Right Now

There are a few things that i'm loving using with Sebastian so i thought i'd post them here over the next few days.

Number 1:

When Sebastian was born a lovely friend of mine gave him a couple of products from a company called ERBAVIVA which are almost 100% organic and smell delicious. The first was their Organic Baby Lip &Cheek Balm which has been perfect in the Norwegian winter where skin quickly becomes dry,red and sore. It calmed Sebastians flaming cheeks within a day and as it's designed like a lipbalm it's really easy to apply wherever you need it! The second was the Sniffles Organic Baby Chest Balm,  which smells just as good and is just as effective. Sebastian had a cold and a chest thing when J gave it to him,but by the second day it was gone...will see if it as effective second time around. Do go to their website http://erbaviva.com/ to look at their stuff and maybe read their blog http://erbaviva.blogspot.com/2011/01/fresh-from-erbaviva-kitchen.html.

Kool Kidz

Thinking of christmas presents for our son i stumbled across the shop Kool Kidz on the way home from my meeting with the midwife today. It is just the type of child's gift shop that i have been loooking for since leaving the Uk as it has a wonderful selection of nostalgic/traditonal style gifts from which to choose from. Here are a few things that i particularly loved:

A cool child's guitar because Theodore is obsessed by his Papa's which is just too big for him to handle.

A heavenly silver racing car, which is just perfect for any boy (or parent as it's made from proper stuff, not just plastic that breaks in two minutes)

I love this one too,but sadly it's twice the price. 

                       Vesper/scooter t-shirt, rather cool don't you think! 

They have many nostalgic toys and clothes which i love. The website doesn't show everything that they have in the shop so it's worth popping in if you live in Oslo.

Kool Kidz, Ullevålsvn. 39, 0171 Oslo Tlf: 67 42 35 58  E-post post@koolkidz.no

Light up your life

To me lanterns simply add a touch of magic to any occasion or place, they create a perfect atmosphere and they brighten up the winter for me, although i use them all year round because i love them.

I also love the idea of sending one's wishes off into the night with the help say of a floating lantern (like we did at several festivals that i went to when i was in India) or up into the sky on a flying lantern which have become so popular at weddings, and i can see why as they are sooo romantic. For my hen weekend my wonderful sister organised for us all to have these beautiful flying lanterns on which everyone wrote wishes for Andreas and i for our future life together. After many cocktails and much giggling over the messages we headed down to the beach below the house to send them off into the night, it was truly magical especially with so many being released at the same time! :

See here for a tutorial on making these flying paper lanterns and here for the world record set in 2009 for the largest number of flying lanterns released at any one time!

Lanterns  are so romantic and can be a really cheap option to decorate any home or any venue for a party. A friend of mine made the most beautiful and unique lanterns for her wedding which we hung in the trees to light the way to the main tent and placed on each table to enjoy all night.

See here for how to make your own jar lanterns.

I am a sucker for almost any type of lantern and would like to have many more than i do inside as well as outside of our house to create that magical atmosphere and to welcome friends coming to the house.  There are just so many lovely ones to choose from and so many possibilties when you make your own !

Lanterns are magical don't you think!

Moon in my room

I have been searching for interesting children's lights for Theodore's room for some time now as his current lamp just doesn't work as a beside lamp and we want to make his room really nice for him before his little brother arrives. In my search i came across this wonderful "Moon in my room" wall lamp on the Squidoo website, although it seems to be available to buy from amazon. It's so perfect that i would love to have it in our room....hmmm maybe that is a distinct possibility as Theo spends most of the night in our bed anyway!

I also love these Space wall murals also seen here on the Squidoo website:

and while we are on this theme i rather like this rocket light too, available here:

I am sure there are many more websites out there to trawl through, but the Moon in my room wall lamp does seems rather perfect to me right now. 

Lunchboxes

I adore this robot lunchbox from Hocusadabra but wonder if i would be getting it for Theodore or for me!?

It acts like a mini cool box, so it keeps things better than the usual tin or plastic lunchboxes.

Here is the full range, aren't they cute!

Visit the Hocusadabra website if you would like to take a further look at these or any of their other products.

Gifts and wishes

I adore the website Cox and Cox and go to it for inspiration and gifts whenever i remember to. Here are a few things that i have been coveting recently, but i could purchase almost anything from their site!

We bought this wooden peg rack with the days of the week for a friends wedding present last summer and have wanted one of our own ever since.

I love these wooden signs and could have them all over the house, if it wasn't overdoing it a little. I particularly like this one.

I love to use butterflies to decorate things and have used them in my hair, to decorate presents and around the house. I found some gorgeous ones on long wires for a friends wedding to finish her beautiful table decorations.  But these magnetic butterflies, pictured above, would be so useful for any occasion as they can be fixed easily to any thin surface.

I would love to wrap Theodore up in this gorgeous throw.

This wire post box would be so useful to keep any letters that we have received recently and to tidy up our hallway.

Beautiful lights to add some extra sparkle at this time of year

Useful and cute

I love the clothes for children at  I Dream Elephants , a newly opened online boutique for children aged 0-8 years from Belgian designer, Inge Van Den Broeck. The boutique also sells many other brands and things from other designers.

I seem to be rather obsessed by wooden letters at the moment and these vintage style letter hooks,  from the website Not on the High Street , are perfect for keeping individuals things tidy and out of the way. Useful for when i have two litttle boys and their things to keep track of. 

I also love this all in one baby suit from the same website, now that i am thinking of clothes for baby number two. Of course he will have most of Theodore's old clothes but i would love to buy one or two new things just for him!

These leg warmers from the website Pickles are just what i need for this coming winter and as they give you detailed instuctions on the website about how to knit your own i may just give it a go.

This height chart is heaven and it feels about time to get one for Theodore's room. He is growing so fast that it would be nice to chart his growth with him.

Jewels

My wonderful and talented friend Nicole has just launched her new website www.nicolethurgur.co.uk to advertise and to sell her unique and very beautiful handmade felt jewellery. She has a wonderful range of necklaces, braclets and earrings, all of which she has designed and made by hand. This involves a lengthy process of felt dry needling, but it enables her to create unique shapes and the beautiful details in each bead.

I was lucky enough to be given one of her gorgeous necklaces for my birthday last year. I feel it expresses me perfectly and i am soothed by its beauty and its colours. It makes me very happy wearing it or just to seeing it hanging up in my room.

In her own words: "I work from my studio in Oxfordshire designing and making unique and exclusive felt jewellery. I am influenced by the strong colours of South Africa where I was born as well as the natural forms in plants, gardens, pebbles, rocks, stones, eggs and the changing landscape. Each felt bead is handmade using the time consuming dry needling technique. This ensures the delicate designs in the beads, which are decorated on both sides. I love doing commissions where clients choose their own colour scheme for their specific skin tones and personality. When doing this it is also important to consider the length of the work, as this is also specific to everyone’s taste."


http://www.nicolethurgur.co.uk/