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This year, I have been drawn to a more calm and neutral, yet festive style of decorating for the holidays, without braking the budget. As a matter of fact, I am inclined to do a lot of DIYs like making a white pom-pom wreath, painting plain wooden houses white, making stockings out of worn sweaters, spray-painting bottle brushes to turn into trees, and adding lots of greenery as well as golden accents to disperse the magic across those whites, beiges and greys.

                                      Wreat DIY                         Stocking DIY                             Trees DIY

My inspiration boards

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How about you? What is your Christmas decorating style?

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Forest bathing or Shinrin-Yoku is a therapy that was developed in Japan during the 1980s, becoming a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. It literally means “taking in” the forest pulse or atmosphere during a leisurely walk.

Practicing forest bathing has proved to be beneficial for both mental and physical health. It reduces stress, anger, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness and improves concentration, mood, happiness, it frees up and boosts creativity, improves the immune system and accelerates recovery from illness.

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There are steps to how effectively take a forest bath, which can be summarized into this:

When going to a forest, leave all distractors aside (phones, cameras) and try to slowly walk and stop, soaking up the “tranquility” of the forest, find a comfortable place to sit and concentrate on the sounds and noises it lets out (rustling of leaves, the sound of the breeze through the trees, the chirping of birds). Try to blank out the stress of everyday life and focus on your present state enveloped in nature.

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What once was a busy day for you, filled with work meetings, brunches, drinks and dinners with friends and family, turned out to be a very dim and dull, quiet time at home due to the corona virus hurling itself upon the world. Well, it doesn't have to be that way. 

As social distancing became required and prescribed these days what we can do being stuck at home is dedicate more time to ourselves to nourish and improve both our body and soul, our physical and mental health. Think of social distancing as a wonderful opportunity to explore new skills and better existing ones.  

To preserve and maintain the sense of normalcy, organize and plan out your day so you stay focused and active. 

* Try a new healthy meal. 

Pinterest is swamped with numerous tempting ideas.

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* Pamper your body.

Make yourself a luxurious bath and savour that time relaxing. Whip up  home-made body butter or a deodorant.

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* Exercise

Not being able to visit the gym doesn't mean you have to drop the exercise routine. You can find free online fitness/yoga classes to maintain your physical condition. 

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*Read books.

Those you've bought, but still didn't find time to read.

Also, there are online libraries that have offered e-books for free during the corona virus quarantine. Project Gutenberg for example has a ton of books for free. There are also sites like the OnlineBook Club that offers books for free download and even pays you for the reviews.

*Watch a film.

Catch up on new releases or your favourite shows and series.

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* Go on a free virtual museum tour.

Many museums have joined in offering their tours for free in this grim time. 

* Call your family and friends. 

Staying in touch will help you feel more connected, social, healthier and engaged. It releases you from stress and anxiety, wards off depression and strengthens ties and relationships.  

* Learn a new skill. 

It might be a craft skill or professional skills training. 

*Spring-clean & de-clutter your home.

Home clutter can harbor pollutants, lead to infections and result in unhygienic spaces. So roll-up your sleeves and free your home. Besides getting rid of ellergens, de-cluttering also reduces stress and anxiety, improves your sleep and boosts creativity. And it is much easier to clean and tidy up, once the place is cleared. 

Most important - stay positive and stay safe!

In the past several decades, fast consumerism has had a devouring and devastating effect in fashion, overflowing landfills to the brim. Being a sworn refashionist with a green mind and a huge penchant for vintage, I always love to step back and give new life to any clothes worth saving and prologn their wearable age. 

I am proud to say I have a closet filled with vintage clothes from both my grandmas and mom, which with a little twist and a pinch of a creative genius have turned into heirloom pieces. So, today I am sharing several ideas how you can turn old coats and jackets into unique art pieces. The following show the work of many talented people that used fabric, lace and embroidery floss to applique and embroider old coats and jackets into wondrous creations. All due credits are given in my pinterest board here. Check it out for even more seducing and enchanting ideas. 

Our daughter Eva was born on St.Valentine's Day and in my country on that day we also celebrate St. Tryphon, the patron saint of wine. So love and wine celebrated in one and the same day! Can you imagine anything better?

Understandably, we do make a big deal out of the day and although Eva is turning 19, I still like to make small surprises for her to mark her birthday.

This year I decided on an early birthday sweet board. That is SWEET in the literal sense of the word. 

I bought sweets and candies, with bars and marshmallows, toffees and gummy bears, the whole lot that  I thought would work / match well together, but I didn't want to have all pinks or reds. I wanted the board a little bit on the motley side, mostly to make it more joyful and also to shy away the darkness of the chocolates, ot at least subdue their impact on the appearance of the board.  

I've also made heart, oval and shell shaped chocolate drops sprinkled with crushed mint sticks, which are our personal favourites.

I use plastic trays that come inside a chocolate box - only those that are a bit harder and stronger. I melt chocolate and then just pour it out into these "molds". These will be tasted on the actual day :)

Wishing you a wonderful St.Valentine's Day!

Christmas is all about celebrating love and life.  

It is about having your family close to you and enjoy time together, creating new memories and reminiscing old ones.

The setting you want to create to enhance these moments of joy, love and tranquil bonding depends on your aesthetics, style and trends in decorating that appeal to you.  

I have settled for a warm palette of pastels, dust pink, beige, white and gold being dominant - adding a soft but immensely powerful festive feel. 

For a cozy setting you need lots of fluffy pillows and chunky knit blankets on your sofa, a coffee table filled with lots of homemade cookies and mugs filled with rich marshmallowed hot chocolate, a shiny Christmas tree with presents for your dearests, stockings hung onto your mantelpiece and candles or Christmas lights all around the room to enhance the festive scene and make it merrier and warmer. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

{The credits to all images I used in this post can be found here}

I am always impressed with wonderful ideas creative and talented people share. Every Christmas, our all-time favourite cafe impressively dresses their Christmas tree and it wouldn't be anything unusual if the tree wasn't a dressmaker's dummy. 

Quite taken by it, I explored the internet to see if / what others have done and I am bedazzled with  my search.

{All images were taken from pinterest using the Dressmaker's Dummy Christmas Tree}. 

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Although nature prepares itself for a long wintery sleep, still it is so rich and abundant in fruits you can use to uniquely decorate your home for fall. The range is wide and colorful. 

Pumpkins 

Regardless the shape and structure they come in, they are the perfect eye-catch. The best thing - you can eat them in the end. Unless they are velvet. 

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Chestnuts & Leaves

Chestnuts are a real gift. You can put wild chestnuts in your closet to prevent moths and they are known for repelling spiders and many other insects. Once nice idea I picked from the internet is doodling on them with a white marker to turn them into a unique, rustic decor. 

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Acorns & Pinecones 

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It is amazing what one can make with these. Whether used as are or  with a little splash of color added - they are certainly going to bring a special autumnal feel to your home.

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When autumnal nights bring a gentle chill, it is time to get creative in styling a warm and layered look. Cue socks and tights! The wonderful world of hosiery offers a wide variety for every style: chunky knit socks - those you can wear with  different kind of boots and shoes, delicate and soft ones over leggings or tights, then  long-over the knees ones as a striking and effective segment to a short skirt or dress.

If you are a tights person, well the designers have gone beyond any possible imagination in creating the most fascinating pieces, from posh to fairy-tales inspired!

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This year has been quite an avant-garde in terms of crochet trends in clothing.  And they could not be more awe-inspiring and mind boggling. Starting from creating real crochet weavings, textile pieces insertion, adding tassels and loops,  to mixing and matching stitches and yarns. 

What I am impressed most and would love to try and incorporate in my work is the mixture of different patterns so as to create different textures and I must admit making small  weavings also seems to be an interesting and tempting choice. 

All the images are taken from Pinterest via the crochet trend search.

The sole word "summer" rings with freshness and shining splendour. It smells of honeysuckles, watermelons  and the sea.

As a season filled with amazing sunrises and magical sunsets, splashes of colors and wafts of magical scents, it is going to be loved and caressed with long flowing dresses and skirts, embroidered blouses, crochet crop tops adorned with gorgeous straw hats and bags and unique statement jewelry. 

What is your summer like? 

All relevant credits  of these images  on my pinterest.

If you want to turn your home a cozy bohemian haven infused with life and color, you don't need to break the budget. You need a lot of creativity and a good run for your fantasy and imagination. The bohemian aesthetic embraces the relaxed, carefree and adventurous spirit which you can introduce by adding simple touches to your home. 

When it comes to colors there are no rules. Work with colors and patterns that would be interesting accents and details, ones that would bring freshness and interest in the room. Think of rugs with oriental feel, wicker baskets and raggedy faux fur covers and woven throws.

Decorative pillows give a nice boho feel and warmth to a room. 

Find a vintage dresser and give it a facelift.  

 Love your walls. Give them baskets, floral wreaths and eye-catching hangings.

Find good plain pottery and doodle and draw to your heart's content to give your kitchen a unique touch. 

 Add lots of house plants and flowers to top everything off. 

The difference you will make with these simple touches would be amazing!

All the respective links to the used images in this post are given here.

Have you purged your closet yet? 

With the temps rising up, this is the time to take all the spring clothes out and do a little capsule downsizing. 

To be honest, I am not a fervent fashionista, but I do want to know what is trendy in fashion and if I like something particular that truly fits my style and I would be able to combine it with many pieces and actually use it for several years, then I include it into my capsule. 

As a crochet designer, my first pick would be the crocheted tops and sweaters. One can never go wrong with these - they are perfect with plain skirts, trousers and jeans. 

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Trends are tilting towards a slightly boyish styles, shouting shorts at the top of the lungs, and not any kind of shorts mind you - they are called sensible shorts. Knee length and formal looking. If you are a shorts person, do let them into your wardrobe. 

Then there are the rushes and the ruffles accompanied with bows, and personally, I am quite attached to ruffles because I love the feminine touch and flow they give to fabric. So a ruffled dress or a shirt would be the right thing. 

As far as colors are concerned, beside coral as the Pantone's color of the year, beige and other earthen colors are going to mark this spring. Think of trousers and skirts in these colors that will transition well into summer.   

What's the most important thing you should always keep in mind while re-arranging, de-stashing and purging your closet? A cohesive and practical wardrobe that reflects your personal, unique style.