Festive Fridays! #1

Hi Everyone,

I've had a really productive day, lots of cleaning, went to a new playgroup which my son loved and .... (wait for it) ......... I FOUND MY CAMERA! It was in one of my handbags in my son's toybox! So swatches will be commencing shortly!

I said yesterday that I had a new feature coming up so here it is

Allow me to introduce... Festive Fridays! 

I've always thought that shops put the Christmas things out too early. It seems to get earlier and earlier every year! My family's rule has always been that it's okay as long as it's after my brother's birthday. He turned 20 on the 26th October so this feature is well timed.

Each week I'll be writing about an aspect of Christmas planning. I have to be super organised this year because we're moving all next month and not 100% where we're spending Christmas, so this feature should help!

This week I'm focusing on decorations. When I was little, I loved our tree decorations, they were old fashioned wooden ones, but we lost them somehow when we lived in Spain. We also had a beautiful angel that sat on the top, and lots of home made decorations that my brother and I made at school.

To this day I haven't had a tree that is as good as the ones from my childhood and so I tend to buy new things every year. I hope in a few years when Caleb is at school, I'll have lots of things that he has made up on the tree!

Until then, here are my picks for this year! I'm trying to go for a bit of a contrast between cosy handmade-looking (I don't have time to make things) and glamorous. That sums up my interior design style, chandeliers with knitted cushions, and it's something I'm eager to carry on in the new house.

This post is ridiculously long and pic heavy so I've put the main body under the jump... 

Click "Read More" to see what I've chosen. If you'd like to buy any of these items online, clicking on the photo caption will take you directly to the websites!

Ball Tree: The Range

OK, so not technically a decoration, but it sort of is... And I have a confession to make, I'm obsessed with these trees! I wish I had space for one somewhere to have all year round. I'm secretly planning on buying one and then waiting to see if I have the perfect place to put it! The Range is AMAZING for Christmas things. I love how they stock things by colour scheme so you can pick a colour and just go with it!

Ball Tree, The Range, £19.99

JULMYS Decorations: Ikea

I spotted these cable knit hearts when I was in Ikea buying bits and pieces for Caleb's new nursery a few weeks ago. I am in love with cable knit but the cream ones were sold out. I didn't know they stocked grey until I looked on the website, but these are so me and I'll definitely be getting some for the tree this year!

JULMYS Decorations, IKEA, £5 for a set of 4

Wooden Glitter Heart Decoration: Tesco

I love Tesco for Christmas things, they have a lot of reasonably priced items and a lot of variety style-wise, so there is something for everyone! I picked out this wooden heart hanging ornament with a bird (two turtle doves?) design. This is the kind of style I absolutely love, and I'm thinking I might be able to talk my boyfriend into getting a few of these, they're so affordable and really pretty!

Wooden Glitter Heart, Tesco, £0.94 each

Glass Multicoloured Tree Decoration: B&Q

When it comes to Christmas, I love going to B&Q. I hate hardware stores normally, apart from picking out paint colours and looking at the kitchens, but at Christmas it all changes. The B&Q near me has a huge section with lights, trees, decorations, tinsel, about a million types of baubles and those outdoor light up reindeers and I love it!

I love glass tree decorations and this multicoloured tree shape is really original. It looks almost handmade with the glitter but elegant at the same time. My only problem with these decorations are the price, I think £4 for one is a bit steep! 

Glass Tree Decoration, B&Q, £4 each

Robins Decorations: Tesco

Right, I know that this isn't the most stylish decoration in the world, but it reminds me so much of my childhood! We had a pair of robins on our tree when I was growing up, and although it's a bit taxidermy-looking for my normal taste, it's Christmas, and robins are a part of Christmas! 

Robins, Tesco, £1.96 for the pair

Gold and Green Tinsel: ASDA

I used to wish I was one of these people who had really colourful Christmas trees or had a really fashionable one, but I just love homely looking trees! I think our new house will look really nice with a tree covered in this gold and green tinsel!

Gold Luxury Tinsel, ASDA, £2 for 3m

White Berry Lights: ASDA

No Christmas tree would be complete without lights! I love all kinds of lights, when I was at uni I had Christmas lights (the yellowy normal ones) and star lights (bluey white LED ones) around my bed all year round, much to the disdain of my boyfriend. I might have to shock him by buying these and putting them on the bed before he gets home!

I love these berry shaped ones because they're a little bit different to what you see all the time. Unsurprisingly they're sold out online right now, but I'm sure they'll come back in stock.

White LED berry lights, ASDA, £10 for 60

Battery Operated LED Silver Star: B&Q

As a child, we had an angel on top of our tree every year. It was so pretty and my brother and I used to take it in turns to put the angel up each Christmas. As an adult, I prefer to have a star on top of the tree. The one I have now doesn't light up, so I usually try and shove a couple of lights inside it, but I think I might have to buy a new one. I like this one from B&Q...

LED Star Light, B&Q, £10

Wall Mounted Tree Cardholder: Tesco

I'm not somebody who sends out or receives a ton of Christmas cards every year, but I know I'll need a cardholder when my son starts school, so why not start looking now?! I love this one from Tesco.

Wall mounted silver tree cardholder, Tesco, £14.93

Snowflake Tealight Holder: ASDA

To me Christmas, and winter in general, means candles... Lots and lots of candles! I've got a Yankee Candle on my Christmas list, but I love pretty holders too. This snowflake one is so pretty, and so affordable!

Tealight holder, ASDA, £2

So there we have it! I hope you enjoyed this post! I originally intended to have five items, but I've ended up with ten... See you back here the same time next week for more lovely Christmassy goodness!

 I found my camera at last (it was in one of my handbags) so I'll be able to make a dent into my swatching pile and then I can get back to regular posting. All being well, I'll have a post up on Monday, time permitting, because I might be going up to Cheltenham for the day, and that's over two hours each way, so we'll see!

Have a great weekend guys!