flower fingers.

Succulents are all the rage, and I'm a sucker for them too! In a terrarium or potted on the windowsill, these hardy plants are not only easy to keep alive but also easy on the eye. I love them and they sit on almost every windowsill possible. I love their beautiful shapes, delicate details and solid structure.

So I'm sure you'll be as excited as I am to discover succulent jewellery – it's even better than it sounds! Enter House of Bec and her amazing hand crafted sterling silver creations.

Succulent rings, $110 each.

Pair a succulent ring with stacking rings, $15 each.

Earrings from $60.

Succulent Bloom Necklace, $125.

Not only does she create incredible succulent jewellery but also hand stamped, recycled silver spoons. Choose from the selection or customise your own. 

Beautiful gifts, or gifts for yourself. Go on, you deserve some more succulents in your life!

Stamped spoons from $12 each.

Marvel at her other creations on Facebook or Instagram, or shop online here.

Christmas is coming.

I love this time of year: the weather is warming up, the parties are starting to happen, there's an excitement and anticipation in the air. Christmas is coming! For some, there is much stress with organising those parties, making the decorations and wrapping those presents. This is where I thrive!

I love to create.

I especially love the tradition of giving and receiving gifts. It honours something much bigger, the gift of Jesus. How a gift is presented speaks volumes.

This Christmas, I'd love to wrap your gifts for you.

The options are endless, so please let me know if you have something specific in mind or if I can wrap your presents however I'd like. They can all be matching, united in theme, or completely different. Choose traditional Christmas colours or whatever ones you like. It's up to you... or you can leave it up to me!

For gift wrapping ideas, check out my Pinterest page, 'wrapping' (you can check them out even if you're not on Pinterest). Little Paper Lane also has pinned lots of fun wrapping ideas. Check them out. Here are some of my faves:

If you like tags on your gifts, let me know. I am happy to custom make gift tags using paper, gift wrap, photos or fabric, or make ornaments to adorn your gifts. The tags can be hand stamped with 'Merry Christmas' or your loved ones name or whatever words you like, or left plain for you to write on.

The options actually are endless.

So start dreaming, or give me full reign, I'd love to make your Christmas a little less stressful for you!

If you're keen, let's chat. Contact me on social media or thearlegirl@gmail.com.

Christmas gift ideas.

Following on from my post shop local this christmas, I found some awesome Aussie bloggers who have put together Christmas lists from other great Aussies – all Australian designed and/or made.

Check out the inspiring pics below to see what they're giving or getting for Christmas.

Briar from Sunday Collector: Christmas wishlist {Blog hop}

Clare from Checks and Spots: The Checks and Spots Christmas Gift Guide

Lexi from Potty Mouth Mama: Christmas Wishlist Blog Hop: For Her



Lisa from The Red Thread: LOVING :: An All Australian Christmas Gift / Wish List

Natalie from Eat Read Love: LOVE // My Christmas Wishlist Part 1





Nicola from Concrete Honey: Christmas Wishlist Blog Hop



Simone from Honey and Fizz: My Christmas Wishlist / Gift Guide



Steph from Bondville: Bloggers Christmas Wishlist 2014 – Shop Local

Some awesome gifts, hey!?

Click on the blog title link to visit each of their blogs for details of the products (and in most cases, more gift ideas).

And don't forget, shop local!

shop local this christmas.

I love shopping local. There's something awesome about knowing that when you purchase something it's not only going to bring a smile to the recipients face but also to the maker/creator/seller. Too often what we buy only feeds money into big business. I want to change that.

So my challenge to you: shop local this Christmas. Start now, shop around, and help small business owners have a happy Christmas too!

I could list thousands of presents for you to buy, but instead I'll point you in the direction of where to buy some of those Christmas necessities... that will make a difference (and you might even find some great present ideas while you're there).

C A R D S :
TEAPEAlala (also featured here) makes beautiful cards. She has just launched her Christmas collection and will be selling them this Saturday (and December 6 and 20) at Olive Tree Market in Newcastle. You can also shop through her etsy store (from next week) or order through me.

blacklist studio/store is one of my faves. Their typography is awesome! They have just put out these cards which come in handy packs of 10. Buy them online or look here for their stockists.

W R A P P I N G  P A P E R :
Lauren Merrick Illustration (also featured here) has the most amazing range of wrapping paper (and cards and gift tags). All hand painted (some hand cut), she makes wrapping presents even more fun!* Check her out at Olive Tree Market (15/11, 6/12, 20/12) or Avoca Beachside Markets (23/11) or shop online.

S A N T A  S A C K :
Check out Cabin Co. for some glitz and glam or for a neutral look, you can't go past Maya Muse Textiles' screen printed beauties – I bought a Maya Muse one in white for my husband last year. It's so fun to be able to fill a sack full of presents for your loved ones! Shop online or find Maya Muse at Avalon Market Day (November 15) or The Finders Keepers (December 12 and 13).

Cabin Co. (gold) and Maya Muse (red)

D E C O R A T I O N S :

Give your old decorations a new lease on life with some white, silver or gold spray paint...

images from here, here and here

but if you're looking to invest in some new ones, check out Hodi Home Decor for awesome wreaths, Little Paper Lane for noel stars, Dear September for rustic wooden decorations and Kuberstore for nature inspired ornaments. So many more around!

C H R I S T M A S  T R E E :
Mister Moss has cool hanging plants and for Christmas they have awesome hanging mini Christmas trees. I'm in love. And you can choose what colour string you like – to match in with your theme.

G I F T S  T H A T  K E E P  O N  G I V I N G :
Oxfam, Compassion, World Vision, TEAR (plus many more organisations) have catalogues (and websites) full of gift ideas that help those who need it most. Curb the materialism and buy something for someone who really needs it. With cards like: "Babe, I got you Babe" which buys a family in Vietnam a pig; or "I wanted to get you something deep and meaningful, so I bought you a well" which provides tools for a community in Sri Lanka to dig a well, giving them clean water for life; or "Cheers! You just shouted clean water for a whole family" which does that... for only $9! Go on, do your good deed (it's tax deductible too!).

As I've mentioned above, there are lots of markets around the place and they're the best place to find local creatives and great gifts.

M A R K E T S :

• The Finders Keepers (Friday 12 to Saturday 13 December), Sydney
• The Etsy Christmas pop-up market (Fridays evenings until 19 December), The Rocks
• Avoca Beachside Market (4th Sunday of the month), Central Coast
• The Olive Tree Market (1st Saturday of the month (and 3rd in Nov and Dec)), Newcastle
• Kirribilli Art and Design Market (Sunday 14 December), Kirribilli
• Wahroonga Village Fair (Sunday 7 December), Wahroonga
• Avalon Market Day (Saturday 15 November), Avalon
• Plus many local schools have markets on around this time of year.

What other markets or small businesses can you recommend to get ready for Christmas?


* If you don't find wrapping presents fun, then please contact me about wrapping your presents. Seriously.

you drink what!?

My body has some interesting stuff going on... I'm not great at science – so I don't understand all the details – but I am very practical, so I know what to do: cut some foods from my diet, replace with others. Sounds easy, except if you've never heard of the foods you need to start eating.

So I've entered the land of sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi. If you don't know what they are, you aren't alone, I didn't either until 2 weeks ago... but now I'm pretty much an expert.*

These fermented foods are good for many reasons, but particularly good for the gut. There are two types of guys living in your gut: good guys (nothing to do with the home appliances company) and bad guys. You want lots of happy good guys and less of the bad guys. Fermented foods make the good guys living down there happy!*

Because I want a happy gut (who doesn't!?), I've been eating (and drinking) lots of these types of foods. They've been around for thousands of years, but as my doctor said, I grew up a good Aussie girl so I've never heard of any them. I think he was saying it as a negative, but I'm happy that I grew up as a good Aussie girl!

So, I've done lots of research and started making them myself.

In my cupboard, I have kombucha and kimchi fermenting away. Yes, they have live cultures in them. Kombucha is a fermented tea drink, which is a bit fizzy and a bit sweet and can be flavoured with whatever you like. Kimchi is a Korean dish of fermented veggies. I haven't tried it yet but I hope it's nice as I've made a large jar of it! I'm really hoping my experiments are working!

The steps of making kombucha (clockwise from top left): make some tea, cool it down with a few more cups of filtered water, get your SCOBY and starter, add it to the tea, cover with a tight weave cloth and leave to ferment.

I could explain more but I'm not really an expert.* If you want to know more about kombucha check out The Whole Daily – she has a free ebook called Love Your Guts, or Wellness Mama, or I Quit Sugar's article: 17 Reasons You Should Drink Kombucha (and it even contains sugar, so it must be good!).

If you're in Sydney and want to have a go at making kombucha yourself and get some more info, head along to this WORK-SHOP event on Thursday night (2 days time).

There is heaps more information on the internet about fermented foods and easy ways to make them. Keep an eye on my Instagram feed (@thearlegirl) to see if my kombucha and kimchi work... fingers crossed!


* Does googling a topic make you can expert?
* If you ever need me to simplify any complex topics for you, happy to help out ;)
* I think the answer to my previous question is no.