2014 constellation calendar

clipboard: IKEA; printable calender: here

These past months, I've been really inspired by constellations. The lovely ladies at free people posted this great idea of star sign note cards, and then I found this amazing stitch upon the stars calender. So I thought: why not DIY? That's why my second printable calender for 2014 turned out to be constellation-themed.

You can download my version here. Stitching is optional, but I recommend printing on a heavier paper if you want to do that. I decided to leave it as it is for now. 

clipboard: IKEA; printable calendar: here

Ok, so as promised, here is the first free download for a 2014 calendar. This one is very minimal, but I like it a lot! You can download it here. Let me know what you think!

coffee and tea

My lovely readers, I'm so sorry I have been absent for so long. It's just that work takes up so much time and energy recently. 

However, I wanted to show you this sweet DIY I made as a Birthday gift for my sweet M and her husband in March. It is strongly inspired by this beautiful post from the girls over at a beautiful mess, but I added the red lips and moustache. I really like how this turned out. I'm thinking this might also be a nice wedding gift.

All you'll need is 2 plain white mugs and red and black porcelain markers. Follow the instructions on the markers and have fun drawing. 

DIY 2013 agenda

 So, I know January is almost over and probably most of you have your agendas for 2013 all set up since December. But me, I'm late. Probably because I couldn't find one that I really liked. So I decided to make one myself, and I must say I love it in all its pastel starry beauty!
And for those of you that are late like me, I'm providing this calendar for you to download in english (here) or german (here).  Get the cover (here).

Simply print out all pages except first page in booklet duplex on regular printer paper. If you don't have duplex, use booklet front pages only first, then put the paper in the printer again and print booklet back pages on the backside.  Instruction here
Print the cover on cardboard.
For the spiral binding, first cut all pages in the middle and assemble in the right order. Then take them to a copy shop, they can do the spiral binding for you. Or maybe you have a machine for that, like I do.  
Or you can also just use the sewed version that I also used for the Paris Journal here. In that case, do not cut the pages, but instead fold them in half and sew together. 

Let's hope it's a good one

Happy new year everyone!

I hope you had wonderful holidays and a great party (or a quiet celebration) yesterday.

I celebrated the beginning of 2013 with some friends and made little wish jars for everyone, where the wishes and resolutions for the new year can be kept.

I used little spice-jars that I filled with silver stars, little pigs or clover and finished off with a label.

I'm going to write my wishes down right now!

2013 - let's hope it's a good one

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. 



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. 

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.



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 magic

Ok, there have been way too many cakes recently, I know. But as I told you, I love (roasted) maroni. So when I found this pretty cake, I had to try it. And it definetely made it into my top 10!

Check out the wonderful blog Photisserie for more. So many recipes I'd like to try. And beautiful photography! But I guess it's better for my hips if I take a little break now...

another rainbow

rainbow cake, take two

beatles birthday

 

Over my blogging break, I celebrated my birthday. This year, I decided to thow a Beatles themed Party. While I really love the band and listen to them a lot, I have to admit the main reason I wanted to choose this theme was this party. I mean, just look at that cool girl, those tiny cardboard guitars etc. I have to confess, I used a lot of their ideas, like the abbey road sign, the songtext banners, and the concert ticket inspired invitation (as you can tell from my pictures). But I also added some Beatles LPs (actually I faked those from other thrifted LPs) and made up geat names for the food. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination.

♫ Octopus Garden salad

♫ Norwegian Wood spinach quiche

♫ Yellow Submarine pumpkin soup

♫ Magical Mystery Muffins

♫ Across the Universe cheese selection

♫ Strawberry Fields Forever eton mess

Other Ideas that I did not use:

♫ Apple Records tarte

♫ Sgt. Pepper (Dr. Pepper)

♫ Lucys Diamonds Chocolate Cake

and I'm sure one could come up with a lot more

Do you guys like to thow themed partys as well?  

there's a new girl in town

pictures by me

my gift for a very lovely newborn lady

black

DIY clutch made from perforated fake leather

schnitzel

birthday gift for my brother

fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars

 pictures by me

Last week my lovely ladies N, R, A, A and me spent a fun evening floating through space creating stars, nebulas and entire galaxys along the way.

This wasn't my first diy galaxy print, but apparently some practice makes for even better outcomes.