Chain of Hearts

After several weeks of displaying my lovey-dovey origami hearts on my mantlepiece in the sitting room, I have finally decided to take them down and make space for the Easter decoration that will soon go up. I really love those hearts, though I did not want to display them so prominently anymore. So I found a new place for them. Did you spot them in yesterday's pictures and post about the sculptural horse skull?

 

Rather than pack them away and forget about them, I decided to make a long chain of hearts out of them. Nothing simpler than that: I just hung them from each other in a long line. 

They hang nicely beside our very tall sash windows, swaying softly in the draft - yes, the nasty draft that you have to live with in an old house... The chain is so long that I actually could not get a decent shot of the whole line without moving furniture. Instead we will have to make do with an artsy-fartsy shot from below:

On a different note I am happy to announce that I have packed and sent off the giveaway to the lucky winner, Amy. I hope it will arrive quickly - and undamaged - after its long journey across the Atlantic from Ireland to Kansas. The prove is in the pudding parcel:

Best,

Instant Christmas Centrepiece

When I started reading English-language decorating and interior design magazines, I could never get the whole fuss around the "Centrepiece". For each and every dinner occasion, the lady of the house would need a thematically suited "arrangement" - flowers or candles or whatever. Geeez, Germans are so straightforward - none of that fuss for us. Sit down and have your meal! 

However, I have come to like that kind of careful decorating - even though I never really bother to do it myself. (Although that is due to lack of occasion *excuses*...) Here is an idea for a last-minute Christmas centrepiece. Not original, I guess, but it's a show-and-tell of my own Christmas centrepiece.

I actually came upon the idea when sorting through my Christmas ornaments in order to organise my tree decorations. About ten years ago I was given some antique, silver-coloured Christmas baubles. According to family lore they were bought by my great-grandparents when my granny was born in 1918. My granny passed them on to me when I moved to Ireland. They are very precious to me and for that reason have not been used on my Christmas trees very often. 

However, when I saw them I thought that they should really be put on display. Safely. So I grabbed a simple Ikea glass bowl and a block candle. I put the candle into the centre of the bowl and placed the baubles all around it. There were also battery-run, white Christmas tree lights which I wound around the candle, too. Instant centrepiece. I think it is very festive, very simple, very ornate and very nice...

Well, I am off to celebrate Christmas now. Frohe Weihnachten everyone! Happy Christmas!