YULE FASHION COLLECTION

  Although Christmas seems long gone, in my calendar Yule time extends all the way from early December through mid-January.
  Now Imbolc is approaching and it is time to sum up my Yule wardrobe. It´s all done and completed now, and instead of the usual five outfits, there are seven in this collection. Christmas and New Year both fall in Yule period, and they both have strong individual styles. So I made a couple of outfits just for Christmas and just for New Year.

This first outfit, St Lucy, can be worn all through Yule. It is merely wintery, not Christmasy.

The applique in the shirt is so rich, that only a pair of aromatherapy earrings is needed to complete the look.

Sheepskin tunic is also appropriate all Yule long. (I wear it with dark grey leggings, but I did not include them in the picture because I have not made them myself but are store-bought.)

Only tiny golden earrings are needed for this surprisingly masculine outfit.

The third outfit, Cottage look, is also wearable all through Yule.

This year I added new earrings for variety.

  The previous three outfits make the base of my artistic Yule fashion collection. In addition, here are the rest, which take turns. First two are for setting Christmas mood:

Gingerbread dress.

To my own surprise, The Elf outfit is the only one that celebrates the most obvious Christmas color, red.

This Yule I made new aromatherapy earrings to match the necklace, which I also remodeled this December. Live and learn. Perfectionism keeps one going. =)

The Fireworks outfit is for post-Christmas, when it feels like I´m ready for New Year´s mood.

All new diy jewelry this year.

Ball Drop in NYC is the other outfit for post-Christmas Yule time.

  I´m so happy to have completed this Yule collection! It´s an amazing feeling to know that I now have a fully working wardrobe for work, all year round!

YULE FASHION: SAINT LUCY

  Inspired by winter´s beautiful snowy forests and St Lucy´s Day (celebrated Dec 13th, particularly in Sweden these days) I created this outfit for myself:

This is as wintery as it gets. Nature is in all different shades of grey now, like the base of my outfit, with snow piled on evergreens. No signs of Christmas, simply celebrating true winter. This outfit is great all through Yule (early December through mid January).

Nature´s art, my never ending source of inspiration.

My art. Green aromatherapy earrings complement the look. In this traditional makeup, with faint red lips and cheeks, I try to capture the essence of ancient beauty ideals. Mankind has always sought for and appreciated beauty, and often traditional is better than quick fashion trends.

The shirt is simple cotton jersey, and the pants are dark grey corduroy.

The appliques continue in the back. Back is often neglected and left plain for some reason. I like to add detail there too, when appropriate.

   In truth, I´m no saint, and don´t try to impersonate one, but my goal is to shine happiness and good mood around me, making my own little bubble a better place. Deep down that´s selfish, but I believe others benefit from it too by (hopefully) getting a smile on their face. There´s enough bad in this world, so every effort adding good to it is welcome!

ELECTRIC BLUE AND SILVER START THE YEAR

  I see Sabbats in color, and they´re all different. New Year´s is in late Yule, completing the cycle of the wheel, and here´s a sample of what it´s colors look like in Nelland:

  Check out the rest on my column Nelland Living on PaganPages.org!

WELCOME 2015!!!

  Yay, the year has changed! Think about it, a whole new year to be happier and more content than ever! What an opportunity!

Wait... let´s see if this new wine is good...

Totally, party on! (For the record, this is my first glass. So don´t blame it on the wine, this is just how I am... life is a party.)

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  I have thoroughly enjoyed this Yule. Ever since Christmas we have staid home a lot with friends and family, eaten well, played lots outside, and today it is New Year´s eve. That means more friends, goodies, even some sparkling wine, and fireworks!

There is some magic about winter solstice, because (it seems) every year after we´re pass it, the sun slowly starts to reappear again. The days are still very short of course, but the clouds recede from the sky little by little, giving room to the sun.

So bottoms up, it´s time to celebrate the new beginning year! May it bring peace, happiness, and love to us all!

  Happy, happy new year 2015!

YULE FASHION: GINGERBREAD DRESS

  Gingerbread cookies are not on my menu (I rather eat it as dough =), but are now in my wardrobe. When thinking of Yule, gingerbread comes to my mind as an important factor of making the spirit bright. So in honor of the traditional treat, I made myself this Yule dress:

Dark brown knit dress with white accentuates. I didn´t plan to use a fabric with print on it, but this was the only proper dark brown I could find with some structure in it. After a little configuration, I came to the conclusion that this might even be better, less obvious, than a solid color. I went ahead and followed my original vision otherwise, including the white zig-zag ribbons at the hem resembling the icing used in cookies. To prevent appearing costume-ish, I accessorized the neck hole with a self-made necklace rather than adding zig-zag there too.

The white accessories bind the look to the snowy surrounding nature.

Natural makeup reflects the colors of the clothes, with mainly browns and off-white used. Earrings are light grey and white aromatherapy ones, in which I apply a Yule-scented combination of essential oils including cinnamon, pine, cardamom, and cloves.

THE LONG EXPECTED DAY

  What a great first day of Christmas we had!

It actually begun yesterday by getting a nice spruce out of the forest. It´s a great tradition we have had since childhood, and continue now with our own kids. The natural trees are far from perfect, which only adds to the excitement! This is the one we chose.

Year by year I have cut down on decorations, and enjoy the tree itself more and more.

It snowed all day long.

And we took all the fun out of it!

My son doing a front flip into a pile of soft snow!

We also had time to play games inside together.

Heating up our old traditional log house sauna, which was built after the WW2. Sauna is an essential part of our Christmas tradition. When I was a kid I would go roll in the snow, but no more baby! =)

In the evening we had a Yule feast, and Santa came to bring gifts to us all, and we watched a bit of Hobbit 2 (a good reminder before hitting the movies to see the final part).

  By midnight we were all ready to hit the bunk. What a great day, and the party continues tomorrow!

P.S. The parkour outfit I made for my boy was a hit! He wanted to wear it immediately, and even wanted to sleep in it! That makes me so happy!

PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS MORNING

  I woke up before the others, lit candles and enjoyed a moment of peace.

The weather outside is perfect for X-mas!

Only one more day left in the advent calendar. We recycled this calendar from years back, when we originally bought it to our son. He once was a huge Lego fan, and got to play with this calendar on two years. I stowed the tiny pieces back inside it, and now years after our daughter has had lots of excitement and fun opening it. Handy!

It is our tradition to decorate the tree on X-mas morning together, while waiting for the breakfast rice porridge to cook up (I think I´ll whip up a chocolate smoothie for myself and have a tiny bit of the porridge, for my stomach´s sake).

 May the fun and celebration begin! Happy, happy Christmas!

YULE OUTFIT FOR A LITTLE GIRL

  This is somewhat an X-mas present, but I gave it to my two-year-old daughter already...

...for obvious reason. This color combo is to be worn prior to and on X-mas, not after. The dress is made of soft cotton velour for warmth and comfort. The leggings are cotton jersey.

The edges are trimmed with a slightly darker jersey to give a bit of contrast. I was soooo tempted to use the polka-dot fabric here, but that would have made the whole dress unsuitable to wear after Yule. It is simply utterly too lame to dress like an elf after Christmas!  =)

 

EATING PLAN FOR YULE

  Evolution has brought me to this:

Breakfast:
1 cup green tea w/ soymilk
2 cups freshly squeezed vegetable/fruit juice
1 banana topped with coconut oil and honey

There´s cucumber, celery, and apple in this glass.

Lunch:
1 cup water w/ Echinacea drops
raw food meal of choice

Tzatziki dip with veggie sticks is a great lunch option.

Dinner:
1 cup green tea w/ soymilk
2-3 cups green smoothie/pudding

Cinnamon-flavored green pudding. Made of spinach, banana, avocado, water, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla. I left the banana a bit chunky for something to bite on.

  If/when I get hungry in the evening after eating all three meals of the day, I´ll grab fresh fruits and veggies to fill me up.

  This plan combines raw foodism and principles of Clean eating by dr. Alejandro Junger (where he recommends eating two liquid meals and one solid meal per day)

  All the above examples happen to be green, but that´s not the intention (except for the green pudding of course =). I use mostly seasonal veggies and fruits as the base of all meals, bulking them up with avocado, coconut oil, and occasional cold smoked salmon or goat´s cheese. I´d love to eat an all-raw vegan diet, but at least for now my stomach doesn´t agree with nuts & seeds. A girl´s gotta do what a girl´s gotta do... which is enjoy this nutrient and enzyme rich fresh diet for the next six weeks or so!

WELCOME YULE!

  Winter solstice is in two weeks! Now it is high time to say goodbye to Samhain and welcome Yule.

This year I begun by setting up the lights.

   It is always so refreshing to start a new sabbat! Isn´t life cool, living from one holiday to the next?! Virtually a non-stop party I´d like to think!

ENJOYING CHOCOLATE - THE HEALTHY WAY

  Hello, I´m Nella, and I´m a chocoholic. For me Yule is all about eating chocolate, no other goodie compares. But instead of gulping down milk and sugar loaded unhealthy pralines day in day out, I try to tame my taste buds with healthier options of the dark brown gold.

One example is this home made chocolate ice cream. Simple and cheap to make, is totally good for you being raw and sugar-free, and is amazingly like the real deal. Check out all three of my favorite pre-Christmas chocolate treats and recipes on my column Nelland Living!