Collage for Lucas' room

Meanwhile it's summer and it happens to be the hottest day of the year (so far)! Remember the last post? It was winter and I was complaining that it never seems to end. But by now I have all forgotten about the snow and the cold and the sniffles ... It's beautiful out there these days and I love my garden and watching the kids jumping through the Sprinkler, playing in the sandbox... Today though, it is unbearable out there, at least for me, being pregnant and all. 
So, I am going to show what I have done to the old and raggedy but cute picture books I have bought at the thrift store a while ago. It's only the beginning of making and putting up some "art" work in our house. More to come (hopefully soon)!

A vintage story book collage

I needed 1 Ikea picture frame, 3 vintage children's books, scissors, and glue.

I picked my favorite pictures from the pages that were still intact and cut the images to a suitable size, no text.

Once I had enough images I laid them out to see which fit well together and made a few adjustments. 

Then I glued them all on the the paper liner that came with the frame,  trimmed some edges and put it back into the frame. Done.
I put it up on Lucas' wall with "command strips".  He seems to like it.  

(Hey, was this my first tutorial? I think so!) 
 

The winter seems to be so long...

It's been 'warmer' in the last few days but there were days, even weeks I didn't even want to go out to do errands. Getting the kids and myself into their snow suit, mitts, hats, boots... tiring! Everyone was frustrated and screaming by the time we were in the car. The worst yet, buckling ourselves in with all our gear!

Although, it looks very pretty outside when it is really cold and the sun is out. The kids actually enjoy being outside, even in -20. Here are some shots.

 But I prefer Spring and summer. Hopefully it's here soon!

Plum cake! Mmhh...

I always get a bit homesick when there is a change in season. When I see daffodils bloom in Spring they remind me of a city park in my hometown. Every year there is an ocean of daffodils and tulips. 

In summer I love the smell of fresh rain evaporating on the warmed streets because it bring back memories of jumping in puddles with just a bathing suit and rubber boots. Oh, and the taste of sweet freshly picked strawberries! Delicious! 

Fall brings beautiful colours and a reminder that things move on. And there are the plums, here they call them prune plums. My family used to make sheets and sheets of plum cake or plum sauce. We had a tree in our garden and we were never able to use them all. The bugs took care of the rest. In the middle of fall I buy the plums here at the store, the only time in the year when they have them, and bake some cake that reminds me of home so much. Then I make enough to freeze some and enjoy it again on a cold winter day. Mmmhhh...

Here is the recipe from my Dr. Oetker cook book:   

Plum cake recipe

Ingredients:

800g Plum prunes

For the dough: 

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

zest from 1 lemon

125 g soft butter

2 eggs

For the crumbs (streusel):

1 cup of flour

1/3 cup sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

100 g soft butter

Directions:

1. Wash the plums, pad them dry. Cut plums in half or quarters and take out the pit. Grease the bottom of a Springform (round pan). Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. For the dough, mix flour and baking powder in large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix on low then on high for about 2 minutes or until dough is smooth. 
3. Fill the dough into pan. Arrange plums on top of dough (lay a circular pattern). 
4. For the Streusel, mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a separate bowl and add the butter. Mix until it is crumbly. Spread crumbs on top of plums. 
5. Bake for 50 minutes.

Variations: Use 800g of apples or 500g canned peaches instead of plums.

...so, where was I? Ah yes. The reason why I haven't been blogging at all was/is that we moved to a new home last year, I visited Germany with my little guy and then, when I came back from Germany we found out that there is another little guy on his way! Wowsers, it was a wild year! But the wildness doesn't stop. Now with two little boys in the house life is quite busy. But it's great! There is always something new to discover about them, with them, for them. When I have time to write something on my blogg then the boys are probably napping or it's night time and I am not tired (very rare!). 
Well, here is an article I discovered just through a friend's friend. 100 ways to be kind to your child. I think it's a great list to read over and over and practice on my boys whenever I can. Have fun reading and practicing!  

Where did the time go....


I can't believe it's been over a year or longer since I posted on this blog! How silly! Why did I even start this? I sure love reading other peoples blogs and that's why I want to continue with this. I love it when people read my blog and leave comments, especially people who I know! But if I don't know you or you don't know me then still leave a comment please. That makes it even more interesting and fun! 


So, ... 
....oh... baby is crying. Talk to you soon (hopefully!)....

"Sew me, love me!"...

... this is the title of a book by Hsiu Lan Kuei that I purchased a while ago. It has instructions for making personalized stuffed animals. So cute! I started with the Hound Dog yesterday and it was a bit of a challenge because every piece is so tiny. Then you have to turn the long skinny legs and arms inside out and I didn't have the right tool for that. But at the end it was all worth it. I just have to sew on the head, some buttons, and make a hat. In short, I am not finished yet which is why I won't post a photo yet. But here is a picture of the book.

... oh, I am not sure what I will do with the dog once it's finished. Maybe for Johannes (it is a bit girlie looking though) but probably for Olive! We'll see. Maybe for myself? ...mh...

(The picture is from Amazon.com)

Happy belated Easter!

Yes, I know it is almost summer and I am still posting about Easter. The reason is, that I have just discovered my Easter Egg pictures on my camera, which I am not using very much. So, I forgot about them. But I want to show you what I crafted for Easter this year! (The materials are written in bold)

How? I blew out the inside of real eggs. Poked a tiny hole into the top and a bigger hole into the bottom of the egg. I used a pin from a cork board. Break the yolk with a tooth pick. Blow into the tiny hole. Have a bowl underneath to catch the guts. Rinse the inside of the egg shell by sucking in soapy water, shake it, blow it out. Sounds yucky but it isn't too bad ; ) Let eggs dry.

Then, with scissors cut a pretty motive of a napkin, separate the layers of the napkin carefully. You just need the first layer with the printing. Mix some white school glue with a little bit of water. Brush the egg with glue, stick the cut out motive on the egg (The big hole will be on the top. Make sure to stick on your picture the right way, with big opening on top), brush some more glue over the picture and let it dry.

At last, break a tooth pick in half and tie a piece of thread around it, making a loop to hang on a branch. Drop the tooth pick into the big hole of the egg and hold on to the thread! Now you should be able to hold the egg by the thread. Done.

Does this make sense? No? Just leave a comment or ask.