Christmas Inspiration - H&M Home 2010

H&M Home once again have put together beautiful inspirational Christmas looks for 2010. Though we can't buy the lovely products (unless you are in a select few European countries), we can get inspiration and ideas to follow. So here is Christmas 2010 according to H&M.

This Christmas trend is wonderful and feminine and let's you use homewares and textiles you already have and can use again at other times of the year. I really like the lace accents, especially the hanging piece over the table. I also think the silver and white combination works in both a wintry Northern hemisphere as well as the hot, summer Christmas we enjoy down here in the Southern hemisphere.

In this more traditional Christmas look, it is the use of natural linen and canvas which gives a modern, relaxed look. I love the use of traditional typefaces and icons to give a vintage feel.

 

Finally, for a modern Christmas look go for this purple, black and bling look. The purple can be substituted for any colour you like, just make it bright so it  jumps out from the glamorous black and blingy setting.

To check out the H&M Home Christmas Trends visit the website here

What's your favourite look? I think mine is the red and linen combination because of it's relaxed yet traditional feel.

Christmas spirit

After finally putting up my Christmas Tree last night I have had to face the fact that not only is Christmas coming, but it is very close by! Today I have found some beautiful Christmas Wreaths which I would love to adorn my front door with. Unfortunately not many of them look 'transportable', however they may inspire some DIY projects.

These first few are from the Lunatique Boutique etsy store. I love the subtle Christmas colour palette of reds and golds as well as the use of fabric, feathers and paper. I find these are not too 'tizzy' and have a nice natural look. My favourite is the top one where the twigs spray out from the circle. See these and more in the etsy store here. Pictured above the Elegant Woodland Holiday Wreaths.
Click for links >  Top,  bottom left, bottom right.

This wreath is from Goodie True Shoes (another very cool store name!) The Evening Gatherer wreath has lovely earthy tones that match the yarn, felt and wooden material used. This wreath also has moss and seeds, but these are not able to be shipped internationally. I could see an Australian version of this wreath with native seeds, gumnut pods and leaves.

This pretty wreath is certainly something that could been used as inspiration for crafty people. This lovely jute wreath is by Catnap Cottage. The 'beach chic' look of jute makes this a great wreath for us Southern Hemisphere dwellers who have a summer Christmas. I love this fabric, the red and white reminds me of a candy cane, but it is such a modern interpretation of the Christmas look. The trick here is to find beautiful, quality fabric or ribbon.

 

This last wreath is a masterpiece from The Linnets Wing. Again I like the wild, unstructured style. I also like the natural colours given a bit of holiday silver bling. The real appeal of this is that the natural elements are sourced from Erika's Pennsilvania home. This wreath is "hand-collected, hand-dried, and hand-made from start-to-finish." Learn more about Erika's wreath and other creative projects on display in her etsy store.

Polli Christmas

Inspired by my red and white candy canes, I took a peek over at the Polli website. I am a massive fan of their jewellery and I love when they branch out into home decor.
I'm glad they don't have a wish list on their site - mine would be full to overflowing with so many options, like this, these, oh and this too... stop me please!
Today I discovered the lovely seasonal Christmas items available.

{top} Decoration Kit - this set of 30 decorations are printed naturally on recycled card, plus you receive 6 metres of ribbon to use as individual decoration hangers or to create a garland. I love these intricate cut work pieces, in particular the little dove in the ring on the left of the image. A real bargain at $19.95 with free shipping in Australia.

{bottom left} Stainless Steel Decoration Kit - a set of 3 etched stainless steel decorations which come flat packed and then can by transformed into 3-dimensional hanging ornaments. Another great buy $29.95 and free shipping.

{bottom right} Love Dove Card - Another beautiful flat card that can be transformed to a hanging ornament. The red wings are weet heart shaped - too lovely! $19.95 for a pack of 4.

Now for the tough part - deciding which to buy. I think the set of 30 cardboard decorations are for me.

Colour crush - Candy Stripes

I thought I would really get in the spirit of the season and go for a Christmas themed colour crush. I have chosen traditional red and white, but with a sweet twist. I have collected some beautiful candy cane images from a very large Flickr group - Joyful Simplicities - Peppermint/Candy Canes. With over 25, 000 images it is more a visual celebration of Christmas in general. Have a browse to see some beautiful snowy berry shots!

Here is a little collection of my favourite candy cane images. I particularly like the red and white against the powder blue in the top 2 images, it's a really fresh colour combination.

{top left: Candy Shop by Jackie Rueda | top right: Peppermint Sticks by Little Starling Photography by Lauri}

{bottom left: Candycane-okeh by andieedwards | bottom right: untitled by buttonheart}

Hummingbird Hunt

There is no denying it now - Christmas is coming! I thought I would have a look around at the card offerings of some of my fav online paper maestros and this is how I came to find the Christmas collection from The Hummingbird Card Company. They are a British company specialising in laser cut cards. They have some very sweet cards for all occasions and some of the cut work is incredibly delicate.

Here is a small selection from the Christmas range.

From left: Snowflake, Folk Bauble, Christmas Tree and Vintage Baubles

See the rest here.

What I am more in love with however are the Christmas Decorations - laser cut card decorations. They are a bit of a steal I think for about $13 aussie for a set of 6 - however you will need to organise postage from the UK.

 

 

I really like the way they cast shadows on the wall. I will keep a look out for something similar locally for my own tree.

{all images from The Hummingbird Card Company}

Bauble Up

It's certainly getting closer to Chrissy time now and that means it is time to start pondering the decorations! I LOVE this part of Christmas. For the past few years I have gone minimalist and used sticks (spray painted black) and kept it quite non-traditional. Last year I didn't even unpack some of the decorations I bought because we had just moved into our new home and unfortunately much more practical boxes were unpacked first.

 This image from Tine K Home sums up the "look" I have had in recently years.

This year however I am thinking of embracing a traditional green tree. We even have a window which we could place it in front of and have fairy lights on for people to view walking past.

I'm yet to confirm a tree - but did just take some time out to look through the Christmas Gallery at Living Etc

It's a wealth of inspiration and I have put together this little collection of baubles displayed in non-traditional, creative ways...

A bowl of baubles

A garland of baubles

 

A bauble cluster hanging from the ceiling

Bauble bunch for the door

I like the idea of spreading the Christmas decorating beyond the tree and gifts. Now I just need to find all my decorations and get started!