Nov 12, 2014 | Daily Life |
I’ve been fairly busy the last weeks, preparing the baptising of our youngest. We had around 80 guests so I was doing some of the baking and organizing till the very last minute. It didn’t stop me from turning the apartment upside down at the same time tho.. decided during the week it was time for the princess to have her own room, even though she’ll sleep in our bedroom for a little while longer, say 5-6 years.. 😉 – so, move the computer out of the office space and into the TV space, put TV in living room downstairs which then meant selling the TV sofa. Yes, exactly the thing you should be doing when you’re expecting 80 guests in the same week!
Thankfully it all went according to plan so now I have two spaces to organize, dream projects really; a new office space and a girly room. How exciting! How overwhelmingly thrilling! I actually and literally don’t know where to start!
But ofcourse I know. Everything starts on pinterest these days.
Nov 12, 2014 | Design |
When November starts I feel its time to start preparing for the holidays. I’d like to start earlier because the days leading up to Christmas I feel are the most enjoyable, the holidays in itself are enjoyable but there’s not nearly as much creativity going. I do love decorating the place and finding new adorable Christmas decorations either from designers around the world or easy DIY projects.
A design team called Hafnir made this Christmas tree, it actually is similar to an old DIY project from ages ago in Iceland, this is how the christmas trees looked like when my grandmother was young and pine trees were not so common in rural areas. I love the simplicity of it.
I always intend to make time for christmas crafting but sadly it always ends up being either last minute and not so enjoyable or a thought saved for next christmas. This tiny tree decoration tutorial I saw at noodle-head.com is a great start for either christmas tree, gift decoration or a garland.
These advent calendar boxes are super cute!
Simple and cute idea even for the little ones, just trim the ribbons in a tree shape. Idea from firefliesandmudpies.com
Nov 4, 2014 | Iceland |
As you may or may not know, a volcanic eruption started in late August in the Icelandic highlands. Actually it was on my son’s 6th birthday August 31st. It’s been ongoing ever since and you can actually see it live on webcam here. It hasn’t interrupted our lives at all, since its quite far away, about 110km south from my town Akureyri far away from anything called civilization. Quite fortunate that!
But then it started.
A a few weeks ago we started noticing SO2 pollution from the Volcano. It spews up 20-60 thousand tons of SO2 (Sulfur Dioxade) on a daily basis, compared to the 14K tons emitted by the whole EU daily on total. So with the calm frosty weathers (this time of year we’re dancing around the 0°c degrees) the gas distribution forecast has been even more important than weather forecast. If gas pollution is harsh people are advised to stay indoors, kids wont go out during breaks at school and babies are not put out in strollers while napping and walking outside is ofcourse not advised. It is sometimes viewable as a blue haze but at other times its only sensed as a burning sensation in eyes and throat. My sister shot this video outside her home in the south-east:
On Thursday last week the Civil protection agency sent out 40 thousand SMS messages to people in my area to warn us to stay indoors, turn up the heat (which supposedly increases air pressure and inhibits gas from entering the apartment) and turn off any air conditioning equipment. Its kind of funny to get an SMS being asked to turn up the heat when it’s -5°c outside, like its not on full blast already! 🙂
The gas dispersion can be seen at the Iceland Meteor office website and it looks like we’ll get our share again on Thursday.
In that way the Volcano has had an impact of our lives in a sense that I have a great desire for the cold strong winds straight from the North Pole, to get some fresh air for my youngsters. I’d rather take on the freezing winds than more of this sneaky unhealthy pollution. But with the ongoing earthquakes in the glacier volcano close to the eruption, around 60-100 per day, this situation is likely to continue at least for the next weeks.
Image copyright: Axel Sig
Sep 25, 2014 | Iceland |
One of the first items I put in my baby basket when I was preparing for the arrival were the baby & mommy products from Sola Urtasmiðjan. I used both the baby rash cream and mommy cream for sore nipples when my now 6 year old was a baby and they work like magic! I use the baby cream when I put a disposable nappie on my little one, any redness goes away. I don’t use the cream when I’m using cloth nappies both because I don’t have to and that the cream contains oils that can make the nappies repel, usually they do wash out though so I’m not very worried but I’m trying to eliminate the risk.
I don’t really use many baby products for the little one and the rule of thumb for me is that only products that are edible should be in contact with the skin. That goes for the salves from Sola Urtasmiðjan. Their ingredients are natural and organic, handpicked wild icelandic herbs from clean, pure air and unpolluted soil. Wild thyme, red clover, yarrow, violets, Iceland moss, lady’s mantle, angelica and more. All raw materials are 100% natural from the plant world i.e. cocoa- and shea-butter, unbleached beeswax, herbal oils and omega plant oils, all rich of necessary nutrients for the skin. All plant extracts, essences, preservatives and antioxidants are made from plants; herbs and fruit. Urtasmidjan uses no chemical products, no colorings, chemical scents, parabens, alcohol or petroleum based products like vaseline, petrolatum, paraffin or produce from animals.
They’ve been operating for the last 20 years and are one of the few products that I safely trust for my baby’s skin.
Sep 24, 2014 | Design |
I have to show you these adorable creatures by Silja Kristjansdottir, she calls them Night Owls (Náttuglur). Each one is handmade and unique, made with love and care. Their expression is just too cute, with mis-aligned eyes and a smirky smile. I know kids love fondling their adorable ears and their multicolored tails.
Náttuglur are mostly made out of reused fabric, shirts, dresses and other delightful material. The faces are sewn by hand, with extra strong knots for the eyes.
Silja can be contacted by e-mail at siljakr@hotmail.com or through her Facebook page. I must get one for my little one!
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