mineral water as “a majestic and immensely feminine Ice Queen. Evian says this design is being produced in a very limited edition and will only be available in a “few special places”. I believe it. So far it has been spotted in early October at the Colette Water Bar in Paris. The second version has been adorned with an intricate lace pattern, which provides the bottle with a classic frosted feel intended to not only evoke the "essence of chic sophistication", but also to remind drinkers of the flora that can be found at the French Alps.

Jean Paul Gaultier is also jumping on the H2O bandwagon, he is temporarily stepping away from his couture atelier to design a limited-edition water bottle for the ever-pretentious Evian company.

The design of the bottle was revealed at the Parisian bath house Pontoise, where mannequins donned the designer's ubiquitous mermaid costumes as chic little boys and girls "ohhhed" and "awwwed" over the special Evian container adorned with giant crystals and over-sized lettering.

Blinging with Booze? Absolut Disco is a brand new packaging for the Absolut bottles and is a follow-up to the Bling-Bling and Second Skin. Absolut Disco is just pre-released at Selfridges at Oxford street in London this week and will soon be available all over the world, inclusive the US. The price will not exceed the price of a normal Absolut bottle. It’s a limited edition piece but when we are talking about Absolut it will still be a couple of million piece.Also look for Absolute Masquerade, a bottle covered with tons of shiny red sequins...love it!

Old School Recycled:
Artech Studios (http://www.artechstudios.ca/) has come up with a brilliant idea for recycling bottles…I wish I could afford all of them. They take old glass bottles (beer or ol’fashion pop bottles), heat them to 2000 degrees using traditional glassblowing techniques and make the most stylish drinking glasses I’ve seen in a long time. Nothing has been added or removed to these bottles and all of them have the original labels, either enameled or embossed, or stampings! Create Your Own Cookbook
We’ve created cover table books filled with personal photos now you can create your own personal cookbook. This is a wonderful gift idea especially if you are looking for something inexpensive and thoughtful. Check out http://www.tastebook.com/home/product_info they have an easy to use template and the quality of the book is great! You can add your own recipes (along with pictures) or pick recipes from tons of cooking websites. I would love to do this for my own collection of recipes – I have 2 boxes one for Spring/Summer and one for Fall/Winter – the boxes have recipes from all different sources – this would be a wonderful way of storing all my loose clippings and I can add to it regularly.

Just a few ideas to add your shopping list!