I love Aztec
I saw this set today and thought….Wow! I love the black and white Aztec design… so cute and unique and bold. When it comes to kid’s clothes I generally go for a ‘classic with a twist’ slash ‘boho’ look and I am not very partial to kids slogans, skulls and bones or the frou frou. And it is rare to find me admiring something with a loud bold print. But I love this! I think this would look great teamed with some little tan booties.
The set is by a new Australian kids designer called ‘Polka’ (‘wearables for small folk’) and available online at Tiny People. How gorgeous would Halle Berry’s daughter Nahla look in this?
-Sara
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• De Bakkerswinkel• Carluccio’s
• El Resentin
• L’Apriori tea room
• Our Great Cities!
Paperless Post
I just received a Paperless Post card from a friend announcing her new address, and it is the cutest on-line announcement I’ve ever seen. Unlike so many e-cards, Paperless Post looks like traditional stationery — you can almost feel the quality of the paper through your computer screen. And like traditional stationery, Paperless Post allows you to personalize your stationery, choosing the paper, ink color, fonts, images, and even the envelope. I love this sort of thing — I almost want to throw a party just so I can create an invitation!
Traditional personalized stationery is expensive, for one, but it also wastes a ton of paper. Paperless Post eliminates those problems, and it also makes it easy to monitor who has received and responded to your invite.
You can send out birth announcements, invitations, holiday cards, etc. Try it and see, but let me warn you — it’s addictive!
-Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• De Bakkerswinkel• Carluccio’s
• El Resentin
• L’Apriori tea room
• Our Great Cities!
Let Them Eat Cake!
Love the name, love the collection. ‘Let Them Eat Cake‘ is a new British clothing brand that is funky and original, has some classic twists to it but is definitely modern in appearance. My daughter was wearing a ‘Let them eat cake’ dress on my birthday last week (36, ouch!), and she looked absolutely, positively darling!
Felicity (or ‘Flic’) trained at the London College of Fashion and had dreamed about designing children’s clothing for a long time. Now that she has three young children herself, she finally found the time to do so (some mums can seriously do it all)!
Flic has a passion for beautiful textiles and loves using rare vintage pieces for her collections. Inspiration is taken from Victorian circus posters and French styling, and everything in the collection is hand made locally to an exceptional standard (the seamstresses have worked for some of the top designers including John Galliano)! True heirloom pieces! (more…)
Win a personalized silver bangle!
I met with Bianca Jones recently and she kindly opened up her jewellery box for me to browse. By the end of our meeting, I had tried every piece on, and decided I really wanted it ALL (including the box!).
Bianca Jones makes lovely jewellery, including everything from fancy diamond rings to silver necklaces and bracelets. One of my favorite pieces is her signature silver bangle with delicate little alphabet disc charms. I love the idea of getting a letter for each of my kids (kind of like a modern-day charm bracelet).
And now for the exciting bit… Bianca is graciously giving a silver bangle away to one lucky reader! The winner can choose up to THREE charms, personalizing it as you wish.
Just leave a comment below by Sunday, November 1st, and we’ll pick one winner at random. (Oh, and you must be subscribed to our daily email in order to win.)
Good luck!
Babyccino Charity – The Anganwadi Project
Welcome to a new Babyccino feature: the Babyccino Charity. We’ve been thinking a lot about how very lucky we are in this world, and about how our ‘everyday’ problems pale in comparison to the huge challenges that many other moms and children face. So we’ve decided to shed light on some lesser known charities that are close to our hearts, hoping to bring much-needed attention to some organizations which are doing a lot of good.
Our first charity is the The Anganwadi Project, founded by my dear friend Jodie. Jodie is the owner of Bholu, a fantastic interior furnishing company based in Australia. She started The Anganwadi Project when she was visiting Gujarat in India and saw the urgent need for safe, clean pre-schools (locally called ‘anganwadis’). This being Jodie, an energetic girl to say the least, she did not hang around too long musing about it. Within 3 weeks the first of 66 new pre-schools was built…
Here is her story: (more…)
The city-mouse and the country-mouse
I recently bought the Italian translation of this German book by Kathrin Schärer. It’s a simple story of a city-mouse visiting his friend in the country; he is shown all the beauties and simplicity of life in the countryside and he appreciates them but he feels a bit out of place. To reciprocate he invites the country-mouse to the city and shows him all the city has to offer with its abundance, chaos and people. The country mouse appreciates some advantages but prefers to return home.
This simple tale has a long tradition; it dates back to Aesopus and Oratius and traditionally it was supposed to sing praise of the simple lifestyle of the countryside and criticize the opulence of the city lifestyle.
The author clearly chooses a version that does not choose one way of living over the other; the story is meant to teach children to appreciate what they have and be curious about what happens elsewhere. The important thing is to know and understand each other, and to remain friends.
And the illustrations are powerful and stylish. Unfortunately it does not seem to have been translated into English, but you can buy it in Italian or German!
-Michela
Stylish boys’ rooms
I’m like hawk-eye now when it comes to boys’ rooms. Since I had a little boy, I’m always on the lookout for spaces that are sophisticated but with a masculine edge – and yet still playful. Perhaps it’s a big ask, but I’m slowly getting a good clippings file. While this room, showcasing a new wallpaper from Australia’s Porter’s Paints, is a little old for Little C, it’s a good one to keep in mind as he grows up. I love the grey camouflage wallpaper. It looks great against the lime green, too.
-Natalie
Nordinary
When I was a teenager my dad was worried that I had become a member of a cult. Why? Because for years I refused to wear anything but black! Poor guy, it was only years later that I realised how much I had freaked him out with my teenage fashion choices. I got a bit better in my twenties, but it is only since I have had kids that I have rediscovered bold, bright colours.
I had a coffee with the lovely Estelle from Nordinary the other day and we talked about the different way people in Northern and Southern Europe dress their kids. Here in France the tendency is still to dress kids in a quite classic style, muted colours, and classic cuts. In the Scandinavian countries (very likely to counteract the cold, long, winter months) there has always been a tendency towards bright colours and contemporary styles.
Estelle discovered a lack in the market here in France for Nordic labels and started up a website dedicated to the Nordic style of life. And it is truly fabulous! (more…)
Laura not-to-Amiss!
I should tell you about my friend Laura Amiss. She’s from the UK but lives in Amsterdam together with her husband and two little kids. She’s trained as an artist, specialized in textiles, and after she ’stayed-at-home’ for a few years she recently picked up her art again and started an Etsy shop. I saw some of her pieces last week, and was really impressed! She uses a very interesting technique of drawing, sewing and layering and her designs are seriously way cool…
The picture (shown) would be darling in any little girl’s room I feel, but Laura has some great grown-up pieces too. The only unfortunate thing is that Laura is too busy to bake muffins these days (but that’s forgiven)!
xxx Esther
Food Face
I thought these plates were absolutely genius and I am totally beside myself that I did not know about them earlier! I will admit, I had the highest of hopes when I purchased ALL of the Annabelle Karmel cookbooks (you did too, admit it). It all seemed so simple… make an ocean of steamed kale with a fishstick sail boat and voila! dinner is inhaled! First of all, totally not true, doesn’t work… and secondly — I barely have time to brush my hair, let alone struggle to make a chicken kebab look like a caterpillar. Who wants to eat a caterpillar anyway? Anyway, the Food Face plate seems to make the whole try-to-get-your-kid-to-eat process easier and you will get a laugh out at least.
The website is a bit clunky but if you just take a look around there are some really clever things for adults (like the pacman oven mitt or the voodoo doll toothpick holder).
-Dina
Egg carton caterpillars
Googly eyes are certainly one of our favorite craft supplies; we use them for everything! Seriously, if you stick a pair of googly eyes on anything it will look like a little creature of some sort. And pipe cleaner is another fun thing we use a lot — it’s easy to bend and form, and easy for the kids to use.
So, with two of our favorite supplies and some old egg cartons, we got busy making these little egg carton caterpillars (and bumble bees and spiders)!
This is another one of those simple projects that the kids can really take part in. Here’s what you’ll need: (more…)
Famille Summerbelle city maps
One of the many reasons I love working on Babyccino is because I get to meet so many hugely talented people.
Recently I met up with Julie from Famille Summerbelle and I was blown away by her work. I had come across Famille Summerbelle lots of times on blogs and in magazines, so I was really intrigued to learn how Julie creates her unique pieces. She hand draws the creations and then laboriously cuts them out with a scalpel. I reckon that if Julie ever needs another job, she could moonlight as a surgeon! The end result is an intricate piece of lattice work.
She has recently created some beautiful maps of London, Paris and New York this way. Perfect for my household where I have one little Londoner and one little Parisian. I am trying to figure out how I can justify getting the New York one…. maybe I can pretend I’m a New Yorker in spirit??
Have a look here at the lovely Famille Summerbelle collection including the city maps, cushions and paper banners.
- Emilie
New and improved daily email
If you already subscribe to our daily email, then I’m sure you’re a bit confused by now… We have switched email partners and have updated our old version to a fancy new one. The good news is that we’ve added loads of new features, the bad news is that we may have lost you along the way. Last week we sent out an email to all our current subscribers asking you to opt in to the new email list. If you didn’t click the link to opt in, please click here to sign up! You will start receiving the new version from today.
Now, if you don’t already subscribe to our daily email, then here are a few reasons to start: 1) we’ll send you an email every day with the latest Babyccino news, tips, and cool finds. 2) you can click to leave comments and join our conversation directly from your inbox. 3) what better way to start off your morning than with a Babyccino e-mail and a cup of coffee at your desk?
Please sign up, read our emails, and leave us comments… we love it!
xoxo, The Babyccino girls
Hanging children’s art
We are moving home! The new one is larger and, of course, better decorated. I have made the usual promise to myself (and my husband) to be more organised and to keep it tidier. So I’m on the lookout for smart tricks to help me keep my promise. This clever Ikea hack that I found on Ohdeedoh is one of them.
They used a Deka curtain rod to hang children’s drawings and paintings. It’s very versatile because you can cut the rod to the required length and the clips make it so easy to change and update the display.
I think it will be perfect in the playroom… and it’s so cheap!
-Michela
Knitted alphabet letters
I have this funny obsession with letters, especially initials, which is probably why I’m so, so in love with these knitted alphabet letters by Shokay. They’re hand-knitted and made to order, so you can order one for each of your children’s initials, or spell out their entire name if you like. I think they would be so cute on a bed or a sofa. They’re hand-knitted with yak wool, which, unlike conventional wool, is really soft and smooth… making them cute AND cozy!
Shokay sources the yak fiber directly from Tibetan herders, enabling them to earn a long-term sustainable living (read more in their brand profile). They are just one of the many designers featured on the lovely webshop, Custard, which does a great job of finding unique, ethical, and interesting designers from across the globe.
Custard is offering Babyccino readers an exclusive 25% discount from now until the end of October. Just enter code CLUB09 at check-out.
-Courtney
Under Her Wing
It’s not always a happy ending… This post from our friend Michelle from Kids Haus brought tears to my eyes…
Her good friend Marge died recently and left a beautiful 8-year-old daughter, Kylie. To express her love for Marge and Kylie, Michelle has made a beautiful new print, called ‘Under Her Wing’, and 100% of the proceeds from this print will go directly to Kylie’s college fund.
I already ordered a print, will you do so too?
xxx Esther
Aperitivo in Milan
Milan is an expensive city, and when you are visiting on travel it’s probably even more difficult to have dinner without spending a fortune. During the day the ubiquitous bakeries allow you to eat on a budget easily but at night it’s easy to have to shell out a small fortune for a dinner, however nice it may be. If you take into account that children’s menus and small portions are hard to find, then the bill will be even higher for families with small children.
A nice solution might be to make the best of the Milanese aperitivo or “happy hour”. The hour is happy not because you get two drinks for the price of one, but because by paying for a drink you get unlimited access to a free buffet. (more…)
The best things in Melbourne are…free!
Actually, it is the best things in life that are free! A cliché but oh, so true. In a quest to live more simply and to try and instill this truth in my children, I have been trying to entertain them these term holidays with ‘nature inspired’ activities and simple pleasures. Homemade picnics in the garden, collecting pebbles and leaves to paint, walking rather than driving, and so forth.
Now in doing so I am learning 3 things – one, my children know a lot more about recycling than I do, even my 4-year-old (for this I have their school to thank!). Two, my kids are quite happy living more ‘simply’; they have much more of a respect for and interest in nature and their planet than I ever had, which I am ashamed to admit but of which I am so, so proud (and which I am determined to keep fostering as I learn too, with them). And three, that in Melbourne you can treat your children to the most beautiful nature attractions without needing to pay for the pleasure as you do with so many other activities – they are ‘free’, indeed just as they should be, for everyone to enjoy.
One of the best of these in my opinion is the Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens. (more…)
Patch your jeans
My kids tear their clothes like it is going out of fashion. I’m constantly finding scuffed-up knees on their jeans, torn tops and unexplained holes on the seats of their pants! The fact is: kids are always going to tear their clothes. And while the ripped jeans look has never been my thing, I am just not willing to throw clothes away anymore. So I have started patching their clothes, just like in the good old days.
I am not any good at making an invisible patch like my grandmother used to make, so I’ve decided not to even try and instead make a statement with my patches. I actually reckon it should be called customising not patching! Here’s what you’ll need: (more…)
Cheap and Cheerful Home Decor
A while back I stumbled across this website when I was looking for ideas on how to add a bit more pizzazz to the girls’ room. I am not what you call “gifted” when it comes to home decor but I had to give myself a major pat on the back for what I was able to accomplish for around $75 and a half hour of work. Wall decals offer a quick, easy and inexpensive way to change a room in minutes and I when I scattered these sunburst circles on the wall it brightened up the space instantly. What’s even better is that when you need a change down the road you can just peel them off. I am thinking of investing in their chalkboard stick-ons to write out my weekly schedule and they recently launched a line of items to dress up a laptop. Scribble on Everything offers “Plastic Surgery for your Walls” and I get a kick out of just reading their website because whoever is in charge over there is really funny – just read their “How To” section.
-Dina
