Tag: Hygge Lifestyle

8 WAYS HOW TO GO ECO THIS CHRISTMAS…

Published on by barmac51 Comment

We are all a lot more aware of what we are buying nowadays and lockdown seems to have given us more time to think about what we want to buy that is more eco friendly. So, for this Christmas why not try a few different ways to create your own eco Christmas.

Etsy…

Start by making your own gift wrap by using new or recycled brown paper and customize it with your own designs or rubber stamps. WH Smith have brown recycled brown paper rolls perfect for wrapping presents.

WH Smith

Instead of using wrapping paper use fabric instead. Try furushiki. the Japanese Art of wrapping with fabric. You can find step by step details online at Furoshiki . They sell lightweight cottons, chiffons, off cuts, organza, the list is endless.

Furoshiki

Check out stores on Etsy, & Folksy for original gifts. Also the Ethical Superstore for Fair Trade, has eco-friendly and organic gifts and brilliant cleaning and household products,  eco-friendly alternatives to the current cleaning brands on the market, providing simple products to encourage home to become more eco-friendly. Eco cleaning & laundry from Method, Ecover, Guppyfriend, OceanSaver, Bio-D and more.

Ethical Superstore

Another good site is Conscious Craft UK who offer a massive list of products for every age of child with lots and lots of wooden toys for the children but you could spend a day browsing this site and still not seen it all.

Conscious Craft

You could make your own decorations from wood, natural fabrics and yarns and recycled glass as glitter and tinsel are not recyclable. The website Make Use Of has Christmas Decorations you can easily make from recycled materials, like this recycled cork wreaths. Or head down to this Pinterest Board

Make Use Of

which is bursting with recycled Christmas craft ideas. I love this reindeer using an old cd.

Pinterest

And don’t forget to go for LED bulbs for your tree as they consume up to 90% less power and are safer as they do not heat up.

Make your own Christmas cards using recycled cards and envelopes available from a number of places and on Ebay and Amazon, or buy some plantable seed cards and envelopes or paper and envelopes and make them yourself. These Christmas Deer plantable seed cards are perfect to give with a small gift (two presents in one). Give a gift that’s more than just a card. Each pack contains 6 cards, fully biodegradable A6 eco-card embedded with wildflower seeds. Simply wet the card and place in soil to transform into flowers loved by bees and butterflies. Instructions printed on the back of each recycled paper card. Includes kraft paper envelope.

Amazon

Or these sheets of meadow seed paper from Plant Seed Paper, An unusual seed paper containing wonderful meadow wildflower and grass seeds! Made from recycled paper, the paper has a slight creamy tinge colourwise and is around 280 gsm.  Pack of 10 A5 sheets. You could also buy some off cuts of seed paper. You will get 50 strips ranging in size from 45 – 15 cm in length.  Each strip is approximately 4 cm in width.  The strips are cut from a variety of paper types so you will get a good mix of seeds.  Some strips may also have print on one or both sides – but this is cool as it will make whatever your cut out look patterned!

Plantable Seed Paper

The paper may be suitable for printing on, depending on your printer and it can also be cut into shapes for wedding favours, gifts or even kids party bags, or handwritten on.

Plantable Seed Paper

HOW TO GET THROUGH THE WINTER LIKE THE DANES DO…

Published on by barmac51 Comment

How to stay happy like the Danes during winter lockdown is an article I read in The Times.

Apparently Denmark is grappled with coronavirus rates higher than most of its Nordic neighbours and is also now on the UK quarantine list and the economy is facing its biggest contraction since the Second Word War with dark and dreary winter well on its way. But this doesn’t bother the Danes, they are still happy.

Where else in the world would choose this moment to open a Happiness Museum, devoted to the subject for which the Danes are most famous? And not only that, but manage to attract up to 70 smiling visitors a day, even with the dearth of tourists on Copenhagen’s streets.

The Telegraph wrote that one study even found that the closer a country is in distance to Denmark, the happier its people are likely to be! So are Danes just born happy, or do they know something we don’t? Well, the Danes have better work-life balance than anywhere else in the world, with only 2 per cent regularly working long hours (compared to an average figure of 13 per cent for other countries). All employees are entitled to a minimum of five weeks paid holiday a year, and when Danes are at work, they often have flexible working environments.

The Danes also love their sweets, especially baking and eating cakes, cookies, and pastries. Anything home-cooked is much more hygge than something store-bought. Hygge drinks are best served warm. Tea, hot chocolate, and mulled wine all have a high hygge factor. Especially on a cold winter night.

Culture Trip wrote that from November until the end of February, Denmark’s nickname is Mordor. Yes, you got that right, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional world of Middle-earth. Truth is that some days you can’t really tell which is one is the worst but don’t despair because these tips will help you to survive the winter like a local. Getting through the Danish winter is a tough challenge even for locals. With more than four months of low temperatures often sinking below zero, sunless weeks with the morning light coming up at around 8 a.m. and lasting until 4 p.m. and heavy rain or snow, Covid-19 and lockdowns, you’ll need more than just Vitamin D to survive the wintertime.

So, don your baggy scarves, think of indoor activities and crafts you can do, bake, bake and bake some more (make sure you do the steps after baking) and get your magazines and books at the ready, and a cosy throw. Wrap yourself up into a little cocoon and enjoy winter no matter what.

HOW TO ARRANGE YOUR LIVING ROOM FURNITURE IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS…

Published on by barmac51 Comment

Have you had your living room the same way forever? I have, then I found these handy infographics on different ways of arranging your furniture and it inspired me to turn the room around.