You are probably all aware by now how much I love this first month of the months. But whether you love or loathe it, most of us could probably do with a bit of organising to make sure the year ahead feels as smooth as it can. Despite not being in formal education for nearly 2 decades, there is something of the back to school fever that grips me in January, similarly in September. After a busy Christmas where all the usual routines fly out of the window, and bedtimes slip and nobody knows what day it is, January is a great time to take a breath and get things organised.

January is a quiet contemplative month right in the middle of winter. It’s a cozy and indoorsy both literally and figuratively. So all of these ideas fit very well with the concept of a 'slippers-and-cups-of-tea January. These activities also work if you happened to have busted your ankle, like I did this week. Hmph.

Even if you aren't experiencing back to school fever, the quiet of winter and the start of a new year is a good time to get back on track with the things you want to be doing. Here are some of the satisfying things I’ve been quietly busying myself with.

Not a 2020 goals and plans post(!)

My full planning process is ongoing- I tend to take the whole of January to really flesh it out. I also do the stages of the planning process alongside students on my e-course, which only just got started. So this isn’t a “my goals for 2020 post”. I’m not there yet. But by way of a 2020 partner to my 2019 post, I wanted to share my word for the year and vision board, and give some tips too, as I’ve had lots of dm’s about both when I mention them on Instagram stories.

Releasing last year

Firstly though, I have been spending some time releasing 2019. What I mean by that, is before I race in to 2020, i’m allowing the experiences, growth, lessons and love from the last year soak in. I have been re-reading both my 2019 and 2018 review posts and just letting them marinate. I really recommend not rushing the looking back process, and not racing headlong in to Big New Year Action. There is so much wisdom in the last year, even if we are very glad to see the back of it.

Unpopular opinion alert: January is my favourite month of the year. There, I said it. It gets a pretty bad rep; month of self-punishment, debt and cold. I am reading a lot of blog and Instagram posts bemoaning the talk of resolutions and new you and new starts. But I actually love it.

I don’t love the ‘New Year, New You’ talk. I don’t love the self-loathing or insidious diet talk and I don’t love the toxic productivity talk But. When done from a place of love and kindness, using this time to celebrate your wins and set some intentions and kind goals for the year can be really powerful.

I love the promise of a new year. I love it in the same way I love the promise of a new season, and sometimes a new month, week or even a fresh new morning. I like the first page of a new diary, the first sprouts in the soil.

Man, I love reading these posts. It’s the same part of me that loves going for a dusk walk and looking in peoples windows (I can’t be alone in that?! right…?!) Anyway- I am always so grateful to others for sharing their year-end reviews, especially when they’re a bit vulnerable and include both personal and professional. I get a lot from them. So here is (part of!) mine. I’ve split it up into me, work, and family.

Me:

I have loved flowers, and anything produced in nature since I was a kid. Being surrounded by nature (inside the house and out!), and working with it was a far off pipe dream for many years. But as 2019 comes to an end, I’m looking back on a dreamy year that has (amongst other things!) been full of making and flowers. From large shopfront installations to giant wreaths, floral clouds to huge garlands, teaching in some incredible venues, making more wreaths than I can count and teaching over 400 people in my online and in-person workshops. I mean. whoa. Past me wouldn't have believed it was possible!

How to decorate your home with nature this festive season. Learn 5 effective ways to use evergreen foliage in your home this Christmas, to create simple, beautiful decor that is free or low cost and compostable.

In collaboration with Habitat.

I think gathering and eating delicious food in winter is the very best tonic to winter misery/political woe. The dark evenings make them perfect for candlelit meals and fires. I had a lot of fun pulling this shoot together for Habitat a few weeks ago, and then also enjoying the table afterward with my family.

My house is often full of foliage for styling, floral and wreath workshops. Dave says it’s like living in Jumaji and I love it! To get the best out of the flowers I need for workshops, I will often plan a photoshoot the day before using all the material. It’s rare that I get so many flowers in my home to play with! So, in light of a house that has recently been particularly stuffed full of foliage and flowers, I decided to create a flower cloud. My flower and foliage cloud is made from foraged bracken and grasses, wild thyme, Gypsophila, Statis and a few other stems of loveliness I found on my studio floor!

In this setup, I have put into practice my tried and tested styling rules to create a warm sumptuous table. It’s a winning formula!

I have been promising to share more information about my kid’s bedroom for months, and here it is!

The brief: I wanted to create a shared kids bedroom that was cosy, fun, yet simple and very budget-friendly. I kept the walls white and added colour and texture in the bedding, art and shelves. Both of them love their bedroom and I love it too, it feels like a really calming space.

The original plan was to swap ALL of the bedrooms around so that they had the biggest room. But then we realised with bunk beds, their current room would be just fine. A bigger room would mean more mess! They play downstairs so it would have been wasted. Their small room feels really cosy and lovely. It meant so much less work, and also means I have a bigger room to use as a studio which is a dream. In the future, we will probably move the rooms around so that they have a room each but for now it works really well.

Siblings sharing

I love Christmas in a similar way I love the other seasonal celebrations through the year (May Day, Spring solstice, mid summer etc) but there is something especially cozy and magical about Christmas time. Dave and I have talked a lot about how we want to celebrate it, and over the last few years have established some rhythms and traditions that we all love and that align with our family values too. I thought i’d share some of the ways we approach Christmas here, a sort of alternative view I suppose.

Two quick announcements before I dive in: 1) My planing and goal setting e-course, The January Life book, is open for pre-sale now, until Friday, so if you want to give yourself (or a loved one) a fantastically deep and life-changing start to the year, encompassing both work and personal stuff, then head this way.

2) My last workshop with tickets available (the others are sold out) is on Saturday 7th in SE London. Make an everlasting wreath with me and Nadine from Workshop ltd.using one of Nadine's gorgeous handmade brass rings.

December's Sunday Supplement!

Welcome, December, month of shimmer and moonlight. And happy first day of advent! The festive winter season is well and truly underway and we are feeling rather merry and bright about the whole caboodle. Autumn and winter are my busiest work season, and friends often ask if by the time Christmas comes I am done with it. But the answer to that is nope! I love it! More foliage! But I have been thinking about January too, and the whole new decade she will usher in.

As always we are opting for a simple Christmas focused on experiences, rather than ‘stuff’, and taking conscious steps to make things easier for ourselves in the coming weeks. For us this looks like keeping the calendar as free as we can, marking in rest days after workshops, and opting to stay home this Christmas and New Year. We want to create magical moments for the kids based on being with the people we love (although obviously, present joy is high on the list too!). Last night we hung up our advent branch (!) In each fabric pouch we put an activity card and occasionally a little chocolate coin or gift. I no longer do this in advance, and instead do a few days at a time. It has activities like a torch walk in the park to see the moon and stars, baking, Christmas film, decorate the tree, make gifts for family, donate toys.