All Wrapped Up @ Christmas Time

Enjoy!

Image 1 - Virginia MacDonald Images 2&5 - Unknown Image 3 - House & Leisure Image 4 - Chris Everard Image 6 - Home Beautiful

my Christmas table...

With my Christmas shopping done and dusted, I thought it was time to give some thought to the food and table setting for Christmas lunch. This year, I am extremely happy to be sharing Christmas day with my parents-in-law, and maybe even Clare and her family if I can drag them away from their unpacking! I wanted to keep things really simple so I can enjoy spending time with my family - some pretty napkins, a neutral tablecloth and a bit of greenery I can gather on the day from my back garden. I am really happy with how it is coming together.

Tablecloth from Dandi (love this as it can be used all year round.

Beautiful napkins from Bungalow (I may be one of their best customers!)

Cute little tags from Capital Kitchen

Drinking glasses from Country Road

Joy

a very different Christmas...

Joy's house is looking very festive now. Her tree is decorated in soft pastel colours which tie in so beautifully with her existing artworks (mondocherry of course!), cushions and decor.

Joy's two children have been busy 'crafting up a storm'. How cute is this little Rudolf?..

"Santa and Tree" by Harvey aged 5...

My home, on the other hand, is decidedly un-festive. There is one little Christmas touch on the shelves in the dining room...

But most of my house looks like the photo below except worse! The removalists arrive this morning to pack up the contents of our house for our move down to Melbourne and I have been scurrying around doing all those last minute jobs that seem to take so long. All my good intentions of being completely organised (so unpacking the other end would be a breeze) went out the window long ago!!

Even my poor Kitchen Aid (usually given the workout of its life at this time of year) has sat alone and ignored in the corner of the kitchen...

We get the keys to our new rental home in Melbourne on Wednesday the 21st and my kids are insistent that the first thing that must be unpacked is the Christmas tree. Even if we are still surrounded by boxes, we will still be celebrating. Santa does have his work cut out for him though as I have heard through a very reliable source that he hasn't started the Christmas shopping for my crew of 6 yet!

Christmas on the Table

gift wrapping on elladore...

It was lovely to see the doily gift wrapping we blogged a couple of years ago featured on the French web magazine, elladore. Thanks Anouk! It is part of an article on creative wrapping ideas for Christmas, and if you are looking for some inspiration to make your gifts stand out under the tree, pop on over here and take a look.

We have been experimenting with coloured doilies this year - don't they look fresh and pretty tied onto white presents?

Have a look at some of the other gift wrapping ideas we've blogged about over the last few years (some obviously well before we got our good cameras!!!)...

aluminum foil

printing spots

tissue paper and baking paper

using an old eraser

sewing paper

All Things Christmas

Enjoy!

Images 1,3&6 - Unknown Image 2 - Virginia MacDonald Image 4 - David Cleveland Image 5 - Rebecca Newport

as close as I'll get this year...

These gorgeous snowflake decorations are as close as I'm going to get this year.... to seeing snow in this hot Southern Hemisphere December and to seeing my ever-growing collection of snowflakes displayed on my Christmas tree.

We are moving to Melbourne for a couple of years and are packing our bags and heading off mid-December. It is very exciting to be on the move again - we have been in Brisbane now for 5 years and that is the longest time we have stayed in one place. My husband has a place on a project down in Melbourne for a couple of years, and while I'd possibly prefer Switzerland, the south of France or Mauritius (unfortunately they weren't options!!), Melbourne is a great place to live. It will also be fantastic to be close to Joy and our other family members who live down there. So, as you can imagine, with all the boxes to pack, end of school concerts to attend and trying to keep the house tidy for rental inspections, putting up the Christmas tree is the last thing on my mind.

I thought I would include these photos of my Christmas tree from last year, so you can see what an obsession with snowflakes looks like! At last count, I had over 600 different snowflakes, collected from all around the world. I stick to white and silver snowflakes, but am not fussy on the material they are made from so have plastic, glass, pewter, paper, wood and beaded snowflakes. In case you are wondering what I do with all the precious decorations the children have made over the years, we also have two other, smaller trees (one for the boys and one for the girls), which the kids get to decorate (and redecorate!) themselves with all our colourful and handmade ornaments. This keeps all of us happy!

Before we head off to Melbourne, I will be setting up our mondocherry stall at the Boutique Markets on Friday 9th December (special Twilight Market 5pm - 9pm) and Sunday 11th December (Christmas Market, 8am - 3pm). It will probably be our last market in Brisbane for a while so make sure you come down if you want to see our designs in person.

muffin tray advent calendar...

I've decided to re-do an idea we had for an advent calendar a few years ago as my way of counting down the days until Christmas - who says the kids should have all the fun?! Created from a mini-muffin tray (which just happens to have 24 holes), number stickers and my favourite Lindt Ball chocolates, it is going to be a way to give myself a little treat every day in what is often referred to as the "silly season". You could, of course, replace the Lindt with other chocolates or little gifts.

My aim this year is to make the run up to Christmas as fuss-free and stress-free as possible so I have more time to enjoy making crafts with my children, eating all the yummy food and enjoying time spent with family and friends. Roll on December...!

...the Christmas version...

Not long after I posted my cupcake case garland this morning, the postman knocked on my door to deliver the candy-striped cases I had ordered. I ignored the rest of my ironing (any excuse!) in my eagerness to see how this Christmas version would turn out. Displayed with a red vintage chair, a new artwork, cute red boots and a smattering of green, I'm loving this little festive corner of my house.

our new small 3d paper heart blossom artwork...