Tomtar on Duty

Today I took out one of my favorite typical Swedish Christmas decorations: Tomte. A Tomte is a little gnome that supposedly watches over your house while you are sleeping. In Sweden during Christmas time there seems to be Tomtar (Swedish word for multiple Tomte) everywhere.

In the photo you will see I have transformed my potted ivy wreath that I bought during the summer in to a Christmas decoration by using some simple red and white ribbon and a few red ornaments. The straw garland is also typically Swedish. Add a red mercury glass votive and you have yourself a festive statement.

If you think a bit about it there is a lot you can do with everyday things you already have. With a little ribbon and candlelight you can make almost anything into a "Holiday Item", think about it......

First Snow

As I was stepping out to take Peete for a walk this is what I saw. It looked like someone was sprinkling powdered sugar from the heavens. I don't think I have ever seen a first snow anywhere before.

As you can see from the photo above it was Peete's first snow too. He looked out at the layers of snowflakes falling down and then looked back at me for an explanation; I could not help but snap a picture.

We run through the forest in a haze of white and cold. The air is crisp and on the walk back the smell of burning wood makes you hurry home even if you don't have a fireplace. Winter is here.

Swedish Star

One major difference I see between Sweden and the U.S. during the holidays are the holiday lighting choices. During this time of year in the States most everyone has their Christmas lights up outside and are doing their best to outdo the neighbor's display from last year. The house with the most lights and most elaborate outdoor, life sized nativity set wins.

Although you will not see the same outdoor light displays in Sweden that does not mean that Swedes are any less festive, just a bit more tasteful. In Sweden one window in every house or apartment you pass by you will see a star like the one in the photo above. It's really interesting to just drive around and see which house picked what kind of star lantern. 

Julpynt (Christmas Decorating)

So the season for me has officially begun. I went and looked at couple cute shops around Skane and I have made plans on how to celebrate the season with festive yet tasteful Jultide decorations. It's so much fun for me to mix ideas from both American and Swedish traditions.

I learned from my husband that during Christmas time in Sweden many people eat and display Clementine oranges. Traditionally Swedes decorate the Clementines with cloves, but since we both hate cloves I opted to do something similar with cute, cheap red and white ribbon.