wine shelves, an updated shower and a quick guide into becoming a handyman!

Oh wine boxes, how I love thee!

rock it

In the introduction in one of my favourite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, main character Joel Barish walks on the beach, and says: "sand is overrated. It's just tiny, little rocks".

2 birdhouses for the price of 1 hangover!

I hope you have made it safely into 2017, my friends!

Currently, I am going back and forth between having peaceful thought about a new year and having very hateful thoughts about the inventor of the new year's kiss, and trying to find out where the guy lives so that I can make his life miserable. 

Why all that hate? Well, because WHY would you invent a tradition that involves kissing all kinds of strangers in the middle of flu-season? that's just the evilest thing I can imagine! And as a result, Joost and I are down with a very impressive collection of flu's ( and mind you, I even got a flu shot this year),  and take turns in keeping each other up at night with our symphonies of coughing, snottering and cursing our own -and each other's- existence. 

But well, back to the peaceful thoughts, and from that into a big topic that always resurfaces around new years eve: new year's resolutions. 

I've loved them, I've hated them, and now I'm growing older (well...) I'm kind of settling for a position in the middle: resolutions and goals show that you are able to reflect on your own being, and are willing to grow and improve yourself. So let's embrace it. But there shouldn't be a strict deadline on improving yourself. Also, I think there is an important difference between wanting to improve yourself, or wanting to fit in to an expectation that is just not you. And last: failing is part of learning. So already completely cocked up your resolutions? Great, that's the first lesson, so don't despair just yet! 

resolution: being more attentive to the beauty around me.
(my favourite photo of 2016: the harbour of Iraklion with fish swimming (unfiltered)

DIY hanging planters || an office update!

Hey guys!

Today I welcome you in my office!! ( I now expect a slightly disappointed "whooooooo" from you)

As some of you may already know, I work as a researcher in a hospital. The main part of that hospital is - like most hospitals- a huge pastel-coloured concrete box, but my office is is somewhat different: a completely hidden office in the basement of one of the few old parts of the hospital building, with loads of marble, old architectural details, and you get there by a somewhat hidden marble staircase.And to make it even cooler: it also used to be the anatomy-lab/morgue of a very famous professor.  So: the place is quite cool.

or should I say was? Because somewhere in the summer, someone had this *great* idea to strip the walls to give with the intention of giving them a new layer of render.... to subsequently notice in august that they were never going to finish before the students would come back to the faculty, so they just.... kind of left, leaving a load of dust, desks moved everywhere, and a set of very unfinished  walls...

DIY | a hanging planter.

I kind of have locked myself out, my friends.

You may now raise a sceptical eyebrow and wonder "what happened?" well, this is what happened.

See, we (okay, it was Joost) oiled our new wooden kitchen floor this afternoon. No biggie, right?
Except that it has to dry for 24 hours and the kitchen is... well kind of the central place of our house.
So while I was sensible enough to take some measurements and lock myself into the part of the house that has a loo and a backdoor,  I was stupid enough leave many important things, such as my laptop-charger, in the now inaccessible living room.

So, here I am, in the bedroom with a slowly dying laptop.. wondering if I should use my last minutes of online time for a crash course in ninja-skills to get the charger back, or if just accept my fate and write you a post.

As you can see.. I choose the latter ;)

So, as you can understand, time for writing this is rather limited, so let's get to it! Today an easy peasy, nifty thrifty hanging planter!

DIY clothespin poetry

It was fairly early this morning, when I walked into my garden with a big basket full of laundry to let it dry outside.
And while I was standing there, I suddenly realized how incredibly beautiful that moment was.

moving files: the room that must not be mentioned

( small note for the tender souls amongst us:  I'm in a slightly rebellious mood today, it might show;))

if you've got a little experience with house-hunting, you might have noticed a pattern: brokers always tend to ignore a vital part of every home: the loo.  I mean, I can understand it: in our lives we all tend to ignore the loo and the business that belongs in there, but still.....
In all the houses we have seen, I think the most elaborate description of a loo we heard was " it is functional."     ...    Really?

I mean, how great would life be if brokers would approach the loo with the same enthusiasm as they describe every other room and say something like:  "Voila! and this is where you will poop! Look at how magnificent it is!"  and we would respond like " mmm, yeah, that looks like a magnificent place to poop, I look forward to that!" that would be absolutely brilliant.

So, in a vain and cheeky attempt to change the world: look at our updated loo!

and now for something completely different.. a DIY wire ring with a bee!

The kitchen may steadily become more and more beautiful, but my own appearance... ough, that has sunken to a whole new level.

There is paint on my fingers and my ankles. Dirt of a dubious nature beneath my fingernails. My mascara was lost days ago and is hiding somewhere together with my hairbrush, and I haven't really bothered looking for them. I can only say that I feel very sorry for Joost, having to live with this home-depot version of a cavewoman.

So for the sake of my relationship, I decided to pay at least a little attention to my own appearance, and frost myself with some home-made jewelry (and some good ol' scrubbing) Hence today's post!  

DIY leaf printed fabric

After the heavy rainfall of last week ( which created a temporary rivier in front of the house), the plants and trees in our garden are growing with such an astonishing speed, that I almost suspect that Hagrid has been toying around with them. So of course; what else could I do but giving today's blog post a botanic twist?

I really love the recent (well, kind of recent) botanic trend, but rather than hopping off to the nearest interior shop and buy the same botanic inspired that everyone else buys, I decided to make my own version of it, by printing fabric with leafs!  And guess what; it's really simple, and gives an awesome result! So why don't you give it a try as well?

a handmade bed.

hey readers!

A few of you have asked if I also made things like furniture. Well, of course!
Since crafting is a bit difficult with the while house filled with moving boxes, I thought it would be nice to show you the bed that Joost and I made a year ago.

When I moved in with Joost last year, we discovered that we had a big shortage on storage space. So we decided to build a bed with not only a lot of storage space underneath, but also space for our dryer!


Before I talk you through the process, there is one thing I need to clear up!
As I looked through the old photo's, I noticed one thing: I was completely absent in all pictures! What the wup?
I engineered the whole thing. I measured. I sawed wood. I drilled holes. I fastened screws. I really, REALLy busted my ass off in this project. But who's in the pictures? Only Joost, that evil boyfriend of mine ;)

 so if you see a picture like this...                                         remember that it happened like this! ;)

From canvas to clutch

"Really...?" The cashier of the thrift shop said hesitantly. "We also sell really nice bags over here. And they are quite cheap" and she pulled a black, pleather clutch with rhinestones in sight. 

She had seen me wandering around in their thrift shop, buying strange items every time, so when she asked me about it, we came to talk about my projects of transforming thrift finds into something new. And now I had asked her if she had a canvas painting somewhere that I could transform into a clutch. She clearly thought that I was out of my mind. Resizing a skirt or a dress was one thing, but making a clutch out of a painting, that was plainly berserk. 

But as I kept insisting ( also in an attempt to escape the horrendous clutch that she was trying to set me up with) she eventually complied, and I went home with a canvas artwork that she had sold to me for 50 cents.

and of course -crazy or not- I made a clutch from it! Here's what I did. 

a hand-printed skirt

A while ago, I found a second hand grey skirt that was still in awesome condition. By the look of it, it probably had once belonged to a secretary. A quite boring secretary, that is. But since I have a bit of a soft spot for boring skirts (upcycling is so much easier when something is ugly in the first place!), I took it home with me.

There I decided to give it a little print. There are many techniques of doing so. You can buy stamps, or cut them out of some vinyl or a potato ( yes you've done that in pre-school, I guarantee it) 

Since I didn't feel like cutting stamps out of a potato, I decided to try it in another way: by cutting a form out of a chammy.

kintsugi, the beauty of being broken.

Kintsugi ( or kintsukuroi) is a Japanese tradition of repairing broken pottery with gold. The idea behind this method, is that breakages are beautiful in themselves because they are part of the history of an object. This history, with all its flaws and lines, should be displayed rather than being disguised. 

My experience with western culture is that we are very reluctant about showing imperfections lines or history in all areas of our lifes. We are ashamed of the lines in our faces, our clothes must show no wear and tear, giving a guest a chipped tea-cup would be insulting, etc. Everything needs to be as good as new. I also often feel a bit ashamed for the fact that almost everything that I own is in some way second-hand.

Kintsugi - closely linked to the Wabi-sabi worldview- shows us a new refreshing perspective: that of showcasing flaws and history. I think we can learn a lot from this perspective. Therefore, when I broke one of my favorite plates -ironically one of the very few that was bought at Ikea instead of at a thrift shop-I decided to try my hand at Kintsugi. 

experiments: DIY liquor recipes.

Hey! Guess what? Yesterday Joost and I got united in a registered partnership! Which means in Dutch law that we kind of got married, but then without the "fluff" of marriage ( I know, you can of course also do marriage without fluff, but we saved that option, just in case we need some fluff in our future life). And it was great! Even though the official procedure took less time than ordering a big mac in the drive-through lane, it is a reason for celebration and therefore this post is -again- an alcoholic post!

Remember that I made the pumpkin spiced liquor? Well, after that recipe, Joost and I invented some new ones, simply by tossing coffee beans, spices, candy and all kinds of things into gin, and see what would come out of it. And now, in the light of celebrating our recent bond, we bravely volunteered and tasted a whole bunch of different recipes. Below the recipes and their results!

a small sendable gifts: a mini pluche cat.

I don't know whether it was something in the air, or it is just the fact that I have entered the second half of my twenties, but last year everyone around us seemed to be reproducing.

And thus last months the postman kept bringing us birth announcement cards. So, Joost and I were busy visiting all those new human beings, and writing numerous baby cards. 

Last week, when a friend of Joost became father of a baby girl, and since we were not able to visit the parents and their girl any time soon, I wanted to send a little something with our baby card. And then I had an idea: why not make something myself?

DIY: Cushion case becomes shoulder bag.

You'll need:

- a cushion case made from sturdy fabric with a zipper (Mine was an old cover from Ikea, size 50x50)

- a piece of carton, approx. 25x40 cm. 

- a piece of fabric, approx. 25x40 cm.  

- Duct tape or something alike. 

- something that can be used for straps. (fabric belts work really well) 

-sewing equipment. 

Level: fairly easy.

A while ago, I was making a handbag. While I was fiddling with zippers and side-panels, I thought: "Isn't there an easier way to make something like this?"

Of course, there are many tutorials on very simple tote bags or envelope bags, but I wanted a nice bag. With a zipper. And nice fabric. That was suitable for work and could carry some weight. And then I had an idea.

Cushion covers!!