:: Homeward bound

I'm off to some family festivites in the south of Germany. As I am from down there, it will be like a adventure, I last visited my home areas about 4 years ago. Seems like ages.

Source: flickr.com via Anja on Pinterest

Die nächste Woche werde ich mich auf eine Reise in meine Kindheit begeben. Nach 4 Jahren kehre ich in den heimatlichen Süden zurück. Es fühlt sich an wie Lichtjahre.
Es gibt ein paar Familienfeste. Außerdem ein guter Grund das depremierende H. zu verlassen.

:: Christmas without snow

Zu Weihnachten mal wieder kein Schnee? Macht nichts! 
Wir basteln uns unsere eigenen Schneeflocken. 
Diesmal Schneeflocken aus Papier für Fortgeschrittene. 


These artisan paper snow flakes are not only for the holidays.
I will make them from old music sheets and tissue paper in pastel colors. 

Source: re-foundobjects.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

:: Wir warten aufs Christkind

:: CHRISTMAS ROUTINE

6:00     Feed the cat
9:45     Listening to the radio (Deutschlandradiokultur) while still in bed
11:30   Taking a bath
12:00    Getting a bit sentimental while thinking about the past year
12:14    Being thankful to be loved
13:00    Last minute Hausarbeit
14:00   Turn up "Elvis sings Christmas Songs" very loud
14:38    Cuddling up with my two favourite red ones on the sofa
14:40    Opening a bottle of champagne


MERRY CHRISTMAS

Source: sweetpaul.typepad.com via Lila on Pinterest

:: My personal Jesus Fest

It's Jesus birthday! So let's be jolly!
When I was little I felt a bit sorry for Jesus. He was just a small baby but already carried the whole world on his shoulders. So klein und schon so viel Verantwortung. Das arme Kerlchen. 

Source: meadowtree.tumblr.com via Pia on Pinterest

Aber Themawechsel. Angesichts endloser Gänsenbratenparaden und Glühweinorgien, besinnen wir uns dieses Jahr auf den Ursprung. Wenigstens beim Weihnachtsmenü. So für ein real Christmas Dingdong, spice up the traditon.
                     
         Rotkohlsalat mit Granatapfelkernen
                       ****
      Gans a là Maroccain mit Zimt und Koriander 
                       ****
            Sellerie mit Salzzitronen
                       ****
     Süßkartoffel vom Blech an Harissa und Maronen
                       ****
     Obstcarpaccio aus Ananas, Feigen und Datteln
               


Abends im Radio kommt dann "Gruß zur See", eine Sendung, die es schon seit 30 Jahren gibt. Dort können Angehörige von Seeleuten und Matrosen, die gerade auf See sind, Weihnachtswünsche an ihre Lieben senden. 
Be prepared to keep your hankies ready. Schön sentimental, genauso wie das traditionelle "3 Nüsse für Aschenputtel" Gucken. Zum gefühlten 40. Mal. Auch schön "Das fliegende Klassenzimmer".
Und natürlich das unausweichliche "Weihnachten bei den Buddenbrocks". 
Dieses Jahr führen wir auch ein neues Ritual ein: 
ein Weihnachtsgedicht auswendig lernen. Ich habe Loriots "Ein Weihnachtsgedicht" gewählt. 


My little oriental christmas dinner. For the ultimate Christmas Dingdong: 


Red cabbage salad with pomegranate seeds 
Roasted Gans a la Maroccain with cinnamon and koriander
Cerleriac with salty lemons
Roasted sweet potatoes with Harissa and chestnuts
Carpaccio from fresh pineapples, figs and dates

:: Let's share and shine

We talked about gift wrapping now let's talk about the fine tuning. 

Source: poppytalk.blogspot.com via Anja on Pinterest

The slightly bird obsessed Geninne created some divine gift tags. 
Camilla Engman also has a treat for all these giving people. 

Source: studiomorran.blogspot.com via Anja on Pinterest

I also like to add some greenery to adorn a gift. Das hier ist wohl Lebensbaum oder Wacholder.  This year I will be adding Ilex, holly with red berries. It grows in my new garden here in H. 

Source: room269.tumblr.com via Anja on Pinterest

A natural and easy centerpiece is this candle. Just wrap some greens around a big church candle. Here they use olive leaves. 

Source: parisianevents.com via ve on Pinterest

This year I'm totally into pine cones, Tannenzapfen aller Art. Schon allein der Geruch! Herrlich. Mein größter Traum sind jedoch Kiefern, als Zweig, Baum oder Zapfen.  

Source: designsponge.com via Anja on Pinterest

:: Let's get it on

Am Samstag ist es endlich soweit: Designachten, Hannovers schönste Designermesse für Selbstgemachtes öffnet ihre Türen. Und Eden ist mit dabei! 
Wird auch Zeit. Nach monatelanger Fein-und Kleinarbeit müssen die Sachen jetzt unters Volk.

Last minute preparation for Designachten, Hannovers one and only handmade market. 

:: Christmas wrapping nightmare

Speaking of christmas wrapping, the scene form Love Actually is priceless.


PS: Check out the lovely Adventstürchen at Sister Mag today. Lots of beautiful wrapped presents.  

:: What would be christmas without..

Source: etsy.com via Anja on Pinterest

Jedes Jahr die Frage: Was essen wir zu Weihnachten?

Da bei uns die ganze Familie gut kochen kann, beginnt der Streit um den Herd sehr früh. 

Dieses Jahr bleiben wir unter uns - ich und die 2 roten - und werden erst 28.12. ein großes Family Dinner haben. Inspiration dazu hol ich mir genau von dort, wo Weihnachten entstanden ist, also aus Israel. Und da ich das nicht so eng sehe, sagen wir mal Orient. Also jede Menge Zimt, Kardamom, Kreuzkümmel, eingelegte Salzzitronen und Chili. Aber natürlich mit Gans, comme il faut. 

Muss noch mal meine Kochbücher wälzen. 

I recommend: Küche der Medina.

:: Frisch aus dem Ofen

.

3. Advent work out:
. working on my brooches   checked
. laundry      checked
. change bed linens    checked
. baking Stollen     checked
. working on christmas mailing    checked
. clean dishes (dishwasher is broke)   checked




Coming up: 
. heavy Glühwein drinking
. watching Der Clou (The Sting) 
. wrapping presents
. christmas decoration fine tuning
. cooking: Züricher Geschnetzeltes mit Rösti (second time this week) 

The Stollen is part of my christmas mailing. Six more to make...

:: Christmas animal

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via MrsCheese on Pinterest

Aus gegebenen Anlass präsentiere ich das offizielle Weihnachtstier 2011: 
der Bär. 
Arbeite gerade an einer neuen Grußkarte, natürlich mit einem Bär drauf. 


Introducing the official christmas creature: the bear. 
It will feature on my new christmas cards I`m working on, 

3. Advent

Source: bhldn.com via Anja on Pinterest

Only 2 weeks to go.

:: What would be christmas without...

... the traditional christmas movie?


When I was a child I used to watch fairytale movie from the Czech Republic and DDR.
They were quite famous in the 60s and 70s. Maybe you came across Drei Nüsse für Aschenputtel - sure you have seen it. Ich hab es bestimmt über 15 x gesehen. 
Vor zwei Jahren war sogar eine Ausstellung über den Film in der Kulturbrauerei in Berlin. 

itv

This year I'm dying to see the Downton Abbey special which aires on ITV at the 25th. It's has gorgeous costumes, a great story and brilliant actors. 
Also recommend the annual christmas specials at the BBC. 


Also ganz oben auf meiner Liste: Buddy, der Weihnachtself und Betty und ihre Schwestern. 

:: Geschenke für alle

Fast alle. Die ersten 10 Leute, die mich auf dem Designachten Markt in Hannover am 17/18.Dezember besuchen, erhalten eine kleine Wundertüte mit ausgesuchten Wundern.
Das Zauberwort heißt: Parole handgemacht. 
Kommt zahlreich und lasst euch überraschen.


Fancy a gift?
Visit me at Designachten and say Hohoho. Or just Hi! 
Mention that you read my blog and say the secret words: handmade is the best.  
Than you will receive a little surprise treat. Especially created by me. In german we 
call it Wundertüte, a little bag with surprising fun stuff. 

from here

:: What would be Christmas without a Martha?

I can't imagine christmas without a bit of Martha inspiration. 
Like the different shades of one color. Although this year I will go for tartan
and faux wood paper and dark purple and mustard ribbons. 

Source: marthastewart.com via Anja on Pinterest

:: Zürich revisited

I used to visit my aunt and family in Zürich quite often when I was living  in the south of Germany. Now after living in Berlin and now moving to Hannover the distance grew even more. Als ich jetzt nach drei Jahren wieder nach Zürich zurückkehrte, hat es sich ein bisschen wie Heimkommen angefühlt. 

It felt a bit like home coming, revisiting Zürich after three years. A lot has changed and this change, moving forward reminds me a bit of Berlin vibes. There are still traditions, like taking tea at the legendary Cafe Schober , am Cafe Schober kommt keiner vorbei or having a decent homemade Züricher Geschnetzeltes mit Röschti, kind of a gulash with chicken or veal in a creamy white wine sauce accompanying roasted potato cake. But there is also a vivid gallery scene, they have the Kunsthaus and a fantastic theater scene. Think Sybille Berg. 

They have the Zürichsee and the mountains, James Joyce Society and  Thomas Mann Archiv at ETH where you feel like a time traveler.

Thomas Mann hat der Uni Zürich sein Arbeitszimmer hinterlassen. Die haben es orginalgetreu wieder aufgebaut, so dass man meint, dass Thomas Mann mal gerade eben hinausgegangen ist, um sich einen Kaffee zu machen.   

Achja, Zürich.

No visit to Zürich without spending some time at Globus, the one and only departmentstore. 

Globus gehört zu Zürich wie Heidi zum Geissen-Peter. Wir haben uns dort 3 Stunden durchgearbeitet.So much to see and too many inspiration.  

Changemaker: Du bist, was du tust. Ein genialer Claim. And so true. Absolutely love this shop.

Looks familiar? Mir sind fast die Augen ausgefallen: die Tierkissen von Areaware. Hab ich sonst nur im Internet bewundert. Und jetzt bei Changemaker. They sell ecoconscious and fairtraded stuff from around the world for the home. I spend one hour there and had a kind of Deja vue because I saw a lot things I only knew from the internet.

Beautiful En Soie

Im Niederdorf

A typical swiss accessoire

One of the many old fountains in the Altstadt

My favourite shop. Sehr klischeemäßig aber I love it. I would have moved in right away. Despite the whole shop is a swiss cliché. Heidi lives here, I'm sure. 

Breakfast with Migros milk. They have awesome product designs. And I like the swiss brown cows.
We also had homemade marmelade and black currant jam. 

Mimi, the Monstercat. One of three.

Altstadt von Zug. My aunt lives between Zug and Zürich.

:: Red

Source: old-chum.com via Anja on Pinterest

An outstanding Lebenswerk, work of life.  

:: Feeling red

Christmas is the only season when I like red. So part of my unregelmäßiger Adventskalender I will post some pictures with red subjects. 

find it here

This one I found via this astonishing, surprising and thouroughly inspiring website Old Chum.
I chose this one because I think native americans or people of the FIrst Nation look absolutely beautiful. And I stole a very similar Armreif from my mother she bought almost  25 years ago at Arizona. Also freakish: the text on the pic.  Are native americans passionate VW drivers?

:: Musical crush

Just returned from Zürich, visiting family and getting in the christmas feeling.
While being in the air, my favourite tv channel arte aired a Bryn Terfel special. 
Will be also repeated on 9 Dec at 6:00 a.m.
Perfect music for my  Morgengymnastik. 

:: Gift wrapping

On my weekly tour to my thrift store, my Haus und Hof Trödelladen, I came across this gehäkelte Deckchen, crocheted doily. A big basket full of them.
So this gift wrapping idea came to my mind as I like to recycle and to impress with artisan wrapped presents. 
You can also use old hankies. Think Furoshiki. 

This looks very elegant with the lavish ribbon and its muted beige colour. 

:: Das erste Adventskalendertürchen

Dies ist der erste Beitrag zu meinem ersten unregelmäßigen Adventskalender. 
Die Ladies over at Sister Mag does it better. So don't forget to check. 

:: Goodbye analogue

Hello digital.
As a frugal electronic user - I abandoned my mobile for a Seniorenhandy,a mobile with big buttons and only few functions: telephone and SMS. No camera but a flashlight - I'm now introducing myself to Pinterest. I feel like an Analphabet, a illiterate. 

:: Last Minute Christmas Shopping in Hannover

Alle, die am Marktwochenende an meinen Stand kommen, erhalten eine kleine Überraschung. Parole handgemacht! 
Looking forward to see a lot of people and to meet inspirational craftitas! 

:: Weihnachtslektüre

Open publication - Free publishing - More backen

:: Pictures make the real home

I can live without a lot things when I move to a new flat. But it's hard to live without pictures. 

And without books. 

So last week I posted some pictures throughout the new walls. 

My entrance hall

:: Berlin to see and not to see

Last friday I went to a surprisingly trip to Berlin. I won a giftwrapping workshop at decor8 with Holly at Barcomi's. 
Apart from meeting crafty and inspirational ladies the winners also received a giftcard from Anthropology which set up a pop up shop at Barcomi's to celebrate their shipping to Germany: Spend 75 Euro and you will get free shipping!
On friday and saturday I rushed across Berlin Mitte to do some essential shopping: 
R.S.V.P. for cards and washi tape,
Mamecha for one of a kind Matcha Latte, 
COS ,
Galerie Lafayette to check the new Miller Harris fragrance, 
Dussmann for book and CD browsing.


Ps: What I don't like about Mitte are the tourists. And where are all the adults? Or is Mitte restricted to under 30s and Abiturklassen?

On saturday after a breakfast at Sarah Wiener at Hamburger Bahnhof with friends rush shopping at  
Modulor,
Hasir, (Take away) 
and at a lovely papeterie who specializes on recycling paper good at Oranienstrasse. 
There I got stuck at a demo.
Just a normal day at Berlin.
Things I didn't have time to: 
Helmholtzplatz shops like my favourites Victoria met Albert and,
Pomeranza and Goldhahn und Samson,
Veganz, a vegan supermarket,
KADEWE for the christmas window,
and a lovely small shop at Rykestrasse which sells scandinavian second hand Möbel and japanese zakka. Sorry, can't remember the name. It's near No Fire no Glory.  

:: The Baking Session

Just right on time for the traditional first advents teatime.


This time I made the Stollen with Quark, low fat cream cheese. It remains moisty and taste fresh with the candied oranges and lemons. 

:: Heavy duty adventing

Keine Adventsbackerei ohne das obligatorische Brigitte Plätzchen Heft. Growing up with Brigitte there's no better source for delicious and extraordinary Adventsplätzchen.
Today is the first of Advent, der 1. Advent - but no cookies! Somehow I forget. 
So later on there I will be making Stollen, a german classic. 

Last week I did some last minute decoration in my kitchen. It's the place we gather for everything: cooking, interneting, writing, crafting, reading and living. Although it's small we are Küchenhocker. Back in Berlin we had a big Wohnküche with a sofa and were seriously thinking of letting our living room. In Berlin hatten wir eine großartige Wohnküche, das berühmte Berliner Zimmer. Komplett mit Esstisch und Sofa. Und haben ernsthaft überlegt, ob wir nicht das Wohnzimmer und das Arbeitszimmer untervermieten sollen. Oder ein Bed and Breakfast aufmachen. 

:: Adventscalendar from Sister Mag

http://www.sister-mag.com/advent.html

Essential reading www.sister-mag.com
I met the lovely founder Toni at the crafting event with Holly Becker, Barcomi's and AnthropIogie  I won over at decor8. BTW, Holly has some pictures on her blog.


Sister mag is a collaboration of two sisters and is much more than "not another digital mag":


"With SISTER we want to reach a group which has been neglected by traditional publishing houses and editorial departments: the lot of up-and-coming, well-educated, very active and independent women, which are enthusiastic for the digital world and want to be presented new and exciting content in a visually appealing way." (Sister Mag)


Can't wait to to read it. I also recommend their blog. 

:: Aus meiner Werkstatt

From my workshop. New bird brooches. 

Now you can put a bird on everything.

:: Hardcore recycling

How to Upcycle Tea Bag Notebooks from zaharamh on Vimeo.

:: Last minute christmas decoration

I started sweating as I took a closer look at the calendar: am Sonntag ist 1. Advent. Irgendwie hab ich das verdrängt.


Meine Lieblings-Allzweck-Kreativ-Waffe: Papier. Neben Vintage Taschentücher. Or anything I find at a thriftstore. For decorations I like to recycle, reuse or made by hand.  


Last year I did these paper snowflakes as well, only in a slightly different pattern. Here is a simple and very 50s approach. 

Foto: philuko