Pillowcase Wings
I just discovered these pillow case wings on Sisters Guild via Bambino Goodies and just had to write a post about them, they are so super cute. I know it is not Halloween nor Carnival, but there is never a bad time to play dress up, is there? Apparently all you need is fabric, fabric glue and then do a bit of stiching. Perfect for using up little bits of stray fabric.
I will try and make some in the next couple of weeks and let you know how it goes!
-Emilie
Fabric Shops
I have a moderate addiction to purchasing fabric, nothing I need to go see a therapist about, but still — it is an addiction. I buy all of these lovely fabrics and even patterns, imagining what beautiful clothes I could make for my children. The problem is, 9 times out of 10, these beautiful clothes never see the light of day as I never get round to actually making them. But it is fun to dream.
Paris is great for fabric shopping. We have a whole area dedicated to fabric shops around the Butte de Montmartre, and I have started finding more and more online shops that tempt me with their selections. Here are a few favourites…
- Citronille is my favourite sewing on-line shop. The patterns are so stylish and typically French and a lot of them are relatively easy to make. I love the choices of fabrics too. (By the way if you like these patterns and fabric but do not have the time and inclination to make the clothes yourself, check out Esther’s post on Nils and Happy to see you. You can buy a selection of the Citronille patterns as ready-made clothes.)
- Wowo is a famous children’s boutique here in Paris. I only recently realised that they also sell fabric. The prints change every season so it is a fun place to check out on a regular basis.
- Anna Ka Bazaar is a lovely webshop for kids and mothers and also has a great selection of fabrics. The fabrics all originate in India so they are mostly light cottons, perfect for tunics and little summer dresses.
-Emilie
Made by Joel it ain’t…
I absolutely adore those fantastic blogs that share such inspirational ideas of great things to craft with or for your kids (think ‘Made by Joel‘, ‘Inchmark‘, ‘Hip Hip Hooray‘). In fact I’d go as far to say I have a slight addiction to said blogs. I gaze at their beauty, gawp at their good ideas and sigh at the pretty photography. All the time thinking how I must try harder to be perfect.
The sad reality is though that I’m not perfect (is this therapy?). And when it comes to crafting with my kids I’m anything but. I’ve always wanted to be good at arts and crafts and since having kids I can hardly pass a craft shop without popping in for some googly eyes or transparent paper for our bulging craft cupboard. So the enthusiasm is there and the desire is there, so how come my shoe-box aquarium (above) looks nothing like Joel Henriques’? (more…)
Last Minute Christmas Craft — wall panels
These wall panels were quickly made with my kids — just using pieces of an old sheet, some fabric scraps and Fabric Mod Podge. I did the cutting for my 3-year old, but my 5-year-old was able to do everything herself! After drying we glued the sheet around a piece of cardboard and voila, some stylish Christmas deco for on the sideboard! Of course a similar thing can be made with pieces of paper…
xxx Esther
Paper bag advent bunting
I’m sorry the picture isn’t great… but this is such a quick, simple and (I think) effective idea that I had to tell you about it.
Advent for us starts officially this Sunday, but of course the first doors on the advent calendars will be opened on the 1st. To jazz up our hallway I made this simple Advent paper-bag bunting. And it was so easy you could even make this with the kids.
- Some plain white paper bags (mine were bought in Germany but these look similar) folded over at the top and punched with a normal hole-punch.
- Each one stamped with the numbers 1 – 24.
- Then some christmas string threaded through the top.
Mine are currently just decoration but I think I will fill them with a few treats so the kids can open them up as the days tick by.
Mo. x
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Last chance to win!• Get up, stand up
• Broer&Zus, cute kid’s clothes from Amsterdam
DIY Goody Bags
My sewing machine used to be my grandmother’s. She probably bought it in the fifties, and it’s so heavy I have to ask my husband to carry it to the table, but it still does the job wonderfully well!
These goody bags would be perfect as a classroom treat or for party favours at a birthday party (as seen on Vlijtig). I used pages from an old Milk magazine, cut out squares about 15×15 cm (6″x6″) and glued the outer ends together to make a tube. Then I sewed together one end, filled it with a mix of raisins and almonds, turned it 90 degrees and sewed together the other end. Presto! I left some thread at the ends, but you could also use zig zag scissors for an interesting twist.
xxx Esther
Silhouettes
I recently visited a cafe in Berlin which was designed by my friend, Maria — it was great. One thing she had used (which I’m really into at the moment) was silhouettes, so I asked her how you do them and decided to do my husband’s family tree as a birthday present for my mother-in-law.
I can’t confess to the idea being an original one — I actually read about it on Inchmark, the wonderful journal of Brooke Reynold’s, a while ago. She gives a good description of how to create a silhouette and some fab ideas of how to use them (see here). However, Brooke is clearly more of a natural graphic designer than I am — I don’t have Adobe Illustrator on my computer (as she used) so I used my trusty Photoshop Elements, which are very basic. However an even simpler way to achieve your silhouettes (as my friend Maria explained) is like so: (more…)
Citronille swimmers
One of my favourite things about summertime (apart from sun, holidays and chilled rosé) is seeing my kids running around wearing nothing much at all. They look so free without shoes, coats, jumpers and long trousers! Earlier this summer I picked up this pattern from Citronille to make my girls some little swimmers. They are really adorable and the easiest thing I have ever made. I think it must have taken me about ½ an hour to put them together. They use very little material so I just used up scraps I had lying around.
I know this post is a bit late as the summer is almost over in the northern hemisphere, but there might still be some warm days coming up. There are also so many parts of the world were the sun shines every day. (I am so envious of you people living in those parts of the world, by the way…)
- Emilie
A quick word on Baker’s Twine
I have a bit of an obsession with baker’s twine. I ordered 4 huge spools of it a few months ago and I am looking around for more. Now I’m no crafty, but even I can think of a million uses. In fact, we seem to be using it in some shape or form at least once a day (yesterday my daughter used it to make some bunting for her dolls house). Great for gift wrapping instead of ribbon, just team with brown butcher paper… It is also beautiful for wrapping baked goods. It adds a nostalgic, rustic look that is simple and classic. Traditional red and white baker’s twine is perfect but I am totally smitten with these delicious, eye-popping colors from The Twinery.
- Sara
DIY Stick Horses
Before the birth of Ava I had already concluded that my soon to be 5-year-old daughter should have a proper birthday party — no excuses. For months and months she’d been talking about a ‘pony’ birthday (probably secretly hoping we would get her a real horse), which is not an easy theme for a party, especially if you don’t want to end up with loads of plastic trash!! So, 9 days after giving birth, my husband (still on paternity leave — this is Europe!) and my mother-in-law and I spent a whole evening making 7 stick horses for my daughter’s party. I got some rough instructions from This Vintage Chica, went to the market to get broomsticks, stuffing, and decoration, and to HEMA for some groovy socks, biggest size. We worked hard and stayed up late, but the result was a HUGE success! Part of the party was about personalising the horses with letters and glitters, and part was a horse racetrack, and of course all the girls got to take their own stick horse home. The kids absolutely loved their horses and are still playing with them today.
If you feel like making your own stick horse — it’s pretty easy, you don’t need a sewing machine at all. An (old) broomstick and an (old) sock will do. Here’s the how-to:
Win! Genius Pads
A while ago Courtney sang the praises of the Genius Pads — the giant sticky note pads. Such a clever idea, and such an ideal product to have in the house! My children love to draw on them because they stick to the table really well and are easy to display when finished. And I love to use them for all sorts of messages around the house.
To celebrate their Genius Pad Life Cycle, a tree re-planting project in Sri Lanka, Arash + Kelly are giving away 5 Genius Pads to 5 lucky Babyccino Kids readers. Yay! Just leave one comment below by Wednesday, July 14th for your chance to win a super handy, giant sticky note pad, and we’ll pick 5 lucky winners at random. Good luck!!
xxx Esther
The Papered Parlour
I am so, so ‘can’t stop moving’, ‘ants in my pants’ excited. A couple of weeks ago I was reading one of my favourite blogs — do you know it? The blog of author, stylist, photographer, all round uber-chic gal Pia Jane Bijkerk. She wrote about a wonderful sounding place, the Papered Parlour in Clapham. I had to check their website out. The Papered Parlour is a new craft venue in London, which offers classes in classic crafting techniques such as silversmithing, dress-making, photography, screen-printing and quilting as well as offering subsidised studio-space for practising artists. It was set up last year by visual artists Claire and Louise, who met working at Battersea Arts Centre. The space has already received much critical acclaim for not only the skills they teach but the style in which they do it — they have a wonderful looking cafe and most workshops include a proper tea and cake break (you can see why I have been drawn into their ethos!). They hold regular exhibitions and can be hired for parties and events (their ideas for hen-parties are brilliant!).
So why am I so excited? Well I just booked myself onto one of their Summer dress-making workshops — maybe I will finally learn how to make this darling dress for my daughter that I have been cooing over from Oliver + S.
-Mo. x
Cute vintage magnet set
I just recently bought this vintage wooden magnet set from Present&Correct. It was made in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and comes in the cutest little box with a magnetic tray. I think I’ll probably just put the magnets on my fridge and let my kids play with them — how cute are those little faces?
Present&Correct is a great site for unique, often vintage pieces you can’t find anywhere else, and they are constantly getting new things in so it’s always fun to check their new page. It’s also a great place to buy cards, books, and cute craft supplies. I buy their colourful masking tapes for gift-wrapping, and it’s also fun to browse their book section.
-Courtney
P.S. If they’ve sold out of something you like, click to request a re-stock notice — they’ll send you an email as soon as it’s back in stock!
Artistic Collaboration
The other day my daughter went for a sleep-over at her best friend’s house. She’s not even 5 yet, but she takes the whole thing rather seriously. She packed her own little suitcase, her doll, and a separate suitcase for the doll. (I got her these suitcases at Elias&Grace last time I was in London, and they’re great for this purpose.)
Before she left, we made her this little horse to put in her suitcase and to play with in case she started missing her mama (which didn’t happen of course — her mama should have kept the horse herself).
I thought the artistic collaboration was rather successful — my daughter designed the horse, and I quickly copied it in cloth, using my sewing machine. (If you don’t have a sewing machine you could do a similar thing by hand-stitching.) I think it would be a cute idea to make some pillows using the same method. I’ll keep you posted!
xxx Esther
DIY Colourful Lanterns
My daughter made one of these glass jar lanterns at school for her Christmas dinner, and I thought they were so cute that I’d have her make a few extra — they’re just lovely on a summery (garden) dinner table! They’re really easy to make (a child can do it), and all you need are some empty glass jars, some coloured art tissue paper, Mod Podge, a brush and zig-zag scissors. Just cut squares of different sizes of the tissue paper and glue them on the glass jar, slightly overlapping. When finished, paint a layer of Mod Podge, let dry, insert candle and presto! Fun to make, and with great results. I’m planning on hanging loads of them in a tree for a summer dinner — I’ll have to put my daughter to work!
xxx Esther
MadeIt for unique handmade finds
Packed to the rafters with local designers and craftspeople, MadeIt is a virtual craft market containing a wealth of handmade housewares and goodies. It is my go-to source when I want something unique, affordable and hand-crafted. It is similar to Etsy but supports only local Australian talent.
What I love about the site, apart from the fact that everything is handmade and local, is that it brings you, in one spot, everything you can’t buy at your local shopping mall. It takes the legwork out of shopping for those unique, handmade goodies which I love to buy but can take me forever to look for. And of course there is something gratifying about buying a locally made gift, supporting your local economy. (more…)
Bunny Finger Puppets
Aren’t these bunny finger puppets just darling? Cute for your kids’ Easter basket, or just for a bit of creative springtime play. And easy to make too… even for sewing novices like myself (no sewing machine required).
Molly at The Purl Bee gives a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these little felt bunnies, including a printable pdf of the bunny template. How easy is that?
I think I’m going to give it a go. Just have to pick up some cute felt…
-Courtney
p.s. Thanks to Sarah for the tip.
Egg Heads
Last Easter we decided to make some Egg Heads with the mustard & cress seeds we got in our lunchbox from Kew Gardens. Now I’m not in any way saying this was an innovative idea — most of you probably grew some of these little men/women yourself as children. But for some reason my childhood missed this particular activity… something I now plan to take up with my Mum and Dad as it is a reaallllllly cool thing to do!
I am not the slightest bit green-fingered and manage to kill all plants/greenery in my care (even cacti have a hard time living in our house and my husband doesn’t understand why I still buy herbs in pots as they always die within days), but mustard and cress are stubborn little plants and grow despite a lack of due care and attention. And they grow very quickly so you see results on a daily basis — appealing to my impatient nature.
So if you never made egg-creatures as a child then I urge you to take this eggcellent (terrible – I know!) holiday as an opportunity to redeem your deprived childhood just as I did. Your kids will love it too! Here’s how to make them: (more…)
Personalised Party Bags
Another birthday party — I am feeling quite the party planner at the moment. My two favourite parts of the planning process are the cake (I love baking and eating!) and the party bags. I always set myself a budget per bag and try to stretch it as far as possible. My current thing is to try and make the bags themselves part of the gift, something to reuse. I was really lucky that I could utilise the post-Christmas sales to find sweet little wicker baskets for my daughter’s birthday but my son’s birthday required a bit more imagination.
In my search for inspiration I stumbled upon the Carrier Bag Shop and found these cotton shopping bags, which were less then 50p each (when buying 25). An idea was formed. Having fixed my printer the day before (it was broken for over a year and I finally found a small toy had been inserted deep into the feed tray – grrrrr!) I remembered some HP Iron-on Transfer printer paper I had bought ages ago and never tried out. I just chose a fun font (Rosewood std for any Mac users) and bright colours and typed the name of each child as big as I could so it would stretch across the length of the page. Then I flipped the image (it is important to do this so when it is transferred it reads the right way round) and printed. Then all that had to be done was to iron it on — as simple as that.
I was really pleased with the results and each child got their own personalised bag for under a £1.
p.s. Love these stripy bags from Carrier bag Shop — so chirpy to make up little treat bags!
Mo. x
Free downloadable colour sheets from Made By Joel
These days I’m so busy with work, I don’t have much time for my much loved little creative projects (sewing, baking, drawing). But I love looking at craft and cooking blogs instead!
Joel Henriques is a Portland-based artist who has two little kids and does the most amazing craft projects with them. Just have a look at his blog — these yo-yo balls are so sweet, and this design-tree-toy is to die for! Or this doll house…
If you have a printer at home you can print these cool designs for your kids to colour (just click on the picture to go to the original post for the download). I really love them!
xxx Esther
P.S. Through Vlijtig
