A little guide to fall entertaining - Eat & Drink

Click on the links below to get to the recipes!

Pear, walnut & ricotta crostini
Roasted mushroom risotto
Gorgonzola & pear salad

Kolokithopita pumpkin pie
Apple cider donuts
The best chocolate pudding you'll ever have

Caramel pears
Apple cider margaritas
Warm coconut milk with honey, hazelnut & bourbon

OUR FAVORITE EASTER EGGS

Just in time for your easter weekend shopping, we got a collection of 13 easter egg decorating ideas from around the net for you. Enjoy!

Jos aikomuksissasi on maalata munia tänä pääsiäisenä - ohessa on muutama idea miten voit koristella ne kauniisti tänä vuonna. Alla linkkejä, joista löydät koristeluohjeet. Ihanaa pääsiäistä!

To get to the instructions, just click the number of your favorite:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13

If you're looking for even more ideas, check out our last year's round up right here.

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING GUIDES: #3 SPARKLY & BRIGHT

This is the last of our mini holiday entertaining guides. Pick some ideas for some very last minute christmas inspiration or make your New Year's eve sparkly and shiny!







A glitter holiday party hat DIY by Studio DIY

Yummy pomegranate prosecco and more festive holiday drink recipes on Coastal Living

We really love these sparkly wrapping ideas on Grey Likes Weddings! And the free gift tag printables created by MaeMae Paperie are super-pretty.

The place settings of this styled shoot featured on Style Me Pretty give the perfect inspiration for a festive holiday dinner table, don't you think? The menus are so simple, yet so gorgeous!

Read how to make the glitter embellished menu cards on The Glitter Guide

The golden centerpieces were spotted in this cozy woodland holiday setting featured on The Sweetest Occasion and the rad paper pom centerpieces are from this Texan Christmas wedding seen on Ruffled.

100 Layer Cake created this beautiful bubbly bar inspiration for the holidays. So gorgeous!

We created this gold accented wrapping inspiration for 100 Layer Cake last December. It's so simple, anyone can do this.

Find out how to make the Pinata Christmas crackers right here on Martha Stewart.

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING GUIDES: #2 SIMPLE & COZY

This pretty birds nest wreath by Amy Merrick is the perfect inspiration for a last minute holiday craft project. 

A cozy christmas table featured on Kinfolk Mag We love the warmth, the cozy atmosphere in these photos.

Rum, cider plus some holiday spices - that's all you need to make a delicious cider punch. Recipe and picture from Not Without Salt

Simple, white gift wrapping by Follow studio

The pine branches were used for escort cards used in this wedding featured on Ruffled. We think they'd be perfect for your holiday dinner table as place card holders.

Simple christmas tree image by Susanne Schanz

All you need to know to create a perfect cheese plate: Cheese plate guide and The adventurous cheese plate both on A Cup of Jo

The cozy blanket & tree picture is from this wonderful "a cozy holiday soirée" feature on Style Me Pretty. Not only is the styling wonderful, but this little guide comes with recipes for christmas cakes and mulled wine, DIY projects and pretty printable gift wrapping.

DIY newspaper votive holders on Hey Look // candle holders made from moss filled paper cups on Trendenser 

DIY beeswax candles on Oh Happy Day. These are sooo pretty, don't you think?

Free printables that you can find right here on the blog: Simple, hand drawn gift tags & Chalkboard style gift tags

If you love this simple holiday style as much as we do, check out our pinterest board for more inspiration (much more).

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING GUIDES: #1 CLASSIC + WHIMSY

Make a holiday treat for children (leave out the booze, please) and grown-ups. This spiked white hot chocolate by Amy Atlas is perfect for a cold winter day.

We're loving loving loving this gingerbread holiday centerpiece on Snippet & Ink . The entire table is lovely really. Perfect for your family christmas dinner. And the kids can have some gingerbread for dessert!

Make your own last minute gift wrap with this DIY by Eat Sleep Cuddle.

Invite over some friends for a cup of holiday coffee or hot chocolate. Instead of serving cookies with it, try making these pretty little gingerbread houses spotted on Luluto.

Didn't get around to sending as many holiday cards as you planned? Print out these lovely holiday props by Oh Happy Day, grab your family and a camera, snap some fun pics and send some digital holiday cheer to friends and loved ones!

For some simple holiday decor, try a little felting project that even little ones can help with. This garland featured on Daily Candy is sold by acmepartybox, but DIY felting isn't all that difficult, so you could easily make these by yourself. 

Make some classic Christmas crackers to surprise your friends and family. Check out the DIY instructions on Oh Happy Day.

You're invited to a holiday party, but don't have a gift for the hostess yet? Or do you want to surprise your neighbors with a little something? Consider this DIY holiday hot chocolate kit by Sugar & Cloth.

Not your style? Check back later this week for more of these mini holiday entertaining guides!

A LATE HELLO + A PRETTY HOLIDAY LOVE SHOOT

Hey peeps! We're awfully sorry that it's been quiet around here during the past days. While I am down with a really bad flu, Lotta was struck with a wicked case of food poisoning. Yet still, we got our last projects during this week, so there was literally no time for the blog. And then after last friday and the horrible things that happened, somehow blogging seemed meaningless. With so much awful stuff in the world, who cares about vain things like holiday decor or gift wrapping? Well, we thought about it, and we say: we do. Because it's never a bad thing to make the world a little bit prettier. It's not bad to distract yourself by crafting, wrapping gifts and looking at nice things for a change. And it's certainly not a bad thing to care about spending time with family and friends - cause really that's what life is all about, isn't it?

And we've got so many lovely holiday inspiration stuff bookmarked for you! So, during the next few days, we'll try to catch up just in time for the holidays.

In the meantime, check out this lovely holiday love shoot by Haley Sheffield that we spotted on Ruffled. So pretty! And it's putting us in a bit of a holiday mood, finally.







Cheers,
Michaela

LOVELY HOLIDAY FREEBIES: PRINTABLES FROM AROUND THE WEB

There are so many awesome freebies out there this year. We've selected a few of our favorite gift tag sets, wrapping papers and more. All free printables created by lovely bloggers for all of you to enjoy!

And if none of these catch your fancy, check out our round-ups from last year:

Colorful gift tags & More free holiday printables

Black holiday gift tags by Funky Time

Lovely "Yuletide" gift tags by Kelli Murray

Woolly woodland gift wrap to download and print by ellinée

Awesome chalkboard style gift tags spotted on Poppytalk

Classic greeting tag & plaid pattern pouch by eat drink chic

Monogram gift tags by Making it lovely

Pretty patterned gift tags on Dot coms for moms

Holly Jolly gift tags by Avalon McKenzie for Camille Styles

Cute winter & holiday wrapping paper printables on Bloesem living

A beautifully illustrated recipe card for a yummy midnight milk punch by Maggie Battista, available for download at Snippet & Ink

And don't forget our printables that you can find right here on the blog. Browse the freebies section from the top menu or click the images below.

16 DIY HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS

We have started our long weekend yesterday afternoon. Today we're celebrating Independence day here in Finland and while tomorrow is actually a regular work day, we decided it's time for a mini-break before we tackle the last projects for this year.

If you have some free time this weekend, too, perhaps you'd like to make some ornaments for your christmas tree. Here are 16 awesome ideas:




1 - Pretty hand-painted ornaments by Griottes
2 - Tinsel filled and washi-taped ornaments by Odessa May
3 - Hand-painted DIY clay ornaments by fellow fellow
4 - Ombre glass ornaments by Ambrosia Creative
5 - DIY clay antler ornaments by This Tinder
6 - Three DIY felt ornaments by Purl Bee
7 - DIY paper diamond by Ann Meer
8 - Glitter tassel animal ornaments by A Subtle Revery
9 - Printable paper ornaments by Minieco
10 - Glittered clay lollipop ornaments by Creature Comforts
11 - Origami ornaments with free printable on Poppytalk
12 - Charlie Brown christmas ornaments by a little gray
13 - Confetti System inspired ornaments by A lovely Lark
14 - Colorful yarn pom ornaments by A lovely Lark
15 - Newspaper ornaments by Voyages of the Creative Variety
16 - DIY glittered acorn ornaments by Sweet Paul from Sweet Paul Holiday 2012

HOLIDAY TABLE INSPIRATION FROM H&M

Let us say first that this post is in no way sponsored by H&M. For all we know, the folks at Hennes & Mauritz have no idea who we are. However, they do usually do a fine job at styling pretty and festive settings with their products. Like for this holiday season. We're digging the sparkles (sequin table runners, hello!) as well as the rustic cozy settings.

Leave out the particular christmas decor & printed items and you have inspiration for other get-togethers, dinner parties, even weddings.

Alkuun, H&M ei ole sponsoroinut tätä postia. Hennes & Mauritzin henkilöillä ei ole mitään tietoa keitä me olemme. Kuitenkin, heillä on mahtavat stailistit ja tekevät kauniita pöytäsomisteita - kuten tänä vuonna. Meistä kaikki mikä kimaltaa on ihanaa ja miten mahtava onkaan tämä paljetti-kaitaliina! Myös rustiikkinen ja kotoisa stailaus on erittäin kaunis.







All images from H&M Home

Kaikki kuvat: H&M Home

HOLIDAY INSPIRATION: SHINY & BRIGHT

Image credits: 1 - DIY tinsel swizzle sticks by Odessa May, 2 - Christmas tree tea bags DIY by My little Fabric, 3 - Gold striped paper straws by LittleInk on etsy, 4 - photo by Jackie Rueda on flickr, 5 - from Emma Jane Noren's home featured on Design*Sponge, 6 - Snowflake cookies by Carnets Parisiens, 7 - Handmade ornaments by Odessa May

A GOLDEN HOLIDAY TABLE

We had a little time this week to put together & shoot some ideas for your holiday table. This one is super-easy, real quick and you can re-use all elements over and over again. 

These shots were taken at 2pm in the afternoon by the way. You kinda get the moody atmosphere, also known as darkness, for cozy shoots as this for free in Finland at this time of the year. Almost 24/7. 

If you want to create this table scape, find yourself a pretty table linen - we actually used a large scarf of Lotta here. If you're digging the sparkly look of it, but can't get a hold on something equal, use a simple mud colored (or any other neutral color) table linen and sprinkle it with gold confetti.

The place settings are simple: a plate, a folded cloth napkin tied with gold ribbon and a little star ornament place card on which you can write the guest names if you like. These ornaments are made from air-drying clay, rolled out and cut with a star cookie cutter. After the clay is dry, sand the edges and if you want, create the dip-dyed effect by painting parts of the ornament with gold acrylic paint. 

For the centerpiece, grab some simple glass votive holders and candle glasses - or as we did: drinking glasses. The large ones in the picture are "Mjöd" from Ikea, the small ones "Svalka". They come in sets of 6 and will cost you around 6€/set. We also got some reindeer antlers - in Finland you can get them here. Get yourself some good gold spray paint. In our opinion the ones you can get at Bauhaus are by far the best (again this goes only for Finland).

Grab some masking tape and cover all parts of the glasses and antlers that you don't want to be golden. Make sure the tape is on really tight. Then simply spray the other parts with thin layers of spray paint. Let dry and remove the tape. Now grab some candles and set the table. 

NATURAL & RUSTIC HOLIDAY INSPIRATION // WALTHER & CO

The folks over at Walther & Co. are masters of creating lovely natural & rustic items for the holidays. But what's even better is that they are creating the greatest mood shoots to display their collection in an industrial, yet somehow inviting environment. There's so many items in this year's product range that we'd love to get our hands on!













All images from Walther & Co.

LOVELY READS: HOLIDAY MAGAZINE ISSUES

So, this post might be a bit overwhelming, cause we're sharing not just one awesome online magazine with you today, but three. Inspiration-overload, yes indeed. But browse them now or bookmark them for the weekend, they are well worth a read!




Sweet Paul Mag Winter 2012 - lots and lots of DIY decor & gift ideas, yummy recipes, interviews and sweet stories. If you want even more, be sure to check out the Sweet Paul archives.







Rue Mag Holiday Issue - filled with gift ideas, a few DIYs, interviews, personal stories and holiday inspiration.







Anthology 2012 Holiday Gift Guide - Gift ideas, editor gift picks, DIYs, recipes, holiday inspiration.


Enjoy!

FREEBIES: BOLD GIFT WRAPPING & BOXES + TAGS

After our DIY christmas calendar was such a hit with you guys, we wanted to give you some gift wrapping in the same style, but with some additional color options. So, now we've got gift boxes, wrapping and matching tags for you all for you to print out and make your holiday gifts look extra pretty.

DIY joulukalenteri oli niin suur-menestys, että päätimme jakaa kanssanne myös saman tyylisiä lahjapapereita ja pakkauskortteja eri värivaihtoehdoilla. Näillä saat joululahjasi näyttämään super-kauniilta!








There are several pdfs for you to download: black & white tags, colorful tags, black & white boxes, as well as colorful ones and lots of sheets of wrapping paper in different patterns and colors. You can use these in whatever way you like - wrap your gifts all in black & white or go mint, mustard or red. Or mix and match. I'm particularly liking the mustard + black & white color combo.

Alta löydät useita eri PDF-tiedostoja, joita voit ladata ja yhdistelä mielesi mukaan!





To get these, download the pdfs below and print onto A4 or letter- sized paper or card stock. Make sure you set your printer to best print quality / fine print to get the best result.

Saadaksesi nämä, lataa PDF-tiedostot alta ja printaa hyvällä / tai parhaalla printtilaadulla paperille tai kartongille.


Boxes in color / värillinen laatikko
Boxes in black & white (you'll need black ink only) / mustavalkoinen laatikko

To make the boxes, follow the tutorial here. Linkistä löydät laatikoiden taittelu-ohjeet.


Gift tags in color / värilliset pakettikortit
Gift tags in black & white (you'll need black ink only) / mustavalkoiset pakettikortit


Gift wrapping / stripes / raidallinen lahjapaperi
Gift wrapping / polka dots polkkapilkullinen lahjapaperi
Gift wrapping / diamonds timantti lahjapaperi
Gift wrapping / triangles kolmio lahjapaperi
Gift wrapping / stars tähti lahjapaperi


For personal use only. Don't re-distribute the pdfs, please, but you may of course link to this blog post if you feel like spreading the word. For more info on sharing, content and image copyright, please read our disclaimer.

Vain henkilökohtaiseen käyttöön. Älä suoraan jaa PDF-tiedostoja, mutta voit toki linkittää postimme omilta sivuiltasi, jos haluat jakaa sanaa.