Deck the walls - without spending a fortune

If you're celebrating the festive season on a budget this year or you're planning to be away on December 25, decorating your home may not be a priority. But you can still add some festive touches - and you don't need costly decorations or an expensive, hard-to-find tree to do it. The Nordic-inspired look, with its predominantly red and white colour scheme, is a classic, stylish and simple way to dress a room. We found this range of decorations and accessories - the most expensive of which is Dh145 - but if you're working with a smaller budget, try our home-made Nordic-inspired decorations, which cost just a few dirhams to make.

Table decorations

A crisp white linen tablecloth and white tableware with simple touches of red can create a striking, festive table. Start with a large felt table mat such as Zara Home's snowflake table mat (Dh40), or use a length of red and white fabric such as Ikea's Idgran Stjarna (Dh19 per metre) to make a runner. Keep napkins white but dress them up with decorative napkin rings. We like these reindeer ones from Zara Home (Dh95 for four). Or tie napkins with a piece of red ribbon (Dh20 for three metres, Marks & Spencer).

For children's place settings, slip their cutlery inside these fun knitted stockings from Crate and Barrel (Dh75 for four). Bring it all together with a few small red or white tealight candle holders or lanterns, or a vase of red roses.

Candles

It wouldn't be Christmas without candlelight, so choose candles that add to the overall decorative effect. Crate and Barrel's red Diaz candle holder (from Dh75) on a side table will introduce an instant festive feel. This trio of metal candleholders from Ikea (Dh25) is perfect for the Nordic look, and unintrusive enough for your table setting. Ikea's trio of block candles (Dh39 for three) has a retro motif that's colourful enough for Christmas but cool enough to keep out all year round.

Evocatively scented candles, such as True Grace's Rosemary and Eucaplyptus or Cinnamon and Clove will warm the room with suitably seasonal scents (which is especially nice if you don't have a real tree). We also like Wax Lyrical's Wild Berry and Amethyst (Dh135, Indigo Living), which looks and glows as lovely as it smells.

Wall decorations

Tinsel doesn't get a look in with the Nordic theme; use garlands of wooden stars, hearts or letters to spell a seasonal greeting instead (for something similar, try Harvest Home). If you really want to embrace this look, hang a string of red and white fabric bunting.

Heart-shaped decorations are another key part of this look. We like this white wooden version (Dh99, Lakeland) and small silver metal heart (Dh45, Luz de Luna), hung on a wall or door handle (use more of your red ribbon for added impact).

Tree-free ideas

If you can't face Christmas without a tree in the room, try this mini wooden cut-out version - complete with greeting - that you don't even have to decorate (Dh145, Harvest Home).

One of our other favourite tree-free finds this year was this simple hanging display for your decorations from Ikea. We used these typically Nordic style red wooden hearts and white paper doves (also from Ikea).

A designer whose name is now synonymous with Christmas decorations, Gisela Graham, makes beautiful rustic-style accessories that work well with the Nordic theme. Her current collection includes this charming tin enamel doll (Dh125, Harvest Home) and felt angel (Dh45, Indigo Living), which looks just as pretty on a shelf or table as it would sitting on a tree.

For a fun finishing touch, how about Boxed Online's festive cushions (choose from HoHoHo, Happy Holidays or Merry & Bright, from Dh140) or a complementing bookend with bells (Dh107, both www.boxedonline.com)?

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

The specs

Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

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Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

The specs

Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo

Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm

Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km

On sale: December

Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Company%20profile

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hall of shame

SUNDERLAND 2002-03

No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.

SUNDERLAND 2005-06

Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.

HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19

Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.

ASTON VILLA 2015-16

Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.

FULHAM 2018-19

Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.

LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.

BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry

Rating: 2/5

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

Quick%20facts

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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega

Director: Tim Burton

Rating: 3/5

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

The%20Emperor%20and%20the%20Elephant

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

WITHIN%20SAND

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