Knuffle Bunny
Knuffle Bunny
I love Mo Willems’ style. Lovely black and white photos of New York make up the subtle backgrounds and let the really cute, simply-coloured illustrations really stand out. If you have time, check out Mo Willems’ website. It has great little games to play, a list of all of his books and characters and lots more.
- Emilie
Egg Carton Masks
My nanny came up with another one of her cute and crafty ideas… one that I had never seen before! The only thing you need is a clean egg carton, scissors, paint or markers and elastic band or ribbon.
Cut the carton into the shapes as in the photo or create shapes of your own. Cut holes for the eyes.
Use paints or markers to add designs to the mask and let it dry.
Punch holes at the sides. Insert a ribbon or elastic band into each hole, knotting at the end to secure. Tie the ribbons or laces together to fasten the mask.
xxx Esther
What a whale!
Thanks to a recommendation from one of our readers, I popped into a new (and very cute) children’s store here in London called Bobo Kids. With its overwhelming amount of cute decorative pieces for kids’ rooms, it’s amazing I only walked out with one item (I loved it all)!
But… it’s one item I LOVE: a beautiful whale lampion from cute French brand, Petit Pan. This beautiful silk whale will hang from the ceiling in my boys’ room adding to their funky (and somewhat random) assortment of fish-themed accessories. Cool!
Petit Pan makes loads of other fish lanterns and other decorative pieces which you can buy on-line. Or, if you live in London, it’s worth taking a peek at the lovely collection at Bobo Kids.
-Courtney
Pasta with speck and radicchio
Radicchio is a red winter salad that typically grows in the north of Italy. There are many varieties, some longer and more bitter than others, but they all have quite a crunchy spine so they are perfect for cooking. Radicchio is lovely on the barbecue (or grill), perfect for risotto and also the ideal ingredient for some pasta sauces.
Speck is a lightly smoked cured ham that is produced in Tyrol, both in the Italian and the Austrian parts. It’s now pretty easy to find all over Europe (not sure about the US) so you shouldn’t have any problem cooking this pasta sauce. It’s easy, quick and pretty unusual outside of Italy.
Here is the recipe… (more…)
No more monsters
I have been tempted by this children’s duvet cover for a long time and finally have given in. It is so cute and simple and has a very important purpose: it is an “anti-monstre” (anti-monster) duvet cover! It is something every little person needs, to make sure there are no monsters turning up uninvited in the middle of the night….
It only exists in French, but I reckon it looks super cute that way. I also love the rest of the Petit Emplettes line.
You can order off the website or alternatively from lots of shops — at, for example, one of Courtney’s favourites, Caramel Baby, in London.
- Emilie
Billy Rocker
Sometimes the simplest ideas are, in fact, the best. Like this clever cardboard rocking horse… The Billy Rocker is not just a cool ride-along toy, it is also a fun craft project as it’s meant to be decorated and customized by each owner. With a little TLC and some crayons or paint, you can turn the rocker into anything you wish: a horse, a dragon, a polka-dot creature, etc. You can let your imagination run wild.
The Billy Rocker is made from recycled cardboard, is sturdy enough to hold a hefty 50Kg, comes flat-packed in a box and is easy to assemble and dissemble.
We had so much fun making ours into a crazy, fire-spitting, fish-eating sea monster! Click here to see. (We used the cardboard box it came in to make a head and a tail.)
-Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Teach your kids their shapes!• To kiss or not to kiss and how many times? This is the question
Bath cars
Every year at Christmas time my hairdresser gives away a little present to his customers. A very nice gesture indeed, but unfortunately he’s not very creative at finding new gifts; for the last 3 years the present has been a wooden back roller like the one pictured. I don’t mind though, because the car/massage roller has become the favourite bath toy my children like to play with while puddling around. They like to give each other back massages, or use the rollers as cars on the bath-rim. And I must say, they look rather cute on the side of the bath; much more Zen than many of the other bath toys we have!
The roller/car pictured is from The Wooden Wagon, but I also found cute ones here and here. Or check your local drugstore!
xxx Esther
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Teach your kids their shapes!• To kiss or not to kiss and how many times? This is the question
Paris House
In our family we don’t travel anywhere without something we call an “important document folder”. We mostly travel with passports from 4 different countries (New Zealand for my husband, UK for my eldest daughter, France for my youngest daughter and Ireland for me). Then we have the livret de famille, a document you go nowhere without in France, as it proves that your children are in fact your children and your husband is in fact yours as well. On top of that we have tickets, different currencies, millions of different plastic cards and the list goes on and on… All this needs to be organised in an easily accessible manner — hence the “important document folder”.
Now, my important document folder is a beautiful vintage Hermés thing, but completely impractical for modern traveling. I inherited it from my grandmother and I love it. Problem is, I do get the feeling that in the ’50s travel documents were shaped differently and people definitely needed a lot less paper work.
So I have been perusing the internet and have fallen upon the wallet designers, Paris House. Ironically, though I am blogging from Paris, these fabulous travel wallets are actually designed on the other side of the world, in New Zealand. (more…)
Cordoba building blocks
A few days ago I was really in the mood to buy a toy for my 1-year-old daughter. Not that she needs any, but it is also true that most toys are hand-me-downs from her brother so they were not specifically bought for her, with her personality in mind. I wanted something appropriate for her age which would manage to keep her interested and still for longer than 30 seconds.
I chose this building blocks set from Haba: sixteen pieces, in lovely bright colours that offer exploratory fun and sensory interaction with the sweet sounding rattle, tinkling bell, shiny mirror, textural variations and bright prism.
It seems to me an adorable introduction to building blocks, and she seems to appreciate them so far. They are available from Amazon (UK or US
-Michela
Products with heart
Last week I went to the Life In Style Home, Fashion Accessories and Gift Fair as part of my job. The decorating trade show has a whole section dedicated to kids’ goods. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. One great company I came across is Lark. You may have heard of them before as the company was originally set up in the UK in 2004. Well, now it’s available in Australia as the founder, Allison Jones, has moved to Australia. The products are handmade and ethical — even more reason to jump onto the site. And oh-so cute!
-Natalie
Bella Band
I had heard about the Bella Band concept before, but for some odd reason I never felt compelled to investigate. I can’t believe I spent the span of two full pregnancies without ever owning one! It wasn’t until I was at my sister-in-law’s house over Christmas that I took the plunge. She noticed my unbuttoned jeans, went into her closet and came out with the Bella Band. I’m now hooked.
The concept is simple. It’s an elastic band that fits over the top of your jeans and up onto your belly. You can use it to cover the fact that your jeans are unbuttoned, to hold up jeans that are a bit too loose, or simply to wear under shirts that are too short.
I’ve been walking around with my jeans completely unbuttoned (and unzipped!) and no one has a clue! Seriously… genius!
Check here for on-line retailers.
-Courtney
Brilliant!
I love Aveda. I have religiously gone there for my hair colour for over 9 years now, as their all natural dyes makes my hair look all natural brown!
I already wrote about my husband’s favourite Aveda product, the Control Paste, a while ago, but I thought I’d let all of you straight-hair-lovers know about one of my favourite Aveda products, the Brilliant Emillient Finishing Gloss. Wonderful stuff.
It’s really easy to use; just apply a tiny bit (one pump does the job for me) to dry hair and apply evenly. I like to use it after I’ve blow-dried my hair, and it makes it really smooth and shiny.
It might not look cheap at first sight, but trust me, the bottle lasts so long it’s as if it magically refills!
Available at any Aveda hairdresser, or in the US through Amazon…
xxx Esther
Back to work
So, I have finally made the decision… I am going to go back to work! We have 2 wonderful daughters and I have taken almost 3 years off, with a little bit of freelance work here and there. It has been a great time but I really feel like I am ready to get back amongst it. I already know it is going to be incredibly hard not spending my days with the kids, but in theory I am really looking forward to getting my teeth back into a project and being ‘Emilie, the professional’ instead of ‘Emilie, the mom’.
So why am I finding it so difficult to actually get going, instead of only talking about it? I have even gone as far as getting a totally new wardrobe to turn myself into this self-confident, go-getter. I thought that maybe if I looked the part, I would be the part. For obvious reasons that was a bad idea… I now own some pretty, new dresses but it still has not made me get in touch with my inner professional self. (more…)
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• In-depth interviews and time in the spotlight…• Lamb brain and pig trotters
Garlic peeler
My relationship with garlic is a bit complicated. I really do love the flavour but I have serious troubles digesting it, which is why I normally leave the cloves whole and take them out once the dish has gotten the flavour. But my problems do not end here; whenever I peel garlic the smell remains on my fingers for days! I don’t know if this happens to everybody, but I for sure do know that it doesn’t happen to me with other smelly food like onions or fish!
That’s why I love this simple silicone tube. You just place an unpeeled clove inside and then you roll it on the counter or between your hands, and as if by magic the peel remains inside and the peeled clove slips out!
You can then wash it in the dishwasher and your fingers hardly touch any garlic.
Really a must have in my opinion, and you can find it on Amazon (UK or US).
-Michela
A Walk in New York
I picked up A Walk in New York
But what is so fantastic about the book, apart from the really cool illustrations, is that it’s written from a little boy’s perspective and offers the sort of observations only a child could make. Like… how the top of the Empire State Building is 320 metres closer to the moon, and how the hot dogs smell delicious, and how there’s a store called Macy’s where you can buy anything from a dustbin to a diamond, etc.
“A Walk in New York” is a story about a father and son who take a stroll through the city starting at Grand Central Station and finishing at the Hudson River. In addition to the charming narrative of the little boy, you can read loads of different facts and interesting trivia about the city (even I learned a thing or two!).
This wonderful ‘guide’ to NYC is the first book (of hopefully many!) for London illustrator, Salvatore Rubbino. (Can you smell a series, anyone??)
-Courtney
Raise the curtains for the Babyccino City Guides!!!
Can’t believe how excited and proud we are. It was a full-term, healthy pregnancy, and after a long but painless delivery we have finally given birth to four wonderful, beautiful city guides!!!
Their names are Amsterdam, London, Milan and Paris and even though they are still tiny, all the features are present. So with a lot of love and nurture from their mummies, they will soon grow up to become big, complete travel guides!
No kidding. Visiting cities with kids in tow doesn’t mean you have to spend your days in the swimming pool of the hotel (if it even has one) feeling guilty about disturbing the other hotel guests who, without a doubt, are hoping to spend their first romantic weekend-away-from-kids in 15 years.
Or… ending up in the local Rainforest Café or McDonald’s restaurant because you’re hungry and frustrated and all those fancy-looking local restaurants didn’t look very kid-friendly.
No way. From now on, just check out the Babyccino city guides with inside information of all the cool places we like to visit in our cities, carefully selected and tested and proven to be kid or parent friendly! Discover the coolest kid-friendly restaurants, the cutest kiddie shops, the best parks and playgrounds, the most interesting museums, the best local products and more!
Of course, this is a work in progress so we will keep updating them — and we would love to hear back from you with feedback and tips!
Enjoy!
Love, the Babyccino girls
(Phew – time for a beer now!)
Forum des Images
After being completely refurbished, the Forum des Images finally reopened its doors a couple of months ago. Founded about 20 years ago, the Forum is Paris’ premier film library and cultural cinema venue.
The new Forum is fantastic, and a stark contrast to the ugly Forum des Halles shopping centre that houses it. (The Forum des Halles is now also up for a major refurbishment, so hopefully what is known as the eyesore of Paris, will finally disappear). It does mean that the Forum des Images is right in the centre of Paris and very easily accessible.
One of the major attractions are the children’s film screenings. There are screenings every weekend and on Wednesdays. At the moment, during mid-term holidays, there is a very popular children’s film festival on. Films start from 18 months onwards. The choice varies from classic art school films to old classic Disney films. (more…)
Rituals
There are many rituals in the day of an average human being, and taking care of ourselves is certainly an important one! Dutch home and body cosmetics brand ‘Rituals‘ strives to transform everyday routines into more meaningful rituals: feeling good about ourselves and caring about others and the environment.
I very much like the Rituals products. They look good, feel good, and best of all: they smell very good too! No chemical smells, but nice and natural ones. In fact, all Rituals products are made using natural, renewable, and preferably organic ingredients wherever possible. The products are not overly expensive, and last a very long time! We have the Sereni-tea foaming shower gel in our shower and love it. A little bit of gel transforms to a lathering foam. I think we’ve had the same bottle for over five months now, and we both use it daily! (more…)
Koka Mama
Has it ever happened to you that you find a clothing label, love the entire collection, and feel as if the designer must have had your personal style in mind when the pieces were created? You know… where you just love everything the designer does, and if you could you would buy it all? (This has really only happened to me once before; I’m normally not such a slave to one particular designer.)
But… it has happened again, and I’m completely head-over-heels in love with a brand called ‘Koka Mama’, a super stylish, wonderful maternity line! (Seriously, since when do you ever really love a maternity piece, let alone the entire collection?!!)
I have about a hundred good things to say about Koka Mama, but probably what I love most about the collection is that while it was very much designed for pregnancy, the clothes are stylish and simple enough to wear even if you’re not pregnant. (Who doesn’t need a great white blouse which fits over the bump, but still looks good when the bump is gone?) The clothes are comfortable, easy to wear, flattering… and not even exorbitantly priced. (more…)
Ikea hacking
We all love Ikea, don’t we? It’s pretty cool, modern and most of the things are practical and durable. But the planetary success of this furniture maker means that homes all over the world are filled with the same pieces. I don’t mind so much if everyone else has the ivar bookcase, or the benno cd storage unit or the expedit storage system. But you might, and so do other people. That is why a new branch of DIY was invented, and it’s called ‘Ikea hacking’.
I discovered Ikea Hacker a few months ago while browsing the internet and I have been following its updates regularly. The site collects the ideas and projects of people who have found new ways of using Ikea pieces. Some are simple, just different ways of using a product, while some are serious DIY projects. But they’re all interesting to look at — it’s amazing what people can come up with for a benno cd tower, or an expedit or the ivar! (more…)
