I have so much to write about today, lots of great stories, but I’m tired so I’m going to take a blog break since I have loads of prep work to do for next week! What is happening next week??? Ohhhh fun times! My dear friend and creative partner-in-crime, Leslie Shewring, will fly to Hannover to work with me for a week! We begin the styling and photography part of our book next week and I can’t wait! It will be very satisfying to see our ideas come to light and she and I work so beautifully together that I know nothing but love will go into this project which will show in the work, I’m sure. Creative work is like that, you get out what you put in it emotionally. I’ve been very busy ordering props and getting what is needed in order for us to make a huge dent in this project with her and well, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m tired after running around all week. I want to have a glass of white wine after my final skype meeting today and chill out. You know that feeling, right? When you just need to rest and get yourself mentally prepared for a huge project? It’s funny, I felt today like I really needed fresh flowers – but nothing from the store – something wild. And I was thinking where in the world I would find them as you can’t just run into someone else’s yard with a pair of scissors, right? So after my husband and I went on a lunch date, there was this random lady selling lilacs on the street that she cut from her yard – a bunch for only 2 Euros, and well… I couldn’t resist. And I couldn’t believe it. Look at these beauties in deep purple and a pale violet…
My home smells like a dream. That is definitely enough to make a weekend more beautiful, isn’t it? And so affordable and special. I love that this stuff happens when you need it the most. I was really craving fresh cut blooms and these are just perfect. They looked so pretty wrapped in newspaper with their perky blooms peeking out as we walked home. I kept thinking of how much it’s those little moments in life that mean more than anything else. The simple things. Do you find this too? Like things happen at the right time and often you are struck by the fact that they were the easiest and most simple things?
And by the way, the trick with preserving floral branches is to either cut an “X” at the bottom of the stem to open them up or hammer the bottoms lightly. You want to spread the bottom of the stem so they can drink water easily. As we were walking, this lady came out of her little clothing shop and told my husband how to preserve them longer – out of the blue – she just walked out from her shop and explained to him how to gently hammer them. I just smiled. I love my town. I love openness and caring and simple, beautiful little things. I hope you can find something simple and beautiful to cheer you this weekend too. Try hard to find something while your out and about that is cheap or free but that warms your heart and take note of what it is. That way, the next time you need a lift, you have a note of what lifted your spirits the time before. For me, it’s always flowers, good friends and well, the love we feel from others who care.
It is a holiday here in Germany on Monday, so I’m taking off, but I’ll be back on Tuesday to blog so I’ll meet you back here then. Have a wonderful weekend!
(images: holly becker)
Let’s talk about how much I love this clever storage system and how much you will in a moment after you see this photo below, ok? It’s by a Danish company called Bloomingville and is sold piece-by-piece so you can customize it to suit your needs. This certainly isn’t a new concept, modular storage systems have been around forever, but I really love how this one looks all styled up and that some of these are shaped like houses – co cute! What do you think? Would you do this?
If you live in Germany and want to order these, visit Car Moebel’s website here. If you live elsewhere, contact Bloomingville directly.
Do you love this or not? Thoughts? I want to do this so bad!
(image: car moebel)
Hello everyone, this is Jewels, one half of Liz and Jewels, but you may also know me as Julia Cawley or simply one of the ladies who writes the new Food In Motion column here on decor8. This month, for our second column, I’ll show you how to make gluten- free vegan bread from my Brooklyn kitchen in a very “German” style. I have never been too successful with baking bread in the past, have you? Last time I tried, I confused yeast with baking powder and wondered why the bread didn’t rise. But even when I do follow the recipe step by step, it doesn’t taste as good as what I can buy at a German bakery – because I’m from Germany and if you’ve ever been there and “experienced” our bread – well, you’d understand what I mean! Here in New York, good bread is a little harder to come by but I found a couple of places that sell some. Most of it is white though, like a German Hausbrot. What seems impossible to find is a grainy, hearty, dark, and healthy bread. I am not vegan, nor do I need to eat gluten-free, but I am a big fan of eating healthily and as Holly spoke about last week in her Healthy Living post, it’s important to make healthy choices as often as possible because good food really affects how we feel.
The bread shown below in this little video that I made for you, which I originally found on the blog My New Roots and modified to fit my taste buds, is high in protein, super high in fiber and is full of delicious nuts, oats, and seeds. I believe that this bread is the healthiest kind of bread you can put in your belly. Over here in New York, people think that eating bread is a very unhealthy thing to do, and this is probably true for the soft, light, and fluffy breads you can buy at a super market. The difference about this bread is that it contains Psyllium Seed Husks. They also hold the bread together since the recipe doesn’t contain any flour or eggs. Psyllium Seed Husks are a great source of fiber; they reduce your cholesterol levels, aid digestion, and help with weight loss.
The other cool thing about this bread is that there is no kneading, waiting, more kneading, or anything like that involved. You just put all ingredients in the baking pan, then wait if you want to, for however long you want to, or not at all, then bake it and it’s done!
German Style Gluten-Free Vegan Bread Recipe:
2/3 cups of almonds (or any other kind of nut)
1/2 cup of flax seeds
1 cup of sunflower seeds
4 tablespoons of psyllium seed husks (this bread can’t do without, so you can’t substitute it with anything else!)
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1,5 cups of rolled oats
1,5 teaspoons of salt
3 tablespoons of maple sirup (or honey)
3 tablespoons of ghee (or coconut oil)
1,5 cups of water
In a baking pan combine all dry ingredients and stir well. Mix the sirup with the ghee and add it to the pan. Lastly, add the water and mix everything with your hands until all dry ingredients are soaked. Smooth out the top and let it sit until it becomes very hard (two hours, a day or overnight). Bake the bread for 20mins at 350° F (175° C). Remove the loaf from the pan, turn it upside down and bake it for another 30mins. Let it cool down completely before slicing it! I added butter and jam – yum!
I hope you find this bread to be as delicious as I do! Enjoy! And next month we’ll be back with a summer-y recipe and video for you to enjoy. Until then… – Julia.
(video + photo: julia cawley)
I love white ceramic keys, don’t you?! I started to fall in love when I was working with my dear friend Sania Pell in March 2011 on a display we were prepping for Liberty London and she was showing me her vintage key collection that she picked up at car boot sales… The ones she had painted gray. Such a clever lady. And being a creative person, this also set my creative wheels in motion! I started thinking about how great they’d look in matte white and so I painted one that I had at home and it looked just like ceramic and I was a fan ever since. Now, whenever I’m shopping at flea markets, I love to grab old keys and paint them in white or neon colors and add them to lampshades, frame them as art, or pop onto ribbon and add as a decorative accessory. All because of Sania and her small, but great, idea.
In 2012, I came across the work of Shan Annabelle Valla in London at a show I attended there and instantly fell in love with her ceramic keys. See this one below, this is from Shan’s collection and I love it.
These aren’t painted-over vintage keys from some car boot sale, rather, handmade porcelain that is simply gorgeous and keys that anyone would love to own and display. I am equally captivated by her mini vases, which I photographed and shared on decor8 awhile ago, but these photos below are so much better! You can shop for Shan Annabelle Valla’s work online in her web store, so enjoy!
I dare you not to buy all of those cute little vases! Eek! Design crush alert! And did you see these porcelain button earrings over here? OH MY!
(images: Shan Annabelle Valla)
I like the whole “dip” trend happening out there. Dipped baskets, jars, linens, clothing, curtains, spoons, plates… If you can dip it you can do it! Here are some pretties from Milk Farm Road that may inspire you today. Milk Farm Road is owned by the talented Heather Chontos who wears three hats as stylist, artist and consultant who lives in Montana. Well, she has more hats – she teaches, is a great photographer, a blogger… The list goes on and on. But let’s focus on some of her work below because I find it really relaxed and pretty.
Use the rest of the paint to make pretty napkins…
Neon paint, eek! Love!
Have you ever tried this dip look? Maybe you have a basket or a jar or a spoon that you could apply a similar look to?
What do you think about the whole dip trend? I love it and hope it lasts for awhile… Even though I’ve seen it for a few years now, it still feels really fresh to me.
I found this originally on Pinterest via The Lifestyle Editor who has a fab interview with Heather on her blog. Thanks LE for this tip!
(images: heather chontos)
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