Christmas Cards

Less and less people write actual Christmas cards, but I love writing letters and cards. Our family always creates a Christmas cards in a collage way with pictures from us. I have started making my own cards though, it's so much fun and the ideas are endless. I always offer a card making activity for our Christmas crafts morning at school. The first examples I'm going to show you are from the last two or three years. Some are made by myself, some by the kids. 

Lots of examples here. For most of them I used washi tape. The possibilities are endless with it and there are so many different types. I also used different kinds of ribbons. You can make lines, build a tree tec. And some ribbons have festive patterns on them, which give the cards a great effect. Then there are the finger prints. Probably some of my faves. I have a book full of different ideas and pictures you can make with finger prints. Of course there are also some christmassy ones. Here you can see Santa on his sleigh and some reindeer. I also use different kinds of stickers, stamps, stencils and punchers. Some gold and silver pens are great as well. 

The ones you see in these three pictures were all made by the kids at school. 

This year I found a great little video with new ideas: 

These are fabulous and so easy. I bought some glitter and got started, here are the results: 

Advent Calendars

When I was a child we had a great advent calendar. Mum hung up little bags/sachets in the kitchen. They had three different colours. One for my brother, one for me and one for the two of us together. It was always very exciting getting up in the morning and opening them. We got little presents like sweets or something small we really wanted. Of course we always had an advent calendar at school and I do it with my class as well. 

The one with my class at school, is the only one I had for years. From time to time I bought a chocolate one for home, but that's it. Getting into blogging also meant getting to know all these fabulous (beauty) advent calendars. 

I treated myself to the Rituals one this year and I couldn't be happier about it (details further down). I have bought a Kinder chocolate one for the kids at school and also received one with tea inside. There are so many out there, it's hard to choose one and I think a lot of them are just too expensive. On top of that we cannot get all of them in Switzerland, but that's ok. Most bloggers open them up beforehand to write a proper review. I didn't do that here, because I really want to be able to open a new door every day. Hence, why I cannot talk about the full calendars yet. A friend in the UK also has a book advent calendar, which is awesome. I looked into it, but unfortunately they don't ship to Switzerland. That would be a dream. 

I still wanted to include it in this post, so here we go: 

Book Advent Calendar - https://www.thebookadventcalendar.com

Doesn't it look and sound fabulous?! You can pick between 24 books or 12 books and they also have a kids version. I asked, whether they will start shipping them to other countries and the answer was yes. I kept on checking, but it was only UK and then it was suddenly out of stock. That was a bit disappointing to me. Nevertheless, I think it's a great present for a bookworm. 

Rituals - https://www.rituals.com

Rituals is one of my fave brands, so I really wanted to get this one. It's totally worth the money, there are so many great things inside. Some full sized and some travel sized, but I think it's worth way more than what I paid. The quality is great, it's pretty and every door has a little saying inside and the description of the product. I absolutely adore it. 

Ronnefeldt Tea - https://www.teeshop-ronnefeldt.com

A great mixture of teas, perfect for a tea lover. 

Kinder Chocolate - http://www.schokoadventskalender.com

These are so great for school and the kids love it! 

Gift Ideas for Her

Today I have the Gift Guide for her on the blog and tomorrow I'll do one for the guys as well. 

This one is not specifically just for the girlfriend, but also for mothers, friends, sisters, cousins etc. 

Chilly Bottles - https://www.chillysbottles.com

These bottle are brilliant, pretty and just great. they don't leak and they keep things warm or cold for 24 hours. There are so many designs available, I had difficulties make a decision. 

Rituals Gift Set - https://www.rituals.com/

These gift sets are fabulous! There are so many different ranges, you will find something for everyone. Shower foams, body lotions, body scrubs, bed mists, candles etc. So many choices. 

Phone Cases - https://idealofsweden.com

Women love a pretty phone case. I recently discovered iDealofSweden, they have great cases and so many choices and the quality is very good.

Books - Amazon, Waterstones etc. 

Books are always a great present, especially when you you the person loves reading. It doesn't even have to be a fictional book. How about the Hygge book?! :) 

Prints, Stationery, Planners etc. - Etsy, Anthropologie etc. 

Who doesn't love a lovely print or quote on the wall?! Planners and stationery go into the same direction. 

Obviously something personal is always a wonderful option too. Frame a photo, make a photo book etc. 

Things I Love About Christmas

Christmas is one of my fave times of the year, it's also the only time I actually like darkness, snow and the cold weather ;). 

There are so many things I love about Christmas, here the are: 

Christmas means family. I get to spend time with the people I love and I get to thank them for being awesome. It's wonderful to have everyone together and just enjoying the atmosphere. 

Christmas also means food, lots of food. I love baking Christmas cookie and of course eating them. Mulled wine is the best drink every and it keeps you warm. We always eat Fondue Chinoise (meat fondue) and of course there is lots more. Christmas is basically the excuse to eat a lot and I'm totally fine with it. 

The music and the movies. I like them and I get to listen to them day in day out and when it's over that's ok, because there have been a lot. After a 10 month break though, I'm happy to have them back. I like all kinds of Christmas songs and my fave movies are the Hallmark movies. It's actually a tradition to listen to Christmas music while decorating the tree. It's always so much fun. 

The movies I usually watch while baking and wrapping presents. 

I adore all the lights outside, they are so pretty and then I don't mind the darkness. The decorations inside just add to this. There are so many possibilities and I just love looking at them. 

I get to sleep in and enjoy my time off. 

I'm not really a winter girl, but snow around Christmas is fabulous and makes everything more festive. 

I get to wear my Christmas jumpers, yay!!! And no, mine are not ugly ;). 

What are your faveourite things about Christmas?!

Places I Want to See Around Christmas

There are so many places out there, which are full of Christmas magic, here are the ones I really want to see. 

- London: I have seen London with all the Christmas lights before and I'd do it over and over again. It's so pretty and I definitely haven't seen it all. 

- New York City: Do I need to say more?! This is definitely on my bucket list. Imagine strolling through Central Park, the Rockefeller Placa etc. 

- Florida: I know, I have been to Florida several times, but never around Christmas. I mean there is the sea, it's still warm. How does it feel to celebrate Christmas there?! 

- Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland: It just screams Christmas to me!

- Prague: Lots of squares and markets! Yes, please :). 

- Quebec City: It's so christmassy and pretty on pictures and I wanted to go for a long time anyway. 

- France: Lots of cities with magical Christmas markets: Strasbourg, Colmar etc. 

- Australia/New Zealand: Similar reasons to Florida, plus I have never been and it's warm!!!

- Vienna: Pretty city, great Christmas market, yay!

- Boston: Would love to visit Boston and it's famous to visit around Christmas. 

- Germany: Like France they have lots of great cities for Christmas markets: Cologne, Nurmberg, Munich etc. 

Christmas at School

As promised I tell you more about Christmas related things we do at school. 

The first thing is our Christmas Musical. We have two musicals per school year. One in December and one in June. The one in December is usually themed around Christmas. This year we did "The Little Star". I'm responsible for the drama part of it all and our music teacher does the musical part. It's always lots of fun and the kids really enjoy it. After the show we always have a Christmas dinner together with the parents. 

Our whole primary school has a Christmas Crafts morning in the last week before the holidays. Each teacher decides on an activity and the kids can then sign up. I sometimes make Christmas cards with them or we make baubles, trees, stars etc. 

Santa visits us as well, actually first to forth grade. He then tells the kids how they have been doing and they get a "Grittibänz", chocolate and oranges. 

In my class (6th grade) I have an Advent Calendar with chocolate and we play the Secret Santa game. I also decorate the classroom with the students and they last day before the holiday is usually dedicated to watching a movie and playing games. I always get little present for them as well. 

Guest Post - Letter to Santa from Emma

Dear Santa,

2017 has been a tough year for many reasons. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year and I hope that it brings some much cheer and joy to our lives.

On my beauty wishlist this year is Benefit’s Porefessional Matte. I love this product and use it everyday. My bottle is getting a bit low so a new one for christmas would be fab. I am also wishing for a new Roller Lash Mascara (benefit), I just finished a tube of this. It’s great for everyday use and I was gutted when it ran out.  My final beauty product on my wishlist is Clinique’s Line Smoothing concealer. This has the perfect coverage for both under eye and blemishes without looking cake.

This year there are a few books on my wishlist but there are 3 I really hope to see under my tree this year. The first is Karen Swan's new book The Christmas Secret. I have been a big fan of Karen Swan’s books since I read Christmas at Tiffany’s in 2012. The next is After You by Jojo Moyes. I read Me Before You quite a while ago and while it made me sob I really enjoyed it. I really want to see how Louise is doing now. The third is Paige Toon’s final book in her YA series All about the Hype. I am a huge fan of Paige’s work and I love her YA series too. The first two books were excellent and I really want to find out how Jessie’s story ends.

Thank you for listening to my wishlist and Merry Christmas!

Lots of Love

Emma

xxx