editor in chief

If there is one thing that living in a teeny tiny space forces you to do, it is edit.  There is simply not enough room to display or store all of the beautiful things that you would like to and so you learn quite quickly what is important.

And being able to give an object multiple uses is basically the holy grail of making small spaces work.  So yesterday afternoon, after painting the wooden heart over our sink, I moved right onto Milo’s toy box, which after a quick paint job, would be performing triple duty.  The first as storage for his books and dressing up clothes, the second as a shelf for placing a wicker basket full of toys on and now, third, as his very own chalkboard!

a trip to the park wouldn’t be complete without

a bit of walking

 

the sampling of some sticks

 

a ladybird hunt

 

extreme closeups

 

and a rousing game of peekaboo

before and after

 

The area above our kitchen sink before…

 

and after.

To create this little vignette, I framed one photo of Milo and two prints that I’d had for ages.  The first, top left, is from Ashley G and the second, the one standing alone, is by the black apple.  And then, after being inspired by my friend Jackie, I used black board paint to coat a wooden heart Matt brought home one day and hung it by jute from an Anthropologie hook I’ve been carting around for years.  I think I like it…I’m not really sure…maybe I’ll give it some time to grow on me.

discipline

Milo is testing the boundaries, as they say.  He has been doing so for months now and we’re about at our wits end.  Everything I’ve read says that consistency is key.  Right, I get that, I really do, and I feel that we are consistent.  For example, Milo knows he isn’t supposed to open the cupboard doors under the sink.  We’ve given him his own kitchen drawer that he is allowed to open and even gone as far as to put a lock on the ones he isn’t ( which he’s figured out how to open, so that was a FAIL ).  Even so, at least 10 times per day, Milo walks over to the cupboard doors under the sink, looks at one of us, smiles cheekily and then opens them.  I would say 99 times out of 100, we say “no”, calmly, yet firmly, and remove him from the area and give him another toy to play with.  He never acts bothered about it…but his behaviour is not changing.  This happens with a million other things per day, climbing up on the television bench, ripping pages out of library books, trying to eat his suntan lotion…the list is basically endless.

Before Milo came along, I just assumed we’d use time-outs.  But then after reading a section in one of the best parenting books I’ve ever read, How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish, I’m second guessing myself. 

Here’s the excerpt:

so cozy

I dearly loved the two cozy, knit hats we bought for Milo last winter and I have already been searching for the one or two (or three!) I would like to buy this year.  One thing is for sure, I am seriously spoilt for choice.  There must be twice as many sellers as when I was looking around last year, and since it’s still summer, I would imagine loads of shops haven’t even listed their creations yet.

Here are last years hats, the first from Citè Fuzz and the second, Beanie Designs.

But what will it be this year?

 

Perhaps this adorable fleece option made by Swirly Hats?

 

Or maybe this simple granite coloured pageboy from Captured Imagination?

I do really love this beret by Three Fish Shop though!

Such sweet hats…what’s a girl to do?

Independence Day

Since I am a yankee and Matt is a limey, our dear sweet Milo is a bit of a mutt.  He holds passports for both countries and is considered both an American and a wee English lad.  Besides confusing tax returns and the ever present issue of when and where to move and settle our family, this rarely throws up any issues for us. 

The 4th of July just happens to be one.  Since this holiday is a celebration of US independence from Great Britain, it’s a bit confusing.  Which side of the debate would our soon to be 15 month old fall on?

And so after I promised we’d search for some fireworks and I found some lovely craft ideas online hours of soul searching and deep philosophical debate, we decided to go with America this year.

I first saw this project on the wonderful Crafty Crow.

You’ll need…

A foot
A hand
Red and blue paint
Paper

If you have a small child, this is a craft best done with two adults.  One to paint the hand and foot and then stamp them onto the paper and the other to hold onto your child!

vintage textiles

Few things in the English language get my heart racing quite as fast, as when I hear the phrase vintage textiles.  I adore them and it’s become something of an addiction.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was to find a lovely French hand embroidered table cloth (that even fit my current table!) on eBay a week ago.  There was a ‘buy it now’ price as well as an option to make an offer and so I put in a cheeky bid and pushed it to the back of my mind.  There was no way it could be accepted.  Only…it was!  It arrived today and I love it.

There is just something almost magical about owning something that has been lovingly handmade by someone else.  I wonder who made my new tablecloth?  Where was it used?  In the garden during warm summers?  I wonder what types of private conversations it’s been privy to and what sort of delicious food has been served on it.

In fact, I love it so much, I don’t want to use it!  Maybe we’ll have lunch on an old blanket on the floor and call it a picnic.