Oh deer

The new look of white pillow cases! I saw this idea in some shop and shamelessly decided to steal the idea. The pillow cases were from Ikea and I got them with the thought in mind, that I would decorate them somehow and then finally got the idea of what I want.

Plain white pillows would have been too boring, I think, since my whole decoration for the season is rather white. I got some paint from the local craft store and started painting. I used just my old paint brushes, nothing too fancy. I let the pillow cases dry over night before ironing them.

I am rather excited about these, I think they turned out very pretty and I am sure I will use this method to decorate some other pillow cases I might have. Perhaps it's time to go digging through flea markets and see if I can find some material there. 

Himmeli - The Christmas mobile

Perhaps the name would be Yule Mobile? I am not quite sure. Quick googling didn't give me much result on this, so I shall call it how I would, himmeli.

Traditionally it is made from straw and nowadays people usually hang them up during Christmas. We made one himmeli in class many years back. Each kid made their own part and then all parts were joined together to make one whole himmeli. After that, I wanted to make my own himmeli at home and every Christmas I think about it, but for some reason I never got around making it.

This year I saw my friend's new himmeli made out of plastic straws, and then decided this year will be the year when I make my own himmeli.

It was bit of trial and error this one and It sort of looks like it too. It needs a little bit of tweaking. Next time I'll find some smaller straws and use a different thread in them. Otherwise, the more of the parts I made, the faster and better they turned out to be.

We have a saying here, hunger grows while eating and this was the case here. I now want bigger and more magnificent himmeli. I have this whole pattern in mind of what it should look like. This was a very good practice project and I will definitely make more of these! Making the parts come so fast while watching tv.

A little DIY gift

I've always been fond of self made gifts. I started skipping the whole buying of gifts once I noticed I could make things that would make a nice surprise to open on Christmas. Making Christmas cards has been one of my favourite hobbies of all time. I don't make 50 cards per year, more than 10 cards, so the amount to be made is not that big.

This year I have decided to make replacement ornaments for my mother. I made similar yarn elves for her in school and she has hung them up every Christmas ever since. A few years ago, the family got a new addition to the family in the form of a little beagle called Pele. One unfortunate day the other yarn elf fell on the ground and Pele was quick to notice it and found out the 7 Veljestä yarn tastes absolutely amazing. There wasn't much left of the other elf and so the one elf left hung alone. I thought it was just so sad, I decided to remake the elf couple. After all, 3 is better than 1.

What I needed was:

• Some red yarn
• Two pieces of card board
• A little white felt
• Piece of white yarn
• Scissors
• Needle and some white thread

First I cut two pieces out of the card board, one for the body and for the arms. Then I wrapped the red yarn around the card boards to make a couple of nice bulky skeins. It's better to use bit too much than bit too little. After freeing the skeins I tied the head in place with a piece of yarn and under the neck I slid in the skein of the arms. The wrists I tied again with a piece of yarn. Under the arms I tied the waist with a red yarn to keep it in place. On top of it I tied the white yarn as a belt to match the hat. For the elf with the skirt I just cut the foot end of the skein and trimmed the ends a bit to make it neat. For the elf with the pants, I tied the ankles with a string. The hats I sew together and then I sew them on the heads of the elves. I left a little loop of thread on the tip of the head so they could be hung up alongside with their lonely friend.

Stockholm in pictures

Couple weeks ago I took a trip to Stockholm. It was a magical trip filled with chocolate, weirdly flavoured waters, Christmas, shopping, sight seeing and relaxing. Just a perfect weekend getaway. Here are few of the shots I took while there.

Had to take a picture of these hanging ball lights. I found them extremely funny for some reason.

Christmas came early!

I decided to tackle a couple of things off from my wish list. A little trip to Ikea... One well placed order in Anttila...

Once I get some natural light, I will show you what I came up with. Until then, this teaser will be enough.

I am really disliking this time of year. No matter how fast I try to get to home, there is no light left! Everything I want to photograph, I have to do during weekends. Hopefully this weekend won't be too busy, so I have time to get a couple of shots of my Christmassy home.

Lights on!

This is really difficult time of year, since it seems I cannot get home before it all gets so dark to photograph. On the other hand it is a brilliant time to bring out the lights.

I had these 3 stars on the window last year, but I thought they would look better on the wall, by my little chair. First I attached them with tape hooks, but they did not hold. No surprise there. I decided to take out the nails and the hammer then. As I was nailing my stone walls with the force that needed, I managed to hit my thumb. I do not recommend! What I do recommend is to decorate with lights.

The chair is a flea market find. It is apparently from the PS series of Ikea, but I can't be sure. If someone knows the name of this chair, please let me know! It has got a sheep skin blanket and couple of knit pillows for the winter. Lot of other flea market stuff here too, the side table was found at the huge flea market at Kuopio market square couple years back and the silvery tray was found at the church's recycling center. I really love going to flea markets.

I am a sucker for all lights. I have plenty of lamps and I love candles. These three stars are perhaps my favourite lights for Christmas. I rarely have the lights on the chandelier, the other lamps give enough light to enjoy the long, dark evenings.