Table center piece and more

While browsing the Seasonal decorations at Ikea's website, I discovered this interesting piece to hang holiday ornaments. Simply beautiful, another must have item for this Christmas! This would make a great center piece at dining table, or at a window sill. Hang little mittens as an advent calendar, other ornaments such as Santa's elves or gingerbread cookies. Great gift idea to bring your friends and only for 2,95€.

MUST HAVE for Christmas

Several home and design-magazines in Finland has been featuring IKEA's PS Maskros ceiling light in the recent months. Designed by Marcus Arvonen, this fixture is part of Ikea's new PS.-concept where we can learn more about the products behind the scenes. What has inspired the designers, about their explorations around the globe and time warps.

I simply fell in love with Maskros early this year since we moved into our new home in Pirkkala. Having six meter high cathedral ceiling in the living room, I realized no ordinary piece will ever fill the space. It was not just anotner light fixture at the Market Place, it was an airy, fresh, blossoming flower which goes with all seasons. It is on my list for Santa...and must not forget Ikea's affordable price at 99 euros.

Flip flop the old bunk bed

We bought a convenient bunk bed from IKEA few years back when the boys were still toddlers and shared their room for the first time. Aleksi got the top bed and little Ossie (age 2 then) slept on the floor level. The bed was great, but it got beat up and drawn all over during few years and we finally took it apart and were ready to throw it away.
Simultaneously Ava was outgrowing her baby crib and needed a new bed. I got inspired. Rather than throwing out the old bed, I thought it would be smart to paint the old frame....and hey....I could cover the blue boards with something else.
I sanded the frame, got white paint and ordered a fun and a bit exclusive wallpaper from Pikku Kenguru to glue the old blue and white boards. I had slight difficulty fitting the boards in their seams because of the painted surface and added thickness. Some gentle hammering made it work.
We filpped the bed upside down, where the old bottom is now the top. Ladders work as a great place to hang blankets and throws. Simple but simply perfect princess bed for Ava.

When is it ok???

There is an ongoing debate in Finland when to hang the Christmas lights and other festive ornaments. Department stores start putting up the trees at the end of October and in early November. It's a bit premature I must say, but considering that November is a brutally dark month in Finland, we are almost excused. We also do not say thanks at Thanksgiving, so from Fall to Christmas in a matter of few weeks.
Americans keep their Halloween decorations up until mid-November and it is not uncommon to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to strip down the skeletons of the porch and to start over with Christmas lights.
Thanksgiving itself is a very bland holiday in decor wise. Some rustic turkeys, foliage, leftover pumpkins and other fruit. If you were to hang Christmas lights or holiday wreaths too early it would certainly take the pride away from Thanksgiving.
There is no right or wrong I guess, but consideration for our neighbors is the key. The flashing Santa's and turquoise cables can wait till later.

Vases are not always for flowers

As I am getting older I have noticed how I appreciate the beauty of flowers. Some of you may be surprised because my home does not have many flowers at all, only the dried up ones. It's simply because my husband and son have allergies and I should not be annoyed with them when they start sneezing and pointing at my pretty tulips. Luckily there is a solution to this problem, even I am not a fan of green plants or fake flowers either.
Pottery Barn shows great examples how you can fill your vases with other beautiful decoration items, such as acorns, leaves, fruit, nuts etc. Combining them in different layers and adding colored items make it even more interesting. These are great center pieces for holiday dinners and make the home very welcoming.

Halloween 2009

It has almost become a tradition in our family to host an annual Halloween party for children. My daughter and my younger son celebrate their birthdays in early October and it's the perfect opportunity to get the pumpkins out.
This year we had a blast. We have bats hung from the ceiling and mice running down the stairs. Cobwebs and pumpkins decorate windows and lanterns and pumpkins are outside.
My fellow Finns have mixed feelings about Halloween and I definitely understand their reasoning. It's another American 'nonsense' holiday, an opportunity to sell knick knacks and other unnecessary junk. I welcome Halloween each year simply because I learned to love and appreciate the fun of it while living in America for 11 years. I was envious to my American friends to have such fond memories of mischiefs night, dressing up and filling buckets with tons of candy. This celebration does not end as a kid, each year we got together with friends to dress up in theme outfits.

My own memories go back to suburban Montclair NJ, where these big beautiful colonial and Victorian homes got decorated in most amazing way. Some took it to the extend of building their own graveyards on the front lawn and hanging skeletons on their porches. My in-laws had a neighbor in the movie industry and they used to add sound effects and lighting in their house. Kids lined up to see this spooky home. We had fun driving around the neighborhood streets and you really can't help but admire the seasonal decor. I recommend everyone to visit US during the week of Halloween...it's an experience.
Halloween doesn't necessarily need be scary and haunted. I am not a fan of scary monsters or spiders at all and I actually had very hard time putting our spiders into the cobweb, yikes! I rather bring out the cuteness of Halloween. Pumpkins, lanterns and foliage combined with arts and crafts. My next door neighbors wondered 'if I had lost it' when I put the decorations outside, but I hope they understand now.
Here are some of my images of this year's Halloween party.

Switching to English

As I am rediscovering my passion for writing I've chosen to 'activate' my English after few years. I will update my posts in English from now on and I hope to get visitors from around the world.