handmade advent wreath

Advent wreaths are tradition here in Germany and are usually very colorful and most of all green. I posted a glimpse of the one my mom gave us last year here. The idea is to light a candle each sunday before christmas for 4 weeks, so when the fourth candle is lit it will be christmas.
This year I wanted to make our own advent wreath and make it very simple and elegant and scandinavian inspired. I put a lot of thought into it (my work colleagues will tell you I spent all lunch breaks for weeks pondering on the colors and decorations of this wreath) and in the end nearly everything about it is DIY.

I first thought of buying a wooden ring, but couldn’t find one I liked, so I made my own using willow twigs collected in the woods.
It’s easier than it looks and secured with wire holds up really well.

Next were the ornaments. I knew I wanted beeswax candles, so stitched red felt ornaments sounded right and I was itching to do a bit of handstitching anyway.



The candle holders were only available in silver and gold, so we (meaning the boyfriend) simply spraypainted them white.

It turned out just the way I hoped and I love our handmade wreath which we will be using for years!

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the weeks before christmas

Making time to put up some simple and natural decorations.

I loved these rosemary wreaths on Pinterest and they were very easy to make. We had everything we needed for them on hand, even using up some thin wire that came with frames we bought from Ikea ages ago.


Love this page with different recipes for room fresheners. We made a pot with oranges, cloves, cinnamon and ginger and it really does make a room smell heavenly.


My mom gave us this huge advent wreath she bought at a charity event. I think these wreaths are unique to Germany. They have four candles, one for each of the four advent sundays before christmas, so we get to light one more candle each week. We don’t usually have this because of the cats but so far they have been very good about not eating it. Mind you, the twinkly lights didn’t last more than a weekend before they took them down.

It snowed all day yesterday so outside our windows it’s winter wonderland right now. I’m torn between loving it and worrying because I don’t like driving in snow and I have a photoshoot tomorrow. The cats are pretty unsure about it as well.

getting into the spirit

With the christmas markets already open and cookie baking just a weekend or two away we’re getting excited about christmas around here.

I love getting to the main station after work and smell roasted almonds and other goodies. We’ve been doing some minimal decorating around here (which the cats took down again during the night naturally). Since I gave pretty much all our old decorations away during the pre- and post-moving decluttering frenzy we’re keeping it simple. A couple of twinkly lights, clove-covered oranges and lots of beeswax candles.

Somehow before christmas it all gets a bit rushed, scheduling christmas market trips and dinners with friends and family and several last minute photoshoots. Add that I’m working on an idea for 2012 which I’m super excited about but can’t really say more on right now. I’m spending every free minute (not many unfortunately) on research and planning and I hope to be able to let you all know more some time next year 🙂

Until then I’ll try to get some nice christmas market shots for you all in December, so I don’t have to make do with house cat and barn cat photos for all posts until christmas.
Oh, and I know you’re all waiting for pictures of our new apartment and they’re coming, promise! We’re waiting for some rugs we ordered and need to find and make a couple of things before the rooms are all “done” and I can show them off 🙂