Scandinavian hanging decorations for festive cheer

Whenever we behold the collection of Maileg Christmas decorations we want it to be Christmas right away. They express all the joy of Christmas and they feel fun as well as traditional.  What's more, they are made of such lovely fabrics they feel lovely too, and little hands will adore them. Maileg decorations can be added to your Christmas treasure box and be pulled out with delight year after year.

There's papier mache baubles in different colours, fabric hanging mushrooms, sugar canes, soldiers, drums, pixies, horses, hearts, snowmen, mice and coronets. From £2.95

Marvel at Maileg decorations here

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This is part of a new seasonal series where we bring you a guide to all things festive. We'll be decorating and preparing wish lists and gift guides for all the family and with some little treats and wondrous surprises along the way. You'd better be sure to come and join the festivities with us.

sign up so not to miss offers and news of whats in the boutique

Be sure to watch our Monday Makery- we'll be bring you decorations to make, recipes to bake, homemade gift ideas and new traditions to begin.  The Art of Living will help guide you through what's on and what's great for families.  And on Friday we'll be giving you sneek peeks into the houses of the sisters of Sisters Guild in our Once upon a Week.

If you would like to guest blog, have a craft, recipe or some great tips for family life we'd love to hear from you.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Once Upon a Week: Light

November feels like a month of preparation and strengthening ourselves as we feel the sense of Winter tiptoeing, or rather, stomping in!  Whilst October excites us with all the colour of the changing trees, the harvest and surprising warm sunny days, the months that follow have more darkness.  That's why we have been making the most of the light. Catching as many daylight hours outside and then coming home to the warming flames of a log fire. 

This week we visited Bradford-on-Avon and explored the Tithe Barn.  We enjoyed seeing the big space and the patterns of light from the narrow windows. In this photograph Gabe was running around chasing the light.  It was a beautiful sight.  I watched Gabe and wished I could capture in a jar some of those rays of light to see me through the Winter.

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This is a new series - Once Upon a Week - where we give you a glimpse into the lives and times behind the scenes of Sisters Guild.

We also publish other series in our blog including our Monday Makery, Tuesday brings the closing of our series 'The  Story Behind Our Collections' inviting you to take a closer look at the designers we house and the beginning of a new series 'Tell Us Its Tuesday'.  Wednesday we show you our favourite seasonal pieces and Thursdays is dedicated to the 'Art of Living' in which we share ideas and inspiration from places to visit, things to see and articles about things that enrich our lives.


www.sistersguild.co.uk

The Art of Living: Long Nose Puppet Company

I write this in celebration of the amazing creative force that is the city of Brighton & Hove.  Long Nose is a Brighton based puppet company that is really inspiring. It was set up by Katherine Morton and Polly Dunbar who studied illustration at Brighton University. Together they bring to life story characters in puppets they make themselves out of anything and 'everything: latex, wood, found objects and all things sparkly!'

It is with glee that I discovered that Shoe Baby is coming to Brighton in December in time for Christmas. It's a welcome kids alternative to the tv-based stage shows or pantos around at Christmas time. Find details on the Komedia site here

The show is adapted from the book SHOE BABY (quite a difficult book to find)  illustrated by Polly and written by her Mum, who is the well known author Joyce Dunbar. The music is written by  musican Tom Gray of Gomez.  Shoe Baby has had sell out shows up and down the country and has received awards.

One of my all-time favourite childrens books, PENGUIN (always a bedtime request as I have to make lots of silly noises), has also been adapted for show by Long Nose and is on tour in Ipswich - details on the blog here

As well as touring theatres and festivals, Long Nose puppets are available for school visits and puppet making workshops. I'm certainly always keeping an eye out for what's next.

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This is part of the Art of Living series of posts that bring you all the things we are passionate about and the things we discover in our lives as mamas.

In our Wednesday Woo blog post series we present a selection of things from the Sisters Guild Boutique.

We also have a Monday Makery with ideas for things to make yourself.

And for a glimpse behind the scenes of Sisters Guild we have the A-Z of Sisters Guild here 

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Mama's Green Wishes

From left to right: Peacock candle holder £31.80 by Rice DK, mini oiseau necklace £61 by Hop Hop Hop, Dove Print satchel was £60.80 now £30.40 by Rice DK, Velvet tea cosy was £38. now £15.20 by Rice DK,  Colourful storage baskets £59.50 by Rice Dk, Advent candle holder in peacock green £48.00 by Rice DK, Fabric photo frame in green/blue leaf was £8.50 now £4 by Rice DK, Secret man pillow £43. by Lucky Boy Sunday,  Melamine mixing bow by Rice Dk £19, Hanging carousel bird hook £31 by Rice DK, candle holder in multi colour was £21.50 now £10.75 by Rice DK,   Fabric Purse with Satin Trim £15. by Rice Dk

Everyone has their favourite colour and at the moment I'm very drawn to every shade of green. The dove print by Rice DK has been one of our favourites this year and I know this satchel would be great for big sis to use as a nappy bag when her baby bundle arrives in March and the matching pouch would be great to keep all those baby essentials seperate inside. The baby alpaca cushion by Lucky Boy Sunday is a firm favourite along with Stanley DeLarge. The colourful storage baskets would be a nice addition to my ever increasing bits and bobs I use for crafts, and how much time i'll save - unhooking all the coats in the hallway to get mine that has been buried at the bottom - with this carousel coat hook ! Oh and just beacuse sometimes my mornings need a little special something to make me smile......I adore this velvet tea cosy!

Please Father Christmas I've been mostly good this year............

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This is part of a new seasonal series where we bring you a guide to all things festive. We'll be decorating and preparing wish lists and gift guides for all the family and with some little treats and wondrous surprises along the way you'd better be sure to come and join the festivities with us.

sign up so not to miss offers and news of whats in the boutique

Be sure to watch our Monday Makery- we'll be bring you decorations to make, recipes to bake, and new traditions to begin.  The Art of Living will help guide you through what's on and what's great for families.  And on Friday we'll be giving you sneek peeks into the houses of the sisters of Sisters Guild in our Once upon a Week.

If you would like to guest blog, have a craft, recipe or some great tips for family life we'd love to hear from you.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Wednesday Woo - Tweet Tweet

from left to right: mini oiseau bracelet by Hop Hop Hop £46, Swallows wall stickers by Love Mae £39,  painted candleabra with birds in Sunshine yellow by Rice DK £44, Branches wall stickers by Love Mae £35, velvet bird clutch by Rice DK was £34.30 now £12, Bird cushion by Zid Zid £26, Peacock candle holder by Rice DK £31.80, Peacock rug by Rice DK £82.30.   

Let your heart take flight with a collection of colourful decor with everything from wall stickers to rugs. 

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This is part of our Wednesday Woo blog post series where we present a selection of our favourite things from the Sisters Guild Boutique.

We also have a Monday Makery with ideas for things to make yourself.

The Art of Living posts bring you all the things we are passionate about and the things we discover in our lives as mamas.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Sign up for future news & offers:

Homemade Gifts - Scrabble Magnets

Sisters Guild is more than a boutique its a place to come to for a new idea, a home of creativity and a place of discovery. When we began to build the boutique we knew we wanted to create a place of imagination and a place that will bring inspiration. Be it through discovering a place to visit, learning a little bit more about the story behind each designer we house or enjoying one of the many crafts and recipes we share in our Monday makery Sisters Guild is a boutique that believes imagination is contagious.

We're readying ourselves for Christmas and in doing so we are busy preparing a guide to gifts in which we also want to share with you some ideas in which you can create your own gifts and decorations. We've already begun with our first paper decorations and here is a great idea for a childs gift.

With quite an aversion to the usual brigthly coloured fridge magnets I decided to recycle some old scrabble tiles and create a more gentle and old fashioned version of alphabet magnets.  With two young children; the eldest busy at school with her reading and writing and the younger beginning to learn her letter sounds or rather her 'phonics' I know these will get a lot of use and they'll make a great stocking filler too. 

Making them is really very simple.

Here's what you'll need:

• A collection of wooden scrabble tiles, we found an old scrabble game in a charity shop but the board had seen better days so I kept the tiles and threw away the board. You can probably find scrabble tiles on ebay if you don't happen to have spare scrabble tiles in a cupboard!
• Self adhesive magnets

Here's how:

1. Peel the self adhesive magnets off their sheet and stick firmly onto the back of each tile. You can use the blanks for games of 'guess the missing sound/letter' or write onto them explanation marks, question marks or other symbols and punctuation.

There you have it, a great gift made in minutes that will keep young minds and hands busy for hours. Handy too for putting reminders on the fridge.

This is part of our Christmas guide, helping you choose the perfect gift and creating some yourself. 

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We know that sometimes the craft isn't about the final finish but having created something together and we want to encourage everyone to have a go. I am certainly a 'newbie' when it comes to making things and trust me I'll leave all baking recipes to my sister, you see the thing is my girls love it, they feed me with inspiration and I love that our home is a constant and evolving state of creating and creations.

Christmas is coming and we've been busy putting together a little inspiration to help you through. We're helping Father Christmas with his lists and guiding you though our selection of gifts and decorations.

The Story Behind our Collections: Kidsonroof

Having a nearly 4 year old son who has inherited his Dad's engineering and architectural mind, I am always looking out for creative toys that have an element of construction.  I was led to kidsonroof a while back and when we wanted to expand the imagine & play section of the boutique we knew the kidsonroof collection would fit pefectly with Sisters Guild.

Kidsonroof = creativity + imagination + sustainable approach = great to play with -/- visual pollution for the grown ups!

Behind kidsonroof is a creative family who live a very inspiring life in Holland. Romy Boesveldt and Ilya Yashkin established kidsonroof in 2005. With kids comes a new perspective and as a family they wanted to 're-connect modern life with nature and discover basic values.' Together with their 3 kids and their little friends they have a 'testlab' where they conjour up new ideas. Further design visions are nurtured from simple time spent in the Southern French Mountains in a 'little shed' with no electric or running water.  You can see how such creativity can flourish.

Ilya has trained as an architectural designer. He brings the ingenious 3-dimensional design to kidsonroof. Romy is all about conceptual development and styling.  Together they are the imaginative heart of kidsonroof.

Kidsonroof really is all about imagination.  The Totem collection consists of sets of recycled cardboard pieces decorated with graphics and pattern that slot together to become planes, trees, buildings, birds, animals, ships, figurines and so much more.  With kidsonroof the possibilities are fantastical and far-reaching. For a child's mind that is just the thing, there is no limit to the way something can be played with.  

The Totem collection can be fully appreciated by adults too - for play and decoration.  We know many a home that has the Totem Tree and the animals from the Totem Books bringing wonder to shelves, tables, desks, hallways, mantlepieces and windowsills.

Another collection within kidsonroof is 'Casa.'  Here the scale gets a bit bigger, yet it is the simplicity that can be enjoyed. There are recycled cardboard houses to decorate and play with inside and out.  And a Trojan Horse..

The Trojan Horse is made of recycled cardboard and children can sit on it or play with it, along with its' baby horse.  Extra magic comes from the little tinkling sound from within the horse.
This beautiful toy and pure object was designed by Alex Hellum. By the shape and character of the horse you can spy his Scandinavian origins.  Alex has worked for over 20 years in the UK as a teacher and for Heal's and Ercol amongst others, but he is originally from Norway.

Altogether kidsonroof is an oustanding creative achievement that brings something so refreshing to children's play and to our homes. Kidsonroof is a noteworthy classic for the new creative generation of parents and children who desire and appreciate design that is visually stimulating, tactile, imaginative and ecological too.

I know my home is slowly being filled with the Totem and Casa pieces and they don't feel like toys - they are pure joy and celebration of shape, colour and form!

Discover the kidsonroof collection here

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This is part of our series of blogs where we share the story behind our collections; because the collections and their creators mean so much to us here at Sisters Guild we want to pass the story on.

We bring a new blog each day; other series of blogs include our 'Monday Makery' with ideas and 'how to's'  to make and bake with all the family, Wednesday we woo you with our favourite pieces from the boutique and its new arrivals, Thursday is all about the art of living; discovering places and sharing new treasures and Friday we bring you the 'A-Z of Sisters Guild' a collection of pictures that convey the life behind the boutique

You can Follow us on Twitter here ,like us on Facebook here and visit our rather marvellous boutique here
Sign up to find out about new collections and future offers:

Dear Father Christmas....

I've been such a very good boy......

left to right: Totem Deer £14.00, Big Brother Matchbox Mouse by Maileg £21.95, Dice Set By Rice DK £3.80, Mini Dinosaur stickers by Love Mae £15.00, Lion Mask by ZidZid £7.50, Felt Reindeer Stocking   £29.50, Glow In the Dark Lizard by Rice DK £6.00, Monkey Boy by Maileg £14.95, Land Of Me DVD Rom £29.95, Inflatable Globe £3.00.


We've been busy helping Father Christmas with his lists for stocking fillers this year. With plenty of gifts to choose from creative play, dressing up and fun wall stickers there's a lot to add to a little boys wishlist this Christmas.
Be sure to pop by our 'imagine and play' area and our 'Christmas stocking fillers' and if you're looking for a great knit to avoid the Christmas pudding that grannies been knitting take a look at the 'boys dressing room' where you can put on a wolf and bear jumper instead!


         

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This is part of a new seasonal series where we bring you a guide to all things festive. We'll be decorating and preparing wish lists and gift guides for all the family and with some little treats and wondrous surprises along the way you'd better be sure to come and join the festivities with us.

sign up so not to miss offers and news of whats in the boutique

Be sure to watch our Monday Makery- we'll be bring you decorations to make, recipes to bake, and new traditions to begin.  The Art of Living will help guide you through what's on and what's great for families.  And on Friday we'll be giving you sneek peeks into the houses of the sisters of Sisters Guild in our Once upon a Week.

If you would like to guest blog, have a craft, recipe or some great tips for family life we'd love to hear from you.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Monday Makery - Festive Paper Decorations

Festive Paper Garland

I know, I know, It is perhaps a little early to start with the Christmas decorations but with only 7 weeks to go before Christmas is here and with the weekends being booked up with visiting family, Christmas shopping and trips to the theatre planned I am not wanting to leave anything 'til the last minute. Besides we've got so many makeries lined up for you we thought we had better start early.

This week we're bringing you an assortment of beautiful creations all made with paper and card.

They're easy and fun to make, colourful and requires minimal tools and media.

We'll guide you through each one and we'll be bringing you different themes and creations each week. So, there'll be lots to choose from and lots to keep children busy. Here we begin with a festive garland, though you can use these as decorations for any occasion and you can play with different colours to suit.

Here's what you'll need:

• Coloured paper, card, wrapping paper or scraps of wallpaper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Paper clips
• Needle and thread
• Glue - either pva or gluestick is perfect

*a little hint on paper - Designers Guild's Sales are a great way to pick huge rolls of wallpaper at £3. a roll. It makes wonderful wrapping paper, great for crafts as well as lining cupboards and wardrobes. I pick up armfuls of them in as many designs as I can carry !

Here's how:

1. Cut a strip of paper - 10cm by 30cm for the larger and 6cm by 16cm for the smaller.
2. Starting with the smaller side, the width, fold over about 1cm then turn the paper over and fold over again back on itself. Keep going to create a concertina with the strip of paper.
3. Bend the stacked concertina in half to mark the centre of the fan and tie a piece of thread around the middle to hold the centre together.
4. Open up each opposing side like wings and glue together. We used a paper clip to hold them together whilst the glue dried.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until you feel you have enough to create your garland.
6. Thread your needle and string up the circles in whatever order and pattern you like.

Paper Dove Decorations

I love how versatile these hanging birds are. We've been making them to hang along the banisters for some instant festive fun but I'm quite tempted to make some miniature ones for the tree and perhaps a mobile to hang as a centrepiece above the table.

They're incredibly easy to make and only require very basic materials to put together.

Here's what you'll need:

• card
• pencil
• scissors
• needle and cottton for hanging

Here's how:

1. Create a template for your bird onto card. It really can be a very simple outline as you can see from the one we drew!
2. Using your template draw and cut out as many birds as you like.
3. Bend the bird in half softly so not create a crease and make a cut in the centre. This is where you'll thread the wings.
4. Take a piece of coloured or patterned paper or card and make a fold up from the bottom about 1cm then turn the paper over and fold back on itself. Keep going to create a paper concertina.
5. Feed the concertina paper through the centre of the bird and fan out its wings.  

Hang them up by threading cotton above their wings. Group them together to create a focal point in a room, string them up along the banisters or create a love-dove mobile with mistletoe.

Festive Hanging Bulbs

I remember making these when I was young and who knew making paper onions was like riding a bike, once you know how you never forget!

You can make them more festive with deep reds and festive patterned paper but we were rather drawn to the bright colours in our stack of paper and card.

Here's what you'll need:

• thick paper or card
• scissors, pen and ruler
• gluestick
• needle and thread for hanging

Here's how:

1. Begin by cutting your card into 5 strips. You can vary the lengths as you wish depending on how big you want your decorations to be, the ones we made here are made with 2 strips measuring 11.5", 2 strips measuring 9.5" and 1 strip measuring 8".
2. Line the strips of paper up ready for gluing as follows: large, medium, small, medium, large. Glue and stack each strip on top of the other in this sequence then fasten with a paper clip to hold in place whilst waiting for the glue to hold.
3. Then, begin sticking the other end of strips, curving the paper to meet each end length. Fasten with a paper clip to hold until the glue has dried.
4. Hang using cotton threaded through the top of your decoration.

We hope you enjoy making your own festive decorations - it's certainly got us in the mood for some Christmas magic! 

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This is part of our Monday Makery where each week we bring you a recipe to bake, a craft to create and simple ideas for fun things to make with children. We know that sometimes the craft isn't about the final finish but having created something together and we want to encourage everyone to have a go. I am certainly a 'newbie' when it comes to making things and trust me I'll leave all baking recipes to my sister, you see the thing is my girls love it, they feed me with inspiration and I love that our home is a constant and evolving state of creating and creations.

Our daily blogs offer you a sneak preview in our 'once upon a week' where we give you an insight into a week with Sisters Guild, a guide to whats on, with places to visit and things to do with all the family in our 'Art of Living', on Tuesday we bring you a little closer to our designers and why we chose them with 'The Story behind Our Collections' and a little closer to the bloggers, crafters and friends of Sisters Guild with our fun 'Tell us its Tuesday', whilst on Wednesday we show you new arrivals and inspiring discoveries in the Sisters Guild Boutique. To find where we get our inspiration from take a look at 'An A-Z of Sisters Guild' ; a collection of images inspired by the words which express the meaning of what we believe.

Christmas is coming and we've been busy putting together a little inspiration to help you through. We're helping Father Christmas with his lists and guiding you though our selection of gifts and decorations.

Dear Father Christmas....

I've been so very good.......

left to right: Rosie Flo's colouring postcards £4.99 , mini nuage bracelet £39.00, matchbox mouse - little sister £16.95, ilovegorgeous Debbie dress £66.00, Red felt Christmas stocking £29.50, ilovegorgeous hairband - pewter Elizabethan rose £10.00, fabric covered magnetic butterflies £8.80, Fabric cakes by Maileg £28.00, Belle & Boo Bubbles before bed to do book £6.99, gingerbread cookies apron by Maileg £17.50, 'Ava's Tea Party' money box £3.50, Christmas Mouse Angel by Maileg £16.95          


We've got a host of beautiful gifts to fill the Christmas Stocking on Christmas Eve. So if you know a little girl who's been good this year be sure to let Father Christmas know. Our elves will be helping him load his sleigh for a wonderful night of magic as he flies through the night sky.

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This is part of a new seasonal series where we bring you a guide to all things festive. We'll be decorating and preparing wish lists and gift guides for all the family and with some little treats and wondrous surprises along the way you'd better be sure to come and join the festivities with us.

sign up so not to miss offers and news of whats in the boutique

Be sure to watch our Monday Makery- we'll be bring you decorations to make, recipes to bake, and new traditions to begin.  The Art of Living will help guide you through what's on and what's great for families.  And on Friday we'll be giving you sneek peeks into the houses of the sisters of Sisters Guild in our Once upon a Week.

If you would like to guest blog, have a craft, recipe or some great tips for family life we'd love to hear from you.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Once Upon a Week - Fright Night

Halloween was coming and no occasion goes by in our house without some sort of elaborate affair. The girls wanted to house a party; a candlelit supper with friends. So, out went the invites and in came the ideas to make it a fun yet frightful evening. 

We carved pumpkins and lit them around the house, we drew and cut out bats on black card. You can see some above here flying towards the kitchen downstairs, and some sleeping under the stairs. We stuck some to the front of the house and our front door too. Sophia wrote in huge black letters across 3 pieces of A4 paper b o o. We collected as many candles as we could and cupcakes were topped with inedible looking colours of green and orange and black sparkles sprinkled on top! 

The girls loved having friends around much later than usual and our candlelit supper was fun but perhaps made more so because we had to keep running upstairs, grabbing our basket of goodies and answering the door to evil monsters, some rather pretty witches, Dracula's, ghosts, a few skeletons and all sorts of freaky looking creatures under 4ft tall!

Off trick or treating into the dark street and Oona of course spent most of the evening clinging to my leg. The streets were so busy with families all in costume and there was such a feeling of close commuinty it was wonderful. Though with Oona rather terrified I carried her along our entire route and back again whilst she was unwilling to knock on the doors with her big sister and friends and she was sad she wasn't managing to get any treats in her little bag! Big sisters thankfully shared all her loot.

When finally we came home our street looked dark and haunting. I turned the key in the door and flicked the lights on. Only they didn't come on! No electricity! Two scared children having been terrified by the tricks they had seen and high on the treats they had munched it was all too much. With our fire glowing to give us light along with the pumpkins and the bats guarding the hallway and still ghouls and monsters knocking on the door we scribbled note 'dear ghouls and ghosts and creatures of the night it is with regret that we have no more treats' and off to find pyjamas we stumbled torch in hand.

With our heavy blackened eyes cleansed, our warts washed away and sugary teeth brushed we all clambered together into bed and read stories by candle light and all fell fast asleep to be woken by all the lights coming back on from their paused position.

Sometimes its the things that are unplanned that turn out to be best part of all.

Halloween invites & Lollipop's dresses as ghosts!

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This is a new series - Once Upon a Week - where we give you a glimpse into the lives and times behind the scenes of Sisters Guild.

We also publish other series in our blog including our Monday Makery, Tuesday brings the closing of our series 'The  Story Behind Our Collections' inviting you to take a closer look at the designers we house and the beginning of a new series 'Tell Us Its Tuesday'.  Wednesday we show you our favourite seasonal pieces and Thursdays is dedicated to the 'Art of Living' in which we share ideas and inspiration from places to visit, things to see and articles about things that enrich our lives.


www.sistersguild.co.uk

Let's Play House

With a selection of houses suitable for all your little loveables from mice to dolls, cats and soldiers and even our Casa Cabana Deco; a house fit for your own children to move into. We've got a wide selection of play houses for all those budding architects, interior designers and little friends in need of a home.

From left to right: Milk Carton Mouse House by Maileg £45.00, Wooden Mouse House by Maileg £35.00, Casa Cabana Deco £32.00,  Mobile Home white £16.00,  Mobile home recycle green £19.00,  Felt Cheese and Mice by En Gry & Sif £29.50,    Tsumiki house shaped wooden block set £78.00,

When we began Sisters Guild we had an idea that we would fill the boutique with pieces that would encourage play by exploring imagination, discovering innovative ideas in which children could express their own ideas and flourish through their creative play. Our imagine and play area brings together a collection of just these pieces. Come and discover with us.

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This is part of a new seasonal series where we bring you a guide to all things festive. We'll be decorating and preparing wish lists and gift guides for all the family and with some little treats and wondrous surprises along the way you'd better be sure to come and join the festivities with us.

sign up so not to miss offers and news of whats in the boutique

Be sure to watch our Monday Makery- we'll be bring you decorations to make, recipes to bake, and new traditions to begin.  The Art of Living will help guide you through what's on and what's great for families.  And on Friday we'll be giving you sneek peeks into the houses of the sisters of Sisters Guild in our Once upon a Week.

If you would like to guest blog, have a craft, recipe or some great tips for family life we'd love to hear from you.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

The Art of Living: Lighting up the Sky

I'm actually a bit of a cat when it comes to Fireworks.  I often prefer to be indoors and watch them from the window.  When I do make it to a Firework display I do love the big Bonfire and seeing people's faces as the light fills the nights sky, and one of my favourite things is the chorus of oooohhss and ahhhhhs. It's great to behold the way the dark sky becomes instantly illuminated and then plunges into darkness again. Then the anticipation of the finale and the uncertainty of whether it is actually the end...or just one more!

I found this pic which reminds me of Bonfire Nights on our hill - courtesy of velepeloton.com

We grew up in a village on a hill outside Bath and the tradition for us and other families was to go through the woods to the 'plateau' from where you could see the whole of Bath and the surrounding hills - so you got to see at least 5 firework displays.  With a bonfire and sparklers, the grown-ups giggling with mulled wine, and then the stumbling home back through the dark woods with a torch, hopefully being carried and then bundled into bed.  Now that's something I'd really like to do again.

image courtesy of Time Out

As for organised displays, the one that is top in my memory is the Battersea Park Fireworks.  It's always carefully designed with amazing music - one year it was to the theme of Close Encounters and really was a spectacular Light & Music show. 

There's a full list of London Firework Displays here

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This is part of the Art of Living series of posts that bring you all the things we are passionate about and the things we discover in our lives as mamas.

In our Wednesday Woo blog post series we present a selection of things from the Sisters Guild Boutique.

We also have a Monday Makery with ideas for things to make yourself.

And for a glimpse behind the scenes of Sisters Guild we have the A-Z of Sisters Guild here 

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Deck the Halls with White Mice Angels

From left to right: Christmas playful decorations by Maileg -£2.95, Christmas Snowman decorations by Maileg £2.95,  Christmas mouse angel by Maileg £16.95, Hanging wooden horse decorations £8.50, New wooden horse candle holder by Maileg £12.00

Sisters Guild is getting festive and we have so many wonderful new pieces in our boutique from Maileg, Rice DK, kidsonroof  and Zid Zid awaiting the christmas celebrations.

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This is part of a new seasonal series where we bring you a guide to all things festive. We'll be decorating and preparing wish lists and gift guides for all the family and with some little treats and wondrous surprises along the way you'd better be sure to come and join the festivities with us.

sign up so not to miss offers and news of whats in the boutique

Be sure to watch our Monday Makery- we'll be bring you decorations to make, recipes to bake, and new traditions to begin.  The Art of Living will help guide you through what's on and what's great for families.  And on Friday we'll be giving you sneek peeks into the houses of the sisters of Sisters Guild in our Once upon a Week.

If you would like to guest blog, have a craft, recipe or some great tips for family life we'd love to hear from you.

www.sistersguild.co.uk

Sisters Guild gets Christmasey!

Today our blog and boutique gets Christmasey...
Over the next few weeks we will be rounding up all those gifts, goodies and decorations for Christmas: stocking fillers for girls and boys, gifts for babies, Christmas gifts for mum, Christmas tree decorations and all  things to bring joy, wonder and colour to your home in the festive season.

We are sisters who get giddy over the festivities, so it is with true festive fever that we have gathered together clothing, toys, games, decorations, accessories and more...

We haven't forgotten the fun of getting dressed up for Christmas.  ilovegorgeous brings us the requisite silk and sparkle, stars and velvet for girls to step into the party season with style! And when the cold sets in there's nothing better than Alpaca layers from Waddler to feel against your skin, or the lambswool of Hucklebones to cosy up to.

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Tell Us it's Tuesday: Faith of Damselfly

Today we have the pleasure of a very inspiring and imaginative British clothing designer, Faith Tilleray of Damselfly. As a mum of girls Carla is always seeking dresses that make a girl feel divine, through the cut and the fabric, the movement and the thoughtful detail. Carla found such magic in Damselfly and wrote about it here. I've seen Carla's daughter wearing a Damselfly dress, and it really does make you want to go back to being a girl again and feel such clothes against your skin.

Damselfly is a collection of beautifully hand-finished clothing for 'heroines and wayfarers.' It has added much wonder to the British childrens clothing industry. Yet, industry it is most definitely not. Each dress, skirt, coat or cape is made by hand following the 'whole garment system' which means a seamstress works on the whole piece. The result is clothing produced with much love and pride.  You almost feel like these are dresses created by magical elves during the night and left draped over the chair for the morning light to shine on all their glorious detail. They are in fact made in Shropshire using sustainable fabrics sourced only in the UK, such as yarn from the Shetland Isles. The new collection for Autumn Winter 2011 is Folk Art and Fairy Tales and it is the stuff of dreams.

We have an inkling that the creator behind Damselfly has quite a romantic mind and has truly followed her 'calling' through her creative adventure of Damselfly.  We asked Faith to tell us more...

On waking the first 3 things I do are…
Put the puppy out, drink green tea,  read the Independent

If I had a superpower it would be…
Flying - definitely. I dream about it sometimes and it's exhilarating.

If I could trade places for a day with someone it would be…
Katherine Edmonds of Wovenplay.

If someone wrote a story about me the title would be…
The Unexpected

When I was seven years old…
I made my first skirt on the sewing machine.

If you open my fridge you will see
Lots of lovely cheeses, locally produced meat, baby leaves. ( trying the Atkins diet)

My favourite view is…
Standing at the top of our sloping garden, looking out across the village to the other side of the Clun Valley. Feels homely and wild at the same time.

The 3 things I will tell my children are…
Be true to yourself
Be kind to yourself and to other people
Follow your dreams

The song or musical piece for the theme tune of my life is…

Joni Mitchell - 'All I Want'. My mum used to play it when I was young and I've loved it ever since.

I used to be…
An English teacher in the UK's top state school ... huge pressure. Still have nightmares about not having read the books on the A level syllabus and having to stand up in front of my sixth formers knowing nothing.

My biggest guilty pleasures are…
Chocolate. Downton Abbey

My wardrobe is…
Small. I wear things until they fall apart.

Never have I ever…
Been to Paris. My life's dream. Am planning to make it come true in 2012

My kids taught me…
That it's always better to be honest - not to always feel you have to protect everyone else.

Life is like a…
A journey - destination not so important as travelling well.

My earliest memory is…
Going to nursery school without my knickers. It was my birthday and I was too excited to get dressed properly. Felt mortified all day as I was wearing a skirt.

My underwear drawer…
Almost completely black. I'm no good at washing pale colours separately so they all end up grey and washed out. Easier to stick to black.

I feel like running for the hills when….
I  work from a studio at home ( in the hills). It's lovely but I do get cabin fever if I work too many days without a break. Sometimes my body just will not walk over the threshold and I have to escape. I usually head for London.

On my teenage bedroom wall there was…
Nothing much apart from bookshelves. I couldn't understand the whole 'pop idol' thing.

My ideal partner would have the mind of .....and the skills of
Sorry on this one - has to be my partner. Wouldn't change a thing.


Thank you Faith, your answers are fascinating - flying dreams and previous career as an English Teacher, wow! Chocolate and Downton Abbey, yes! Also, you've reminded me of Carla's no-knickers-at- school experience when she was in the Infants.  We had to share with everyone the 'All I Want' song as it's one of our favourites as our mum played Joni Mitchell too - maybe it's growing up with her words that makes for minds that meander on love, beauty and adventure! We hope you enjoy your trip to Paris - inspiration for the next Damselfly collection maybe?x  

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This is part of our new series of Tuesday blog posts where we ask you to tell us all. We wanted a fun way way to get to know the people behind the blogs and businesses we follow. We have more people lined up to reveal themselves and may be asking you too!


We also publish other series in our blog including our Monday Makery, Wednesday we show you our favourite seasonal pieces and Thursdays is dedicated to the 'Art of Living' in which we share ideas and inspiration from places to visit, things to see and articles about things that enrich our lives.


www.sistersguild.co.uk