Easy decorated eggs...

For the Easter tree

HAPPY EASTER!!

In Norway, Easter is a big deal, whether you are religious or not. Traditionally the Norwegian symbols of Easter is chickens and Eggs (and at some point the Easter bunny entered the stage as well...LOL).

 Another Norwegian symbol of Easter is the Easter tree!

In pagan times the Norse put up birch trees inside to invite the smell of spring.

Nowadays feathered birch twigs are a decorative feature in the Norwegian home during the Easter holiday, as well as yellow flowers, such as daffodils. 

The feathered birch twigs are decorated with painted and/or decorated eggs for Palm Sunday, which marks the start of the Norwegian Easter.

...And it's a great way to pass some hours with the kids over the Easter holidays:

 Get outside, pick some twigs (it doesn't have to be birch) and decorate them with colourful feathers (use some wire to attach them), pick up some white eggs at the shops (Here in the UK, duck eggs are the only white ones available), Blow them out (See this u-tube video to learn how) then get decorating!

Paint them, dye them, draw on them with a sharpie, cover them with glue and glitter....whatever you'd like...but today I want to show you a very easy way to decorate your eggs:

I used some temporary tattoos.

You know the kind you get in chewing gums? Well, I got hold of these gorgeous geometric gold and silver ones from Hobbycraft, but they have a great selection to suit all tastes.

So you simply press the tattoo onto the egg with a damp sponge or rag to transfer it on....simple!!

If the transferred tattoo crinkles up a bit , due to the roundness of the egg, just pat it down gently using your fingers.

Leave to dry then , if you want them to last until next year, maybe spray with some clear lacquer.

make a hoop by tying some string, then gently press the knot through the top hole of the egg....and hang on your Easter tree:

Hope you're all having a great Easter!

I'll be back with a little baking post....yes you heard: BAKING (??) next.

 I am sharing my mums recipe for making classic Norwegian "skoleboller" (buns with custard-cream centre covered in coconut....hmmmm!) Don't miss it: They are delicious!!

DIY copper and macramé hanging planters

I've been wanting to try my hand at making some marcrame hanging planters for a while now, and  I've also been lusting after these hanging copper plant pots since my new-found obsession with plants!

So I thought I'd combine the two and made these ones for my kitchen window!

The macramé is pretty basic, so ANYONE can do this, and you are not going to believe what I made the copper pots from:

That's right!! A Nutella jar!!

The rounded form of the new design nutella jars was perfect for this project, hence: we've been eating nutella until it was coming out of our ears around here recently!

Then I transformed the jars with some copper spray paint:

Having eaten all the nutella (*sick) , I cleaned them out then soaked the labels off in warm water.

Then I prepared them for spray painting:

When spray painting glass, it is best to prep the surface first by cleaning it with Isopropyl alcohol (commonly found in cosmetic brush cleaner, which is what I used).

I figured it would be best to spray the inside of the jars, so that the macramé wouldn't rub off the paint with time, so I covered the outside of the jars with masking tape, before spraying the inside copper.

TIP: It is better to spray several thin layers, letting each layer dry before the next to avoid drip marks!

MAKING THE MACRAMÉ POT CRADLE:

Next, I got some 3mm white cotton cord to make the macramé with.

How much cord you need will depend on how long you want your macramé hangers to be, but I would suggest to aim for no shorter than 1 meter...

So for each macramé pot cradle, you'll need 8 pieces of cord in the same length (minimum 1 meter)..

STEP 1:

Gather them together and tie a knot at one end, leaving a 5 cm tail of cord....this will be the bottom of the macramé pot cradle. 

STEP 2:

Lay your knot on a flat surface, and separate the cord into 4 sections with two strands per section.

STEP 3:

Taking one section of cord at a time, begin to tie the two pieces of rope into a simple Square knot knot, leaving about 3-5 cm above the knot where all eight pieces of rope are tied.

TIP: Don't make your knots too tight at this stage, as you may need to adjust them later!

STEP 4:

Repeat until all the 8 pieces of cord is tied together.

STEP 5:

Take the left piece of cord from one section and match it up with the right piece of cord from the closest section to the left of it. Tie these two pieces of rope together, about an inch above your previous knots. Repeat all around!

You should now have a cross shape in the middle, and the last set of knots you made should form a square shape, like pictured above. 

STEP 6:

Organise your cord to form this shape and align your cords so that you can clearly distinguish each of the four sections.

STEP 7:

For the final round of knots,  take the outermost piece of cord from one section and match it up with the closet piece of cord from the section to the left of it, then tie those two pieces together about 3-5 cm above the previous knots.

When you've finished tying the cords together, the macramé pot cradle should look like this (Above).

STEP 8:

Place the (nutella) pot in the centre and gather up  the cords around...

Now you may find it necessary to adjust the knots a little to make the pot hang nice and straight.

Play around with it until you are happy, tightening the knots as you go...

STEP 9:

Gather up the ends of the cords and simply tie them together, forming a hoop so that you can easily hang them up on you curtain pole:

I love the way these turned out:

Spraying the nutella jars copper makes these planters fit perfectly in with my kitchen décor...

And they are just the perfect size for my Easter cactuses..

To make the 3 hanging planters cost me approximately £4 in cord, and I already had the copper spray paint (approx £6) ....and I don't consider the nutella jars an expense as it is something we eat on a regular basis (however, we may need a break from chocolate spread now...LOL).

So get eating some nutella, and you too can make these!

Hope you are having a good Easter so far!

I will be back with a little Easter related project you can do with the kids very soon...and should you start to feel like you've run out of ideas/activities for the kids during the holidays, please pop back soon , as I will be posting some nice kids activities from the www. next week!

Please vote for me for best DIY blog

The One room challenge

(The not so ) Little Miss Moo's room upgrade!

Having had an extended break from any bigger home improvements, I feel like the time has come to tackle those rooms that I did not get around to doing last year!

And as a little kick up my backside, I've decided to join in on the  #ONE ROOM CHALLENGE from the fabulous Calling it home!

So over the next 6 weeks I will be doing a weekly update on how I am getting on with a room update in my home, and I thought this would be a great way to show you all the thought process that goes behind a room design as well as the practicalities of the task in hand and the not so glamorous problems that can arise! I will of course be sharing any tips and tricks, and little projects I undertake on the way!

After having had a little think ,I've decided to makeover Little Miss Moo's room!

It is only just over a year since we last did it, so no hideous before pictures... but the truth is : She's really not that little anymore... 

And although she's only 5 still, she has over the last year grown up so much , and has developed a very strong sense of self and what she likes, that she often expresses through her interest in design and colour (Really...she has an eye for it!)

And when I suggested we'd make over her room again, she was very excited!!

So I think this will be a cool thing for us to do together, and I want her to be part of this process all the way!

...and she so deserves it after the year we've had and everything she's had to put up with!

So in the last few days we've been browsing Pinterest together, and pinning images of kids rooms we (both) liked the look of:

Image source: Eclectic trends

Mia Loves this colour combination , above, with pastels and greys!

And she "wants" one of those origami wall rabbits, below!

Image source:  Chloe Fleury

And she loves the stars on the wall and the "rock'n'roll'ness of the room below:

Image source :La petite mag

She'd also like to keep her blackboard wall.

Image by Riikka Kantinkoski via decor8blog

One thing she desperately needs and wants in her room is a desk to sit and do drawing/homework at.

As her room is very small we'll have to come up with a creative way to fit one in, but she quite liked the look of this one, above.

Image via My Scandinavian home

Another thing Mia is quite keen on, is having her own wall clock, as she's just starting to get to grips with telling the time! And she loved all the funny cushions on the bed and the artwork on the wall in the image above. In fact she says she wants loads of art on her walls...'cause she's "an artist" :)

Image source: kotipalapeli

And she fell for this paint effect on the wall with those colourful pom poms!

See...I told you she knows what she likes!

I can totally see that we are headed for a very creative space, and now that we've pin-pointed what she likes the look of , ie: colours and visuals, Our task before next weeks update on THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE will be to put together some sort of mood board + a little plan of action.

There are some practical elements of the makeover that I need to consider, like storage and the desk space. Mia's room is so little that the layout, with the bed along the wall, is pretty much unchangeable, So I am going to put my thinking cap on and try to come up with a solution!

If you are thinking of doing up a room in your home, I suggest that you use pinterest , like we did, to put together some images of rooms and décor you like...it's a great starting point to any room design and helps you focus on the elements of the interiors that you love....maybe once you have a pinterest board with 20-30 pins, you will start to see the elements that are recurrent: Like colours or styles. Then you'll know to incorporate hose into your room design!

Don't forget to check out how and what the other participants of the One room challenge is doing...You can see them all over at Calling it home!

Do tune back in next week for the second instalment of ONE ROOM CHALLENGE, to see how me and, the NOT so little Miss Mia Moo get on with our mood board for her room transformation...

....and how I plan to tackle the small space storage dilemma!!

Green (and yellow) Easter at Nostalgiecat...

#Urbanjunglebloggers

I really feel like my life has become more enriched and happy since I started filling my house with plants and flowers...

...and I think decorating with greenery for holidays is so classy: Plants are seasonal creatures and therefore lends themselves well as subtle hints to the seasons in your home's décor.

Of course I'm not going to get away with decorating for Easter using only plants...having a 5 year old daughter means eggs, feathers, Easter bunnies and the odd fluffy chick is bound to swamp my house by the end of this week....but I've quite enjoyed slowly adding yellow daffodils and other seasonal greenery to my home over the last week:

My daffodil bulbs has flowered, and adds a little pop of yellow on my mantle...

And the bright yellow of these fresh daff's perfectly compliment my new, huge abstract art in the living room (more on that later ...)

I'm not actually sure what these pretty fresh flowers (above and below) are called, but they're always available at my local florist this time of year....and pop an polystyrene egg covered with brass thumb-tacks next to them....(and a little sneaky chick in the shelves LOL)....

...Or with some little chocolate eggs in a bowl, and hey presto: Easter is here!!

I'm a huge fan of the pastel trend in interiors this spring, and it suits the season so well...

bringing a fresh feel to my décor. And the bright yellow of Easters favourite flowers, the daffs, goes so well with those subtle shades:

And of course the perfect accompaniment to a bunch of daff's are some pussy willows....

And they look great in my DIY egg planter/vase I made last year. (See how here)

And of course this years version of the feathered Easter tree is back on my kitchen table....this time with some pretty and simply decorated blown out duck eggs (tutorial coming soon)...

And I've also made some easy copper+macramé hanging planters to house my Easter cactus' for the kitchen windows...I will show you how I made these in my next DIY post.

And on my kitchen shelf, a bunch of daffs are waiting to bloom next to some potted chives and a little succulent cutling...

And the other morning I got creative with a marker pen and some plain white egg cups: Meet Mr and Mrs Succulent (and their little friend "the chick")....the latest members of our growing green family...

Cute aren't they?? They are so easy to do....would be a great little project to do with the kids over the holidays should boredom kick in!!

I will, as you probably gather, be posting some more creative tutorials and posts throughout Easter, and I am also gathering some kid friendly activities from the www. that I will be posting next week...so should you run out of ideas for the kids over Easter, make sure you pop back for that!

In the meantime : Happy Easter my friends!