Bellissimo! Italy Printable

After a couple of years of being married, I fell in love. Well, I totally didn't see that coming, it took me by surprise. I guess it was lucky that my husband also fell in love...

...in love with Italy! I know, generations of Germans (and other tourists, of course) have discovered this beautiful country before us, but for us, our trips to Venice, Milan and Florence were eye-openers. I still want to see Rome and Sicily and Verona and Naples and Cinque Terre (in nice weather!) and Sorrento (again, as a grown-up) and Capri and and and...

I made this printable for all you guys out there who are equally in love with this charming country - in different colors. They're free for personal use, so go ahead and go crazy!

What's your latest infatuation?

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PS I also have cute Eiffel tower and London printables. The other colors are after the jump break.

Craft Challenge: Vote & Link-Up

It's only the middle of May, but it's already time for the Craft Challenge link-up and vote. That's why I'm handing over the mic to Rosie who has - as always - written a great post about this month's endeavors!

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I know what you're going to tell me: I'm a week early - the link-up is not for another week. Well normally you'd be right, but this month we were blessed with more weeks than we needed and I'm going to Budapest on Saturday. I'm so excited! My lovely boyfriend has just surprised me with a dinner cruise as part of my birthday present, and we have tickets for an opera, so I anticipate an epic holiday. If you are not quite ready with your crafts, don't worry - I'll leave the Linky open for two weeks and post it again next Monday so you can find us easily.

I couldn't leave for a week of frivolity without seeing what wall art you guys made. You can link up below the round-up of our attempts. Next month we're making something 'romantic'...and my thinking cap is truly on. I can't think of anything to make! Luckily for me PJ is taking week one this month while I scratch my head and figure out what to do.

In better news, my friend loved the picture I made for her son's nursery - except they've had to take it off the wall because he is so fascinated by it, he keeps trying to play with it! Too cute...

{Alphabet Picture}

{Flower Lamp}

 {Keep Calm and Keep Quilting}

So now it's tie to vote for your favourite project.

I cannot wait to see what you folks have made to put on your walls. You can link up your wall (or ceiling) art projects below. Please be aware that you if you link up anything else (be it food, your shop...something beautiful but not for a wall), then I'll have to delete it from the linky.

Thank you so much for sharing. I will be stealing all of your romantic ideas in June to pack in my suitcase to go and see my boyfriend.  The two months of summer together is so tantalisingly close, I can't wait. Maybe strolling hand in hand through Budapest might help me to feel a bit more romantic!

Until then...

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I can't wait to see what you're up to! Truthfully, I really do need more stuff on my walls, so getting some great wall art ideas will be awesome!

Hard to believe, but for next month I might actually have an idea what I want to do, it came to me this yesterday morning when I couldn't sleep anymore... It was Sunday and I couldn't sleep - how unfair is that? It never happens to me during the week when I actually have to get up! So I only need to do some shopping before I can start with this project.

Today is a bank holiday in Germany, so I will have lots of time to procrastinate. I might even try out the spray paint system that we bought some time ago - yay! 

Have an awesome Monday and don't forget to vote and link up!

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Today's Life Lesson 05/19 - The Best Way To Predict The Future

I believe in making plans. I know, that kind of contradicts what I told you last week (that you should keep an open mind) but I like to know where I'm headed in life. I like to plan ahead, weeks, months, and years. I know that there are things in life that I cannot plan, but the general direction is something I like to have an influence on.

Homemade Gift Printable

I just love handmade presents. There's no better way to show your appreciation than to give away something that you put your heart into (not literally, of course - that would be one weird recipe!). It doesn't have to be big... lots of great handmade gifts come from our kitchen. What about a jar of delicious homemade jam? Homemade coffee syrup? Freshly baked cookies or brownies or meringues or biscotti? Or homemade chocolates or fudge? Or this yummy lemon curd my friend Carol posted about? The possibilities are endless.

DIY Flower Lamp - Craft Challenge

I'm not into art. I love going to museums and looking at wonderful paintings, but I am not the type of person to put lots of stuff on her walls. In fact, I only own two pieces of art. So this month's craft challenge "Wall art" was not really something that just filled me up with inspiration, I have to say (especially after I saw what PJ and Rosie had already made - really hard to beat that!).

Technically a room has four walls, a ceiling and a floor, right? Well, I look at it more as some kind of box with six walls (yeah, I know that's cheating, but it's all for creating a cute project ;-) because my wall art is ceiling art.

As you might remember from last month's craft challenge, I am still in the process of turning my boring office into a really charming girly office where working is fun. I painted the walls, stenciled another wall, built a desk secretary, and now it's time for some art!

 What you'll need to create your own flower lamp:

• a cute flower punch
• paper in a color of your choice 
• a cheapo lamp
• all-purpose glue

1. Punch out lots of flowers (and I mean: LOTS). Gently fold their edges.

2. Assemble the paper lantern lamp and start gluing the flowers where you want to have them. I put them in a way that ressembled branches, sometimes one on top of the other to create more texture.

 3. And after some time you'll be done!

4. Now attach your piece of art to the ceiling (or get your handsome handy husband to do it!) and then switch it on. Ta-dah!

Okay, I know that it isn't necessarily wall art, but it hopefully counts as some sort of art ;-) There's been too much work and stuff to take care of recently that I can't really tell floor from ceiling right now.


Anyhow, next week you can show us what kind of wall art (or ceiling art) you have created by linking it up - and you can vote for your favorite project this month: Rosie's alphabet nursery art, PJ's quilt art or my wall art flower lamp.

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10 Tips For Saving Energy And Money... Husband-Approved!

Most of the time I try to be economical. I save money by updating old armchairs or building a cute coffee table and by making my own pizza (seriously, it's not only cheaper, it's also better). There are hundreds of ways to save money by DIYing it your way.

If the hubs and I were a government, I'd be minister of finance. I kid you not, we always talk about our purchases and compare prices. Of course, it's not like each of us gets some kind of pocket money, but I really think that talking about stuff before spending  money on it often makes you realize that you don't actually need it or just don't need it right now.

Having said that, there is one area of saving where the hubs is way better than I am: saving energy (and thereby, saving money - and helping the environment)! Here are my favorite husband-approved energy-saving tips.