Christmas Countdown - 1 day to go - Merry Christmas Eve!

Hello everyone,

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! 

As is tradition, I thought I would share with you a verse from the poem by Clement Clarke Moore called A Visit from St Nicholas (also known as Twas the night before Christmas)

'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......

- Clement Clarke Moore

Hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas. Does anyone have any family traditions for what they do on Christmas eve? In my household we gather everyone together and pick one gift from under the tree and the person has to try and guess what it is and hand it around to everyone else who has to try and guess too. They then get to open the gift. It is good fun and has resulted in many hilarious guesses over the years. What are your Christmas or Christmas eve traditions? Let me know in the comment section below.

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a wonderful day tomorrow.

The Dorothy Days Xx

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

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

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

1 month until Christmas!!

Wordless Wednesday- Christmas Gifts

On Wednesdays all over the internet, bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it on their blog. Hence the ‘wordless’ title. The idea is that the photo itself says so much that it doesn’t need any description.

Happy Wednesday
The Dorothy Days Xxx

The Dorothy Days December so far...

Hello everyone,

Sorry for being rather absent from my blog recently. Life has been rather hectic with craft fairs, vintage markets, lots of online sales! I have also had quite a busy schedule with work and family commitments so my blog has been rather quiet. 

Can't believe it is December and that we are now on the countdown to Christmas! I am so excited. As I have been away for a while I thought I would share with you all how I have spent my December so far......

• Getting rather excited each morning about a new advent calendar window to open!

• Drinking lots of tea (surprise surprise!!) to warm up after coming in from outside

• Making shortbread biscuits for friends and also for our elderly next door neighbour, she looked so happy when we took them over!

• Doing lots of craft fairs and Christmas markets including Bath vintage market.

• Iceskating (and I even managed not to fall over!)

• I spent a whole day making lots of Christmas wreathes to sell which was so much fun!

• Attempting to learn how to walk in my new Christmas party heels!

• Going to lots of art exhibitions in London which was fantastic. I went to see the Pre-Raphaelite show in the Tate Britain and also looked around their general collection, the Victorian and Albert (V&A) to see their Venetian works they have the most beautiful glass collection and also have some amazing textiles. I also went to the National Gallery to see some of my favourites.

• Saw the Christmas tree in Trafalgar square being put up while visiting the National Gallery

• Went to Jamie Oliver's cafe for Brunch which was AMAZING, the food was so good and it was such a lovely treat.

•  I have been doing some Christmas shopping both online and offline

• Going for Christmas cocktails with my friends and family.

• Lots of nights in with the log fire burning

• Packaging up items which I have sold on Etsy

• .....lots of trips to the post office to send all my items to lovely people all across the world.

• A hilarious night of Pictionary with my friends and family  (who knew that such a simple game could get some competitive?! ) 

• Walks in the woods at the back of my house with my woolly hat on! etc etc

How have you been spending your December so far and what else do you have planned for before Christmas?

Christmas time in August?! and some beautiful treasuries

Hello everyone :),

Wow!!! Hasn't it been hot these last few days?! I can't believe how hot it suddenly is, it is absolutely beautiful. How have you all been enjoying the last few days of sunshine.....hitting the beach?....relaxing in the garden?.....eating as many icecreams as possible?! I have to admit I am rather guilty of the latter!

I have been doing lots of thinking about Christmas which I am quite excited about (I know I know....Christmas talk ALREADY and its only August!!). I am trying to decide which items are best to stock and should I stock more vintage or more handmade? I am also considering making some gift vouchers for the shop for the Christmas season. I thought I could make some really pretty ones and have some digital ones for people who need a last minute gift and don't have time to wait for posting or prefer to have them sent digitally and also some handmade gift vouchers which will be sent in the post. Opinions needed.....do you all think this is a good idea and something that people shall like ? I would make them really pretty so they are a nice gift to receive :). Also, which denominations should I use? £5, £10 ,£20 £50 ??  I am really excited about getting my shop ready for the Christmas season and I am also really excited about all the craft and vintage fairs that I am going to in the run up to Christmas :) ! I am going to be a very busy lady but I can't wait!!! Christmas time is one of my favourite times of the year. I love buying presents for people and spending time with family and friends as well as being snuggled up in front of the fire.

Anyway....back to summer time as it feels very strange to be speaking about Christmas and being snuggled up in front of the fire when it is boiling hot and beautifully sunny here!!

I have been lucky enough to be featured in some beautiful treasuries this week and I thought I would share a few of my favourites with you all :) .Both have beautiful summer fresh colours in.

'Silver and Citron' by CTMercantile

Vintage and handmadeetsy team finds

Shocking Citron Green Tie Wa... FascinationVin... $25.00	Vintage 60s Clip Earrings ME... KMalinka $35.00	Vintage Enamelware Ladle Sco... whatnotsandsuc... $18.00
Wedding, Mother's Day, J... Thebracelettre... $95.00	Vintage Everlast Aluminum C... PriorMemories $22.50	Mod Butterflies Ice Bucket VivaChloe $14.00
Vintage Chrome Tray with Bak... BeeJayKay $75.00	wooden button earring, butto... TheDorothyDays $4.00	Bright chartreuse Hen on a N... reconstitution... $37.50
Alpaca Mexican Jewelry Broo... DEJAVU143 $18.99	divine vintage 1980s BETTE W... shopcaramiavin... $285.00	Roselane California Pottery ... behindtheorang... $36.00
Green Relish Server // Divid... pearlsvintage $28.00	Vintage Swedish tablecloth /... Scandivintage $11.00	Boho Long Leaf Dangling Brus... cottoncandystr... $10.00
Beeswax Kitty Candle- Set of... GURLPWR $17.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

I love the fresh summer colours used in this treasury :). Reminds me of how beautiful and lush the grass looks in the fields around my house.

'End of Summer Freshness' by amandajocrafts

Fresh, summer-y finds from the Interactive Blogging Team! Let's celebrate the final month of summer :)

You Are My Sunshine Embroide... LilyandEveStit... $35.00	Anchors Nautical Scrapbookin... pipersplace1 $6.25	Retro Hair Accessory, Aqua D... ChatterBlossom $22.00
Kitchen Art Typography Art Q... FlourishCafe $25.00	Hey There, Sunshine - Robin&... HopeForBinati $4.00	ORGANIC Diaper Clutch, light... RedstuffDesign... $20.00
Baby headband with felt hear... CUTIFULbaby $14.00	Light Blue Earrings, Guitar ... HausofAriella $8.00	Emerson Quote Print - In the... LitPrints $15.00
Typewriter Print: You're... Vividplease $12.00	Split Log Tealight Candle Ho... DeerwoodCreekG... $20.00	Vintage style earrings, cott... TheDorothyDays $4.00
Greeting Card - New Baby - A... KristenReneePh... $2.50	20% OFF - Whipped Soap - Coc... LillyQueenBath $4.80	Beaded Leather Bracelet - Vi... beadsandbrass $26.25
Landscape Photo, Fairy Ring,... AncientEchoesA... $16.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

I also love this treasury by Amanda which has lots of amazing finds :)

Thank you both for including me in your wonderul treasuries and hope you are all enjoying summer :)

Best wishes

The Dorothy Days X

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 

Hope you all have the most wonderful Christmas. My house is decorated from top to toe in beautiful decorations including a Christmas tree covered in shoes and giant crackled glass baubles hanging in my window but my favourite has to be this enormous piece of mistletoe I bought from a lovely local gardener :). Friends and family have been enjoying kisses underneath the mistletoe! Looking forwards to Christmas day with my family. Merry Christmas everyone :) XxXx

My beautiful Mistletoe