The last day

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife,
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweet manners, purer laws.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

-Alfred Tennyson, 1850

It's here

Our family has settled into Christmas. The tree is trimmed and pretty, presents all wrapped (and the kids running insane with the anticipation). The gluhwein is heating on the stove and we adults are feeling mellow. It's snowing ever so lightly outside.

This year the swingiest christmas song is Christmas Island by The Andrews Sisters. What fun song to sing along to - just like my all time favorite that has to be danced to at least once every christmas with my father taking the lead: Kim Wilde Rocking Around the Christmas Tree with Mel Smith.

To all my readers I want to wish a peaceful Christmas and all the best for the new year!

The smallest and the cutest

Personalized, handcarved stamps with our kids' names (one's for my little sweet niece) on them. Aren't they just adorable? Amidst all the gifts we're giving our kids this year for Christmas, these are the smallest and the cutest. Just taking a peek at them makes me smile.

Without the blogworld I would never have found Kristel, the crafty wonderwoman who designed and made these stamps. I admire the way she was able to capture our kids personalities into the stamps so well and the speedy delivery. Kristel lives and crafts in the Netherlands. You can visit her blog Vlitig for more information.

(photo courtesy of Vlitig)

Happy days - work in progress

I love books. I love Christmas. I love Christmas books (remember what I wrote last year?)

So imagine how happy I'm about my current project: I'm working on my very first book! It's a lifestyle book about Christmas; crafts and decorating. Otava will publish it next year.

A book deal is a dream come true for me. It's amazing how my never-ending excel worksheets and ideas are forming into a real book. It feels like magic but it's work, and I love it. Christmas has taken over an entire room in our home since spring. Even the kids know not to enter the room, as there's stuff for mom's book ...

I have the pleasure to work with an excellent photographer, Marjo Koivumäki, who shares my passion for all things lovely. Now I'm off to pack for tomorrow's photo shoot!

We're in Vienna

The christmas lights are luxurious in the center of Vienna, Austria. My husband and I have escaped from our children for a few days to enjoy the pre-christmas buzz of this magnificent town. The people are easy-going and kind, the Sacher torte a must and hot dog mit bratwurst the ultimate take-away snack.



Of course I miss the kids dearly and my eye seems to turn to everything that reminds my of children. This statue is one of the dozens adorning the Hofburg palace.



The ceiling of the Stefansdom church, an enormous building dating back hundreds of years and a landmark of Vienna.



The soft glow of the hundreds of candles lit by the visitors.



The wrought iron fences cast interesting shadows around the saints.




Reporting from Vienna, Austria, yours truly (yes it is raining!).

A fair fair

In front of our kitchen window I've hung a wreath made from the evergreen branches of box tree (Buxus).

I bought the wreath from one of my yearly traditions before Christmas, a visit to a handicraft-y fair, Naisten joulumessut (more info in Finnish). I have been there as a seller in christmases past, but had no time this year to do so. I enjoyed the warm atmosphere and spent almost two hours wandering about.

I love fairs like this, because of the lovely and unique things one can find.



Like these gift tags with polar animals (they had icebears as well, but penguins are my favorite animals). And the color, just my color, isn't it?



A collage that fits our home with both color and theme. Some decorations made from plaster. Both from the creative lady behind the blog Valkoista pellavaa. There were some other fellow bloggers selling their goodies as well, I recognized Mielitty and Merja, there might have been others too.

And I also found something for the little lady in our house: a pink bathing suit for her beloved doll, Maija. This had been on her wish list ever since summer and I had planned to make one myself, but that would have involved a trip to the fabric store and you know how those visits turn out...

I light two candles

I will light two candles tonight to celebrate Finland's independence day. It's a tradition, to light two candles and place them on the windowsill at six o'clock in the evening. If I go for a walk after six o'clock the candle-lit windows in the neighborhood send warmth and light to the darkness outside. And somehow in a very Finnish way, silently and humbly, these candles unite all Finns.

It's somehow a solemn day, thoughts about the winter of 1917 wander about my mind. For those men and women who fought for our country, the generation of my grandparents, I whisper quietly: thank you.