{Books} The incredible book eating boy by Oliver Jeffers

Do you remember my previous post about Oliver Jeffers' World with coffee? I promised you then to tell you a bit more about his books... 

My favourite has to be the Incredible book eating boy.
It is the story of Henry, a young boy who accidentally discovers his taste for books. The more books he eats, the smarter he becomes. If it has pages he will eat it: picture books, reference books... Henry's favourites are red books. He is on his way to becoming the smartest boy in the world when he can't digest his books anymore. All the information gets mixed up in his stomach...

This book is one of my daughter's favourite books and has been read time and time again. The text is written in a snappy way so it is perfect for reading out loud, but there is a lot more to be discovered hidden in the illustrations for younger readers.
I love the simple cartoon illustrations full of humour. They are done in pencil and paint on a clever background of pages from old books. So the drawings set the perfect stage for a fun and quirky story. 

VIA Oliver Jeffers and Amazon

Let me know what you think about it if you have read it... Or if you have any recommendations of books for kids, I'd love it if you could share with us!

{DIY} Concrete lamp pendant

I thought you might enjoy some DIY for your weekend to avoid facing the blizzard. Enjoy!

Concrete has to be one of my favourite materials. It is tactile, textural, strong, versatile, cheap... I am completely obsessed with original concrete uses! So here is the latest one I have found: a concrete lamp pendant.
This project is very simple to do once you've gathered all the bits you need. The step by step instructions are so easy to follow and will only take about 2 hours to complete. I definitely have it on my must make list!

Check out the details by Ben from HomeMade for making your own. If you decide to make one, email me the photos so I can see them and share them!

Wouldn't it look amazing with one of these neon electrical wire cords? A cluster of different shapes and sizes above a nice dining table!

Alternatively you can get your very own delivered to your door.

i ♡ Morocco | Moroccan interior by El Ramla Hamra

Today I am really excited! I am taking a little break from packing to let you know that tomorrow I am going home to Morocco for 3 weeks to visit my family, fiest on tagines and take in the good weather.
I have not been home for an entire year, so I have missed it desperately. I won't let it be that long again, I need to replenish at least a couple of times a year. 
But no worries, I have a few posts planned for when I am away, so make sure you visit me. I'll have plenty of Moroccan inspiration for you when I come back.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you this gorgeous black and white Moroccan interior at El Ramla Hamra.

All images VIA El Ramla Hamra

{Craft} Easter egg inspiration: Creative ways to decorate your eggs

The month of March is slowly slipping away, and I can't believe the school holidays start next week. I am hoping to spend some time crating with the kids during the break, so I have been gathering inspiration for Easter egg decorations.

Here are some of my favourites. Have fun!

Gold leaf eggs VIA Sugar and charm

Plain white & black box VIA Calsak

Pantone eggs VIA How about orange

Doodle eggs VIA Alisa Burke

Glitter eggs VIA Martha Stewart

Incredible eggs VIA Bon appetit

Collage eggs VIA Ellen's creative passage

Pink & gold VIA Fabulous

Black and white sharpie eggs VIA Skona hem

Chalkboard eggs VIA Liebesbotschaft

Family eggs VIA A subtle revelry

Egg people VIA A bit of Pili Pili

{Art} A world with coffee illustrations by Oliver Jeffers

I love this series of illustrations by Oliver Jeffers called a world with coffee. Oliver Jeffers is an artist and illustrator that writes some of the best books for kids. More on that soon!
He started playing a game where he would make a coffee ring mark on a page and then incorporate it somehow into a drawing.
Brilliant drawings and so playful. I'd love to see more of them...

VIA Oliver Jeffers

{Design} Me mirror by Mathias Hahn for Asplund

I just love this mirror! 
Designer Matthias Hahn has designed the Me mirror for Asplund. It is a simple design that can be rotated and adjusted by both the axis of the wooden handle and the vertical section of the stand. The design is inspired by historic mirror stands that used to be located in bathrooms, dressing rooms or hall ways. 

A great way to make the mirror a stand alone furniture feel rather than a wall mounted bathroom mirror.

It comes in lots of great shades as a table mirror and floor standing mirror.
I want the floor standing one in white please!

St Patricks day fonts

I have recently come across this sweet blog: A typical English home. And I wanted to share Angela's selection of perfect fonts for St Patricks day.

You can find links to the individual fonts on Angela's blog.
My favourite has to be no7 (March 17th). How about yours?

Mad men style Hamm & eggs

Mad men is a great tv series that has become famous for its cynicism about all the shortcomings of the sixties. That being said, Mad men has to be one of the sexiest shows on tv. I love the styling and I love John Hamm! 

VIA the urban agent

Series 6 is back Mad Men's in the UK, on Sky Atlantic, on 10 April and I can't wait!

{Design} Equilateral nails

Valerie Gnaedig and Annie Lenon of The Winsome Brave, a Brooklyn design studio, have come up with the coolest collection of nails. These nails have equilateral heads, a slim profile and come in broze or brass. 

They look so good that you don't need the art to hang on them! You could also hang special pieces of jewellery like here, but they definitely need to be kept on display.

{Kids} How to store your lego! Swoop Bag

I am in my eyeballs in Legos and all sorts of small toys! How do you store yours?

My daughter complained to me that the way I was storing her Legos was not appropriate to play. I keep them in a box and according to her the box is too deep and not wide enough. It ends up being tipped every time, small pieces getting lost...

So while researching storage ideas for kids rooms, I came across this great post by Room-to-bloom. Ursula is a dutch interior designer based in London and specialises in kids spaces. She has great tips all around, but my favourite tip was on how to store your Legos.

Let me introduce you to the Swoop bag!

Each Swoop bag is a playmat and toy bag all in one. You can store all your small toys (Legos, Playmobils, building blocks, cars...) in this durable canvas bag, open it very easily with a drawstring and then swoop it all out of sight! 

It comes in 2 sizes and also in all these cool colours. What a great design, so simple and effective. I just love it!

If you missed my previous Legos post, check it out.

Shades of green

Two weeks ago, after 4 years on a waiting list, I was offered an allotment in Highgate. For those of you who live in less urban environments, an allotment is a tiny plot of land that the council rents to you (for a very small amount of money), providing you prove you can make use of it...

This was a whole 125 square metres just for us to grow all our fruit and vegetables. My dad burst out laughing when I told him the size of the plot. For him, land is counted in hectares...

After contemplating the amount of work that was involved, we decided that it was not the right time for us to take on such a time consuming project. I am so sad about it.

I had visions of picking up the kids at school and going to the allotment in spring to do some work while the kids have a snack, do some messy play and run around. Not this year.We decided to stay on the waiting list for now, as there are too many projects that need to be completed in our home first.

On this note, I am mostly monochrome kind of person, but there are certain colours that I just love, and green has to be one of my favourite colours. 

Here are a few photographs for you sourced on Pinterest.

 

Playful piano doorbell by Li Jianye

I love this Pianobell concept by Li Jianye. This doorbell is obviously inspired by a piano and it allows your visitors to play a short piece of music instead of the usual pre-recorded chime. So cool!
It is only at concept stage, so you will have to wait a bit if you want it.

{Interiors} Fauna animal cushions by Areaware

I am loving these animal pillows by Ross Mendes for Areaware, I think they would make a great gift. The pillows are hand printed on 100% organic cotton and filed with hypoallergenic wadding. They are made in Brooklyn, NY, but you can order them from here if you are in Europe.
They have a huge choice of cool animals: zebra, elephant, koala and many more. I particularly like the Zebra!

Labrador Cushion

Cat Cushion

Penguin Cushion