Christmas Cheer Cocktail Recipe

Be careful! Very Alcoholic!

Christmas Cheer

350 ml Cointreau

450 ml Vodka

200 ml lime juice

800 ml cranberry juice

200 ml icy cold water

Mix together ingredients and chill in freezer one hour before serving. Serve with ice and a twist of lime. Makes 2 litres - around 20-25 drinks.

Caroline's Christmas Table

Caroline had an early Christmas celebration this year and decked out her table Dandi style to get the mood happening. A plain dyed tablecloth and holly berry napkins were used to set the scene.

Berry red ribbon on simple elegant paper lanterns add a touch of drama to the occasion

Edible napkin decorations - yummy plump cherries to accentuate the red.

They even had matching cocktails courtesy of our favourite Dandi model, Nadine. Recipe for these to follow!

Cards by La Rara

As we mentioned last week, the Dandi ladies visited Magnolia Square and did a spot of shopping. One of our favourites was the La Rara stand. The Dandi girls were already familiar with La Rara (aka Lara Raymond) and couldn't help but buy up lots of her gorgeous handmade cards. You can pick up your own copies at her etsy store - she offers FREE postage!

Such a cute stand (and stand holder!) with so many yummy things to buy!

All the Dandi girls couldn't walk past this gorgeous tea cup card. Multiple copies were purchased

Caroline was particularly enamored with this design, its so sweet, she had to buy two copies so she could keep one and give one away!

Magnolia Square - This Weekend in Sydney

Last night the Dandi girls (sans Manny who had her exciting exhibition opening which will be featured next week) went Christmas (and personal) shopping at the fabulous Magnolia Square market at Randwick Racecourse. We saw lots of yummy things and made quite a few purchases which we will show you over the next week. The first feature is from a cute art print brand call Printspace.

Printspace are a Melbourne based Husband and Wife team who also run a graphic design firm. Mara and Nicholas collaborate on the Printspace artworks and we love the result.

Caroline purchased the print above from the Printspace stand - it really is too cute!

The above image was a postcard freebie from their stand - good enough to frame don't you think? Thanks Printspace for coming up to Sydney and enlightening us with your artworks!

Magnolia Square is on from now until Saturday 21 November. Don't worry if you can't make it though as we will post some goodies all next week and you can check out more stalls on the Magnolia Square website

PAD Australia

Very often in life, a change is as good as a holiday, and with this in mind Caroline and Mindi decided to spice up their living spaces with some yummy new cushions from Pad.

We first spotted Pad over a year ago and have been loving their gear ever since. The current collection features an awesome range of colours including fresh green, sapphire and ash grey and the quality of fabric is the very best - durable and snuggly at the same time.

Its fair to say we went a little crazy and our living rooms could now double as Pad showrooms, but the end result breathes new life and inspiration into our worlds and that is what is most important, right?

You can find Pad cushions at the following stores in Sydney

Magnolia Home and Gift, Shop 6-9/ 19 Bungan St Mona Vale NSW 2103

Essentials or Home, 112 Cronulla St, Cronulla NSW 2230

or at Oz Design Stores nationally

Behind the Scenes

Yesterday was a wonderful photography mission in the land of Dandi. The Dandi ladies spent all day setting up and photographing 10 new looks to be revealed in the coming months. The whole experience was such a myriad of emotions, from the manic supplies shopping, to the precision flower arranging, and the calm setting of the table and the never ending ironing!

Here are some behind the scenes photos of the fun day we endured. Lets just say we all enjoyed putting our feet up at the end of the day and eating a post-shoot cupcake. We now also have some wonderful photographs to share with you in the coming months.

above image: props, props and more props!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Leezar and Mindi, styling and shooting

Caroline multitasking!

As Seen In: October Home Beautiful

This post is a little late to reach you, however we thought it was a goody to share as it describes the Dandi design process and also showcases our lovely Caroline. An extract from this interview with Virginia Jen of Home Beautiful Australia is below.

"Our contemporary, graphic approach celebrates our natives landscapes, we take inspiration from the environment but aren't too literal with it. It could be the use of colour from a landscape or the shape of leaf that starts of a design.

Each design and product comes to fruition in an organic, collaborative design process. We all start sketching. One of us may start the design and then someone else jumps in and adds their bit. It's not about one person's individual talent - we work off our strength as a team. We Never stop designing - our studio walls are covered with ideas for future ranges, the hard part is deciding which design is ready to be set free. "

The Only Neat Corner of Mindi's Home

Mindi has just moved house (well two weeks ago actually...) and everything is still in boxes strewn across the place. However she managed to clear enouch space and make a quick custom covered canvas to have a proper 'dandified' corner in which to relax and get crafty. What do you think? The gorgeous cherry blossoms were a present from Caroline.

Chocolates and Neutrals

Winter is set in and we are all rugging up with lots of layers and textures to warm ourselves, so why not use these same principles in fashion trends for your table settings at home.
Start with a dandi plain dyed chocolate tablecloth as your base, then fold a chocolate olive branch tablecloth into a square shape and layer over the top. For something more casual create the layers using our rick rack runners or placemats.

Once you have the tablecloth set up, carry out the earthy theme and use dinnerware made from natural materials such as stoneware or bamboo. Using wooden accessories, such as the dandi bamboo range, not only look great with your wintry setting, they're good for mother nature too.

A big trend this season is to bring the outdoors in. When you're out on your morning walk or pottering around the garden keep an eye out for fallen branches and leaves to use for styling your table. We demonstrated this a fee weeks ago when Caroline brought home some goodies from the Kanagaroo Valley. Click here to view our post.

Inspired by the Kangaroo Valley

A recent weekend away in the Kangaroo Valley had Caroline inpsired to bring nature indoors when setting her table and styling her lounge room. The branches pictured above were found on the ground and dried out, making a great arrangement for an indoor vase.

Dried red and brown leaves combined with simple kitchen string make for easy yet effective napkin decorations.

Inspiration Board: Caroline Davis

Our third installment in the dandi inspirations boards is Caroline's. Caroline draws inspiration mostly from nature, and likes to use natural materials and colour palettes. She is constantly sketching and taking notes wherever she goes as well as being a self confessed bower bird, picking up all sorts of twigs, seed pods, feathers and branches and bringing them home for new uses. Caroline's style is constantly evolving but there is always a mix of old and new and a skilful use of colour.

Caroline's 'Modern Home'

Check out this month's edition of Modern Home featuring Caroline's home and the rest of the dandi girls!  We were very excited when the issue came out last week and we made the cover! 

Some home made dandi cushions are featured here in the Gumleaf pattern

Above: Kitchen Products in Olive Branch Pistachio 

Above: Dining setting featuring Dandi 6 Seater Tablecloth in Gumleaf Wisteria and Dandi Bamboo range

Click to the image above to enlarge and read about the Dandi team

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Recently Dandi donated some of our tea towel seconds to schools for art class materials so young crafters could discover their hidden talents. Here is a beautifully embroidered tree from a very talented crafter Yolanda Prentice. We think Yolanda is a Dandi designer in the making, and she is also Caroline's neice! You wouldn't believe it but she is only 9 years old - so much talent for such a youngster! Watch this space!

Plum Time

With all the fruit literally raining upon Mike & Vivienne's property, Caroline felt the need to get into the kitchen and make use of it. Having been given the wonderful old cookbook, The Greta Anna Recipes, the recipe for Plum Cake was the perfect solution for the abundance of plump plums lying around. Recipe and images below, bon appetit!