[christmas day - part two]

Christmas day lunch was another small gathering held at Mum's place and this year's theme was Rustic Neon!

 

The table runner was a hessian piece I had painted little neon triangles on, or if you squint, little Christmas trees.

I reused our wedding ceremony candles added a little pink twine (rather than have them collecting dust), and you'll see scattered throughout, those little neon ornaments I'd given a facelift a few weeks back.

Place on a large oval mirror and throw in a few pinecones, tea lights, pretty pink flowers and holly and you've got yourself a table!



Oh and it was my first Christmas with my husband!!
Speaking of which, I'll be sharing with you our beautiful wedding photos very soon so stay tuned!
Jx

P.S. If you liked the look of the Garden Salad with Figs and Pomegranate, find it here. Don't tell anyone but it's healthy too ;)

[christmas day - part one]

On Christmas day we hosted a family brekky at our little unit.

Just a simple gathering of six.

After picking up this oh so sweet table cloth for a steal at Ikea, I thought run with it and go a little kitsch for the morning.

So sunny yellow, polkadots, paper straws and sunflowers it was.

And for the menu...

Lychee and apple juice

Red rooibos iced tisane

Fresh fruit salad

Ham, cheese and tomato croissants

Raspberry and vanilla coulis

Natural yoghurt

Homemade gluten free toasted muesli

The muesli was really delicious!

It was my first ever attempt at gluten free muesli and the finished product was a blend of a few different recipes I'd come across.

It was a big hit with the gluten intolerant folk!

Here's my version for those of you playing at home...

Gluten Free Toasted Muesli

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp all spice

1 cup quinoa flakes

1 cup rice flakes

1/4 cup pepitas

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup flaxseeds

1 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup macadamia nuts (chopped)

1/2 cup hazelnuts (chopped)

1/4 cup goji berries

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dried apricots (chopped)

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Line a few trays with baking paper.

In a small saucepan, heat honey and oil over low heat until runny.

Mix in vanilla and spices.

In a large bowl, mix together the quinoa, rice flakes, nuts and seeds.

Pour over the spiced honey mixture and stir in well.

Divide amongst the trays.

Bake for 10mins, remove and mix and repeat until lovely and brown.

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Stir in dried fruit.

And you're done!

Enjoy! Jx

Stay tuned for part two x

[giant clam shells]

I bought my own Christmas present.

It was just easier this way.

That and I feared I'd lose him to someone else if I walked away!

He's a little rough around the edges but I love the beauty in imperfections.

(If only I would adopt this attitude in the mirror!)

I'll be wrapping him in ribbon and placing him under the tree beside the other goodies.

He's not truly mine until then anyway!

I'll name him then.

Here are some lovely and at times, remarkable ways in which these beautiful giant clam shells have been used.

The most innovative of them all!
via here

Classic coastal and perfectly bookended.

via here

My favourite!
Balanced to perfection with the glass vase collection.
via here

Elegant coastal.
Loving splashes of gold at the moment.
via here

Beautiful against the dark of the fireplace.
And how amazing is the floor lamp!
via here

via here
And having just potted my first ever little succulents I completely loved this!

Have you been a little cheeky like me and bought your own Christmas present this year?
And any thoughts on what I should name him?

Jx

[neon-ing in the garden]

This year our Christmas table for lunch will be decked out in neon.
On the weekend I took the smidge of free time I had to take to the garden and get spray happy.
This happened...

Also, a few weeks before I'd bought this simple basket at Vinnies for $2, hoping to give it a little facelift.

These little ornaments were a cheap find at Spotlight.

First I covered the upper hemisphere with masking tape.

 

I then cut a few holes in a piece of cardboard to nestle each bauble in.

This way they behaved themselves while they were being sprayed.

For the basket I taped a straight line exposing a little over a quarter of it's height and protected the rest with newspaper.

And here's my little neon babies.

Three weeks to go!

Hope your Chrissy plans and coming along swimmingly.

Jx

[deck the halls with boughs of neon]

With Chrissy just around the corner and the insanity of planning a wedding behind me, I've switched my focus over to styling for the festive season.

Brekky with Dad at our little unit in morning and lunch to be spent at Mum's is the plan.

 

Thinking a fresh twist with splashes of neon would be perfect for our Chissy lunch!

via here

via here

via here

via here

via here

 

How do you plan to deck the halls?
Jx

 

 

[our christmas...]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Hope you all had a fabulous day on Sunday.  Daniel San and I hosted Chrissy lunch this year with his family at our newly painted little unit.  I went for a natural and lace theme with a subtle splash of pink and navy.  Be sure to stop by here to find out how to make my doily Bon Bons.

 

I glazed my first ever ham this year which I'm delighted to say turned out a treat!! I found this easy-as-pie maple glaze recipe here - Taste.com of course!  Served with a side of maple dutch carrots and crushed hazelnuts - yum yum!

For starters we had prawns and these baby bocconcini, basil and cherry tomato bites.  Just toothpick together and enjoy!  Really fresh and flavoursome!

Dessert was Becky's delicious berry passionfruit pavlova and my limoncello trifle - again, Taste.com.

Anything with lemon curd has my heart!

And this was our little Christmas corner.  After lunch, like most of you I'm sure, we slept off our food babies.
Have a relaxing week everyone!
Jx

[doily bon bons]

I struggled to find Bon Bons for Christmas day that fitted my "theme" for this year...
So I made my own....

They were oh so easy and a great deal cheaper than bought Bon Bons.

To make my little ones, all you need is...

Bon Bon Snaps (about $2 for 12)

Cardboard roll cut into desired lengths 

Brown paper cut to A4 size

Sticky tape

Little paper doilies cut in half 

Brown twine

Wrapped lollies

Short jokes written on paper (the more corny the better)

- Tape the snaps inside the rolls

- Roll the brown paper around, secure with tape in the middle

- Tie one end with string

- Fill the roll with lollies and the little joke

- Tie the other end

- Tape the half doily around the roll (as above)

... and this was my favourite joke:

Q. What do you call a sheep with no legs?

A. A cloud

Three more sleeps!

Jx

[the sweetest gingerbread house]

I had planned to do it all this year.  The recycled paper garland, the handmade bon-bons, the shortbread Christmas tree and my first ever gingerbread house.  It's not looking likely.
Instead I'll just appreciate someone else's creativity and time management skills which I clearly am lacking.
How adorable is this gingerbread house!

Rustic tasty goodness!

She's from here at Fryd + Design.

Her house makes me oh so envious - not just her gingerbread version!.

Ten more sleeps....

Jx

images via fryd + design

[this year's pretty chrissy wrapping]

Every year I get a little thrill out of chosing my gift wrap style for the festive season.  It's not always peachy - I have been known to get a little frustrated when the particular look I've dreamed up (usually at some ungodly hour, keeping me awake) hasn't worked out because they don't sell yellow candy striped paper by the roll at this time of year.
This is what the cluster of prezzies under our tree will look like this year...

Simple brown paper

A strip of colourful floral fabric around the middle

Brown twine wrapped randomly over the top

This was my sectret santa prezzie at our Christmas picnic in the park.

Think I might make these little gift tags again for the others.

Looks cute no?

Jx

[christmas lunch - picnic style]

I, like many of you out there, have a few families to catch up with over Christmas.  To spread the joy and avoid the hectic Christmas day run around we'll often have Christmas gatherings early.  On Sunday it was my Dad's side.

We had a "traditional" roast lunch in a park overlooking the bay with turkey and lamb on the portable webber.
I was the designated early bird to snag the table in the morning and set-up before everyone else arrived.

 

It was a fun little challenge to dress our Chrissy table whilst keeping with disposable picnicware for clean-up ease!  I chose one of my favourite colour combos: Red, baby blue and white.

I dressed a tree near our little gazebo where we placed our secret santa prezzies.

<  Dad seemed pleased with his gift (which he probably bought himself)

My nephew made these gorgeous little reindeer bags for gift wrap.  >

Keeping with a traditional Christmas lunch we all consumed our bodyweight in food.

All the excitement was a bit much for one little man!

and here's my gorgeous step-sisters!

Here's to many more fabulous blended Christmases!

Twelve more sleeps!

Jx