La vuelta al mundo :: Our Christmas

The day of the Kings is past and with it the holidays season is closed. And... I already miss it! Oh, I just love the twinkling around the house, what can I say? So, there's no need to explain last month theme for La vuelta al mundo.

Here are some photos of our Christmas.

at our little place...

at the streets...

at my parents's home...

and... ending the season singing carols for the three kings

Next year there will be more.

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all photos by me

A pause to play... David Fonseca

Say that the days before Christmas around here are chaotic it's an understatement, but I could not let this week pass without sharing a song, specialy when I love the season's tunes. So I managed to find five minutes for a short post featuring a portuguese artist (another one).

If you're from my generation, when you think of christmas you imediately start humming "last christmas I gave you my heart...", well, I do! And so, here it goes, a cover from that song, and a good one!

And, just because it is Christmas, keep on listening, there are two extra songs, just as good as the first one. I say, this guy should record a Christmas album! David, if you're listening to me, 2012 is the year for you to do it!

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Artist: David Fonseca

Song: Last Christmas
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Santa's elfs are working!

Let's not disturb them. Shhhh!
All must be done by Christmas night! 

Soon the house will be smelling like cinnamon and baked apples. Yummm! 

Feliz Natal!

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photos by us

Christmas all over the house

I wish Christmas time would last longer than just a month! I love adding touches to the house, and I love how the house feels during this time. This year I'm enjoying myself decorating with rosemary, since I've seen this great idea at pinterest.

You see, I always loved natural green decorations, but our common pine trees have very long needles and, as beautiful as they may be, they're not very useful in terms of making cute christmas decorations. On the other side, we do have a lot of rosemary (at least my mom's garden has, tons of it!), and... don't you thing the twigs look just as good as pine branches? Well, I do, for what matters. Oh, and the smell is gorgeous!

Remember I told you we went to the sweedish store a few weeks ago? We were meant to buy this shelf, but it turns out it's out of stock, (and I suspect it will be permanent since it's been like that for months now). Well, we were not giving up on the look we wanted. With brackets, shelves, a rail, hooks, and a bit of imagination it turned out like this. And, oh, I'm so happy with the kitchen right now! I almost forgot how I hate the counter stone, and the tiles, and the sink...

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all photos by me
(unfortunately I do not have one before picture of the kitchen... I'm slapping myself right now.)

The last weekend before Christmas

I'm exhausted. This was not a resting weekend, I tell you.

There were lots of crafts happening, like these ornaments that the children from sunday school then decorated at their advent celebration. And many hours of band rehearsals for the Christmas show happening on saturday night. And everything in between from preparing the alignment of the show to the set design... And... also preparing the activities with the children for the afternoon. Why do I get myself into so much at the same time? Beats me. In the end everything turned out very well. It's a good feeling we get in the end. It's rewarding.

After all, what is Christmas without giving the best of ourselves?

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photos by me
last two by Luís, our friend

A red and white Christmas

Our Christmas decorations are a work in progress. There's still some sewing happening, and some painting, and some new creations... But one thing I think we are settled: the colors. Red and white will be our colors for this year.

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photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

DIY Christmas decorations

I told I was enslaving my husband! Aren't these looking pretty?! Who knew he would turn out so talented? Well, I'm sure he didn't. It all started during our wedding prep when I found myself drowning in ideas, and the boy, desperately trying to release my stress, would look at me and say: just tell me how to do it. And suddenly I had him carving intricate design to make chandeliers and table markers... and I gasped, as a miner who has just discovered gold! Can you see what it means, for a creative soul, to have this kind of resource at home??

And this is how, from an uninteresting piece of styrofoam, these beauties were born. I just imagine things and make the drawings, everything else is his work. Soon we will be opening our etsy store where you can find things like this and much more!

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photos by us

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

Have I told you that I love Christmas season? Well, if you follow me on Pinterest you probably already noticed that. Just a little... This weekend we started our christmas decorations at home and, oh my, how I love all the twinkling!

I will be sharing what we've been doing. I warn you, I am known for enslaving my husband into creating all sorts of handmade decorations I imagine in my head!

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photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project