Setting up a Christmas corner at your home

Christmas has a very special place in our hearts. Having lived in UK and USA in our formative years, we have always loved the holiday vibes. So, continuing the tradition we always set up a Christmas corner at our home and thought of sharing how even you can set up a cute little holiday corner in your home. Since this is our first attempt at blogging, we would love your feedback or any other idea you would like us to write about.

  

 

Lets get to it!

• Christmas Tree (duh!) - A pine cone tree would be desirable to give a proper Christmas vibe but well finding one is tough and we were short on time so we went ahead with our last year’s plastic one. For ones who want pine cone tree, we asked around and are happy to inform that they are readily available at big nurseries. Delhi NCR residents can also visit Khan Market in Delhi.

• Ornaments for the tree - Buy some, preferably 4 - 5 statement pieces like glitter balls and stars (like in the pictures), from any gift shop and small filler pieces like miniature gifts, pinecones and bells, etc.

 

 

• If your tree looks slightly frail and empty, buy 2 - 3 garlands and wrap it around to make the tree look fuller

• To cover the base of the tree, you can either put it in a vintage metal bucket or a wooden basket. We used a leftover golden cane plate and covered with lots of cotton to give a snow effect. Cover the base with lights, confetti and small décor pieces. You can also checkout our The Contemporary Black Cotton Rug to set up your Christmas tree on.

• Fairy lights - Surely, you would have some fairy lights lying around from Diwali! If not, buy fairy (mirchi) lights to deck up the tree. Different shape lights look stunning and if you have any unique shaped lights (star/balls etc.), they can look lovely too.

 

 

• Lastly and most important ‘Gifts’. I am a sucker for gifts and have several cheat codes with Brij. #surprisegiftsarethebest. These are the gifts you as a family or a couple can exchange. It can be as small as a bar of chocolate or as special as your favourite dress or a gadget but do try to exchange gifts to get in the festive mood. Plus who doesn’t love gifts. Check out our Wall Art collection which are perfect for gifting.

P.S I really really want a new leather jacket this winter. Hint Hint #christmasgiftsarealwayswelcome

• Décor needed:

        Fresh flowers - We are on a yellow fix these days but any flowers would do. Go for lillies or anthruiums or any local winter flowers available in your city

        Santa caps - Put 2-3 Santa caps for people or your loved ones to pose in

       Stockings - Buy any simple stocking from your nearby shop or you can fashion these on your own. There are lots of DIY tutorials available on the web for making your own stocking

       Instant camera or printer- Everyone likes getting clicked during the holidays. Make the corner a mini photobooth and people can get photos clicked against the splendid backdrop of the tree. We have the instax and its super helpful

       Music - It is not Christmas till you don’t hear Dean Martin’s ‘Let it Snow’. Keep a bluetooth speaker ready to play some Christmas carols or songs

 

Mulled Wine

It’s a spiced version of your regular wine and feels oh so fuzzy. This brings very fond memories for us as our first stint with mulled wine was at Winter Wonderland in London and have been in love ever since. It’s easy to make and definitely brings in the festive cheer. Below is a step by step process for making mulled wine. We followed Jamie Olivers recipe (serves 2-4) and it turned out exactly like the Winter Wonderland one (It was so yummy).

Ingredients - 2 Oranges (we used Malta but normal Indian ones should be fine too), 1 lemon, sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, vanilla pod (even essence works), star anise and any red wine. We used the Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

Method - Juice from the Malta oranges and lemon and keep the peels.

Add half a glass of water, 2-3 spoons of sugar in a sauce pan and add the orange and lemon juice along with the grated peels. Let it boil for a minute.

Add all the spices including cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, vanilla essence or pod and just enough red wine to cover the sugar mix.

Let it simmer for 4-5 mins until you get a slightly thick syrup. Don’t put all the red wine at once else the essence of alcohol goes away and you’ll be left with just red spiced sugar syrup.

After the syrup is ready (you can taste a bit), add in the star anise and 2-3 glasses of wine depending upon your gathering. Let it be on heat for 4-5 mins and serve it warm. We are sipping it while writing this and geez, its heavenly in this winter.

Tip - Don’t throw or strain away the peels or spices. Put them in the glasses for added flavour.

 

 

Desert

Cinnamon spiced toast topped with strawberries* and melting Nutella- Who can say no to Nutella! Again very simple to make and healthy (Yes we called Nutella healthy).

Ingridients: Bread, Nutella, Strawberries, Cinnamon Powder and a cute serving tray

 

- Cut some regular brown or multi grain bread into thin vertical slices, add a bit of butter and toast them in the oven. If you don’t have an oven, you can simply toast them in the toaster

- Cinnamon powder is readily available. If no powder is there then just grate a bit of cinnamon stick on the strawberries. It will be a bit coarse but flavour will come through.

- Melt some Nutella (1 small bowl should be enough) in the microwave for 1 minute. If the Nutella spread is already gooey then just take some out and spread it on the toast.

- Cut small pieces of fresh strawberries and put some on the toast and there is your moment of bliss

*As an alternate if you don’t have strawberries available you just dip the sticks of cinnamon toast in the nutella. It will be as good.

Tadaa!!! Your Christmas corner!!!

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this. It is our small way of adding the festivity in your homes. Now the wine is calling us :)

Lots of love,

T