Pretty pink party prep

My daughter’s third birthday will be here in less than half an hour. She has asked about it almost daily since her little brother’s birthday in February. High expectations on both sides. Besides wanting to update her room (a bit later down the line) and her first real bike (Hello Kitty of course), I want to give her a days worth of celebrations. Par her wishes with confetti, garlands, balloons and flags.

I also wanted to add some extra special mama-made elements. Que these sweet treat plates and tablecloth for mealtimes and one of the day's activities; make & decorate your own cupcake. If it has to rain, at least let it be pink. Down to the straws. I hand stamped each drop and make a quick pink update to the cutlery with washi tape.

I hope Zoe Isobel has as much fun on her day as I did preparing for it! Happy third!!!

Summer treats

Knowing me, means knowing my insatiable sweet tooth. So of course summer eats was always to be accompanied by her sweeter little sister. Summer is finally here and what says that more than frozen treats.

 

Watermelon slices with fresh mint and lime syrup. Sangria granita; peaches, fruit juice and muscato. Also lots of homemade popsicles but more about those later.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Art is something very personal. The love of one can be the disgust of another. It is very much an area where I love it or hate but if I love it I love it always (rare for me).

This is the case of these two pieces from Sacha de Boer via Beeldagent which I spied months back at Friday Next. So much so that I went back to store just so I could snap a photo with my phone. Definitely my next art purchase as their spot in my home as already been decided.

Fun (small) garden ideas for kids

So I recently posted about my (ongoing) garden update. Now that the basis is laid I can get thinking about making it a kid friendly and more importantly kid fun space.

 

Rake, broom and gloves (not pictured) so my garden helper has her own set of equipment. Perfect for taking care of her own flowers in the Sweetcake container. For more rousing this super cute donut along with the Skippy ball. And... maybe for later and/or purely decorative (starting out of reach) climbing holds would make a colorful edition to the garage wall. As well as some additional birdhouses.. designed by Zoe Isobel & Mika.

Summer eats

This week I took off as a mini summer holiday. Downside Mika has had tremendous pain due to several molars coming in simultaneously (left, right, up, down). Meaning staying at home due to sleep binges and wailing sessions. Upside of crying babies making you home bound while the weather is great; grilling, BBQ and outdoor eats in your own garden!

The BBQ we have lit more this summer than the past seven years combined. We try to cook most everything on it from meat, to potatoes to vegetables. Here are a few pics from (blackened brown sugar and rum) chicken sandwiches with fries and grilled chorizo pizza. Gotta love the summer eats.

Cloud nine

I seem to be developing a thing for house and cloud shaped home goodies. I thing both shapes are super whimsical and fun. So of course, I totally fell in love with a cloud shape coir mat from Leif. Out of stock for awhile, so I decided to make one myself.

One inspiration photo

One standard Ikea mat and a marker later..

Ta da... my volunteer who just happens to be an angel (most of the time) sitting on her cloud

Caterpillar effect

What better post for lucky number 100 than changes to the blog itself! The blog has been slowly changing. Bit by bit I am getting it to where I want it. There are now follow options for bloglovin & email and hopefully later more will follow with a BB&B facebook and maybe twitter. Kudos to c.w. frosting design.lab for the lovely icons.

You can see which blogs & sites I dig, who I am (in the current red streak incarnation) and follow my newly forged instagram account. Still a ways to go as I am undecided about a background that hopefully will not bore me in a month. Also I hope to add pages so you can easily finds posts regarding same topics like DIY or tours. I enjoy working on BB&B  so much I give myself not one but three gold stars. Here's hoping you like the new look and feel too!

Stuffed oatmeal cookies

Weekends I try to incorporate in baking and cooking projects which are simple enough for a two/almost three year old to help out. Yesterday (yes, Monday is still weekend) we made stuffed oatmeal cookies. My little helper did a lot of tasting.. especially of the meringue & cream cheese mixture. Super sweet and yummy. Recipe for the stuffing is from Classic snacks made from scratch (off my book wish list). Will have to make more cookies this week, as there is tons of stuffing left.

I thought I nice to have one for dinner tonight but alas the tin only has one left, which mummyhood

demands me to leave for the kids!

My updated garden

Just in time for the rather late start of Dutch summer is our new/old garden. With the hanging of the birdhouses phase numero uno is pretty much complete. Here is a pic of the patio furniture before...

And below is the way everything looks now. Refinished the wood and painted the stained metal legs. You would never know the table is new and not part of the original set. The tiles and anthracite paneling are also a budget fix as last year we painted over the original 'campy' orange tile and rescued the almost rotten wood. The plants and pots from when we bought the house are also still here (last pic) as I have decided to paint those too or keep them as is. I seemed a shame to lose them when after such a thorough trimming they started growing back.

I feel the garden space is softer, homelier and less modern than before which I am pretty much loving. Only downside is that plants bring with them extra guests in the form of bugs. Flowers love, bugs blech, worth it yes!

Let's eat!

Some pics of what the family has been eating. The kids love pasta so we make that often. Quite a carnivorous bunch; meat, starch, dessert and if you must a few bites of veggie!

 

 

 

Meat stuffed pasta shells in port sauce, Fruit crumble pizza, Penne alla vodka. Twice baked potatoes with BBQ steak, Roasted tomato and corn soup and Pork tenderloin with garlic mash and minted peas.