Marble and Copper

I have been loving all things marble and copper lately. I blame H&M! They had so many beautiful things like marble trays, containers, boxes, tablecloths, baskets… I bought half of the collection!

Generally the marble pattern just makes everything look more luxurious and clean. If you want to beautify your home with marble you don’t have to fork out a fortune for the real deal, there are plenty of easy and inexpensive DIY’s out there to make it at home! One of the best investments for me was marble contact foil – its like a sticker that you can stick to any surface and it instantly looks great!

Same with copper. As it has been quite the decor trend lately, a lot of companies are making overpriced copper articles but with a bit of spray paint you can easily transform an old piece into a trend article! Also, look for copper parts in your local DIY store, pipes etc make great DIY projects!

Check out this lovely collection of copper DIYs at The Crafted Sparrow!

Back in Christmas Wonderland

China switched to full on Christmas mode over the last couple of weeks – blinking lights in red, green and blue everywhere accompanied by kitschy cute Santa Claus faces and Christmas unicorns. Not really what we Europeans define as classical Christmas decorations, but then again who can blame them – it’s not like they actually celebrate Christmas. The Christmas equivalent in China is the Chinese new year – usually celebrated at the end of January or beginning of February (depending on the moon calendar).

Since I am back in Germany for the holidays I enjoy driving through the little towns with pretty lights in each window and on the trees. In Germany as well as France Christmas markets are a must during Advent – the time leading up to Christmas Eve. They have become widely popular in other countries too, usually emphasizing on the “German” Christmas market like Winter Wonderland in London each year. Even Beijing had it’s own little Christmas market a couple of weeks back at the German embassy.

I personally think that the Christmas Market in my hometown Trier is one of the most beautiful ones, mainly due to the location within the old center of the city, surrounded by old buildings from different eras and the Dome watching majestically over the many visitors. Have a look for yourself!

xxx

DIY: Bird food tree ornaments

We have always had flocks of birds around the house during winter because of our extensive feeding opportunities. We just love watching them come by, see them return every year and hear them sing. While the humans eat Christmas cookies inside why not share some love with the birds? Get out your cookie cutters and make some bird treats! This is a cute idea to not only do some good for the animals during the cold season but also decorate the empty trees outside.

What you will need:

- Coconut fat or beef tallow (if you are using tallow add about 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil)
- Bird food
- Cookie cutters
- Cutting board
- Toothpicks
- Cord

And here is how it works:

1. Put the cookie cutters onto a cutting board. 

2. Heat the coconut fat a little so that it becomes softer and workable (not too liquid though!).

3. Add the bird food to the fat and mix it well. Don’t use too much food or the cookies might crumble afterwards. 

4. Fill the mixture into the cookie cutters and poke a whole big enough for the cord with the toothpick. Make sure it’s big enough so that you can fit the cord through the whole comfortably. It is very hard to make the whole once they are hard because they will break easily. 

5. Put the cookies onto a big cutting board and leave them outside (in case it’s not freezing) for a couple of hours (best overnight). Once they are hard enough you can push them out of the cutters and pull the cord through to make little hangers. We put a little Christmas tree outside on the balcony and decorated it with the ornaments and a garland made of peanuts and dried & fresh apple slices.

Now you only have to lay low and wait for the first little bird to come pick on it! :)