Just in case you thought I forgot to update you on the Christmas baking, here are my snowflake gingerbread with some very wonky icing (they got a bit sticky in the humidity this morning) ...
...and here are the apricot balls. Still have to cross Hugh's peppermint creams off my list. And some very last-minute wrapping.
What's happening at your house? Is it snowing? Have you got everything done for tomorrow?
One of the nice things about being back home in Sydney is that I've been reunited with my boxes of Christmas decos. And the ones I picked up in London (like all the birdies from Liberty) make excellent additions to the collection.
But my most precious decos are these vintage ones, including the rather charming '70s three wise men which hung on the family tree when I was a little girl. The Bradley-style angel is identical to the one that I also loved when I was about two years old, but the original one is still in use at my mum's place. She added to my collection last week with some gorgeous vintage glass baubles and beads, which are almost identical to all my vintage-inspired decorations I bought years ago.
What about you? What's your most treasured Christmas decoration?
A few of my favourite things this Christmas season... *sigh*
1. Marc by Marc Jacobs Jumbled Birds umbrella, US$48, from Shopbop.com (ships internationally).
2. Frankie Diary 2011, AU$24.95, from Lark (ships internationally).
3. Floral Wiltshire Liberty print mini suitcase, £60, from Liberty (ships internationally).
4. Bengt Lindberg Moose blanket, £86, from SCP (ships internationally).
5. This is not a pipe tea light, US$28, by Jonathan Adler.
6. Belle & Sebastian Dog on Wheels Brooch, £25, by Tatty Devine (ships internationally).
7. Belle and Sebastian Write about Love, £8.83, from Wee Birdy's UK Amazon shop (or US$11.05 from Wee Birdy's US Amazon shop. Both ship internationally.)
8. Lipstick Queen Jean Queen lipstick, AU$33.95, from Kit Cosmetics. (UK readers can purchase from SpaceNK.)
9. Funkis low red sandal, AU$120, from Funkis (ships internationally).
Here's a wee Sydney secret shop find: Fenners in Mona Vale. This relatively unassuming haberdashery and fabric store on Waratah Street in Mona Vale stocks a good range of reasonably priced fabrics, as well as an impressive collection of ribbons, trims and braids. Just look out for the Australiana tea-towels of galahs and lorikeets out the front.
I pounced on these glorious trims from Thailand and picked out six sweet shop hues in miniature tinsels, braids and cords (including a fabulously fluffy white one), which work beautifully with my white vintage Christmas tree, glossy white wrapping paper and Wee Birdy gift cards. The spools range from 2.75m to 4.5m in length, and are priced around AU$3 per spool.
Fenners
11 Waratah Street
Mona Vale NSW 2130
Tel. 02 9999 2299
I've been desperate for a stretch of mantel to decorate at Christmas for a very long time, so there was no way the wee fireplace in our new flat was going to go unadorned this season. So, amidst a sea of unpacked boxes, bubble wrap, tissue paper and stuff that has no home (we only moved in three weeks ago), I set about decorating our Christmas tree and fireplace.
I had my heart set on making a eucalyptus garland for the mantel, so I enlisted the help of my mum, along with Martha Stewart and some other online sources.
I wanted a modern Australian look, with different textures and hints of pink to complement our rather girlie candy-coloured white Christmas tree (poor husband), so I picked up a bunch of eucalyptus leaves from the florist, and mum brought a basket full of fresh rosemary and lavender foliage from her garden. The scent in the kitchen as we selected the choicest sprigs was heavenly!
If you want to make your own garland, you'll need:
And follow these steps to make the garland:
So how did we do? Have you made a fresh garland or wreath for your house?
(My snow angel candle is from Caravan in London, and my kozyndan 'Bunny Blossom' print is from Outre Gallery in Sydney/Melbourne. The white Christmas tree was a vintage find on eBay. And I'm still waiting for our stockings to arrive from Toast in the UK!)
Thanks to mum for all the help!
Mr Birdy and I have been busy designing some very special downloadable Wee Birdy gift tags* for all you lovely readers. Hope you like them - I'm using them on all my presents this year.
All you need to do is print out the PDF onto (printable) white card stock (or just print them out on white paper and glue to cardboard). Cut out around the tags and use a hole punch to create a hole. Thread through ribbon or string for the merriest of presents.
Click here to download the pink and red tags.
Click here to download the blue tags.
Happy Christmas!
* The gift tags are copyright Wee Birdy, and are for personal use only. Not for commercial usage.
Some nice gift ideas for the discerning lover of all things London (I want those Snowden Flood mugs!).
1. Set of six bone china River Mugs, £70, by Snowden Flood (ships to UK, EU countries, USA and Canada).
2. I love London lunch box, AU$9.95, from Lark (ships internationally). London readers can purchase the lunchbox, along with other products from the 'I love London' range, from Lapin & Me in East London.
3. Paumes Editions London Family Style, £20, from Lapin & Me. Australian readers can purchase the book from Lark for AU$38.
4. London tray, £25, from Liberty (ships internationally).
5. 'Have a Nice Day' print by Tokyo-based illustrator, Takashi Furuya, £15, from Shelf.
6. London Transport in a Bag, £5.95, from Muji.
7. St Nicolas London bus bauble, £8.50, from Selfridges (ships internationally).
8. Lizzie Allen Royal Guards Cushion, £79, from Liberty (ships internationally).
9. 'Love London' mug, £10, from The London Company (ships internationally).
10. London cotton/linen tea towel, £12.50, from Pedlars (ships internationally).
11. Underground Bottle Opener, £8.95, from Pedlars (ships internationally).
I have a rather ambitious plan for Christmas baking this week. There's gingerbread snowflake cookies (using my mum's gingerbread recipe and the Peggy Porschen icing designs I learnt at her cake decorating class in London), my mum's apricot balls, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's peppermint creams (I think it's a children's recipe, which suits me fine), and Karen Martini's Florentines.
A cinch, surely. But if I wanted to make things a bit simpler for myself, I might consider whipping up a batch of cupcakes and decorating them with these adorable cupcake decorations by Meri Meri. The Tweet Tweet Cupcake kit, US$11.95, featuring cupcake picks and wrappers in hand-drawn bird designs, would be great for any kind of celebration, while the Tis the Season and Nutcracker Tale Cupcake kits (complete with Mouse King, Clara ballerina and Nutcracker cake picks), would instantly transform plain vanilla cupcakes into suitably festive affairs.
I shall report back on how the baking bonanza goes!
What about you? Are you planning to make any sweet treats for Christmas?
The rather lovely UK-based online stationery shop, Papermash, has stocked up on some super-sweet things for Christmas.
I love the wine letterpress gift tags (£2.25), the dainty and delicate tissue snowflake card (£5, and it ships flat) and the very special London snow globe print, which was designed by Clare Owen (and is exclusive to Papermash, £46). I think I really need one on my wall to remind of London's winter wonderland right now (it's way too hot, humid and sticky here in Sydney!).
And if you're in a crafty mood, you might like to try the pretty snowflake doily project, which is featured in the 'Free' section of the site.
1. PAM for Covers for a Cause iPhone cover, AU$39, from Incu (ships internationally).
2. Lazy Oaf Spaced Out T Shirt, £25, from Lazy Oaf (ships internationally).
3. Tatty Devine future Mystic Cluster Bracelet, £33, from Tatty Devine (ships internationally).
4. Lazy Oaf In the Mix Blue Rucksack, £35, from Lazy Oaf (ships internationally).
5. Urbanears Plattan headphones in turquoise, 60EUR, from Urbanears (ships internationally).
6. Archie Grand Celebrities I Met and Liked notebook, AU$19.95, from NoteMaker (ships to selected international countries).
7. Lazy Oaf Pink Rosy Bear Girl's Sweatshirt, £40, from Lazy Oaf (ships internationally).
8. Marc by Marc Jacobs jumble-embossed neoprene laptop case, £45, from Net-a-porter (ships internationally).
9. Diana multi–pinhole operator camera, £46, from Selfridges.
10. Apple Notes, AU$9.95, from Raw Space (contact Raw Space for international deliveries. UK readers can purchase Apple Notes from the V&A for £4.50.
11. Painted Beauty Glide On Nail Colour Holiday 2010 Collection, AU$22 each, by Mecca Cosmetica.
Back in 2008 I did a countdown to the top 10 wreaths in London, but many of the wreaths I loved then are still around now. This Christmas I just can't go past The Real Flower Company's glorious collection of fresh scented wreaths. With two farms in Hampshire and Kenya, the UK-based company offers the convenience of ordering flowers online, as well as a shop in Selfridges' food hall.
The Real Flower Company's signature scented garden roses dominate this year's Christmas collection of door wreaths, garlands, table wreaths and bouquets, while traditional red and green arrangements feature bountiful sprigs of thyme and rosemary combined with rose hips, ivy leaves and silver grey senecio. I particularly love the addition of a romantic Odile hurricane lamp to the centre of each table wreath.
The last delivery before Christmas is Thursday 23 December, but to ensure delivery orders need to be placed by Friday 17 December.
The Real Flower Company
This one was super-difficult to edit down into one post - there is just so much good stuff online for little kids. Hope my picks help with the wee ones.
1. Indie Rock Coloring Book by Yellow Bird Project, £5.27, from Wee Birdy's UK Amazon shop. (or US$9.95 from Wee Birdy's US Amazon shop). Both stores ship internationally.
2. Handmade cotton Socks the Fox, US$46, from Blabla (ships internationally).
3. Plastisock short sleeve 'Peace Please' T-shirt in yellow, US$24, from Vyssan Lull (only ships within the US.)
4. All About Heidi handmade leather summer shoe, available in a rainbow of colours, $39.95, from My Messy Room (ships internationally).
5. Wooden Solar System, £16.95, from Muji.
6. The Small Object Thumbprint Notecard Set by Sarah Neuburger, US$11.53, from Wee Birdy's US Amazon store (ships internationally) and £6.39 from the UK Amazon store (ships internationally).
7. Hip Stuff Groovy Maracas in blue spot, AU$12, from The Hip Infant (ships internationally).
8. 'Alphabet favourites' print, £20, from Made with Love by Mrs Booth (ships internationally).
9. Press out Giraffe, £3.95, from Muji.
10. Doggie booties, US$27, from Blabla (ships internationally).
11. Duktig 15-piece breakfast set, AU$10.04, from IKEA.
I'm yet to own a precious piece of Jonathan Adler's modernist animal ceramics (one day, one day I shall start my collection) but his holiday collection of animal tree ornaments isn't a bad place to start.
Each unglazed white decoration starts at US$24, and is beautifully presented in a blue gift box, making them fantastic presents for those few people on your list who have left you stumped. As well as the squirrel, dachsund and cat (above), there's also a hippo, owl, elephant, poodle and seahorse.
I'm also loving the new pop menagerie ornament collection (see below), featuring a lovely lion with bright splashes of geometric colour, stylised peacock with golden swirls and an elephant adorned with a turquoise paisley design. Each glossy white piece comes in an utterly gorgeous matching gift box and is priced at US$28.
