Bloesem

Stephanie Levy's Advent Wreath and Centrepiece

*Advent Wreath
I started making an advent wreath each year after moving to Europe. In Germany, one candle is lit on each Advent Sunday until Christmas. Traditionally, family and friends gather together to enjoy cookies, cakes, gingerbread, and hot mulled wine or tea by candlelight on each of these Sundays to celebrate the holiday season. The atmosphere of the candles combined with the spicy Christmas delicacies is something special! People create all sorts of advent wreaths in different styles and colors. Feel free to use your imagination! To make this year's advent wreath, I used :
* a purchased wreath of fresh greenery  (These are easy to find at florist's shops here in Germany during Advent season, but of course you could make one yourself if you are so inclined.)
* mini glass ornaments, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, star anise, red lacquered berries, candle holders, florist's pins, florist's wire, wreath candle holders, and long-lasting handmade Danish candles (All items available at a florist or craft shop.)
* to assemble : First, I added the candles in their holders to the wreath. I wrapped the cinnamon sticks in little bundles with thin florist's wire, as well as the orange slices and star anise to make them easier to attach with the florist's pins. The mini ornaments and red berries were already attached to wire, making them easy to press into the wreath. It is a good idea to place the finished wreath on a large ceramic or metal plate or platter for safety reasons because of the burning candles.
Light a candle, turn on your favorite Christmas music, make your favorite hot beverage, get out the spice cookies or cake, and enjoy :)

* Centerpieces
To make your holiday table more festive, it is nice to have a centerpiece with candles. These also create a cozy atmosphere in a windowsill or a side table. I have created a more traditional centerpiece and a more modern, glitzy one. Both are fast and simple, and only take a few minutes to assemble.
For the traditional Centerpiece I used:
* 4 red candles in different sizes, a platter covered in gold leaf, mini pine cones, mini red Christmas ornaments, cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices
* Arrange candles and decoration on your platter as you wish, light your candles, and you have instant glow!

* * * Stephanie Levy
* * * Stephanie Levy's blog
* * * Stephanie Levy's shop

Stephanie would like to offer a 20% discount on all prints in her new collection through Dec. 24th to all Bloesem readers. Just write "Bloesem prints" in the message box at checkout, and she will refund the discount.

Art School Girl

I love these Deer And Bird Ornaments by Art School Girl which the lovely Kelly from Little Paper Planes told me about. They are letterpresed and die-cut ornaments inspired by vintage tin cookie cutters. Ready to assemble and hang on a tree or a gift with bakers twine. At Little Paper Planes you can also find a terrific Gift Guide, just click here, I'm sure you will find a great present!

Bastienne's beautiful Christmas tree Garlandes ...

If you prefer a simple Christmas, here are two very graphical ideas.
Make your cupboard a bit festive with this graphical garland of black & white Christmas trees.
Use any kind of wallpaper, cut out the trees and you’re ready.

Use the same mal and draw white trees on black paper to make a simple placemat.
 My motto for Christmas is … less decoration, but more candles & nice people together with honest & simply cooked food. Enjoy and happy holidays!

* * * Studio BAS_I.C.

* * * Bastienne van Bockel

Sidsel's beautiful capice shells with prints for the Christmas Tree

{the nice owl is available right here}
I kind of grew up in my aunt and uncle´s big store with crafts supplies – so I´ve been crafting all my life. And one of the reasons why I started my blog was to share my little craft projects and to dig into the huge amount of crafty inspiration you can find online these days.
But being a mom and running my own graphic designstudio – doesn´t leave me with much time left for crafting these days – so Christmas is always a good occasion to craft a little and I always try to create something new and simple.

This year I was inspired by some capice shells I had bought in Asia – but I think you can get hold of them almost everywhere – and I tried to transfer some of my photos and prints onto them – and really liked the combination of the delicate shell and the graphic prints .

Here´s how to do it:
1. Print or copy some images or text (reversed) – works with boht colour and black - on normal office paper. (the trick is to find the printer that works best with your glue.)
2. Cut out the print in shape of the shell.
3. Apply a binder/medium/glue to the paper – and press the paper onto the shell.
4. Let the binder/medium/glue dry completely and soak the shell in cold water and rub of the paper carefully with a sponge or finger.
5. Let the shell dry and put a string on the shell – and voila – your own capice shell with a print.

* * * Spagat
* * * Spagat online shop
* * * Spagat blog

Tara Hogan's creative Christmas ideas

*Trees
We usually do not get a tree anymore so I have been buying eucalyptus and decorating it. If you purchase a large quantity you can really create a dramatic tree and hang ornaments and lights from it. A large clear glass or milk glass vase with pebbles in the bottom works nice. I love the shape of the leaves and who says you need to get a traditional tree. I would feel better decorating a pine tree outside with white lights. I have become closer to trees and I like the idea of leaving them in the ground as much as possible.

*Tin Vintage Ornaments
I  have all of my grandmother's vintage tin ornaments. I love placing them in decorative milk glass cake pedestals or wooden bowls. If you can get your hands on vintage holiday ornaments you can do a lot with them. They can be hung in front of windows at all different levels for contrast and it creates a stunning look in any home.

*Handmade Cards
I  love making things by hand and made this holiday card out of a 3" x 7" red vintage tag. You can find these tags on eBay or at antique stores. They already have a hole at the top if you want to use as an ornament or gift tag. I stitched this tag with with white thread to create garland.
I have a lot of paper materials to work from in a large box. I save all my Anthropologie catalogs as they make for great pieces in a collage. Old books, wallpaper scraps, scraps from a hole puncher, you name it, I have it here.
*Paper Mobile or Garland
All of these paper scraps can make an interesting Holiday mobile or paper chain as well. I used some small metal red bells and misc paper scraps left over from my collages. You could add you popcorn to this too and have a really fun chain link full of recycled materials. It looks romantic, vintage, and fun.

*Laser cut Ornaments or Wallhangings or Trivets
This year I began to make laser cut wooden ornaments out of scrap wood. The laser cut pears are a new addition for INK+WIT. All you need is bakers twine and you have a lovely ornament. Even past the holidays.

I experimented in making these larger and  love how they sit in the window. Right now they are unfinished but I may paint them. If you research laser cutters in your aree or online you can easily send them your designs to make ornaments or wall hangings. They also work as trivets on the dining room table

* * * INK+WIT

* * * Tara Hogan Art

* * * INK+WIT Shop

 

Jennifer Causey's handmade decoration tip ...

It is easy to create a beautiful garland with simple objects from nature. These sunprints are easy to make. Sunprint kits are available to purchase from  The Curiosity Shoppe. To make a sunprint, simply take a sheet of the special coated paper and place it on a sunny windowsill. Place an object on top of the sheet to create an image. You can choose leaves, twigs, ornaments, or anything you like. It is fun to experiment and see what you get. You just leave them in the sun for about 10 minutes, until the blue paper turns white....

...then, run them under cold water and let them dry. You will end up with a beautiful white image on a blue background. You can hang them in a windowsill, door way, or on a wall. If the paper curls, just iron it for a few seconds. They are really easy and a fun idea to do make with kids.

* * * Jennifer Causey
* * * Simply Photo
* * * Photobird