words

sweet moments

I really love chai tea latte. Last year I made homemade chai syrup for the first time, and last week it was time to make some again. Here's my recipe. I read over at nicest things and here that you could also add some pepper. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Once you have your syrup, just take a cup of steamed milk and add about 2-3 teaspoons of syrup. 



words

last year

stars and sequins

on my wall

I found this idea to repurpose old videocassette cases as picture frames via cool outfit, and thought this is a great idea. Now I have these two pretty cases hanging above my bed, and they can even store little secrets.



Travel Journal: Paris

Back in late September a girls weekend was spent in beautiful Paris. Remember? I thought it would be cute to have little journals for us girls to plan our days and also as a diary to write down what we did. And because I was so happy about the notebooks, I decided to make one myself. I thought I'd share the journal with all of you. Maybe you're going to Paris sometime in the future and could use a cute little journal like this. You can download the journal here. Of couse it's free.

How to do it:  

Print the first page of the journal on thicker paper with borderless print: this will be your cover. Now print pages 3-22 as a brochure (this is a setting in your printer) with 2 pages per paper and duplex (which means you print front and backside) on normal paper. The little french guide is translated to german only, if you want to skip this, do not print those sides. Lastly, put your cover in your printer again. Now you print the backside of your cover (check how your printer works to find out how you have to put the paper into the printer). Print pages 2 and 23 of the journal on the backside of the cover with the 2 pages per paper setting. Make sure the page 2 will be printed on the backside exactly where the Eiffel tower is on the front. When you're done printing, fold all pages and sew together. If you have questions about the procedure don't hesitate to drop me a line!

All the graphics I used in the journal are from the graphics fairy. The city map is a print from google maps. And the metro map is from here. Please only use the journal for personal purposes.

And there is one more thing I have to tell you about this journal. Do you remember I said I did only one thing fashion-related during Paris Fashion Week? Well, we went to the book signing of Scott Schuman (the Sartorialist) and got his book 'Closer' signed as a birthday gift for A (which is why I couldn't tell you about it). He was really nice and also signed our little girly journals, which makes mine even more special to me. But let me tell you, after getting up at 3 am, a 4 hour trainride and hours of sightseeing in Paris the three of us really looked like crap. I felt horribly underdressed ;-)

one man's trash - another man's treasure

        before (cleaned already)                                           after

Sometimes I'm amazed at what some people throw away. And while I feel a little awkward digging through other people's trash, I've been rewarded with so many pretty things during the years that I don't really mind.

Here's my newest find. Good to see what some hot water and paint can do. The working surface is painted with black chalkboard paint. Somehow I've been painting everything I could get my hands on with chalkboard paint recently. 

one

star lantern and slate plate: das depot; numbers: shabby style; silver hearts:gift

simple advent decoration this year

wishing on a star

dare to dream

with the smell of spring in the air on this late november day I stumbeled across a wall telling me to dare to dream

at a closer look, I found even more beauty 

pumpkin bread

Every year in the fall I can't wait to get home to the north of Germany, where they sell pumpkin bread. This year I couldn't bring home enough of it, so I decided to make my own.

This was the first bread I ever made and, apart from burning it a little, I was pretty pleased.

In case you wanna give pumpkin bread a try, I put down the recipe for you. (Let me know if you like it!)

The recipe is for 2 big or 1 giant loaf of bread, so if you want a smaller portion, divide the ingredients by half.

This bread is a sweet bread that tastes best fresh out of the oven, still a little warm, with just some butter. Later I love it for breakfast with either chocolate sprinkles or cheese.  

the first, the last, eternity

picture by me

 

infinity ring made from thin silver wire (diy)

across the universe

galaxy jeans: diy; shrug: & scarf H&M; tank & beanie: Primark

 

I cannot seem to get enough of galaxy prints. I know, so 2010. Whatever. Last week I made this pair of jeans. I had been wanting to make one since I saw this tutorial. What do you think?  

cobwebs & blood

 

all pictures by me

 

Last night a scary night was spent at my place. There were cobwebs, spiders and blood. I had been wanting to decorate a lot more, but really didn't manage to. Almost all my inspiration came from Vera's post here (thanks for saving me tons of time!). The labels are from here (I changed one because I had vampire teeth instead of zombie teeth) and the candle wrappers are from here. I also drew the design of one of the candle wrappers onto an old sower curtain with a sharpie. The wine bottle label is adapted from here. My makeup inspiration came from here. And the "bonnet" is made from a small paper doily. Oh, and in case you didn't recognise it, this outfit was majorly inspired by Downton Abbey.



Marni and me

coat: Marni; scarf: Vero Moda; bag: H&M

 

Here's an outfit from a few weeks ago, when I was at a conference. This Marni coat is one of my very few designer pieces, and was this years birthday gift from A.

By the way: I'm really excited about the H&M Divided Grey collection coming out next week. How about you? 



Notes

I've been honored to post this diy over at Pays des Merveilles. Check it out for instructions and links for the notebook designs, but also for Jessicas beautiful pictures diy's and a lot of cool projects during the fall special. 

If you'd like some english instructions, please drop me a line.

white collar

source unknown, please comment if you know

I've always loved simple black & white outfits, but ever since I discovered Downton Abey, I've been obsessed with the costumes. But as much as I appreciate Lady Marys gorgeous gowns, It's the servant's uniforms that inspire me most. Just look at those fine little white collars, often made from dainty lace.

 source unknown, please comment if you know

  pictures via zalando

I am in love with that Stefanel sweater!

In Paris, I saw a lot of women wearing all black outfits with white collars. Maybe that fueled this obsession. 

Bonjour Paris

 The last weekend was spent in the beautiful city of Paris.

I have to confess to you that I must be the worst fashion blogger ever. Despite of it beeing fashion week, I did not try to visit any of the shows, nor did I shoot any streestyles. In fact, I did not even go shopping except for souvenirs. 

I KNOW!!!

My only excuse is that I had never been to Paris before, and there were so many things I wanted to do and see, that I wasn't even able to fit everything into our tight schedule.

However, there was one fashion-related event I joined, that I will tell you about in a few weeks.

Here are my favourite impressions of the city.

By the way, as a personal note, when visiting the Père Lachaise cemetery, which is truly beautiful, I was really saddened by the disrespect so many people show to the graves there. While paying respect to one person, like James Morrison, they are literally stepping on the graves of other people to have a better view. Or they even write messages on neighbouring graves. Why can't they show the same respect they pay to the person they came for to all other people lying there?