'Wiggle The Dirt'

These were the lovely gifts I received from my friend Debbie. I love ephemera and this little packet for 'Wiggs Cleanser' she brought back from America is wonderful. I love the caption "wiggles the dirt". 'Profitable Poultry' a little book from the 1920s was also a great gift as this year I have taken on 3 little hens.

The four legged animals had a lovely Christmas even if Ella, my mum's dog did take over Josh's bed.

My lovely girl spoilt me with some beautiful gifts, she knows exactly what I like.

At Christmas my lovely girl and I always do some baking together as usually I am so busy we never seem to find the time. This year we made the Waitrose Delia Smith Christmas cake and I can honestly say it is one of the best I have tasted. I did feed it rather generously with brandy though. My lovely girl iced it and did an amazing job.

We also made chocolate orange cup cakes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. These were delicious, my only tip would be to halve the amount of topping mixture as there is always too much.

We both love tiramisu so we had a go at making our own.We used the recipe from the BBC food website, it was the Katie and Giancarlo Caldessi recipe and it was delicious. It actually got better over the couple of days we stored it.

This is the lovely wreath my friend at work made for me. It s completely bio-degradable as it is made on a cardboard ring wrapped with twigs. This has lasted amazingly well considering I had it a week or so before Christmas.

I like all the lights at night at Christmas, we always put berry red lights on our bay tree.

Tea lights are so pretty in the evening as well as lovely scented candles.

A few days before Christmas my lovely girl and I had a night away in London. There is always new street art to be seen near our hotel in Hoxton. This was a wall I hadn't seen before.

Liberty looked wonderful as usual

There are always plenty of amazing lights and decorations to see.

This was the view outside Selfridges.

We found the beautiful Leadenhall market for the first time.

It had a wonderful vibrant atmosphere.

As a special treat we went to Kensington Palace Orangery for afternoon tea. A tranquil little oasis in the middle of the madness that is London at Christmas.

A nice cup of tea and delicious cake is definitely just what's needed after a hard day's shopping !

Christmas At The Corner House 2011

This Christmas has been lovely and quiet following a rather hectic lead up to the big day. The last couple of days have been spent relaxing in front of the tv, sleeping, eating and drinking.

Mr C painted his 'Christmas Twig' as decoration for the Vintage Fair just before Christmas. It came home with us and somehow stayed. Mr C used all of my most brightly coloured vintage glass baubles to decorate it and I think it looks lovely and cheerful.

My favourite vintage 1940s Disney decorations were brought out along with the vintage American Santa match box and vintage Steiff robin which was a charity shop find last year.

Vintage festive classroom prints were hung

and pretty vintage baubles displayed in old glass bowls.

I like my kitsch Cath Kidston reindeer decoration although Mr C is not so sure.

I love this gorgeous tin bought from Gail and her sister at our last fair. I really can't resist tins and seem to have them all over the house.

This is the fab vintage pop up book I bought last year.

The dogs joined in the festive fun.

I love the colours of this poinsettia Mr C bought me.

Yet another tin !

Little felt Cath Kidston dogs as well as the pretty candle my lovely girl bought me last year.

This year I stuck to pale colours on the tree and used all my crystal and vintage silvery and pale pink and blue vintage glass baubles.

The brighter colours looked great against the white branches of the 'twig'.

The lovely stocking I bought from Jo of Hesta Nesta last year was hung on the fireplace.

Mr C surprised me with this beautiful vintage book of dog drawings by an American artist. The quality of the paper and printing makes them look almost like the originals. The book was sold with the idea the prints could be removed for framing.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a relaxing break. I am off now for another slice of our home made christmas cake and another cup of coffee x

Northampton Christmas Vintage Fair

This Saturday is the Christmas Vintage Fair At St Matthews in Northampton. Mr C has been very busy with all the preparations, delivering flyers and putting up posters. I really hope all his hard work pays off and people brave the chilly weather on Saturday to join all the lovely sellers. There will certainly be a warm welcome inside as well as Lesley's lovely tea and home made cakes and hopefully a little bit of extra entertainment to add a Christmassy feel.

The fair is supporting Alfe's Cause a local childrens charity, by donating raffle prizes for their own fundraising event on Sunday evening.

Hopefully see some of you on Saturday.