Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.

I'm a bit late with the decorating, so I'll be doing that now. The most important thing is to have four new candles. And a clean house would be good. And a wreath on the front door. Time to get going...

Photo: GypsyPurpleHome.tumblr.com

Purple Inspirations - Mateus

In December we tend to socialise more than usual - everyone wants to invite friends to gløgg parties and pre-Christmas get-togethers at home. This is when it's useful to have lots of little trays and bowls to put cakes, biscuits and canapés on. We have a combination of cream porcelain in the 'Arv' series from IKEA (this series is now made in chalky-white earthenware) and cream Wedgwood 'Edme'. So far so cream...
I've realised that my strong penchant for white and cream in all our tableware and furnishing fabrics stems from my many years of living in rented accommodation. Faced with pink, mid or dark blue, or mustard coloured carpets, plus varying shades of magnolia or other yellow walls my instinct was to neutralise with whites. White bedlinen, cream curtains, white towels, cream tableware. I must have been desperate for a calm colour-scheme. Now that the communal areas of our house are painted in varying shades of chalky white (no surprise there), I've gradually come to the realisation that it could all be a bit too neutral...
I tentatively dipped my toe in grey. And liked it. Next I went for charcoal. And liked it even more. For our New Years Eve dinner I have found a charcoal-so-dark-it's-nearly-black tablecloth in cotton from H&M. (I find H&M's styling incredibly seductive, their clever stylists really know how to sell to me) I thought a black tablecloth would be more forgiving with red wine sploshes and all those other stains that you end up with during a festive dinner party.

 Photo: H&M

And I have recently fallen for the charms of Swedish tableware brand Mateus, with their rich colours and beautiful reliefs. Imagine a dark tablecloth set with dishes in purple like this:

Photo: Mateus

Or perhaps in grey like this:

Photo: Mateus

Or even pink, as styled by my favourite interior blogger: Anette at Inredingshjälpen

Photo: Inredingshjälpen

Scandiliving sells a selection of Mateus ceramics in their Surrey shop and online.

Make your own Advent Star

Just spotted on Ida's Swedish blog at Sköna Hem, the most divine advent star:

Photo: Byggfabriken

From Swedish hardware/ironmonger Byggfabriken, a fount of beautiful period details for the home. If you click on the link you will even be able to read about the origins of the advent star tradition.

It's time for Christmas cards

It's time to start writing and sending Christmas cards pretty sharpish if, like me, you have cards to send to far-flung destinations like Australia and America. I picked up this design from my local WH Smith yesterday - I like the motif with the 'holy three kings' as we call them in Norwegian. The original bearers of gifts...

I always, always, buy special stamps from the Post Office for my letters and cards. I think it makes an envelope look much more enticing to open. Besides, I once spent rather a long time in a French hospital, during which time I received cards and letters from concerned friends and family (it was the 90's, before e-mail). And I remember a nurse who would ask me very sweetly if she might have the (mainly foreign) stamps for her children, as they collected them. That idea stayed with me - put special stamps on your mail, because the recipient or someone close to them might like to collect them.

Advent - Finally

Photo: Åhléns

It's Advent. Those cosy, candle-lit four weeks leading up to Christmas, full of anticipation.

The term 'Advent' comes from the latin 'adventus redemptorus' - the coming of our Lord - and marks the beginning of the Christian year since the 5th century. Advent used to be a time for fasting and repentance, and though this is still observed in the Catholic church it is no longer the custom in the reformed churches. In the Christian church purple is traditionally a colour associated with repentance and advent is therefore decorated in purple in countries like Denmark and Norway. In the UK there is no tradition for purple decorations to mark advent, but vicars will don purple or blue clothing while the advent wreath in church will have purple candles.

It is not Christmas yet... enjoy this waiting time that is Advent. Good things come to those who wait. 

Photo: scokinnaman.com

Finding your Advent Star

Tomorrow many of us from the Nordic countries will ceremonially hang our advent stars in a window and switch them on as darkness falls. Advent stars have been decorating our homes for around 100 years, and to most of us December wouldn't feel the same without one. The trick is to find one when you live abroad. Paper stars are readily available here in the UK, but not with integral lighting. My husband and I found our star in a lighting shop in Norway a number of years ago. It is made of twigs painted in gold and has tiny lights running through it. All we need to do to install it is sling it over the curtain rail, position it in the middle of the window, and plug it in. And of course, we need an adaptor.

Last year I decided to get a white paper star as well, and found a beautiful large pleated one. No light of course. I asked in lots of electrical shops if they would sell me a bulb on an electric lead, with no joy. But then I spotted a really corny ad on television (I thought IKEA must have decided to be ironic, it was so cheesy) and I realised that Swedish ironmonger/vendor of all sorts, Clas Ohlson, had launched here in the UK. Bingo. Ordered the bulb-holding electric lead with UK plug and received it in no time. Even spoke to a fellow Norwegian at their call centre to correct my order details. White pleated paper star with light ready to go. Please do note that you must use a low watt bulb inside a paper star. 20 or 30 watts at most, otherwise the paper could end up catching fire.

If you haven't found your advent star yet you can get one in store from IKEA , in store or on-line from Clas Ohlson, or from independent shop Scandiliving, for example. The online designer retailer Royal Design has a substantial selection by House Doctor, Georg Jensen, Watt & Veke and SMD Design, but bear in mind that they ship from Sweden so it takes around 7 working days to receive items.

Photo: Watt & Veke, available from Royal Design UK

Preparing for Advent

Advent. I think this is what makes Scandinavians get through the long and dark month of December... To me, the colour of advent is purple, irrespective of what may be in fashion each year. I hoard purple candles for my advent candleholder - in fact, my mother always checks whether I need to buy purple candles when I visit :) This year, Sunday 30th November will be the first sunday of advent, and I am spending my evenings this week preparing for a change of colour in the sitting room. Come Saturday (I don't like to dilute either Advent or Christmas by starting too early) I am swapping our various green botanical printed cushions for a mix of this:

Dark purple velvet covers from H&M Home. Zipped. Great quality and a small price. H&M is offering up to 20% off their wares until closing time on Friday 28th November so if you're prone to clicking everything into your basket, like me, now might be a good time to save some pennies.

 

Liberty of London's 'Growing Fonder' fabric in blue & purple. I have been sewing cushion covers in this while watching TV this week. It's a very light, soft cotton, with a beautiful print - I love the pairs of birds 'beak to beak'. I love it so much I used the green colourway on our cushions during the summer. I think 'Growing Fonder' must have been a limited edition last year, as it doesn't seem to be available at Liberty's this season. But if you like it you'll be able to find it on ebay. Liberty's is offering 20% off all purchases until Sunday 30th November, in store and online.

Cushions in lavender linen by H&M Home. Again, great quality for the price. I have bought quite a few linen covers and napkins from H&M's collection and I've been impressed.

Yesterday I 'rescued' a pot of 3 purple hyacinths languishing on the flower-stand at my local Waitrose (I see myself as a sort of RSPP - Royal Society for the Protection of wilting Plants.. haha) which I will pot up in a brass-coloured tin from H&M Home (I struggle to find nice plant pots, and I've been wondering how to use this tin, came in a bulk online order last month). A good intensely purple hyacinth is the variety 'Peter Stuyvesant', though I suspect my rescue-hyacinths will be a more humdrum Delft blue.

As for the advent candles, I have a vintage linear brass 4-arm candlestick which I could use or I may decide to stick the 4 candles in an arrangement of some sort. I think I'd prefer the candles in a circle, probably embedded in some velvety green moss on a tray.

And last, but not least, my husband's favourite: The advent star. This year I'm hanging a new white paper star in the sitting room window, and our old slightly more rustic star made of golden twigs in the kitchen window. I suspect that my husband will make me move the twig star to the sitting room as he likes that one best. We shall see..

Photo: Åhléns

You may not be able to, or want to, hang a star in a window, in which case one of these standing stars would make a very pretty alternative. It functions as a table lamp and can therefore be moved around as you wish.