Antiques, Traditions & Twinkling Lights _ A Cosy Christmas Vlog

My husband and I have a day to ourselves today so we've headed to an antique centre to have a little nosy around. We used to come here a lot before the children arrived so it holds many special memories and coming here in the run-up to Christmas it adds an even thicker layer of It's a nice one. I like the cut edges. I'm hoping to pick up a few serving platters or side dishes, plates and bowls and things like that that I can use over the festive period. Oh my goodness this is heavy. I would love to collect some vintage ornaments as well but I think at the moment my household will probably be a bit too rough for them but it's something I'd love to keep an eye out for the future. We've had a lovely morning just pottering around and it's so nice not to have to keep an eye on anybody else for a change but now we have to do one of my favourite things and that's to pick out the tree. We've been getting real Christmas trees since I was a little girl and I've always been the one rooting through them. I'm the official family tree wrangler. Is this the tree? It's always one of those flashback moments for me. I feel like that wide-eyed girl for the Christmas wonder again. Soon my children will be big enough to take over and I'll happily take a step back though I think my eyes will be glistening a little bit. Here she is. We're going to get her all unwrapped and let her stand for a while to unfurl but I definitely think she's going to be a beauty. We've used this wooden planter to stand the Christmas tree stand in for many years now but I thought I could do a little makeover on it. I love how easy this wood wax is to use and I think it will make this planter a little bit disappeared and this is when I realised the new one I ordered is a slightly different size. I love having all the twinkling lights, soft glows and the dancing shadows. I sometimes wonder why we don't keep them up longer all year round. Perhaps it's because it is momentary that it makes the magic even more special. I love this deep red colour and I think I'm just going to tie them into little bows and then drape them onto the tree. How long do I do it? I think maybe I should have used a slightly thicker ribbon and that probably would have created a bit more impact but I think this will turn out charming all the same. I need to buy some proper fabric for this. In between Christmas shopping I've picked up a few things for myself. I've been trying to find a pair of dark blue jeans so I picked a couple up to try on. Let's see how this goes. See I find jeans that I can find that fit me on the waist nicely. I struggle with them on my thighs. Pockets don't seem to go in properly. I just did that just like my mum. This colour's nice though. It's just this, I don't know if this is too tight here. Then you know when you're wearing them, they open up. Now I have, this goes with jeans. See in my head this is like when Harry met Sally. I'm not sure, see I don't think, I think these are too short with boots. I think that's how people wear them. I don't know. I have these jeans around the waist and I like the back, I like the pockets. Don't they look great? I don't know if they look too tight on my thighs. I'm not, I'm not taking the tag off yet. These were wide leg high waist from Primark. Which I think is a good price for jeans. I'm sure about the length of them. I think maybe, I don't know, it's just like a cool girl thing. I am not she. Let's try the other ones on. These are, these are a bit longer so maybe these are the, maybe these are the ones to wear with boots. Oh god. So not that flexible. Let's do the jacket. I love this jacket. It reminds me of Lorelai, this jacket. I mean it's very, it's very naughty having like matting shoes, matting, matting bag. So I think I'll keep these jeans Jude. Bye. I think I'll keep these jeans. I like them. I still can't decide about the first pair but I'm definitely keeping that second pair. So I'm happy with that. These are the few bits that I picked up when we went to that antique centre the other day. This dish says that it's oven proof, dishwasher proof and freezer proof. So that's my kind of dish. I think we'll definitely put this to hard work over the Christmas season. When we're doing a roast dinner I like to just put out platters of food for everyone to help themselves and that just makes it easier when you've got a bit of a larger group. So I'm imagining some glazed carrots or maybe roast parsnips on here. I love this blue and white platter. It's not quite as elegant as the older more expensive one I saw but it makes me smile just the same. And I picked up one more book to add to the collection. All these things together I got everything for £10 and I do think that's half bad. Well it is the season after all. I think we might as well put this old dish to the test. I'm going to settle down for the evening and test out this new recipe I'm trying. But I just wanted to wish you a cosy countdown to Christmas. I know for many this isn't the most wonderful time of the year. It can bring its own set of challenges and sorrows. But I think at the heart of Christmas it's a story of love and hope. So I hope wherever you are you can catch a glimpse of that. To all a Merry Christmas and to all a good night.