Nothing helps you to get efficiently into the Christmas spirit, as the good old books about Christmas. Or, let's say,- books, which tell "the tales of the glories of Christmases long-long ago".... among the other interesting things.
And yes, we know, that most of the people think about Dickens's "Christmas carol", as soon as "Christmas books" are mentioned. But, with all respect to this undeniable classic, it is not the only book on this magic shelf. Think, for example, about the Christmas chapter from the "Pickwick's papers" (1837), written also by Dickens; the colorful description of the Christmas celebration in it deserves most honorable mentions. In 20-s century several movies were made on the base of this book.
There are is also a wonderful "winter book" with a perfect "Christmas chapter" - "Hans Brinker, or The Silver Scates" (1865) by American writer Mary Mape Doge; the book tell us about the winter in 19 century Holland, and some big gifts, that several struggling and deserving people (including poor sister&brother) got around Christmas. This book has inspired at least two movies.
"Nikita's childhood" (1922) by A.N.Tolstoy describes winter pleasures in the life of a boy from a noble, so not rich family in 19 century Russia. "Christmas chapter" is especially magic!
"How I was little" (1953) by V. Inber tells a story of a girl from intellectual family in Odessa around fin de siècle; the future writer spends big part of her Christmas Eve with a book, which she has got as a Christmas gift.
The great book becomes a grand Christmas gift also in a wonderful novel by Anatole France "The Yule Log" (1881); this mostly desirable gift a kind gentleman gets as a reward for being kind to a needy woman on Christmas.
So, - brew yourself a nice big cup of tea, sit in your favorite chair with a soft plaid on the knees,- and have a nice Christmas reading!
Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Saturday, 17 December 2016
Mickey&his friends
Permanently happy&peppy, Mickey is good at putting smile on people's faces even on everyday basis; and at Christmas time his positive magic power grows and popularity increases. One can meet this cheery mouse and his friends absolutely everywhere!
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| For Christmas |
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| Target |
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| HM |
Santa's land
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| Ambiente |
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| Target |
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| Target |
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| Clas Ohlson |
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| Redcube |
Friday, 16 December 2016
Winter wonderland in every room of your house
As it's said on Target's webpage, that one can't ever have too many Christmas ornaments. With their help you can bring Christmas in every corner of your house, making it look really festive. But if you are afraid of taking it too far and achieving "less than harmonious" effect, you may choose few basic colors&themes, which will become the leitmotif of your decoration rhapsody. It can be blue&silver, snowflakes, stars or snowmen,- you decide, what "makes your spirit bright".
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Let your home sparkle
How about turning your home into the real winter palace for the festive season? Some silver and crystals here&there,- and you are in business 😊
Or, if you prefer a warmer palette,- let golden stars to "make the spirits bright"!
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| Redcube |
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| Clas Ohlson |
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| For Christmas |
Or, if you prefer a warmer palette,- let golden stars to "make the spirits bright"!
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| Lagerhaus |
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| Lagerhaus |
Give a gift to your permanent companion
Buying Christmas presents, remember to get something for your loyal companion, with whom you spend a big part of your day,- and sometimes your night. We mean, of course, your faithful mobile phone. For many people now they became the best friends,- for better and for worse.
So, first your phone needs a winter coat. Something bright, with a high "Christmas-factor".
Like this one from HM.
And than, of course,- a portable charger, so your phone can stay alive&active as long as you wish.
Silver is classic winter color. Also HM.
And "for the desert" - a nice pair of Christmas-themed headphones. Very funny and very merry,- exactly as it should be on Christmas.
Guess, from where? From HM, naturally! 😏
So, first your phone needs a winter coat. Something bright, with a high "Christmas-factor".
Like this one from HM.
And than, of course,- a portable charger, so your phone can stay alive&active as long as you wish.
Silver is classic winter color. Also HM.
And "for the desert" - a nice pair of Christmas-themed headphones. Very funny and very merry,- exactly as it should be on Christmas.
Guess, from where? From HM, naturally! 😏
Monday, 12 December 2016
Advent calendars for adults
The big plus of being adult is a different attitude to the time. Take, for example, advent calendars,- one does not have to get them exactly on the 30 of November and start opening on the 1 of December. Why not to wait a couple of weeks, when some of them,- especially the chocolate ones 😏 - will go down in price? Recently we saw in a supermarket an entire stand, full with candy advent calendars,- and 50% off the price! Look at this beauty, for example!
Doesn't it look inviting?
But if you are not so much for sweets and prefer the things, that last more than few weeks,- you may consider investing in a timeless wood&porcelain calendar from Villeroy&Boch.
It is advertised like a chance for a possible family tradition,- to buy such a calendar and put small gifts or goodies in each box,- just to open them one by one during the advent. But knowing the real children, we would recommend you to use the calendar only while watching the kids closely; being left without the adults' supervision, they can easily drop and destroy one or two little porcelain boxes, which would pretty much make the calendar look sad... Not even mentioning the price of this beautiful retro-toy.
Here we have another version of old-fashioned calendar,- also from Villeroy&Boch. One supposed to open new box every day, take one tiny toy out and put it on the tiny-winy hook on the sleigh.
And now it's time for the calendar, which little doors you can open, take something out,- and put it on yourself.
Good gift for your girlfriend,- if you have one 👸
Otherwise,- why not to make your little sister very happy with such a luxurious gift? 👧
Of course,- if she is above that age, when kids take all the shiny things in the mouth. 👶 And not shiny too....
Doesn't it look inviting?
But if you are not so much for sweets and prefer the things, that last more than few weeks,- you may consider investing in a timeless wood&porcelain calendar from Villeroy&Boch.
It is advertised like a chance for a possible family tradition,- to buy such a calendar and put small gifts or goodies in each box,- just to open them one by one during the advent. But knowing the real children, we would recommend you to use the calendar only while watching the kids closely; being left without the adults' supervision, they can easily drop and destroy one or two little porcelain boxes, which would pretty much make the calendar look sad... Not even mentioning the price of this beautiful retro-toy.
Here we have another version of old-fashioned calendar,- also from Villeroy&Boch. One supposed to open new box every day, take one tiny toy out and put it on the tiny-winy hook on the sleigh.
And now it's time for the calendar, which little doors you can open, take something out,- and put it on yourself.
Good gift for your girlfriend,- if you have one 👸
Otherwise,- why not to make your little sister very happy with such a luxurious gift? 👧
Of course,- if she is above that age, when kids take all the shiny things in the mouth. 👶 And not shiny too....
Saturday, 10 December 2016
If you like "Nutcracker"
"The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky is a traditional part of the Christmas season; and the style of "The Nutcracker" has definitely influences the Christmas collections by Villeroy&Boch. Every year appears some new wonderful "Christmas edition"-objects, and a real Christmas fan must take a couple of calming pills before checking Villeroy&Boch webpage, because otherwise there is a risk of self-explosion. It is difficult to imaggine anything more Christmasy in the porcelain department, than "Toy's Delight" or "Winter Bakery", or "Fairytale Park".
Strong stuff, this star wine
If you really want something strong&sweet, when it comes to the dessert wines,- try Finnish Christmas mulled wine Tähti Glögi Luomu (Star Mulled Wine Organic). This deep-red beverage with a taste of dark berries, sour orange, vanilla and Christmas spice, has wooping 15% alcohol in it. Which means, that we, mere mortals, who are not born in Finland, should mix this drink with freshly boiled water in proportion 50x50. Then one can add some chopped red apples in the glass, pour in the hot wine, and - voila! - we have a wonderful fire-side drink.
Shimmery gifts for active friends
Two weeks to Christmas, and it's definitely time to think about the gifts for your friends&colleagues (let's assume, that the presents for the family members are already bought). H&M has just introduced new nice objects, which are clearly supposed to end up as a Christmas stocking's stuffing. And some of them are just made for the active&stylish people, who are always on the run!
This USB-pendent on the chain is both festive&practical. And you know,- if there is something, which one can't have too much of,- it is USBs. Especially such ones, which you can have with you, even if you leave your bag at home.
And what about these shiny take-away metal mugs? Wonderful for bringing with you, when you walk in the winter park and look at the shimmering snow on the trees.
This USB-pendent on the chain is both festive&practical. And you know,- if there is something, which one can't have too much of,- it is USBs. Especially such ones, which you can have with you, even if you leave your bag at home.
And what about these shiny take-away metal mugs? Wonderful for bringing with you, when you walk in the winter park and look at the shimmering snow on the trees.
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Being playful
We all know, that one of the best kids' features is being playful; children learn quickly, while they play, relax, when they play, and feel excited, like real discoverers. So,- playfulness is a good thing,- actually, according to the psychologists, for the stressed adults it can be a perfect therapy to play with toys sometimes and imitate the kids. It may help them to relax efficiently, remind about childhood's best moments and "to restart the mind"; it also stimulates creativity. May be, this is one of the reasons, why parents so enthusiastically browse the toy shops before Christmas,- they just subconsciously anticipate the pleasure of "helping" their kids to sort out their new toys.
One of the best things in this case are, of course, moving trains. They make both kids&parents equally fascinated. And if it is a Christmas-themed train,- well, better Christmas-gift is difficult to imagine. And furthermore,- the beautiful train with fine details, running around the Christmas tree, is a wonderful part of the Christmas interior! So,- even the adults without kids should feel free to get one!
One of the best things in this case are, of course, moving trains. They make both kids&parents equally fascinated. And if it is a Christmas-themed train,- well, better Christmas-gift is difficult to imagine. And furthermore,- the beautiful train with fine details, running around the Christmas tree, is a wonderful part of the Christmas interior! So,- even the adults without kids should feel free to get one!
Sunday, 4 December 2016
Cosy comforter of the North
Comforters are en essential part of a fine winter interior. They are functionally warm and pleasantly fluffy. They are often light&white, as snow, but much warmer to the touch.
They enthusiastically participate in creating comfy Christmas atmosphere in our homes. They lay on the beds, sofas and armchairs. And, of course, there are many of them on the shelves of the stores,- both the material and the virtual ones. One would almost offer to make an exhibition of the cosiest models. And here are our candidates!
Pompula*, HobbyhallSaturday, 3 December 2016
To bake or not to bake,- this is the question
To one hand, festive season is often associated with baking at home different wonderful cakes&cookies; to the other hand, there are many people out there, who are indifferent to sweet stuff, or must follow the diet, or just prefer the aroma of newly baked gingerbread to their actual taste. Not even mentioning the enormous amount of people, who simply don't have time to stay in front of the stove for hours. In addition, many cookies are the best, where they are just from the oven; the next day they are still ok, but as time goes by, their charm somehow fades.
So,- what to do, if you still want to experience this wonderful feeling of being a part of this magic world of sweet&spicy aromas; creating something unusual; feeling the warm waves, coming from the oven,- but without too much job and too much weight gain?
Our advice would be,- try to make a fruitcake. It is lots of fun, - fun, which can be "distributed through the time",- both when it comes to production and consumption. Namely....
The process of production consists of four phases.
1. Making or buying so called "mincemeat" (which has nothing to do with a real meat for at least last 150 years, and contains mostly candied fruits, citrus peel, currents, raisin and sometimes nuts). Everything is simple,- you just buy a beautiful mason jar, put their these candied and dried fruits and berries, and pour in some brandy. After that you just attend your businesses, while the fruits soak in the brandy, and the jar decorates your kitchen and "makes the spirits bright".
2. In a couple of weeks,- or whenever you have free time,- you just go online and find the most appealing fruitcake recipe; we have taken ours from the site of well-known Delia Smith. The one, which we have chosen, consisted mostly of mixing of several ingredients with our matured "mincemeat" and pouring the result into the cake form. Still very simple, isn't it?
3. The most exciting part was the baking itself, because none of us could believe, that the classic fruit cake has to be in the oven for about 5 hours! So we were breathing in wonderful aromas, coming from the oven, and every hour trying to check the cake,- is it finally ready? Nope, not yet....But finally the cake was baked, and we let it "relax" over night under the clean tea-towel, and in the morning put it in the nice tin, lined with parchment paper.
4. After that it was just to "feed the cake" every now&then with some brandy,- to wit,- making the holes in the cake with clean toothpicks and dropping in the holes some brandy.
As you can see,- the entire process has been very entertaining and not too labour-intensive. We could choose ourselves, when we had time and desire to perform one of the steps. But the most important is, that not only the producing the cake could be spread in time, but even the consumption of it. Because this beautiful and tasty fruitcake was also very long-living*, and one could take a small slice with an intense Christmas flavor today, eat it with the tea, then wait for a week or two, - and take another bit. Lots of enjoyment,- and very little weight gain.
*For those who don't know,- properly prepared fruit cakes can live for several months.
So,- what to do, if you still want to experience this wonderful feeling of being a part of this magic world of sweet&spicy aromas; creating something unusual; feeling the warm waves, coming from the oven,- but without too much job and too much weight gain?
Our advice would be,- try to make a fruitcake. It is lots of fun, - fun, which can be "distributed through the time",- both when it comes to production and consumption. Namely....
The process of production consists of four phases.
1. Making or buying so called "mincemeat" (which has nothing to do with a real meat for at least last 150 years, and contains mostly candied fruits, citrus peel, currents, raisin and sometimes nuts). Everything is simple,- you just buy a beautiful mason jar, put their these candied and dried fruits and berries, and pour in some brandy. After that you just attend your businesses, while the fruits soak in the brandy, and the jar decorates your kitchen and "makes the spirits bright".
2. In a couple of weeks,- or whenever you have free time,- you just go online and find the most appealing fruitcake recipe; we have taken ours from the site of well-known Delia Smith. The one, which we have chosen, consisted mostly of mixing of several ingredients with our matured "mincemeat" and pouring the result into the cake form. Still very simple, isn't it?
3. The most exciting part was the baking itself, because none of us could believe, that the classic fruit cake has to be in the oven for about 5 hours! So we were breathing in wonderful aromas, coming from the oven, and every hour trying to check the cake,- is it finally ready? Nope, not yet....But finally the cake was baked, and we let it "relax" over night under the clean tea-towel, and in the morning put it in the nice tin, lined with parchment paper.
4. After that it was just to "feed the cake" every now&then with some brandy,- to wit,- making the holes in the cake with clean toothpicks and dropping in the holes some brandy.
As you can see,- the entire process has been very entertaining and not too labour-intensive. We could choose ourselves, when we had time and desire to perform one of the steps. But the most important is, that not only the producing the cake could be spread in time, but even the consumption of it. Because this beautiful and tasty fruitcake was also very long-living*, and one could take a small slice with an intense Christmas flavor today, eat it with the tea, then wait for a week or two, - and take another bit. Lots of enjoyment,- and very little weight gain.
*For those who don't know,- properly prepared fruit cakes can live for several months.
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