December days and seasonal rituals
The cold December days have arrived and the city started to feel Christmassy. In our home we only start decorating the week before Christmas, but still this month is dedicated to slow moments, full of activities and creativity. I am a nester by nature and although I don't enjoy cold weather that much, I don't mind staying inside and wrapping up in warm blankets, planning all sorts of small activities for all of us and spending cosy times indoors, especially now that there is no snow outside, just freezing cold. In December we don't rush over presents and holiday preparations. Because gift-giving should only bring you joy and not stressful anxiety, and this month should be about cheer and not work or long hours spent in traffic after looking for the perfect Christmas tree. There is this rush urgency for completing everything before the holidays, right?! Actually we try to limit our shopping trips to the minimum because it's so crowded and bustling everywhere that it ruins any festive atmosphere. So we stay home and although we're also busy getting everything ready for Christmas, the days are filled with fun activities. Simple and intentional living, trying to enjoy every activity on our to-do list and make room for small gesture of kindness every day. So instead of focusing on getting everything done, we try to savour each activity from gift wrapping to meal prepping. Here is our list of favorite December moments and a few links with inspiring ideas: Creating a natural seasonal wreath. A big green installation in the living room and the smell of fresh pine all over the house. You can find a nice tutorial for a DIY wreath on Treasures and Travel .
A different Advent calendar every year. I always try to come up with a new way to pack small surprises for the Advent calendar. Its not really a tradition in Eastern Europe, but we decided to start celebrating Advent in our home few years back, as a way of adding a little nice moment to the cold December days, before Christmas arrives. And preparing the calendar its also a beautiful way of starting this festive season and a cute activity for the family. Since I don't support consumerism and buying plastic toys or objects that we don't need, the Advent calendar usually containd homemade cookies, wooden building blocks or small love notes. There are a lot of ideas for a DIY calendar on Pinterest and I saved some of them on our Winter board, so go check it out.
Homemade decorations. For the long winter evenings at home. Dried orange garlands or small gingerbread houses, they are fun to make and have an irresistible smell. Photo and recipe on A daily something.
Warm drinks and chuncky socks.
Seriously, we have a drawer of winter socks in the house, and they're all warm and chuncky, with a seasonal pattern and usually made of wool. You can find the best ones on thefuturekept.com .
Gift wrapping and festive table setting. I spend my mornings with a cup of fresh brewed coffee, scrolling the internet for new ideas on festive table setting. Le sac en papier already has a big stock of wrapping paper and the list of presents it's almost finished. Small winter pleasures.
Roadtrips and Holiday Markets. We try to leave the city and go for a short escape on the countryside every time we have the occasion. Some mulled wine at the grandparents' house, building snowmen in the backyard or eating gingerbread at a Holiday Market. You can find some lovely and inspiring winter photos on mycosyretreat.com.
xx happy December xx