Butterfly Prints

I have found yet another possibility for my thirtieth birthday present, this list is constantly growing. It's not that I'm greedy, well maybe just a little bit, but I'm very indecisive and always changing my mind. Rockett St George stock these lovely Butterfly prints, I particularly like the Papilio ulysses telegonus, it comes unframed measuring 70x100cm so can easily be put into an off the shelf frame. It is really very striking with a black frame and white walls.

They also stock this collection of 6 A4 sized Butterfly prints, which look lovely hung up together in black frames. I am a huge fan of anything involving butterflies, so would love them on a feature wall, they look particularly good on a grey wall as in the image below.

(Images from Rockett St George)

Christmas Stars

Whilst looking at a few blogs yesterday I came across these Christmas stars on homeshoppingspy. They are sold by Cox & Cox, one of my favourite online retailers, and they come in packs of 3 for £10. My mum always told me to only ever buy decorations in odd numbers as they always seem to look better when hung up, and after a couple of years of following this advise, she's right they do look better. These stars really fit in nicely if you're going for a Scandinavian Christmas theme.

Cox & Cox also sell these Snowflake Stickers. I've fancied doing something similar this year so I've cut out my own snowflakes out of plain old white copier paper from templates found at papersnowflakes.com. These will be stuck to the window with sticky back clear vinyl that you can buy in most craft shops or stationers. They'll be up by the end of the weekend hopefully so I'll post a pic when they're done.

(Images from Cox & Cox)

Mrs Peabod Christmas Cards

Since I have been blogging about pretty much everything Christmas this last month, I thought I better share my designs for this years Christmas cards. Each year I usually create my own cards, they are usually very simple and Scandinavian in theme, just because this is the kind of card I would love to receive. Normally I print them out on single sided A6 cards and punch a hole to add some ribbon so it can be hung up either on a tree or a door.

I love making my own cards as I can never find anything quite right in the shops. In the current climate where every one is tightening the purse strings, handmade cards might be cheap to make but show you've made a real effort, which can go a long way!

Orla Kiely Charity Bag for Tesco

I was reading one of my favourite blogs and came across this shopping bag that has been designed by Orla Kiely to raise money for Clic Sargent. It is being sold exclusively at Tesco this December and retails at £4, with fifty pence from every sale being equally divided between Clic Sargent and Orla's personal charity, The Royal College of Art, which funds bursaries for textile students.

Around 10 families a day are told that their child has cancer and treatment can last for up to three years.  Julie Worrall, Tesco Campaign Manager at CLIC Sargent, said: “As Tesco Charity of the Year we aim to raise £5 million to help children with cancer spend more time at home and less time in hospital.  The money we receive when customers buy Orla’s bags will help to fund CLIC Sargent nurses who coordinate children’s care at home so they can live as normal a life as possible.” (Quote from Clic Sargent)

So if you would like to support two very worthy charities and also get yourself a very stylish shopping bag, head down to Tesco's now because I doubt they will be around for long!

(Image PrintPattern)

Seletti Gold Ice-cream Bowl and Spoon

I have been a lover of Seletti kitchenware for a while now. I have collected the ceramic tin can storage pots, the takeaway inspired serving dishes and the quirky milk jug. Recently I was flicking through the Pedlars Christmas catalogue and noticed a new addition to the range, this lovely Ice-Cream bowl and spoon. I had noticed this on the same episode of Nigella Kitchen that I had noticed the Rockett St George candle holders, mentioned in my previous post.

Nigella had used it to hold her delicious cream that accompanies her Venetian Carrot Cake, it looked great on the edge of a large serving dish. I think the thing I enjoy the most about the Seletti products is that they are a talking point when people see them on your table, I haven't found a person yet who hasn't loved them!

(Images from Pedlars and BBC iPlayer)

Coloured Cupcake Tea Light Holders

On Friday I went for dinner at my sister-in-law's and noticed she had some gorgeous tea light holders that she had recently bought from Rockett St George. I had previously seem them being used as chocolate sauce pots on a recent episode of Nigella and thought they were very pretty, but they look even more fantastic put to their intended use. The colours really do twinkle with candles in them.

They are £14.99 for  a set of six different coloured holders. They look great all sat together, my sister-in-law had two sets of six and displayed them in a large circle as a centre piece which looked very festive!

(Images Rockett St George and BBC iPlayer)

Vintage Glass Cake Stands

This year I will be hosting my husband's and my family on Boxing day for a festive buffet. So I am in the process of thinking how to display the tasty treats to their best, especially my home-made truffles and mince pies. I thought maybe a few vintage glass cake stands would look very pretty. These shown below are available from Re-found Objects.

I've also found them on Notonthehighstreet but they are quite expensive, especially if I need a few.

These stands would look lovely on a plain white table cloth with a few sprigs of holly and eucalyptus scattered around, possibly some candles to make the cut glass twinkle and some lovely vintage white serving platters. I think I need to get scouting round the charity and secondhand shops this weekend!

(Images Re-found Objects)

M&S Spring Hues Range

I've just received my January issue of Living Etc and featured on their News etc page are some fabulous occasional tables from Marks and Spencer's Spring Hues range. They already sell the Lyon table in a beautifully simple Oak finish but are due to launch these pastel top tables in January, and as they are M&S they are available at a very affordable £49 for the side table and £79 for the coffee table.

You'll probably have to be fast if you want one because I can see these flying off the shelves. They are making me think of Springtime colours already and it's only December!

(Images M&S and Living Etc)

Truffles

Last year I found a cheap but wonderful way of giving home-made Christmas gifts. I had been given Willies Chocolate Factory Cookbook and saw a very simple truffle recipe made with his own brand of Cacao.

Everyone loved them, so this year I have decided to make them again but with a few interesting additions to the recipe.

I found another interesting recipe on the BBC Good Food website. To the standard truffle recipe they added Dulce de Leche Caramel Toffee and dark chocolate melted together, then frozen, to create a chewy caramel to put in the centre of the truffles. I couldn't find the specific caramel they recommended so I used a can of Carnation Caramel, available at most supermarkets, with dark chocolate.

I've also added different coatings to the original recipe. The truffles with the Caramel centre will just be dusted with cocoa powder, but I have also coated the remaining truffles in:

•Melted dark chocolate and dessicated Coconut.
•Melted dark Chocolate.
•Melted Milk Chocolate.
•Melted Milk Chocolate and crushed toasted Hazelnuts.

Other suggestions I've seen are rolling them in crushed Pistachios. or adding crystallised ginger or Chilli to the truffle mix.

I've finished most of them but just have to complete the one's with the caramel centres tonight, then I will post some pictures.

The truffles can be frozen for up to a month, so you can just take them out whenever you need them and package them up in a sweet bag with a lovely festive ribbon.

More Christmas Decorations

I realise my last few posts have been all about Christmas but I do get very excited about decorations. I was flicking through the recent issue of Elle decoration and saw these beautifully simple hanging decorations and wanted to share them with you. If you are still looking for non glittery simple and chic snowflake decs then look no further than the selection below.

These lovely White metal snowflakes are available in packs of 3 for £5 from habitat.

These handmade porcelain snowflakes are available from Selfridges for £1.50 each.

This earthenware snowflake decoration is also handmade by Timea Sido and is £10.50 available from SwankMaison.com. When I recently visited the Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery (now known as Smiths Row) they were also being sold in their gallery shop.

(Images from Elle Decoration)

Donna Wilson

Apologies for not posting anything over the last week or so. I've been a bit preoccupied with house hunting, currently getting over excited about the period features in a Victorian terrace we have been looking at.

In a recent edition of Elle Decoration I noticed that Donna Wilson had been voted Designer of the year by The British Design Awards 2010. The awards called her the 'Queen of Textiles, saying her fabulous products include colourful cushions, tea-time accessories, playful ceramics and her curious knitted creatures'.

(Image British Design Awards)

The reason this designer caught me eye was when I recently visited the Tent London exhibition, Donna had collaborated with one of my favourite furniture producers Ercol, covering some of their classic upholstered pieces in her quirky fabrics.

(Image HomeShoppingSpy)

Check out her website for cute and fun additions to your interior accessories, or even for a Christmas gift with a twist.

Paper Doily Wreath

I know I don't usually do two posts in one day but I have just seen this wonderful and very pretty home-made paper doily wreath on dujour mag's blog. This is a fantastic way of making a statement wreath. It would be great for Christmas but frankly it would look fantastic all year round. 

(Images from dujourmag)

Sunny South African Kitchen

I was searching through my favourite blogs and noticed these images of a wonderful vintage kitchen in South Africa on the apartment therapy blog. It would hard to not be happy every time you walked into this kitchen, I love the idea of having lots of vintage finds on show. I'm not entirely sure I could actually live with it, I'm a bit too much of a tidy freak, but I still love the overall look and ice-cream colour combinations.

(Images from apartment therapy)

Iittala Birds by Toikka

I have been coveting one of these birds by Toikka for Iittala for as long as I can remember. They are so simple and stylised in their shape that they would never date and become a wonderful heirloom for the future. I particularly love the Barn Owl, the colours and patterning are really striking.

(Images from Iittala)

Cable & Cotton

I had seen these wonderful bauble lights from Cable and Cotton but had forgotten about them until I was reading the December issue of Living Etc and they appeared in their 'Fabulous festive looks for less' feature.

They are £32 for a string of 35 baubles and you can buy them in preselected colour combinations or be creative and make your own. Personally I quite fancy using them as a Christmas garland so either completely white or red and white. You can probably tell their is a theme to my Christmas decorations, I'm definitely going for the Scandinavian Red and White look.

(Images from Cable & Cotton)

Honeycomb Paper Ball Decoration

On my previous post I showed a Ball decoration available from Re-found Objects. I was interested to see if I could make these decorations myself and found these instructions on eHow. So I'll be giving it a try in the next few weeks and I'll post the results, good or bad.

How to Make a Paper Honeycomb Ball

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cardstock
• Compass
• Pencil
• Scissors
• 18 sheets of tissue paper
• Glue stick
• Ruler
• Paper clips

1. 1
   Draw a circle on the cardstock with a compass. Alternatively, you can use a bowl, large glass or other object that you can place on the cardstock and trace around to make a circle. Cut out the circle.
2. 2
   Layer the tissue paper into a stack, lining them up evenly. Put the cardstock circle on top of the stack of tissue paper. Trace around the cardstock circle onto the tissue paper. Remove the cardstock circle. Cut out a circle from all 18 sheets of tissue paper at the same time. Hold the tissue paper securely when you cut it because it may slide. If this happens, your circles will not be symmetrical.
3. 3
   Fold the cardstock circle exactly in half, crease the fold and reopen it. Cut the circle in half along the crease line. Line up the two halves of the cardstock circle side by side on a flat work surface. Lay down glue on the cardstock circle with the gluestick. The glue does not have to cover the circle completely, but there should be enough to hold a layer of tissue paper securely.
4. 4
   Place one circle of tissue paper onto the cardstock, lining it up exactly. Press down to secure the glue to the tissue paper.
5. 5
   Place dabs of glue around the outer rim of the tissue paper at four spots that are equidistant from each other. Pretend the circle is a clock face and place glue at 3, 6, 9 and 12.
6. 6
   Place a second circle of tissue paper directly over the first and press down on the dabs of glue. This adheres the second layer to the first. Put dabs of glue on this layer, locating them exactly between those on the first layer. In other words, put dabs of glue at 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 10:30.
7. 7
   Press another layer of tissue paper onto the second and press down. Now dab glue this layer in the same places you glued the first circle: 3, 6, 9 and 12.
8. 8
   Place another tissue paper circle on top of the stack and press it down. Continue in this manner, placing dabs of glue in alternating locations for each circle of tissue paper until all the tissue paper circles are glued in the stack except one. Continue with the glue procedure, putting four dabs on the top layer.
9. 9
   Cut the last circle of tissue paper exactly in half. Place one of the halves on the stack to match up with the position of one of the halves of the cardstock circle underneath. Press down to secure it in place.
10. 10
    Place the edge of a ruler on top of the stack to line up with the edge of the half-circle of tissue paper. Holding the ruler firmly in place with one hand, use the other to fold half of the circle, cardstock and all, along the edge of the ruler, creating a crease line. Slide the ruler out as you fold the entire circle in half. Press down firmly, creasing the middle of the tissue paper circles where the cardstock is cut.
11. 11
    Once the glue is dry, open the folded half circle all the way around until the two halves of cardstock line up and come together. The tissue paper will now form a honeycomb ball. Secure the cardstock halves together with paper clips.

Instructions by Karren Doll Tolliver, eHow Contributor

More Christmas

I realise it is still a bit early for some to be talking about Christmas, but I just keep finding these wonderful decorations. I was browsing Re-found Objects' website and came across these White Paper Snowflakes. They are just so pretty and delicate, especially when hung in groups as below. They are available in Giant (D72cm) Regular (D56cm) and Small (D38cm).

They also have these wonderful Paper Bells and Balls, available in a range of sizes and colours including Green, Red, White, Pale Pink, Purple, Orange, Dusty Rose, Lavender, Light Blue, and Cerise. I personally love the combination of the white and red for a festive look, but you could use them for weddings of parties.

(Images from re-found objects)

More Christmas Decs

I was recently browsing on one of my favourite gift sites Cox and Cox and saw these wonderful Christmas decorations. I particularly like the Decorative Glass Birds, the box contains a beautiful set of 6 painted birds featuring three different designs and colours, they would add a vintage feel to any Christmas tree.

Also on Cox and Cox were these Painted Vintage Birds, each set features 8 gorgeous tin bird designs.

I also loved these Snowflake Garland Stickers, they would make a lovely addition to a glass door or window or even some internal glass, maybe on a large mirror.

I also took a look in the John Lewis decorations department and found this very pretty Glass Bird Tree Decoration. Birds are definitely going to be a theme this Christmas in my house.

(Images from Cox and Cox and John Lewis)

Carol Ridler - Hand Crafted Wood

Carol Ridler lives in the Lincolnshire countryside and uses reclaimed locally sourced wood to create wonderfully simple yet chic Christmas decorations. I realise it's probably a bit early to be talking about Christmas decs but I saw these at the weekend in Stamford and had to share them with you. Each piece is designed, drawn, cut and finished by Carol. She has received critical acclaim from the UK interior and style press, so if you are wanting a paired down look this festive season check out her website.

Images from hand crafted wood