How adorable is the knee high socks look? Not as warm as tights but it looks so cute with skirts, dresses and even shorts and bloomers. I love this look as it adds so much style without much effort. It’s not practical of course in the depths of Winter but as soon as Spring starts to come and even in the cooler Summer days, I know I want to find a load of knee-high socks for Anya. You can add a pop of colour to muted outfits with a bright pair of socks, go for a matching look or it’s a great way to add a pattern or print to a plain outfit. You can change the whole look of an outfit just with a pair of socks and it looks totally adorable! Do you know any fun and colourful ranges of knee high socks for kids? I’d love to know.
One of the biggest joys of our new home is that we have our very own garden. We’ve wanted one for ages but have never found the right home with the right garden and now we have. Yay! So even thought it’s cold and the garden is overgrown we still get out there for short bursts. Normally when Anya goes out there I make her wear a coat which she finds a bit restrictive for her outdoor adventures. But recently she was sent this gorgeously soft cashmere cardigan which is oh so warm. So this Sunday I let Anya wear that with a couple of tee’s under and play outside for a bit and she didn’t once complain of being cold.
I love the stylish touches on this grey cashmere cardi like the mother of pearl buttons that go down the side rather than the middle. This cardigan is great for dressing up or down too. Anya’s worn it before with a long dusty pink tutu to a birthday party but this Sunday we were having a relaxed day and a late brunch with some friends so we dressed it down with skinny jeans and some cool orange boots. The cardigan is made by the French Oscar et Valentine who also make some beautiful baby clothes as well as classic cashmere pieces for boys. Many of their styles are timeless and classic and come in an understated and very French colour palette. For something a little edgier, try one of their slogan cashmere jumpers with words like ‘milk’ or ‘rock’ on them – they’re pretty cool too.
Anya spent her time outdoors looking for caterpillars and when she couldn’t find any she pretended they were there anyway and started to collect little leaves to feed them. If you’ve already got a garden (or back yard as my readers across the pond call it) then you know what a magical place it is for a kid. And to be able to spend even a little time outside in Winter is a real treat. As long as the weather’s not crazy cold, I think Anya will be donning her very warm cashmere cardi and heading out there every weekend!
Ages ago I bought a large cardboard igloo for Anya. I had stored it away and completely forgotten about it until we moved house a month ago. As soon as she spotted it, she wanted to put it up and so we did over the Christmas holidays. This igloo has become her favourite little space in the whole house. She reads in there, plays in there, hides in there and even takes her quilt and pillow and has a little rest in there. Of course any kid loves a ‘secret’ hiding place and this igloo has so reminded me of that. Actually I don’t think you can ever be too young or too old to want a little hiding place! So when we do up Anya’s room in our new home, I know that I will be creating a tipi corner for her. While the igloo is lovely it is very large so a tipi will be far more practical as it doesn’t take up nearly much room. With that in mind, I went looking for some tipi corner inspiration and here are my favourites:
I love the simplicity of this teepee and the way it has been decorated in shades of white and black with just a simple string of lights. This might be for a kids room but it would look equally great in a living space if you wanted to create a cosy corner for all the family to enjoy.
This is such a gorgeous and girly room and the dusty pink teepee just adds to the feminine vibes of the room. I love how most of the room is white but the pink teepee just adds that splash of colour.
While I always think I prefer plain coloured fabrics, it’s when I see prints and patterns mixed like this that I start re-thinking. I love this printed teepee that looks so great with all the other patterns surrounding it. This space works perfectly for a boy or girl so would be great for a shared room.
Teepee’s aren’t actually that hard to make so you could make your own and then mix and match a range of fabrics like they’ve done on this one above. These pretty floral fabrics look great all together especially against the geometric rug and cushions.
Even if your child’s room doesn’t have space for a teepee, I really would be tempted to put one in a shared family space like a corner of the living room. I think once we get Anya’s room done with a teepee in there, it won’t be just her using it – I can picture me spending hours in there playing games with her or just reading books to her. Do you have a teepee in your home?
Each year I make some resolutions (or goals which is the word I prefer) either for my work or perosnal life or most often for both. But in all honesty, come March/April they are long forgotten and or at least I haven’t stuck to them. This year I want things to be different. There are of course changes I want to make but I need to find a way to stick to them. When I started thinking about this last week and wondering how I could be better at sticking to my goals, it suddenly hit me as to where I was going wrong. In the past I’ve sat down and made a general list (either on paper or in my head) of big changes I want to make, without much thought given to how I was going to make these changes. After a while these changes can start to feel overwhelming and I would mostly end up not pursuing them at all.
One of my goals for this blog is to mix the content up a bit more. While I don’t plan to stop featuring gorgeous kids stuff, I want to add more DIY, recipes, personal family experiences, my own styled shoots etc. This can feel like a big task (especially with a huge house renovation project coming up and my new shop to add to my normal workload) because creating more of my own content will take time. As an example, an idea for one post struck me today. In the past this idea would have been added to a list, I would have tried to plan how I’m going to do this along with other stuff over the course of the year, where I’ll find time, trying to put a list of ideas together for the year – no more. I took the simple step of emailing the brand that I wanted to collaborate with and that’s it for today. When (and if) they come back to me, I shall take the next little step. It might seem like the obvious thing to do but I know that I definitely wasn’t doing it right in the past.
So this year my resolutions don’t look anything like big, huge things to accomplish. Instead I have a rough idea of the big picture in my head but that is not my focus at all. My focus is doing at least one small thing each day that will over the period of the year, add up to my big goals. I am not going spend time thinking about the big end goal but all I want to think about is what is that one little thing I can do today. That’s it – just one small step every day.
After one year I shall see if this little daily method works for me or not. Have you made goals for the year? Do you usually stick to them? If you do, I’d love to hear how you manage to make it happen. Maybe you already do one small thing each day?
While Christmas shopping for Anya I came across these kids activity books which literally jumped out at me possibly because of their striking black and neon colours. I picked up one and had a quick flick through and thought it looked pretty good. So I bought it for her and she has loved it. We got the orange ‘Definitely not for chickens’ one which is full of drawing puzzles, number activities, memory games and lots more. Some pages are easier than others but all offer pretty engaging things to do. There are five different books in total each with different puzzles and activities.
Apart from being really fun for kids, these quirky Totally Twisted Puzzle books are nicely illustrated and use the same colour scheme inside and on the cover making it all very striking to look at. I’m planning to get another one once Anya has gone through the first one. It’s been a great book to take along when you need your child to be entertained (rather than giving them an ipad/iphone). Recently while planning our house renovation, we’ve had to spend hours at kitchen/bathroom/flooring shops and this book has been the thing we’ve taken along to keep Anya occupied. I also love these books to give as party favours or small gifts.
Character themed or over colourful kids and baby bedding just doesn’t do it for me. I personally prefer children’s bedding to be as simple and minimal as possible but that doesn’t mean it has to be just black and white. I totally appreciate that a few carefully chosen colours thrown in can work really well. That’s why I’m loving this new collection of baby and kids bedding from Australia. Tiny little polka dots in charcoal or neon pink adorn the sheets which are complimented with a beautiful two-tone blanket. There’s also a sheet with little yellow hearts that is quite adorable for baby boy or girl. And then for older kids you’ve got the dotty sheets with matching duvets which can also be paired with the two-tone blankets. Very simple, very classy.
Apart from these stylish bedding sets for kids, also on offer are some unusual and fun prints. What I love most about the prints is that they really are for any age – from little babies to adults. Many of the prints compliment the bedding sets really well or would be a great way to add pops of colour to an all white nursery or kids room. Of all I think I’m loving that quirky dog print and the charcoal polka dot linen is just lovely too. In fact I would be tempted to go with both together for a boys room.
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
