I Have Been a Very Good Girl

...or so it would seem, because I got so many awesome presents for Christmas!

A super cute (and warm) loungewear set from my fiancé. I mean, unicorns? Hell yeah!

Kalevala Jewelry's The Heart of the House earrings in bronze, to be worn with lolita, of course. I prefer silver or white cold in jewelry, but warmer tones often go better with lolita outfits. These are from my fiancé as well (he spoils me rotten but hey, I'm not complaining). The handmade earrings with glass beads are from my Mom, and I like them very much also. They'll add a nice pop of colour to any dull, black outfit.

The tube scarf, "ear warming" headband and mitts are from my Lil' Sister, and the most awesome wool socks ever from fiancés parents. The socks have the logo of my childhoods favorite candy, the Kettukarkki.

These are from my Sister also. A pink bath mat, and guest and kitchen towels with beautiful prints.

A spice set for spicing our own teas from fiancé (this will be a new mutual hobby or ours), and the napkins and cupcake cups from my Sister.

Besides these I got some cosmetics, Electrolux Expressionist tea kettle (we can now choose the correct temperature for each tea, it's so great and we already named it Mr. Carson after the butler in Downton Abbey) and so much chocolate that I'll have to invite a lots of friends for tea to get rid of it all. :D So, if my friends are reading this - you are warmly welcome for tea and chocolate. ;)

Well, yesterday we were quite busy, as we had breakfast with my family and the Christmas dinner with fiance's, so I didn't have time to do my traditional Merry Christmas post. But I'll say it to you now, my dear readers; Merry Christmas a little bit late, and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and got a lot of nice presents! ♥

Something New, Something Old

Good afternoon, lords and ladies!

It's almost Christmas, isn't that exiting? To me, it still is! I love Christmas - and not the least because for us students it means a long holiday! Summer holidays are not counted because most students work during Summers (and that includes me, too), but I like to keep my Christmas holiday as a real holiday. Hopefully I'll now have more time for blogging also.

This time I decided to blog a little bit about home decor. I am a great decor enthusiastic, but as a student I don't have the funds to purchase all the things I would like to. And when I finally managed to drag my fiancé - not so much enthusiastic - to Ikea, he was the voice of reason and said that there's no point in buying any new furniture to this apartment, as we are soon going to move out anyway. I have to admit he was right, and so we only ended up buying some new textiles. But even so, it's far better now! And as my fiancé graduated, we have real flowers in every room. ♥ The Villeroy & Boch bowl is his graduation gift also.

So, I changed the colour theme in the living room & kitchen area a little bit. I've been having a crazy dark blue period, and I still love that colour, but it made our little home look a bit gloomy. Now the colours are mainly white, light grey and just a little bit of dark blue. I like it very much, it's a really calming colour combo. The lace curtains are from Ikea, but the curtains with the grey flower pattern are Luhta Home's, a second hand find of mine.

These pillows are so old I can't remember where they are from, but they finally found their rightful place.

As you may already know, I'm very happy with our bedroom, which has been a pet project of mine (as fiancé agreed I can express my girly tendencies there, I have been able to decorate it just the way I like).

The mirror table is an ideal place for flowers (and candles too), because the mirrors create an illusion of many more flowers.

The next two things aren't actually new, but I just took them out after a long time of not using them and that makes them feel all fresh again! First, the cow alarm clock (it has an alarm sound of a cow mooing).

Second, these colourful lanterns. They are adorable and give a nice, festive athmosphere when lit.

Some Christmas decorations my Mom gave us (Stockmann, Perfect Home).

And our teeny tiny, totally fake Christmas tree with pink and silver ornaments. My view on the matter is that if one goes for a fake tree, it might as well be fake all the way, and thus I chose white over green, because the green ones never look real, either.

Okay, I guess that was all for the time being. What are your thoughts on decorating, dear readers? Are you an enthusiastic as I, or not so much? What are your favourite colour combos when it comes to home decor? And if you happen to celebrate Christmas, do you have a tree, real or fake? Feel free to discuss in the comments! It will be nice to see if there are other decor freaks amongst my readers. :3

Light!

Good evening, lords and ladies!

Yesterday it snowed so today there is LIGHT! At last! Some light! Hoorrayy! And because of the light, I was actually able to snap some pictures of everything that has drifted my way since... well, last year's November.

OP by Victorian Maiden.

 OP by Innocent World. I swapped dresses with Mimi and got this beauty! I'm super happy with our swap and can't wait to wear this.

 

It has rufflebutt on the back! Rufflesbutts are awesome.

And then some of my Christmas presents. A tube scarf with sequins and a lace blouse. The blouse would look fabolous with jeans, too bad I don't own any. So I wear it with a dress and look rather like an art student (which I'm not).

 

A mint green purse. I love it.

Some jewellery, some cosmetics.

I especially like this necklace with a pearl, it's so classic.

And besides all those things, I also got way too much chocolate and marmalade candy, and some vanilla scented shower and bath products. My mom always gives me things that smell like vanilla. :P

Then I commissioned my friend to do me a bigger unicorn horn! Because the bigger the better, right?

I also won this beautiful vintage table cloth with hand sewn lace appliques in a blog giveaway. It is so big that it will fit splendidly my mansion's dining room table. Now the only thing I need is the mansion. :D

NVC Christmas Calendar 5: Christmas Photoshoot

Hello, my lords and ladies!

For the final post in Christmas Calendar series, I want to show you some Christmass-y pictures. We made this photoshoot for the Christmas cards, and though only two pictures made it into actual postcards, the rest of the pictures are quite nice too. The photography and retouching is by Sanni, and the models are me, Kata and Mimi. We also had two assistants for makeup and hair -  a big thank you for them also for making this photoshoot possible! :}

All the pictures are © Sanni S. 2013 - please do NOT use them or repost them without her permission.

♥ Happy Christmas to all of New Vogue Children's lovely readers! ♥

P.S. Now that the Christmas Calendar series ir complete, I would like to hear your thoughts on it. Did you like it? Or do you have some constructive feedback to give? Share it in the comments!

NVC Christmas Calendar 4: Inspiration

Hello, lords and ladies!

For the fourth Christmas Calendar post, I decided to find some inspirational pictures to help you get in a Christmas (or Yule, or whatever it is you will celebrate) mood. At least here in Helsinki it's just rainy and dark, so some inspiration is in order. I hope that where ever you are, my dear readers, there will be some snow for Christmas! ♥

P.S. Pay attention to that nail polish tuto and those ginger bread cookies that look like adorable chubby reindeers - I chose to post them because they are so wonderfully easy to make! I'm very lazy when it comes to nails and  I don't even like baking that much, so this kind of simple solutions really appeal to me. :D

NVC Christmas Calendar 3: Hair Tutorial (+ Announcing The Giveaway Winner)

Hello, lords and ladies!

I've been asked many times for some hair tutorials - so here's one, finally! This hairdo is quite easy to make (though it does require some practising to perfect it). It is also very versatile; by changing the size of the hair bun and the hair accessories you wear, you can make it fit lolita, vintage-inspired styles, or just ordinary fashion. You can make it casual or festive, just according to your wishes. As it is Christmas time, you can of course wear this to Christmas parties of all sorts! ;D

I hope you find this tutorial useful - and good luck, everyone, if you try to do this hairdo!

1. You will need:
♥ Lots of poppy pins (20-50 pins, depending on how much you have hair)
♥ Flowers, feathers etc. to decorate the hairdo
♥ 3 bigger hairbands
♥ 2 extra hairbands (to be used during the making process only)
♥ Hairspray and hairbrush, obviously.

2. Brush your hair, if necessary.  Part small sections of hair from the front. Tie with hairbands, so they don't get in the way.

3. Part the remaining hair in three sections and tie with the hairbands. At this point it doesn't matter if they are slightly uneven.

4. Wrap each section of hair around your hand as many times as it goes.

5. Pin each of the three sections with a poppy pin. It still doesn't matter if it's uneven, we will fix that later.

6. Take the hairbands away from the two front sections of the hair.  Twist the section with your fingers, and loosen it a little bit near your face. You can also make the front sections into loose braids, if you wish.

7. Pin the two front sections of the hair to the back of your head with rose corsages (or some other hair accessories you wish to use).

8. Start working with the rest of the hair. Always stick the poppy pins  upwards, hiding them carefully under the rose corsages and locks of hair. Continue to apply poppy pins until you reach the desired shape. This is the point where you want to try and make your hairdo as balanced as possible; here you will correct the earlier unevenness. Remember to apply some hairspray to secure the hairdo, but don't spray too close - at arms length is a good distance.

9. And voilà, you are ready!

All the pictures are taken by Sanni. (Thank you very much for your help, dear!)

Also, the giveaway from previous week closes now. My boyfriend acted as the unbiased assistant and chose the winner randomly:

So the winner is Natsu! Congratulations for the winner, and thank you for everyone who partivipated! Natsu, I will contact you via e-mail. :)

Gingerbread Cards (+ reminder of the giveaway)

Hello, everyone!

I've been so busy with my studies lately that I've had no time to make too many Christmas cards. But I did manage to do a couple of them - for example these cards with a gingerbread theme. I especially like the ones with the gingerbread unicorns (obviously). ♥

Also - don't forget to take part in the giveaway! It will close after tomorrow, so hurry up. ;)