It’s less than 7 days till Christmas Day, and I for one am truly excited! It’s such a busy time of the year, I’ve already enjoyed a Cotswold escape with family, work parties and get togethers to swap gifts with friends – all washed down with plenty of hot chocolate and the odd mince pie or two. I think it’s pretty fair to say, I am fully absorbed in the festive sprit. One of my our favourite things to help kick start that festive feeling is decorating our home and putting up the Christmas tree. We like to do this together, even the dog gets involved.
This year we’ve teamed up with Laura Ashley to share our top picks from their Christmas collection, so, without further ado we popped on a Christmas CD, you’ve got to have festive tunes to create the seasonal vibe – and got down to decorating our living room. Thinking about it, this year we have opted for a more ‘grown up’ colour scheme, sticking with silver, white and silver-sparkly baubles on the tree. To inject a little contrast and fun, we sneaked in a few animal baubles too. This reindeer in a glass bell jar is delightful, we have two polar bears too.
What about this large glassy number, with snowflake engraving, I think it wins the prize for my favourite bauble! But, it’s truly a tough call, because I’m crazy about this mason jar snow-globe, look at the snowy Christmas tree inside. Glass adds a decadence to decorating our home, classic and beautifully light reflecting.
Winter is all about comfort for me, I am smitten with this snugly blanket, a real winter warmer for when you are sat on the sofa. As you can see our sofa is covered with cushions of all shapes and sizes. Coco dog and I cuddle up and get cosy in amongst them. What better way to keep the winter chill at bay, than with this sumptuous red check blanket, so soft to the touch.
So theres seems to be a sensory theme to my afternoon, the visual impact, the soundtrack to Christmas and the sense of touch too. Let’s consider getting the scent of Christmas just right, it’s a really important backdrop to the trimmings and a festive candle is a must. This one is called Mulled Spices, and is just the ticket with an evocative aroma, conjuring up memories and gently meanders throughout the room. Well, not only did our home look fantastically Christmasy, it smelt it too!
As the last decoration was hung and the spare bulbs found for festive lights, we admired our room- the resplendent Christmas tree, standing boastfully in pride of place, with that touch of Laura Ashley added Christmas magic Well, not a bad afternoons work, mixed with memories of christmases passed, fun and laughter. Happy with our endeavours, we settled down to watch a festive film, lights twinkling, a cuppa in hand and plate of yummy shortbread biscuits. Such a perfect festive afternoon and now we are all set for the big day next week!
Tell me, how is your run up to Christmas going?
Photos – Shooting Dave
