Bikini part two

Lying down it looks very cute. But the fit is not good. The short is too wide. The top slides up immediately. I could adjust it, but I'm not sure I'll take the trouble. Despite of these flaws our little one loves it and went to bed wearing the set.

Late

The girls were complaining about not getting a real easter breakfast or lunch. And they had reason to. This mother had too much on her mind last weekend. So, I made it up to them and served them an easter lunch when they came home from school yesterday. With painted eggs (for next year), chocolate eggs, easter bread and a butterlamb. They were satisfied. So were the lucky friends that they brought home to play with

Shades of red

My parents just came back from Spain. They brought fantastic souvenirs for the girls. Castagnettes, flowers for their hair, palmetto's and red stoles. But they were not the only happy ones. My husband got a very good olive oil and the beautiful 'coral' ring was for me!

For me

When I made this hanger I was not sure whether I would give it away or keep it. This weekend it matched the easter atmosphere. So I officially gave it to myself. And I'm so happy with that present! Again I used this tutorial. With a few changes: a button inside (idea of Hetty) and a small loop for hanging it.

For Ruben

N's best friend Ruben celebrated his birthday yesterday. I made him a messenger bag (filled with some presents). But N said that it was to girly for him. Fortunately for me the cute little guy loved his new bag.

Idyllic

Together with two other mothers we started a kids-club for the neighbourhood. We'll organize a variety of activities a few times a year. Easter crafts were first on the list. The kids, their parents and we really enjoyed the creative and colourful afternoon. The perfect start for a sunny easter weekend!

Last week

This will be the last post about the kids' birthdays for this year. But it is probably not the last pinwheel log. For N's balletclass we made smaller pinwheels, gun-glued a pin to them and added some marshmellows. The wheels look good too in a small vase.

More time

I'm not into fashion (I should be more into it, because since having the kids, I'm completely lost in style). But there's one fashionblog that I read: Honestly...wtf. Beautiful spheric pictures and an occasional tutorial. When I saw this picture my eye caught the two watches on her wrist. Loved the idea. Who doesn't need more time? Time never passes on the watch I whipped up yesterday evening.

Bikini part one

The girls both had a playdate after school, so I suddenly had an extra hour of quiet. The choice between ironing, cooking and sitting outside in the sun doing some crochetwork was easily made. My pale feet really needed some colour, to look better in my new black hasbeens.

Drinks matching the season

I'm drinking a lot of light soda's. Not very good for your health of course. I've been looking for a good alternative, because I don't like to drink water. I think I found it in homemade ice-tea. I make it like this: Bring 3 liters of water to boil with orange zest and juice of two (unwaxed) oranges. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add 2 larger or 4 one-cup bags of green or black tea. Leave in for about 5 min. Ice-tea needs a bit of sugar. How much? I don't like sweet so I add about 2 modest tablespoons. But then the drink is rather tangy. For a first try I would add 2 spoons more. Stir till dissolved and let the mixture cool down a bit. Then sieve and fill the bottles. Here I used glass ones, but plastic soda bottles are fine too. Store in the fridge and drink within a couple of days. You can replace the oranges bij lemons of limes. Next week I will try tea with lavender...

No green fingers needed

Oh how I love early spring. The air still fresh and the sun already warm on your face. The garden is a good excuse to spend time outside. This weekend we will pick the first 'fruits' from our garden. Early riser rucola is just big enough to give taste to our afternoon sandwiches (with tomato, avocado, pinenuts, rucola, pesto and light mayonaise). We order our vegetable seeds here (beautiful site) and here.

The cake

When the cake was ready this morning I realized I had forgotten to give N's birthday candle-holder a new dress. Felt is a very good material when you are in a hurry and looks slightly like a furry coat. The glue-gun did the rest.

Recycling

We hung the pinwheels above the dinnertable from a dry branch. We fitted them into the birthday-cats-theme by hanging small cats faces between them. Later I'll remove them and it will be a nice easter decoration.

Theme of her choice: cats

Neeltje will celebrate her kids-party tomorrow. For the occasion I made cats-ears for each of her guests. N's sister is showing them, because it will also be a surprise for the birthday-girl. As are the other activities. The cats will lick their milk from a bowl and eat catfood-shaped cookies, play with wool to find a candy mouse on the end and try to catch candy fish.

Draw, tell a story or write poetry

A lot of friends-books are circling in my daughters class. But I prefer the old fashioned poetry album. It asks for more personal input from the writer. I covered a blank notebook with Kristin Doran fabric and stamped a photoframe on each page (the only good feature of friends books) for her. It was one of her birthday presents.

Five

Our youngest is five years old today. And proud to be. She's fed up with the fact that people see her as small (ik ben niet schattig! I'm not cute!). It is not always easy to be rather small for your age. These are the treats she took to school this morning. A box with 'spekkoek' (her favourite cake) in it and a colouring picture on top. I was inspired by Homemade Happiness. Two women who sell the most beautiful printables for every occasion.

Art for the kids

Of course they like the playful presents more. At least now they do. But we hope they'll appreciate the fact that we gave them a piece of art on every birthday later. They will have a small collection of their own. This year our choice fell on a piece of Emma Lawrenson and (again) work of Cathy Cullis.

Retro

Another secondhand find. Or finds. Two weeks ago I found these odd egg-shaped cottons. The yarn consists of loose threads. I loved the colours. So, couldn't leave them in the shop. Later that week I went to the same thriftstore and came across this seventies crochet book. In it a very cute bikini to make for the girls. And the perfect purpose for the tomato-red cotton. Searching for a link to a similar project I found the exact same bikini here.

For Marit

I have a problem managing my time. Always in a hurry because the next (work-, volunteer- or craft-) project is waiting. I really have to block hours in my planner to do nothing. And to think about and look for a new creative job, now that 'het grote zelfmaakboek voor meisjes' is finished. In the meantime this bag had to be made, because the little lady is celebrating her birthday this afternoon and N. is invited.

Practical

What gift do you give friends that will be moving to another country, without making their luggage even more heavy? Make something they'll need anyway: a passport-cover. It is difficult to see, but I used a strip of my hand-printed chinese lantern fabric. And wrapped the cover in re-used brown paper, decorated with fabric tape. Custom wooden buttons can be ordered here.

Small project

Ever since I got this hanger from Hetty I've been wearing it almost daily as a necklace. I wanted to pay forward that joy and made one for a crafty friend. Inspired? You can find a tutorial here at Annakata's blog.

Pastels

I've been obsessively folding pages from magazines for these pinwheels. I'm going to use them as decoration for the birthday-party of our youngest. I needed an argument to make these, because actually I have not enough time to spend on things 'just for fun'. Now I have to find a way to fit these into the cats-theme. I can't remember where I found this idea, but here's a similar tutorial.

Her work

Another birthday is coming up. N. chose 'cats' as theme for her party. She drew five cats for the invitation because she's turning five. And she knew exactly what five kids could come to her party. Had no influence there. This weekend we'll make a round to bring the cards to the guests.