Doily Fairy Lights

15 Aug


A few weeks ago my mother-in-law and I were browsing through our favorite second hand shop and I came across a basket full of old vintage Belgian doilies (most were handmade lace and a few were crocheted) for anywhere from 10 cents to 50 cents a piece.  I grabbed a handful, paid less than 3 euro for them and took them home.

There were lots of questions as to what I was going to do with them (and the look on my husband’s face when I enthusiastically showed them was a mix of surprise and terror).  And to tell you the truth, at that point I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do with them.  I just knew there was a project using doilies just waiting for me and I had to give it time to be become clear what it exactly was.  Yeah I know, I’m a nerd.

And sure enough a few weeks later I was rummaging through an old drawer and found a set of “naked” fairy lights.  I knew then and there what that pile of doilies was going to be made into.

I decided that I wanted the doilies to be slightly stiff so they wouldn’t hang so limply from the lights.  I didn’t have any starch of any kind so I made a mixture of normal white glue and water.  I then dipped the doilies in the mixture, squeezed out any excess and placed them on a wine glass to dry in a nice lampshade shape (this was all trial and error…I had no idea if it was going to work or not).

To my surprise (and joy) the next morning the doilies were all completely dry and stiff enough to hold the shape that I was looking for.I then had to snip the centres of the doilies in order to fit the little fairy lights through (some had holes big enough but most needed a little snip).  Once I had the fairy lights throught centre hole I hand sewed the doilies around the centre so that the light wouldn’t slip back through.

I find the final result really beautiful with all the different shades of white and cream, the different sizes of doilies and the various lace patterns.  In the evening it makes the most beautifully romantic shadows on all the surrounding walls.

I even included one that was made by my great grandmother.

 

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A Kid’s Life: USA

13 Aug

I’m happy to present another A Kid’s Life interview today.  This series is a way for us all to learn a little bit about daily family life from countries around the world.  I’ve absolutely loved the last two interviews from Italy and Japan.  I can’t get enough of  hearing about all those cultural differences between countries and daily kid rhythms.

Today’s interview is with Jen from the Classic Play! blog.  Jen lives in America, is mom to two beautiful kids, wife to a talented photographer and filmmaker and exudes an energy that baffles me.   Her blog Classic Play! is a fountain of ideas, resources and creative endeavors for families everywhere.  This blog has saved my sanity on more than one occasion when I had a house full of bored kids (her kid’s art projects are a fave of mine).

On top of running her successful blog she’s co-owner of a really neat kid’s toy company and even writes for various other sources.  Jen is all about inspiring and motivating families to get creative.  And I love that.

I’m really grateful that she took the time to answer my questions and give us all a peek into her and her family’s daily life.    And I learned some new things…I’d never heard of red shirting before in my life!   So here we go…

What country do you live in?

The United States

Are you and your husband the same nationality?

Yes.

How many languages are spoken in your house?  Which one(s)?

Just one, English.

How many kids do you have?  What are their ages?

We have two children.  Ellie is 9 and Jonah is 7.

At what age do kids start school in your country?

Many kids in America, if they’re not in daycare, start school in a private preschool around age 3 or 4 for a couple half days a week. The public system kicks in at age 5 with kindergarten. Parents do have the option to hold their child back one year, which more and more families are doing. It’s a phenomenon called Red Shirting. It’s not very popular in my area, but in other parts of the country, it’s become the norm.

During the school year at what time do your kids usually wake up?

Between 7 and 7:15am.

What do your kids typically eat for breakfast?

My kids have a several favorites: yogurt with honey, cold cereal with milk, scrambled eggs and toast, and oatmeal with a little maple syrup. On weekends we have waffles or pancakes.

Continue reading →

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Ritorno

9 Aug

Do you have an unbelievable amount of renewed energy to clean and organise your house when you arrive home from a vacation?  For me, the first days after returning home from a long trip away is really the most efficient time to get the house scoured clean and all those  nagging little  house jobs done.  It usually starts within an hour of opening our front door and lasts anywhere from 2-3 days.

Shortly after arriving home from Belgium last week I could be found re-organising and scrubbing inside kitchen cupboards which haven’t been touched since, well, I don’t even want to say.

In the following days I emptied the fridge of all the out-of-date salsa and chutney.  I organised and classified the entire book shelf.  I swept the ceilings of all the cobwebs and who knows what.  I even hand washed the pot holders.  And it felt so so good.

I can’t really explain why I do all this but I’m happy I do.  At no other time do I have the motivation and physical energy to scrub bathroom grouting with a toothbrush or re-fold my entire linen cupboard.  Sometimes I even think about planning a trip just for the return and the rampant cleaning of my house.

So here I am at home for the rest of the summer in a beautifully clutter-free and sparkling clean space (should last a few minutes, no?) and ready to pass the next month with my three children at the lake, on the forest trails or simply lounging around at home reading or baking or sewing.   Oh, and drinking LOTS of cold lemonade…

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

8 Aug

The other day when it was 38 degrees outside my children came to me with a specific request.  They all wanted pumpkin spice cake.  Desperately.  I told them that such a cake filled with cinnamon,  nutmeg and pumpkin AND involving putting on the oven for almost an hour was something for a cold winter’s day in front of the fire with a pot of hot tea.  They looked at me with confusion in their eyes and asked again for pumpkin spice cake.  And because it was too hot to rationalize with 3 surprisingly insistent kids I just caved and started to bake.

While the cakes baked the house smelled of autumn but was hot enough that I laid on the cold  tiles until they were done. But the ecstatic and grateful kids were well worth it all.  Kind of.

 

This recipe calls for cream cheese in the batter which helps makes it really moist and dense.  Instead of adding cinnamon and cloves you could also just add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.  I usually make this recipe in a loaf pan but considering the heat and the fact I wanted the oven on for as little time as possible I made them in mini muffin tins. Here’s the recipe if you would like to give them a try.  Whether in summer, fall or winter (go for the latter two!).

Continue for recipe: Continue reading →

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Flow and Scout

5 Aug

A few weeks ago I discovered a new favorite magazine called Flow.  It’s a Dutch magazine full of beautiful handmade creations, stunning photography, artistic souls and so so much more.  The magazine is in Dutch but you don’t even have to understand it to be able to love it.

Magazine

They’ve put a unique touch on everything from the writing styles to the fonts to the fact they use different sorts of paper throughout the magazine.  They keep you up-to-date on everything new and innovative in the whole lifestyle/creative scene.

While browsing through a recent copy of the magazine I found a small article about Scout which is a content marketing agency located in Portland, Oregon.  Scout offers these absolutely amazing monthly 3-d calendars for free.  You just have to visit their site and sign up for the calendar of the month club to receive it by e-mail.

Here is August’s calendar.  How sweet is this?

I, for obvious reasons, really fell in love with this one.

And this one too.

Check out the Scout blog here and the Flow site here.

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Lam Musee d’Art Moderne

3 Aug

The other day we woke up in Belgium to a rainy cloudy sky.  We hadn’t really made plans for the day so we decided to drive to Lille, France to visit the Lam Modern Art Museum.  After wrestling the kids out of their pajamas and into normal clothing (they wanted to stay home and read comics all day) we made it out the door.

Luckily the French border is mere minutes from where we were staying and we made it to the museum in less than half an hour. The kids were slowly getting over their dismay at being forced out of the house and by the time we saw the museum they were actually excited to visit it.  They kept asking whether the “beetle-guy” (Jan Fabre) would be exhibiting seeing as it was a modern art museum.  Unfortunately for them he wasn’t.

The Lam Musee d’Art Modern is a great museum to take kids.  It has some really lovely permanent collections as well as temporary ones.  The museum isn’t too big which means the kids can visit all the collections without getting  too tired or  “bored”.

The museum offers modern art collections as well as contemporary art collections.  The kids loved all the cubist pieces and the way they evolved over time.  I always find it amazing what kids notice in art and they way they communicate what they see.  When they were looking at the Modigliani paintings they were commenting to each other on the ladies he painted and their long necks and noses, their blank eyes and sloped shoulders.  They also really enjoyed the room with art brut.  They loved reading the stories of the untrained artists and their life stories.

The museum offers (for a small fee) ipods for kids, teens and adults with guided tours of the museum.  Our girls took the French version of the teen tour (after 4 years of French as a second language!).

After our successful trip to the museum the kids were motivated and excited to walk into town with a box of charcoal and some paper to do some sketching at the local convent.

They all found a little spot with a view and sketched away for the rest of the afternoon.

After the drawings were finished we headed to the local waffle shop (of course).  All in all it was a perfect ending to our Belgian summer vacation.

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“Traveling With Kids” Column on Classic Play! (Cultural Preparation)

2 Aug

The newest installment of my Traveling With Kids column is on Classic Play! today.  This time I talk about the importance of culturally preparing your children before visiting a new country and culture.  These are simple things that can make a big difference for everyone involved and make your trip that much more enjoyable.  Pop on over and let me know what you think!

You can check out my other posts in this series here and here.

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Immagine d’Estate

28 Jul

There hasn’t been much action around this blog lately.  We’ve been on vacation for the last few weeks and have been having a great time visiting family, friends and doing lots of Belgian-like activities.  We’ve had everything from winter weather to 35 degree heat and we’ve cycled our little hearts out through it all.  It has been an amazing holiday so far.  Here are a few images from the last few weeks…

Standing on their sand castle and waiting for the tide to come in.

A great-grandfather and a great-granddaughter sharing their love of stamps.

Visiting a vintage wallpaper shop in Gent.  The two old sisters who own it are worth the visit.

My kind of beach hut.


Some cows and on old German war bunker on the beautiful bike trails in Lier.

The kid’s set up a traditional Belgian bloemenwinkel (flower shop) on the beach.

Creating with clay with extended family.

A culinary experience involving paling (eel).   And it was (surprisingly) good!

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A Kid’s Life: Japan

23 Jul

A while back I published my first post in my A Kid’s Life series.  I give a short interview with families from around the world about their daily traditions and routines.  I thought it would be a great way to see how other people pass a regular day in their life and see how it differs from ours.

For this A Kid’s Life post I decided to contact my friend Kumi who lives in Japan.  Kumi and I studied French together many years ago and she is one of those gentle, generous souls.  We’ve kept in touch on and off over the years via snail mail and we recently got to see each other again in person on our recent trip to Japan.  We met as young single women and are now both happily married mamas.  How times have changed.

After spending time with Kumi and her family we realized that although we live in different countries with different cultures and daily rhythms, some things about life with kids are universal.  Such as ice cream and skip rope!

Here’s Kumi’s interview accompanied by a few photos that I took while staying with them.  Enjoy!

Where do you live?

We live in Japan.

Are both you and your husband the same nationality?

Yes, we are both Japanese.

How many children do you have?  What are their ages?

We have one daughter who is 7 years old.

Do you both work or does someone stay at home?

My husband works full time and I work only 2 days per week.

How many languages do you speak at home?

We speak Japanese together.  Sometimes we speak some English as a sort of game.

At what age do kids start school in your country?

In Japan kids start school at 6 or 7 years old.

During the school year, what time do you wake up?

We wake up at 6:30am.

What is a typical breakfast for your family?

We eat rice balls and miso soup.

What time does school start and finish?  What is the weekly school schedule?

My daughter is in the second grade and starts school at 8:40 and finishes at 2:20pm.  In the higher grades the kids finish at 3:15pm.  In second grade the kids learn Japanese, arithmetic, drawing, manual arts, physical training, calligraphy, music and life studies.

Do your kids learn a second or third language at school?  From what age?

In Japan they learn English from the second grade.  They learn English games and songs…not too hard!

Do kids eat lunch at home or at school?  What is a typical lunch?

Usually kids eat lunch at school.  They mainly eat rice or bread and milk but sometimes also Chinese, Italian, Korean and Mexican food.

Do your kids do any after-school activities?

My daughter doesn’t do any after-school activities but this is VERY rare in Japan.  Usually almost all kids do dance, swimming, calligraphy, English, abacus etc etc.

What time do you eat dinner?  What is a typical dinner you would eat?

We usually eat around 7pm.  A favorite dinner of my husband is okonomiyake (Japanese pizza).

How much television/computer time do your kids have on a daily basis?

Usually 2 hours.

What’s bed time in your house?

My daughter goes to bed around 9:30pm.

What are some typical family week-end activities?

In the mornings my daughter watches cartoons and then we do some shopping and go anywhere my daughter wants!

When is the school vacation?

In the summer there is the 44 days of summer vacation from late July to late August.  Then there are a few weeks in December and in March/April.

What are the typical “first foods” for a baby to eat in your country?

A vegetable soup made with white radish or cabbage and boiled fish or meat paste.

Do you notice any big differences between Kumi and her family’s life and yours?  I personally love the breakfasts they eat and the fact that school ends so early in the afternoon.  Any other questions that you think might be interesting to ask?  Check out the last A Kid’s Life:Italia here.

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De Vuile Winkel

22 Jul

We arrived at my in-laws at midnight on a Friday evening and by 9:30am the next day my mother-in-law and I could be found browsing through our favorite local fabric shop.

It’s a shop that used to be referred to as De Vuile Winkel (The Dirty Shop) due to the fact it was located in an old decrepit four-story house with narrow wooden staircases and room upon room full of materials, old and new.  It was an experience just to browse through all those stacks of materials and a few times we found some great vintage fabrics (see here).

But a few months ago they decided they were in need of more room so they moved to a bright, large and spacious new spot.  And it’s gorgeous.

While there made our way to the corner with our favorite fabrics from Petit Pan, Echino and Kokka.  And as you can see from the photo, we left with our arms full (and big smiles on our faces).

If you ever find yourself in Kortrijk, Belgium I would recommend you pop into De Soldeur (De Vuile Winkel‘s real name).

And after just a few days the first creation was made.  My mother-in-law sewed this sweet little cotton skirt (material from Petit Pan) with a stretch jersey waistband for my daughter (who picked out the fabrics herself).  It really is the perfect summer skirt.  And it’s ready just in time for actual warm summer weather here in Belgium.  Halleluja

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