Christmas Folk

Thank you ladies for your comments about my 'lamp lady', the general consensus is that she doesn't. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on her from now on though, just in case!

These little folk are one of my favorite Christmas items.

They are not old, I bought them a few years ago as a Christmas present for my mum. They were from a boutique gift shop and cost more than I would normally spend on something like this (I think they are made from resin). They were the only ones like them in the shop. I just loved their sweet faces and subtle colours. You can't see it well in the photo but they are trimmed with glitter. Mum was thrilled with them and after Christmas they were left out on display, so I thought I must have got it right.

A couple of years later I had to stand-in for mum at the Church fete. I got there early to have a good rummage before the customers arrived. Well, you could have blown me down with a feather, there were my Christmas folk on the White Elephant stall! What's more, they were more than I would normally spend at a Church fete, but of course I had to buy them back. Later I went round to mum's and told her I had bought them. She went ever so slightly pink, laughed ever so slightly uncomfortably and said that if only she'd known I liked them so much she would gladly have given them to me! I love my mum dearly, but sometimes... just aaargh!

So even though they are not old, I can honestly say they are thrifted, and I love them.

I've seen some beautiful Christmas homes and decorations on blogs I've been visiting. I haven't really made much of a start on mine yet. So, feeling ever so slightly embarassed about that, I'm showing you what I bought today instead.
I popped out to Laura Ashley (it's only a 5 minute drive away) to see if I could pinch any Christmas ideas and found they have a sale on. I came home with these:

Everything except the tea-towel was half price. I'm going to make some cushions from the crocheted place mats, and lavender sachets from the coasters. We needed a couple of new wine glasses, these were pretty (I had to buy a spare as I'm quite experienced at breaking them). I'm going to use the toile wallpaper to panel my wardrobe I think, or maybe cover a little cupboard. The tea towel is for 'display only'.

Hmm...now about that Christmas decorating...