It is mince pie and feather duster day on the group calendar today… ” Pop some mince pies in the oven and use today to refresh the entire house. Whizz about with your fragrance basket, make sure guest rooms are fully stocked and scrumptious, then sit down and watch an old film with a mince pie and a glass of xmas sherry…” So to me this spells “Time to Get Christmassy!”. I suspect we have all been a little bit down about Christmas this year- sometimes it just feels like sheer hard graft, but that is I think, because as Peggy says on Hidden Haven Homestead, we have simply forgotten to let the magic in… So let’s spend today awakening our senses: let’s remember how Christmas smells, the way it tastes and how it feels. Let’s put aside all we think we have to and smother ourselves in the delights of this special occasion… * If you can’t bear mince pies, how about a mincemeat cake? Try this one or the one I did over the weekend here, if only because they will make your house smell festively divine as they bake… *Failing that take a packet of shop bought mince pies and heat them gently in the oven for the same delicious aroma. * Simmer some mulled apple cider in the crockpot.. * Make Christmas tunes your housekeeping music of choice as you waft about with your feather duster… * Make your family smile by popping a couple of jingle bells inside the loo roll holder… * Fill little bowls with sugared almonds, nuts, wrapped sweets and candy canes and display on a tray in the living room, with nutcrackers and a few baubles… * Light candles everywhere you go. Add tealights to bookshelves. Resolve to eat breakfast in the glow of the fairylights for the rest of the week… * Make a hot chocolate tray: fill a tray with everything you need to make the most scrumptious warm drinks- cocoa,chocolate flakes, tiny marshmallows, oranges, flavoured essences (vanilla, coffe, orange?), brandy, cinnamon sticks, sugar, a iny little whisk, your hot chocolate jug, huge cosy mugs, biscotti and amoretti… * Dig out all the Christmas cd’s and dvds you own and put them in a basket near the tv, for impromptu festive viewing… * Put a Christmassy book on your bedside and a stack of Christmassy magazines in the bathroom… * Fill a basket with snuggly socks and warm blankets… * Wrap tiny tangerines in scraps of lace and display in a pretty bowl. * Rub cinnamon oil into any bare wood. *Open the windows, turn up the heat and let a little air into the house… * Add citrus scented oil to your dishwater. Add a couple of drops of neroli, or pine scented oil to your BrocanteHome Surface Cleaner. * Put pine cones into a plastic bag, add a few drops of scented oil and shake. Leave to fragrance and then leave them lying anywhere you sit for more than a few moments: by the phone? Next to your computer? * Tie jingle bells onto a length of velvet ribbon and tie onto the handle of each door in the house for the tinkly sound of an angel getting her wings throughout the christmas season… * Simmer orange slices with a pinch of all spice on the stove… * Launder and iron all the jarmmies and dressing gowns your family own, then hang scrumptiously clean, on padded hangers in their bedrooms, with a tiny little net pomander of cinnamon and other spices tied to the neck of the hanger… * Pop a tiny little ivy or vase of red roses in the fridge… * Iron a new set of scrumptiously clean tea towels and put them out in the kitchen (crisp white linen anyone? Festive red gingham?) * Press your Christmas Day pinny: you will be wearing one won’t you?? * Wile away a half hour or two handwashing your best glasses, then add them to a tray of spirits ready for unexpected callers… * Unwrap a Christmas present today. Go on, I dare you…. Whatever you do, spend today getting Christmassy. Remember just how utterly scrumptious it is… Recommended Reading…
Create your own Brocante Life Book, plan Christmas, set up routines and rituals or live life the BrocanteHome way with my guided workbooks and planners.
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Oh, Alison, What wonderful, wonderful ideas. I feel cozier and Christmasier just by reading them. Happy Holidays, girl! G.
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Oh, Alison, What wonderful, wonderful ideas. I feel cozier and Christmasier just by reading them. Happy Holidays, girl! G.
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