Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We have been busy this festive season with a family wedding the week before Christmas. We had some guests stay over, then a few nights out followed by Christmas dinner for seven this year. Overall it was really enjoyable but went very fast. I have a few more friends to meet up with and then time to ring in the New Year.

Happy New Year everyone.... I am trying to get back into a routine after a nice long Christmas break. I had a wonderful Christmas with so many friends and family visiting. I received lots of thoughtful gifts.  I haven't really made an New Years resolutions, I'm just trying to eat healthy and become more organised-the same as most people. I also want toy try and exercise some more. I haven't got out much over the Christmas for my walks so hopefully now that the weekend is almost here I will get out and about. Tomorrow I will take the Christmas decorations down as it is Little Christmas or Women's Christmas (Nollaig na mBan). Apparently the idea is that on this day the tradition was for the women to get together and enjoy their Christmas while the men folk stay at home and handle all the housework. However I  don't think this really happens! If you have a man in your life, see if it works for you and do let me know how you get on. I have some family visiting tomorrow night and then I plan to do lots of house work over the weekend. I have no major plans for 2017, we are very busy at work and I have to work three late nights next week. 

Today I am putting the finishing touches to my decorations. It is a beautiful day here in Ireland so I will out picking some holly, ivy and pine cones. Below are just a few images from around my house this evening. I have keep my Christmas decorations traditional in my everyday living room with reds.

In my good living room, I am keeping it very white and calming with only silver and white on the Christmas tree and a few decorations placed around the room. 

I needed a new ceiling light shade and couldn't make up my mind what style I wanted. For the moment I settled on buying this cheap one, The photo isn't very clear but it is grey and casts lovely shadows on the ceiling which you can just about see in this photo. 

And finally in my entrance hallway I always create a Christmas vignette so when you enter the door your eye is drawn to it. I light the candles and have some fairy lights too. Once I add some holly and ivy it should look more natural looking. 

I'll post some photographs when I am finished, Hope you have a lovely weekend. 

It's beginning to feel like Christmas already..The year has gone so quickly. I don't decorate the house for Christmas until later in December. Below are a few images from last year around my home. I have most of my Christmas shopping done. A lot of you will be out Christmas shopping this weekend. I look forward to spending time with family and friends over the Christmas break. I have over 2 weeks off work around Christmas as I save my holidays for a nice long break. What are your plans for Christmas?

Over Christmas I have spent lots of time with family and friends. It's now New Year's Eve, the years seem to be flying by... 2015 has been good to us, we spent good times with family and went on a wonderful holiday visiting Spain, France and Italy... We didn't get much sunshine or heat here in Ireland, it is almost like we skipped some of the seasons with just Spring and Autumn and no actual Summer or Winter. Lots of rain and wind... Over Christmas I have been-

Wearing;

Eating & Drinking;

Wishing you and yours a wonderful New Year's Eve and best wishes for 2016 and all it has to hold.....  Goodbye 2015

Wishing you and yours lots of peace, joy and happiness this Christmas.... Hope everyone is enjoying the evening with family and friends.... I'm keeping cosy at the fire with lots of good music and food....

Precious Memories

May this holiday season

leave you with precious memories:

A Christmas filled with love and light,

 perfect gifts, delicious foods,

 love and joy all around.

A New Year with continuing blessings—

friends, family, good work, great fun,

 and delightful surprises.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

By Joanna Fuchs

Hello everyone. Hope you are not too busy in the run up to Christmas. I am on my holidays from work these days and I am enjoying my time off.  Below are some images of the decorating I have done for Christmas. First up is our new Christmas tree which I have put in our good living room. I also tried drying some oranges for their scent and decoration in the house. This was my first time trying to dry them and they worked out alright. They took so long in the oven that I gave up. Instead I dried them on top of the wood burning stove which took far less time than the oven. The smell was lovely in the room though as they were drying up on the stove. I also made some pretty paper doily snowflakes. They are now hanging over the double doors into my sun room. I'm thinking of adding some red to the centre of them to make them more festive. You should try and make some of these doily snowflakes they are so simple to make and look cute.

Below is just one more  photograph of my tree. The lights are a bright white so they match well with the grey/blue colour scheme in my living room. Today I made this flower arrangement to sit on my kitchen island. All the items were free as I just picked them from the hedge. Three of the hydrangea were already dried and one of them is a fresh one from the garden. All the foliage is fresh from the gardens. The final photo is just me deciding where to put the fairy lights, I haven't left them here and have yet to decide where to put them. I have a lot of dried hydrangea so hope to make some more arrangements.

Hope you like having a look around my home and also at my homemade/handmade items. Have a go yourself or if you have some items you have made, I would love to hear about them and see them. Until next time.... 

Here is a quick DIY idea for you all. I love bringing the outdoors into my home in the form of nature inspired home decor. Yesterday I made this moss covered star. Why not have a go yourself.

Step 1: Pick some moss from the countryside, I used moss from hedges and large stones. The larger the pieces the better, try to avoid moss that is very wet or with lots of twigs and creepy crawlies in it.... no one wants them crawling around your home...

Step 2: This is the boring part. Bring your moss home and remove any twigs/ stones/ insects and leave to dry on kitchen roll paper. I dried mine next to the wood burning stove and then on the radiator.

Step 3: Make a large star shape or any alternative shape you would like, I used a star made from wood but you could also use thick cardboard or paper to make your shape. Begin by gluing the moss carefully onto your shape.

Step 4: Continue to glue the moss to cover the entire front.

Step 5: Leave for a few hours for the glue to fully dry. Lift and shake for any loose pieces to fall off and re-glue again if required. There you have it, fully complete! 

December is well and truly here. Have you put up your Christmas decorations yet? I don't put mine up until nearer Christmas but as there are only two more weekends after this one until Christmas I might put  mine up a bit earlier this year. I am on holidays from work so have lots of time to decorate for Christmas. This week I tidied the house, did some DIY that was put on the long finger and went shopping. Below are a few images of my Christmas trees from last year, sorry the photos aren't great. The one on the right is very large (can you see the top of the doorway to the back of it). This is a monster of a tree and I don't think I am going to get one this year as it is a lot of hassle and takes a lot of cleaning afterwards. The one on the left is an old artificial one which my parents didn't want so they donated it to me. I just put it at the back of the door to create a festive feel in the hallway. I am thinking about buying an artificial tree (I know some of you are cringing at that thought) but I don't want to put a real tree in our new living room so I might have to go fake. I am working on a few DIY decorations which I will post once complete. If you have photographs of your Christmas decor, I would love for you to share them with us all.

Finally my living room is almost complete. I just need a few items to finish the room including an over mantle mirror, TV, ceiling light fitting and curtain tiebacks. I'm thinking of painting the inside of the unit a crisp white, as it is ivory and looks quite cream next to the white marble fireplace. What do you think? Have you any ideas for my over mantle mirror or the light fitting? I hope to use this room over the Christmas season. I am now on my holidays from work so have lots of time to decorate the house for Christmas, I just need less rain so I can go pick ivy, moss and berries in the hedges. I will keep you posted on my DIY Christmas decor.

Happy Christmas Everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday with family and friends. I went to my parents for dinner after Church and then visited my inlaws and wrapped up the day watching TV with husband. It was a lovely relaxing day. It even snowed here in Ireland this morning to add to the festive feel. Hope you are having a lovely time and relaxing.

The Christmas decorating is almost complete here at home. My husband has the large tree put up in the sun room, it is around nine foot tall. It is so big and full that I can put the Christmas cards through it for decorations. It is a real tree that he cut from the local woods. I always love having a real Christmas tree in our home. I was busy decorating it this evening. The smell is lovely. We also have a smaller artificial tree in our entrance hall too. I have to finish the garland over the fireplace nearer the weekend as the foliage dries out fast. Hope you are all set for Christmas now.... I would love to see some images of your home at Christmas.