Regular readers will know I've been plotting and planning for Christmas since April. Several reasons for doing this, spreading the cost being one, but another reason was because I want to change our theme from 'pink' to 'vintage', and that takes a bit of thinking about and preparing for. It's been years since I bought new decorations for the tree, I've really enjoyed sourcing new ones that look old! I thought I'd share how my Christmas plans are starting to shape up.Earlier this week I bought a little stash of goodies from [Cox & Cox]. I love this site, and I promise I'm not on commission for advertising them like this - but I certainly should be!
These tiny decorations are just gorgeous. The box contains 24, in different colours and shapes. I won't use the red or orange on our main tree, but I'm sure I can find a home for them in a less obvious place. They are beautiful, and have a bashed up appearance that makes them look as if they've been handed down through the family.
They will work so well with the mercurised baubles I bought earlier. The colours that will be used are a turquoise blue, purple, silver and a very vintagey looking greeny-yellow. I bought some gorgeous chandelier drop decorations too, but I took the most rubbishy photo of them. If I can get a better one I'll show them another time. I might use them as light prisms at a window instead of on the tree, as they are so pretty I'd like to see them all year round. These tree decorations are destined for different uses too.
Beautiful, aren't they? I plan to convert one into a brooch. I always pin brooches or velvet roses onto the front my hats, a little crown sparkling on my hat would look fab. They are just far too nice to use as tree decs. The other one will be used in a little project I have planned for this week. When the project is complete I'll show it here. These crowns were half the original price - total bargain! (* word of warning. Place orders early with C&C, they tend to sell out quickly*)Gift wrap. I want the vintage look to continue over to wrapping presents. I adore the crunchy sound of tissue paper, so that's what I'm using this year. Cox & Cox sell a hefty batch of coloured tissue at a very good price. I really like all the colours, but I plan to use only the cream, brown and pink as outer wrapping. The blue and purple will work well as padding in boxes and bags. I could not resist these spools of ribbon. The only question is, will I be able to use them on the pressies? They look just superb on a shelf as objet d'art.
To use as labels, I ordered a stack of handmade place cards. I always find normal gift tags a bit of a pain to write on. They never seem to have enough room. These are a great size, and with a touch of jiggery pokery look like I've made them from scratch! 
I've started to decorate them. Punching a hole, then glueing on silver keys and crowns, then attaching ribbon. Simple but effective.
I've already got a few pressies stashed away, so I can start wrapping them soon. Presentation is so important. Proof that I am a totally sucked into pretty packaging was something I bought yesterday. These cakes found their way into my shopping trolley simply because of how they looked. Gorgeous pink card, with a vintage air. The name didn't do any harm either, any product called 'Mr Bunbury' deserves to be bought! Mr Bunbury ~ genius!
I'll hang on to the packaging, I'm sure I can use it for something else afterwards.During the week I was reminded of a mirror I had stashed away, so decided to dig it out and give it a makeover. Even though I had no idea where it would go, I wanted to get the paint out.
Before.
After ...
When I put the mirror on the bench to photograph it, I decided it would be perfect to stay there. I normally make a seasonal wreath to hang up behind the bench, but hadn't got round to making one yet. I like the idea of having a mirror there instead, I'm very into mirrors in the garden. I needed to drill a couple of holes through the frame so I could thread through ribbon and attach it to the fence. Sorry these photos are a bit dark, but I was doing this last night, and light was fading fast. 
The fairy lights aren't just for the photo, we have them up all year round. 