Midnight Mass anyone?

It escapes me exactly how I came across these images of a cathedral in Salt Lake City (USA) at Christmas-time, but I think they warrant a mention here. Of course, the church is decked out superbly (inside and out!) but I especially like the bright pink choristers outfits. Talk about progressive. Certainly looks a lot fancier than any other Christmas mass I've ever attended here in Australia...

Christmas Candle-holder

These images are courtesy of NYC ceramicist Jonathan Adler. He has just released a gorgeous new Squirrel candle-holder which I thought would make a welcome addition to any Christmas table! I really like how the top of the acorn comes off to reveal the spot for your candle. The piece also comes in black which looks equally as good, but is perhaps is not as 'Christmassy'.

www.jonathanadler.com

DIY Christmas

I always make sure to get a copy of UK magazine 'Real Simple' at Christmas time. The magazine always has great 'do-able' decorating ideas for around the home. These are my favourite DIY Christmas projects from their website.

www.realsimple.com

Santa Sack

This cute & wry Santa sack is from 'Selfridges & Co' in London. It's made from unbleached, fair-trade cotton & features a handy draw-string top.

www.selfridges.com

Gourmet Magazine - Past Editions

I don't ever remember seeing 'Gourmet' magazine here in Australia but I did come across it in the US last year. Their website has some really unique Christmas recipes on it like Walnut Brittle & Fennel Ice-cream. It's well worth a look if you're into good food - I guess the equivalent of the magazine here in Australia would be 'Gourmet Traveller'. Here's a few covers from a some 'Gourmet' Christmas back issues.

www.gourmet.com

Farm Chicks Christmas

I'm really looking forward to the release of The Farm Chick's new Christmas book. Serena Thompson (Contributing Editor of Country Living Magazine) has put together her second book covering all manner of Christmas crafts and recipes. I love the cover on this book - very cute!

http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com/

http://thefarmchicks.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/jewelry.html

Preview - Kate Spade Christmas 2010

After my friend Lisa said she might have room to bring me back some Kate Spade goodies from New York in a few months I quickly jumped on their website!

Here's a sneak peak at what's in stall for their Holiday 2010 collection.

www.katespade.com

Christmas in Melbourne - 1982

www.walkingmelbourne.com

Christmas in July!

You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon the Alpine Winter Festival that's being held during the winter months in Melbourne & Sydney. This festival combines an outdoor skating rink, a custom-built alpine ski lodge featuring open fires & serving winter delicacies from around the world, European live music, an alpine food market selling gluvog, punch & hot chocolate plus a St Morritz Bar serving 'alpine-inspired' cocktails! Heaven!

www.winterfestival.com.au/attractions

Christmas Biscuits

Melbournian Vicki Davis bakes some of the most amazing decorative biscuits I've ever seen. You'll often find her beautiful designs at cafes & food-stores across Australia. The biscuits featured here were part of her 2008 cafe range. Happily, I can report that her sweet treats do indeed taste as good as they look!

www.vickisbickies.com

Christmas Pears

'Retro Mama' is a blog & online business owned by a hugely creative US-based seamstress. How divine are these hand-made Christmas ornaments RM created for Christmas 2008? If you look to the right of her post you'll see you're able to purchase the pattern for this ornament & have a go yourself. I'm not much of a sewer but the cuteness of these pears is making me reconsider my aversion to any task involving a needle & thread!

retro-mama.blogspot.com/2008/10/and-then-there-were-three.html

Mozi Christmas

'Mozi' is a Melbourne-based design firm that incorporates their amazing graphic designs on a range of beautiful products. These gift ideas were from their 2009 range. 'Mozis' flagship store in Hawthorn is well worth a visit if you're in the area. They stock their own signature range as well as other pastel-inspired products from around the world! Can't wait to see what they have in store for Christmas 2010!

www.mozi.com.au

Snowflake biscuits

How amazing are these snowflake biscuit cutters? They would be so perfect to use to make gingerbread biscuits at Christmas-time! They're available from the Cox & Cox UK website (mentioned the other day) & were also spotted on my visit to US homewares store 'Sur La Table' in 2009. Stunning!

www.surlatable.com

St. Delia

Years back, I remember watching one of my favourite shows (The Vicar of Dibley) & laughing at how the lead character called UK food author Delia Smith "St. Delia". I guess the title is well-earned, considering Delia Smith has been writing about food for over 40 years. I've only seen Delia's book 'Happy Christmas' for sale once in an Australian bookstore & am now kicking myself that I didn't buy it! I'm sure it would have provided wisdom on how to prepare the most amazing Christmas feast with military precision. All hail, St Delia...

www.deliaonline.com

Pudding Charms

A supremely talented & very creative friend of mine, Lisa L (or L2 as she's known!) just referred me onto the awesome 'Cox & Cox' UK website. Check out these sterling silver pudding charms! I remember reading 'Nigella Christmas' 2 years ago, enchanted at Nigella's mention that she had antique pudding charms. I'd never heard of the tradition of putting charms in puddings before this. At Christmas-time, here in Melbourne, my mother-in-law puts gold coins in her puddings which I suppose follows the same school of thought. Wish they sold these cute charms here in Australia!

www.coxandcox.co.uk

Christmas Toadstool

How crazy is this Mushroom Pouf? I saw it for sale (online) at 'Anthropologie' (remember that amazing NYC store I mentioned I visited a little while back?). At 38cm tall I guarantee it's the largest toadstool you'll ever see! I think would make a great addition to some Christmas-time lounging around after a big lunch! Too darn cute!

www.anthropologie.com

German Christmas Gingerbread

I remember going to this restaurant called 'The Cuckoo' up in the Victorian mountains with my family when I was 6 years old. The thing that struck me the most about the place (apart from the fact they had a giant grill-plate to cook 30 pancakes at once on!) were these big gingerbread hearts they had for sale in their gift-shop. They were amazing - brightly coloured & beautifully decorated. No matter how much I begged, my mum wouldn't buy me one. As an adult I found out they're called 'Lebkuchen' (my husband's dad is German). Apparently they're a national specialty. Must remember to buy one at a Christmas market when I visit Germany for old times sake!

www.cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-make-soft-gingerbread-hearts

European Christmas Markets

I know I'm getting way ahead of myself but lately I've been looking into booking a trip to celebrate Christmas in Europe in 2011. It'll be the trip of a lifetime, so I'm busy putting the pennies away as we speak so I can afford to splurge when the occasion presents itself. For me, one of the highlights will be visiting the famous Christmas markets that seem to pop up in just about every European town during the festive season. The markets usually run from the last week in November right up until a few days before the big day. These images are from the Frankfurt & Stuttgart markets. Heaven!

http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/cms/tourismussuite/en/events_trade_fairs_messe_frankfurt/christmas_market_Frankfurt_xmas.html

Christmas Candy

It was in a Martha Stewart Christmas magazine about 7 years ago, that I first saw the idea of making lolly people & lolly animals. I couldn't get over how insanely cute they were! So simple yet so effective. Can you imagine how excited a child would be seeing these creations placed before them? I especially love the toadstools in this picture!

www.marthastewart.com

The Happy Elf

This cute Christmas elf is from 'Bla Bla' - a US-based company that designs amazing knitted children's goods. The company employs a team of Peruvian women (who are highly skilled in handicrafts) to manufacture the items. In return, Bla Bla provides them with a decent wage & ethical work conditions, so they can support their families. I think theirs is my favourite website of all time; the colours & items for sale are so whimsical! They make me smile....

www.blablakids.com

Christmas Fabric

Despite the recent boom in crafters out there, it's still pretty hard to find really beautiful Christmas fabric here in Australia. Most of the Christmas fabric I use at home or in my business, I import from the US. Having said that, I did stumble upon some great locally-made material the other day. This screen-printed Christmas fabric is from Sydney-based designer Kristen Doran. She's also created a make-at-home advent calendar kit. Her designs remind me a bit of the images in my 1918 book of Grimms' Fairytales.

kristendoran.bigcartel.com