The First Day of School

 { The SchultüteTradition}

I usually do not write long posts but as  today is the first day of school in Hessen (different regions in Germany have different vacation times and hence different starting dates) I would like to tell you about a wonderful German ( and I believe Austrian) tradition which all Schulanfanger (School goers – applies only to first grade students) are looking forward to – the Schultüte (Schoolbag), easily the symbol of the 1^st day of school, possibly the most important day in the life of any six year old.

This morning on the way to our Kindergarten I saw many little people, with proud faces and school bags as big as themselves…a lovely reminder of my first day at school many, many, many years ago ( although not in Germany) and also a less lovely reminder of how quickly time flies and how quickly our kids grow.

Well let me tell you about the school bag – (no it is not the actual school bag), this one is a very big cone made out of cardboard and embellished in some kind of way. They are sold almost everywhere in the last few months before the new school year. According to Wikipedia the tradition goes back to 1810 and the only thing that seems to have changed since than is that less and less sweets can be found in the bag. Well, that is only partially true as the bag is still seen as a treat although many parents try to reflect in its contents the step towards independence with the start of the new school year.

Kids say that it is not fun if the Schultüte contains only the items necessary for school and therefore inside one can find anything from a car shaped alarm clock, watch, water bottle, a compass for the great adventure that school is, to the first nail polish, glitter glue, key chain pendant and little stuffed animals. And always there is a fair amount of lollies, chocolate and other kinds of sweeties.

Enough reading, now I would like to share with you some photos of some absolutely unique and cool hand created Schultüten I found on the web. The themes of the bags could vary greatly from football and unicorns, to fast cars and cowboys, to nature and planets, to princesses and pirates, believe me I even saw one which came with a matching dress:

Lovely themes Planets and Space and Bees and Nature – photo courtesy of Anke Lilli

One for the polka dot lover – have I ever mentioned I love polka dots? Photo courtesy of byFranca

Of course one with horses, how could I forget the horses – lovely! The little girls' face says it all! Photo courtesy of Bab's Bumblebee

 

A very cool one for the dinosaur lover or the budding explorer - I love the name detail, it makes it so much more personal! Photo courtesy of 3@12

And my favourite one - a real rocket Schultüte – and one very pleased and proud boy! Photo courtesy of Bab's Bumblebee

If you had the patience and the time to read through than I hope you enjoyed this little story about how German kids start their school life.

Hope you are having a lovely week!

Love

Irina xx

Frankfurt Calling

 { Fräulein Zuckerminz’ Designgesellschaft}

Wow, wow, wow! Hamburg, Berlin and Munich say hello to the new kid on the craft block – Frankfurt!

Frankfurt showed its creative side this weekend as the “Fräulein Zuckerminz’ Designgesellschaft” ( Miss Sugarmint Fair) took place, and I had the privilege to be part of what was a fantastic event, where I met some lovely, lovely people, received the most amazing feedback on my creations and had the most fun I’ve had in a while!

The Fair was organised by the lovely Kirsten from “Obst und junges Gemüse” – a kind of a hero mum who (together with her two year old, who was on Kindergarten vacation) managed to put together over a number of weeks the best craft fair Frankfurt has ever seen!

There were twenty five designers and craft people and the attendance of the fair exceeded my expectations and I heard that people simply described it as fabulous or as the Germans say “ Unglaublich”!

I am still full of a mix of positive emotions and it was such an amazing learning experience, actually being out there selling my things and feeling part of such a fantastic creative community.

Here are just a few photos of how my stand looked and needless to say I was very proud!

And in a typical German Fair tradition everyone donated a hand made cake to a little cake stand which in the duration of the day sold coffee and cake to raise extra money. My Chocolate cake had a little marketing twist to it as I decided to decorate the cake with some little flags bearing the name of my label “ Horstman and Little” – each one embellished with a small piece of fabric – in my two favourite patterns  - polka dots and gingham! 

 

Here are just some of the lovely creative people I met, so do have a peek at their blogs or websites when you have a minute:

Obst und junges Gemüse – gorgeous kinds T -shirts decorated with happy fabric embellishments

Ellis and Higgs – a fellow mum who makes some absolutely beautiful kids things – in her very own unique style.

Lili’s Loft – lovely handmade purses and my favourite of all summer shoes – espadrilles, in this case beautifully embellished.

Gold Kaetzchen – some really cute hand made fabric buttons and magnets and trendy bags – and we all know there is no such thing as too many bags.

Tassen . tv – the loveliest cups and breakfast bowls, with super sweet smiley faces in 3D – for a change designed by guys, yay!

Tia Emma – they actually have a shop selling really quirky things like vintage stamps and cards amongst other funky finds and also stock some of the “oh-so-hard-to-get-hold-of ” German creative magazines.

Zialee - lovely cream printed cushions, bags and T-shirts. Clever.

There were also jewellery stands and hand sewn clothes to mention just a few – something for everyone!

I learned a lot from my first Craft Fair and although I am still a novice I now know a lot more about how to attend a craft fair than I did a couple of days ago – so suitably my next blog post will be titled “A beginners guide to preparing and attending a craft fair” – so please do came back and have a look!

Have a lovely week!

Love

Irina xx

Some muffins and more sewing

 

I have been a bit busy sewing for the forthcoming craft fair, and I can’t wait to show you photos but I am afraid you’ll have to wait a little bit more.

Today I decided to make some Yogurt and Honey muffins to put in the lunch boxes of Lovely Little Daughter and Lovely Husband. They turned out well but I should have put a bit more honey or maybe a bit of brown sugar…and maybe a bit more butter would have ensured the smooth removal of the paper…

A good tip I found in the BBC Good Food magazine if you are using honey, is to spread a bit of oil on the spoon you’ll be using. Wow, it works really well, not a drop of honey was left on the spoon. However I should have greased a bit the little pot I was using as I noticed at the end that some honey was left on the bottom.

 I don’t actually know why I have the brown sugar out! The recipe did not ask for any brown sugar.

 Have a yummy evening!

Love 

Irina xx

Miss Sugarmint Design and Craft Fair

If you are going to be in Frankfurt the following weekend than why don’t you come and visit Miss Sugarmint craft fair. The fair has been organised by a lovely lady who is a fellow crafty mum and makes some absolutely cute little t-shirt embellishments and other kiddie things. However it won’t all be for the kids, there will be jewellery, home inspirations and off course coffee and cake! Oh and guess what, I will be there with my label Horstmann & Little.

It is so very exciting ( it is my first fair, well apart of the Wimbledon Park fair in London last year, which was very much in it's infancy and really just a trial), and I am thinking about what to sell, how to prepare my table, how to make everything look pretty and nice.

Off to do more sewing…

Love,

Irina

This moment

{this moment}

Inspired by Soulemama

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Summer Fruit Lollies

 

I wanted to make some fruit lollies for ages and these Watermelon, Organic Vanilla Yogurt and Cherries lollies are so sweet and absolutely yummy…

I only had red fruits this time but will try them again with other fruits as they were so easy to make…

Love

Irina xx

In The Bottom Drawer

A recent post from “A spoonful of sugar” prompted me to look for my own UFO’s…oh dear!

I never start a new book, before I finish the old one so I simply assumed that this rule will somehow subconsciously be applied to my sewing and creating projects…and I managed to keep up with it for a while until I discovered my UFO’s drawer. I didn’t really know I had a UFO drawer, but it is there, the very last one in my wonky metal cabinet and through the holes of the mesh I could see things, long ago started but never finished. Yes things, not one, not two but many big or small sewing attempts which for one reason or another were never completed.

 

Whole nine UFO's were patiently waiting to be rediscovered:

 

 

A slice of cake waiting to have the "chocolate" stick sewn back

 

 

A duck I made a couple of years ago who's leg needs repairing

 



A soft ball, otherwise ready but missing the final stitch

 

 

A robot cushion I started before Christmas

 

 

Train cushion started at the same time as above

 

 

Oh dear, remember this one...still unfinished

 

 

After I made six letter cushions I got a bit bored hence the unfinished M

 

 

I was going to make continuous bias tape but never got round to doing it

 

 

Baby bed decoration...

 

Let’s see which one to start first!

Do you have UFO's lurking in some bottom drawer?
Love,

Irina xx