February 28th is International Hygge Day. All over the world people will be doing hyggely things, sharing them on social media and hashtagging them #internationalhyggeday.

It could be as small as stopping work mid morning for a cake and a coffee with colleagues, or wearing comfy clothes all day.

It could be an evening out with friends or family, visiting your parents or grandparents, walking in the park or local woods, taking the afternoon and eating fish and chips by the sea with a friend you haven’t seen in ages. However you celebrate, whatever you do, do it hyggely.

It’s a Wednesday this year, so I’ll be leaving the office, teaching for an hour and then cooking tea. I think we’ll have proper comfort food, like shepherd’s pie, and then settle down to watch a movie together.

My children love old-fashioned murder mysteries, so it could be Agatha Christie’s Crooked House, which we have saved on our TV; The Limehouse Golem, a deliciously gothic Victorian mystery starring Bill Nighy; The Pale Horse, another Christie for TV but not one we watched when it was on; or we may go down the comedy route with The Death of Stalin or Kingsman: The Golden Circle. With some crisps and dips, or a bag of choclates to share, it will be a hyggely evening all round.

Need some different ideas for a hyggely event? Try these:

• Get some friends together and have a crafting session.
• Read a book in a coffee shop while sipping a small coffee. I love the cortados that Costa do.
• Visit your local pub with a mate. If you can find one within walking distance of you both, you can both have a cider or beer. Make it a group of 4 or 5 and it will be even more hyggely!
• Take a full hour for lunch. Go out, take a colleague or two with you, and sit on a bench in the local park.
• Have a manicure or (if you can bear it) a pedicure. Talk to your beautician, and ask about their life.
• Stuck home with little ones? Get a pile of magazines and have a cutting and sticking session. Make art with them, or if you’re really brave make silly putty using either PVA glue or cornflour and washing up liquid. Actually, forget the little ones label. I might make this anyway!
• Build a hygge nook big enough for the family to crawl inside. Bring a book (one each is good, but finding a book to share out loud is better) and go for it. We loved having Flat Stanley, Paddington Bear or The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as whole family books. And there’s always Harry Potter…

My books are filled with ideas to make life more hyggely. You can find them all on Amazon.  50 Ways to Hygge the British Way  is available in Paperback and Kindle version and so is How to Hygge Your Summer, again in Paperback and Kindle form, from Amazon. Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas was released in September 2017 and is available again in paperback and ebook version. If you buy from any of the Amazon links on this page I get an extra couple of pence, money that I can guarantee gets spent on more books to review!

And if you have my books but feel sorry for a penniless writer (I do have an attic to sit in, but the hygge nook in my house is warmer) then you can always donate the cost of a coffee via paypal.me/HyggeJem . Every penny counts, as the blog isn’t monetised and I only review things that I trust and believe are truly useful in building a happier life. Usually I buy them myself, although if a product, book or service that I would actually buy for myself offers a review copy or sample, I won’t say no. I will tell you when that happens, though, so you know what’s been given and what I’ve bought. Hope that helps!