Christmas from the other side

It is certainly feeling like Christmas now. The weather is warming up, house are draped in lights and the shops are a bit crazy. It's a fun time of year and while we are planning for a warm weather, my in-laws over in Finland are embracing snow and a cosy Christmas. That is how I came to take a peek at the website one of my favourite Finnish homeware stores, Pentik. They sell beautiful products and their stores are lots of fun to visit.
Here are some pages from their current Christmas Catalogue.

 

 

and my favourite.....

 

How stunning are these tealights in snow? Worlds away from a southern hemisphere Christmas!

You can browse the catalogue yourself here (in Finnish)

It has been quite a few years since I was in Finland in Winter and I've only ever celebrated one Christmas there. My fondest memories are the candles everywhere lighting up the dark days and nights. There are candles in windows, nestled in snow out the front of houses and by far the most spectacular are the candles in the cemetery. I know it sounds strange, but it was such a beautiful scene as families light candles on their relatives graves to create a carpet of candlelight in the snow.

Of course it is also much easy to eat all the yummy hot food too when it is cold and snowing outside. A very different Christmas to the our Summer ones.

{all images from Pentik}