Celebrate earth day!

For Earth Day, enjoy 10% discount on our green products on Comptoir d'enfance: Kapla wooden toys, Biodegradeable Stickers and our cute Organic Babywear Collection. Enter the coupon earth when you check out.
All of these products are made with natural products from earth : wooden plank from french forests for Kapla toys, biodegradeable potato starch for the stickers and organic cotton for the babywear collection.

Mix and match on the wall !

What a great mix and match of pictures by our favorite illustrator, Fifi Mandirac, on the walls of her daughter's bedroom. You will find some postcards in our collection of stationery.
A nice idea to put together memories, photos, illustrations. Another way to tell stories to our kids ...
Photo Credit: oh-c-chou.

Spring everywhere!

I love when I find ideas to make both sides of the Atlantic. You obviously recognize the Ikea plastic cups that we all bought one day. Now they can have a second life !
The magazine Femina had the idea.

* 1 wooden plank
* 6 colored plastic cups (there are good Ikea and then those found in any Target)
* Acrylic paint white
* 1 roller or brush
* 1 screwdriver and a drill
* 8 screws

Creation, photographs and illustrations: Nicole Maubert

1. Paint a wooden board with white acrylic paint. Let dry and make a second layer if necessary. Drill the cups at the bottom, center, with the help of a drill.

2. Place the cups on the board and secure them with screws.

3. Make a hole at each end of the board so that they can be attached to the wall. Good job!

And a little thought for my friends in Paris where "sometimes it snows in April".
Waiting the first blooms of spring, fill your flowers-pots with windmills alternating heights and sizes.
So cute!

Barbapapa costume!

What a wonderful home made costume for your kids!

If you don't know already the french character of Barbapapa, have a look at our whole collection .

the Barbapapas are a family who can change their shape as they want.

Spring time !

My best friend will tell me again that I have only inspiration for little girls but it is spring !
And at this period of the year I want more than ever pink for my interior. the author of the french blog Lilafanfreluche seems to be in the same mood when I look at this picture from her album.
I like the poetic atmosphere of this bedroom. And it will be easy to find the same furniture at Ikea. If you want to "cover" a furniture with nice linen, you should go to Anthropologie. They have some beautiful embroidered dishtowels from the new collection which will make lovely sheets for a doll bed, a nice cover for a cushion or a furniture.

A visit of Tricia Guild interior

Designer of the english brand Designers Guild, Tricia Guild is the one who knows how to mix colors and patterns. The french deco tv Show "Interieurs" has made the visit of her London home. And... the video is online here.
It's in French but you will just love it if you already like her turquoise, Parma, anise from her collections.
Since the entrance, shimmering greens welcome you.

In the living room, Design chairs are covered with her beautiful fabrics. Embroidered and Indian-inspired cushions flourish the sofa.

The kitchen / dining room overlooks the garden. This great garden, so lucky she is to have one in London, has taken the atmosphere of the Parisian Luxembourg with the Fermob chairs.
The garden also comes into the house with the flowers throughout the house.

Finally her office is a very personal place because it has on its shelves all the objects that she loves and inspire her.

Watch with pleasure this little guided tour available on line.

Vintage furniture for spring

Do you want to flourish a little ahead before spring your interior ?

Just recover with wall papers vintage furniture left in a corner of the basement or found at the last flea market.

Look at this beautiful chair of the french blog "Dans ma roulotte". Its author is an expert in the art of recycling!

A clips holder !

I've always wondered how to storage my girls hair clips. I just found the solution today on Kelli's blog
Two solutions for me now. I am a lazy mom or too much occupied in writing some posts and managing the shop and order the whole thing : the cute hair clips and the holder.
Or I make it myself simply with a cork board that I just bought at Target, in the one dollar section, and add ribbons !

Retro kids

Let's have a look at the retro kid group on flickr. They are interested in illustrated children's books from the mid-1940's through the mid-1960's, give or take a few years. As long as it has that cool, mid-century modern stylized look that was so popular during that time. They are not limiting to just children's books, but also anything that was illustrated for kids at that time: albums, 45's, commercials, magazine ads, games, toys, etc. Their purpose ? If it's retro, and it looks cool, let's see it!

Where to put the children'draws ?

I was inspired by this photo (taken for the french magazine Elle) of the house of the french designer of Les petites emplettes . I use the same method at home. It's very pretty. Simply take a string and hang your child's draws, notes, poems with trombonnes, small wooden clothespins.

It's very retro-style and your child will be honored to see his/her art hung on the wall....

And now for the boys a cardboard Space Ship

Yes I have two girls so most of the times my ideas are a little bit girly. But today I found an idea on Martha stewart's site for boys so enjoy
'All you'll need is the right stuff: cardboard, glue, tape, and a big dose of aeronautic creativity.

Pour a small amount of quick-drying tacky glue into a jar before you start. Use a shipping tube for body of ship. Cut three fins out of corrugated cardboard, and then cut three slits into bottom of tube (slits should be as long as straight edge of each fin). Apply glue to straight edges of fins, and slide them into tube slits; secure fins with masking tape while glue dries. To make nose of ship, tie a pen to end of a piece of string. Measure circumference of tube with string, then lay string against edge of a piece of thin cardboard with pen at one end. Holding string's midpoint firmly in place, draw a half circle with pen (as you would move a compass). Cut out half circle, and then fold it into a cone; secure with glue and tape. Glue cone to top of ship, again taping to secure pieces. Once dry, remove tape. '

Home made doll house

In the march issue, Cookie's magazine editor, Meryl Levin, describes how she made a dollhouse for her niece out of foam core board. She put graphic wrapping paper on the walls, cut clocks and pictures of out of catalogs and "framed" them with Sharpie, and her niece filled the rooms with her own toys. the result ? a personalized and fun house easy to travel with during holidays ! If you want to try this yourself, see on Cookie's blog how Meryl did it (use the diagram below as a reference).

Birds houses

After their travel on my computer (see previous post), my little birds need a house to rest... I had already noticed the pretty houses from Pottery Barn kids. I think they will inspire me to paint ones from Michael's with spring colors. After I will put some little home made birds ... There are models everywhere for Easter! A nice workshop for kids !

And I have seen that the trend of bird house is a big one this season. Have also a look to the lovely web site of Tamar Mogendorff.

Enjoy your easter decoration !

A new background for spring !

... Peas and small birds of our french designer Fifi Mandirac for your computer and free, available in several colors and sizes, downloadable on her new blog.

I wish that this new background gives you a good mood every morning!

Ps: find her whole universe and its stationery on my shop.

A quilt for spring!

Spring time has arrived with a few days in advance in Paris and California ... But as soon as the sun falls at the end of the day, it is a little cold for dolls and little feet! These are the solutions: beautiful plaids presented by a sweet french blog. To see the explanations click on the image below:) have fun !

Our idea: it can becomes a sweet play area for babies and easy to carry when you travel!

garland addiction, part two

In my previous post, I was writing about my new addiction : garlands ...
And the studio of Audrey answered to my wish: to give you a model of garland to be realized by yourself: go and see her slide show that explains very clearly how to make it.
It is composed of 5 pieces of 5.5"x4" each. So it may be at least 40 inches long. To achieve it, she creates different polka patterns with soft tones & soft of course! Hers is done in gray paper ... let your imagination give you some ideas!

The fabulous french garlands !

Since the creation by the french duo of designers "Tse et Tse" of the garland light, I am a real fan of this method of lighting. And now I am going to extend my collection to cotton or plastic garlands to brighten my interior ... without lights !
You too, get some inspiration with those models, such as the famous "fabulous garlands" of Sophie Cuvelier.
In papers or felt, they already take place in different shops in Paris, such as the so trendy shop for kids Lilibulle ...
I also like the small triangles from lilafanfreluche that can be made from paper, plastic ... Anything that falls into your hands!
Finally it seems that the Christmas magazine "Marie-Claire idées" has inspired many : see this garland made by les sept étoiles with small pieces of liberty: bravo! It is even more beautiful than in the magazine. Here are some ideas to decorate a child bedroom, a birthday party...

A nice table for Birthday party !

See the video
The american way of doing birthday party is very different from France. They rarely take place at home and moms always search special activities on that occasion.
Even if my girls'party will be only in six months, I've already decided that I will do it the French way with a traditional "goûter".

This week my favorite french TV show on decoration "Interiors" (downloaded from the web) has made a video about decoration of children birthday party. You will see good ideas, particularly from the director of the trendy french newspaper "Milk" for parents. For my part I liked the table colored by candies. I have also learned how to customize small white cardboard plates with colored ribbons.



To finish with, have also a look at the video of the french creators of the well-known brand "les petites emplettes", specialized in nice bed linen. They live in a old grocery : they have made a cheap deco with vintage and second-hand stuff, mostly found in flea markets ! You can also have a look at some pictures and explanations of the owners in the french magazine Elle.

Spring colors

When the weather finally brings back the sun, the home decoration follows!
I had desires this week of spring days and their new colors. Lucky me ! I found these beautiful baskets with purple and turquoise dots at Michael's.
I also had a look at the spring collection at Pottery and barn kids and I was not disappointed. First I was able to take advantage of the sales they make on bed linens this month. I bought this delicate duvet cover in a nice cotton still in the same tones.



Next purchase? I think these new large canvas round storage, also with dots... also at Pottery and barn kids... still trying to storage the kids toys after Christmas!

Japanese trend !

Let's talk about one of my favorite shops in the region: a small japanese stationery shop on Santana Row.
The name is not necessarily easy to remember: Maido. But, as this blog wants to meddle futile and useful, here's the address: 378 Santana Row suite 1, San Jose.
It is a real paradise to found gifts. Superb Japanese papers, origami, gums fantasies,, bags, notebooks "en veux-tu-en-voilà" ...
And last but not least for latecomers like me: all agendas, planning 2008 are on sale!