A Scandinavian Christmas - Visit Sweden With Us

Christmas at Mon Pote always has a distinctly Scandinavian feel.  We stock carefully chosen decorations from our supplies in Sweden and Denmark from simple felted woodland creatures to hang on the tree to striking paper Christmas stars to adorn the windows.  When planning Christmas in the shop I always look for inspiraiton from Scandinavian homes on Pinterest and Isntagram and I am always so impressed with the delicate and sustainable approach to decorating - making decorations from dried oranges strung with foraged greenery or strings of popcorn.  This year I have been lucky enough to visit Stockholm to soak up the pre-Christmas atmosphere and really get a feel for how Scandinavians prepare their homes, and cities for Christmas.

Stockholm at Christmas is truly magical.  The short dark days in the city and the lack of light a this time of year mean that the shop windows, brightly lit bring warmth and cosiness to the city.  We loved to see the shop windows filled with Christmas decorations, baked goods, beautiful gifts against the back drop of the stunning traditional buildings of Gamla Stadt (the old city).  Gamla Stadt is built tall with narrow, winding streets so the beautiful shop windows stand out at street level, where there would otherwise be darkness.  The gifts on offer included tradtional and beautifully packaged baked goods and we love the Daimla horses in red mixed with simple white candles.

As well as getting plenty of Christmas inspiration, it was so magical to wander the streets of Stockholm in the Winter weather - freezing fog from the water and then be able to enter one of the many warm, bright cafes or shops.  The atmosphere was magical and there is plenty of respite from the icy weather.  We have been so inspired by the beautiful buidlngs of Gamla Sdadt that we decided to base our Christmas windows on it this year.  Our very own Eleanor designed some windows for us based on the buildings in Stockholm and drew them on to our windows with glass pen.   We hope that our window is as warm and enticing as the windows in Stockholm!

We loved visiting Stockholm and we loved bringing back lots of ideas to decorate the shop.  The Swedish know how to make Christmas look so beautiful and we hope that you find our Scandinavian inspired Christmas just as beautiful.  Here are some examples of  our decorations and tableware that you can find in the shop and online.  And don't forget lots of candles for extra cosiness.  Look out for Part 2 - where to eat, drink and stay in Stockholm.