Handmade Holidays

Paper stars are versatile as well as beautiful holiday decorations, looking good in any size, in any colour and anywhere you care to hang them. These ones are ready made from House Doctor, but you can easily make your own—check out this YouTube tutorial to get started.

(photo: house doctor via pinterest)

Handmade Holidays

Love this idea for low key holiday decorating—mini trees in a row. These ones are from House Doctor, but it's definitely a craft project you could do yourself.

(via bolig)

Weekend

Happy holiday weekend! And a busy weekend for many of us, with Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa all happening close together this year. May it be a happy one for you, filled with friends, family, good food and good cheer.

(photo: house doctor)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

An Attic Loft
Tour a polished modern loft in a former attic. Love all those interesting wall angles.

Nigella Lawson's Seasonal Soundbites
Three podcasts by Nigella Lawson in celebration of Christmas and festive cooking, covering everything from decorating to turkey sandwiches. Inspiring holiday listening.

Miniature Mouse Café and Nut Shop 
Hands down the most adorable art installation ever. Swedish art collective anonymouse have created a tiny mouse-sized café and shop on a street corner in Malmö, built into the side of a building. The details are amazing, but what I really love is how the community is now happily adding to the original idea, with gifts of miniature club posters, animals and cheeses. So wonderful.

How To: Finger Wave Updo
Learn how to do an elegant finger wave updo in this short video from Harper's Bazaar. Perfect hair for holiday parties.

Grand Musée du Parfum
Take a virtual tour of the brand new Paris museum devoted entirely to perfume — one which promises a multi-sensory experience. Long overdue, it's a fascinating look at the rich history of French perfume. 

From the Moomins to Asterix, Picture Books Help Build a Better World
Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones writes about how the best picture books have the power to inspire both children and adults. Lovely piece.

Top 10 Escapes in Literature
Looking to escape all the holiday noise? Dive into one of these classic tales of escape, ranging from The Count of Monte Cristo to Papillon and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

Smashed Avocado Toast With Veggies
Quick and easy, this delicious recipe adds sautéed peppers, red onions and asparagus to the classic avocado toast — all topped with a simple fried (or poached) egg. Perfect for an easy holiday brunch or light supper.  

(photo: house doctor via nordic design)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

Palmgren House by John Pawson
Feeling stressed? Take a virtual tour of this tranquil house by minimalist architect John Pawson. Utterly soothing.

Listening to Stevie Nicks With Kim Gordon and Daryl K.
Stella Bugbee of The Cut spends an afternoon in LA hanging out with two icons of music and fashion, and you'll wish you were there too. Lovely interview.

Cindy Sherman Parodies Street Style Stars
In an interesting mashup of art and fashion, legendary artist Cindy Sherman recently created a series of satirical self-portraits of herself as a street style star — a collaboration with Harper's Bazaar. Follow the link for a slide show.

The 15-Second Films Taking Instagram By Storm
Love this. Shield 5 is a dramatic series being released on Instagram in 15 second installments, the creation of British director Anthony Wilcox. Really inventive use of social media.

10 Female Dadaists You Should Know
Great list of women Dada artists over at Flavorwire to inspire and enlighten.

17 Best Clean Body Oils
Goop picks 17 additive-free body oils with beautiful scents, exquisite texture and serious skin benefits. 

Why We Should All Be More Pretentious
Intriguing book review over at Intelligent Life, arguing that a little pretension is necessary if we are to avoid stagnation and complacency — and how, by being open to trying out various ways of behaving, we learn to be more empathetic to others.

Chocolate Desserts
Food and Wine rounds up delectable chocolate recipes just in time for Valentine's Day. Enjoy with a significant other, family, friends — or enjoy a little bit of self-indulgence.

(photo: house doctor via la maison d'anna g)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

25 Beautiful Small Kitchens
Domaine has a truly inspiring post featuring 25 tiny kitchens that are small on space but big on style. So many great ideas.

Keeping Time
Lovely read over at Kinfolk magazine about the Japanese concept of ichi-go ichi-e, which is about staying present in the moment — savouring your life, as it were. Highly recommended.

7 Things to Do With a Can of White Beans
Whether they're cannellini, navy or great northern, that can of white beans in your pantry is the start of a great winter supper — check out these 7 quick and easy recipes from Epicurious.

A Love Letter to Paris
A selection of beautiful candid black and white photos of Paris by Peter Turnley, from his new book French Kiss: A Love Letter to Paris.

Top 10 Books About Rivers
Author Katherine Norbury has put together a fantastic list of books with rivers as a theme, ranging from the children's classic The Wind in the Willows to The Heart of Darkness. Great ideas for winter reading.

Eve Lom and the Ritual of Cleansing
Founded in 1985, revered skincare brand Eve Lom achieved cult status with its simple all-in-one cleansing routine, in contrast to other brands that promoted multiple products for the same result. Follow the link to see how to cleanse your skin the Eve Lom way.

My Blue and White Kitchen
Gorgeous food blog featuring seasonal, Nordic-inspired cooking accompanied by stunning photographs. I'm loving this one.

Cranberry Orange Granola
A lovely granola recipe by Cookie and Kate featuring seasonal winter fruits. Perfect way to jumpstart a cold February morning. Via My Blue and White Kitchen.

(photo via house doctor)

Sweetness and Light

Elegant glass vases, pretty greenery and subtle smoky tones to inspire your Thursday.

(photo by house doctor via purple area)

Weekend

Happy weekend! Hope it's a lovely one. After a busy week here we're planning on doing some serious relaxing — how about you?

(photo via house doctor)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

Murillo and de Neve: The Art of Friendship
A new show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London explores the friendship between 17th century painter Barolomé Estaban Murillo and his enlightened patron Don Justino de Neve, canon of Seville cathedral, who worked together to help the poor and needy of Seville. I'd love to see this one. 

Women Wearing Hats
A random compilation on the lovely Gems site of vintage photos and illustrations of women wearing hats, back in the day when a hat was an essential (and wonderful) part of one's outfit. Via AnOther.

Skillshare
Really great idea. Skillshare offers online, project-based classes in a huge array of areas, taught by pros in the field — all for a nominal fee. I've been checking out the design ones in particular and they look great. 

The Power of a Paint Tube
It's something we take for granted now, but the invention of the paint tube was revolutionary at the time — without it the Impressionists would never have created their greatest works.

The Cary Grant Tie Dimple
Add a little classic polish to your look by learning how to achieve Cary Grant's classic tie dimple with this great little tutorial. 

A Knight's Retail
Great interview with Sir Terence Conran, who opened his first Habitat shop in London in 1964, launched the Conran Shop in 1987 and now oversees an empire that includes architecture, books, and restaurants. 

A Fresh Answer to Vermeer's Mystery
Via ArtsJournal: "About six of his roughly 30 surviving paintings differ noticeably in style from the others, despite depicting the same people and rooms. Art historians have wondered if Vermeer had an apprentice, though there's no surviving record of one. Scholar Benjamin Bistock suggests that this mysterious artist was one of Vermeer's daughters."

Poached Eggs With Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms
Perfect as a brunch or light supper, with roasted squash on the side if you like, too. Via the lovely Tartelette.

(photo via housedoctor)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

Liz Lemon Office Tour
30 Rock may be in its last season (alas), but before it goes take a fun video tour of  Liz Lemon's office with the lovely Tina Fey.

Turning English Beaches Into Art
Environmental artist Tony Plant transforms the beaches of England into swirling canvases, using a simple rake to create beautiful patterns. Lovely work.

A Spoonful of Yogurt
In the first of a new series called My Madeleine, contributing novelist Kapka Kassabova eats her way into her past, a spoonful of yogurt conjuring up childhood memories of living in Bulgaria.

What 13 People Wore to Their Interview With Anna Wintour
Watching The Devil Wears Prada movie, one can't help but wonder what to wear if ever in an interview situation with Vogue's Anna Wintour, the inspiration for Meryl Streep's terrifying character. Here's what 13 interviewees chose to wear on their big day (and how they fared, too).

Virginia Woolf's Cottage Loaf
For Virginia Woolf, baking bread was a refuge from the labour of writing — and something that she was good at, too. Lovely post over at Paper and Salt (and a recipe, too).

A Diplomatic Oeuvre
Conceived by the Museum of Modern Art in the 1950s to cultivate cross-cultural exchange between nations, the Art in Embassies program has grown to include 20,000 participants in 189 countries, curating around 60 exhibitions in diplomatic facilities around the world per year. Great slide show of highlights on Vanity Fair.

The Family That Time Forgot
Mesmerizing true story of a Russian family that was cut off from all human contact for 40 years — living in the remote wilds of Siberia, they were unaware of World War II, living a desperately hard existence. Riveting.

The Saveur 100 — 2013 Edition
Something I look forward to each year, the Saveur 100 is the issue in which its editors and contributors "...take stock of the best dishes we've cooked over the years, the restaurants where we've had our most memorable meals, the libations we toast with, the books and tools we covet, and the incredible people we've encountered along the way. We consider every last one a new classic." Make yourself a cup of tea and settle in for a great read.

(photo by house doctor via hviit)