keskiviikko 30. joulukuuta 2015

Frosty morning

There is no snow but lots of frost. It looks beautiful but there is no way I'd go out to enjoy myself. My husband was the brave one and took the photos, visiting the stores in the morning was enough outdoor living for me.




maanantai 28. joulukuuta 2015

One more for the road

You can still take a couple of photos of our Christmas tree, can't you? Well, here they are anyway.




sunnuntai 27. joulukuuta 2015

Winter flowers

It is almost impossible to believe, but the violets are still flowering. I just had to pick a couple of them so I can say that we had flowers from our own garden for Christmas.




lauantai 26. joulukuuta 2015

Green Christmas

It's been an exceptionally warm winter so far. I decided to at last throw away my summer hydrangeas yesterday but they had grown new spuds so I put them in the shed instead. If the winter will be warm throughout, I just need to water them every now and then and they just might survive till spring.

Our Christmas tree is the last of the last that were sold in Loviisa's market place on Christmas eve. My husband managed again to arrive to the place as the sellers were packing their stuff (this happened last year, too). He would have gotten the tree for free but as the money went to a charity, he paid for it anyway, all in good Christmas spirit.


perjantai 25. joulukuuta 2015

Pets for everyone

As there are allergies in the family we can't have live animals and have to do with porcelain ones. I love this white parrot I bought us as a Christmas present. P.S. The grey 'wallpaper' is in fact a tablecloth from Indiska. The wall is temporary and made from brown paper and I wanted to hide it as I don't like brown walls even temporarily...


torstai 24. joulukuuta 2015

keskiviikko 23. joulukuuta 2015

Under or over

These porcelain coasters make nice Christmas decorations. And as we have a wooden kitchen top they are useful, too - put a glass or fruit jar on the top of coaster to make sure there will be no marks. Behind the coasters is the perfect oil bottle holder, an old potato measure. The oils don't get too much light and the table top stays pristine. And that the measure is beautiful is a bonus.



tiistai 22. joulukuuta 2015

As back when

Drinks anyone? We have been collecting trays, ice cube holders etc for some time now. The two carafes we got from my aunt. A couple of stars make the scene Christmassy.


maanantai 21. joulukuuta 2015

Blanket of snow

No fear of white Christmas this year as it is +10 Celsius now and it seems that the warm weather will hold till after Christmas. Cold or not, it is never too warm to have lovely woolen blankets on chairs and sofas.


sunnuntai 20. joulukuuta 2015

What date is it?

As we are in the city for weekdays and in Loviisa (Vårkulla) for the weekends, it is almost impossible to use a traditional Christmas calendar as we would have to move it from one place to another. So this  table calendar with Christmas motive is a perfect solution. And it is ecological, too as you don't through it away after Christmas!

The ribbons are from Tiger, it is the very place to go when you need (cheap) fabric ribbons.


lauantai 19. joulukuuta 2015

Warming up

It hasn't been very cold this winter but in an old house your feet are always freezing. My mother-in-law knitted these amazing socks for us for Christmas - of course we started using them right away, we just couldn't wait till Christmas. Thank you Marjatta!


maanantai 14. joulukuuta 2015

Pack them up

Packing bags from the 50's - wonderful that someone had saved these for all these years and then decided to put them for sale in a flea-market. We pressed them under a couple of heavy books and now they are just like new. Perfect for the shop museum!


sunnuntai 13. joulukuuta 2015

Too precious to burn

We found a box of old candles in a flea market. These are not for the Christmas tree, we bought them for the shop museum. I would have liked to have a stack of these boxes but one will have to do as there were no more. These candles were produced from 1950 to 1959.


lauantai 12. joulukuuta 2015

perjantai 11. joulukuuta 2015

Sans Serif

I didn't know I had it in me to say "I need a new television", but now I really need (want) one! Samsung's new Serif series was inspired by a font and I would love to have a brown Serif for Vårkulla! At the moment we are 'sans serif' (couldn't resist the pun...this means without serif and is a font, too), but hopefully not for long.






Photos by Samsung

torstai 10. joulukuuta 2015

Room for more?

Christmas decorating means that my trays and tables are bursting at the seams. Maybe there is still room for a decoration or two...or not.


tiistai 8. joulukuuta 2015

Merry go round

I have seen a lot of paper Christmas decorations in Swedish magazines and now I finally found some here in Finland, too. These are from Tuomaan markkinat, a big Christmas fair that is held in Helsinki (link). I also bought a set of angels and a set of straw goats.


maanantai 7. joulukuuta 2015

Does it ring any bells?

Old metal objects are nice to have for garden decoration as they can be left out for the whole winter. I found this old bell last weekend. I just changed the plastic string to a jute one and hung the bell outside our door.


sunnuntai 6. joulukuuta 2015

Have a nice independence day!

An old map from the attic, a couple of candles and a linen cloth - perfect for the independence day.



perjantai 4. joulukuuta 2015

No cutting the fish

This "Nämä by Ruth Landesa" cutting board is only for decoration -  it could of course be used as a cutting board but I don't want to. Instead it will have a pride place at home on top of a drawer in the hall where there are other fishes (decorations and a framed picture) to keep it company.

BTW, Krinti (link to a Facebook page here) is a small shop in Loviisa that sells artist's and craftmen's work (like the Nämä board) and in addition a selection of old stuff. The artist was just dropping these boards to the shop when we visited and I instantly fell for the 50's style.


torstai 3. joulukuuta 2015

Around the world in 24 days

It is a long way for little biggies to travel, all around the world and only 24 days to do it.


keskiviikko 2. joulukuuta 2015

I am not complaining

There is now snow and no sign of frost yet. All the Christmas decorations are in place but it doesn't look very Christmassy when you look out of the window.


tiistai 1. joulukuuta 2015

Gems for old houses

There is a new shop in Helsinki, Domus Classica (link). It's a wonderful place if you have an old house! From there you'll find everything you need...e.g. a replacement vent for an old one that your clumsy chimney sweeper broke.