This year's carnaval

Making a costume for only one special day at school? I doubted it, just like every year. But on the day itself we use to wonder why being doubtful after seeing those happy faces. This year's theme for L is 'metiers'. She really loves to assist our cleaning help, so this is what she wanted to be.

She could clean the whole house right away! To start with the mirror...
Tomorrow is school carnaval. She insists on taking a bottom of soapy water in the bucket. I decided to go by car and not by bike...

Part two

You won't believe it. Just after launching last post, I realised the reversibility of the bag all of a sudden! A second photo-shoot followed.
This bag is multifunctional, that's clear!

No plastic please

In general I dislike the use of plastic bags. A very few are such beauties (like those from museumshops) they excape from this rule and are treated like treasures. No way I would consider to give them to somebody who suddenly needs one ;).
When F and M+L leave in a hurry to attend viollin-lesson, they use to grab an aweful plastic bag to carry the music books. You understand this should be ended. Here's a new bag for all the stuff, including the new ring binder. Because in the end I was disappointed about the width of the bag, I added two snap fasteners. They reshaped the bag fairly well, I think.

Stave

Lately loose music paper was laying around. It's so easy to make M happy: I bought a basic black ring binder and she showed it proudly to her father in the evening. This made me wish to make her happy again...
Yesterday F, M and L left for a short holiday, leaving me at home because I can't stay away from the office this week. Today it was raining, this morning was a lazy one and during the day I decided to make my daughter this cover. I loved to use my piping cord experience again. Please tell me if you're interested in a how-to. I made some pics that I could share.

Fake braids

Another carnaval costume I made before. M wanted it so much, because we were into the fairytale period. I used a real pattern, even in English, which was quite hard to understand. The cape is made out of woolen fabric, the color of the lining is purple. The evening before a little drama happened: she yelled disappointedly that she looked like a witch! The cape turned out to be far too long. You understand I was busy till late that night to correct it.
She especially loved her fake braids at that time. How could she know about her beautiful real ones of today?

Yellow flower

Allthough especially the south of the Netherlands is specialist in celebrating carnaval, I made several costumes for school carnaval in the past. I'll show some of them for inspiration. Here you see M and L, four years old and dressed up like a flowergirl. Pictures are taken with an interval of 4 years: last year and 5 years ago. Everything is made of transparent curtain samples, no more of use in the office. The skirt has transparent and solid layers. The wings are made by covering a flat brass frame with transparent fabric.
This week we are thinking about this year's costumes. Maybe you too?

Sorry for the dots, they're just added to protect M and L.

Local inspiration

Our eldest daughter M is (like so many other children in Rotterdam) a member of Circus Rotjeknor. This sunday afternoon we went to the theater to see and enjoy the acts of the most talented kids of this youth circus. And...
Last sunday we visited Villa Zebra. The kids did a workshop making a shoebox scene about their parents, so about us. One of my birthday presents was this book, which I recommend, at least to all Rotterdam based mothers who want to spend crafty afternoons with their children.

Livingroom fragment

This week I posted about the vase of Hella Jongerius. The sunlight on the day I made pictures was so beautiful, I couldn't resist making some more pics. After all I promised to write about our interior too.
I designed this cabinet a long time ago. It's made of solid maple wood. Do you see how old-fashioned we are? No LCD TV on the wall! With such a blog life there's simply no time left to watch TV. So why buying a new one ;).

Those are mine

Since we haven't got beautiful name labels for our daughters, I'm used to mark their eurhythmy and gym shoes this way. Buttons are from HEMA (sparkling stones are just laying around in our house, don't know from where). Maybe a tip?

Great woman

Last Friday I visited the very popular exhibition of Hella Jongerius in Boijmans van Beuningen, the main museum in Rotterdam. Ad, a dear friend, knew he had to take me with him. I so loved to be there! Little L too, she had to search for our vase!
Hella is fabulous with designs and colors. I couldn't resist to make these pics and to buy her corresponding book. After all it's my birthday today ;). But when you click on this link you have a very fine and much better overview of her work.

Back home I finally embroidered her Ikea vase.