Ready Mades

Instead of lamenting over what still needs to be done in this new home of ours, I choose to focus on what is already accomplished. Because, you know, where your energy goes, it grows.

With a working hubby, the girls and some yoga teaching of mine, whenever there is an open window of time (and some energy left) - we jump into it. Stay positive and enjoy the unfolding process.

Inside:



VIP - Very Important Place - the couch with knitting basket, Rishikesh Blanket and some handmade pillows, like Clara's Cushion.



Rishikesh Blanket can also be put on the floor for girls' playtime.

Always remember:



Part of the altar on the mantelpiece:



Yoga journals sorted by colour:



Make-shift hair-do rack in the bedroom:



A corner of the bedroom:



with and without re-wedding dress and Clara presenting me her doll



Also very important: lamps!



in the bedroom and the studio



My studio from outside:



Tibetan prayer flags from Rishikesh/India



The patio - summer dinners and parties are just coming!



Oh, where is the baby?

As Long as it is Handmade

I might not be sewing (yet), but I can always knit a row or two.

Little Reminder

Another little find from Clara's and my thrift tour. But when will I get back to the sewing machine, I ask myself. When my studio (and the rest of the house) is perfectly arranged and decorated? Or when I eventually will find that iron in the cellar? For the time being, I am reminded, that sewing time will come again.

More Thrifted Flowers

I promised Clara her own little thrift store tour, when she tidied up her room (OK, that second part has somehow not happened yet...). She found herself a little vase.



And I found a little flowery plate that didn't cost a single cent -the church shop gave it away for free. A plate that matches my bag.



The plate also matches the oven mitt.





And both sides of this bag.



But what it matches best is...



... morning toast!

Thrifted Roses

Roses, May - yes, it is that wonderful time of year. And I was very pleased to see that we have roses in our garden, an heirloom from the people who lived in this house before.





When we had friends over for tea & cake last weekend, I realized that our everyday tableware just doesn't qualify as a proper tea set. A good chance to ramble about the thrift stores in our new area! I made my find.



From the church charity shop. Not exactly roses all of them, but you know, pink flowers.



Of course, you also need a cake plate among other things.



You might not exactly need four (!) more tea pots, but things get broken or you might want to serve different kinds of tea... those vintage designs in combination with their prices are just irresistible. I was especially smitten with this pattern:



I even had to put in on display in my studio.



When Clara helped me unpacking the dishes and saw me putting the tea pot on the shelf, she asked me, why I always buy all the beautiful stuff just for myself... she wanted her own tea pot.



What can I say - children learn through observation and imitation.

What We Wore to my Niece's Baptism

I used to have a tidy closet. Then we moved. Three weeks ago. I only have my stand-by wardrobe packed out yet and knew I needed something more appropriate for this church event. This morning we had very little time to get the girls and ourselves ready. Clara had her own very clear ideas about what to wear and was the first fully dressed, all by herself.

I got my clothes sacks out of the cellar, I knew there would be something in it for me, deep down, somewhere.



Quick, quick.



We were the last to arrive, but still in time.



A spiritually loaded skirt from South India, which I bought at Amma's Ashram when we had Darshan (see February 11).



Shoes I wore at my sister's wedding four years ago.



Engelchen means "little angel" in German.



Pokerface Carolina wore Clara's once-in-a-lifetime-special-occasion-baby-outfit (I wrote about it here).





Oh, my God.

Old Table, New Table

Our living room table was in real need of a face lift - covered with stickers and spots and usually hidden under a (pink or purple) tablecloth.



In a late-night action while the girls were asleep, I put on double-sided adhesive tape. This looked amazingly sunny and beach-chair-like, but was only a step on the way.



For the finished looked I secured oilcloth on top.



This morning I could wake up to my morning coffee with style.

What I Wore to IKEA

New home - that means new storage room. And that calls for a trip (or three) to The Big Swede. New furniture and useful knick-knacks,



and a second-hand outfit (coat, dress, shoes) that came from three stores in Oldenburg. The bag was a gift from my husband and Clara from their trip to Lanzarote two years ago (last year I got a similar smaller bag). The baby is a gift to myself.



And for the outdoors - Clara turned into a total garden girl : sowing, planting, watering her patches with grandma. The baby(leaf) lettuce will be for me, she says, to give me strength for our baby.

WC - With Clippings

With little decoration time at hand, it makes sense to choose the smallest room of the house for a feeling of achievement. Too many white tiles and white walls. After discarding the idea of painting the walls a light and crisp green because this might make the room feel even smaller, I turned to my stash of home magazines.



I cut out clippings of other people's bath- and restrooms I liked and pinned them on the tiles with Japanese Washi Tape.





Instead of a real mirror - this photo.



Double water tap.



Not a room of mine without a touch of pink.




(Bad means simply bath in German)



Like little windows to make the space appear bigger, more open and more interesting. And we have also a real window in there.



Still lots of white space left - and Washi Tape makes it easy to add, change or remove the decoration.





When Clara saw me working with paper and scissors, she wanted to join the making, of course. She found a place for it herself over the tub in the bathroom. And even if I worried a bit about the "not-perfectness" of it while I saw her making it, I find it quite charming now.



Just perfect.