Hello friends! How are you and how was your weekend? I did some crafting on Saturday, in fact I shot a DIY for you this morning that I'll share on decor8 in a moment but first.... When it comes to holiday decorating, do you want to go bold and graphic in black and white this year but wonder how to go about it or whether it will look festive enough? With most people going with red and green or the more traditional palette, why not dare to be different?

Lynne Robinson from Papermash, an online site that sells stationery based in London, recently contacted me to share her decorating ideas using mostly products from her shop after being inspired by her monochromatic enthusiasts online and via Instagram, like @apieceofcake82 and @amerrymishap.

She had an idea to update a kit on her site too, "The make your own banner kit was recently changed to include lots of international symbols so I had the idea to make a Bon Noël banner and it all stemmed from there". She would with photographers Charlotte Love and Lenka Ryan on these shots, which are just lovely! I think the "trick" to making them more festive was to add a little metallic - in this case gold warmed it up though you could also try silver to cool it down.

Black and white confetti (made with a simple paper punch) gets festive when you introduce a metallic - like gold!

Use rubber stamps on kraft paper, spray paint plastic animals in glossy black, paint ornaments black and use white paint on them to create words or designs (I just thought that maybe you could try chalkboard paint on ornaments inside and use chalk to draw on them - fun!)... This is also cool because you can reuse some of your supplies from Halloween (black tissue paper for instance) for your holiday decor.

If this look is a bit TOO nontraditional for your holiday, you can decorate in black and white for New Year's Eve - complete with your little black dress - how perfect and classy!

You can see more beauty on Lynne's new blog HERE.

(images: Charlotte Love and Lenka Ryan)