Elfin Craft Christmas

Before you venture up into the loft to dig out that dusty old box of Christmas decorations, take a look at the new designs from Elfin Craft on Etsy. Ok, it's not December yet but if you want to deck the halls with handcrafted, contemporary Christmas decorations this year you'll need to get your orders in sooner rather than later!

A rag wreath crafted from strips of floral or plaid fabric makes a great shabby-chic alternative to the traditional - and very prickly - holly version, and I love the Christmas tree decorations made from brightly coloured buttons and coiled zips.

Needless to say, I've already made a head start on my Christmas shopping at the Elfin Craft shop. At only £5 for a unique zip brooch, I think they'll make perfect stocking fillers. There's an assortment of colours and styles to choose from and they look lovely pinned to a hat, scarf or coat collar.

With gifts like this to make they're certainly going to be busy at the Elfin workshop in the run up to Christmas!

Literary Gems

A bookworm to the very core, I'm delighted to see fashion designers starting to appreciate the beauty of vintage book covers - none more so than Olympia Le-Tan, whose book clutches are flying off the shelves fast despite the hefty £1035 price tag. Well, nothing screams collector's item quite like a quirky clutch bag!

Depicting literary classics, such as Alice in Wonderland and Jane Eyre as well as rarer editions like The Lure of Long Beach (pictured above), at least we can say they're still a whole lot cheaper than buying an actual first edition of the text - but there are more affordable options out there...

A quick search on etsy is all it takes to find literary gems transformed into clutch bags at prices ranging from £50 - £100.

Personally I love the idea of finding my favourite novel transformed into a bag, so I'll be on the lookout for a Pride & Prejudice one - but The Great Gatsby (pictured left) has to be one of the most sought after titles available, what with Baz Luhrmann's extravaganza of a film adaptation now on the big screen.

They make a great talking point - I just hope people will be inspired to read the stories behind the bags rather than using one to stash away their copy of Fifty Shades of Grey.