Supporting Oxfam : Advent calendar box for Parcelhero

A few weeks back I jazzed up a plain wooden box for a very good cause...

Oxfam and parcel hero have this year collaborated with 24 bloggers, myself included, to produce an advent calendar unlike any other...

and this is my contribution:

All us bloggers were given a plain wooden box with the instructions to customize it , in any way we liked, then add a little handmade gift to go inside... The idea being that each unique box would be part of an advent calendar that is being auctioned off to raise money for Oxfam's work to help end poverty on their e-bay page.

"We will always act, we will speak out, and we won't live with poverty"

Oxfam works tirelessly all over the world, tackling the root causes of poverty with the aim to help enforce life changing solutions and with the goal to end extreme poverty within 15 years....

But their work also has an impact a bit closer to home, where one in five of the UK population lives below the poverty line...

And in the time running up to Christmas the issue of poverty can sadly become even more apparent, and for families living on the breadline, the jolly season can become an even harder struggle to keep up with essential bills... Oxfam works to help these families and individuals, and the money raised from the auction of the Advent calendar will be much appreciated:

A word from Peter Hall at Oxfam: 

“A massive thanks to the Parcel Hero’s blogging community. Your creations will help change lives. We are so impressed with the amount of effort and creativity that has gone into the calendar boxes. Let’s hope they raise loads of funds to help Oxfam end poverty sooner! Happy bidding!” 

Of course my entry is in true Nostalgiecat style, with geometric shapes, a touch of copper and a handmade origami tree decoration inside...

I am so proud to have been a little part of this project, and alongside all the other fabulous entries from some fantastically creative bloggers, we all hope that someone...maybe YOU ....will put in a good bid to win this extraordinary advent calendar and help this worthy cause...

To see more of the other entries from my fellow bloggers, and even a few sneaky peeks inside some of the boxes, head to the Parcel Hero Blog, where you can also read a little more about the project....

And if you're feeling charitable...or simply lust after an advent calendar with a difference, do put in a bid for the whole shebang on the Oxfam E-bay page....

The auction will close on the 26th of November!

Thank you and happy bidding!

This years advent calendar...

Simple and stylish

I love being a Rose&Grey Style ambassador....

it means that every now and then , I'll get sent an item from their beautiful collection of eclectic home wares and given free reins to style it how I'd like...

This time they sent out one of my favorite items...ever: This super useful Pegboard. 

Now my love for pegboard is well known, as I used some when I made my DIY sideboard this summer....So this sits perfectly in my interiors...

I had a few different ideas for how I wanted to style it up for Christmas...I mean: it is so useful!

But in the end I decided it would be perfect to use to hang little advent parcels for Mia Moo from!

I simply stretched some string between the pegs, then attached some plain paper bags, that I'd numbered using a stencil with some small wooden pegs..

And of course the little bags will be filled with daily treats for Mia to open each day in the countdown to Christmas....

It fits perfectly in with my simplistic Christmas decor look that I am going for this year...

Have you started planning the countdown to Christmas yet?

If not , I'm posting some inspirational ideas from the web for this years advent calendar next week...so stay tuned for that!

This years Christmas inspiration

minimal and simplistic

Image from By Fryd

This year I feel like simplifying everything....including Christmas!
Less is more, and I am feeling inspired by these wonderfully simple , yet Christmassy decor touches found on Pinterest...

Image from no home without you

Image from Fairynuf

Image from Annixen

Image via Segreto secrets

Image source : Expensive life

Image Daniella witte

Image via Hus og Hem

Image via Love Nordic

Image via Basic label Sweden

Short and sweet today...in tone with my simplistic Christmas inspiration I am going to let these images speak for themselves....

#PlantShelfie with a DIY plant pot...

Urban jungle bloggers

November Challenge

The November Urban Jungle Bloggers challenge is #PlantShelfie

So today I am sharing some pictures of my kitchen shelves....

....but in true Nostalgiecat style, I have a DIY plant pot tutorial thrown in....

I made this plant pot this summer, and I love how it looks with some autumnal heather in on my kitchen shelf...

Of course this is not the only DIY you can spot on my kitchen shelves...I shared these cute DIY hand drawn faces egg cups back at Easter (There is no tutorial, but you can find lots of great advice on drawing with marker pens on ceramics here)...and I love how some simple cactus' add to their personality...

And all though my "string of pearls" are looking a bit neglected, they are still one of my favorite greens...

Here's a little tutorial on how I made my Triangle plant pot:

I used:

Plain white polymer clay

Black polymer clay

You will also need:

Rolling pin

2 Large Cooking rings

tool for cutting (a sharp knife will do)

Baking paper

Roll out the white polymer clay...just long and wide enough to fit around the cooking rings, approximately 5 mm thick + an extra bit to form the bottom of the plant pot

Use the Cooking rings to measure out the rolled out clay. Cut out a rectangle shape and a circle shape for your plant pot....

Next up, I rolled out the black oven bake clay, approximately 2mm thick this time.

Then I cut out some triangle shapes to place along the length of my white clay rectangle.

I used the rolling pin to press the triangles into the white clay....

 I placed one of the cooking rings on top of the bottom piece of clay, before wrapping the rectangular piece around the two cooking rings stacked on top of each other to form the pot.

NOTE!

I didn't get my cooking rings back out from the clay after cooking, but if YOU wrap some baking paper around yours, you should be able to....Learn from my mistake here peeps!!;)

Where the clay meets, use a knife to merge the clay together, and again to push the clay around the bottom of the pot together....then trim off any excess clay to neaten up around the base and along the top....

Cook in the oven for approximately 15 minutes at 150 degrees (or according to the instructions on you polymer clay)

If you are worried about using your kitchen oven for polymer clay, the clay manufacturers assures me that it's OK, as long as you cook out any left over fumes at high temperatures, then air out your oven for an hour or so...

So, there you have it. a DIY plant pot....

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love making my own decorative home wares....

Yes: I love being creative and making things....that's  kind of my thing....but more than that I love how  DIY-ing things means that you can make it how YOU want....and this technique is definitely custom-able to whatever shapes and patterns YOU would like to create....that way you end up with something unique and personal to you and your home decor...

And as for the plants....The perfect way to liven up a kitchen shelf....

Don't you think??

I'm a cover girl!

My home , all decked for Christmas, 

featured in HomeStyle magazine

Photo credit : Olly Gordon  for Homestyle magazine

EEEEEk!!

How exciting...I can finally tell you all!! 

I've been featured in Homestyle magazine, and I even made the front cover of their December issue!!

I can't tell you how hard it's been to keep this a secret....

But way back in july, I had the wonderful people from Homestyle magazine around to shoot the house for their Christmas issue!

Yes...That's right: Christmas in July!!

With a tree and mince pies and all!!

To say it was a bizarre experience would be an understatement, but a thoroughly enjoyable one at that!!

But even more bizarre, was the feeling of seeing myself on the front cover of a magazine!!

And of course seeing pictures of our home in print and reading about myself....Oddly fascinating!!

Sitting in my kitchen with a cup of coffee, whilst reading about my kitchen....

I have to tell you, as odd as it feels, that t was a truly enjoyable experience having the team from HomeStyle around, and as nervous as I was on the day, having spent the week putting up all my Christmas decorations, they soon made me feel totally at ease....Although the posing for the cover shot felt utterly awkward!

I was fascinated to see how they worked, with the stylists and photographer deciding on each shot, then spending ages tweaking the frames...

I learned a lot about styling and interior photography that day, and I am still trying to incorporate these lessons when I shoot my own photo's...although not quite to Olly Gordon's levels...

In the article the focus is, as it has been here on the blog, about the creative solutions I've had to come up with to achieve the kind of home that I wanted on a budget....I even share a couple of DIY's in the magazine:

The December HomeStyle issue, with me on the cover, is now for sale in the shops, so if you'd like to see more from my Christmassy home, run and buy!!

Or you can see a little preview here!!

And you can read more about my experience of being the HomeStyle cover girl and see more pictures from my home here

I guess this means ....yep Christmas is coming, and there is no denying it now!

Expect more Christmassy stuff on the blog in the coming weeks!

Small shop focus: T&Shop

Continuing on with my mini series of posts putting small, independent shops in focus, to encourage you all to shunt the big chains for your Christmas shopping this year, and instead choose to support local, creative and alternative businesses , I am today putting the spotlight on one of my stockist, Emily Grace wright's little lifestyle shop:

Emily serves loose leaf teas, locally roasted CARAVAN coffee, nutritious & delicious food & home baked cakes in her Newington Green premises situated in the stretch between Highbury, Dalston and Stoke Newington...But more than that she also sells  homeware, jewellery, textiles, ceramics, furniture & accessories sourced from emerging British based designers/makers who celebrate craftsmanship & share a minimal functional aesthetic in store and on her online website T&shop.

  emily is passionate about sourcing  hand crafted items, by emerging designers and UK based artisans producing small batches of unique and hand made products for the home. She has formed a collective of creative people, showcasing emerging design talent and in this way supporting small independent makers like myself.

Her carefully curated collection of products display her minimal functional aesthetic,with a slight bohemian feel, as well as her keen eye for unusual and unique design.

I am so proud to be part of Emily's stellar line up of start up designers and artisans, and her commitment to supporting creative people was cemented when she took her eclectic collection to Design junction in September this year...

All the images in this post is from her stall at the exhibition in Victoria House.

This is just a small selection of her eclectic mix of home wares and lifestyle products available in her East London tea-store and her online shop:

From the unique hand crafted ceramic organic vessels by Daisy Cooper , inspired by the Scottish wilderness,lovingly hand carved kitchen utensils made from reclaimed timber by Grain and Knot, and

the organic, yet modern laminated birch ply plates designed by print maker Krysta Batryn...

....the quirky and unique, multi functional hand thrown Diamond pots from London based Swedish ceramicist Stine Dulong of ScandiHus, inspired by a love for Scandinavian design in which beauty is radiated through light colours,

to the elegant and functional,charmingly tactile handmade hardwood contemporary homewares by Cotswold based artisan Brian Watson Wright marrying the natural beauty of hardwoods with the warmth of copper. ...

I adore the playful and fun design of the Clack! candle sticks in hand turned wood with copper from  Nice to be Nice ,a London based design studio, (pictured below with my own Hand cast Origami Concrete candlesticks)...

Hackney based Sophie and Gemma , the design duo behind Nice to be Nice also designed the gorgeous Stacklet modular shelving system Emily used to display her goods at design junction, cleverly combining Oak, Powder Coated Steel, Marble, Copper.... 

Perfect for displaying the gorgeously luxurious Cashmere knitwear Emily stocks from  ​Makeda Matheson​ . Responsibly & ethically made with locally sourced cashmere wool , then machine or hand knitted, but always finished by hand...

And Emily's beautifully eclectic range of jewelry from designers and makers such as NODO, Custom made and Wild Fawn.

As well as knitted, functional design accessories from Pluckd, Their Urban Wear hats and mittens made from innovative reflective wool, sourced from British makers, mills and suppliers.... 

T&Shop also sells handmade natural vegetable oil soaps from London Fields Soap company, natural scented soy candles from Earl of East London....

...as well as these funky geometric glass plant display's by Monti By Monti (shown above with cacti and succulents in marbled concrete planters by  Daniela Rubino, and above again). 

 Each piece is designed & made by Dee Monti ​in Hackney using locally sourced materials. 

Daniela Rubino ​designs concrete & metal products, such as the beautifully simplistic wall shelf pictured, above.

Daniela's choice of materials is based on their high compressive strength, sustainability & of course industrial aesthetics. Her designs are simple & bold, focusing on the beauty of the material. . 

The minimalist wall clock, above, is from JollySmith Design, a creative brand based in the North of England offering well designed British made gifts for any home or occasion.

This is just a small selection of Emily's beautifully curated collection of decorative, unique home wares and functional lifestyle products for sale at T&shop...Please visit her web shop for more inspiring Christmas gift ideas...or maybe just to treat yourself to something special..

Or if you are in East London, visit her tea shop for a coffee with a delicious treat whilst perusing her eclectic stock....you could even end up buying the chair you sit on...because EVERYTHING is for sale, so that you can have Emily's lifestyle and aesthetics in your own home...

How is that for a unique selling point??