DIY

Lovely flower DIY: Using a Kenzan for a shallow vase

kenzan bouquet peonies Hello everyone!  Today I would like to start a new column and show you some simple tricks to make nicer bouquets at home. The first trick I would like to show you today comes from Japan and is primarily used for the traditional Japanese floral arrangements called Ikebana.  kenzan, also called spiky frog or flower frog is a specific metallic device used for fixing the flowers in the container. It consists of a heavy lead plate with erected brass needles where the stems are fixed. You can find them on amazon for example and they cost between 3 and 30 € depending on their size.  A kenzan is perfect for arranging bouquets in shallow vases such as bowls or small pedestal vases. It helps keeping flowers with very short stems in the water.  It is a very nice to arrange flowers on a table for dinner party for example, so that you can for instance see the person sitting in front of you. It also works very well if you want to create a vignette on a table in living room. For this bouquet, I decided to mix peonies with garden roses, as I think that they really work well together. Kenzan_what_you_will_need

Your bouquet step by step: 1- Place the Kenzan at the bottom of the vase and fill the vase with water. 2- Cut the stems very short and take out almost all the leaves. 3- Pick the flowers one by one in the vase, so that the bouquet is pleasant to look from all sides. (especially if it is for a table centre). Kenzan in vasekenzan bouquetkenzan bouquet roses

shallow bouquet with kenzan

So that's it for today people! I hope you liked this little floral DIY and that you will get yourself a little kenzan for your next bouquet. Have a great day! Elodie

Lovely Fabric: Petit Pan

Tissus Petit Pan. Good morning everyone! At the end of last year, I told you about one of my favorite French fabric designer called France Duval Stalla. Today I am back with some fabric love and another French brand called Petit Pan. Petit Pan is a very colourful brand, but the kind of colours I like! Deep blues and bright pinks! Petit Pan was created in Paris in 2002 and sells decoration items, fabric (with more than 140 different patterns) and clothes made out of those fabrics. Here is a selection of some of my favourite patterns. That is a perfect fabric for decorating a nursery or make a colourful statement with a cushion in your livingroom. I used a blue Petit Pan fabric for the pennant banner in Ella's bedroom. petit Pan

Petit Pan has a very distinctive and joyful style inspired by Asian patterns and colours. I really makes me want to travel. Petit Pan is also well known for their paper lanterns. I have had a red dragon fly in my flat for ages, and it is still one of my favourite decoration items.

petit pan lampion

You can buy Petit Pan fabric in their shops in Paris, Toulouse and now Antwerp in Belgium, but also in their online shop. I wish you a fantastic day! Elodie

© all pictures by petit pan with permission

A Christmas wreath with moss and ribbons

Hello!
Today I would like to show you the little Christmas wreath I made for my home with simple ribbons and moss. I bought the wreath moss at the flower shop and some black velvet and satin ribbon at tiger. The purple one is from Idee.
I just turned the ribbon around the wreath and tightened it with a big knot at the top.

I love dark colours in decoration. I think that they transport elegance and cosiness. And if used with some gold or some sparkles, they can even look very festive.
christmas_wreath_1

christmas_wreath_2

christmas_wreath_black_purple

What about you? Did you make a wreath this year for Christmas? Which colours did you use and where is it hanging?

Take care and speak to you soon!
Elodie

Lovely fabric - France Duval-Stalla

Hello my dears,I am starting a new column on the blog today called Lovely Fabric and I would like to talk about fabric design with you. I am a fabric addict - I love pretty patterns and soft fabric and am using fabric a lot in decoration. I like sewing cushions and curtains for my home. I made almost all the curtains myself in my flat. I also used a lot of different fabric to decorate my daughter's little nursery. I usually buy my fabric online via French online shops, as a lot of the fabric I like are not available here in Germany. Through this series, I would like to introduce you to some of my favourite fabric designers from France and from all over the world or just some of my favourite patterns and tell you where you can source them online. The first fabric designer, I would like to talk to you about is France Duval-Stalla. Here are a couple of her patterns. She is working with a lot of greys and muted colours. France_Duval_stalla_silver france Duval Stalla

France Duval-Stalla is a very well-known fabric designer in France. She started with editing cambric fabric, in quality that is very comparable to the Tana Lawn fabric from Liberty of London. Now she sells a lot of different fabric, such as jersey, crepon, tulle or linen. She is so successful and appreciated nowadays among the French DIY crowd, that she has her own fan blog, where the "France Duval-Stalla addicts" can post their creations and share them with others.

Now you also have the chance to become a fan of France Duval-Stalla fabric, and add a little French touch to your decoration with maybe a little cushion or a plaid for your sofa with the fantastic Gray with pink cloud of stars matt coated cambric.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR MADAME LOVE'S READERS - oder online UNTIL 15 December 2013 - and get 10% discount if you use the code MMELOVE

exclusive offer_France_Duval_Stalla_fabric

France_duval_Stalla_displaySince last year, there is also a France Duval-Stalla shop in the Montparnasse district in Paris. If you happen to be visiting Paris, you should definitely have a little look:

France Duval-Stalla shop: 4, rue du regard 75006 Paris France

Find France Duval Stalla online: on her Website/Webshop on Facebook on Instagram on Pinterest France_duval_stalla_fabric_display

pictures (c) France Duval-Stalla

LOVEly guestpost by Lou from Happy Serendipity

Dear international reader, today this blogpost will be in German only, by my friend Lou from the blog Happy Serendipity Speak to you soon and thank you dear Lou and sweet Rafael for your great tutorial!

Elodie

Hallo kleine Love-Madame,

wir sind alle so froh und glücklich, dass du geboren bist und das es dir gut geht. Wir Blogger-Tanten haben lange Zeit mit deiner Mama gefiebert und ihr zugeschaut, wie der Bauch immer größer wurde und gestaunt, was sie dir alles tolles zurecht macht, bevor du auf die Welt kamst. Du wirst so ein hübsches Zimmer haben und ganz wunderbar weiche Garderobe. Zum Glück hatte die Mama vor deiner Geburt Zeit, alles vorzubereiten, denn jetzt bist du die kleine Person, die alle Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zieht und um die sich die Mama kümmert.

Wahrscheinlich - das wird sich noch herausstellen - wird die Mami auch nicht mehr so oft und viel Zeit haben, dir neue Kleidchen zu nähen. Deshalb zeige ich ihr heute, wie sie dir in wenigen Minuten eine warme Mütze nähen kann, wenn du mal schlummerst. Sie kann dafür Stoffe nehmen, die sie schon hat, vielleicht das alte Lieblings-T-shirt vom Papa oder einen alten Pullover von ihr. Diese Stoffe sind nämlich meisten schon ganz oft gewaschen und greifen deine zarte Haut nicht an.  Außerdem hat man immer etwas im Haus, dass man neu verwenden kann.

rafael2Für meine kleine Mütze habe ich ein Stück Wolldecke und ein Stück meiner alten Cordbluse genutzt. Damit man das Mützchen zumachen kann, schnappte ich mir eine Stricklisel-Strippe, die hatte ich zufällig noch da. Man kann aber auch einen Schnürsenkel nehmen, oder sich aus einem der Stoffe die man nutzt, eine Kordel flechten.

zutaten_Lou

Ich habe dann die Mama meines kleinen Neffen Rafael gebeten, mal mit dem Maßband von Mundwinkel - um das Gesicht herum - vorbei an Backen - Augen - Stirn - und auf der anderen Seite wieder zurück bis zum anderen Mundwinkel - zu messen. Das waren bei dem kleinen Kerl 42 cm.  Außerdem hat sie gemessen, wie tief der Kopf ist. Dazu misst man von der Augenbraue über den Kopf bis auf die gegenüber liegende Seite am Hinterkopf. Das ergaben so ungefähr 20 cm - und weil die Mütze ja nicht klemmen soll, hab ein einfach ein paar cm dazu genommen.

D.h. wir benötigen:

2 Rechtecke Stoff in den Maßen 42 x ca. 23 cm Die legt man sich rechts auf rechts zusammen, in die Ecken der langen Seiten steckt man die Kordeln nach innen ein, damit die auf der richtigen Seite sind, wenn man später die Mütze umstülpt. Man näht dann einmal rundherum und lässt sich ein Loch, durch das man die Mütze dann wendet. Dieses Loch ist idealerweise auf der Längsseite gegenüber der Kordel, so muss man später die Stülpöffnung nicht nochmal extra zunähen. Danach faltet man das Rechteck in der Mitte, so dass die 2 Kordeln aufeinander liegen, die gegenüberliegende Seite näht man dann zu.

tut

 

Siehst du, so schnell und einfach ging das. Du kannst jetzt immer mit warmen Köpfchen im Kinderwagen liegen, denn dieses Mützchen ist so schnell gemacht, dass kann man auch noch 7 Minuten vor dem Spazierengehen machen, falls man deine andere Mütze nicht findet. Ich habe gehört, Mamis müssen immer an ganz viele Sachen denken wenn sie mit euch unterwegs sein wollen. Da kann man schon mal vergessen, wo die andere Mütze liegt.

Also Schätzelein, hab einen tollen Winter und wachse und werde groß und stark. Wir werden dir dabei zusehen und freuen uns ganz arg darauf.

Ich drück dich ganz fest und kneif dir in die Backe, Lou

rafael_1

pennant banner tutorial + free pattern

Hello everyone, As promised when I showed you the pictures of the nursery, here is a little tutorial for the big and the mini pennant banner I made for baby love.

pennant banner

So here you go! It is a very simple project that will not take you more than an evening or a week-end to complete and that is suitable for beginners. I also made a mini-version of the pennant banner. You just have to use the smaller triangle and a smaller portion of bias tape. I made some pictures to illustrate the steps of the tutorial and a pattern to download:

FREE DOWNLOAD

Items needed for a two-metre pennant banner:

You will need:

  • the pattern (see above)
  • 32 fabric triangles (for 16 triangles). It is good to use leftover fabric pieces from other projects. You don't need 16 different fabrics - just be careful not to put the same pattern next to each other when you assemble the garland
  • 2.5 metre bias tape.
  • assorted thread (same colour as the bias tape)
  • a cutting mat and a rotary cutter (or some fabric scissors)
  • masking tape
  • a sewing machine
  • pins
  • iron and ironing board
  • 2 curtain rings to attach the banner to the wall.

pennant_Banner_1

Step 1: download the pattern, print it and cut it out. Place the pattern on your fabric on the cutting mat and fix it with masking tape. Step 2: cut your fabric. Always cut at least two of each pattern for both sides of your triangles. Step 3 - 4 : place your triangles' right sides against each other and sew them along the two longer edges.

pennant_Banner_2

Step 5: cut the point of each triangle with a pair of fabric scissors. Step 6: return your fabric on the right side. Step 7: iron your triangles flat. Step 8: iron one side of your bias tape flat and pin your triangles (2 to 3 pins per triangle) next to each other. Be careful when you assemble the banner not to put the same pattern next to each other and to have a harmonious succession of fabric. Sew on the fold of your bias tape. Leave at least 8 cm of tape on each side, so as to be able to attach your banner to the wall. Take away your pins.

pennant_Banner_3

Step 9 - 10: with the help of your iron, fold your bias tape and pin it in place. Step 11: sew your bias tape as close to the edge as possible -  backstitch at the end. Step 12: attach the rings at each sides of the banner, and fix it to wall with simple nails.

Voila!

Take care and talk to you soon! (I really hope this time after the birth...)

Elodie

Pimping Baby Love's clothes - Iron transfer tutorial

Good morning! I am back today with another little DIY tutorial. Last week I presented you my little pink cloud body using stencil printing. Today I want to show you how to pimp baby (and adult of course!) clothes by using iron transfers. I bought these lovely transfers on the Isemarkt in Hamburg from the lovely shop kinder+raum. The designer Evy has got a stand on the market every Tuesday. It is of course also possible to buy the transfers online or in a couple of shops in Hamburg. Here is what I made for baby love and how it goes:

1. Select the pattern you want to transfer and the item of clothing.

2. Position the transfer on your fabric and place it on something hard - a wooden kitchen table would work better than an ironing board.

3. Place a sheet of baking paper between the fabric and the pattern before ironing. Set your iron to 150 to 160° C and press against the fabric with a lot of pressure for 20 seconds. It is important to press and not iron.

4. Peal off the plastic film et voila!

iron transfer step by step_1

Here are a couple of examples of what I did for baby love.

iron_transfer_step_by_step_2

pink

The colourful bodies are from petit bateau, the white body and kimono style t-shirt from C&A, and the muslim squares from Budnikowski. The patterns are from kinder+raum and the paper box is from Tiger

I hope you like it. It is a very easy and economical way of pimping your plain baby outfits and bodies. Take care and have a nice day.

Elodie

Pimping Baby Love's clothes - Stencil Printing

Hello everyone, Today I have a little DIY for you. My fabulous mum made a lot of baby clothes for little Miss Love, and I have been sewing a lot myself lately too, almost only for the decoration of the nursery (which I will be showing you soon, when I think that it is almost finished). Another thing that I have been doing during my maternity leave with my friend Stephanie is "pimping" some plain, white baby outfits I bought from C&A for instance. The first one I want to show you uses the stencil printing technique. Stenciling is a very fun and easy technique for customising boring fabric.

Here is what you will need:

  • strong paper and a permanent marker, or stencil pattern
  • craft knife
  • fabric paint (mine is a Javana Textil)
  • small plate (for the paint)
  • sponge
  • washi tape

stencil_first_step1. Choose an existing design or design your own stencil with a permanent marker. I found my little cloud in the book simple sewing for baby by fabric designer Lotta Jansdotter 2. Using a craft knife and a cutting mat, cut out your design. 3.  Pour some of your fabric paint onto a small plate and have your sponge ready.

Stencil_step_2

4. Protect the other layers with another piece of fabric. 5. Place your stencil on top of your fabric and secure it on the sides with some washi-tape, so it will not move when you are printing. 6. Using the sponge, apply an even amount of paint through your stencil. 7. Let the paint dry a little bit before removing the stencil. Fix the paint after drying by intense ironing (5 min. cotton setting). Cover fabric with a cloth. Thereafter your fabric will be washable.

Here is the result:

Finished Size

 

I wish you a great day! xxx

Elodie

My sweet virtual baby shower

Dear all, I have been wanting to write this blogpost for a while now. As you know I am expecting a baby in the coming weeks and in the US there is this great tradition called "Baby shower".

The original intention was for women to share wisdom and lessons on the art of becoming a mother. My blogger friends are the wisest and the great Katharina from the beautiful food-blog Katharina kocht, organised a great virtual baby shower for me with the best blogger crew in Germany. My party was everything but traditional and there were not only women invited! But there was a lot of wisdom going on!

I got up on 8th July and was so overwhelmed with the surprise. It didn't stop all day, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I received so many lovely messages and blogposts full of love under the hashtag #MADAMELOVESBABYSHOWER.

Here is a little overview of my virtual party for you:

Decoration & flower inspiration:

From left to right and from top to bottom:

  • Lovely BABY LOVE Lavender letters from my #2flowergirls colleague and friend Inga from the blog glomerylane
  • Sock bouquet for my baby girl from Ann-Christin, from the blog hafenmaedchen
  • gorgeous mobile from the my dear Claretti from the blog tastesheriff

Baby_Shower_Decoration

DIY Inspiration From left to right and from top to bottom:

  • A pennant banner tutorial from Martina from the blog FormTiere
  • A DIY nappy bag from Caro from Draußen nur Kännchen
  • A baby announcement card - amendable and printable from Dani from the blog cozy and cudly
  • A tutorial for a lovely colourful bib from the blogger and fabric designer Susanne from Hamburger Liebe
  • The lovely logo for the party was designed by my friend and jewellery designer Trixi from the blog Frau Sieben
  • The PSSSST.... frame is from Sabine from the Blog Wohnbedarf, also shop owner at Freundts, where you can buy those beautiful letters.
  • Julia from the blog mintlametta, made a great tutorial for a homemade baby book

DIY_Sweet_Baby_Shower

 Shopping guides From left to right and from top to bottom:

  • My friend and wedding planner Eva from the blog Jagentin gave me some tips for a great baby card
  • Igor from Happy Interior Blog and Ricarda from 23qmStil know me very well and they know that I am using most of the time from my maternity leave nesting and decorating the nursery, so they gave me some inspiration.

 

Sweet_baby_Shower_shopping_Guide What would the blogosphere be without the food bloggers? So my sweet food blogger friends brought a lot of home baked sweet stuff to my virtual baby shower. From left to right and from top to bottom:

  • Lavender shortbreads from my sweet flower girl Julia from the blog junifaden
  • Sweet hearts from my sweetheart Küchenchaotin Mia
  • Petits Fours à la française from Bianca from the blog ELBCUISINE
  • And last but not least the great mini-handpies from the organiser of the party Katharina from the blog Katharina kocht

 

sweet_baby_shower_sweets

 

So my dear friends, I don't know how to say thank you and how much I love you! Baby Love is so looking forward to meeting you all in real life! Speak to you soon,

Elodie

The nursery project #4 - Playing with fabric

Dear readers, as a lot of you already know, I am a little bit of a Liberty addict. I just finished a baby blanket with Liberty fabric on one side and a very pretty Japanese fabric on the other side. I will show it to you later. Yesterday, I have been playing with three different Liberty of London patterns to decorate the walls of the nursery. I used embroidery hoops to frame them. It is a very easy way to display your favorite fabric on the walls. I bought them at the German DIY shop Idee. Here are the three fabrics I picked from my collection - I chose fabrics that fit in the colour concept of the nursery.

Liberty for the nursery

Becci Tana Lawn from the spring/ summer 2012 Glencot House collection was inspired whilst a member of the Liberty Art Fabrics team was reclining on an old patterned chair in the drawing room at Glencot House in Somerset. A layered design of leaves and flowers creates three dimensions drawn from the gardens at Glencot. Becci A is shades of blue, jade and grey.

Poppy and Daisy is on the Classic Tana list since 1979, Liberty Poppy and Daisy was designed in 1974 by the Jack Prince Studio. Version K has brown, blue and purple flowers.

Wiltshire is a leaf and berry pattern which was designed for Liberty in 1933 and redesigned for Tana in 1968. Wiltshire has been on the Classic Tana list since 1979. Colourway L has blue, lilac and olive berries on a dark background.

Liberty Hoops for the nursery

Liberty Wiltshire L Hoop for the nursery I also played yesterday with Muslin squares and Liberty bias tape. I gave it then yesterday night to my friend Sabrina for her 6 weeks old baby - but I will definitely also make some for baby love!

Liberty for the nursery_4

Liberty for the nursery_5

My next project is a nursing pillow with Marimekko fabric. I can't wait to show it to you!

Speak to you soon!

Elodie

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