I'm such a liar! I couldn't lift myself to blog during Christmas because I was a. too stuffed with food. Honestly at one point I thought they might as well stick me in the oven because I have all the right ingredients for the perfect stuffing already inside of me. Ugh, why do we eat so much during those days? And b. all the food weighed me down so I couldn't get off the sofa without the help of a forklift truck and we don't have one.

We spent Christmas eve with my brother and his girlfriend and the first day of Christmas at my parents in law. On the second we stayed home called my mum and grandmother and watched all the DVD's we gave each other for Christmas. I also received books, board games, a rubber duck and a babushka snowman.

Marné sent me these cute favor box houses from Martha Stewart Crafts for our third Annual Christmas Swap. I used them for the Bo's nieces and nephews and stuffed them with mini mars and twix bars and little plastic animals. They were a hit!

I hope you had a good one too!

It's almost Christmas!!

I want to wish all of you, east, north, west, south, summer or winter, a very merry Christmas. You've been tremendously generous with your compliments this year and I can't be grateful enough for that. Oh what the hell I'm going to throw in a little I love you!!

I've decided to blog through Christmas as we are going to spend the Christmas at other people's homes. I thought you might like to know how my family lives and decorates for Christmas. So do check back!!

Card by PaPaYa via Kathleen
Christmas cracker by me and the blue paper is by Amy Butler via Marné

This is the "real" tree in the living room. It's the radical little sister of the big "fake" tree in the dining room. It's a little bit like me and my sister, not so tall and well figured, some rough edges here and there, dressed colorful and oddly instead of being perfect. But most of all, lovely to smell ;o)

Above the tree the famous "keep calm and carry on poster". I bought my copy here but you can buy it all over the place. Victoria sells some pretty colors to match your interior. We have the poster next to our big front window and you can actually see it very clearly from the outside when you pass the window. I love the text so much as for a lot of people stand still in front of this window and try to peep inside. I once was hovering under the window and made a sudden upright position and I was eye in eye with this woman who stood pressed with her face in front of the window. It scared the hell out the both of us. So in a way I like to say to people who pass our bright and colorful window "keep calm and carry on".

Here a close up of the German Weihnachtspyramide that's on the table. The heat of the candles makes the propellers spin and that way the heat will spin the nativity around. It's pretty nifty! I bought this one in Germany on a weihnachtsmarkt (boy I love those) but you can find beautiful pieces on eBay too. The German really know how to throw a good Christmas!

That's it for today, more Christmas news coming soon. Also thank you for the lovely birthday wishes :o)

The big "fake" tree is up, Christmas 2007 has officially started at my home!!

This year I moved the 'the village' from the mantle to the chest of drawers in the dining room. The Bo did the art direction, mountain work and moon and star mobile staging and I constantly said "oh that's cute, that is so cute". We tried to put Christmas lights in all the houses but we couldn't find a string of lights that weren't so near to one another, so we decided that the people with the lights out are just not at home. Ah I love the new location of the village.

Last night I celebrated my 33rd birthday. My friends, Myra and Auk, ended up staying the night because Myra drank too much and Auk missed the last bus home. We had so much fun pulling out mattresses and blankets it felt like we were back in high school. We should do this more often as adults, it gives so much comfort and love. I can't explain it but it just feels so damn special to have people in my life who really, really like me just for who I am. It was a special birthday this year.

More decoration news coming soon!! Because I've only just started ...

I used random.org to select the winners for the Christmas Giveaway and here they are:

#7 Malin
#74 Daria Lall

And a bonus
#133 SierraMoon

Congratulations!

Thank you soooooo much for all your lovely, heartfelt, sincere comments. I'm humbled and speechless. I've printed all the comments to put in my scrapbook. Thank you, thank you. If I win the lottery's jackpot next week I'm going to send all of you some wrapping paper.

As a big THANK YOU to all the readers of my blog and for all the people who send me lovely e-mail, I'd like to do something special.

So ... ta da ...

I've never held a competition on my website before partly because I don't believe in competition (to the annoyance of my husband when we watch the football) but I can't send all of you two rolls of wrapping paper.

Some simple rules:
leave a comment, any comment, even those who never comment. I'll pick randomly two commenters on Monday December the third at sunset. I'll send two rolls of wrapping paper, I used for this post and seen in the top picture, each to the winners. DO NOT forget to add your e-mail address and name in the comment window. If I pick you and you don't have a name or e-mail address included in your comment I can't send you your price and I'll pick another commenter. Do not e-mail me. The partridge in a pear tree is not included, I must be strict!!

In other news!

Lori from the Inspiration Boards Blog interviewed me and it's up now. I'd love to read your comments over there too :o)

Have a lovely weekend, more Christmas stuff on Monday. Oh people this is MY MONTH!!!!

I'm officially ready for Christmas but Christmas isn't officially ready for me. The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of December so it's rather a crime to put up any Christmas decorations before the 5th.

So lovely Jenny made me happy with her elf clog pattern because that keeps me occupied and kind of distracts me from the boxes in the attic that softly whisper my name ... Yvonne ...Yvonne ... Yvonne!! It's dreadful and I don't understand why I'm so influenced by the outside world and why I let other people boss me around about what or what not to decorate and most importantly when I decorate. It must be a tradition that's stuck somewhere in my genetic gene ... DO NOT decorate before the 5th of December because you'll cause a terrible epidemic of a horrible virus to spread the nation - Chrismasporadoxion perhaps???

I'm going loopy but that happens if you know that true Christmas people already have four trees up while I'm stuck with some ornaments in the chandelier and two wrapped presents - that are not even for me!!

So thank you Jenny for giving me something to do and for this lovely, lovely pattern. You also must check out the Elf Clog Flickr group it's fun!!

Tablecloth fabric
Wrapping paper and bows

I just quickly, shamelessly want to plug Velda Pond's Decole shop because I can't get enough of the cuteness she sells.

Look at that apple jar in the top photo. The little worms, that are inside the jar, are chopstick holders - how cute is that? I still haven't used them but the apple is already such a lovely attribute in the kitchen. I use the mushroom bucket as a fruit bowl. It's so easy for taking to the breakfast table, each time I walk around with the mushroom bucket stuffed with my favorite fruit (mandarins) I feel a little bit like little red riding hood.

Velda's Decole Flickr page
Velda's Shop (it's still growing)

Bullerbyn

We just got back from a lovely trip to Sweden. This time we visited Småland and it's definitely my favorite part of Sweden, but I said that before. It really is such a magical part of Sweden I can't describe it. Even in winter with everything covered in snow, it's magical. Maybe it's because Astrid Lindgren lived here and left trails of things that were so important in my childhood such as Bullerbyn getting alive or actually touching Pipi's lemonade tree. For the first time I set foot in Lönneberga and although it's not the place Emil i Lönneberga was actual filmed, it felt like it.

Astrid Lindgrens Värld

The highlight of this trip was definitely Astrid Lindgrens Värld in Vimmerby and not just because everything is "too cute" but also because we were the only visitors in the park! We felt like two crazy kids running around because we were having everything for our own not knowing where to start.

Lotta's House

The Lovely girl who worked there even had to push the button to the new Seacrow Island ride for us alone. It was mental but so much fun. I think I never giggled and ooh-ed and aa ah-ed that much about something so childishly silly. I loved it!!

Lotta's Room Left

Lotta's room inspired me so much and I almost felt a little at home when I entered the room they created in the yellow house Lotta lived in.

Lotta's Room Right

Makes me really want to paint something blue in my house.

I can recommend Småland in winter because there are zero tourists, well just two crazy people without proper winter clothes from The Netherlands.

At last a real book club entry, it's been a while!

Independent London

Read Helen Evans review

This is one nifty little book. It's detailed, organized and easy to pop in your bag. For frequent visitors and travelers this is a great book to have next to your travel guide. The book is categorized by sort of shop (health, art, home, entertainment, fashion, flowers and food) and boroughs with easy maps and a travel planner. I can't wait to use it.

Amy Butler's Midwest Modern

Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk

Even if Amy would make a book about spit I know I'm going to love it. Every little thing she does is magic! In Amy's Midwest Modern Amy takes you to her home and shows you around her house. Ever wonder what her kitchen looks like or her husband's studio?, get this book. The photos are beautiful and the atmosphere of the book is magical. I just love to leave the book open so that I constantly can have a little glance when I pass by. My top favorite this year!

Jamie at Home

Not yet available in the US

Hmm, really that's the first thing I want to say about this book. It's a hmm book, don't know if I like it but I do really like it. I did expect just a little bit more than just an ordinary cookbook. It's also a little bit more because Jamie gives good tips on how to grow your own food but than again when I watched the show Jamie is being cheeky because he's having a posh gardner who's growing all the food and doing all the gardening. And he's also showing some graphic photos of freshly shot bunnies and pheasants and I do have a bit of a problem with that. I do love all the recipes and I really like the layout and art direction blah, blah, blah ... but, hmm. You don't have to buy it if you don't want to but if you're a Jamie addict like me you should get it to make your collection complete.

The Gentle Art of Domesticity

Not yet available in the US

It's a wonderful, useful, colorful, informative and happy book just like Jane's blog, Yarnstorm, is. If you like her website, you'll love her book. Don't let the negative critics fool you because it's just again a life choice and a way of living. This book is all about that and it just lovely.

Cup
Plastic Cakelace Coaster

If I could make a town I could live in and pick all the people who'd live there too, I'd definitely pick Helen from Little Doll Face to be one of my neighbors. If she was one of my neighbors I think she would've invited me to her graduation tea party because I love to eat cakes and have a cup of tea from a GreenGate teapot and she would've known that. I'd buy her a Russian nesting doll to put on her beautiful shelves. Yes Helen's blog is one to hug!

Helen also left us a little message and I think we should check this out because it sure looks good;

I thought I would drop you a comment because I came across a book the other day that I thought that you and all your readers would like. It's called 'Independent London' . It is a collection of the most wonderful and independent shops that London has to offer. It is truly lovely, but I don't seem to have time to blog lately so I thought I'd make my recommendation here.

Helen

I just bought a copy and I can't wait to review it.

Talking about books, I have a new book of the month up. I'm still reading it but so far it's really good, inspiring and makes me want to move back to the country even more. I've also set up an Amazon.co.uk aStore for people living in Europe with lots more books I own and love.

ps: thank you for buying a pattern, it's been lovely so far and I hope I get to see some photos of some covers soon! It's still for sale over here or click on the little button in the menu on your right.

Hold your e-mail!

Just a quick post to let you know that you'll be able to buy the Skruvsta pattern after the weekend. I've found a way to get it on paper. I only need to get it under a mega copier and write the instructions, I'll be doing that this weekend.

Have a good one :o)

Update!

The pattern is now available in the shop (there's also a little button in the menu). Sorry about the price raise but with the USD being so low and the Euro so high I really have no option, I hope you understand.

This is how I spent my weekend, trying to brighten up the landing and the study by painting some furniture and doing some oilcloth on table stabling.

It was just such a glorious autumn day. The sun was shining, clear blue skies and it was actually really hot so I could work with the windows open. What a little light can do to a picture.

I painted the armoire in glossy Nursery Pink by Cath Kidston and for the inside I used water based eggshell in All White by Farrow & Ball.

I painted the table, I use as a desk, in glossy Nursery Blue and I used Dotty oilcloth by CK for the top. Don't be fooled by the colors on her website because this oilcloth is really, really white and not off white as shown on her site. Most of the fabrics on her site show quite yellowy, I recommend to get a free swatch before you order fabric. The swatches are also a lot of fun because they are quite big and if you save up a bunch you can make a really pretty patchwork quilt - but don't tell her!

And as a final touch, I lined the shelves in the armoire with the leftovers of the oilcloth.

Boy I had some good old fashioned fun. I love projects like this but I'm getting through them. This house is almost completely done and it may sound weird, because they say you're never done, but it's really true. I can't add anything or I should drastically change everything but I'm really happy with the results so I think I need to move!

Red fling cabinet
Pink chair
Blue Tubtrug
Turquoise planner
Dress and Bags

Here's some news about the a long waited slipcover pattern for the Ikea Skruvsta chair I've made many moons ago. I'm not such a pattern girl. I always make something that fits the object and forget to actually make a pattern. But after I literally withhold someone to go to the Ikea because I wouldn't give her the pattern and about a dozen e-mails later I decided to rip my cover appart and make a pattern.

The only way I can give you this pattern is to make a fabric pattern. I'm not sure if all Skruvsta chairs are identical so by making a fabric pattern you can stitch it first, fit it and if necessary make alterations before you make one with the actual fabric. I first want to check how many people are actually interested, now that I ask money for the pattern, before I start taking orders.

What you get for $15

• one white fabric pattern fit to size
• sewing instructions
• worldwide postage (most expensive)

Please leave a comment if you're interested or despertly want one or send me and e-mail. By the end of this week I'll decide if I go for it.

I can't believe how the prices change so much per country for this little chair. In the UK $181, in the US it's $129, in Sweden $106 and in The Netherlands we just pay $97. And it's not even a comfortable chair and if you spin too hard the seat comes off - already happened in my house. But it's a great decoration piece, a great chair if you're short in seating (just tell your guests not to spin) and it's such a nice alternative for a desk chair.

I'm looking forward to your comments.

For those who haven't noticed, the R is back in the month. That post reminds me I should plant my bulbs for spring!

I so love this time of year. There's nothing better to dress to get warm as to undress to get cold. I've been wearing my Uggs again for a week now and it feels so good. I'm taking long bike rides twice a week and I love how the trees change color and the fallen branches and leaves on the cycle path. I love mittens, scarves, hats and the tits (as in birds, not my tits because that would be crazy, cold and a neighborhood scandal) in the garden.

Anyway let's get to the topic of this post and that's Amy Butler and her cute Gum Drop Pillows. A couple of weeks ago I bought the Gum Drop Pillows pattern but I've been laying it aside not really knowing if I was ever going to make one at all because I honestly do not need any more pillows or cushions in my home. But today I decided to make one just for kicks and I absolutely love them. I need more. I made a small one (the pattern includes a large and a small version) but I also need a large one. I need one for in the bedroom, one for in the new guest room and I might as well make one for all the rooms in the house because they are fantastic! I definitely want to make one with Amy fabric.

For this one I used left over material from the pet bed.

I'm going to make some of her floor pillows too to mix and match. I'm off to find some Amy fabric!!

Thank you so much for the your comments on my previous post. I really enjoyed reading them all, they are extremely therapeutic. I'm so chuffed about the comments I get in general, they are so long, heartfelt, sincere and intelligent. It feels like a have a whole bunch of new friends I can discuss things with and I don't even know you all.

I just feel like hugging my screen each time I get a lovely comment and I sometimes feel quite frustrated that I can't do anything back. So I baked you a heart shaped pear pie.

This pie is really easy to make, just follow these simple directions and you'll be ready to stuff your face in no time.

Preheat your oven to 180 °C (350F)

Peel the pears, toss them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

To make a perfect pie crust follow this recipe:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Bake for an hour

Serve with whipped cream, vanilla, cinnamon or pear ice cream or if you want to go nuts serve all on on big plate. Make sure the pie is hot for the extra yummy factor.

Enjoy!

The dish is by Emile Henry and the tea towel by CK.

Thanks so much for your tips and good advice concerning Mona.

Mona moved to a friend of us who's not having a very spoiled, fat and who think she's a princess cat living with her. The problem wasn't really Mona because she is fantastic. They say chows are difficult dogs, I think they are the best. I had her housetrained in two days, she was an absolute star at night and overall a really lovely happy little puppy. But yes we have a really odd relationship with our cat and we simple can't function well if the Boo isn't functioning well. So when our friend begged us to let her take Mona, after her own dog passed away, we simply couldn't resist to have things back to normal. And literally back to normal because just two hours after Mona left the building princess BooBoo Consuela Banana Hammock was back in her old routine like as if nothing ever happened ... "a puppy, what where? Oh that's a lovely basket ... for me?". It's my fault I've spoiled her rotten.

We still get to see Mona grow up and we're at my friends house often to play wit her and if Boo lets us we'll have her over for a pajama party. So it's not really goodbye!

The other day I found her sleeping in my strawberries. Boy, I love that cat!

Because of all my complaining I received my first negative comment.

I think that you are complaining a lot. I mean, a little puppy? How about 5 children! I guess you live a very comfortable life without any dutys, taking naps, watching telly and reading magazines. Anonymous | 09.10.07 - 3:53 pm | #

I'm really happy with this negative comment because it makes me realize how fortunate I am not to have to deal with five children. Man alive that would make a pretty interesting blog if I had five children!! It's a very good life choice for me not to have them because I know I don't do that well. I know I'm good at lots of other things and that's why I do them. Sometimes I have to try something new to know if I can or can not do it. I love to write about these things on my blog because I know we all struggle with these things. Some are big, some are small but all as important. I do hope that this anonymous commenter made the life choice that best suits her and that she isn't afraid to sometimes fail miserably, just like I (we all) do!

I've started all kinds of odd jobs in and around the house because I really need to get my mind of our current pet situation, it's grim people!

One of them is this roman blind I've made for our indoor patio. When we moved to this house I quite quickly decided not to use expensive fabric for curtains because we have massive windows and really high ceilings. I only splurged on fabric for the dining room curtains because my mother agreed to partial fund the fabric towards a birthday present (she's good at that). I tried to find affordable fabric for the rest of the house. I'm still pleased with my choices. For the living room I picked white linen curtains from Ikea and for the kitchen and indoor patio I picked cheap cotton red/white gingham fabric.

To add some color and to hide the white pencil pleat curtain heading tape (I didn't line the curtains) I made this wee roman blind of the same print I wallpapered on my kitchen walls.

I used the guidelines in this book by Katrin Cargill. It's a lovely book and extremely useful. There are so many wonderful projects in this book you immediately want to do. I feel so tempted to make my own eiderdown for the attic guestroom we are working on. It's really a "aarrggh, where can I put 50 million cushions because they are all so cute in this book" book. Anyway I've made it the book of the month and you can buy it in my aStore.

I'm so sorry for not updating my blog a little more frequent but I'm busy getting used to some changes in my life. Since a couple of days we have a teeny tiny blue chow living with us called Mona and she has changed the way I go about my day entirely.

Being a single married woman (SMW) I spend a lot of time on my own during the day. This makes me very selfish. I can watch the telly, go shopping, play computer games, eat and sleep whenever I want and never really have to worry about someone else. During the hours when the Bo is home he perfectly blends in with the way I live and that's been working great for the past nine years. To be honest, I find it difficult but I'm trying hard to adjust. Am I the only one here or is this normal for first time dog owners?

I'm really happy Mona sort of gets along with the Boo (they sniffed each other today without the Boo slapping Mona - yay!) and that they give each other space. The Boo's favorite spot in the house is our bed so I actually think she's having a ball now I've moved her food upstairs, there's no good reason to come downstairs at all!

With new pets, new furniture comes along. Not being a lover of tartan, corduroy, canvas and Muppet skin I turned to my sewing room and whipped up this pet bed for Mona and Boo - I hope they are going to share eventually.

I've made a beanbag kind of base for the pet bed from white cotton duck because it's strong and also my favourite fabric to work with. I stuffed it with EPS (expanded polystyrene) pearls and made a separate slipcover of Cath Kidston fabric I can take off and put in the washer. I also made another cover from a darker fabric for in the car, to take with me on holidays or when she's going on a sleepover.

I'm willing to take custom orders for these pet beds. As they are super lightweight I can ship them quite reasonably. Just drop me a note with your wishes (size and fabric) and I'll send you a quote.

I've been pampered by my online friends this month.

Kathleen sent me the beautiful cards she designed for Papaya. Sally sent me the beautiful pencil cup, a new Martha and a new magazine I found out about, Organize, but Sally and I both agree that it's not worth buying. Thank you girls, the cards match the pencil cup so well that I have a bit of a problem separating them.

I've found Tamar's enchanting blog a little while ago and I've been visiting ever since. I bought one of her dream catchers in her Etsy shop. I hung it on a glass door in the kitchen and it's lovely. Thank you Tamar!

And last, but definitely not least, is Charlotte's package of utter happiness and Christmas cheer. I didn't photograph the box because I was too eager to unwrap everything. Charlotte wrapped all the goodies she sent me in brown paper with string and added a little note to each package. To see the whole loot click here. She also made me the two beautiful bags in the picture above. I absolutely love everything she sent me and I really appreciate her thoughtful notes. Awwwh sweet Charlotte.

I'd really appreciate if you click on all the links I've included because they take you to great women and their great creations. I feel I live a full life knowing these women.

I didn't want to complain about how awful my life is because I get two nasty e-mail so now and then, I'm just such a horrible complainer. Man alive you should see me at the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon, that's nothing compared to the previous post. So as a big thank you to the readers and senders of lovely e-mail and comments, and to those who think it's funny, I have a little gift.

A translation of the Ariadne spread in English. Yay!

And you have Ulla to thank you for. Her comment on the previous post made me laugh so I decided to have a go at it this afternoon.

"You may be pissed now - I know you don't like anyone being "clever" on your behalf - but I'm risking it: couldn't you do a translation of the Ariadne-article into english and make it possible to buy like you did with some embroidery a little while ago?"

A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SENT ME LOVE MAIL, IT MADE MY MOTHER WEEP!!

So what's up?

I took a little unannounced blog-o-holiday because I needed one. I got a bit fed up with some e-mail I received, as you may know I'm quite sensitive about my e-mail, so I just didn't feel like updating. I don't like it if people ask me bluntly "are you going to post something new soon?" or push me to do something. I'm not good at dealing with that.

But I'm back celebrating the last month of the summer we probably never going to get and that makes me happy. It's not been a bad summer for me personally and I'm actually really happy for people who plan their summer holidays in March because they get their money's worth. It's such a waste to leave the country to spend two weeks on a French campsite when it's tropical hot at home. At least now they're able to say "oh we had such a lovely weather, I heard that it rained here most of the time" - arrrghh!!!

I've been playing around in the kitchen, mostly working on my baking. I baked blueberry muffins with blueberries I picked from my own garden.

I've also made a mucky mat from Cath Kidston oilcloth.

It's really useful because I can roll it out put all my mucky baking stuff on it, wipe it clean, roll it up again and put it in the kitchen drawer.

I've decided to start a little shop and sell useful kitchen stuff I use myself from CK scarps. Watch out for that. Oh and aren't you proud of my muffins?

Oops I forget to tell you where I got some of the items. The jugs are by GreenGate, the muffin liners I bought at the Hema, a Dutch department store, the pictured DVD is The Royal Tenenbaums and the mucky mat is by me soon available in The Yvestown Shop.

The Ariadne At Home I'm featured in dropped on my floor mat yesterday morning and I cried, of course I did!! During my ugly cries I called the Bo to tell him how lovely it is and how super happy I am but he actually thought I was in pain in an ambulance.

The best thing about the feature is the big pink caption "I'm a real Cath Kidston fan" like yes, please rub it in. I love Roselle's interview, the pictures and how they used the green and pink all over the spread - my two favorite colors. It's really, really me don't you think?

You can download the PDF of the spread by clicking here. Don't forget to download Adobe Reader if you haven't already.

Oh and "Hallo" to the people that browsed here via Ariadne, welcome to my little blog!

When we bought this house in 2003 there was no kitchen, well there was a dodgy counter with a sink in it and some hot water tank hanging above it and some stoves were left and a very smelly fridge, but nothing quite Yvestown-esque (ha ha, I read this over here and I love it, thanks so much for turning me into something esque)

This is the sight of the kitchen when we took all the mess out and after the stucco people left - man alive do they make a mess!

With a very tight budget we found this kitchen on eBay for no money and remodeled it and painted it white to fit our kitchen.

Now a couple of years later we decided that we are grownup enough to spend grownup money on a ridiculously expensive fridge. You should know that I have different prices for everything when I tell my mother how much I spent on stuff. It's always 50% off and I always bought it on sale. But I really couldn't cheat with the baby blue Smeg we bought. You should've heard the howl she made after I told her the price when she asked me if it was ok to give a donation towards the fridge for the Bo's birthday.

Before the Smeg could enter our kitchen we had to make some changes.

I decided that we needed new counters, the old (build-in) fridge needed to go and I had to do some new shelving arrangements.

The bookshelves were a later addition so I wanted to level the work tops and replace them with oak.

Here's the result. New Ikea (abstrakt) counters, a leveled work top and less shelves.

Oh and of course room for the baby bleu Smeg!

***

As I get so many email asking me where I bought this and that, I've decided to include as much info on the bottom of each post as from today. I can't impossibly write down everything and link to everything so you'll have to email me only if you really, really must!!

I bought the Yummy letters over here, the wallpaper and red clock are by Cath Kidston, the sink, work top and counters by Ikea and the china is Greydawn by Johnson Brothers.

Let me tell you about Fred Harris, because this is unique. He's a Cath Kidston fan, a hoarder, a cushion freak and does a mean camping trip. He mailed me a couple of weeks ago regarding my site and included the most fantastic camping pictures I've ever seen. He went out camping with his wife and did it the shabby chic way. This makes camping appealing. Although I'm still not one for sharing a shower with 200 people.

Please visit his site because you'll instantly love him. I'm so happy to have found another man in my life who's not afraid to show his compassion for cushions and Cath Kidston. Speaking of CK, summer sale started over there!!

In other news, yvestown is the blog of the week over at Decor8. I'm so delighted and excited Holly picked me.

Have a lovely weekend!!

We finally found a replacement for the HORRIBLE IKEA LAMP. The Norm 03 by Normann Copenhagen won me over after the Bo convinced me he would put the lamp together (it's a bit of a job) I went for it and I love it. I do miss my HORRIBLE IKEA LAMP just because of the whole conversation it brought with it. The constant bickering in the house about a lamp is actually quite funny to me and all the hilarious comments left on that one post cracked me up. It's so interesting how we can look at one piece of furniture so differently.

As I never really showed all the corners of the bedroom before, it's always a little corner or the view from the bedroom door, I decided to make a little bedroom photo set over at Flickr for you to have a peek.

Thanks for the fun feedback and comments on my previous post. It made me laugh and I feel a little bit better about my addiction. Addictions are things that make you go hmmmm ... with magazines I want to get that one picture, or that one article that makes me go hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm!!

The key question is; "where do you keep your magazines?".

A year ago I started to file them. I file both Country Livings, Country Homes & Interiors, Elle wonen and Domino in here

and I also started to file the renewed 101 Woonideeën. As for the other mags, I keep them around the house and recycle them when I get to that point I can part with them or I give them to my neighbor to read.

Than there's the ever growing "to go through" pile on the chair in the dining room.

I keep my Mac Book there for quick resource. I like to go to a website that comes with an article immediately, so I read and browse at the same time - oh dear, I think I'm giving too much info here. Oh and on top of the Mac is a new Jeu de Paumes book, Stockholm's Garden - I love, love, love it!!

Next we are off to the best place to read and that's the loo. I keep this little GreenGate basket up there and it holds our "Loo Literature" as we call it aka The NG and the Quest.

I recycle those and stock up each month. That way we keep in track with new curtain linings, placebos and the world changing climate.

Next month I'm going to swap magazines with Charlotte in New Zealand and Sara in Australia. And, as you can imagine, I'm dying here. I've never swapped that far away before. I'm also going to be in a magazine next month. It might ruin the whole experience for me though ... flipping through a magazine and see my own house "hey I know that kitchen, where have I seen that before?".

There's no secret to that I'm an interior magazine junky. I have a subscription on Domino magazine, Country Living UK, Country Homes & Interiors UK, Ariadne at Home, Elle Wonen, Elle Eten and the 101 Woonideeën. I also frequently buy the VT Wonen, The English Home, Real Simple and Country Living USA. I occasionally get send Martha Stewart Living, Blueprint and BoligLiv. And I still try to search between the magazines in the newspaper stand to get more. I'm really embarrassed about this but it's my thing - we all have a thing don't we?

I think I'm the worst nightmare for most magazine editors because I'll read or flip through everything. Even if it's in Hebrew I'll have it. Being said so, they can't get away with publishing the same stuff at the same time because I'll know and I'll find out.

This month I was shocked in utter believe. Four of my favorite magazines run the same stuff but put it in different context.

First off is the Country Homes & Interiors (July 2007 issue) with this picture of a beautiful kitchen - very well styled, I love it

but in the Country Living UK a month before (June 2007 issue) there's the exact same kitchen, just differently styled

I nearly fell off my chair when Kristina sent me the BoligLiv (May/June issue) all the way from Denmark

to find out that the VT Wonen - a Dutch magazine - (June 2007 issue) are using the exact same pictures but just made a complete different story

I thought I lost it, they can't fool magazine junkies like me. I might as well bought one really fat magazine with all these pictures in it, just styled differently. "Look! this is what we can do with kitchen A and this is what we can do with outdoor shower B".

May this be a wise lesson, do never become a magazine junky because you'll end up looking at the same stuff just as my mother tells me all the time - arrrgghhh I hate she's right!

I've done something today that I never do ... I sat in the sun!! Yes people, I sat in the sun for an hour flipping magazines. I sat in the sun for an hour flipping magazines with my feet in a bucket of water, I sat in the sun for an hour flipping magazines with my feet in a bucket of water in my UNDERWEAR!!!

Mind me but it wasn't really a lovely little sun with a nice summer's breeze, it was a sweltering heat wave kind of "I'm going to get toasted" sun. And I sat in it ... I still can't believe it.

Boo tried to copy me but couldn't stand the heat with so much fur and fat. The temperature read 37 °C (98 F) in the shade - IN THE SHADE!! It's just crazy and I sat in the sun!!

This is an achievement and I think I need to be awarded. I who hates sun, who hates sitting down doing nothing for an hour, who hates sitting in underwear, who hates ... well I actually loved the feet in the bucket of water and the flipping magazines.

Something else I like to share (because I got tagged twice and have been trying to ignore it - hehe) 8 random bits about me:

1. I'm super emotional and well up at very odd moments. Like when a marching band starts to play music or when people applaud for a save landing or when one of the teachers from my old Au Pair child celebrated her last day at the nursery. It's super embarrassing sometimes and utterly inconvenient.
2. I'm attracted to imperfect people.
3. I've been a big Oprah fan for a long time until she said "eat whole grain" as if it was a revelation. That made me not believe her anymore.
4. I still have movie star crushes.
5. I do not believe in heaven or hell but I do want to go to a place full of kittens, free shopping and fat free yummy food when I'm dead.
6. I like celebrity gossip and know everything there's to know about Brad and Angelina.
7. I shower every day and clean my bedding every other day.
8. I do not like summers and I actually think I suffer from summer depressions. When the leaves start to fall from the trees I get happy and energetic. I do believe in a struggle and I feel you have to struggle harder in autumn and winter.

Recently I've been experimenting with my own embroidery patterns and I came up with these 3 little flowers. I saw something like it over at Rice but I just don't want to spend the money on something I can easily whip up myself.

I also turned them into a PDF file available for download. I do ask a little cash for it because ... well we have to support the art don't we? There's a green banner on top, you can click, pay $ 1.50 and download. Hope you like it!

Click on the image for a more detailed larger image.

We're back from a mini break to Sweden and we had a lovely... loooovely time. We went to visit Gästrikland this time and it's so far my favorite part of Sweden. We did a lot of driving around (1350 km) and we did a lot of egg eating. My dear, I've been eating an egg for breakfast a whole week and my stomach is really upset. It's a holiday thing isn't it? I never eat an egg at home but when I'm on holiday I can't seem to get enough of them.

I really envy all the people in all the lovely red and yellow homes I've passed the couple of days and I hope to join them one day.

Let's say that out of 10 e-mails I receive at least 8 of them contain the same question;

"how do you keep such a clean home with a husband?"

Yin

I have an extremely clean, tidy and organized husband and he doesn't want to be obstructive like (sorry I have to say this) most men do. He knows that what I'm doing and keeps me busy makes me happy and he doesn't want to interfere with me being happy. In general he doesn't like to behave as a man man much. He's not embarrassed to show his feminine side and I totally admire him for being like this. The Bo wouldn't function in a messy, unorganized home packed with kids and pets and dirty dishes. He needs to shower each day to feel good, he needs to dry the taps after his shower to feel good, he needs to change his outdoor shoes to his indoor shoes each time he goes in or out (it drives me crazy) to feel good. Living like this I could never go back to living with a caveman.

Yang

But (yes there's always a but because life isn't perfect like that is it?) in return, Bo is always rushing me and I feel at least 12 hours per day rushed by him. I need to shower fast, cook fast, pee fast, shop fast. He also needs a lot of attention and he's constantly silently asking for it. He's twitchy, jumpy and always going ... going ... going. Even when he sits down to paint he's moving around on his chair. He's extremely energetic, hardly ever sleeps and talks non-stop about things such as quantum theory. In a day he either breaks something, makes something really un washable dirty or he blows in my face when he laughs which I hate!

Conclusion

I'm trying to say that it's always something. We can't have the perfect mate. We need yin/yang, good/bad.

Each time when I wake up in the morning and I have to get out of the bed fast and brush my teeth fast, I'm happy I was introduced to him and that we work because that's all that matters.

A couple of days ago I got an email from a Dutch reader asking me about the embroidery on my pillow shams. Oddly enough I was picking up embroidery in the same week. With the Bo being in Rome for work and finding myself glued to the TV re-watching all the past Gilmore Girls seasons on DVD, I needed something to fiddle with. I bought Jenny Hart's book Sublime Stitching almost a year ago but never really played with it - do I regret that!!

I've been having so much fun I can't hardly stop.

I've made two cushions for on the sofa and chair in the living room with the Chinese lanterns.

And I'm working on this table runner.

I super recommend this book, I really super, super do - honestly I can't find an other word for it, highly is too lame. You might also like the Stitch It Kit by Jenny Hart. Both books come with iron on transfers. The stitch it kit is really good for if you starting out because it's filled with the necessary items such as a hoop, a needle, some DMC floss and a bunch of transfers.

Just a couple of weeks ago I discovered Charlotte - Hello Charlotte!! Discovering new blogs and new people is always such an excitement. To quote Proust (ah, doesn't that sound intellectual)

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Charlotte's "Once in a lifetime" post put me up a great idea. I'm always suffering from terrible hay fever this time a year and I throw so many paper towel and tissues away that I sometimes feel guilty for doing so. After a little searching I found a great lot of hankies on eBay. Late today I received them in the mail and spent washing and drying them.

I just felt like Charlotte for a moment.

"I think I need a cup of tea the world keeps turin, Oh what a day, what a day, what a day"

Do you know that line in the Erykah Badu song On & On? Well I felt like that about last week so it wasn't "Oh what a day" but rather "Oh what a week".

I've been away most of the week, fixing little silly things. Sorry to be so vague but when it comes to Bo's projects I can't tell much online - you know what I'm talking about, it's not his blog it's mine. It's sometimes really hard not to let myself go because there's so much more I want to write about but it's so off topic. I keep a homemaking blog not a political blog not a current affairs blog not a my sister is a cow for not telling me about an important meeting blog and most of all it's not a blog about a mad woman ranting.

It's a crazy world sometimes people, even for me. Some people might think that I wake up in the morning and everything is perfect. Let me assure you it's not. I do smell like death birds when I wake up and, for crying out loud, you should see my hair. It's actually possible for a little bird to nest up there. Things aren't always perfect and they don't have to be always perfect. And believing thinking that it always rewards me.

Like at the end of last week when I returned home from the awfulness and finding this lovely stack of pink and white in my postbox.

Sally and I planned to swap Moo cards ... and a whole bunch of other stuff. The Moo cards are actually so overshadowed by all the goodness Sally sent me. I couldn't resist to oooh and aaah out loud each time I opened yet another bundle wrapped perfectly and addressed with a little teaser sticker. Sally really is the queen of detail!! Beautiful!! Sally is opening her shop soon, read all about it here.

I just love how she used my two favorite colors, green & pink, all over this swap mixed with beautiful white.

Thank you Sally!

PS: those HORRIBLE IKEA LAMP comments made me giggle, thanks so much for being out there for me!!

Over the weekend Holly from the lovely Decor8 blog wrote a little post about me. I'm super flattered to be mentioned on such an inspiring blog like Decor8. Thanks Holly and thanks to all the people who left sweet comments on my Flickr pages and who sent me email. I can't believe how friendly people are. Thank you!!

One of the comments left on Decor 8 about my HORRIBLE IKEA LAMP cracked me up. I can assure, and maybe comfort you Melyna, my husbands finds it a HORRIBLE lamp too. Each time he walks in he's moaning about it. The other day a fly got caught in it and it made a terrible noise and he lost it. "That lamp is so ugly Yvonne, why on earth do we need to have this lamp? Oh God that fly is pooping all over it".

Well, I like the lamp. I like to throw some new stuff in the mix and this lamp so clashes with the rest of the room that in a sort of way it makes it a bit humorous.

My dream lamp for the bedroom is this one by Habitat. But since we don't have Habitats in The Netherlands anymore and because they're sold out in Belgium and because I keep forgetting to pick one up when I'm in the UK, I'll do with the HORRIBLE IKEA LAMP!!

The rose prints are Redouté replicas and the cat is mine!!

Thanks so much for the sweet and encouraging comments and emails regarding the magazine. You are really sweet!!

What have I been up to this week? I've been sewing crazy.

I bought all these pieces of CK discounted fabrics between November 2006 and now for all kinds of various little projects, but I've been too occupied with other things to get round doing these "odd" jobs. Oh yes tidy girls can make a mess too. Not for long though, I'm anxious cleaning everything up while I'm writing this post.

I've made this slipcover for my little Fifties leather sky chair. Boo went a little bonkers on the leather so it needed a cover. I bought this piece of fabric with Cherry two weekends ago in London. It was exactly 2 meters and 25% off. I love stuff like this. You all know how I love my slipcovers ( I only own two chairs in the whole house that are upholstered). So this one I can take off again and wash it when it needs to.

I also made these seating cushions for the chairs I have outside. I bought these Seventies wicker chairs at the local recycle store for just 5 Euro with a matching glass table. I used to have them indoors but after seeing Driving Lessons (buy it, it's fantastic) I put them outside.

I love them! Most of the day the sun is shining in this little corner, it's just lovely for relaxing, drinking a cup of tea and listing to the Driving Lessons Soundtrack, it's so good!

Ok I'm off. I need to clean that utility room otherwise the fabrics might take over the room, start a revolution, build barricades and I'll not be able to get in again.

Happy easter people :o)

a little magazine sneak peak photo

Today Roselle from Ariadne at Home magazine came over to my house to interview me for the photo shoot they're going to publish.

My mother used to buy the Ariadne when I was a little girl. Back then it was a creative do it yourself magazine with lots of patterns in it and not so much about interiors. I remember fantasizing of having my own home and decorating it and to be in a magazine one day .... eeeeeee I'm going to be in the Ariadne. It's still very surreal.

I've been talking about myself, my house, my Bo and my Boo for 3 hours in which I almost chocked because I apparently can't talk, drink tea and have a cream cake at the same time. It's weird to be talking about myself for such a long time without being cocky. I think there's no one interested in me talking about myself for so long. If someone would do that to me I'd ask them to shut up. So I've decided that I like interviews.

Roselle asked about the reason I blog, she asked if it's a sort of exhibitionism. It's not in my case. To me it's sharing and trying to inspire other people to decorate their homes and make everything pretty. I also like blogging because I can't bottle all these creative things up inside me so in another way this blog is my creative depot.

I'm super excited about this and I'm probably going to cry when I hold a copy in my hand because, well I cry at Flintstone episodes. For those who can get a copy of Ariadne at Home, it's going to be published in August and for those who can't get a copy, I'll make sure to add some scans to my site.

Ooooooh and look out for the Ariadne at Home Kids Special. It's coming out in just two days!! Meeting Pippi Longstockings in Sweden? That would be a dream come true.

Sorry for checking in at yvestown over the weekend and finding it's gone. How awful is my host for forgetting to invoice me to renew my domain name?

Last weekend I went to London to see Equus and to meet with Cherry form the Tales From Pixie Wood blog. I was a bit anxious meeting Cherry because it's like a blind date only with a woman who's interested in the same things and who's also a blogger. Cherry and I met at Liverpool Street Station and we hit it off straight away. My God that woman can talk, add that with another woman who can talk and you get this really crazy scene. We talked everywhere and we took talking stops. On the tube escalators, on the stairs of Cath Kidston on Marylebone High Street, at Wagamama, in the lobby of the hotel, it took us hours to get from one point to another because we had so much fun and so much to talk about. We only shopped at Cath Kidston where I picked up the fabrics (with 25% off - thanks Cherry for showing me that scrap basket) and I bought that crochet teapot cozy in Covent Garden the next day. The beautiful embroidered scented heart with my initial on it (my only one) is a gift from Cherry. You can find more of her goodies here. Cherry is absolutely someone I want to meet over and over again and - she knows what I'm going to say next because I only mentioned it about a 100 times - she has amazing teeth!!

Later that day I went to see Equus with Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe. I was so lucky to be on the second row. The play was amazing and I want to see it again. I have heard it's not sold out yet so if you're in London and you want to see a play go to Equus. Daniel Radcliffe is amazing for such a young actor and Richard Griffiths is just scary for how good he is. He acts like he's talking to you and I think that's brilliant. One silly thing that occurred to me is that Daniel is having really big feet for such a tiny chap. And the thing they say about men with big feet isn't true LOL!!

Good to be back!

FYI: cherry blogged about our meet up here.

Today is the Boo's sixth birthday. What to give a family member who doesn't understand the meaning of giving? This year, after spending years of giving her food she doesn't like, toys she doesn't play with and collars she hates, I've donated money to WSPA in her name. I think this is a great gift option for a cat who's super spoiled.

I'm going to be away this weekend but I'll be back with stories next week. Have a super good weekend.

Just recently I discovered that I have a lot of pink and green in my home. I've been trying for a color scheme with red, white, blue, pink and green but it seems pink and green are always the winners.

I used to hate the color green because it's my mother's favorite color. Not that I hate my mother now but I used to when I was 16. I just didn't understood how she could be my mother and not the queen as I found myself such a brilliant girl. My sweet moses I was such a horrible teenager. I don't know if you ever caught yourself doing this but sometimes that Spice Girls song "Mama" pops up in my head. I so didn't get my mother back than and I so do now. I do look like her more and more and I keep reminding the Bo that I'll eventually turn into her.

I've made a new Flickr group for the love of green and pink and you are welcome to join.

I like to take some time to plug some sites.

First I'd like to direct you to Brand a Dutch fashion line for little girls who like stripes, polka dots and the color red ... hmmm sounds a lot like I could be such a girl but I don't think I can wriggle my large bottom in such a tiny dress. Joyce Vloet, the photographer who did the photo shoot for my house, also made the photos for this website. Unfortunately everything is in Dutch but you still can order and custom make your own pretty dresses, pinnies, tops and shorts. Super cute!!

Next is the Fred Flare's Next Big Thing Extravaganza. I copied some text Mariko mailed me:

I'm super excited to let you know that our 3rd annual NEXT BIG THING contest is in full swing! This is a chance for all the craftsters and geniuses of the world to pitch their products to be featured and sold on fredflare.com! To make things even more exciting, this year there is a $1000 prize for the fred fan favorite! There's tonz more info here so check it out.

The housekeeping special link disappeared in the top menu and that's not your fault it's mine. I removed the link because I've decided to do something really special (to me) with all that housekeeping stuff I want to share. I'm going to try to publish it in book form. Doesn't that sound ambitious? I'll be working on it most of the year and I hope to get everything done before Christmas.

This is easy, you can try it at home!

I can't bake but I love to decorate. So when we were invited to come over for dinner at my friends house last night I wanted to get her kids something. I made these from pre-made cupcakes, ready made icing and used my food coloring paste and decorations to do the rest.

I started off the fancy way trying to make pretty swirls but it made a hell of a mess and the icing went too fast. In the end I just picked a knife and smeared the icing on top of the cupcakes. It was done in a jiffy and the ooh's and aah's when the kids opened that tin were absolutely worth all the mess that I made in my kitchen.

Try it, it's a great, cheap and simple gift to give.

Ta-da ... two new ones!

Thanks so much for your input it really helped. I mixed all the comments up and came to this.

I didn't have enough of the flowery fabric so I couldn't go reverse and to my liking it would turn out to be a little too crowed. I love my flowers, don't get me wrong, but too many flowers even make me a bit sick. Elizabeth's comment made me think; my walls are indeed blue so if I make bleu covers they might blend with the wall. I also love the rick-rack and red trim suggestion. I didn't want to put red rick-rack on the covers so I used white instead. I also love Gigibird's suggestion and I might try that out if I can find nice clear fabric. Kathleen suggested blue polka dots and I was having this big piece so it all worked out great. Thank you so much again.

Of course I'm not entirely happy with these covers because I rather not cover them at all. I'm not such a machinery kind of girl. I don't like big audio equipment or large wide screen TV's but I do love the sight of my sewing machines. They are nice and white and they give me so much pleasure.

Haloscan's been cheeky all day, I hope it will work out later today.

I've been planning to make a sewing machine cover for some time now because things get dusty in my utility room (boy I wish we had a Dutch word for that, I keep calling it a utility room even to Dutch people and they always go: "ut ... wat???") So when I read about sewing machine covers over at whip up I went for it.

Now I have the luxury of two machines but I think that two covers are going to be a bit crowded. So I don't know what to do. I can make a simple white one or another flowery one or just a plain polka dotted one. The other thing is that I like it just as it is in the picture. But what's the use of just covering one machine?

Martha's tea towel cover is sweet but not useful to my opinion, dust still can get in sideways. Honestly I wish I never started.

I need your help on this one, what do you think I should do with the other machine?

If you're interested and if you want to understand the rest of this post, it's wise to read this on Wikipedia.

The Dutch only really celebrate carnaval in the southern parts of The Netherlands, where I was born and raised. But because I have a mother from Suriname and a father from Amsterdam it was not a festivity we were taught to celebrate. My sister caught the bug much later when she was a teenager but I've never been a carnaval lover much myself. For instance, I hate the music (they have special carnaval music and it's horrible) and I don't like what it turned into; a drinking feast and a how many people can I jump feast. But I do like the whole hoopla of the parade and the announcing of the Prince. I also like the dressing up part of carnaval.

This picture is the prove that I celebrated carnaval at least once in my existence. I was dressed up like Winnie Mandela, Marijn was Rambo, Linda someone from Kiss and Audrey was Heidi ... LOL!!

The Bo and I are still not celebrating carnaval. We just watched the parade and now we're back home getting warm. I planted some peonies and lupinus today and I'm going to make some sushi after finishing this post. Life is sweet in our humble home while, literally, just around the corner they're getting drunk and off with someone else's wife! What a bizarre contrast.

What a week!

First of all thanks for all your well wishes. The snow dried up, the sun came out and the photo shoot went as planned. I just received the photos and they are beautiful. I can't tell you much about the magazine because the photographer is also trying to sell them outside The Netherlands. I'll let you know when they get published and where.

I also pulled a muscle in my bum between all the photo craziness and wasn't able to move for a little while. It's good that these things happen so now and then to realize how lucky one is to have another. Like Hugh said in About a Boy "every man is an island. I stand by that. But clearly some men are island chains". It's magical when someone picks you from the floor after spending two hours laying flat on your stomach. Or someone who doesn't mind to clean up after you peed in your pants because you can't make it to the toilet. Honestly I love having island chains!

Now it's time for planning trips, excursions and exciting new future prospects. I have a really exciting year ahead and I'm really enjoying it so far. Today I caught myself wishing it was summer ... eeeeee I never thought I was going to wish for that!! Maybe it has to do with getting older.

***

Update: that address file is from Lovely Design but unfortunately it's sold out. I've been having this one for about 3 years. She recently was featured in Domino and after that those address files sold like hot cakes. Maybe she'll sell them again later this year.

And all of a sudden it started to snow. Just one day before the day I've been looking forward to for so long.

Tomorrow my home will be photographed for a magazine, and just now the photographer called me that we might have to cancel it because of the weather.

I love snow. Like Lorelai Gilmore I have a love affair with snow but now ... I hate snow, I want to kick it!!

Wish me luck ... and some sunshine.

I'm going to answer some questions about my cabinet(s) because I often get questions about them.

Are they from Ikea?

No, I wish they were because it would have saved me a pretty penny. They are custom made by Jan from InterAntiek in Veldhoven The Netherlands. Yes that's Jan and Elvira's home on the main page.

How many do you have?

I have two, they are exactly the same. One is in my dining room and one in the living room. In one I keep books, cd's and the HiFi system in the other one my fancy china.

They look really big

They are. My ceilings are 3.15 m high so the rooms need something that goes up in height. The cabinets are both 2.45 m tall.

What's the material?

They are made from recycled old pine cabinets and doors. They are painted white with a thick water based paint and waxed to give it an old look.

***

Oh and yes yes I did yet another redesign but I just love doing it so much and this one suits my new landing wallpaper. I'm also working hard on the Housekeeping special, holy moly there's so much to tell. I keep writing little things down and in the end I'm going to put it all together. Thanks so much for the lovely response.

... just six?

Mary tagged me - oh dear, oh dear!!

1. I'm extremely scared of frogs, have been my whole life. I can't remember when or how it started. I even moved house because there were so many ponds in the neighborhood. I won't add people to my Flickr contact list if they have pictures of frogs. Period!!
2. I keep this picture of Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes in my organizer because throwing it away or taking it out is not an option.
3. I used to be a thumb sucker for 21 years and a chain smoker for 15 years. I gave the thumb sucking up about 11 years ago and the smoking 4 years ago. It seems I passed my urge to suck or drag ... HA!!
4. Oh this one is embarrassing ... when I get out of bed in the morning the first thing I like to do is sit on the toilet while I talk to my mum on the telephone. She hates that I call her from the toilet and I don't blame her.
5. I run a load of laundry almost every day and we are just with two people. I buy laundry detergent and fabric softener in bulk because I'm scared whenever a disaster might break out I can't do the laundry.
6. I'm very emotional. I cry many happy and sad tears and I can't control it. One time I cried over an episode of The Flintstones. Fred and Wilma took an orphan in their home for Christmas and it was just too much.

I'm going to tag everyone who wants to play along. Don't forget to drop a little message so I know when yours are up.

"How do you keep you house clean and tidy?"

I do get that question a lot. This is the simple answer: I'm clean and tidy by nature. LOL, well there's more to it of course ;o)

"Pimping" your Ikea bookcase really made me laugh. Looks great too. And I am also envying your clean and tidy space! Could you do an "Yvestown housekeeping special" for the more slovenly members of your fan club?

From Claire

Because I love this comment so much (thanks Claire) I'm going to work on a special housekeeping page for the future. I was looking for something I could add to the site and this will make a fun project.

I hope you like this idea. If you have tips or suggestions or something you want to ask me, please do I'll add it all to the special housekeeping page. Stay tuned!!

I just found out about Ikea Hacker (via sfgirlbybay). It's such a fantastic idea because I love to hack my Ikea buys. I basically love Ikea but I don't want my house to look like an Ikea catalog so I keep pimping all the items I buy.

I submitted two of my hacks; the SKRUVSTA slipcover I did last year and the Expedit bookcase I pimped recently.

The bookcase (click the photo for a larger image) is in the study and I'm using it to file my favorite magazine back issues. I pinned the retro wallpaper, I found in Germany, on the back of the bookcase (quite a job) to create a fun backdrop.

I can't wait to see more hacks on Ikea Hacker!!

***

Oh and thanks for the lovely pantry comments. Bo wanted me to add that he loves it so much that he wanted to sleep in it the night I finished it. Yes he's almost 40!!

One resolution I made for 2007 is not to be so easy anymore. Since I married Bo almost eight years ago I've become too easy. In easy I mean "oh sod it, Bo will do it when he gets home".

I've always been a hands on girl. My father passed away when I was only thirteen years old leaving three women behind and a boy with two left hands, we were forced to do everything ourselves. So by the age of nineteen I was quite the handy woman. Fixing VCR's, painting houses, trimming trees, driving tractors, sewing cushions, studying, working in a shop, cleaning two homes, participating in an amateur drama group and cleaning a whole Hall single handedly wasn't strange to me. I can't sit still very long and I'm really quickly bored. It's not that I'm not interested it's just that I want to get on with things but I've lost that a bit since I got married.

To get my old groove back I decided to start the year fresh with a new D.I.Y. project known as The Cupboard Under The Stairs a.k.a. my pantry. It needed a fresh coat of paint, some un cluttering and organizing.

This is what it looked like on Monday.

And this is what it looked like two days and a lot of pink paint in my hair later.

I did everything myself, even the drilling and the lightning fixture. I was pooped by Tuesday night but extremely satisfied.

For most of my life I've been hating it to have a birthday in December. You should know that the Dutch celebrate two gift exchange holidays in one month. On the 5th (one day before my birthday) Sinterklaas and between the 24th and 26th Christmas. As a child I used to be buried under presents in December but the best gift - having friends on my birthday - never happened. I used to have early January or late November parties instead. It used to be a month of mixed emotions and I've always been depressed about it. Until I started to let it go a couple of birthdays ago and I'm loving it. I now have a new found "I don't care if you don't come round and have cake" mentality and I love it. I feel free at last!!

So it was a surprise for me how thoughtful and giving people were this birthday. I even received guests for cake. My parents in law were really generous this year and I bought a dollhouse with the money they gave me. I also bought stuff for the dollhouse with the money my mother gave me. Honestly I'd give everything back to just have both of them on my birthday but that's just not possible with a globetrotter like my mum and people that have issues like my parents in law.

Blog friends were generous too this year. Marné sent me lots of goodies seen in previous posts (I used it all for Christmas decorations). She also sent me the two snowmen in the top picture, magazines and POPTARTS!!!

Kathleen sent me this beautiful handmade pin, I'm now wearing to keep my pashminas snug. Visit the Liquid Shop for more beautiful goodies and wrapping. She also sent me this fabulous suitcase.

It's good to know that I have found friends that consider me adequate to play with toys for ages 3 & up. That gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Thanks girls!!

Most laughed at:

• The Ricky Gervais Podcast
• De Lama's (Dutch TV show)

Important questions learned:

• What is the best life possible for you?
• Stick with your old friends and value them

Most useful item(s) bought:

• Apple MacBook
• Moo MiniCards
• Pom-Pom maker

Happy New Year!!

***

Thanks to Marné again for the chopsticks and magazines as a part of the 2006 Annual Christmas Swap. More seen here and here.