Merry Christmas!

What makes your Christmas special?
Do you like to follow traditions or come up with new ideas each time?

One tradition we follow with H is that we never buy a Christmas tree.
Instead I sometimes get a tiny ever green mini cypress in a pot. It brings lots of joy for a long time. I like to place fruits such as oranges, lemons and pears in a beautiful bowl or cake stand. They make lovely decoration and are edible which is great. I love to put candles on tables and fresh flowers bring cozy atmosphere, too.

We don't buy or make many gifts to each other but a few thoughtful packages are enough. What I love the most is the wrapping part! I gather recycled pieces of paper, string and make gift tags out of cardboard. It's very simple and eco-friendly, personal too. I'd say all those things I mentioned are already my own traditions I loosely follow each year, they just feel *me*. Oh, and I like to bake gingerbread cookies and a couple of cakes as well. H luckily takes care of most cooking stuff here.

Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!

Mikä tekee sinun joulusta erityisen?
Seuraatko perinteitä vai tykkäätkö ideoida uusia juttuja joka vuosi?

Meille on muodostunut perinteeksi se, että emme hanki joulukuusta. Sen sijaan ostan toisinaan pienen ikivihreän ruukkupuun josta on iloa pitkäksi aikaa. Asettelen hedelmiä kulhoon tai kakkustandiin, laitan pöydille kynttilöitä sekä tuoreita kukkia. Niistä saa aikaan melko ihanan tunnelman.

Meillä ei ole tapana antaa isoa määrää lahjoja toisillemme, mutta muutama tarkkaan harkittu paketti on kiva antaa ja saada. Parasta on mielestäni paketointi! Käytän vuoden mittaan kertyneitä kierrätettyjä papereita, kääreitä, naruja jne. Niistä saa kauniin yksinkertaisia paketteja jotka eivät rasita turhaan luontoa. Näistä kaikista pienistä jutuista on muotoutunut itselle traditioita joita sovellan vuodesta toiseen. Myös leipomispuuhat ovat osa jouluani, piparit ja pari kakkua täytyy tehdä. H on meillä onneksi ensisijainen kokkausvastaava.

Hyvää joulun aikaa sinulle ja läheisillesi!


xx
minna

Homemade Holiday Cards

Hi there!

I'm kind of late with my Christmas cards but this is what I'm making today:
holiday greeting cards with recycled cardboards!

We have stored lots of shipping material including recycled cardboards.
These are the most useful for a card project like this. Now, all I need is a paper cutter, few color pencils and a black pen. And a punch for some extra gift tags.

I wrote the recipient's mailing address on the reverse so the envelopes were not needed here.

Happy Holidays to you!

Hieman viime tingassa olen joulukorttieni kanssa, mutta vielä tänään ehtii lähettämään edullisemmalla jouluhinnalla joten eikun toimeen!

Kaapista löytyi iso kasa pakkaus- ja postitusmateriaaleja kuten kierrätettyä pahvia ja se sopii

korttiprojektiin vallan mainiosti. Leikkaaminen käy helposti paperileikkurilla, lisäksi tarvitaan vain värikyniä ja musta tussi. Lisäksi myös rei'itin mikäli ylijäämäpaloista haluaa tehdä pakettikortteja.

Kirjoitin vastaanottajan tiedot takapuolelle, kuoria ei tarvittu. 

Mukavaa joulun odottelua itse kullekin!

xx

minna

Happy Holidays

I baked gingerbread cookies last night
this time from a store bought dough
tiny elephants [looking like mini mammoths to me]
and cute penguins
these cookie cutters I found in Japan,
who else would come up with tiny cookie cutters like these!
Aalto vase cookie cutter is from Iittala store
it looked quite inspiring to me

Wishing a happy and peaceful holiday to you!




I'm now off to bake a date-carrot cake...
What's your favorite cake this season?

Christmas Wreaths

It's been a long silence here on Karuski's blog.
Yesterday I finally delivered the laptop sleeves to Nudge.
I posted a few pictures of them on Karuski's Facebook page.

I'm now trying to get myself slowly into holiday mood.
It would be nice to have a door wreath soon!
Here are some lovely choices I found on Etsy.
[links on pictures take you to the origin]

Do you tend to purchase a wreath or make one by yourself?






Oh, and let's lighten lots of candles to make this dark season enjoyable!

xx
minna

Merry Christmas

It's the Christmas Eve today. We will prepare a dinner for two, indulge ourselves with hot sauna, unwrap the presents and enjoy the peace & silence. Tomorrow we will drive some hundreds of kilometers to visit H's parents, stay there for a while and keep on driving to meet my parents as well. The cats will be travelling with us. This is the first time we have two of them in a car, I hope it goes well. I wish a peaceful Christmas to you, enjoy the holiday to the fullest!

Wrapping Gifts

I got all my Christmas presents wrapped! I used only recycled materials to keep the whole package eco-friendly, I think it makes a perfect sense. Why to make and purchase lovely things with a small impact on Mother Earth and wrap them up in something that uses valuable resources and probably ends up into landfill? These papers I used are from shipping materials I have received when ordered something online, small paper bags I've got when buying post cards and so on. Labels are made from pieces of left over paper, butterfly punch gives them a cute look. A few tags are free downloadables I had printed long ago but didn't use until now. I'm sorry I can't remember where did I download these, but I know there are some beautiful freebies at Creature Comforts. That crocheted piece I found from my studio, it's from a table clotch I had repurposed when making jewelry, only one piece was left. So here it got a new purpose and can be used all over again. In fact, all these packing materials I used can be either re-used or recycled. Oh, and another idea: I placed small gifts on a glass cake display stand. It looks sweet on a living room table.

These ideas work pretty well all year around, I'd like to think. Happy gift wrapping!

Simple Home Decor

Here is a really simple idea for your home! I made this card holder by crocheting paper yarn with a big crochet hook. I made about 1 meter long string with the most simple loops. It took about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. I had these vintage clips we use to hang curtains, they have a little hook on the top which I can hang on the crocheted loops. Even without the hooks the clips would work just fine. You can make the length as you wish, my holder looks nice with six Christmas cards on it. I tied the other end of the string on a curtain holder stick (or whatever the name is, I don't know exactly!). You could also hang it on the wall, by the door way or maybe you can find another suitable place at your home.

When the holidays are over, you can still use it all year around. Switch the cards or use the clips to hold little memo notes, for example. Happy crafting!

From The Photoshoot

We had a little photoshoot session on Sunday evening at home. I'm very pleased with the pictures. They have exactly the right feel I had on my mind. Thanks H for your valuable help! Now, I plan to make a small batch of these tote bags with a couple of color options, probably a few big clutches and handbags too. They should be ready in the beginning of January. I'll show you then, right after we get the new photos taken, of course. I plan to have a shop update around that time too.

Today I baked some salty pastries, wrapped Christmas presents and placed them in the living room (I really love wrapping gifts). Christmas holiday, here we come!

Flickr Favorites

1. Holiday Line 2009, 2. pun2, 3. Sales fairy checking Hungary out, 4. For the love of horses II

Thinking about Christmas, it's only one month away. I bought a Christmas themed magazine yesterday, haven't had time to read it yet, just flipped through it and got inspired already! Are you into Christmas ornaments? I might want to make few, just to try something new out. By the way, fresh flowers in a vase with beautiful candles by the side make a nice arrangement too. It doesn't need to be all that much, if you like it simple.

I received a package of holiday cards (was it last week or so...) from modernmotive. The same as you see in my mosaic. They are lovely. Besides that they are printed on 100% post-consumer fiber. I love them!

More inspiration at Mitsy's...

Monday Moodboard

flower lariat by ayca
rosa necklace by birribe
sleevy mini by baahar
hair clip by krize

A little bit of pink and magenta on a day like this might help to raise the spirits. Nice gift ideas for girly girls for Christmas too! Are you planning to give handmade goodies for your loved ones this year? My family is very small and we don't give many presents. It's the mutual agreement between us and I like it. Of course a small package here and there is allowed but no need to sweat in a mall and try to find for the sake a buying. Make something by your own hands or support an artist or crafter whose work you like. There's lots of recycled material available so giving a gift doesn't need to mean wasting precious resources. Knit or crochet from a left over yarn, make a piece of jewelry from recycled fabrics, draw a card on a upcycled paper or card stock. You can make a difference!

More moodboards linked at Greet's blog...