Christmas Gift Wrapping, Merry Christmas!

I usually (secretly) love Christmas, but for the last two years it seemed to come around so fast I barely had time to get into the spirit of things! But this year, just in time I found my festiveness and have really enjoyed preparing for Christmas day. Right now I can smell the gingerbread cookies I'm baking, I have last minute Christmas cards and stickers next to me, our Christmas tree and lights look glorious, and I put the last of my presents under the tree this morning. 

I had so much fun wrapping this year. I picked a theme and just really went with it after finding this gorgeous teal, red and white wrapping paper set at Typo. One paper is a teal background with adorable owls wearing hats and scarves, one is a slightly darker/bluer teal with white snowflakes and hedgehogs and deer, and the last is a simple polka dot in matching colours. What a gorgeous combination! I already had some plain bright red wrapping paper, white and red washi tape, teal washi tape, and these cute mini Christmas cards from the supermarket which matched in colour! I also got some various red and white ribbons to finish it off.

I made these bow decorations with off-cuts of the wrapping paper. They are super easy to make - just cut a rectangle to whatever size you'd like, fold in a concertina back and forth to the end, and then secure the middle with tape and fan out both ends to make it look pretty. You can secure them with tape or tie them on with ribbon. I first heard of this idea a long time ago from the wonderful Hello Sandwich, go check out her amazing wrapping ideas.

I can't believe how well these mini Christmas cards matched the wrapping theme! What a happy fluke. 

Blue wrapping with a big red paper bow...

Or with a white ribbon and polar bear gift card...

Or with a matching blue paper bow as well as white satin ribbon!

Contrast this simple paper with a bright red paper bow...

Or decorate with a thick red ribbon...

Or put both together for a big pop of colour!

For a different set of presents, I also re-used this old gift bag, alongside some of last year's wrapping paper, and a piece of a clear Christmas wrapping. I put the clear bow together with some gold and white striped washi tape, which I also used to wrap the present. It definitely jazzed up some pretty ordinary wrapping paper, and I'm always for re-using and up-cyling things where you can!

 I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas has a fantastic day, and happy holiday season to everyone! My favourite things about Christmas are the pretty lights everywhere, and all the gorgeous decorations, the food, and of course giving gifts. I'll be seeing family tomorrow, eating a huge spread of delicious food, and having a swim. Can't wait! I'm so happy to have a few extra days off. I had better go and ice these gingerbread cookies... ;) Merry Christmas!

Nina xo

Terrarium, glasshouse

Hello! Life has still been super busy, and time has been flying by as usual! But I wanted to finally share these with you. I bought the little glasshouse and tiny fern for my Mum for Mother's Day, and we made these little 'terrariums' together! Hers is on the right, mine on the left.

I bought her some sea urchins to decorate inside, and I foraged some moss-covered rocks for us as well. Mum and I both love moss! 

Mum can't put indoor plants on her desk usually, because our cat Finn loves to play with them and knock them over or pull the plants out of their soil! So I thought the glass house was a cool idea.

My boyfriend brought home some little rocks too which Mum used as a base to set up her tiny cute garden.

I just bought a really cheap small fishbowl style glass bowl for my own. I just want moss in mine, so I've put in some soil and a couple of moss covered rocks. Plus a sea urchin to brighten it up a bit while I grow the moss!

I'm hoping to grow the moss across the top of the soil and have a little moss garden! There must have been some little seeds in the soil I used, and there have been some little green sprout popping up. Can you see them on the right there? I wonder what they are and if they will grow? We'll see!

Well wish me luck on my moss-growing adventure! Until next time...

Nina x

New

I finally got myself a little 'mail centre' type tray organiser. It's a gorgeous teal colour and has two trays or shelves. I'm going to use one for incoming and one for outgoing mail/documents. I also bought this super cute gold skull ornament!

I've been replying to some of my recent letters today. I love mail and pen palling so much, and hopefully this will help keep track of what I need to reply to!

The skull has little diamond eyes which I think is cool. Right now I'm using it as a paperweight, but it also has space in the top for a tea light candle!

I have it on top of my stack of drawers rather than my desk, which frees up desk space. I can't stand clutter on my desk when I'm trying to create something or write a letter. I got both the tray organiser and the skull from Daiso, where I work, so they were cheap too!

P.S. Currently reading Peppermint magazine! ;)

Little Pink Cactus xo

Drawings + Kitty

Here are some recent doodles of mine! I'm working toward getting some simple cute designs together to print on stationery, like note cards, maybe note books, etc. What do you think?

While I was taking photos of my drawings, along came my cat Finn...

And he ended up just sitting right on top of my sketch book, of course! 

From Little Pink Cactus and Finn xo

DIY Painted Pot

On the weekend I got some aloe vera plants from our local community garden. I bought a new pot and decided to paint some simple white polka dots on it to make it a bit more interesting. Mum potted hers in the green pot.

I've always been a big fan of cacti and succulents and I love that they are so popular right now!

To paint this it was very simple. I just took the pot (while it was still empty!) wiped it clean and used a small paintbrush and some acrylic white paint to paint on the dots while I rotated the pot. I did a couple of coats and it took me about 5 minutes. I don't mind that my dots are a bit messy! Of course you could do any design you like - stripes, dots, a face, lettering, zig zags, triangles, diamonds. And of course you could use any colour. I'd like to use some blackboard paint on a pot sometime!

On a side not, I love how the sun has sun-bleached our citronella candle into this pretty pale pastel mint colour. It was bright green!

Little Pink Cactus xo