Christmas Wish List

These heart design breakfast cups and saucers by Nina Campbell are definitely something to add to the Christmas wish list. In fact Nina has an entire range of heart printed china on her website.

PS. Sorry I haven't been here much this week...things are pretty hectic around here at the moment.

xo

Anna

Country Road Christmas Catalogue

It was lovely to receive the Country Road Christmas catalogue in the mail last night. It's filled with lots of great gift ideas. I absolutely loved the cover which I have posted above.

Christmas Card Idea

I love Anne Harwell's Christmas cards this year. They are available in a set of 8 at Anne's etsy store...

Black & Spiro Christmas Window

I've been meaning to post these photos of our Christmas windows at Black & Spiro which we installed last week. I feel like I am always one of the last stores in Brisbane to install Christmas! Anyway, I went for a very bright pink and yellow combination this year. I wanted to end 2009 on a lovely bright note!

PS. The wreath is made out of beautiful dried out Australian native bush {very hard to see from these pictures} which a lovely lady in Melbourne made for me. I then decorated the wreath with silver baubles tied on with torn strips of fabric and ribbon.

Christmas Gift Idea

This gift idea is one for the husbands even though I am sure there wouldn't be any husbands reading this blog!!

Last Christmas one of my client's husbands emailed me very last minute {as husbands do} asking for my help with a present for his wife. I found this beautiful Antique chair for him and had it quickly recovered in a pretty piece of fabric we had in stock. I think I turned the whole thing around in about 14 days which was a huge feat considering the chair came up from one of my dealers in Melbourne and also considering it was 2 weeks before Christmas which is our busiest time of year! His wife absolutely loved the chair and was so surprised by it's presence on Christmas morning. I think I would be in shock too if my husband thought about organising something like this for me.

Let me know if I can help any of your husbands with a gift this Christmas!!

Christmas Gift Idea

For the friend or relative who has everything, I think these personalised paperweights from Iomoi make for a fantastic gift. A couple of Christmas' ago I gave all my girlfriends one of these and they loved them. I think they look great on a coffee table or bedside table clustered in a group. Maybe this could be the start of a collection of paper weights for your friend/relative! My only problem is choosing which one to go for as there are SO many gorgeous designs to select from!!

Gift Ideas at Simon Johnson

If you are looking for a gift for someone who enjoys cooking {or eating} this Christmas I would highly recommend you check out the Simon Johnson online store. They have some wonderful things and ship all over Australia. I loved the styling of their gift collection catalogue as above and I know a little 6 year old who will love the giant midi Durade chocolate fish {105 grams} which I will be ordering in for his Christmas stocking!

Christmas Wreaths Australian Style

A flowering gum wreath from Grandiflora hangs on Beth from Boatshed Chic's front door above. Beth's amazing boat shed was featured in the Christmas issue of Country Style magazine last year {2008}.


Here in Saskia Haveke's own entryway hangs one of her amazing creations; a flannel flower-and-pieris-laden lichen branch wreath as featured in Inside Out Christmas Issue 2007.

Here in Australia it is a little harder to keep live Christmas wreaths looking wonderful and fresh due to our extremely hot Summer weather. However, that doesn't stop celebrated florists like Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora creating amazing wreaths for her clients and her own home at Christmas. Saskia tends to use Australian natives in her wreaths which can be hardier and more inclined to last. If you opt for a fresh wreath this Christmas I would suggest filling a spray bottle with water and spraying the wreath at least twice a day to keep it looking fresh and beautiful.

Another wonderful and hardy option for warmer climates would be to decorate a branch wreath with succulents like April Hiler has done above.

T'is The Season

It's usually around early to mid November each year that I start to get my thinking cap on with regards to my plans and ideas for Christmas. All the inspiring Christmas ideas are out in the Magazines by this time each year and most stores have their Christmas decorations up and the season is in full swing.

My planning for this year's Christmas started over the weekend with my purchase of the December issue of Inside Out magazine whose Christmas spread each year is one of my absolute favourites. Not only did I scour through this year's issue, I pulled out issues from previous years which were so beautiful and thought provoking!!

One thing I read in the December 2008 issue which I absolutely loved was a quote by Stylist Lynsey Fryers;

"Don't be put off by thinking you must do things in a certain way, because Christmas is so personal."

I for one am a person who does do Christmas a little more on the abstract side when it comes to the colours/patterns/papers/decorations I use. I tend to love a touch of pink, yellow, lime green, aqua and orange. I find that even though these colours aren't really traditional Christmas colours, to me they are festive and bright and happy.

Over the weekend I went back through the photos of what I created last year to get myself motivated. Harry and I also cooked up a batch of star shaped short bread as a practice run for the 14 batches we will be cooking the week of Christmas to give to our family & friends.

So, in the coming weeks I thought I would talk and post all things Christmas. From entertaining ideas, gift wrapping ideas, decorations and gifts. I hope in some way I can inspire you to create something wonderful of your own this Christmas. Let's join together and celebrate the spirit of this wonderful season!!

xo

Anna

Image 1 - wreath by Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora, Image 2 - Lynsey Fryers home & quote via Inside Out magazine December 2008, Image 3 - Cover of Inside Out December 2009 Christmas issue, Image 4 - My 2008 Christmas Tree creation.

Black & Spiro Today

Here are a couple of photos of our current window display at Black & Spiro. The poodle lamps are very wild yet so much fun. I adore the fabric drop in the background and our new little woven shell boxes which you can see on the table are a current obsession of mine. They come in 5 different sizes and I was thinking it would be a fun idea to bake some beautiful shortbread stars for Christmas and use these lovely shell boxes to put the shortbread in as gifts for my friends. We have a few in stock if anyone else would like to do the same!! For all enquiries email us info@blackandspiro.com.au

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Please, please, please deliver this stool to me on Christmas morning?!

xo
Anna


image - 1st dibs via fric & frac