Jeu de Paume Decorating: London Vintage

I've talked about the quirky-yet-appealing Jeu de Paume books before.
From this website, "PAUMES is a small and dynamic family-run Japanese publishers, working in close contact with artists and designers in Europe on different editorial projects. With a poetic and original approach, édition PAUMES explores the environments of those who stimulate the creative industries, and in doing has produced a set creative "bibles" that overflow with inspiration."
Newest edition: London Vintage
See more jeu de paume books, pictures and how to order here

Bookmarked: she.likes.cute Kawaii Crafts

I have so many blogs bookmarked that I would be embarassed to tell you how many.

I thought I might share some with you, my lovely readers.
From she.likes.cute's blog:
The girl behind she.likes.cute is Alenka Wagenaar. She is a crafter, designer and illustrator who lives in Deventer, the Netherlands. This blog is all about the cute things in her life.

Jeu de Paume Decorating

There is something very appealing to me about the jeu de paume style of decorating.

I've never been fortunate enough to own one of the beautiful Jeu de Paume books but I've seen them all over the Internet. I could spend hours looking through them.
They are published in Japan and the colorful style is beautifully photographed.

I am planning to redecorate the spare room on the third floor. It was my son's room and now I want to fix it up for the children so they can have their own space when they stay over. I can really do anything I want up there because it is completely separate from the rest of the house.

I am really looking forward to creating a space that can be fanciful and colorful and magic and that they will love.

So, here is some jeu de paume inspiration for your enjoyment, randomly picked out of the blogosphere. Click on each photo to go to the source.

There's also a Flickr group devoted to this style of decorating called Jeu de Paume Inspired.

Creative Organizing: Day of the Week Tags

What a simple yet creative idea for organizing your children's (or your own) clothing!

Just think how much easier your mornings will be when you have a whole week's worth of outfits ready to go!
Great for moms.
Here's an idea: If you have a little one who likes to pick our her own outfits, you could do this one night at a time for the next day. This way there's no taking all morning to put an outfit together.

Bonus: These tags are available as a free download here:

Living Locurto's creative organizing free printable day of the week tags.

Great blog, too!

Bag Love

Love this bag found at Kase-Faz.

Blumshen's Easter Shop

I just love visiting Blumshen. They always have great things for the holidays and this year's Easter goodies are no exception.
They have a wide range of decorations and supplies. Easter grass (real paper) in several different colors, papier mache eggs, dye kits and lots of other cool stuff.

The Spring Hare's Special Delivery is a candy container. The rabbit's head comes off, the cart is a container and the little chick is also a container.

 Aren't the little animal picks cute? They come 144 to a pack.

The chick cut-outs are lacquer-painted cardboard with hand-painted details. Made from German molds from the 1930s.

If you've found some Easter items or crafts you would like to share with my readers leave me a comment!

Blumshen's Easter Shop
The Spring Hare's Special Delivery Candy Container: $194
Animal Party Picks - 144 pieces: $13.50
Chick Cut-Outs - Pkg of 8: $30

Sweet Paul's Tea Pot Lamp

Paul Lowe, aka Sweet Paul, made this funky Alice in Wonderland" themed lamp from tea pots he collected at flea markets.

I love it when people make something functional from things that are not what they were originally intended for.

Paul made this lamp for Country Living and their website has complete instructions for how to make this lamp yourself.
And by all means you must check out Paul's blog. It's one of my favorites (see some others in the left column). Absolutely inspirational and Paul is a hoot!

Country Living
Sweet Paul
How to make this lamp.

Recycled CD Case Light Cubes

Here's a great idea for using up some of your old CD cases.
I found this idea on the Design Mom blog. Images are printed on vellum-type paper so that they are translucent and they light will shine through.

Great idea.

Details on how-to here.

Kindergarten Bags: Design by Gina

Design by Gina is a German shop with lots of great clothing and accessories for children but what caught my eye were these cute Kindergarten Bags. The bags are nylon and machine washable. Each bag is handmade and comes in 5 color choices. I love the Baby Bambi one and the Concrete Mixer for little boys (or for little girls who like construction equipment).

Design by Gina Shop
Kindergarten Bag Baby Bambi: $35 Euros
Kindergarten Bag Concrete Mixer: $35 Euros

Gina also has a blog.

Zakka Sewing

Zakka Sewing is a beautifully photographed and illustrated book. The best part: it's in English!
The book features projects submitted by 25 Japanese zakka makers.
I've loved looking through many Japanese craft books like Cotton Time and Cotton Friend and lots of others online.
I have never been fortunate enough to own one, though I would love to. I have done a few projects that I've found online, like this little felt book and this little yoyo puppy.
It was fairly easy to figure out the Japanese instructions because they are so well drawn and photographed.
But now no interpretation is necessary!
Etsy has published an entire tutorial, including patterns, for this sweet linen wrist pincushion, which is one of the projects from the book.
You can also visit the Zakka Sewing website to see more about the book andthe authors and find instructions on several other projects, including this too-cute-for-words squirrel teapot cozy shown on the cover.

Zakka Sewing, by Therese Laskey (of Softies Central) and Chika Mori.
Photos by Yoko Inoue
Book available at Amazon where it's listed for $16.47

Wire Art

I came across this most interesting site, De Beaux Souvenirs. This woman makes the most amazing things with wire! Gorgeous lamps with wire and linen, wire baskets and crowns. They are some of the most unique decorative items I have ever seen and each is a piece of art.
Isn't this wire Bingo basket cool?
The little lamp with the airplane is one she made for her baby son. Be still my heart.
The Sphere Lamp is for sale here. $375
Wire Bingo Basket for sale here. $116

Q's So Cute it Hurts Handmade

I love finding new blogs and I love it more when bloggers find me!
JQLine (from Maylasia) found me through Flickr! and I'm glad she did. She makes adorable hand-crafted items and her blog, Q's So Cute It Hurts, is a lot of fun and - cute!.
Check out these elephant coasters.
And how cute is this little bunny house key holder.
Love these? She also has an Etsy shop where you can purchase her items.

Thanks for finding me, JQLine!

Valentine's Fun with Matchboxes

This is probably one of the most popular links in Blogland but I thought I would post it any way because:
1) This graphic is so visually pleasing
2) It is a fun project
3) It is an easy project (you could do this with kids)
4) I love matchbox projects (I did some clay-wrapped boxes for Christmas stocking stuffers.)
Thanks to Inchmark for this terrific Valentine's Day project!
Link and instructions here.

Vintage Christmas

These little girls are just adorable. They are from 1978 and were made in Hong Kong.

These are plastic and normally I'm not a huge fan of plastic ornaments but these are just too cute. I think they look Scandanavian or German.
What do you think? Sweet.

Amy Butler Snow Mum Pillow

I am constantly amazed at the generosity of bloggers. This is a perfect example. Amy Butler has provided free instructions for making this pillow. You can download the full pdf file here.

Paper Halloween Wreath

Scrumdilly-Do put this paper Halloween wreath together with her kids. It's just paper, paint, glue and cardboard and looks super easy. Great for something to do with your kids. For the complete how-to, click here.

Tutorial: How to Make this Lovely Fabric Corsage

Want to make one of these?
They're simple, quick, fun and even something you can do with your kids.
Thanks to Molly Chicken for the tutorial. A friend of hers bought something similar to this, which she took apart to figure out how to make.

By the way, take a few more minutes to read through her blog. Her British humor is such a pleasure! She claims she can't write but I laugh at nearly all of her posts. She's also EXTREMELY talented and willing to share. Have fun!

Wish Come True Toys

Also from FredFlare are these "Wish Come True" mini figures. They are simple yet so appealing. They are weighted at the bottom and make a chiming noise when moved. I want all six!

Wish Come True Mini Figures from FredFlare: $9 each

Almost Wish it Would Rain...

...so I could use one of these too-too cute umbrellas. Each one of these little "dolls" wears a different rain coat and boots outfit.

Rain Parade Mini Umbrella from FredFlare: $32

Bramble Mushroom Nightlight

How much do you love this little night light?
It's from White Rabbit England. The original Bramble nightlight is available with either a red or blue top. You know I love red polka dots. There's Bramble the Elf with his friends, lizard hedgehog and mole. Look out for the little white rabbit hiding somewhere amongst the foliage! (You can just barely see it in this photo.)

Bramble Toadstool Nightlight: $45 Euros