Monthly Archives: December 2017

Naturally Red & Green Christmas Cookies (No Food Coloring Added)

Naturally Red And Green Christmas Cookies (No Food Coloring Added)

These festive red and green Christmas shortbread cookies are naturally colored with beets and pistachios.

The pistachio- and beet-colored cookies are the last project of my Advent Calendar 2017. Merry Christmas to you! Continue reading Naturally Red & Green Christmas Cookies (No Food Coloring Added)

DIY Wood Bead ‘Cranberry’ Wreath Ornament

DIY Wood Bead Cranberry Wreath Ornament

This DIY wood bead ‘cranberry’ ornament is easy and fun to make with kids. And because it can be made so quick, it’s a great last-minute DIY Christmas ornament: It takes just some minutes to string and paint the beads. Besides, this faux cranberry ornament with wood beads is not only pretty but also non-wilting, unlike a wreath ornament with real cranberries with wood beads. Continue reading DIY Wood Bead ‘Cranberry’ Wreath Ornament

DIY Icicle Candle Holders – Winter Luminaries With Snowy Pinecones

DIY Icicle Candle Holders Winter Luminaries With Snowy Pinecones

Aren’t these icicle winter luminaries beautiful? They look great as christmas table decoration, on the window sill or as modern Advent wreath. The snow frosted candle holders are easy and quick to make with things you already have at home. And they’re a great holiday craft for kids because they’re made with natural “ingredients”. 😉 Continue reading DIY Icicle Candle Holders – Winter Luminaries With Snowy Pinecones

Victorian & Edwardian Christmas Gifts – Part 2

Victorian And Edwardian Christmas Gifts
New York, winter scene in Broadway, 1857

‘In many cases no gift could be so useful as an apron, or nightgown, or petticoat neatly made, with loving thoughts stitched into the long seams and difficult gathers.’ (The American Girl’s Home Book of Work And Play, 1890) Continue reading Victorian & Edwardian Christmas Gifts – Part 2

The Victorian Christmas Tree

The Victorian Christmas Tree
The Christmas Tree, Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1850

The ‘door was thrown open leading into the great exhibition-room. Here was a magnificent Christmas-tree hung all over with colored wax tapers; here were tables covered with white cloths, and glittering from head to foot with the most bewitching doll-babies, work-boxes, card-cases, silk dresses, rattles, penny whistles, shawls, sashes, drawing-implements, and I don’t know what all, for big and little, with a name written upon each, and ever so many funny inscriptions to make it all the more merry.’ (An American Family In Germany, 1866, p. 183) Continue reading The Victorian Christmas Tree

Victorian & Edwardian Christmas Gifts – Part 1

Victorian Christmas Gift Ideas - Victorian Shopping
Sleighing in New York, 1855

‘Christmas is coming. […] Such a capering and hiding; stitching, knitting, clipping, cutting, and pasting; red paper and blue paper; spangles of gold and silver; purses, cuffs, lamp-rugs, slippers, and neck-ties; gewgaws, and filigree, and gimcracks; green trees, hung all over with colored balls, little angels, and candy horsemen; wax tapers and bits of looking-glass; such surprises hid in fancy boxes and bags, on the tops of the wardrobes, behind the bureaus, and under the sofas, for Tom, Dick, and Harry; mysterious whisperings, secret conferences, knowing looks, nods, and winks, and sudden hidings away of articles in progress of manufacture but not yet to be seen Continue reading Victorian & Edwardian Christmas Gifts – Part 1

Victorian Christmas Gifts For The Home

Traditional Victorian Christmas Tree Decorations
Christmas tree, 1907

‘The shops are showing a marvelous array of gifts that cost small fortune and there are many of us who have to pass them by, regarding them as the fleshpots of Egypt. That is no reason, though, why we should deprive ourselves of the pleasure of giving, nor deprive our friends of the pleasure of being remembered by us. There are a thousand simple and not simple articles that can be made at home for a small cost of material. If they cost much labor, all the better. Then our friends know that we have really wanted to make a sacrifice for their pleasure. Continue reading Victorian Christmas Gifts For The Home

Victorian Store-Bought Christmas Presents

Victorian Store-Bought Christmas Presents
The heart of the shopping district a few days before Christmas, 1903

‘It was the afternoon of Christmas eve. The weather was delightfully mild for the season, and the sky was without a cloud. The streets of Philadelphia were unusually crowded, and the whole appearance of the city was gay and animated. The fancy stores were resplendent with elegant ribbons, laces, scarfs, and reticules, and the shops for artificial flowers, made a display which rivalled nature in their most blooming season. It was a pleasing spectacle to see so many parents leading their children, all with happy faces; some full of hope and others replete with satisfaction; some going to buy Christmas gifts, others carrying home those already purchased.’ (The Pearl, 1830, p. 106) Continue reading Victorian Store-Bought Christmas Presents