Wrap magazine!
Last week a girlfriend and I went on a little field trip to a cute DIY/haberdashery boutique in Amsterdam called Handmade Heaven. What a cute shop! There’s lots of cool products to browse, and the owner is really friendly and helpful, and she organises tons of workshops for adults and children — we will definitely be back! It was then and there that I discovered and picked up the very cool WRAP magazine. Have you heard of it? The concept is simple but strong (as with all great concepts): the magazine interviews interesting people from the creative industry, and on the back of the pages they have designed patterns that can be used as wrapping paper. The royally sized sheets are held together by an elastic band so can be easily taken out, and as an extra bonus: the back of the cover contains little matching gift tags. All paper/design lovers will love this, for sure!
The last WRAP issue featured a textile designers (Donna Wilson), a ceramicist, an illustrator, an author, a chef (and a recipe!), and a design boutique, and I’m now hooked, so I can’t wait to see what the next issue will bring.
xxx Esther
Fabric scraps as hair ribbons
I remember, years ago before I had a daughter, Esther’s daughter Sara wore her hair in little buns on the side of her head. I remember telling Esther how cute I thought it was, and I recall Esther telling me that it was the quickest hair style to do. Flash forward three years and here I am with a daughter wearing her hair in side buns. I think they look so sweet, and it is indeed so quick and easy (much easier than french braids which is my other favourite!). I recently found some pretty Liberty fabric scraps in my crafts cupboard and am now using them as ribbons, and I think it makes a sweet little touch. (Just cut out strips, about 5cm thick and tie in like a ribbon!)
x Courtney
My First Autobahn
As I have two girls, I find it really hard to figure out what to give boys as presents. Do they only like swords, cars, and He-Man of the Universe toys (does He-Man still exist?). But this Autobahn tape by the great German design company Donkey Products looks fun even to me, so if a 30-something-year-old women wants to play with it, it must also appeal to young boys, no?
I think it is so clever and simple — an adhesive road tape so that you can build your own circuits and motorways wherever you want. Plus a little car to zip along the autobahn!
- Emilie
Snow White Round Up
Have you seen all the advertisement for the two Brothers Grimm-inspired movies (Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman) yet? It made me want to watch the Disney classic with my kids, and so we did! Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was one of my favorite fairy tales growing up, it’s no wonder I felt a little inspired… Here’s a round up of some of my favorite Snow White-inspired goodies for the kids!
1.) Seven Dwarfs
2.) Snow White inspired dress
3.) Snow White doll
4.) hairpins
5.) yellow apple pillow
6.) blue dwarf
7.) vintage Snow White kid’s chair
8.) yellow embroidered slippers
9.) Snow White all over print dress
-Celina
The Obliteration Room at the Tate Modern
This weekend we made it to Obliteration Room at the Tate Modern and my kids loved it so much they’re still talking about it. What a cool idea! The Obliteration Room is the kid’s section of the bigger exhibition by Yayoi Kusama — the dot loving Japanese artist. It started out as a completely white room and then they allowed kids to come in and place colourful dot stickers wherever and however they chose.
It was interesting to watch my kids with their sheets of stickers. My daughter stuck all the stickers on her face, my son kept asking to put them on the ceiling, and my oldest went around creating crazy cyclops monster faces on the floor. What a fun activity (it’s on until the 18th of March)!
x Courtney
PS – Photos above are from the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Australia where the project started. Aren’t they so cool?!
Appracadabra: Count the Animals
We’ve been writing about some really cool and educational apps recently, and I didn’t want to leave out the equally cool and educational Count the Animals app from Dutch company Appracadabra. Count the Animals is wonderfully well designed with beautiful graphics and fun sounds, and it’s also full of cute little jokes like frogs starting to jump, dogs starting to poo, a lady catching butterflies and lice jumping from one head to the other. How can you resist? Count the Animals is perfect for children in the process of learning to count, as it is designed to help children develop the pre-math skill of connecting numbers to quantities. And if you’re unsure about your kids learning to count in Dutch (although it can be very useful) then there’s no need to worry: this app also contains Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish, and Swiss German languages. So there.
xxx Esther
Lambswool goodies from Sara Carr
How delightfully fun and colourful are all these little gems? Not to mention, super soft and cosy! They’re all hand-knitted from pure lambswool and made to order by Sara Carr (who also has a 10-month old baby girl! amazing! can you believe she has time for all this knitting?!). I love all the quirky little animals, and those pencil scarves are about as cool as it gets. All available to order from the Sara Carr Etsy shop.
x Courtney
Paper City Paris
I love living in Paris — it is beautiful, full of life and love and so much fun to explore. If you don’t happen to live in Paris, have a look at the downloadable Paris Paper City, from one of my top favorite children’s craft blogs Made By Joel. Just download the PDFs and you too can start exploring Paris, even if you live on the other side of the world. Have an explore around the Eifel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and a local boulagerie. There is even the sweetest little downloadable Citroën to drive around your city.
Such a fun way to introduce the city of lights to your kids. I love the fact that Joel has, very thoughtfully, included a brief description of all the buildings onto his PDFs, so this game can be educational too.
- Emilie
Junikit, stylish baby bags and accessories
I’m sure I’m not the only woman who ‘has a thing about bags’, am I? Anyway, I was pleased to discover Junikit, at the Kleine Fabriek last month. Junikit is a company run by the two stylish sisters Katja and Sidney, who aim to produce classy changing bags and accessories for the modern, trend-conscious parent (or non-parent!). I was immediately taken by the beautiful illustrations featuring animals from different continents, the lovely selection of matching scarves, and, smart find — the little emergency first-aid kit (just perfect to pop in a bag or in the car’s glove compartment). Stylish indeed! Also nice: the bags are made from water-resistant coated cotton on the outside (all PVC and phthalates free), and nylon on the inside, so they’re super easy to clean and look after.
If you’re also a little bit of a bag junkie, then take note: Junikit is now giving away an emergency first-aid kit in the Australia print to three lucky readers, so quickly head over to our Facebook page and leave a comment for your chance to win!
xxx Esther
Quilted name plaques from Sarah Strachan
Sarah Strachan is a talented lady. She first worked in film and TV as a puppet maker. (How cool is that?) After having her two kids she was looking for a way to work from her home in Devon, where she nowadays creates the most gorgeous dolls on commission, and makes beautiful name plaques for children which she sells in her Etsy boutique. Sarah made lucky Ava her own name plaque, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The name plaques are original paintings, all created by hand and stitched and quilted onto two layers of felted wool, and can have a Russian doll, pixy or fairy design. They are made with a lot of care and an amazing eye for detail. I think these pieces (of art!) will be a perfect gift for a newborn and will be treasured for ever.
Sarah also keeps a blog, where you can see some of her commissioned work (she just made some dolls wearing the miniature version of the spring collection from designers Dosa and Samantha Sung for the Cross Shop in London — how amazing is that?).
xxx Esther
Iron-on patches
Pim has reached the age where before he grows out of his trousers he manages to destroy them completely on the knees. Enter: iron-on patches. What a beautiful invention! It’s quite simple to apply them: if there’s a hole, first cut out a little piece of fabric approximately the size of the hole, put it on the hole, cover the hole with an iron-on patch, and press with a hot iron for one minute. Presto! Not only are you giving new life to a pair of otherwise perfect trousers, you also spruce them up completely. I’m loving the apple and pear I applied on Pim’s trousers, but Chicken Rhythm sells loads of other handsome choices, like these funny bandages, sweet flowers, cool bugs or beautiful animals (all embroidered).
xxx Esther
Comment J’ai Sauvé Mon Papa
I thought it would be nice for you to get to know my little family, so I decided I would share with you our favorite book, Comment j’ai sauvé mon papa
Unfortunately, the book has only been published in French, but lucky me my kids only speak French! However, I only recently discovered that the author Hervé Tullet
-Celina
Welcome Celina from Montreal!
We are super, super excited to announce our newest contributor, Celina Bailey from Montreal. Hooray for some Canadian representation! And hooray for the lovely Celina!
We ‘met’ Celina on Pinterest a couple months ago… and love everything she pins. We then started following her blog and like everything she blogs. I have since been in touch with her over email, and in just a short couple weeks have found a friend in her! (Isn’t it fun, this world we live in? Where we can have virtual friendships with other mums across the world?!)
Celina is a mum of two, born in England but raised in Montreal, and has been in the children’s fashion world for the past 12 years (designer, children’s boutique owner, and blogger). We are incredibly excited to have Celina on our little blogging team, and we look forward to all the fun things she’ll share!
x Courtney
Montessori Letter Sounds App
My 4-year-old son’s reading skills are really taking off, and I’m pretty sure it has much to do with the educational apps we have on our iphones/ipad. It’s really cool how interactive these games are and how much the kids really pick up from them. I’ve never been a fan of video games for kids, and I know that ipad apps are not a far cry from video games… but when they’re educational and when you see how much your kids are learning, it’s pretty hard to resist them.
Our newest discovery is the Montessori Letter Sounds App from Les Trois Elles Interactive, a French company creating educational (and beautiful) apps for kids. This might be our favourite app so far. It’s extremely educational but also really, really fun. The app is based on the Montessori method of teaching kids to read and includes letter tracing activities, pronunciation exercises, and loads of fun learning games. It’s also tastefully done (I did say it was made by a French company!).
The app is available in English and French, and they also have an App for learning numbers. View their website for more details, and click here to see a demo video.
-Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Wear your heart on your… pillow case!• All You Need is Love
• Happy Valentines Day!
Fire breathing dragons
This past weekend we had one of those lazy Sundays where we stayed inside all day and did craft projects, house DIY projects, lots of baking, game playing, etc. Isn’t that the best feeling, waking up on a Sunday morning with your husband and kids and having nothing you have to do that day, nowhere to go?! It’s one of my favourite feelings in the world.
We made these fire breathing dragons, and it was a really fun project. There are several ways to make them (I spotted the idea on Pinterest and changed it up a bit). To make our version, you’ll need the following:
- cardboard toilet paper rolls
- red and orange crepe paper
- paint (green, yellow, black)
- glue
- wooden beads
- mini green pompoms
x Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Wear your heart on your… pillow case!• All You Need is Love
• Happy Valentines Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope your day is filled with lots and lots of love. xoxoxo
PS — Hearts print is from the Laura George Etsy shop along with loads of other cute prints. (I bought this print for Ivy’s room and it’s so cute! And Esther has this cool print and I was so in love with it I bought one for myself as well!)
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Wear your heart on your… pillow case!• All You Need is Love
• Happy Valentines Day!
Ice skating!
Ice-skating is something of a national sport in the Netherlands, especially in winters where we’re lucky enough to have temperatures so low the many natural waterways in the city and countryside are frozen. Last week was such a lucky week, and children and parents alike put on their skates and hit the ice. Even the canals in the city centre here in Amsterdam were frozen, which is pretty rare! After some initial hesitation on whether or not to get the kids their own skates (after all, you never know how much they will be put to use) we did give in to the temptation. Especially after I found out that skates these days are expandable! Sara’s pair for instance is size 32-36, which means she will be able to wear them for years to come. (We got their skates at Decathlon.) It’s amazing how fast they pick up the skill, and how they love the activity. Fun, fun, fun!
xxx Esther
PS Photo of Pim (4) skating on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam over the weekend.
Gift Ideas for Babies (and their parents)
After a long dry spell there’s now a wave of new babies being born in my circle of friends. Yey for that! I wanted to put together a little guide on baby presents, especially as we have not had any newborn posts on Babyccino for a long time.
So here goes:
1. Fold away bathtub from the Babyccino Boutique Whitestep: This is a great idea, especially if you live in a city like Paris, where space is key. I would have never thought of getting a fold away bathtub, but it works and it is so easy to put together and store away.
2. Coq en Pate soft book: babies grow up so fast and several of my friends have noticed how suddenly, one morning, their babies have started to reach out for things and are ready to explore. I love this little soft book that is full of fun shapes. It is easy to hold onto and also easy to wash if it has been chewed on a bit.
3. Phil and Ted’s portable chair: though not for newborns, this is one of my favourite presents for new parents. Again, kids grow fast and this is such a handy thing to have with you on the go. I think I had mine for my kids from 6 months onwards and it is the best, especially in France where restaurants rarely have highchairs.
4. A good maternity bag: some are gimmicky and some are really useful. Through personal experience being a mom of a new born means that often your brain is a bit fried, so having a bag ready prepared, with the right amount of space and pockets, is key. (I had this bag when my kids where younger and it rocked!)
5 – 6. And for the Mums and Dads who too often get forgotten: bath salts, body oils and a Mad Men or Downton Abbey box set, to have something good to watch during those long hours feeding!
Do you have any other gift ideas for new parents?
- Emilie x
Wooden Toy Sets from Mielasiela
Isn’t this such a sweet little forest friends wooden set? I love the simplicity of the natural wood, and that the individual pieces are all perfectly sized for little hands. I got my daughter the set with the little girl, but there’s also a boys version. All handmade and available from Etsy shop Mielasiela.
x Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Love Bugs Print from Famille Summerbelle• Hip photo sharing with Instagram
Provençal cabbage gratin
Every Friday morning my doorbell rings and a box is brought in to my kitchen filled with seasonal, organic and local vegetables, bread, cheese and meat and/or fish. It’s always a great surprise to find out what’s in the box each week! I find it important to try to eat seasonally and locally — I believe it to be more healthy and sustainable in the long run, and I love the challenge of being creative with the contents. Downside in wintertime is an insane about of cabbage! Every winter I’m slightly overwhelmed by the amount and variety of cabbage in my crate: green cabbage, red cabbage, Savoy cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale, etc. etc. So my kitchen creativity has been challenged to the top and I’ve been stir frying, making soups and quiche — all contaning some sort of cabbage. One of my favourite recipes (found while desperately searching the web for cabbage recipes), is the ‘Gratin of white cabbage & lentils in a Provençal sauce‘ by Sophie Grigson from the BBC Good Food website. It’s a very unexpected mix of ingredients, but it’s really yummy, super healthy, and it can easily be made in advance and just put in the oven just before dinner time. My kids love it too!
xxx Esther
PS The company delivering the organic box in Amsterdam is ‘De Krat‘, and in London I liked Abel&Cole.
PPS Cabbage recipe suggestions are very welcome!
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Love Bugs Print from Famille Summerbelle• Hip photo sharing with Instagram
