some winterly decorating

This morning I found a quiet moment to decorate our house a little festive. I will do more decorating next week. My daughter has her 7th birthday party here on Sunday with 14 girls and I don't want to have to many delicate treasures out in the open for that happening. 

I am soo jealous because in Germany it is snowing. I really miss the change of the seasons here in California sometimes. At least we are supposed to get some rain tomorrow - actually much needed rain.

Here you can see what I did. Oh and you can now access my flickr site from here. See the badge on the right. Not to forget my etsy store. 

I just love our white ceiling panels. When we rented this house two years ago we had them all painted white. Very unusual for a renter to invest that much in a house, I know. But we are German and in Germany it is very common to renovate your rental. Do you want to know how it looked, when we signed the lease? See below.

We went from this:

to this:

Aaaah - quiet a relieve, don't you think?

I also painted the curtain rods, the tile around the fire place and the brick below. Also I took the ugly amber colored lampshades off the chandelier. I wanted to replace the whole thing but we don't have room to store it. It's gigantic and very heavy.

That's how it looks today:

It is growing on me and I am surprised about how many compliments I have received for it already.

Now back to the sewing table...

mariasimoneidejhs

travel pillow No. 2

Hello, here I am again. Quickly before I have to pick up my older daughter from school, I wanted to share with you the travel pillow I just made for my mother-in law .

Below you see all the steps in pictures. I used freezer paper for the template. It is so simple. 

You can find a step-by-step how to here: angry chicken

Happy Monday!

mariasimoneidejhs

almost done

I am back after a couple of weeks. I can gladly report that all my pictures and music files have been recovered and are now backup-ed and safe. My iBook is back at its best.

November is almost gone and my to-do-list is growing shorter. My Adventcalendar pouches are done, filled and numbered. I will post a picture on Dec. 1st when they are hanging. 

Also I made a tote for my good friend Susanne's birthday. It's reversible. One side is grey flannel and the other a striped canvas. It's roomy and perfect for shopping, the beach, the gym...

Then I made to baby caps for this lovely project: 

"The Caps to Cap-Haitien Project" 

by Mama to Mama 

I love the idea of creating something with intention and heart for someone in need for a more peaceful world. The deadline is Dec. 10th. There is still time to make a cap. It took me only 15 minutes to make them.

Still on my to-do-list is planning a scavenger hunt for my daughter's 7 th birthday, tidy the guest room, sew 2 travel pillows for in-laws. Oh and - I almost forgot - Thanksgiving prep. Luckily we will be at a friends house, but we are sharing the food prep and cooking. Also I have to come up with some easy Thanksgiving art projects for 7 children between 1 and 8 years. I am thankful for suggestions.

Have a good start into the Thanksgiving week.

mariasimoneidejhs

YES - we can!

A little belated I am returning to tell you how very happy I am with the outcome of the election.

There is still a lot of work for Mr. Obama and his folks but as he told us: "Yes - we can!" Enough with politics now.

I had a not so good day yesterday. My iBook gave up on me and my hubby worked all day to wake it up from it's beauty rest. It's back and working after some techie magic he performed. 

But my iPhoto and iTunes libraries are EMPTY!!! He is now trying to figure out how to recover this most important data for me - it seems to be lingering on the hard drive somewhere. 

I would be crushed if my 5000+ photos would be lost! And all my music. So please keep your fingers crossed for me.

I found a blog that I am very excited about because this gal is living the exact opposite of my life in a very similar way. Doesn't make sense? 

She is an American living in Germany blogging about her life and her very cute house there. While my blog is still in its baby shoes hers is already a very stylish teenager with most valuable renovation, shopping and style tips. Check it out!

Haus Maus

Have a nice day!

mariasimoneidejhs

VOTE!

I am really anxious to see what the American Nation will decide today. After listening to the candidates for almost 2 years the United States will have their time to speak and then pause to listen...

I am honestly considering to leave the USA for good if the wrong person wins this election. I was truely shocked 4 years ago about how much more the Americans need to have happen to their beloved country before they finally see that they made a bad choice. Unfortunately I can't vote since I am no citizen. Well ... and since this is not a political blog I will stop bothering you now.

Go vote and go to Krispy Kreme for a free star shaped donut and to Starbuck's for a free coffee as a reward afterwards.

mariasimoneidejhs

Time is ticking away... it's almost November

After updating my calendar and to-do-list I realized how many things there are to do for me in the weeks to come. November is always my busy month. My husband's, my daughter's and my Mom's birthdays are in November. 

As readers may know I already covered Mom's birthday with a pillow. She just called me today - the parcel arrived safely in Germany. 

I still have to come up with presents for my man and my big girl and also throw her a party.

Oh and then there is Thanksgiving which means decorations, cooking, hosting guest - you know what I mean.

Like I already mentioned before, I am making two Advent calendars for my girls and have to have them hanging Dec. 1st with all the little gifts in place. By the way I have already made 20 little pouches in the meantime, still 28 to go.

This year my in-laws will be coming to visit from Germany to be with us for the birthdays and also to watch my girls so that I can sneak away to Italy for a week in early December. What a treat!!! Will be going to Venice with my parents and my little sis to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary. Molto romantico!* 

But before that I have to make some room for my in-laws in my sewing room which doubles as our guest bedroom. Right now it's really packed. Oh it's BAD!

Not much room for guests to hang their clothes into the closet... hmmm????

I better stop blogging and get to work. Happy Halloween!!!

*I used to live in Milan for a while in the early 90ies and really miss going there. It's just so far from California!

mariasimoneidejhs

Stadtwerke Erfurt

Hurra, endlich hat mir Freund und Kollege Guido Werner die fertiggestellten Layouts von den Shoots für die Stadtwerke Erfurt Kampagne zugeschickt. Bei einem der Shootings hatte ich mir den Kindheitstraum vom Mitfahren auf dem Müllauto erfüllt :-) (siehe Post vom 27.3.08). Alle Bilder entstanden im Auftrag der "Viertakter" und hängen jetzt überall in der Thüringer Landeshauptstadt. 

Guckt mal:

mariasimoneidejhs