I Spy Friday

Note: I totally had this post ready go to on Friday, but life intervened. Really. I swear.

If your family is anything like mine, Christmas involves a lot of eating, drinking, and talking. And then it's dinnertime. Which is followed by excited present-opening, an energetic round or two of Celebrity, and dessert. Even though I won't be spending this Christmas with my extended family, I definitely had them in mind when putting together this Christmas outfit.

This lovely cardigan is from Forever 21...

...and would look great with a ruffed tee like this camisole from J. Crew.

I love this skirt! So practical, yet girly. (Anthropologie, of course.)

 

This trio of accessories adds the perfect, final girly touch to a bright and comfortable Christmas outfit:

the Ms. Darcy bracelet from ModCloth, the Georgia Clippie by MrsSMeow (this week's etsy pick of the week), and Mossimo flowered ballet flats from Target.

 

Then slip out of the skirt and into these pants (from the Gap) for after-dinner rowdiness and a comfy ride home. I especially like the foldover waist band; perfect for hiding a food baby while staying chic. (Or convincing yourself you have enough room for just one more cookie.)

New items in the shop!

Let me tell you a sad story. Once upon a time, I had a pretty hair clip shaped like a beautiful anemone. I decided that it would look nice as a brooch on my new brown tweed jacket. So I clipped it on my lapel, and went off on my merry way, and received many compliments. Until, later that afternoon, I looked down and saw in horror that my clip had fallen off. I retraced my steps and asked my coworkers to keep an eye out, but the clip had disappeared. I was so, so sad.

But this story has a happy ending after all, because now available in my shop is this beauty:

A new product for me: a brooch/hair clip. Please, learn from my mistake, and buy this versatile little piece.

Also new in the shop this week are two headbands:

And this is my favorite piece so far, which I don't really want to sell. But I will, because I love you all so.

Granny-chic, but still kinda modern. Feminine, but still kinda sleek. With bits of twine and metal for opposing country and city touches. The partnership of opposites which creates a perfect balance.

And that's what's new around here.

I Spy Friday

It's time for Christmas decorating! Or, if you're like me, the day after Thanksgiving was time for Christmas decorating. Never mind, here are some more lovely things to make your home pretty this December. And, since everyone I know has plenty of red and green glitz, I went for subdued and elegant this time around.

Everybody's favorite advent calendars are the ones with chocolate. But this calendar, available from the Art Fund, features selections from Oxford's Bodleian Library. Almost as good as chocolate.

I always recommend these candles to gift-hunters in Anthropologie. They are so, so cute, and they remind me a bit of some lampshades I saw the Origin Craft Fair. Plus, they smell great. And they're apparently on sale in America.

I couldn't decide between these two mobiles. I love the stylish simplicity of the angels. I love the real-forest effect of having all of the trees on a level in the forest mobile. They're both made by Flensted, traditional Danish mobile makers. They're available at Danish Design and several other places online.

For a very, very long time, it has been my dream to visit Finland at Christmastime. And not just Helsinki, but the Lapland, where I could meet Santa and perhaps see the Northern Lights. But that's not the only reason I was drawn to these traditional straw ornaments, available online at Scandinavian South. For one thing, they're lovely. For another thing, they're kind of a steal at $15 for 48. And they'd look lovely decorating your presents as well as your house.

The etsy pick this week is a garland by KristinaMarie. It is ten feet of lovely little circles, cut from old hymnals and sewn together with (mostly) hand-dyed colored circles. This would look so nice in a tree or on a mantlepiece.

Last of all is something that doesn't really fit in two ways: it, unfortunately, can't be bought, and it's got all kinds of red and green glitz. Mushrooms are traditionally connected with Christmas, especially in Germanic tradition, because of the symbiotic relationship between fly agaric mushrooms (which are red with white spots) and fir trees. This craft project, from the, er, charmingly named Poopscape Projects, will bring a little mushroomy joy to your tree. It looks like she made them all the same size, but I think a few tiny mushrooms perched on mini clothespins would be nice.

Oh, and if you happen to come across fly agaric mushrooms, don't eat them. Unless you want to hallucinate and/or die. They're kinda poisonous.

Happy decorating!