U2 does Christmas...

I'm off to see U2 in Melbourne this evening (big yay!) so thought it apt to include a U2 Christmas song about now. Here's their rendition of (Christmas) Baby Please Come Home. It's off a 1987 Christmas compilation album that was made to raise funds for the special Olympics.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiSPNaQNGOY

GLEE Christmas

Must admit I really like this show. There. I said it.....
Mostly I enjoy watching school-corridor Nazi Sue Sylvester & her quick-witted one liners. Just found out hit TV show Glee has released their Christmas album in Australia. Bring it on!

http://ten.com.au/glee.htm

French Christmas Market...in Melbourne!

I'm really looking forward to this French-themed Christmas market on next weekend in St Kilda. Christmas stalls combined with French food - what's not to like? Fingers crossed the weather holds out!

www.afmelbourne.asn.au

Cavallini & Co

San Francisco based design-house 'Cavallini & Co' has been on my radar for the past five years. They make some of the coolest Christmas cards & wrap that I've ever seen. I'm SO glad they distribute & retail in Australia!

www.cavallini.com

Woodlands Christmas

For my birthday a few days ago, my husband gave me a stack of vintage Christmas records. Amongst the loot, was this record pictured. This record is funny on so many levels - I absolutely LOVE toadstools, have a pet bunny & own a wooly winter hat very similar to the one the girl is wearing. We got lots of laughs when I unwrapped this....

Donna Hay Christmas 2010

Here's a sneak peak at Donna Hay's new Christmas magazine cover. It officially goes on sale in Australia December 2nd. Look out for a mention of my business 'Little Kitchen' in it. Hopefully my new website should be up by then too! Yay!

www.littlekitchen.com.au

Jamie's Christmas

I was excited to find a copy of Jamie Oliver's Xmas mag in my mailbox a few weeks ago. If you love the magazine, I recommend you take out a subscription. That way, the bi-monthly magazine gets shipped to you from the UK weeks before the Australian on-sale date & you also save on the listed cover price!

www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/

Christmas Ballet

This time last year I was getting ready to fly to New York for the holiday season. While I was there, I was lucky enough to see the New York City Ballet perform 'The Nutcracker'. The NYCB 2010 Christmas season just started yesterday at the Lincoln Centre in New York. Performances run until January 2. Below is a trailer of the show.

www.nycballet.com/nycb/video2008/single.aspx?mov=288

Paris Lights Up

Last Monday (22nd Nov) Paris officially hit the switch on their Christmas decorations. Champs-Elysees, the iconic Parisian avenue (plus a host of other areas) will be illuminated in eco-friendly lights until Jan 10 2011. This year, Paris (namely Avenue des Champs Elysees) will also play host to it's first full-blown holiday market!

Joyeux Noel!

http://goparis.about.com

Venucci does Christmas

More pretty papercrafts - this time from Australian giftware importer Venucci.

The Hattie Paper angel is 16cm tall & retails for AUD$11. The Elvis paper birds are AUD$5 & the 11cm tall Charity paper snowflake is AUD$2.95. The Hattie Paper Angel was featured in the 'must have list' of Donna Hay's (December 2009) Christmas magazine!


www.donnahay.com.au

A very Polli Christmas

From the very clever girls who brought us those cool perspex wreaths a few Christmasses ago, design duo 'Polli' have created these gorgeous paper decorations as part of their 2010 holiday collection. Each kit includes 30 printed decorations & six meters of red twine. Each set retails for AUD $19.95 & can be purchased online.

www.polli.com.au

Papercraft Christmas

I'm eagerly awaiting a little Christmas package in the mail from 'Upon a Fold'. Run by Sydneysider Justine Fahd, this boutique business specialises in the most incredible paper artistry from around the globe. I especially love the pastel-coloured Moravian stars.

http://uponafold.com.au

Christmas Storybook

Widely known for his children's cartoon character Curious George, H. A. Rey illustrated this adorable Christmas picture book in 1942.

It's recently been reprinted with a cute punch out nativity scene that's included in the back. Along with the retro-feel illustrations, text from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew is used through-out to retell the Christmas story of Jesus' birth.

Available from fellow small-business owners Lou & Katie at 'We Heart Books'.

http://weheartbooks.com

Christmas Stamps

During a big clean-out the other day, my husband & I both found our stamp collections from when we were in primary school. I was excited to see we had a tonne of Christmassy ones amongst us.

If you fancy yourself a bit of a philatelist, a selection of gorgeous unmarked Christmas stamps can be purchased online from this great US website:

www.collectiblestampsgallery.com

Magnolia Square - Christmas 2010

I must admit, I really love a bit of Magnolia Square action, especially at this time of year!

For the uninitiated: Nic MacIsaac of Magnolia Square operates markets that retail beautiful objects from clever Australian boutique businesses. Happily, Magnolia has expanded & is now bringing their amazing market to folks in South Australia this coming weekend! For more details visit their website.

www.magnoliasquare.com.au

Christmas Lanterns

I'm not entirely sure why, but going to Starbucks around Christmas-time for a 'seasonal-flavoured' coffee, has become a bit of a tradition in my household. Each December, after visiting the Nativity wall, Myer Christmas windows, plus the City Square Christmas tree, I always end up at Starbucks. Years ago, I remember telling an employee about my Starbucks Christmas-pull & was stunned to find out they did exactly the same thing at this time of year. (Cue Starbucks Marketing elves high-fiving each other.)

Here's someone's take on Christmas lanterns made out of old, disposable coffee cups. A cute, inexpensive seasonal decorating idea.

www.starbucksstore.com
www.christmasmagazine.com

Annie Lennox - Christmas Album

Singer Annie Lennox recently released her first Christmas album. Here's her version of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' on You Tube.

Pretty cool film-clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlsJD8RlhbI

Christmas Magazine Shoot

Today was my first "official" styling gig for a magazine (Herald Sun HOME).

To say I was excited would be a serious understatement! The shoot combined two of my great loves - Christmas & styling (talk about a double whammie). I always joke that I was born to be a stylist. Remembering back, I can very clearly recall the time where, as a 6 year old, I styled a Halloween display at my house. Yes, it was amateurish to say the least, however, the activity was self-led & my obsession for styling has only increased over the years. The Christmas decorating story we shot today will run Dec 4th.

Christmas in Vancouver

These images are taken at Christmas-time in Vancouver, Canada by the founder of online resource 'Christmas magazine'.

www.christmasmagazine.com

Christmas Brownies

I really like these Christmas brownie bites by food blogger Cake Journal. Cake Journal offers step-by-step tuition in all things sweet. Especially perfect for this time of the year!

www.cakejournal.com

Snow & Graham - Holiday 2010

I came across Chicago-based graphic design studio 'Snow & Graham' in the US last year. They make some of the most divine letterpress cards I've ever seen. Here's a sneak peak at their Holiday 2010 collection. As they have so many amazing designs, I'll have to post another lot of their cards online in future.

Happily, they ship to Australia! Hope my Amex is ready for another work-out....

www.snowandgraham.com

Woodland Christmas

These woodland/nature-themed plates are so adorable! They mount straight onto walls, providing a quick & easy decorating solution for homes in need of a pick-me-up.

More designs are available, however, I chose plates that can loosely be categorised as 'Christmassy!'

They're from Australian brand 'Chik' headed by designer Catherine Westwood. If you can’t get to any of their stockists, you can also order these beauties online!

www.chikdesign.com.au

LMNOP does Christmas

I love the faux icicles featured on this Christmas mantle. The image is from super-cool kids e-zine LMNOP.

LMNOP creator Jenny Lacey was kind enough to do a story on my business 'Little Kitchen' years back. It was an honour to be included in her publication, as LMNOP has been voted (in the US) as "possibly the cutest kids magazine ever". There's no doubt about it...Jenny has definitely put together the coolest kids mag in the world!

www.lmnop.com.au

Martha Stewart Christmas

With the Australian dollar so strong at the moment, now is the time to get these cute Martha Stewart tartan Christmas mugs from Macy's NYC!

What's more, they're half price and on sale for (USD) $25.99.

www.macys.com