Paper Lanterns DIY

So beautiful and easy to do! Tutorials here and here.

**Have a great day**

Reading Corners

If you have in mind to raise a bi-lingual or tri-lingual kid, like us, you better prepare a good amount of resorces! 

          1. in Mommo Design  2.  in Baby-Deco 3. Mini-Style Blog

Ideas:

1. You should prepare a room full of light with shelfs that expose the books and the games, a confortable sofa or chair and several blankets and pillows or poufs where kids can seat confortably.

2. Expose posters with drawings and ABC related items. Expose your child`s art in a beautiful board on the wall.

3. You should keep it attractive, clean and pretty. Also kids love new items so keep it refreshed. Things don´t have to be brand new all the time, there are plenty of shops where you can buy used books in good shape.

4. Stablish an hour to read to your kids, for example before going to sleep. 

Places where you can find good books in Tokyo:

Kinokunyia has a good selection of children books in english.

Book Off usualy you can find an english and foreigner books corner, you should look for it in your town. Also you can sell them the old books and bring new ones adapted to your childs level.

                 4. 6th Street Design School       7. Jurnal de Design Interior          8. Jurnal de Design Interior

Places where you can find good books in Tokyo:

Kinokunyia has a good selection of children books in english.

Book Off usually you can find an english and foreigner books corner, you should look for it in your town. Also you can sell them the old books and bring new ones adapted to your childs level.

Some Facebook groups exchange books and learning games for kids for reasonable prices, keep an eye on them for the good items! 

Tokyo Garage Sale - Pick Up Only

7. in Apartment Therapy   8. in Casa da Vó Rosa   9. (sorry) 

Saturday DIY

I want to share with you a really nice activity to do with your kids!! 

You have the patterns here! 

Kimono Shoes Tutorial

Want to share with the moms something so cool and nice! I`ve discoved that Home Spun Threads has free kimono shoes patterns and ballerina shoes, both of them super cute!

***

Queria partilhar com as mamãs algo que encontrei! O blog Home Spun Threads (em inglês mas pode usar o tradutor) oferece moldes de sapatinhos de bébé.

           Kimono Baby Shoes Tutorial and  Ballerina Baby shoes Tutorial

           You can see hundreds of tutorials from Home Spun Threads 

Blue Jeans, I miss you

I must confess I had blogposts prepared but today I rather write about something delicious, something that gives me some eyecandy. Sorry! I know this is not meant to be a fashion blog at all but... Since I´m pregnant do you know what I most miss?? MY BLUE JEANS!!! I can`t fit in them for a very, very long time and perhaps it will take a few months till I can put them on again after my daughter is born next December.

Yeahh. there were days like these - I could fit a 38! I could seat confortable in seiza position... and wear my blue jeans on and on! Must keep on remmembering my old ME!

Blue  Jeans  I  miss  you !!!
❤️❤️

Been looking all around Tokyo for nice pre-maman  clothing, I prefer real shopping since   I´m not quite sure about the size, but I found just some shops With Maternity Wear that I want to share with you:

H&M that has a small corner in Futako Tamagawa. Perhaps there are more. Also they have many large dresses.

United Colours of Benetton in Omote Sando, the italian brand always has a sense for baby and kids wear so as pre-maman Wear

Uniqlo I could use some items till now, 6 months, like dresses, pants, etc

Akachan Hompo, the brand sells many items for babies and you can find a good corner of maternity wear.

Muji, japanese brand that has a maternity clothing line

                  ❤️❤ keep healthy  ❤️❤  keep strong ❤️❤  keep beautiful 

Very Special Marriage Rings

                                    

If you are an artist of body and soul like my self, going the way down to Ginza to choose a marriage ring in a fancy shop is not enough, it has to be more than that. We discovered these rings surfing around the web, they have this kind of handmade look and in that day we saw them we thought "What a shame the shop is so far!". Yayoi Jewelry Shop is situated in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture and we would need around three hours to get there from Tokyo, And so we did it!

もしもあなたが身も心もアーチストだったら、結婚指輪を選ぶのに銀座のおしゃれなお店をクルーズするかわりに、もっといいものがある。私達がウェブでそのお店を見つけた時、ああ残念！そんなに遠くなの、って思った。そのお店は弥生貴金属という名前で、場所は愛知県の豊橋市だったの。

でも結局、行くことにしたわ！

We planed a relaxed mini vacation weekend, we took the train in Tokyo Station and traveled to Nagoya and Gifu having as a mandatory stop the village of Toyohashi. We`ve never expected to find such a lovely, handmade atmosphere, literaly a couple of hands to welcome us with all the time in this world, the president and founder of Yayoi Shop Mr, Shige helped us to choose the right size.

週末のミニバカンスを利用して、私たちは東京から名古屋と岐阜へ旅行した。

でも今回の一番の目的は豊橋に行くことだった。こんなに可愛い、手作りの、いつも私たちを暖かく迎えてくれるような雰囲気のお店があるなんてあまり期待していなかった。お店の社長さん、茂さんが指輪のサイズ選びを手伝ってくれた。

And in the end we had a wonderful surprise! If you feel a tremendous attraction by the gold making process and for the refined techniques of jewelry making you can visit inside the shop atelier. At this moment we can be sure our rings are being made specialy for us, by hands full of wisdom and practice. 

最後に嬉しいサプライズも！もしあなたが指輪作りのプロセスに興味があったら店のアトリエの中を見せてもらうことができる。そしてこのとき、私たちの指輪がたしかな技術を持った熟練のアルチザンたちによって創られることを確信したのだった。

Enjoy your life greatly, nobody can do it better than you!

Yayoi shop and Factory here

Address: 〒441-8106

豊橋市弥生町字東豊和149-15

MAP

TEL: 0532-46-3723

9am~20pm

Ryokan, Special Places to Stay in Japan

In our trip to Gifu we stayed one night in a typical ryokan. Ryokans are typical hotels were everything is japanese style and everyone can experience the japanese atmosphere of a traditional house. Some places are more conservative than others but you can experience the various elements that compose japanese life style. Rooms are in tatami and you will have a futon to sleep. This one is in Ogaki (10 minuts train from Gifu City) and we recomend it sincerely, despite the age of the building, it should have worked for many years.

岐阜に旅行したとき、昔ながらの旅館に泊まりました。こういうところでは伝統的な日本の家を体験できます。旅館でももっと保守的なところもあるようですけど、ここは気取らない感じでよかった。畳の部屋で、寝るのはもちろん布団。ここは本当におすすめですね。岐阜から電車で近い街＝大垣。建物は古いけれど、長い時間を経てきたことを感じさせてくれますね。

The look of our room when we arrived at night. The ryokan owner (You should call Ryokans owner "Nakai San") a really nice japanese lady that speaks english was already waiting for us. We could hear the water in the close streams.

夜に到着した時の部屋の様子です。旅館の女性オーナーは親切に私達を迎えてくれました。

近くを流れる水のせせらぎも聞こえましたよ。

Breakfast the next morning. The tradicional japanese breakfast composed by rice, fish, tofu and an infinity of local and seasonal speacialities. Nakai-san called us just before the misoshiru "started to get cold", in her own words. Hospitality to the most highest level.

翌朝の朝食。魚やごはん、とうふ地元の旬の食材でつくられた朝ごはんです。

私達が遅いので、仲居さんが呼びに来たとき、味噌汁がさめちゃいますよー、と言っていましたね。こういう心遣いが嬉しいですね。

Exterior look of the ryokan, japanese typical garden.

旅館の外観ー典型的な日本庭園

Address and map here. English Spoken :-)

Cuteness

While my belly grows with our little girl inside, we struggle to arrange everything for her arrival. Toys included! As i`ve been into the handmade business for many years, I know all the good crafters around that make the most attractive and most cute soft toys in the market. In Portugal there are several outstanding items like Matilde Beldroega, from who I`ve always been a great fan ever since and also Donna Wilson (UK) exquisite plush toys are one of my favorites.

Living in a country like Japan, completely devoted to the world of cuteness made me even more found of plush toys. Meanwhile I decided to relaunch the *Chocha Dolls Collection* and I´ve added some in my shop, however they are available only from October, but you can order right now and wait for them patiently. Perhaps you saw them around, they were featured in several blogs and magazines.

***

私のお腹のなかで娘が大きくなってくるにつれて、彼女が生まれる日に備えていろいろな準備を始めています。もちろんおもちゃも！
長年、ハンドメイドの仕事に夢中だったわたしは、一番魅力的で可愛いおもちゃをつくる職人さんを知っています。ポルトガルでは、昔から大ファンだった　MatildeBeldroega　とか、精巧なDonna Wilson　などなど。。
日本のような、かわいいもので溢れている国で生活していて、わたしもぬいぐるみが大好きになりました。それで再び *Chocha Dolls Collection* を始動することに。
いくつかはもうわたしのショップに加えました。でも注文に対応できるのは１０月からになりそうです・ みなさん、どうか楽しみに待っていてくださいね！

matrioska chocha doll + mr. Croc + set of five matrioska chocha doll + angel chocha doll + mobile giraffe chocha doll

W o r l d  o f  C u t e n e s s  i n  J a p a n

summer is ending** autumn will arrive soon** enjoy anyway**

see you soon!!

***

Furin**風鈴**

 For a long time I have the idea of starting my own collection of *Furin*, these windchimes from Japan with a metalic sound so pleasant to the ears. If you know where I can find the glass ready to be painted, please tell me! 

***

Á muito tempo que eu tenho a ideia de começar a minha própria coleção de *Furin*, estes windchimes do Japão com um som metálico tão agradável ao ouvido. Se você sabe onde eu posso encontrar o copinho de vidro pronto para ser pintado, por favor, diga-me!

***

長い間、わたしは私自身の風鈴コレクションをもちたいと思っていました。

風鈴の機械的な音色は本当に耳に心地よいですね！

自分でペイントできる手作り風鈴をどこで手に入れられるかご存じの方はご連絡をお待ちします。

***

Nursery for Girl and Creative Wall Racks

For the ones who are catching up with me right now, we are a not so young mixed couple living in Japan, my husband is japanese and I´m portuguese and right now we are expecting a little hafu* girl. Going right now on the way to find an apartment that fulfils our needs, this seems a really hard job, so if you know about something, please don`t hesitate!

***

para aqueles que começam a ler esta história agora, nós somos um casal que já não é assim tão jovem e vivemos no Japão, o meu marido é japonês e eu sou portuguesa e estamos á espera de uma menina hafu*.  Estamos neste momento á procura de um apartamento que preencha as nossas necessidades, o que parece uma tarefa difícil de concretizar, por isso se alguém souber de alguma coisa, não hesite em contactar!

*hafu: japanese term used to designate people born from mixed parents japanese and another nationality

lately I´ve been asked a lot about the little raks I`m selling online here, that were actually wine boxes and I was thinking if I should keep them for our daughter. I see some really nice examples and I feel so inspired to make our daughter nursery.

***

ultimamente tenho sido questionada acerca das prateleiras pequeninas que tenho á venda na minha loja online. Estas prateleiras eram na verdade caixas de vinho que podem ser transformadas. Tenho pensado se as deveria guardar para o quarto da nossa filha.

1. an item from Five Little Diamonds; 2. an idea in Eclectic Living Home

the type of western nurseries seem hard to do in Japan, owners are more strict and they don´t allow too much painting and sticking like western ones, so japanese houses many times are quite plain. At the same time, zakka examples of japanese kids rooms are deadly beautiful!

***

os quartos de criança tal como nós, os ocidentais estamos habituados a  ver parecem difíceis de realizar aqui no Japão porque os donos dos apartamenetos normalmente sao mais restritos e nao gostam que se cole e pinte as paredes, por isso muitas vezes as casas japonesas sao bastante simples. Ao mesmo tempo as revistas Zakka mostram sempre imahens lindissimas de interiores de quartos de criança! 

3. an image courtesy of Babble Pregnancy

4. already a sold item from *whats new on the mantel*

Um bom fim de Verão!! 

***

Have a nice Summer end!

***

More Ideas for Fabric Yarn

***

The new century is all about recycling and I love the idea. For years that my shop is selling this yarn that is not made from used tshirts but from leftovers from fabric factories of the north of Portugal. I saw this matherial being used and used and crossing oceans however I never got tired of it! Why? Because the colours are nice, the patterns are brilliant and it´s so soft and clean to work with it! Leaving you with a few more ideas! Check what other crafters are doing!

***

1. rug from RRetroRugs*** 2. bracelet from Borgica*** 3. pouff from LoopingHome*** 4. little handbag  from SewnDarnComfy*** 5. keychain from Crafts by Amanda*** 6. pillow by kitsdiezijin***  7. rug by gloandmo*** 8. rug bySol*** small pocketbag by Peggytrue