How We Decorated For Christmas

It's our fourth Christmas in our London home this December, and it has to be said that this year, the decorations are by far the most beautiful. We threw the rule books out of the window - opting out of a  'theme' which previous years have restricted us to a certain colour palette. This year, we carefully selected all of the decorations and things that we loved, and the results are beautiful.

Before the decorations went up, we scented the room with the Next Winter fragrance. If you've been watching my Vlogmas you'll have heard me rave about how similar it is to Jo Malone's Pomegranate Noir, and the candle and reed diffuser are delicately scented our living room with a warm and festive fragrance.

Home made decorations always hold the most memories - and this is the newest to addition to our collection. This 'pearanium' (like, terrarium, but a pear...!) is my favourite takeaway from a festive blogger event, created at McQueens florists in East London, it holds golden pine cones, frosted twigs and even a hanging gold cherub. I imagine this being a new Christmas tradition - filling it with a different 'story' every year.

And of course, the most striking decoration of all - the tree! Filled with ornaments that we've collected over the years as well as some new ones, it's definitely our favourite tree yet. Each ornament brings back a memory, and the newer ones are awaiting memories of their owns. A new favourite is this gorgeous copper cage star from Att Pynta - it's chic and stylish while still being a classic Christmas ornament, and looks equally as beautiful on the tree as it does hanging from a spray painted branch.

Owls, Key's, Santa Claus and even Dachshunds are amongst the decorations which I purchased from John Lewis this year. Christmas Tree decorations that have a little personality make great conversation starters at festive gatherings, and allow your tree to tell a story. I'm still amazed that their decorations are already on sale, so there may just be a few more added to the tree in the coming weeks!

I don't like to spend too much on decorations, even though the most beautiful do come out year after year. Instead, I keep my eye on the sales after Christmas and snap up the baubles that I love, without paying full price. This white swirly designed bauble is one of four that I bought from Brissi, after Christmas last year. I pride myself with the bargain that I picked up - paying just 20% of the original price! 

Another new addition, and something a little different are these scented tree charms from Rituals. The tassles come in a pack of four, along with a scented oil which you sprinkle all over to give your tree and the whole room a festive scent.

Finally, our tree is scattered with decorations that we've picked up on our travels, ranging from gold glitter squirrels which remind us of our trip to the Black Forest with friends, to these ceramic charms bringing back memories of our trip to Amsterdam. 

Candles are scattered throughout the lounge, and the holders are just too pretty to put away after the decorations are taken down. Also from Att Pynta, this copper tealight holder makes a beautiful table decoration, another stylish yet traditional addition to our decorations.

Final touches include stockings on the fireplace, a beautiful garland weaving it's way down our stairs, and a home made wreath hanging proud on our front door. With the mixture of the old and the new, the homemade and the shop bought, it's easy to see why these are our favourite decorations yet!

See more about how we decorated for Christmas in this Vlog!

SHOP MY FAVOURITE DECORATIONS

How have you decorated your home for Christmas?

xoxo

How To Create a Festive Table!

A pinterest-worthy tablescape is one of those things we all aspire to at Christmas time, and the festive period is when you can really have fun and create a gorgeous table which makes your guests feel special, and ready to embrace the holiday spirit. 

Last week, I was at the Great Fosters in Surrey for their Taste of Christmas event, and was inspired by the festive tablescape masterclass by Lilys Flowers; the florists created a beautiful, very organic, glittering table setting and gave us lots of tips for how to recreate a similar setting at home!

Before we get into the table setting tips, here's a quick #ootd! I wore my new graphic print woollen dress from French Connection - it's a classic style dress which I just know i'll be pulling out for many festive functions, as well as my new personalised Radley clutch bag.

Using a white linen table cloth as the base, the table setting was built up using chopped logs which can be purchased from places such as the Covent Garden Flower Market, or local garden centres (as well as foraged from the side of the road!). They are super for building height and layers into the tablescape, and create a base for this organic woodland setting.

The florists encouraged us to use flora and fauna that we have at home, whether it's dried chinese lanterns spray painted in silver or copper, or an amaryllis bulb which you can cover in glitter. Fruit and flowers can be sprayed with metallic spray paint, or coated in thin sheets of gold or silver foil.

Collect jars from around the home, and tie some burlaps string around the tops to give an even more earthy feel to the decorations.

Candles add a new dimension to the setting, the flickering flame adds warmth and movement, as well as giving off a delicate festive scent. Mix in branded candles in their glass jars, with tiny tea lights lighting up their holders.

It doesn't matter if things don't match, and you don't have to stick to one 'metal' colour. The setting here features gold, silver, copper and shimmering ruby red glitter.

Keep building up the tablescape and move pieces around until you have a setting that you're proud of. Don't aim for perfection! The magic of this table setting is that it feels natural and homely, instead of so precise and perfect that you don't want to touch it!

The florists' kit included glue spray, ribbons, glitter and even blue tac (to stop the pear table settings from toppling over!).

Finish the place settings with some ribbon around the cutlery - this gold hemmed ribbon perfectly blends in with the natural colour scheme of the tablescape, and is a simple twist to the usual place setting.

How will you be decorating your table this Christmas?

xoxo

Homeware Haul! H&M, Anthropologie, Oliver Bonas, Ikea...

I think you know you are turning into a 'grown up' when you start getting equally excited about buying loads of new products for your home, as you do when a huge ASOS order arrived! Recently I have been absolutely loving so many things from H&M - you can buy so many things and still be surprised at how little the bill comes to! I also picked up some beautiful pieces from Oliver Bonas, and some absolutely gorgeous (yet eye wateringly expensive) bits from Anthropologie (twice.).

Enjoy the video! And apologies in advance for enabling your forthcoming homeware haul!

Shop the haul:

H&M Black Diamond Cushion Cover

H&M Grey Cushion Cover

H&M Towels

H&M Table Cloth

H&M Marble Candle

Oliver Bonas Lantern

Oliver Bonas Owl Candle

Anthropologie Small Pots

Anthropologie Mug

Anthropologie Coral Candles

Anthropologie Tea Cup

Anthropologie Candle Tin

Up In Lights XOXO

Timothy Dunn Candle