Christmas over in a flash!

Hello everyone,

I can't believe Christmas is now over! So much build up for it and then it is over in a flash. I had a fantastic Christmas. Just had a lovely quiet one with my family but it was wonderful to spend some time with them all. Such a shame about the weather (for those of you not in the U.K the weather has been awful.... lots of rain and wind and flooding in some areas), I had hoped for a white Christmas!

Spending today catching up on things which were put on hold for Christmas and also having a bit of a post Christmas rest before all the New Year events!

Thank you to everyone who tweeted me photos of their Christmas tree, was so nice to see all the different ones people had and how they were decorated. You all had beautiful trees!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

The Dorothy Days Xx

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Wishing all of my followers a very Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for all your support this year.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Christmas Eve!

A Visit from St. Nicholas

By Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar plums danc'd in their heads.....

Merry Christmas Eve to all my followers, hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Anyone waking up really early to open their presents?

The Dorothy Days X

A Pre-Christmas Christmas!!

Hello everyone,

Well today we have had a little pre Christmas Christmas in my house as we have guests visiting. Has been such a lovely day and I now really can't wait for the real Christmas Day! We did some more decorating in the house, listed to Christmas songs and ate lots of yummy food!! 

Here are some photos from today to share with you all...

We have 10 meters of these paper flags up!! I love them and don't think I will want to take them down after Christmas! 

The dog was even festive but got a little sleepy!! 

Ben and Jerry's happened.....mmmmm!! 

And here is one of our Christmas elfs!!! 

Hope you are all having a lovely and festive time. Thank you to everyone tweeting me too.

The Dorothy Days x

5 days to go....Christmas countdown

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying my Christmas countdown so far. It is just 5 days to go now until Christmas so I thought I would share with you all a Christmas classic by Andy Williams which was released in 1963. This song always makes me feel warm and fuzzy and excited for Christmas. My favourite times of the year are Christmas and Summer when the sun is shining because everyone seems much more cheerful and kinder to each other so this song is rather fitting.....'the most wonderful time of the year!'

Hope that you will all spread some Christmas cheer this year whether that be donating to charity, helping out a neighbour or even just a small random act of kindness like leaving a pound in the slot in the trolley to make someones day a little brighter.



The Dorothy Days Xx

1 week to go!

Winter walks

There is something so nice about going for a walk when it is cold and windy and you wrap up warm. The leaves looked so beautiful too and had that lovely smell.

12 days of Christmas!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Last purchasing day for American buyers

I have been working really hard on getting lots of new listings up in my shop that will make great Christmas gifts and stocking fillers. If you purchase more than one item there is a combined shipping discount. Any items purchased today or tonight will be parcelled up tomorrow morning and posted out to you the same day. You can of course continue to purchase after this date if you would like to but purchasing today and tonight will mean you will receive your item by Christmas.

To visit my shop, The Dorothy Days, please click here

Gift Buying Guide:

I have a whole range of floral hair slides in my shop including these lovely vintage looking hair slides/ bobby pins made from fabric. These would make a lovely stocking filler Please click here to see them in my shop

This beautiful print has been really popular and I have sold lots of these in the run up to Christmas as they make wonderful Christmas gifts especially for someone who is hard to buy for or someone who seems to have everything! My prints look fantastic when they are framed and add a very chic vintage feel to a home. To view this French 1880's butterfly print in my shop click here

If stocking fillers are what you are after I have lots of handmade earrings all in different designs from dangly earrings, post/ stud earrings, polymer clay earrings, resin earrings etc.

Please click here to see the different range of earrings I have in my shop. I offer combined shipping discounts if you order more than one pair (the discount will automatically come off at checkout)

If you are looking to make all your gifts look extra special then please take a look at these Merry Christmas tags, I sell them in sets of 10 and they add a rustic/ shabby chic look to your gifts.

Please take a look here

To browse my shop for more vintage and handmade goodies please click here

Happy shopping and thank you so much to everyone supporting my little shop this Christmas.

The Dorothy Days X

2 weeks to go until Christmas - The Dorothy Days Christmas countdown

15 days to go.....

Photograph Credit: Joe Buckingham

Hello everyone,

Well it is just 15 days to go now until Christmas, can you believe it?! There are lots of beautiful Christmas lights up and town looks so pretty. Wondering how many of you have your Christmas trees up yet? Do you wait until last minute to put it up or have you put it up early? I know lots of my American followers were saying on Twitter that they put their up after Thanksgiving??

Would love to see some of your Christmas tree photographs so if you have a photograph which you would like to share please either leave a comment here or tweet your photograph to me The link to my Twitter page is here

Hope you are all are as excited as me about Christmas approaching!

The Dorothy Days

A rustic Christmas! - Christmas Countdown by the Dorothy Days

Hello everyone,

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I was thinking about different homes around the country today and how people will be decorating for Christmas. Recently I have been really loving the minimalist/ natural look and I think this look particularly lovely at Christmas time!

I found this beautiful collection for inspiration. I can't decide which part of it I love the most as I love it all!! I think possibly the Christmas tree made from reclaimed wood and also the Christmas wrapping paper.

10 rustic/ minimalist style Merry Christmas tags handmade by The Dorothy Days

Beautiful handmade Peace Christmas tags with intricate design


The Dorothy Days Xx

Christmas Countdown Continued....!

Hello everyone!!

What a great December it has been so far.  I have been spending lots of time with friends and family and getting very excited about having a few days off over Christmas to totally relax. The shop has also been really busy, thank you so much to everyone who has been browsing and purchasing their Christmas gifts from my shop too. This year has been a really good year for The Dorothy Days and so I am excited to see what next year will hold for the shop and am feeling really positive and excited about the future. Here's hoping that 2014 will be a really good one.

This weekend I am hopefully going to a Christmas carol service at the local church. It is at nighttime and the church has stunning architecture so I think it is going to really make it feel like Christmas is here! Not sure I will be able to take any photographs inside but I will take my camera just incase and try and get a few snaps for the blog.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Hope you are enjoying December so far.

The Dorothy Days Xx

20 days to go until Christmas Day - The Dorothy Days countdown!!

Hello everyone,

Well it is just 20 days to go now until Christmas day so I thought I would share with you all a rather Christmasy collection!

I am really hoping that it is going to snow this year and that we will get a White Christmas, is anyone else hoping for the same? It always looks so amazing where I live when it snows as, because I live in a rural location, the snow is left untouched for most of the day and doesn't turn to slush so quickly. We are also in a valley so get lots of snow and it is great for sledging!!

Hope you like this Christmasy themed snow collection. I particularly like the Christmas jumper, still need to get mine out the cupboard!

The Dorothy Days Xx

December 3rd - Christmas countdown

Hello everyone,

Day three of my Christmas countdown and I am so excited to say we bought our Christmas tree today. It is a real one and is beautiful! Makes the house smell like Christmas. It is slightly wonky admittedly and slightly too big for the room but is lovely nevertheless!! 

Had such a Christmassy day today... We also decorated the house today so now have fairy lights and these beautiful baubles hanging around the house. I started making Christmas gifts for friends and family. (I really want to share the photos of what I have been making on here but I am worried that it will ruin the surprise if I do so i will have to post them after Christmas). I have also been listening to ridiculous amounts of Christmas songs!

Hope you all have been enjoying opening you advent calendars, never too old to have one! I got a milky bar one which is delicious :) 

Hope you are all having a wonderful December so far.

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days - Christmas Countdown

Hello everyone,

Yesterday on my blog I said that I was going to do a Christmas countdown this year on my blog to try and get us all in the Christmasy mood. I kicked this off with Kings College choir in Cambridge singing Silent Night. The setting is stunning and the choir sounded heavenly......Today I thought I would lower the tone a little, seems as Christmas is the time of year in which you can get away with being totally cheesy, and in complete contrast to yesterday's Christmas song, would give you some Wham!

This one is for my mum who adores this song and will often be found singing it around the house at all times of the year not even just for the run up to Christmas! So turn this one up loud and have a little dance around your house to it!

Over to Mr George Michael ......

Christmas countdown! -1st December

Hello everyone,

Can you believe that it is the 1st December today?! This year seems to have flown by so fast and Christmas is going to be here before we know it. This year I am feeling very Christmasy (I am one of those annoying people who start singing Christmas songs far too early in the year!) so I want to start a Christmas countdown on my blog so hopefully it will get you all in the Christmasy mood.

To start my countdown off I thought I would share with you the choir at Kings College in Cambridge, England singing Stephen Cloebury's arrangement of Silent Night.

I hope that you enjoy it.

Happy December everyone

The Dorothy Days Xx

Keeping nice and snug!

Hello everyone,

This week I am loving vintage style winter clothing which keeps you nice and snug but looking fabulous at the same time! During the Autumn and Winter I love wearing all my vintage chunky knit jumpers as they are so snug. I usually wear these with a pair of skinny jeans and knee high boots and if it is really cold I also wear my bobble hat and gloves too.

What are your favourite things to wear in the colder weather?

The Dorothy Days Xx

1 month until Christmas!!

Christmas preparations!

Hey everyone,

How are you all? thank you to everyone who has been commenting on my blog, really nice to read your replies. Can't believe that it is November, Christmas is going to be here in a flash! I have done two Christmas craft fairs and now will be focusing on getting my shop prepared for the holiday season. So much to do and to make but trying to get as many things made and listed before Christmas is here. 

This week I have been making lots of hair grips for my shop as I thought these would make lovely stocking fillers or as a secret santa gift. 

I have made them in all different designs.....some wooden ones, some button ones, some fabric ones. Here are a few of the designs I have listed so far.....

My wooden heart hair clips, how cute are these?! Click here to view

 Set of two vintage style floral fabric hair grips/ bobby pins by The Dorothy Days Click here to take a look

These fab retro style hair clips are some of my favourite Click here to view

I have updated my shop with the last shipping dates for Christmas.....

Wednesday 4 December Asia, Far East (including Japan), New Zealand
Thursday 5 December Australia
Friday 6 December Africa, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East
Monday 9 December Cyprus, Eastern Europe
Tuesday 10 December Canada, France, Greece, Poland
Friday 13 December USA
Saturday 14 December Western Europe (excluding France, Greece, Poland)

and I am also taking custom order requests and gift requests too :)

All set for taking Christmas orders and hopefully will get even more Christmas gifts up soon. Watch this space!!! 

The Dorothy Days 

Please click here if you would like to see what else my shop has to offer

3000 Twitter Followers!

We did it, we did it!! Finally reached 3000 Twitter followers, I am still in shock! Thank you so much everyone for all your support.

Happy Birthday Rodin

Happy 173rd Birthday Rodin! 

Photo Credit - Dalbera

Happy Birthday Hokusai

Happy birthday Katsushika Hokusai (born 31st October 1760) !

The Great Wave off Kanagawa - Hokusai - woodcut - c1829 - 32

Above is his most famous work, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Isn't it just beautiful? To celebrate his birthday I thought I would share with you all 5 facts about Hokusai

1. Over the course of his life Hokusai used over 30 different names (this was common with Japanese artists of this period but not to this extent!) 
2. His work, and Japanese art in general, was hugely influential to the Impressionists. Many of these artists collected Hokusai's woodcuts including  Degas and Gauguin.
3. Shortly before his death aged 89 he is quoted as saying "If heaven gives me ten more years, or an extension of even five years, I shall surely become a true artist." 
4. The Great Wave off Kanagawa is part of a series called Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji in which Hokusai recorded mount Fuji in varying weather conditions, at different distances and in different seasons. The 36 woodcuts were printed in a publication of his work but were so popular that another 10 were later added.
5. Hokusai's style changed many times throughout his artistic career and sometimes as frequently as from one painting to another.

The Dorothy Days

Vintage vogue fashion inspiration

Hello everyone,

This week I am loving this collection of vintage themed items. The glasses are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !! I am totally in love with them, very chic!! I also really love the vintage telephone and the rather fabulous coat!!

What do you like best about this collection?



The Dorothy Days Xx

Shabby chic sitting room inspiration

Hello everyone,

Thought I would give you all a little bit of shabby chic inspiration today with this sitting room collage. 

I think my favourite is the chair and the framed prints on the wall as they look a little bit like the ones I sell in my shop!

The Dorothy Days X

The best of my Twitter followers' cat photos

Hey everyone :)

Hope you are all having a great week so far. The other day I had been away and was missing the cats loads so decided to ask my Twitter followers to send me their favourite photograph of their cat. The response was HUGE and I had so many lovely photographs tweeted to me which really cheered me up and made me smile. I thought I would share some of the best photographs I received here on my blog and I hope this makes you smile too!! 

Thank you to everyone who tweeted me with their photos :), it really made my day.

Hope this has given you your daily dose of 'awwwww!' :)

Thanks again to everyone who tweeted me their photograph of their cat. 

Have a great day.

The Dorothy Days Xxx

This week I am loving ..... Parisian vintage fashion

Hi everyone,

This week I am totally loving this film of very glamorous Parisian ladies from the 1950s showing off their beautiful clothing. I was going to try and write a little write up on which outfit I liked best and why but have been sat here watching the film footage on repeat unable to make up my mind....so many beautiful outfits to choose from!! Hope you all enjoy the film and can anyone else make up their mind to what their favourite outfit is? If you can please let me know in the comment section below along with the time on the film so everyone else can find it easily :).




The Dorothy Days X

The Wilton Diptych - National Gallery, London

Hello everyone,

A while back I wrote a post on art to cheer you up on a gloomy day click here to see it I posted a photograph of the Wilton Diptych and said that I would write more about it in a future blog post. Today is another gloomy day. It is cold and I am sat in my room watching the rain trickle down my window so what better day to write you a post on what I think is one of the most beautiful works of art.

This painting is called the Wilton Diptych it was painted in c 1395-9 and is the National Gallery in London. It is one of my favourite pieces in their collection and one which I always go and see when I visit the gallery. It is also one of the first works of art which I went to see when I started studying art history and I remember being totally blown away by it.

I will try to write this blog post without going into too much but feel free to ask questions if you have any in the comments section below.

The Wilton Diptych - Whats in the name?

Wilton because it came from Wilton House in Wiltshire (England) which is a beautiful English country house which has been lived in by the same family for over 460 years

Wilton House - Photo Credit: John Goodall

Diptych 
A diptych is a painting or carving which has two panels which are hinged together in the middle so it can be opened and closed like a book. They are small scale so they can be transported easily and are often used as altarpieces. (If there are 3 panels it is called a triptych.) The Wilton Diptych is a diptych which was used as an altarpiece and would have been used for private devotion.

Who did The Wilton Diptych belong to?

With this type of work (altarpieces for private devotion) the patron or owner of the piece often appears in the painting itself. This is the case with the Wilton Diptych and on the left hand side kneeling is the patron of this painting, King Richard II who was king of England between 1377 to 1399.

Who are the other figures in the painting?

Saint Edmund who was born in 841 and was King of East Anglia. He was taken prisoner by the vikings and when he refused to give up Christianity, he was executed. He can be identified by his arrow, which is reportedly how he was killed.

Edward the Confessor (1003- 1066) who was the last Anglo- Saxon King. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London. A confessor is a male saint who has been blessed by not martyred. He can be identified by the ring he holds.

Always wearing ragged clothes and disheveled hair, this is Saint John the Baptist holding the lamb of God.

The 3 saints on the left panel, St John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor and Saint Edmund are presenting King Richard II to the figures on the right panel. The figures on the panel on the right hand side are the Virgin Mary who holds baby Jesus and eleven angels. The infant Jesus has has arms outstretched ready to bless King Richard II.

King Richard II is therefore shown as being very pious and devoted to his faith by kneeling down before the Virgin, Jesus and the angels. He also makes associations between himself and the past Kings of England (both of whom were considered to be very pious) and also shows his importance in that he is being acknowledged by the holy family. 

Above shows the reverse of the diptych. The white stag and the crest are both symbols of King Richard II. If you look closely on the opposite side of the painting with the figures you will find many more stags (for example in Richard's clothing)

I hope this has given you a little insight into one of my favourite paintings. I have tried to keep this post from not being too long (I could go on for pages about this painting!) but please feel free to ask questions in the comment box below and I will try to answer them.

Hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Quote of the week - Henry David Thoreau

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined"

 –Henry David Thoreau

Hope you all have a wonderful week. 

Thanks for reading my blog

The Dorothy Days X