Lovely Things

Aurora Modern Pendant Lights

These 'Aurora' pendant lights from Jeremy Pyles are so astonishingly beautiful I'm sitting here trying to work out what I'll need to hock to get my hands on some. Named after the aurora borealis lights in nature, I doubt they give off quite the same eerie, shimmering effect, but you'll certainly be able to gaze in wonder and ooh and ahh to your heart's content. Available from Niche Modern for $500 each, they come in amber, chocolate, crimson, grey, smoke and sapphire transparent glass.

Related: Store Discovery: Retro Decades | Ceramic hanging tealight holder | Chandeliers with a difference

[via iliketotallyloveit]

Gift Guide: £20 and under

Ah Christmas shopping. It can be tricky finding an interesting gift without having to spend a lot of money, or a lot of time trawling websites and shops. And if you have a lot of people to buy for, the whole thing can really take it out of you. To give you a hand is our gift guide to lovely things for home and living, for £20 or less...

Frosted Leaf Candle from M&S

This frosted leaf candle from Marks & Spencer is so delicate in its pretty silver holder with a frosted leaf motif winding around it. It's £5, also comes in gold, and is just right for the coming Winter to give a lovely soft glow to your room when it's frosty and cold outside.

Graham & Green Winter Sale

Fabulous homewares and interiors store Graham & Green are moving to a new warehouse and we reap the benefits via their Winter warehouse sale. They're offering up to 70% off ex-display and sample furniture, mirrors, lighting, tableware, linen and accessories. To take advantage, get down to their warehouse near Olympia in London from today until 5th November.

Brass dragonfly lights

These dragonfly lights are just so pretty! Perfect for outdoor entertaining, they're made of brass and are extra-safe low-voltage so you can string them through trees or around a patio. Length is 15 metres and they're on sale now at Debenhams at £14 (were £20). The only bugs you'll want at your barbecue.

Tealight holders for the garden

I love pretty candle holders for the garden. There's something incredibly seductive about the idea of having a barbecue or party with lovely little flickering lights all around, made even prettier by coloured glass holders.

So, as we're well and truly into outdoor weather now, here's a round-up of some options for colourful tealight holders.

Heal's metallic rainbow tealight holders are a very pretty alternative to glass. They look gorgeous grouped together or individually and are a great price at £5 for a set of six.

Update, Oct 2008: these Heal's candle holders are still really popular but no longer available. See our similar alternatives in 'Coloured & metallic tealight holders'.

Habitat is an absolute treasure trove when it comes to lovely candle holders for outdoor living.

Hanging glass tealight holder Nebo shown here in green on the left is just £1.50. At that price you can buy loads and hang them in a tree or on a string in the garden en masse.

The Minerva hanging holder (right, shown in orange) is made of cotton with a metal frame and priced at £3.50.

The Balina holder is priced at £8 (left in purple).

All the hanging Habitat tealight holders shown come in blue, purple, green and orange.

You can always count on Ikea for a range of brightly coloured glass tealight holders at bargain prices. The Sommar range includes a hanging holder that's very similar to the Nebo from Habitat above, but priced (surprisingly) a little higher at £2.99 each.

There's also the usual votive and squat style holders, plus these cute vintage votive holders at a tiny price: only 99p each!

If you prefer understated to bright, check out Graham & Green's silver spiral leaf tealight holders for a bit of metallic glamour. They're £15 for a set of four.

Both Graham & Green and Debenhams offer chinese lantern style tealight holders. Debenhams' version is smaller and thus a smaller price: reduced from £10 to £8 in a range of colours. It's shown here in pink satin fabric with a metal frame.

I think my favourite has to be these bubble hanging tealight holders from John Lewis. They come in blue, purple or clear glass at £11.85 for a set of three and have a very tactile, almost retro shape.

Chandeliers with a difference

I love the work of Dale Chihuly, so when I spotted the stand of Roast Designs from across the room at Pulse earlier this week, I just had to take a closer look.

Roast create amazing lighting sculptures from glass spheres. Colourful and ethereal, they take commissions to create their chandeliers so you can have any colour combination you want.

My favourite is the raspberry below:

The photos don't do the pieces justice as they don't capture the soft luminosity of the lit balls.

The chandeliers are a combination of round spheres, and fabulous mouth-blown 'spirit balls' that have lovely 'threads' of glass inside them, and a really unique look.