Tuesday Tips: a pretty plaster for every little pain

Since having children I’ve developed a fun sort of, well, interest: I’ve been picking up cool Band-Aids wherever I find them. Especially when I’m traveling I tend to be on the lookout for new designs. It’s a fun little present to bring back to the kids and they are always so happy with them!

I like too keep them everywhere. In the kitchen drawer (mostly used by myself), in the bathroom cabinet, in my purse, in our suitcases, in the glove department of our car… Because very often, nothing seems to heal a little owie faster than a cool BandAid! Even when Casper is complaining of a tummy ache, a Spiderman BandAid (on his knee!) is what he needs. Combined with a big cuddle, of course. And whenever a child is hurt on the playground or so, I’m that mama who pulls open her purse and is like ‘Do you need a bandage? What design? Star Wars or Hello Kitty??’. I think that the distraction of having a choice as to which plaster to pick makes them forget why they needed one in the first place!

What’s your trick for treating little pains?

xxx Esther

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2nXGnc3 via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2otSMbq

Essential packing for a weekend with the kids (with Lo and Sons)

If you love traveling, there’s also the packing to deal with beforehand. Before children, this was part of the fun for me. The anticipation of going away would slowly build up with every list I would make, every item of clothing I would put aside, each travel-sized toiletry I would purchase… Nowadays (having to pack not just for myself but also for my four little favourites), there’s nothing relaxed about preparing for a trip. Packing has become a piece of organisation that I have to dive in with full focus and let me tell you — you better not disturb my concentration when I’m at it! But, over the years, I have learned to become a more essential packer. I know what basics we need, and what really is redundant. If not a more relaxed packer, I have definitely become a more efficient one. ; )

Lo and Sons is a hip US company offering an extensive collection of extremely functional and good-looking travel gear. The business was started by a mother (Helen Lo) and her two sons, and we are so proud that they are partnering with us at our next LA ShopUp event (taking place in 2 weeks time, guys!). Lo and Sons sent me one large and one small version of their cool Catalina Deluxe bags, and asked me to show what I would pack for a weekend away (just the kids and I, sorry Tamar!), and fit it all in their bags. Ok, fun!

The Catalina Deluxe bags are made of a lovely, light-weighed and pre-washed cotton canvas material and come in four pretty colours. I love the designs — they are really cool looking! (They are slightly slouchy and ‘relaxed’, and there’s no ugly branding and such.) The fabric is soft and sturdy and easy to fold or roll, allowing for easy storage. Next to the ‘usual’ features such as two open pockets and a zipped pocket on the inside, the bags have some other handy features like a special padded compartment in the bottom of the bag (perfect, for example, for shoes, dirty laundry, or an overnight stay during your journey), a clever, adjustable back sleeve to slide over suitcase handles and a messenger strap with memory foam on the shoulder pad for comfort.

So… Packing for two nights away in springtime in the Netherlands means that weather-wise, it can go all directions! We’ve had some lovely warm and sunny days recently, but it’s still really chilly (cold even!) in the evenings and in the mornings. (And let’s face it, there is always the chance of rain in Holland.) So I would have to pack clever — some summery things, but definitely a few warm and waterproof layers as well.

Here’s what I selected for the children (for the Catalina Deluxe large):

• Pyjamas that double up as loungewear and also are great pieces to layer with.
• CatsPads. I never travel without them. (I hate cold feet!)
• Pac-a-Macs. For rain and as a windbreaker. I also love them matching so I can easily recognise my kids when I’m traveling in airports or so.
• Warm, woollen jumpers for evenings and early mornings, or just when chilly.
• Underpants x2
• Spare outfit. Coordinating colours so easily mixed and matched. Items like leggings for the girls and knee socks to combine with dresses/shorts are good for in between seasons (and so cute!).
• A big muslin square to use as a towel/scarf/blanket for each of them.
• Swim wear (inflatable water wings for Casper) and sun hats.
• Flip-flops.
• Toiletries (hair brush, ties and clips, toothpaste and brushes, tissues)
• Paper and felt tips.
• Doudou for Pim.

I was a bit concerned when I started putting everything in the bag as it seemed like a lot all spread out over the bed! But I was surprised to see that I was easily able to fit everything in the bag. (Especially with that extra compartment in the bottom, in which I put the Pac-a-Macs, the flip-flops and the muslin towels.) It is truly impressive to see how much one can fit into that one weekender!

OK, next, my own bag (the Catalina Deluxe Small). Here’s what I put out for myself:

• Bikini, sunhat, flip flops.
• Sunscreen (a high factor, for everyone).
• A Turkish beach towel.
• Underwear and nightwear.
• Spare outfit (shorts, T-shirt, dress, leggings).
• A warm, woollen jumper, Pac-a-Mac and CatsPads as above ;).
• Laptop, chargers, a notebook and pens in a big pouch.
• Two small pouches, one with a few toiletries and one with some make-upessentials.
• Another small pouch holding some bandages, mosquito repellent, a mini sewing kit, (nail) scissors and pain killers for me and the kids.
• And another pouch (I love pouches!) with a few mini books, mini dolls, cards and dice (we love playing yathzee!!).

Voila! I put my phone, wallet and keys in the zippered pocket inside, the pouches, my flip-flops, sunscreen and beach towel in the bottom compartment together with the small pouches, and the rest fitted easily in the main part of the bag. (I liked the open side pockets for my underwear — I hate it when I lose them between the bigger things and have to start digging for them!)

Perfect! All packed. I hope I didn’t forget anything… What do you think of my list? What are the essentials you always pack for your kids? And for yourself? I would love to hear!

xxx Esther

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2oVFJjF via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2opwCXY

Cloud Tea Monkeys, written by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham

A place I have yet to discover and a place where I long to go is India. I’d love to travel there one day for many reasons but mainly to view the spectacular sights of the tea plantations. You see I love tea. I have the largest basket in my kitchen filled with teas from all over the world. When friends come to visit and they ask for tea they are sometimes over-whelmed by the choice I give them. Black tea with blue flowers, green tea, mint tea, rose tea etc etc. But there is one tea I have yet to taste myself and that is the delicate flavour of Cloud Tea. Even the name of it sounds dreamy! It’s grown in Meghalaya in India which is a region on the west side of Assam but because the tea plants are grown so remotely it becomes a difficult leaf to pick, hence it’s rarity.

Rather coincidentally the other day I was chatting to a friend, who also happens to love tea, who told me about this wonderfully illustrated story book which tells of the tale of Cloud Tea. The girls and I have since read this story every evening and last night we stumbled across the audio version which is so endearingly spoken by Tania Rodrigues.

Written by an English couple, Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, Cloud Tea Monkeys was written whilst Elspeth was writing a book about tea. It’s a story of a young girl whose mother is too ill to continue her days work picking tea. The family must have the money to pay for the Dr’s bills so Tashi decides to take over her mother’s work. She realises she’s too small to reach the precious leaves and she tirelessly discovers she’s going to need a miracle now to help her mother. Her life is changed forever with the help of a troop of monkeys as they help her fill her baskets with the rarest (and richest) tea leaves.

As soon as you enter this book you are transported to the lives of tea workers in India. The illustrations are stunning and there is so much discussion to come from the plot, especially with older children. We really love this book and the message it presents.

Cloud Tea Monkeys is available from all good bookstores and online from Amazon US and UK.

Vanessa xx

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2p80KEj via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2nLRVPg

Quick and Easy Marbled Eggs

I vividly remember painting eggs as a child, the hours spent messily blowing the contents into a bowl, and the sore aching cheeks that followed. It was one of my favourite Easter traditions and afterwards my Mum would hang our decorated eggs on a little tree outside our kitchen window.

When it gets to this time of year I always think how nice it would be to do this with my kids but in reality I know it will be me that gets left to deal with bowlfuls of sticky egg goo! Let’s be honest, the first one is fun but the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Then by chance last Easter I stumbled across the perfect cheat in our local craft shop, polystyrene eggs. They are reasonably cheap (we bought a bag of 20 for £4) they look great, are easy to handle and are much more hard wearing than real eggs.

I can’t tell you how much time and effort these eggs have saved us and they give such effortlessly beautiful results every time. The kids loved how each one is different to the last and just wanted to keep doing more and more.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Polystyrene eggs – you can buy a selection of different sizes at amazon
• Oil based marble paint – we used Marabu Easy Marble
• Wooden skewer or cocktail stick
• Old dish or jam jar (oil based paint will stain the jar and can only be removed with turps)
• Kitchen towel/tissues

Fill the dish with enough water so that the egg can be fully submerged. Add a few drops each of some different coloured marble paints. We combined two or three colours at a time. Swirl the water with a cocktail stick to create a pattern..

Gently insert a skewer into the end of the polystyrene egg to hold it firmly in place. Dip the egg into the water and rotate so that the paint covers all of the egg. Add more drops of paint and repeat if necessary then set aside to dry on a piece of kitchen towel.

That’s it, it really is that simple! The great thing about these eggs is that you can actually slice them in half with a kitchen knife. We used them to stick on to a headpiece for our school easter bonnet parade but you could also use them to make fun easter cards, or string them along some thread to make an easter garland.

Enjoy,

Kate x

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2nN4riz via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2p5JFe9

Sweetcase – beautiful essentials for newborns (and gorgeous room decor)

The other day I was having a coffee with the lovely Murielle from Sweetcase — I do love talking to the people we work with and discuss what inspired them to start their businesses! We touched base on how she was inspired to create Sweetcase… Murielle was expecting her second child when she realised that there was not one place where she could simply and easily get everything she needed for her pending arrival.

Sweetcase was the result of her unsuccessful search for such a place: it is the first and only stop one needs to make to get ready for the arrival of a new baby and truly is one of a kind! One of the great successes of Sweetcase is their maternity suitcases, which are pre-packed with over 25 carefully selected items for your baby and his first weeks, taking the stress of packing your hospital bag away. But you can also choose whatever you want from the ‘menu’ of cute clothes, beautiful bedding and great presents. The gorgeous prints on the fabrics are delicately designed by Murielle herself and super soft — exactly like something you would like to wrap a newborn into or dress your toddler’s bed with. Have a peek at the new prints – they launch today!

On top of Murielle’s sweet designs, Sweetcase has also curated a great choice of presents for newborns and their very well deserving parents.

We are super excited to have Murielle and her collection at the ShopUp in LA in only a few weeks time! Exciting!

Emilie

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2n9HZno via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2oAuddY

9 Months: A month by month guide to pregnancy for the family to share

About 2 ½ years ago, Courtney and I met with the lovely Rachel Williams (publisher of Wide Eyed Editions and Frances Lincoln children’s books, and creative brain behind a whole lot of amazingly beautiful children’s publications), and she asked us the following question: if we were to write one non-fictional book for the children’s market, what would that book be about?

We didn’t have to think long. Before our cappuccinos were finished, we knew that the book would be about pregnancy. But it wouldn’t be anything like the children’s pregnancy books we knew — the sort that discuss storks and cabbages before finally coming to the point: babies actually magically develop in the mother’s belly. Or the sort which are more daring; where sex is courageously reviewed (oh dear!), yet approached as a bit of a freak show, with sperms that have enormous eyes and huge grins, swimming with swagger to the grand prize: a big, fat, cosy looking egg.

No, our book would be straightforward and to the point — written with consideration and respect to the beauty of the creation of life, and gorgeously illustrated. Our book would be kept proudly on the coffee table, to read and talk about together as a family. It would help to explain a new pregnancy to siblings, but also be an amazing resource older children, helping them to understand human reproduction and how a baby develops in the womb, factual and fascinating. Because we strongly believe that the way it is, is beautiful. No silly language or euphemisms needed.

The question was followed with a proposal (which of course we accepted with glee!) and the process was set into action. We started researching and writing, learning about new and known facts, and time after time we were in awe over the amazing and truly wondrous way in which life is created and formed. Courtney and I spoke for hours over Skype, working with consensus on an indefinite number of shared documents, always in agreement on how this book would be written and what it would eventually look like.

We were so happy when we found an illustrator who would do justice to our concept. Lizzy Stewart is such a talented artist, she really brought our book to life. The manner in which she illustrated the growing baby in the womb alongside the lifestyle images of the expecting parents made our book truly beautiful.

Now, 2 ½ years later, we’re holding our book in our hands with pride! A few copies were sent by airmail, so we could take photos and make our video, while the rest of the prints are slowly making their way to various warehouses in the UK, the US and Australia. In about a month, our book will be available in bookstores, brick and mortar as well as online ones, and hopefully make their way to your coffee tables quickly.

We can’t wait to get your feedback, to hear what it was like to read our book with your children. We hope they will love it as much as ours do!

xxx Esther

PS To make sure you get your hands on a much coveted first print, it’s safest to pre-order your copy now! –> For the UK, you can do so here . For the US, click here ! And for pre-ordering in Australia, just follow this link here. Thank you!

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2owdF6S via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2oDMTpD

A Fun First Birthday Cake (and it is sugar free!)

I find first birthdays particularly bittersweet, because I love and cherish the sweetness of that first year of life. I think back to those first moments when they were born, and I am utterly amazed by how much the sweet babies grow in just one year! And because the first year of life is so special, I always want to reflect those sentiments by having a birthday which is super magical and memorable (no pressure then!). But really, the most important thing is to celebrate them, their health, and their little life. So I made this very fun birthday cake, which also happens to be healthy and yummy and totally sugar free. We even liked this dessert so much that we’ve made it 5 times in the last 20 days. And no one has grown tired of it yet.

I hope you try this easy and tasty Watermelon Cake for birthdays or whenever! (Though it is, of course, especially good for first birthdays when you might not want to serve sugar). It is easy, refreshing, fun, and pretty too! Did I mention it is also wheat, dairy, and nut (if you want it to be) free? Not that I don’t love all of the above (I have a mean sweet tooth), but for those with allergies this is a must-try recipe!

Ingredients:

1 large seedless watermelon

2 cans of full fat organic coconut milk (chilled in the fridge for 6 hours or more)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste (which we prefer)

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 cup slivered raw almonds or coconut flakes toasted (your choice, not essential but yummy and a nice texture to compliment the smooth cream)

Seasonal fresh fruit (for topping) — kiwis, blueberries, raspberries, sliced banana, and strawberries are our favourites! We love trying out different combinations.

Directions:

1. Make the coconut cream frosting ahead of time. Place the cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (or overnight). This will cause the cream to separate from the milk. The cream will be at the top of the can.

2. Open the can of coconut milk and scrape out the cream into a medium sized bowl. Tip: Open the can from the bottom and pour the milk out into a separate container before scraping out the cream. You can use the saved milk for smoothies, curries, etc.

3. Add the vanilla and raw honey to the mixture. Whip the cream with a hand mixer on medium speed and work your way up to high speed until the cream is light and fluffy. Place the bowl of whipped cream in the fridge until ready to use. (It stores for about 3 days.)

4. Next, prepare the toasted almonds or coconut flakes. Place a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat and allow the pan to heat up. Add the slivered almonds or coconut and stir in the pan until they are toasted and turn a light brown colour. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

5. Now for the watermelon carving. Use a seated long bread knife to remove the top and bottom from the watermelon then a boning knife is best to remove the rind from the middle section. You should be left with a cake-shaped piece of watermelon.

6. If you have the time, leave the watermelon on a cooling rack for an hour or so (or more time if you have it) to ‘dry off’ and pat the outside of the watermelon dry with paper towels (this is important because it will help the coconut whipped cream adhere better).

7. Once ready, frost the watermelon, add the fruit, add the toasted topping, and voila! You have a yummy cake. Refreshing, sweet, all natural, and perfect with a cup of tea!

Don’t you love the first birthday… The surprised look on their faces when you sing happy birthday, the other kids around them trying to blow out the candles, the baby trying to reach for the candles (eek!), then smearing the frosting in their faces — and of course the pulling and peek-a-boo with their party hats. We always strip our one year olds down to their original ‘birthday suit’ to eat their cake, (with a nappy on), but we spared you those photos :). I love the awareness and the curiosity each baby has at their first birthday party. Such a fun rite of passage. Even more delicious with a cake that they can fully indulge in without the sugar crash after. Hope you try it out, let us know how you liked it!

Lara

xx

PS And yes, you may remember that I wrote about a sugar free Valentine’s project with watermelon recently, and now it seems I am on to watermelon again…. I swear, this is the last one for a while!

from kid games toys http://ift.tt/2nzlNiF via kid games toys
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2ov4HGF