Joy to the world

I think this is it when it comes to enjoying our Christmas decorations for this festive season!!! Now it's time to enjoy the wonderful people in our lives, family and friends, and just relax:))

I'm hoping to give my blog a rest for a little bit and simply enjoy the holidays!!

This year has been amazing for me and my family in soo many ways, I feel truly grateful and lucky...

May this magical time of year fill your heart with joy!

Merry Christmas 

Daniela XX

Present from Steffen's mum-Royal Copenhagen

Some new and some old ornaments

because I could not find Tortured Filbert branches (or hazelnut tree) this Christmas, I made my own candle holder over the table using eucalyptus branches and decorating them with Georg Jensen Christmas Nordica candle holders..

My little Christmas tree

I admit, I possibly have way too many trees in the house, but I just can't resist them, branch trees, natural ones, LED lights ones...the list goes on...

This year, after a long search, I managed to get hold of this natural pine tree with roots in its own container. Purchasing this was much more satisfying than going to the Christmas tree farm and picking a tree that then gets chopped down, simply because I thought it might look pretty in my home.

This tree is fairly small, just over a meter high, but I'm hoping to look after it during the year to bring it into the next festive season looking healthy and strong. Having said that, I'm not much of a gardener, so good luck to it!!!

This tree is in our office/library and I think it goes really well with the white ethnic looking screen and the cowhide rug. Simple but nice....

Nativity Scene

I have to be honest, this year has been amazing in terms of creativity and decorating ideas, all thanks to Pinterest. Many months ago I saw this amazing Nativity Scene where the stylist used a shelf or a ladder of some kind to create a multi level Betlehem. They also used beautiful Putz houses, which I adore.

I've been somewhat lazy, and couldn't be bothered painting, gluing and putting glitter on when creating my own Putz houses, so when I came across white Dutch houses by Papaya here in Australia well, I just had to go crazy and buy lots.

Since I already had a ladder shelf in one of the children's rooms, this Nativity Scene was actually easy to put together. LED tea lights (got to keep it safe), lots of moss, and my now old and battered Nativity set from David Jones, was all it took to put this Betlehem together. 

I love the fact that it's in the centre of our living room, it creates an amazing feature in the evenings, you can really feel the magic of Christmas, plus so far, kids have been really good at NOT demolishing anything yeayy...

A different kind of a Christmas tree

In my previous post from a few days ago, I showed a photo of some of the decorations I purchased recently, some specifically for Christmas, and some, simply because I loved them. 

While some decorations such as the flamingos or toucans I aim to keep throughout the year, they cheer me up so much, others I thought I might try and add all together. 

Well, it was a lengthy process, because I really didn't have a clear idea of what the tree should or could look like. I only knew that it needed LOTS and LOTS of decorations. 

So, out came some of the decorations from previous years, anything with a bit of colour.

Then my son helped me repaint all our eucalyptus branches in either flamingo pink or neon yellow (which we painted white a while ago). I used acrylic paint my husband uses for painting.

Since even that didn't seem enough, I raided some old decorations and found artificial flowers, which I purchased years ago and hadn't used since.

However, even that did not seem to scream 'leave me alone now'. And since all the baubles you generally find in stores were all Christmasy colours but nothing funky, I decided to use acrylic paint to paint over them. This was great, as I came up with some lovely shades of neon pink, lime and toucan orange.

Finally, I used some coloured tissue to make simple bows as well as neon green/yellow ribbon I bought recently for a totally different project.

Even towards the end, my feelings about it were mixed, thinking it was really ugly one minute, and absolutely stunning the next. One thing is for sure, it's the weirdest, wackiest tree I've ever seen, and for that I absolutely love it. It puts a smile on my face, and you can't ask for more than that I guess..

Tropical Christmas

Judging from my previous post about flamingos, I am a bit partial to them and anything tropical for that matter.

Tonight is the night I think, to get the courage to tackle very different Christmas decorations, the process should be interesting, I'll keep you posted when I get to the end result...

Pink Flamingo obsession

I have only recently come to realize that I absolutely adore pink flamingoes!!!

Perhaps it comes from my total obsession with the movie "Out of Africa" with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, where Dennys Finch Hatton takes Karen on her first airplane ride, flying over thousands of flamingoes, and accompanied by the music of John Barry!!! Ooooh, I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

But, looking at the fashion recently, I'm noticing flamingoes everywhere...I couldn't be happier....

This is the dress I need to get my hands on, it is called Elornis Shift, from Dream Daily by Rozae Nichols. It used to be available from Anthropologie, but it looks like I missed that boat:(((

So, anyone, any ideas, help!!!

Oh, and the necklaces go soo well with the dress, I just want the whole deal!!!

Scandi Advent Calendar

OK, so we are half way through December, twelve more days til Christmas...

My older one just can't wait, but this advent calendar helps him make it through December.

I got it from Beth Bath and Table the first year we came to Australia 

almost five years ago now, 

and it has been really helpful due to the fact that our son is on a very restricted diet,

 and therefore the usual chocolatey ones were out of the question. 

Still love the simple design and colours!!!

White Christmas of a different kind

This year, more than others, I felt torn between different colour schemes for my Christmas decor. 

Kids bedrooms were easy as most of the decor is white and grey, with the bulk of their decorations being a classic Scandi red and white. But when it came to the rest of the house, I was pro white one day and all colour the next. 

In the end, I did a bit of both. So, to cut the long story short, my hallway turned out to be mainly white with some neutrals added in for extra depth. I'm very happy with the result...

Christmas in kids bedroom

Got some more of the Christmas decorations out this weekend for Lucas' bedroom.

This was fun!!!!

Driftwood Christmas tree

I suppose he got this from me, but my six year old gets excited about Christmas fairly early on in the year. This is how we started with some washi tape...

On our daily walks with the dog, this is the driftwood we picked up and used to decorate as a Christmas tree in his bedroom.

 

After moving decorations for a while...

This was the final product!!!

Not bad?? I'll keep you posted about the rest of his bedroom!!! 

Christmas tea lights

Yeeaayyyy, I finally allowed myself to start with Christmas bonanza this year, yes, I know it's early November, but I can't help myself. With our recent trip to Denmark I've been inspired by the modern Scandinavian Christmas decor...

I love these zinc tea lights by Walther and Co, and I would like to see them available in Australia. At present I know that Ellis Corner website (Swedish, I think) sells these little beauties.

Let me know if there are other places selling them closer to our neck of woods...

 

 images via pinterest

A basket case?

Just love looking at these

 

images via Pinterest

Cross-stitch

On our recent trip to Europe (we only got back this morning actually), we visited our families in Denmark and Croatia.  Whilst in Denmark, my very creative sister in law presented us with a stunning cross-stitch piece she made for her niece and nephew.

Cross- stitch is one of the oldest forms of embroidery and can be found all over the world. Many folk museums show examples of clothing decorated with cross- stitch especially from Europe and Asia.

Whilst the piece looks elegant with the simple white background, she mentioned that it took her most of the summer to complete it, just in time for our visit. Looking at all the details, I'm not surprised one bit.

I think it's beautiful and I can't wait to get it framed!!

Thank you Tanja XXXX

This chair or that chair?

For some time now, I've been collecting images of different chairs. Pinterest has been very helpful with that, as well as my never ending collection of interior design magazines.

Whilst I'm glad that we bought inexpensive Freedom chairs when we moved to Melbourne from London four years ago (having two young kids and a dog has left  it's mark on them), I feel like I'm getting closer to allowing myself to splurge on some amazingly beautiful chairs.

However, I found it very hard to make up my mind on a particular chair, after all, if I was to spend our children's university savings, I want to be 100% certain.

So which one is it going to be, Slinky Eiffel legs, Classic DSW Eames Chair, or should I opt for Tulip chairs, Norman Cherner wooden ones or perhaps Charlotte Perriand leather beauties? They are all equally stunning if you ask me.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...