New book Tuesday: Belle and Boo bubbles before bed...

We received this gorgeous book as a gift a year or two back and although we enjoyed reading it, we saved the crafts and drawing activities till Eden was a bit older and able to enjoy doing them herself (you should see what she drew living under the sea!) or with some help from me.  We've been reading it again lately with the promise we'll make things when she has an afternoon with no preschool, and Ben is asleep (it's just easier). The Boo flannel puppet was our first craft activity and great fun.

We made a few adjustments, as you can see.  Eden traced the pattern pieces herself, that's the four of them top left.  I thought we may have some sizing issues (bless her four year old tracing/cutting skills) so I amended slightly when cutting (careful not to draw attention/offend). We used facecloth fabric for the soap holding pocket and rather than stitching right sides together, we did a short zig zag (applique) on the edges to avoid turning it out, as the fabric was too bulky and it would lose it's shape. This also left enough room for a wee hand to go inside and play puppets.  We also stopped embroidering after the face as I realised it was not my forte and Ben was up and ready for afternoon tea, our craft session was over!

The book tells the story of a bedtime routine and is interspersed with beautiful illustrations to colour in and crafts to make, including a dress up doll.  This will be a book we'll be treasuring, as it not only reminds us of snuggly bedtime stories, but is now full of precioius four year old drawings.

You can buy this book through Belle and Boo online, they ship internationally.

Sarah

New book Tuesday...Nici Wickes World Kitchen

Where have I been?  How have I not already discovered this DELICIOUS recipe book? It hardly fits in the 'new book' category, as was published in 2009 (again where have I been?), but I'm so impressed by my latest library discovery that I just had to share it, just in case you too have been living under a rock and have missed not only the book, but the cooking series, which I did manage to see about half of one episode of. Now I read ALOT of recipe books, and on a good day I'll find 2 or 3 recipes that I'm keen to try, not so with this book, barely a page was flicked by without inducing mouthwatering, tummy rumbling, excitement. Having been to all but 2 of the countries the book is divided up by, I was also filled with a sense of nostalgia for the countries themselves, and for the meals, which for me were always a highlight of my travels, sometimes a surprise highlight.  Have I told you about the best ever tiramisu in Munich train station?  I never seem to have the time for fiddly desserts these days, so was happy to see Nici's Lazy Tiramisu recipe.

I love that the recipes are simply, yet authentic, and have reasonable readily available ingredients. I had everything in my pantry already for tonight's dinner, but it wouldn't be hard to stock your cupboard for this book either, as many ingredients are repeated throughout.  

Zingy Balinese Chicken Curry, recipe here

Tonight the kids got bathed early and fed mac cheese, while I whipped up a nice Zingy Balinese Chicken Curry for a romantic dinner with my husband.  It was devine!  I must warn however that the onions really got the eyes running, mine and my husbands, so by the time we sat down and I'd rubbed mascara, we looked like we were in the middle of a marital crisis! So although I'm sure it would win over any hot date, it may be best to woo with something less tear inducing for the first meal.  Lucky we're well past that...

For more about Nici, books to buy and free recipes, check out her website here.

Sarah x

New book Tuesday... Furniture makeovers

Anna Dalton Church, via Pinterest

via The Wonder Co.

I absolutely LOVE the furniture revamps above and have gone back to admire them again and again. They're totally current, gorgeous colours and styled to perfection!  Having run out of space in my home for any more furniture, I'm avoiding the op-shops and garage sales, for fear they may produce the 'perfect piece', the piece I will under no circumstances be able to leave behind (or  forever regret doing so).  So, I will wistfully admire these ladies creations, and brush up on techniques and ideas for when space is available to do some of my own.  With this in mind, I've borrowed a fabulous new book from the library...

This book is brilliant.  Not only is it full of helpful advice on everything from how to select pieces, tools and materials needed, through to techniques, it has loads of 'before' and 'after' revamps (of individually named pieces), revamps that I would be more than happy to have in my home.  There's loads of books in the library on restoration techniques, but they just don't grab and inspire me with their dated overhauls.  This book however does, and I'm sure any interiors addict will be equally besotted, so make sure you have a read.  It's author Barb Blair also has website, Knackstudios, if you'd like to see more of the makeovers she does for her thriving store of the same name.

Images via pinterest

Enjoy the read, and please let me know if you've come across any great new books lately.

Sarah

New book Tuesday... the best EVER boredom buster book for kids!

So last week went progressively downhill in our household.  It started with snotty noses and coughs, and ended in chest infections, sleep deprivation, no preschool, rain, rain, rain, no outdoor play... and severe cabin fever!  Thankfully I'd already raided the preschool activity section of my local library, as this book saved my sanity.  I've been wanting to do more craft activities at home with Poppet, and last week proved the perfect time to start, we had a lot of fun together stuck inside creating.  Here's her egg carton tea set, she coloured in the sides of the cups and bowls in stripes and dots...

As the title states, it has a whopping 200 crafts and activities in it, all conveniently arranged into easy to use sections. Each project is labelled with one or more symbols to indicate approximate age it is suitable for, and is broken down into; what you need, what your child does, what you do, what you do together and any ideas for variations.  

I'm sure there will be times you'll ask yourself 'why didn't I think of this?' and I can probably answer that for you 'because you're sleep deprived, the washing machine is still beeping, you  haven't gotten anything out the freezer for dinner, the missing library book really is missing... and you're out of milk for that much needed coffee'. Am I correct? I'm pretty sure it's not just me that has days like that, so probably best we rely on someone else to supply the ideas.

Now I had trouble tracking this book down (my edition was 1989), but it's worth checking your library for it.  I did discover while hunting, that a second edition for older children has been published, it's available here. 

I've bookmarked quite a few more activities which I'm sure the kids will love, and we have celery changing colour on our windowsill as I type.  I'd love to hear of any other books like this (you can never have too many ideas), or favourite activity you do with your kids?

Sarah x

New book Tuesday... Mollie Makes Home

Ok, so technically it's actually a magazine, but I think it holds it's own against some of the best interiors books I've read lately.

It's got a great layout, divided into four main sections (see above), my favourites being Homespun Charm and Scandi Whites.

It features the homes and interviews with some of my favourite designers, stylists, retailers and bloggers.  There's Selina Lake, who's book Pretty Pastel Style I wrote about here, Allison Jones, the clever crafty lady behind Lark, I LOVE her style (imagine going to a garage sale at her house!), Lottie Anderson, whose beautiful fabrics I adore, Jeanette Lunde, from gorgeous blog By Fryd and others I was happy to be introduced to.  Interspersed amongst all this inspiration are crafty tutorials and recommended reads for each decor section, so my bedside reading pile is set to get a whole lot bigger!

Happy reading x

New book Tuesday... (on a wednesday)

I thought I'd start a semi regular post, without making too much of commitment (actually none whatsoever), in fact it may be sporadic, though the name suggests it shouldn't be!  I love discovering new books and new authors to follow, and thought I'd start sharing a few favourites.  They'll mainly be of the home interiors, cooking or crafting variety.  In a world full of online inspiration, it's still a pleasure to turn the pages of a beautiful book and more often than not, discover a new inspiration online from it, be it a blog or pinterest page.

The name of these posts stems from the previous owners of our home, who for a few years were also our neighbours, I miss our chats over the fence, while pegging out the washing.  Anyway, our local Library always puts out new books on a Tuesday, they're displayed for a week before being available for loan.  It was new book Tuesday (as they fondly refer to it) that brought these neighbours together, as he would come in to check out the books... and apparently the lovely librarian too!

This weeks book I want to show you, is Pretty Pastel Style, by interiors stylist, Selina Lake.  I've been a fan of hers for a while and was excited to see she was releasing a fourth book.  I managed to request it before it'd even made it to 'new book Tues', so was first in line to loan it, yippee!

Don't be fooled into thinking it's another shabby chic/country decor book.  Yes, it's full of beautiful pastels, but there's also plenty of mention of modern metallics and neons and how they work so well with a pastel palette.  Take the image below for example, with it's gorgeous pastels, beautiful vintage imagery, and modern chevron, washi tape and neon pink, what a great collaboration.  Delicious!

images via pinterest.

I've already gotten heaps of ideas and inspiration and I've only flicked through it.  Time for a cuppa and a proper browse... the sewing/dishes/laundry can wait.  So I hope you grab yourself a copy, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Sarah x