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Celebrations

RECIPES
Braided Easter Bread -- A Family Tradition
  This Braided Easter Bread, known in Italian as Pane Di Pasqua, has become a family tradition. Although we have no Italian ethnicity in my family what so ever, adopting traditions is a great thing, right? Growing up, we always proudly placed this bread on our Easter Sunday breakfast table as a colourful and tasty centrepiece ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Wooden Bunny: 5-Minute Easter Craft
Easter is literally just days away and as usual I am not prepared at all! I mean we don’t even have any Easter eggs or anything but I’m hoping to persuade my kids to do a few Easter crafts with me this weekend. I really love this one that I found in one of our ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Fun Fingerprint Easter Cards
How fun are these Easter chick fingerprint cards. They are super easy and quick to make so if you are in need of a last-minute Easter card read on. You will need: Yellow water colour paint (water and a paintbrush to mix) Plain white card folded in half Black felt tip pen Orange felt tip ...
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EASTER CRAFTS
Quick and Easy Marbled Eggs
I vividly remember painting eggs as a child, the hours spent messily blowing the contents into a bowl, and the sore aching cheeks that followed. It was one of my favourite Easter traditions and afterwards my Mum would hang our decorated eggs on a little tree outside our kitchen window. When it gets to this ...
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KIDS
Marie Puce new spring collection (and setting up our Easter tree)
Amsterdam is in full spring bloom! The city fields and roadsides are sprinkled with daffodils and flower stands are overflowing with tulips. Our house is all of a sudden so bright and colourful, with loads of that beautiful crisp, early-year sunshine beaming in and tons of little vases and baskets with flowers scattered about. I love this time ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Sweet and sugar-free Valentine's party
I love to create small and sweet celebrations out of holidays, and Valentine's Day is no exception! While I was heavily pregnant last year, I wanted to do a fuss-free Valentine's Day 'baking' activity with my daughter, but without the dreaded sugar crash afterwards. So we made watermelon hearts, which are bake free, and only sweet ...
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CHRISTMAS RECIPES
Some yummy seasonal cookies
We love baking during the Christmas season and these two cookie recipes we make every year. Speculaas (just like pepernoten) are very specific to December as we relate them to Sinterklaas, but where pepernoten really only hit the scene when the Saint is in town, we like to enjoy speculaas the rest of the year as ...
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CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
Keeping Christmas Simple -- with Simple Matters author Erin Boyle
  Meet Erin Boyle, mama of one with another one on the way, friend of Babyccino, and author of both the fabulous blog, Reading My Tea Leaves and the super inspiring book called Simple Matters: living with less and ending up with more. We recently reached out to Erin to ask for her expert advice on simplifying ...
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CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
Our activity advent calendar -- redesigned and ready to print!
Two years ago I started our first activity advent calendar and it has quickly become a firm family tradition. The children are so excited each morning of advent -- taking turns to open an envelope and discovering what special thing we'll be doing that day. This year, I wanted to make a bit more of ...
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CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
KalenderHaus, a beautiful advent activity by Clever Gretel
We just enjoyed a lovely long weekend, in which we didn't do much more than cozying up inside our house in our pyjamas. The children played together endlessly -- they built huts, set up a shop, made a city on our living room floor using masking tape, set up their Playmobil horse farm, crafted mini ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Our annual Holiday Gift Guides!
I am literally still finding places to stash the Halloween candies away... and holiday season is already slowly making its way into our consciousness. To top it all off, it has even started snowing in Paris! Not long and it did not settle -- but enough to get us into the mood and bring out ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
DIY Baby Bunting
A beautiful bunting is a great way to celebrate the birth of a newborn and a fun project for the older sibling(s) to do too! I received a beautiful fabric bunting during my first pregnancy that my thoughtful and creative friends made as a gift for me. But when I took the bunting out to use ...
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CELEBRATIONS
Happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter everyone! Easter is one of my favourite holidays -- the idea of celebrating the beginning of spring is just so wonderful. We have been spending the days cooking, eating, and hanging out with friends and I thought it would be nice to share some of our Easter traditions with you... A week or two before Easter, ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Easter DIY: Salt Dough Egg Ornaments
Spring is finally here and it is the perfect time for some Easter crafts! I just love salt dough because it’s made fast and doesn’t cost a lot – all you need it flour, salt and water! We already made Christmas ornaments and they turned out great so we decided to make Easter ones as ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
The Little Things: making traditional Orthodox easter eggs
Last year, we were kindly invited to celebrate Orthodox Easter with our friends Vicky and Jeremy here in Amsterdam. Vicky and Jeremy are from Australia and are spending a few years in the Netherlands, but Vicky is originally from Macedonia. She grew up celebrating the traditional Orthodox Easter with her Macedonian family -- the most significant celebration of the ...
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CELEBRATIONS
Sweet illustrations, by Laura Uy
Laura Uy is a Canadian illustrator with such a lovely, playful style. Her work mainly focusses on greeting cards and prints, which make great decor pieces for children's rooms. I love that bear in the photo above, so whimsical (the gold stars are hand-painted and make the print extra pretty). Laura's greeting cards have such sweet illustrations with the cutest puns. There are cards for ...
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BOOKS
Christmas Eve at The Mellops', written by Tomi Ungerer
I recently read an article on the Icelandic tradition of gifting a book on Christmas Eve and then spending the evening reading it. Isn't it such a lovely idea? The thought of each of us cosying up on Christmas Eve with the fire lit and the tree lights sparkling, reading a new book is just ...
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CELEBRATIONS
Thoughtful and beautiful gift boxes from The London Gifting Studio
To give, but mostly to receive a gift that was chosen with care, with love, with attention to detail, with just that extra something, is so, so special. A gift that has meaning, a purpose, that is (and becomes) an experience and a memory -- those kind of gifts are the best ones. But which busy parent has the ...
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CELEBRATIONS
First day of Advent (and the sweetest Christmas calendar from Fabelab)
Last year I blogged about our last minute advent calendar -- not a calendar filled with gifts and sweets, but one filled with little notes suggesting a daily activity to get us in the mood for Christmas. It was a huge success and a tradition was born, so I just (quite last minute again!) put ...
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CELEBRATIONS
Our Advent Activity Calendar
I loved Esther’s post last year about an Advent Activity Calendar! We have done a similar idea for a few years now (unfortunately not so beautifully designed!). I bought a Maileg Advent garland (a little bit like this one) and in every pocket the children find a sweet treat and an Advent activity for us ...
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BOOKS
Christmas Book Advent Calendar (Updated)
I wrote my first post for Babyccino on 29th November 2009 (I can’t believe it – almost 6 years ago!) and it was about an idea that I had to wrap up 24 Christmas themed books to create a Christmas Book Advent Calendar. Well the idea is still going strong in our house and as ...
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BABY
2015 Holiday Gift Guides now live!
Can you believe we're talking about the holidays already?!! I can hardly believe it's November and time to start thinking about holiday gift-buying. Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands in just over a month's time, Hannukah starts around that same time, and then Christmas comes just after that. It's time to get busy! The good news ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Easter Craft: Hen Egg Cups
Easter holidays are here and I've prepared a new Easter craft for you. This one I absolutely love because it’s so very simple that even very young children can make it, and it takes very little time to finish so it’s also perfect for those types of kids that can’t stay still for very long, like ...
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Do you know how to get the discount codes to enjoy our amazing deals (like 30% off on the whole Olivia + Ocean swimwear collection)? Signing up to our Newsletter is the easiest way! Follow the link in profile and you'll receive all the discount codes at the beginning of each month. Don't wait! #babyccinodeals
15 hours ago
Genius! All the clothing pieces from @bonjourmaurice are reversible - swipe to have a look at the 2 styles Ava and Casper are wearing! Stylish, fun, convenient, environmental friendly... check out why we love this concept so much on the blog today (link in profile)
1 day ago
Lots of fun, lots of chatting on the swing, and a few dinosaurs here and there (not pictured: 13 other kids getting wild). Thanks for this great BBQ, we had the best time @estherbabyccino!
1 day ago
All smiles for baby Kristian this afternoon at @estherbabyccino's ️
1 day ago
When the Amsterdam Babyccino team gathers at @estherbabyccino for a BBQ and the food is amazingly yummy with homemade dishes from Italy, Germany, England, the Netherlands and Macedonia. And French cheese (check out our stories!)
1 day ago
The American Museum of Natural History is an absolute must-see with kids if you're in New York! Read about our favourite exhibits and check out all our tips - link in profile! #babyccinocityguides #newyork #newyorkwithkids
2 days ago
Have a look at those 3 new beautiful boutiques that we already love: @_counting_clouds_ offer a wonderful collection of comfortable, freeing, organic clothing for endless play, produced on a small scale for boys and girls (and women too!) Now 15% off for Babyccino readers. @josefinabags: those versatile, effortless and contemporary bags will suit the everyday needs of urban mums. The best of French/NY design for nappy/ diaper bags! @hannahandtiff: those colourful clothing pieces balance traditional South East Asian influences with contemporary silhouettes - resulting in a clean, crisp and understated look! (also a great 15% off on the whole collection)Follow the link in profile to check out all our new shops! #babyccinoboutiques #newshop
2 days ago
Do you also write a lot of cards at that time of the year? Thank you notes, party invitations, farewell to teachers... And it's so nice when kids can make their own! Check out how to make those pretty watercolour flower cards, it's a sweet activity with such lovely results! Link to the blog post in profile
3 days ago
How to make your life easier (and your suitcase lighter!) when you're travelling with kids? With reversible clothing of course! Find those cute reversible bloomers from Bonjour Maurice, along with travel size bath products, travel journals, cool backpacks and fun games in this week's Top Ten! Link in profile️ #babyccinotopten #travelwithkids
3 days ago
Today Kate @soloskates shares her DIY to make those cute and colourful yarn wrapped letters! It's really simple, check it out to learn about all her tips. Link in profile! #craftsanddiy
4 days ago
Our beautiful new book, '9 months: A month by month guide to pregnancy' for the family to share, is AVAILABLE NOW!You can order it here:UK: http://amzn.to/2n6eCT7 / US: http://amzn.to/2nVWOZo / AUS: http://bit.ly/2nDYggy
1 month ago
Esther and Courtney wrote a beautiful, month by month guide to pregnancy for the family to share. Perfect to prepare your child for the arrival of their new baby brother or sister!PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY: UK: http://amzn.to/2nVWOZo US: http://amzn.to/2nVWOZo AUS: http://bit.ly/2nDYggy
2 months ago
Check out the cool vibes of our Shop Up event in London in December!
2 months ago
Our 2nd live shopping event in Brooklyn was amazing! Great shopping, delicious treats, tons of kids activities and a super cool family photo booth!
6 months ago
Esther shows us her recipe for delicious mint syrup.
8 months ago
Our live shopping event in London at Chelsea Old Town Hall in 2015 was a big success and so much fun.
8 months ago
Here we show you how to harvest rhubarb from the garden, and make it into a delicious compote. If you make oatmeal at the same time, you have made a delicious and nutritious breakfast that your family will love! (Ours do!)
11 months ago
This gym bag is such a fun and easy project, also for beginners this is a nice sewing project. Esther, Emilie and the kids had so much fun going to the market choosing all the supplies. The fabrics from Little Cube are the cutest!
1 year ago
Our first live shopping event in Brooklyn was a great success. We loved seeing the best boutiques under one roof, combined with great food and fun activities...and some dancing! Hope to see everyone this year again on September 18th & 19th at 501 Union, 501 Union Street in Brooklyn.
1 year ago
Hi guys! Here Bethie and I are showing you how to prepare a super easy dish that your family will love -- a video we bring to you in cooperation with Abel & Cole, deliverer of fabulous food boxes filled to the brim with organic freshness! Here's the list of ingredients:a royal 1 tbsp of olive oil1 butternut squash1 red onion2 red peppers2 garlic cloves4 vine tomatoes150g quinoasea salt & freshly ground pepper300 ml vegetable stock2 tbsp red wine vinegar25g raisins80g black olivesAnd for the garnish:a handful of chervilfeta (optional)Directions:Peel your butternut squash. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Chop the flesh into 1cm chunks.Peel and cut the onion into thick slices. Cut the pepper in half and scoop out the seeds and white pith. Chop into bitesized pieces. Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Roughly chop the tomatoes.Rinse the quinoa under cold water to remove any bitterness.Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy based pan. Tip in all the veg and quinoa. Pour in the veg stock and the red wine vinegar. Add the raisins and the olives. Season with salt and pepper.Pop on a lid and cook for 30-40 mins until the squash is soft and the sauce thick. Stir every now and then during cooking.Scatter over the chervil (or flat leaf parsley leaves) and serve in warm bowls. Top with crumbled feta if you like!A super colourful, super easy and super delicious dish for taste buds of all ages!Bon appétit!
1 year ago