Sweetness and Light

A sweet holiday decorating idea from the wonderful Sweet Paul himself, Paul Lowe.


(photo by Alexandra Grablewski, via fine ting og sjokolade)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

The Human Library Project
The Toronto Public Library recently started a fascinating ongoing project — the Human Library. First initiated in Copenhagen about a decade ago, it began as a way to break down prejudice by bringing people of different backgrounds together for a one-on-one half hour conversation. Such a great idea. Via pinterest.

Chocolate Letters
On the eve of Sinterklaas (the night of December 5th) children in The Netherlands receive the initial of their first name in the form of a chocolate letter as a gift. The FontFeed has a fun post about this tradition — plus a video on how they're made and new versions of chocolate letters, too.

12 Tales for Christmas
The Guardian is running a series of podcasts featuring leading authors reading short stories by other writers — they're airing every Saturday until Christmas, but being podcasts you can tune in anytime.

The Year's Best Cookbooks
The NYT rounds up their pick of this year's bumper crop of cookbooks — lots of great reading for food people.

Caganers
And now for something completely different. Caganers are "... statuettes of well-known people defecating (and) are a Christmas tradition in Catalonia, dating back to the 18th century. Catalonians hide caganers in Christmas Nativity scenes and invite friends to find them. The figures symbolise fertilisation, hope and prosperity for the coming year." Follow the link for a slideshow of this, um, unusual Catalan Christmas tradition.

Life in Miniature
Fun slideshow of the 2010 Kensington Dollshouse Festival — amazing variety of miniature accessories, all handmade with a loving attention to detail.

Throw Pillows as Character
This sounds like a decor enthusiast's perfect Christmas book — check out Alexandra Lange's review of the novel Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

An International Christmas Dinner
Looking for something a little different for your Christmas feast this year? Saveur has assembled 24 traditional recipes from all over the world, such as Jansson's Temptation from Sweden, Tourtiere (a French-Canadian Réveillon staple) and Viennese Christmas Goose.


(photo by Anna Kern for Elle Decoration JP, via the portfolio of stylist Cia Wedin)

Handmade Holidays

The Christmas paper bauble garland is a perfect way to use odd scraps of holiday wrapping paper. Great for decorating a tree, window, fireplace, above a door — or your office desk. Find out how to make it here. From Kidspot Australia, via the happy home.


(photo by Belinda Graham)