Memories of Christmas ....

     Christmas is my favorite festival of the year and the celebrations always hold fond memories ... Every Christmas has been special and memorable so far and hope it remains the same for many more years to come... 

Browsing through my folder of photographs , I came across these snaps taken in the past few years  some taken during travel , some in shopping malls... etc., during the Christmas season..and I had to share them with you all .... Hope you find some Christmas decor inspirations from them ;-) ;-) ....

 

Decorations at the Taj, taken during New Year Eve Party, 2010.

 One of my most memorable Christmas times in Japan , 2008 ....

  At the Penguin Show, Sea Paradise , Japan.

 Christmas Trees in various colors .... at LandMark Tower, Japan.

@ China Town , Japan, Dec 2008.

Poinsettia stacked up in containers in the shape of a Christmas Tree @ Gora Garden, Hakone.

Wreaths and miniature trees for sale at a shop in Prince Pepe, Yokohama.

 

All Image Copyrights belong to Liven Things Up - Please do not re-use without permission.

I am linking this post to the Santa Stories blog party at Colours Dekor
& the Itz' Festival Time' 2011 party at  Liven Things Up.

DIY : Candle Centerpiece with flowers for Christmas .....

Hi  friends, How have you been ? Hope have put up the christmas tree and decked up your home for the festival season... !!!  I have already put up the tree - but there's lot more to be done with very little time left..Hope to complete everything in a day or two......  I promise to share the pictures soon... ;-) ;-) 

For this festival season, I tried out a simple floral centerpiece with  roses and greens - This is how the flower arrangement looked with a few more co-ordinating tea lights and some christmas ornaments simply strewn around. - It takes just 15-20 minutes to get everything done ;-) Hope you will try this out for christmas and let me know how it turned out ;-) ;-) ...!!

Materials Needed :
Flower of your choice - 3  or 4 ( I used roses / carnations)
Fillers  ( I have used white statice flowers, baby's breath and cypress tree leaves)
Floral Foam (Brick Shaped)
Plate - 1

Cut the floral foam lengthwise into half and soak it in water for 5 minutes. 

Place it on the plate.  

Cut the stem of the carnations

( approx equal to the width of the foam) and place them 

at the corners as shown above. - Leave space for the candle at the centre. 

Place the fillers (White statice flowers) horizontally at the edges.  

  Now add the cypress leaves at the edges, under the statice flowers. Cover the remaining space completely with filler of your choice - I have used baby's breath flower here.

Cover the sides of the foam with a ribbon - Pin it on the edges.

Place the candle at the center - Cover the left over space with baby's breath flowers .

Now here's the completed arrangement ....!!
To check my previous year Christmas posts click here and 
don't forget to link in your christmas posts to the Itz' Festival Time blog party here .

I am linking this post to the following blog parties :

Santa Stories at Colours Dekor

Itz' Festival  Time'2011 at Liven Things Up

Deck the Halls Friday at Tinsel & Company
TableTop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Christmas Party at Holiday Haven
Rednesday at It's a very Cherry World

D'Hut - The treasure house of World Handicrafts .....

     D'Hut is a store on the ECR Road, Chennai that sells a wide variety of handicrafts sourced from all over the world. Run by young couple, Neethirajan and Reshuma who are passionate about art , this shop is an one stop destination for buying  hand crafted items. What looks like a quaint little shop from the outside is actually a two-storage treasure house of hand made products and as you enter the shop, you will soon be spell bound by the amazing range of items they have to offer. The store was initially started  to exhibit African masks and now has various handmade artifacts from Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, USA, Indonesia, Thailand, China, SriLanka and many more countries which include mirrors, wall hangings, figurines, gift items, candle holders etc.,

     This is what Neethirajan says about his shop ... " D'Hut basically has collections of handicrafts from all over the world, especially African masks. It was an outcome of my personal collection when i sailed to the African sub-continent as a marine engineer. The beauty and uniqueness of these masks made me a compulsive buyer till my collection could not fit in the house any more. The collections slowly began to include artifacts from Iran, Papua New Guinea, South America and other countries. 

It was then that my wife and I decided to exhibit them in a shop which we later named D'Hut  keeping in mind the nature of origin of the items. We were pleasantly surprised to see that  many more people enjoyed and shared our appreciation of these artifacts. As a shop we also took into account the likings and preferences of our customers. And so we now also have a variety of things from Java, Indonesia, Thailand, Srilanka and of course India.

We  are now working upon adding more rare and interesting things to the collection. And of course when one piece sells I am able to keep my passion for buying them alive by replacing it with another piece.
We hope this helps in preventing the cultural art of different countries from disappearing and can be enjoyed and appreciated by our future generations."

 

     

All Image Copyrights belong to Liven Things Up - Please do not re-use without permission.

The items that we purchased for our home from D'Hut have become a favorite among our family members and the best thing that I like about this shop is the variety of items they have to offer, the customer service the and of course the "affordable prices ".  So if you ever visit Chennai, don't miss out this shop - It's a great place to shop both Indian and world handicrafts at reasonable prices - And don't forget to ask them to show their two-floored storage house too ....!!

I am linking this post to the blog party :  "My favorite Things " at Colours Dekor.