You didn’t think you had all of that in you, now did you? Well you do. And I am counting on you…… 

I need you my friends…

I need you to be the wind beneath my wings…..

I need you to be a shoulder to cry on…..

 I need your arms to carry me through……

I need you to whisper to me that everything is going to be all right…..I need you to shout in my ears “Get on with it already!”

I need you to be all that, because……..

Within a week I am reopening my shop Songbirds Nest with a bang. 

There I said it, no going back now. I’d better get...

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Don’t forget to enter my book giveaway!!

Happy Sunday to you all!!

Let’s go down memory lane together for a bit, shall we. It is such a nice day to take a stroll, the sky is blue, the sun is shining and the birds are making a racket.

And it smells lovely too. The lilacs are blooming everywhere and this year there are a mini lilac flowers blooming in my garden too. And that is making me so happy.

I love lilacs, they are the flowers of my youth. We used to have a really big lilac tree in our backyard. It bloomed heavy, luscious and very fragrant. The lilac flowers, as I remember, were dark pink leaning towards purple. It bloomed so heavily that each year my mom would cut off countless heavy bouquets that she placed all around the house. But one house can take only so many fragrant bouquets before it becomes too much. So she would hand me the remaining bunches and send me on my way. And as a small, very blonde flower-girl, I would set off to...

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I am giving away this must-have upholstery book!

Howdie ladies,

I have been published. Well technically I haven’t been published but two of my projects have been. My postal chairs are featured in a real, hardcover, done-by-a-professional book about upholstery. Months ago I received in email from England. Someone had stumbled unto my postal chairs (remember version one and version two) and asked if I would be willing to send over some extra images and some information and then they might end up in a book. 

Of course I happily obliged. And promptly forgot about it.

A few weeks ago there was a package in the mail. It was met by big frowns from Mr. Songbird. Had I been at it again? Had I been ordering ‘stuff’ online again? I pleaded innocence and frantically searched my brain for what it could be.

Further inspection revealed that it was a gift. It was the book that featured my chairs and their history on page 134 to 137 . 

...

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A  little flower decoration that is so simple that I am almost embarrassed to share them with you. But then again I needed this little white flower decoration in my life, and maybe you do too.

Life is a bit chaotic at the nest right now. The hutch project has slowed down to a stop for some days now. I am waiting for some free time to pick it up. It means my living room has been in total disarray for two weeks now. It is making me a bit  edgy. I don’t do clutter and chaos very well.

Usually when the house gets too big a mess, my head starts to turn into a mess too, …..or is that the other way around?

Anyway, I needed an island of beauty in the chaos. 

So I created one.

Just a quick snip in the garden and the gathering of some clear bottles. Took me all of five minutes to create this, and I felt better instantly. Little flower decoration...

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Hello sweet pies, come meet Grace, my new ride bike.

I have given myself a little gift, a super duper useful gift, a gift I will use almost daily, a gift that might save me some money, a gift that might take a few inches of my waistline (a girl can dream…..).

I have bought myself the most romantic of all bicycles. A turquoise transporter bike, with wicker basket. 

The weather wasn’t at its best this weekend, but I had to take her out for a stroll nonetheless. Give her a spot in front of the camera before I am used to riding her. 

And I don’t call her Grace for nothing.

She really is called Miss Grace! Cool he.

She is Dutch, made by the Royal Gazelle company. And she is mine.

I am also quite in love with my cow bike bag. I think it is so funny. Look at her, looking back at us all stern and seriously-cow-like.

This is what you call a transporter bike. So she is extra rugged and strong and made to carry some loads. The handlebars are extra wide and...

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Zara Home fashion. Collections Summer 2013

Hi there members of the flock. I couldn’t leave you over the weekend with only those ugly in-progress pictures of my hutch now could I. I really do think you all deserve better. So I have prepared a little eye-candy for you. Some home shopping, home decoration inspiration, eye candy.

Last week when we visited Bonn and there I had the chance to step into the world of Zara Home once more.

If you don’t know it . Zara is a Spanish clothing brand that is known for his hip, stylish, young and very affordable fashion style. In fact it is so young and hip that I hardly ever have any success there. As much as I try to deny it, I really can’t pull it off anymore…..

But they also have a home fashion line, and one never gets too old to be hip and stylish when it comes to home fashion. 

So I was very happy to be able to browse their new collections. They were good, affordable and very much right onto trend. 

I showed...

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I am not promising anything, but it is good to know that you all love my repurposed wood headboard so much….

Thanks to all who chipped in and feel free to add your voice to the discussion…

On to the business of the day.

I didn’t ask your opinion about painting my hutch because my mind was made up about that. It had got to be painted. Took me a while to get my courage for such a project, but when the vision was bright and clear in my mind I attacked it.

Warning no pretty reveal pictures in this post. Just mid-project ugliness……

Do you think this will ever look good again?

This is after the first...

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It all started with a putty colored crochet throw I recently acquired. Now I’d love to say that this is the real vintage thing. That it is lovingly handmade by a grey haired grandmother from the south of France. That it is aged through time and use and has that exquisite delicate soft touch that only the real vintage deal has. 

But alas. It is store bought and probably machine crocheted (is that a word?) in China.

It is quite lovely anyway. Exactly the right kind of putty grey. I call that color greige and I love it. 

Not that I don’t love me a vintage crochet bedspread (remember the blue one I showed you last summer, I still haven’t parted with that one), but sometimes it is a little hard to find those in the right conditions.

A few weeks ago I was at one of my favorite flea markets. It is a...

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Goodday lovely ladies (and gents?), it is Monday again. Vacation is over and it is back to the daily grind. I have been busy during my Spring break, so you can all expect quite a few updates here on the blog.

But let me start by looking back just a moment. Reliving one of the highlights of last week, so to speak. Share a bit of European style with you.

As you may or may not know, we live in the southern most part of the Netherlands. Very close to the border of both Belgium and Germany. So we have ‘abroad’ at our doorstep (or backyard). And we love to explore the opportunities that this brings. 

This time we decided to visit a German town, we both never had been too. The historic city of Bonn. It used to be Germany’s capital after the war and before west and east Germany were reunited again. Now it is a much quieter town, with lots of students and a lovely historic center. Oh and lots of good shopping too

I love hopping across the border for a day. This is...

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We have been celebrating here in the low lands. After 123 years of women as head of the Royal Family, we now have a King (with a lovely Queen by his side).

Yesterday the whole country turned orange again, there were festivities everywhere and we all had a front row seat when watching it all on TV.

And that is what I did most of the day. In between some Spring cleaning, garden working and general nesting and fluffing, I watched the happenings on TV. 

In the end I only visited the fireworks here in town at night. 

But it was a lovely day and I enjoyed watching the historic events. 

Queen Beatrix signed away her rights to the throne with a strike of the pen. 33 years of dutiful working for the country. She is well loved and she got a warm goodbye. 

After the abdication and the acceptance of the throne by King Willem Alexander there was the balcony scene.

This time the kiss was for his mother:

...

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