Montag, 30. April 2012

DIY {A little box for everything}

To make your Monday more enjoyable (whops! That even was an alliteration. I could also say: To make my Monday more enjoyable...anyway. Enough of that^^°) here is a little DIY.

Fun. Easy and fast!
Which is because I still have to squeeze in some vacuuming, piano lessons, cat-time, visa stuff and "Baby"sitting.
Here we go.





A little box for everything.
You'll need:
  • little box (Though I'd think any size would work)
  • masking tape
  • Scissors
  • compass
  • photo
  • glue
Deciding which colour combinations I do like the most...
And this is what you do:
Wrap your box in washi tape.
Measure the size of your lid with your compass. Cut.

I only did the inner circle
Glue to the top (I also did the back. However this is optional)
Enjoy you little box for everything :)


Now my desk is a little bit less cluttered and I can also enjoy a little dot of colours and patterns (to which I'm addicted anyway)
So back to vacuuming and my piano. Happy Monday :)

Samstag, 28. April 2012

Summer

I totally forgot how much I missed all of this

The smell of summer
Hot stones under your bare feet
Walking over warm grass
Chirping birds
The pattern of leaves and sun on grass and stone
A warm breeze, playing around your face
The sound of whisteling birds
My cat slowly walking from one shadowy place to the next
The smell of sun bathed grass
Growing plants in every imaginable green

I so love this season


Design your mobile skin {the 2nd}

Good Morning :)

If this would have an O-Tone installation you would hear me sing. Since it doesn't, imagine it (or better not...)

I'm up early, watching the sun rise, listening to the birds (and the complaints of my cat...) and organizing my day in my head.
Since everybody is still asleep I just thought I sneak in a post. There is still enough time to do the kitchen things after that.

Sometimes There are so many moments in life which I'd love to be able to freeze them. To put them in a jar for later. A smell, a tune, a picture (well that does actually work to some extends) a little something. Right now it would be the smell of sunbathed grass, still a little moist from the night mixed with a hint of blooming flowers and dirt.
Or picture of insects in the air, highlighted by the sun like little dots in a picture of yellow and green.

Since we don't want to read poems so early in the morning (or write some) I'll stop here and introduce my newest little project (There's always time for projects right?!)

My "Design your mobile the 2nd".
And again it is so easy. There is already a sort of "tutorial" in my DIY section but since I think I've improved I just post it as well.

You'll need:
  • stuff you like
  • a camera
  • good light
Arrange your stuff, take a photo, crop it. Done. (You know I'm joking. It isn't a real tutorial anyway. More like an inspiration) So here you go with inspiration:



I mainly worked with doilies, fabric, lace, ribbons and a few little random things. I started out with plain and took photos during the process (randomly. Just when I liked something). At the end I cropped all and picked out my favourite.


Turned out it was this one :) though it had some tough competition with the yellow flowers ones...


I ordered mine at youniik.com I had used this one already last time and I was totally satisfied with their work. Applying is a little bit tricky but you'll handle that one too.
And now I love my phone even more :)


Update: I found this picture and just had to post it. It does match well with my start, doesn't it?!

Source

Freitag, 27. April 2012

Ein bisschen Erkenntnis

Draußen geben sich der Regen, mit Wolkentürmen und die Sonne, mit einem strahlenden Blau, die Hand (Verrücktes Wetter).

Es warten einige kleine Projekte auf etwas Aufmerksamkeit, aber weil heute einfach ein Tag der Erkenntnis war, gibt es halt erstmal etwas Erkenntnis.

1. Ich bin so dankbar für das, was ich habe und für die Möglichkeiten die sich mir ergeben. Ich weiß, dass das nicht selbstverständlich ist.



2. Definitv nicht so wichtig, aber Erkenntnis Nr.2 war: Meine Beine sehen aus wie bei Alice (in dem Moment wo sie zu lang sind....)



3. Was ich am Fotografieren liebe ist die Tatsache, dass ich mich fokusieren kann. Manchmal sieht unser Alltag düster aus. Manchmal vergessen wir, dass wir schönes auch in Kleinem finden können. Wir sehen es nicht, weil es durch so viel mehr verdeckt wird. Meine Kamera erlaubt mir für einen Moment alles ausblenden zu können. Für einen Augenblick nur auf eine Sache fokusiert zu sein.

Den Fokus wählen.





4. Was mich aufbaut ist, mich mit Grünem zu umgeben. (Ich liebe Gärtnereien...)

Auch wenn das hier eher lila-grün wirkt. Es zählt trotzdem ;)

5. Ich bin so dankbar in den Momenten in denen mir bewusst wird, dass ich einfach bin. Ohne irgendwas drumherum, sondern einfach sein
Und ich würde mich gerne bedanken. Einfach dafür, dass ich da bin und dass ich alles bewusst miterleben darf und dafür, dass ich meine Zukunft mit verschiedenen Möglichkeiten (was auch immer kommen wird) aktiv bestimmen werde dürfen können.



6. Was mir noch so im nachhinein als Erkenntnis einfiel: Ich bin ein Bildermensch. Klar lese ich auch. Aber es sind definitiv mehr die Bilder die meine Auswahl bestimmen. (Macht das Sinn? Falls nein. Ich weiß was ich sagen wollte...hoffentlich auch noch übernächste Woche...)

7. Es gibt nichts schöneres als kleine Kinder zum Lachen zu bringen :)

Mittwoch, 25. April 2012

Erneuerung im Kleinen

Ich bin jemand, der seine Umgebung ständig verändert. Je nach Laune muss sich eben auch das Umfeld mit ändern.
Erst letztens stand ich also mal wieder in meinem Zimmer und stellte fest, dass die Umgebung irgendwie so gar nicht mehr zu mir passte. Da ich erst letzten alles aussotiert hatte musste also ein Erneuerung im Kleinen her (Wie sehr ich mich schon jetzt darauf freue, mehr als nur einen Raum für mich zu haben!).

Radikal!
Alles was mir nicht gefiel (an Ort und Stelle) wurde a) in den Wäschekorb oder (als dieser voll war) b) aufs Bett befördert.
Chaos pur :) Aber befreiend!
(Die Katze befand sich rein freiwillig auf dem Bett!)


Wie man sieht landeten da auch Kissen im Wäschekorb. Für die musste ein neuer Bezug her. Außerdem ein weiterer "Regalvorhang", neu bemalte Schubladen und Stoff-beklebte Magnetdosen.
Nach einigen Tagen (es ist ja auch immer noch Schule angesagt) und ein bisschen Schneiden und Nähen war das Zimmer zwar nicht komplett neu, aber definitiv "angepasst" :)




Bemalt wurde mein heißgeliebtes Mini-Holzregal. Das hat zu Kinderzeiten schon den ein oder anderen Anstrich verpasst bekommen. Der letzte bestand aus Bio Natur Farben. Seeeehr haltbar wie ich bemerken durfte. Ganz habe ich die Farbe nicht übermalt bekommen. Aber so bleibt zumindestens auch noch ein bisschen Kindheit übrig. Und wenns mal ganz nostalgisch zugehen soll, dann muss man nur die Schubladenelemente rausziehen und sich die Seiten anschauen (oder wahlweise das Innenleben). Da wurden nämlich heimlicherweise alle Bunt- und Filzstifte dran ausprobiert ;)


Die Schuhe (links unten in der Ecke) sind auf ein PseudoSchuhregal gewandert. Dazu braucht man:
  • 6 gleich große dicke Schmöker
  • 1 Holzbrett
Man stelle das Holzbrett auf die Bücher und die Schuhe oben daruf. Wahlweise auch noch die Kameratasche unten drunter. Fertig! (Und befreit gleichzeitig auch noch das Bücherregal!!)

Und auch meine ganzen viel zu vielen Notizbücher haben jetzt einen festen Platz. Zusammen mit dem einfarbigen Maskingtape (Das Schublädchen hab ich einfach angeklebt...).


Aufräumen macht glücklich!

Montag, 23. April 2012

Raspberry chocolate Cupcakes


I'm doing a lot of baking and cooking throughout my days and I come across really good and not so good recipes. The really good ones go into my special cooking folder, the other ones...well they get deleted.

I know that cooking is not all about the recipe but I think at least 70% are based on it. So having good recipes helps a lot to get around disappointments in the kitchen (I'm dreaming of a full file, stuffed with amazing recipes...)

Well. I just stumbled about the cupcake recipe.
It had the texture I always had looked for. It is moist, fluffy a little bit gooey and not too sweet. It also raises just to a certain height, so applying frosting works perfectly.

I found it at Annies-eats (this). I also tried her chocolate frosting which is truly amazing (even if we had some variations here. Well I always end with variations, but who cares...)


For the ones I made I changed a few little things.
(Most important: I divided the amount of batter by three. First time I did it we ended up with 40(!) cupcakes...)

You'll need (makes 14 cupcakes): 
  • 120gr flour
  • Baking powder (I don't measure it however the original recipe calls for 1 tbsp.) 
  • 1/2 tsp. salt 
  • 75gr butter 
  • 150gr sugar 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 100ml buttermilk (you can tweak this part by using milk and add vinegar or lemon juice) 
  • vanilla extract (again: I don't measure. The recipe calls for 1 tbsp.)

I also added raspberries and white chocolate chips which is really really good. However the batter is already great so don't be afraid to make stay with simple.

Make the batter by beating the sugar and butter until foamy. Add eggs one at a time.
Add salt and vanilla extract. Beat. Add flour, baking powder and buttermilk in turns.
Bake 18-22 minutes at 180°C (350°F).

 
I tweaked my frosting into a white chocolate one. Since the original recipe called for cocoa powder (which is absolutely dry and dark = Does not work with white) I left out some of the moist ingredients.

For the white-chocolate-frosting:
  • 130gr white chocolate 
  • 80gr cream cheese 
  • pinch of salt 
  • 1 tbsp. sour cream 
  • 120-180gr confectioners sugar

Melt the white chocolate. Beat the cream cheese, salt and sour cream. Add the chocolate (let it cool a bit before). Add the confectioners sugar. I wrote 120-180gr because I started with 120 and just kept on adding c. sugar until it had the right consistency. So this depends on how you like your frosting.

Apply to your cooled cupcakes and enjoy.
They did not last long :)






Luminale 2012

I had to write something new after the title that would jump at me each time I'd open my blog would be "bloody Friday"...though it actually fits my mood right now.
Our weather is a wild bunch of everything. Hail, Rain, Sun, Storm...all in one day. Let me just say that this does not help in improving your mood.

Anyway before this gets too depressing, one of the posts from last week:

So here we go. One of the posts which I could not squeeze in last week...

We went to visit the Luminale in Frankfurt on Wednesday. It's an installation of light projects spread across the city. It can mean a simple installation of different coloured lights or those with which interacting is possible.
There were tons of people walking around, holding there cameras and chatting happily. And so many really kind ones. All in all: Something worth remembering.

The rest is better in pictures I think :)
This guy was stalking me with his camera. So I stalked back :D


This one worked as a sort of gigantic ring-the-bell thing (Just so you get an idea about the interacting...)

changing there colour slowly...


this one was definitely my favourite. It was an installation of sound, water, smoke and...of course...light!



I'll go searching for my good mood again. I'm confident it will be successful....

Sonntag, 22. April 2012

My bloody Friday {a story of little boys}

So I said I'd post yesterday (Sunday is just such a weird day to post) but since there are other things, waiting to be posted, I just went with Sunday rather than Monday.

I really really had planned to do it yesterday but my attempt to squeeze in as much as possible in one day ended with a huuuuuge headache and nausea so I had to cut it short.

Anyway. My bloody Friday story.
As I already mentioned I took care of the kids from 2 to 10. Pretty long if you ask me but I love them and what is better than to spent time with those you love?!

I was able to spend some quality time with the oldest first since the other two were outside chasing eachother and having pretended-real-fights.
When the youngest returned I started my oh-so-well-planned-slimy-project. And it was awesome!
I did not really have a recipe but just started mixing and looking out for the right consistency.
Also, I could not really believe that this would work out so I didn't promise anything before. I just said I wanted to try something out.

(before this gets too detailed in what I've planned and what I didn't look at the fun we had!)






Looks like fun, doesn't it!? And All you need is:
  • Corn starch (we had 500gr.)
  • water (try out for the right consistency)
  • pieces of old newspaper
  • something to stir
It will not be easy to stir towards the end. So don't be worried.
 And it really worked out the way I imagined it. You can totally punch this slimy-something and it will be hard as...well not a rock but hard like...dough? But if you go in slowly it is heavenly slimy.
 
This it what it looked at the end

Don't worry. I cleaned up perfectly :)

We also had another science experiment from the oldest. Though he needs to explain it to me again because I don't think I really got it...


The blood part happened towards the end of the day. 
The younger one (not the youngest) was out for some carving. Just the moment the youngest one had decided to join him, he returned. He was totally calm. There were no tears. So I actually discovered the blood only the moment he stood in front of me. And there was blood. A lot of blood.

Problem. I can't see blood. Or smell.
Well. I handled it like a hero. I put him to the toilet straight, got out all the first aid stuff and...went to friends for help. 
They only live three houses down and there was already a blood trace, also I was sure they were a lot more help than I was. 
I returned to the soothing part and held him when he felt dizzy. He was so brave!

Now I know how to handle cuts. Like in real, not just theoretically.
(Though I hope I handle the blood part better next time. Or there might just better not be a next time...?!)

It's impressive how a small cut can create that much blood...

Enough of blood anyway. The rest was a piece of cake compared to that.

And because it's already Sunday, here are the pictures of my week (belated)


Freitag, 20. April 2012

One day in my life

Well.  That's something I'd call a day.
Six hours of school from 8 to 1. Looking for the little (and not so little) ones from 2 to 10.
I also handled my first blood incident. And I might just say that I'm proud. (After one cupcake, some chocolate and a little bit of mental rebuilding. After 10...)
Me and blood that's just not something that matches well.

That's enough for now. More of it tomorrow.
I'll crawl into bed now calling it a day and dreaming of me being a superhero (....in some parallel universe...)

And more of that for sure tomorrow!

I mean of that!

Donnerstag, 19. April 2012

Organise...

...your electronic drawer.

I did this last week but thought I might just share it now.
Quick, easy and soooo comfortable for my future.

This is what my electronic drawer looked after I sort of went through all the stuff, already neatly arranged in little piles. (Believe me, anything else but already arranged piles would have shocked you to death!)


I made 10 piles, ergo I needed 10 little sacks. I just went for fabric I hadn't used for a while and sewed non-complicated bags. They don't have any lining or other fancy things. My main aspect was to have something fast and easy.



I also painted a little card for myself (well I painted. You could just easily use fabric scraps. I was too busy painting to realise that....)


So know I just have to grab my card, look out for the right fabric and that's it. It's also already neatly packed for any travel or visit.
No longer looking out for the right stuff!


Mittwoch, 18. April 2012

and essential for life...

(Double post. Scroll down for the first one)

Essential for me: My little square "Le Grand Bloc". I spent endless times scribbling, sketching, drawing, glue... stuff to those tiny pages (Actually, every time I try to avoid doing something else....)

Peak