It's A Wrap

We haven't got a clue what we're going to do on 25th December. Maybe a trip to the pub, lunch at our favourite Indian restaurant followed by an evening of cheese and wine in front of the fire but who knows? Neither of us are big on advance planning so it'll be whatever we feel like when we wake up on Christmas morning. 

Following on from Friday's post about the festive season not having to be a massive stressfest here's my hand-made wrapping. The parcel paper was an 8 metre packaging roll bought from Poundland, I found the raffia lurking in the shed, I bought the henna stamp block for pennies in Tamil Nadu and I used a old pot of fabric dye from my stash to ink the design onto the paper. It took about an hour last Tuesday evening with a glass of rum and a TV murder mystery for company.

The tags were cut from an old cardboard box and hole-punched. After Xmas the recipients can chuck the wrapping in the recycle bin and use the raffia in their gardens, making virtually no impact on the environment. The total cost was around £1.40. I'm linking this to the Ethical Bloggers DIY Xmas.

I bought this brass choker (made by the Karen hill tribe in Orissa) on the same trip as I got my henna stamp. What a strange coincidence.

I usually have this 1970s wool wrap with me for celebrating the Summer Solstice. Midsummer nights at Glastonbury can get a bit chilly. It's just the job for today, delivering Xmas cards by foot, gathering holly and ivy from the garden to decorate the house and popping to the off-licence to stock up the cocktail cabinet.

After a meeting yesterday we've finally sorted out my Dad's long-term care plan. Not only is it a huge weight off our minds but it means that we can start making plans to go travelling in the New Year.

Vintage mustard wool wrap (40p, jumble sale) worn with 1970s lurex blouse (the divine Curtise), Kate Moss @TopShop hot pants, mustard hat, leather and brass belt and suede go-go boots (all car boot sales), 1970s velvet tote (25p, jumble sale)  

Maybe I'll only be wearing tights and boots for another couple of weeks before I can trade them in for a bikini and flip-flops. I can but hope.