It's Elf Month!

This month many Christmas bloggers are celebrating Santa's special friends, the Elves!

There are so many ways you can invite these sweet little magical helpers into your  Christmas home...the possibilities are endless!


You could make Martha Stewart's pinecone elves!

These wooden dolly clothes peg elves are so cute and they are easy to make too!

Maybe you could bake a big batch of elves snickerdoodle cookies!

Or you could make some Happy Elf Cookies!

Family Fun has a great idea-you can make this cute Santa and Elf Shelf for your mittens or hats!

My favourite elf idea is wonderful if you have small children but it would be fun for older kids too...

Meet The Elf on the Shelf!

The Elf on the Shelf is a little elf who comes straight from the North Pole! The "official" Elf on the Shelf  (or any other elf!)  arrives at your home early in the Christmas season to spend the holidays with your family.

Each night the Elf on a Shelf returns to the North Pole, while your children are sleeping, to report to Santa regarding their behavior. The next morning, after the children wake up, they will magically find the elf back from the North Pole, resting in a different spot - in the pantry, in the bathroom, wherever. 

Click here for 10 brilliant ideas on what your magic elf might get up to each night while the kids are sleeping!

The Elf on the Shelf site is full of fun ideas and games that your kids will love!

I couldn't publish a post about elves without including something about the most famous elf of all! I hope you enjoy this short clip from one of my favourite movies, Elf, starring Will Ferrell. 


Buddy will always be my very favourite elf!



Thank you for visiting me today and Happy Rudolph Day to my Christmassy friends! To see more Elf Magic and learn more about Elves be sure to visit these sites:


Rudolph Day 
Magical Holiday Home
Enter with a Christmas Heart
What Makes Me Happy


Thank you also to the following sweet ladies who are hosting these great linky parties:

Michael Lee, Cindy, Jen and Holly! 


Finally, I am linking up with Tinsel and Company's weekly 
Deck the Halls party-thanks for having me!

Blessings and best wishes to you all dear friends,
*Natasha*

Dreaming of a White Christmas!

As my Northern hemisphere friends are sweltering in the summer heat, we in the Southern Hemisphere have  been experiencing very cold and wet wintry weather, especially here in Brisbane where we have had about 75mm or 3 inches of rain since 9am yesterday, the the highest for August (in Brisbane) for over 120 years.


Some people might be complaining about the rain but I think it's the perfect weather to be dreaming about a cold and White Christmas!

I love the use of use of mirrored surfaces and crystal chandeliers to add extra sparkle to the rooms; look at the pretty crystal drops, glass balls, and clear lights on the tree!

Even the bedrooms are dressed in holiday style!

Images above all from Country Living

Since a Down Under Christmas is alway HOT, I love all of these ideas! I am definitely going to think about decorating with a coastal twist this year!

What a great way way to turn our summer beach treasures into Christmas decorations! 

I love this Christmas tree of cut branches adorned with white and silver ornaments.

All beachy images from Coastal Living.

I can see that Christmas at our place is going to very White indeed!

Thanks for visiting today and thank you to Kathleen for hosting White Wednesday and Maryann who is hosting a White Christmas Party.

Blessings and best wishes,

Natasha.


May your days be merry and bright 

And may all your Christmases be white!

Christmas in July...A few of my favourite things!

I am sorry if anyone has already seen this post before but I thought that since I now have a Christmas blog I might re-post our Christmas in July pictures from our annual Christmas in July luncheon! (Please click here if you would like to read  where I talk about the origins of Christmas in July)

We had a wonderful time eating lots of my favourite Christmas foods like fruit mince pies, roasted chicken and turkey and cranberry sauce, mulled wine and we even enjoyed Brussels sprouts! It was a great afternoon!

A few of my favourite Christmas things: family, food and fun!

I hope you enjoy this little movie I made of our Christmas luncheon. In the background you might recognize the beautiful  Troika or "Sleigh Ride" music from Lieutenant Kije by Sergei Prokofiev. 



Christmas in July from N M on Vimeo.


Joining in with 

Holiday Haven's Christmas in July party

Thanks for having me!

Blessings and best wishes,
Natasha.

Christmas Banners

Thinking about decorations for Christmas 2010? How about making some Christmas banners!

Instructions on how to make this cute banner can be found here.

Creative Journeys has a cute banner to make too.

Look at these amazing ideas! Click here for more banner ideas from Katie Bee Creative.

Scrapper Girl has a great idea-she uses paper plates to make a Christmas banner!

If making a banner isn't your thing maybe you could find a fun banner to dress up your blog!

These fun countdown banners can be found here

Or you can these widgets here

And this banner can be found here

I love Christmas banners!

Linking with Tinsel and Company

Blessings and best wishes,

Natasha.