Advent Calendars have always been one of my favorite holiday traditions. They seem to make the build-up to Christmas that much more exciting. Each day holds a little surprise and a reminder of the big event! We tapped into our love of rainbows to create a Rainbow Ombre Advent Calendar. Each day counting down to Christmas is represented by a different color bag, filled with coordinating colored toys, treats, or trinkets! We partnered with the Brother to create festive P-Touch Embellish ribbons stating days 1 to 25, to tuck into each bag. You, your partner, or your little ones, will have a blast discovering a new treasure each day, not to mention it makes a beautiful display on your wall!
Get the full tutorial for the Dyed Rainbow Advent Calendar
As a girl, I loved helping to decorate the tree each year for Christmas. I would carefully unwrap each ornament and place it on the tree. My favorites were always the vintage clip-on candles and birds from my Grandma. Recently I’ve seen a resurgence of this type of ornament and I love it! I decided I could make a pretty similar rendition using paper and it would be a lot cheaper too. It’s a very common Scandinavian tradition to decorate your tree with candles, so this Paper Candle Christmas Tree Ornament is a little homage to my roots! All you need is small baking liners, paper, and glitter and you’ll have a tree all aglow in no time!
Check out the step by step photos to create your own paper candle ornaments!
Browsing vintage items on Etsy is a never-ending source of inspiration for me. You really never know what you’re going to find! For today’s holiday project, I was inspired by this vintage brooch. I stumbled upon a few months ago. I love how festive it is – it actually reminded me of Brittany’s oversized berry and holly garland from a few years ago! The brooch already looks like a mini wreath, so I simply made red pom poms to be the berries and cut green felt into leaves and voila! A DIY felt holly wreath! I’m already thinking of making another one in muted colors, with some glitter applied onto the edges of the leaves. For now though, I’m excited to hang this wreath on my door to celebrate this Christmas season!
Just because we love oversized everything does not mean that we don’t appreciate the smaller things in life! These delicate DIY paper holly boughs by paper flower artist Tiffany Holloway of Nectar Hollow, are so realistic I had to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming of sugar plums and snowflakes. They are super versatile as well. You could make an arrangement, incorporate them into a garland, stick them in a tree, or just dance around with one in each hand spreading Christmas cheer. I placed individual boughs in vintage glass bottles I found at a vintage store (for about a $1 a piece!) and placed them on my mantle at home. It’s my one Christmas decoration of the year and I love, love, love them! This DIY paper holly tutorial will take you step by step through the process and soon you’ll be up to your knees in this festive greenery.
We’ve got a strong adoration for all things Scandinavian, as you might have caught on. Somehow they manage to execute folk, modern, minimalist, and classic design elements all impeccably. Not to mention their wonderful pastries, 6 hour work days, and ample vacation days. Sign me up! Another thing Scandinavia does right? Christmas. I joined up with a group of Scandinavian bloggers to create a Swedish Advent Calendar: 24 days of posts from 24 different bloggers, each consisting of a Scandinavian inspired project. So mysigt! That means cozy in Swedish 😉 You can find the project for Day 1 by Gina Vide at Willowday and tomorrow’s post with Pysselbolaget as well as a list of the other participants. I’m so excited to see them all!
Because Scandinavia gets so dark in the winter, the Christmas season means lights and candles galore! Saint Lucia Day in Sweden is one of their biggest holidays, celebrated on the 13th of December. It recognizes Saint Lucia who was martyred as a young christian girl because of her faith. Lucy means light, and Lucia was said to wear candles atop her head so her hands would be free to serve the persecuted Christians. Today, St. Lucia’s Day is celebrated in all of Scandinavia. Traditionally, girls wear white dresses and red sashes, each with an evergreen crown of candles atop her head. A procession is then held in each town or school and carols are sung. It’s such a lovely sight! I can’t forget to mention that Pepparkakor (Swedish gingersnaps), Lussekatar (sweet saffron buns), and glogg (a mulled cider), are usually accompanied. Are you sold yet? St. Lucia Day is such a cozy holiday and I think it’s a shame we don’t celebrate it here in the states. Insert: A printable St. Lucia Crown! Skip the frigid winter and enjoy carols and sweets all while looking like a Scandinavian Princess in the comfort of your own home!
