Time Flies

I can't believe Joshua turns 2 by the end of the month...

I had planned to do a Sesamestreet themed party this time, but for the very complicated cake I wanted to make, I needed help and help wasn't available the weekend we're celebrating Joshua's birthday.
I also want to do an extravagant party for this theme, but Joshua doesn't seem to be really into Sesamestreet at the moment...

What he's really into are these little guys:

Who doesn't love them...

He especially loves this youtube video:

So I'm planning... Check my Minion-board on Pinterest!

Love, Caroline

Last Queensday

On April 30th we celebrated our last Queensday. Next year it'll be Kingsday, which will be celebrated on a different date..
Kinda weird, since I've celebrated Queensdag since I was a little girl, actually: Since I was born...

Because of the coronation of our King, there were some extra festivities on the days prior.

Joshua's daycare invited all the kinds and parents/grandparents for a High-tea.

We decorated a pictureframe, had our picture taken and ate lots of sweets...
Joshua even played with the big boys...
I got lots of compliments on Joshua's crown, which I crocheted using this tutorial I found on Pinterest.

Tradition on Queensday are thriftmarkets. In Almere these start the evening before, so I went thriftshopping with Elisabeth and Rebekka. I only went for about an hour and a half, and haven't seen 3/4 of the market, but I scored BIGtime...!

Queensday itself was spent in Harderwijk, more thirifting, with my mom and cousin this time...

Love, Caroline

Gnomeforest Silhouette

I've seen these amazing silhouettes / transparents on Pinterest.
All kinds, for all seasons and holidays.

And I've been wanting to have a go on one of my own.
This is what I've got so far, still need to add the colored transparent paper...

Please ignore the dirty table...

Love, Caroline

Pepernotencake

Saw this on Pinterest and made my own version of it...
(Loaded with sugar and butter... :-S
And the name is actually wrong, it should be "kruidnotencake")


















Preheat oven to 175C.
Butter a baking tin, or line it with bakingpaper.

Mix 200g butter with 200g sugar.
When creamy, mix in 4 eggs, one by one.
Then mix in 200g sifted selfraising flower.
Add a couple of tablespoons milk, to make the batter nice and moist.
Add one heaped tablespoon cookiespices
(Or of you don't have that (like I did, I ran out), mix the following ground spices:
1/10 white pepper
1/10 aniseed
1/10 cardamon
1/10 cloves
1/10 ginger
5/10 cinnamon
I did have these, since I use them when I bake spekkoek (Indonesian layered cake))

Mix in 125g "kruidnoten".

Pour the cakebatter in the bakingtin, put in in the middle of the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes.

Love, Caroline

PS: You could probably use any cakerecipe that makes a moist cake and add the "kruidnoten".
If you have a recipe for a moist cake with less of no sugar and less of no butter, PLEASE share it with me...

Crocheted Toadstools

I found these really cool Toadstools on Pinterest.
It's a pattern in Dutch, by GrietjeKarwietje and she has loads more Dutch patterns.

But since I tough myself how to crochet via English tutorials, I'm not familiar with Dutch crocheting terminology.

I had a bit of a hard time figuring out what to do, but when I got a hang of it, the toadstool was finished fast.
Only: It's lumpy and has bumps where I decreased stitches...
I also didn't like the fact that the underside of the hood is red, real toadstools have white(ish) undersides...




So I started another toadstool and made the base larger, crocheted the underside white and broader and finished he hood in red.


I'm happier with this one, but still: Lumps where the decreases are...

And since you crochet round after round, without joining a row with a slip stitch  there is an awkward "dent" (can't find the right English word) where the white ends en the red starts.

After watching a Dutch video on YouTube, I figured out why I got lumps (Here is the English version). I didn't do the decreases the right way. That's what you get when you think you know how to do a stitch, deducing it from another stitch, but never actually look it up...

So I'm making another one.... Using what I know from crocheting Joshua's Owl-hat and applying that to this pattern.
I'm also trying to write out the pattern (using English crocheting terms, if anyone wants Dutch, let me know!).

That's it for now, I'll keep you updated on my Toadstool adventure!

Love, Caroline

Fall

I love autumn!

I love the colors
I love the shorter days
I love that those shorter days provide me with more time to burn candles
I love autumn produce
I love the falling leaves
I love the occasional summery day
I love the smell of the fresh rain

(There is also a lot about autumn I don't love, but hey, I'm opting for positivity!)

I also love to bring autumn in to our house.

So I went outside and picked up loads of leaves.

We have these shrubs in the green area's in our street, which have leaves that turn the most amazing colors in the fall.

I'm press-drying a load of them for a school project, but I did some crafts with a bunch of them.

I made a garland by sticking pieces of drink straws to the back of the leaves with sticky tape. This way they hang nice and front facing when you string them.

I saw this on Pinterest, but can't find the original Pin anymore.

I also decorated some votives. Also found the idea on Pinterest.
They look so amazing when the candles are burning!

I think our nature/season table is nicely taking shape... The Loretta Grayson inspired tree fits in real nice!
I found the cute toadstool candle holders at Flying Tiger. Love that store...!

Now for some felted or crocheted toadstools and a felted harvestfairy (or something like that)...

Love, Caroline

Spring Cleaning III & some Sewing

A small update on the office/guestroom.

I actually can see the floor again!
Threw a lot out, or put it in boxes. Where it belonged..!
And I have a little desk space, which is currently filled (again) with my sewing machine.

Finally got the sewing machine back to work, the thread kept breaking, but I fixed it... Yay me!

This is what I made.

Finally, no more searching for my crochet needles or a scissor.
Found the tutorial on Pinterest.

The flowerfabric is a scrap of Tilda I had left from the bedspread, the white is IKEA, also left over from the bedspread...

Love, Caroline

Party Planning

In just two weeks our little man is turning one...! This first year has gone super fast and we've experienced so many milestones already...

For his first birthday I'm throwing Joshua a Whale / Under the Sea Party. He probably won't remember it when he is older, but I just love the idea of a themed party.
I'm trying to not make it too over the top, but I did start searching for idea's on Pinterest a long time ago and created a "Whale Party Idea's" board.

The invitations have been sent, but I won't show them, because I altered something that's sort of copyrighted.

Here are the idea's I'm using or thinking of using...

Source: parenting.com via Caroline on Pinterest

These lanterns are sooooo simple and effective. I've bought two cheap white ones to hang in the garden (if its dry when we are having the party...

Source: sweetandlovelycrafts.blogspot.com via Caroline on Pinterest

If I can find the time and energy to whip out the sewing-machine, I want to try if this actually works.
The only problem is, in Holland you can't buy rolls of streamers. Just the wedding ones, so I'll have to try it with strips of regular crepe-paper.

Source: somewheresplendid.com via Caroline on Pinterest

I'm making a cake inspired on this one. The bottom one will be a paisley-shape and the top one just a simple round one, as that one will be Joshua's smash-cake...!

Source: etsy.com via Caroline on Pinterest

These will go on top of the cupcakes Joshua will treat at daycare. I'm thinking of sticking on white sugar confetti for the eyes, instead of just a black dot with edible ink...

Source: etsy.com via Caroline on Pinterest

This shouldn't be too hard to make. I'm trying to decide between doing a onesie or a t-shirt. The whale will be felt, since that is easy to cut and hand-sew.

Source: etsy.com via Caroline on Pinterest

Not sure Joshua will keep something like this on his head, but it'll look soooooo cute... Haven't decided if I'm actually going to do this.

As for the party-food, I WON'T be serving anything fishy, since that goes against my principles.
I'm making some simple sandwiches, probably vegetarian.

These also look really good:

Source: clairebidwellsmith.com via Caroline on Pinterest

Spinach, feta and mozzarella stuffed in cresent-rolls.

And these are just too cute and fishy...

Source: comeonilene.com via Caroline on Pinterest

But I don't have a small fish cookie-cutter and I don't know if I can find the time to make one...

If you want to see more of what I pinned, check the board, linked at the top of this post (if you haven't already)

Love,

Caroline

Ribbon Storage

I found this idea on Pinterest.
Storage for extra cables and that gave me a "lightbulb-moment"...

I can soooooo do this for ribbonstorage, or actually, to organise my ribbonstorage.

So I rummaged around for some cardboard and tape and a pile of toiletrolls.
This is the result:















































The top layer is nicely sorted, and when you take out the tray, there are rolls and bags, which were already nice and neat... I'm a very happy lady...!

Love,

Caroline

(PS: the next blogpost is already in the making, but my babyboy is crying upstair, so you can probably guess what has my priority...! ;-P)