fredag 30. november 2018

Friday Finds; Advent Calendar Printables

Do you still need to do the finishing touches on the advent calendar(s)? In that case, or if you want some inspiration for the calendar of next year, I've got you covered today as I'm going to share with you some advent calendar printables.

I've got fond memories myself of having an advent calendar as a kid, but I feel that there's so many fun and visually interesting calendars today. A lot of them being a DIY.

The calendars I'm linking to are a mix of "total package" where you don't need to wrap up the gifts, some where there's just calendar tags and some with activities. That means that several needs are covered, depending on what you're in search for.

Stock photo from Pexels
Here's the printables for you to enjoy.
Free Advent Calendar
Santa Advent Calendar
Winter Wonderland Advent Calender
Vintage Advent Calendar
Printable Advent Calendar Activity Cards
Advent Calendar Countdown Tags
Advent Calendar Houses
Advent Calendar with Free Printables

torsdag 29. november 2018

Thursday Thoughts; What Bothers Me During The Christmas Season

Stock photo from Pexels
It’s not long before it is December and therefore Christmas. It is supposed to be a great time of the year, but there are a few elements that bother me.

Of course I like meeting friends and family during Christmas, but as an introvert, I do have a foul taste in my mouth when it comes to the pressure of being social ALL THE FREAKING TIME during the “main days” of Christmas. Christmas dinner, Christmas parties, surviving relatives that have a PhD in complaining about their health or other stuff, big-ish crowds and in general a socializing marathon. I feel that there is a certain pressure to participate in all the festivities, otherwise people might look at you as if you’ve got two heads. There is a difference between being alone and being lonely (the latter I will address shortly). I do go to various festivities during the Christmas season. The main one is visiting my grandparents on Christmas Eve, eating dinner and opening gifts, as it’s often just the three of us which makes it pretty relaxing (Christmas Eve is the “big” day in Norway).

The opposite of alone is lonely. Even as an introvert enjoying my own company, I do appreciate the thought of including the lonely during Christmas. Sometimes someone doesn’t have anyone to celebrate Christmas with and crave having someone. Their loneliness might be caused by various reasons. There is just two things I want to point out; don’t forget the lonely the rest of the year and don’t pressure people in general to participate if they don’t feel like it.

After working in retail, there is another thing that bothers me during the Christmas season and that is the consumerism. Try working in retail the entire Christmas season with cranky and ungrateful customers running around like headless chickens finding Christmas gifts, you just might lose your Christmas spirit and feel a bit like Ebenezer Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Christmas comes on the same date every year, just why do people wait until the last minute to buy Christmas gifts, seriously?

The consumerism can be a bit of a pain at times. It does dictate that one “has to” purchase a physical gift to someone. It also makes a divide between those with a good economy and those who are struggling. What is wrong with thoughtful gifts instead of a mindless (and very possibly pricey) gift purchased at the last minute? Also, what is wrong with giving experiences instead of physical gifts? The pressure of gifts does make a toll, especially on the ones who struggle financially.

Whether one struggles financially or are lonely, the divides during Christmas are even clearer than the rest of the year, as there is the pressure of performing. If you don’t have anyone to celebrate Christmas with, or enough money to buy gifts/food/whatever, it shows a bit more during the so-called festive season.

No matter the financial situation or other issues, there is a certain pressure to perform anyway and it can potentially make Christmas a bit more stressful than necessary. What about everyone giving themselves some slack this year and focusing on having FUN during Christmas instead of focusing on buying elaborate and expensive gifts, attending x number of parties and what-not? Wouldn’t the holiday be a bit more joyful then?

onsdag 21. november 2018

Customer Loyality Fun at Local Home Decor Stores

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Sometimes some local home decor stores have some special days for those who are registered at their customer loyality programs. Back in late October, Kremmerhuset had one of those with 25 % off the entire purchase in addition to a goodie bag for the first 20 customers.


As I was one of the lucky 20, I got a goodie bag containing coffee, a lollipop, napkins and a pillar candle. I can't really complain about that.


Part of the reason why they had that day was to launch their Christmas line and they had fittingly decorated the store. As a sidenote I've been eyeing that chair for some time, but at the moment I sadly can't afford it.

torsdag 15. november 2018

A Walk in the Woods

Autumn has a certain magic to it - the colourful leaves, the crisp air, the cooler temperatures, you name it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why I love taking walks in the autumn and it's even more fun having a four-legged buddy with me.

This summer my father got a German Sheperd puppy named Jesper and even though he's still in the "I want to say hi to everyone"-stage, he's pretty fun to take for walks. It's even more fun when I manage taking a few decent photos of him.


Do you like to go for walks/hikes during the autumn? If so, are you lucky enough to have someone to go for walks with, either it's of the two-legged kind or four-legged? Feel free to share below.

tirsdag 13. november 2018

Making a Home; Fighting Food Waste Through An App

I am not going to deny that I love saving money when I can, although I'm more of the thoughtful kind in terms of money rather than a cheapskate. I also love being environmentally friendly. Combining those two, you got this great app called Too Good To Go.

Too Good To Go enables restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops etc sell their surplus food that would otherwise end up in the trash. At the moment it's available for use in nine European countries, Norway and the UK are among those countries.


Personally, I've used that app for a while and so far I'm really happy about it. Some of the items I've got my hands on are sandwiches, wraps, bread and in general various baked goods. I wouldn't be surprised if I've saved over $50 just by using Too Good To Go and the food I've got my hands on have been delish.

Have you ever used the app or considered to? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

lørdag 10. november 2018

Weekend Cooking; 10 No-Knead Breads To Try

I'm one of those who finds great comfort in the smell of freshly baked goods. There is something nourishing about the scent. That's perhaps part of the reason why I enjoy baking so much.

If you find it a bit intimidating baking with yeast (or baking in general), I've made a round-up of ten no-knead bread recipes you can try. Not that I deny you trying them if you're already comfortable baking with yeast of course.

Stock photo from Pexels
Here's the recipes.
No-Knead Overnight Bread
No Knead Sourdough Bread Recipe
30 Minute Honey Whole Wheat Skillet Bread
Easy Roasted Garlic No Knead Skillet Bread
No Knead Farmhouse Bread
Whole Wheat No-Knead Skillet Bread
No-Knead Ciabatta Bread
No Knead Rosemary Garlic Bread
Libyan Herb Bread
No-Knead Cranberry Walnut Bread

Have you ever baked any no-knead bread recipes? How did it go? Feel free to share in the comment section below.

tirsdag 6. november 2018

Making a Home; Autumn Leaf Mason Jar Candle Holder

After seing plenty of fun autumn inspired craft tutorials on Pinterest, I ended up making an autumn leaf mason jar candle holder, inspired by the tutorial from Natural Beach Living.

It is a really simple DIY and you can make several of these in one sitting, depending on how many you want to make. I'm also sure that they could work as nice gifts as well, especially considering just how trendy mason jars are at the moment.


Here's the one I made. As it was my first try, it may not be the most perfect one, but at least it's a bit cute.

Have you done any autumn inspired crafts/DIY projects recently? Feel free to share in the comment section below.

fredag 2. november 2018

Friday Finds; Five Books to Read This Autumn

I can't deny that I love books, there is after all a reason why I write the book blog Lukten av Trykksverte. Today I wanted to share with you five books you might want to read this autumn. I've read them all and can highly recommend them.

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
Description from Goodreads; Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown - Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover's paradise? Well, almost ... In these wry and hilarious diaries, Shaun provides an inside look at the trials and tribulations of life in the book trade, from struggles with eccentric customers to wrangles with his own staff, who include the ski-suit-wearing, bin-foraging Nicky. He takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the rhythms and charms of small-town life, always with a sharp and sympathetic eye.

The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne
Description from Goodreads; Praised by Karin Slaughter and Megan Abbott, The Marsh King’s Daughter is the mesmerizing tale of a woman who must risk everything to hunt down the dangerous man who shaped her past and threatens to steal her future: her father.
Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be.

More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King–because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter.

A Dark So Deadly by Stuart MacBride
Description from Goodreads; Gripping standalone thriller from the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series.
Welcome to the Misfit Mob…

It’s where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can’t get rid of, but wants to: the outcasts, the troublemakers, the compromised. Officers like DC Callum MacGregor, lumbered with all the boring go-nowhere cases. So when an ancient mummy turns up at the Oldcastle tip, it’s his job to find out which museum it’s been stolen from.

But then Callum uncovers links between his ancient corpse and three missing young men, and life starts to get a lot more interesting. O Division’s Major Investigation Teams already have more cases than they can cope with, so, against everyone’s better judgement, the Misfit Mob are just going to have to manage this one on their own.

No one expects them to succeed, but right now they’re the only thing standing between the killer’s victims and a slow, lingering death. The question is, can they prove everyone wrong before he strikes again?

Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan
Description from Goodreads; Clarissa Goenawan’s dark, spellbinding literary debut opens with a murder and shines a spotlight onto life in fictional small-town Japan.
Ren Ishida is nearly finished with graduate school when he receives news of his sister Keiko's sudden death. She was viciously stabbed one rainy night on her way home, and there are no leads. Ren heads to Akakawa to conclude his sister's affairs, still failing to understand why she chose to abandon the family and Tokyo for this desolate town years ago.

But Ren soon finds himself picking up where Keiko left off, accepting both her teaching position at a local cram school and the bizarre arrangement of free lodging at a wealthy politician’s mansion in exchange for reading to the man’s catatonic wife.

As he comes to know the figures in Akakawa, from the enigmatic politician to his fellow teachers and a rebellious, alluring student named Rio, Ren delves into his shared childhood with Keiko and what followed, trying to piece together what happened the night of her death. Haunted in his dreams by a young girl who is desperately trying to tell him something, Ren struggles to find solace in the void his sister has left behind.

Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien
Description from Goodreads; Welcome to the Ho-Lee Noodle House, where the Chinese food is to die for.

The last place Lana Lee thought she would ever end up is back at her family’s restaurant. But after a brutal break-up and a dramatic workplace walk-out, she figures that a return to the Cleveland area to help wait tables is her best option for putting her life back together. Even if that means having to put up with her mother, who is dead-set on finding her a husband.

Lana’s love life soon becomes yesterday’s news once the restaurant’s property manager, Mr. Feng, turns up dead―after a delivery of shrimp dumplings from Ho-Lee. But how could this have happened when everyone on staff knew about Mr. Feng’s severe, life-threatening shellfish allergy? Now, with the whole restaurant under suspicion for murder and the local media in a feeding frenzy―to say nothing of the gorgeous police detective who keeps turning up for take-out―it’s up to Lana to find out who is behind Feng’s killer order. . . before her own number is up.

torsdag 1. november 2018

Sirdal - One Of My Favourite Placed to Travel in the Autumn

I'm fortunate enough that my grandparents have a small cabin in the mountains, near Tonstad in Sirdal (Norway). As a kid, I've spent many summer vacations there, so I've got plenty of happy childhood memories of that place. As an adult I haven't spent that much time there, even though I love it, as life got a bit in the way.


Fortunately my grandmother and I visited the cabin a few weeks ago and even though a few things have changed since I was a kid, it's mostly the same. There's also the beauty of the autumn, with the pretty colours of the changing leaves and the smell of the mountains and the forest. When we were there, we also stopped by the bakery down at Tonstad, which has AMAZING food (and a really yummy mocca, just saying).


I'm not going to deny that I'm an autumn girl and I love spending some time in the inland or the mountains during the autumn, as the colours are more vibrant there, compared to the coast.

Do you have a favourite place to visit during the autumn? Feel free to share below.