Czesiociuch - Polish brand foy boys and girls alike

Anyone who knows me would, I am positive, say 'this is so Petra' after seeing Czesiociuch, Polish label for kiddos with attitude. I talked to the creators, read it on EastOK Europe.

Kindergarten Series: Sjötorget Preeschool

As you may know, we live in Budapest. City centre to add to that. It is a big city, and space is NOT abundant. Most nursery/kindergarten/preschools are a part of some resident building. Space is not abundant there either. Furniture and decor are not at all contemporary. I am lucky, of course, for several reasons...one of them being that we got in at all, the other that they are happy and loved there, so I don't want to complain. But I can still daydream, which is why I am starting this Kindergarten Series, on top of my Playground Season Series (both are open to tips and suggestions, I'd love to have your guestposts on either/both subjects too).

So, let's go to Stockholm today. It seems that Stockholm too suffers from lack of place to build separate nursery/kindergarten buildings. In the next few photos you will see what Rotstein Arkitekter studio did with the ground floor of this building:

 

I am a little obsessed with sharp angles when kids are around, maybe because my kids fall a lot...on their faces, so I am not sure about the green triangular staircase in the pic above. Other than that, I am in love. I think if my kids went here I'd find a reason to stay and hang out for a bit every day.

What's your kid's daycare space like?

Kattuska's new 3 in 1 wooden wander + GIVEAWAY

You probably came across Kattuska wooden products on pinterest - beautiful, contemporary, eco friendly. Last week on Made in Hungary 2013 Kattuska presented their brand new toy/furniture piece, a 3 in 1 rocking horse/feeding chair/drawing table. Kattuska seems to traditionally be presenting new products during the Made in Hungary exhibition. Their debut as a brand happened during Made in Hungary last year. Hopefully we can see at least one new every year.

Read my interview with Kata Toth to learn more about the brand!

Designed to be easily converted to it's next function without reassembling it this rocking horse can be a perfect addition to smaller space homes without having to give up on something you'd normally not have the space for.

Kata Toth, the creative brain behind Kattuska is in love with horses since she was a kid. Multipurpose toys are not a novelty, this new product is a re-design of those more in one pieces that were already around in their childhood.

To celebrate Made in Hungary Bag of Pretty teamed up with Kattuska and Eastok Europe in order for you to be able to win this cool wooden sword.

Ami Amie - cure for cold

It is freezing cold here in Budapest. The cold just sneaked up on us and we can't really grasp what is happening. Summer was so short I didn't even put away our winter coats (when it was 40 degrees outside I had no energy to put them away, after that we went on vacation, and now it is sort of coat time again.
But, there is one good thing about it, you get to go through new look books, do your research and find a pretty, snugly, colorful brand ami amie. ami amie is a Japanese children's clothing brand making what the call 'happy knits'. The clothes look so warm and comfy and the kids are adorable, just what I needed for this weather, warm clothes and happy little faces.

Fall Winter Collection 2013

Make sure you check out last year's FW Collection, it was too cute.

Oh, and you can still vote for me in Top 25 European Moms 2013! Daily, till October 4.

Playground Season: retro climbing structure

Just look at this retro playground complex! This climbing structure was designed by Ruth Clark Radakovich and Svetozar (Toza) Radakovich in 1960's in an effort to keep their children off the furniture. It was made of galvanized irrigation pipes and it is FANTASTIC:)

Messed up Submarine Pullover

A while ago I got this Shauna from Shwin & Shwin sent me the Submarine Pullover pattern to test. I did most of it, and the the whole family got down with the flu, bad one.
Here it is now...the patter calls for thinner fabric, but I wanted to try this out and used coat fabric instead. Great choice, since it is going to be steaming hot from now to eternity, they say. 
The pattern is for intermediate sewers, but I believe beginners can also tackle it without fear, maybe leave out the button holes (like I did, although button holes were never on my list of problems sewingwise). I also did something wrong with the hood so I had problems lining it up, and due to the thickness of the fabric it wasn't pleasant, but in the end I just decided to take it in and leave the placket outside the hood area. What I am trying to say is, there is always a way around things. Sometimes the solutions you find because you messed things up are the best ones and even though the garment might not be perfect it will make it unique:)

 I used daddy's shrunk sweater for the cuffs.

and cuffs of daddy's old polo shirt sleeves for the pockets and the rest of the shirt for the lining of the hood.

And now on the kid:

 

For a short while he tried to be a good sport.

 ENOUGH!

Linking to The Train to Crazy

Tropical Dream, new Jungle collection by EFVVA

 I don't know about you, but over here the weather is incredible. We totally jumped from winter into Summer. They are already announcing tropical heat wave in a few days. 30 degrees Celsius in tropical in April I should think. And with tropical heat you need

 TROPICAL DREAM

DISCOVER JUNGLE SPRING SUMMER COLLECTION BY EFVVA

Photos:PinkWings

Models:Antonina,Eryk,Eunice,Helena,Jeremi.

I love those pastel freckles and red haired kiddos and the collection is really wild, don't you think?

 COLLECTION AVAILABLE HERE.

Tree softie for a baby

I made this softie during nap time, for the baby boy we went to visit yesterday. Very simple project from an old Ikea Fredrika fabric with tree prints. 

Note: stump needs to be made wider otherwise it will fold over because it can't keep the weight of the tree top.

P woke up and had a complete meltdown over the tree softie. He's never been interested in softies, but if I make a toy for someone else he needs it really, really bad.