The one with the polka dot pencils DIY

What you'll need:

• pencils
• nailpolish (I used four shades for each pencil)

I don't know if the name DIY is on order for this little project. It's super simple and most of the time you need to make these, is for letting the pencils dry. I used four shades of polish for each pencil, starting with the darkest shade. Open all of the bottles you'll need for one pencil before starting. Apply dots of polish, starting at the end of the pencil with the darkest shade. Work inwards and end with the lightest colour. 

I made this nifty little pencil dry-thingy with rolls of tape, no need to hold them until the nailpolish has dried!

Let them dry for a couple of minutes, and you're done!

The one with the things I liked this week (58)

A while ago I treated myself to one of Mary's prints over at her Society6 shop, and I finally found a frame for it. Well, actually, the frame found me. My aunt is doing some sort of spring cleaning, and some fabulous things have been coming my way (like an enamel bowl and vintage tablecloths). This frame was one of the items that needed to leave her home and it was more than welcome in mine. Other things happening over at my home was the rediscovery of my bird lamp, that found it's way back into my living room. 

Saturday after work, I needed to go to the drugstore for some boring purchases. Just like that, I ended up at the nailpolish section, where I found this glittery polish. With a cute name that's 'white tie black dress', how could I leave it there? 

My friend L kindly donated parts of her old phone to me, so now I can take pictures with my telephone again, of which the latest four photo's are the result. Spring-trees, a big bubble, cardboard boxes and rediscovered origami paper from back when I was young(er). You might wonder why there is a photo of empty boxes over here. Me and my overactive imagination see an undercover robot in there....

The (first) one with the Rijksmuseum

Finally, we got to visit the Rijksmuseum. After a ten year renovation, the museum opened it's doors last year. We decided to wait a bit before visiting, because of horror stories about how busy it was. We gave it a try last year, but ended up going somewhere else because of the crazy long line at the entrance. This time, our mission was accomplished, we got in! We oohed and aahed over the building, had the yummiest cheese platter (that looked like a piece of art itself) and tried to catch a glimpse over the Nightwatch. I made some photo's of all sorts of collections in the basement: tiles, keys, glasses, boats, ceramics and teeny tiny kitchen utensils. 

 

 

The one with the city tour

Last week mom and me hopped on a train to Amsterdam. Where we visited the Rijksmuseum and the Photography Museum and we took a walk around town. One of the things I love most about Amsterdam is the architecture and how most of the houses are mismatched, different coloured, and sometimes very crooked. Over a hundred photo's were taken that day (do not fear, they won't appear here all of them!), so I'll split them up into two or three posts. This first post is with photo's taken on the streets. When I came back home and had a better look at my photo's, I discovered Marc Chagall is on one of them too ;-) I hope you'll enjoy my little tour across Amsterdam. 

The one with the things I liked this week (57)

Last saturday I treated myself to some new craft supplies (there's a DIY post coming up with the white pencils, that aren't white anymore). I planned to do some doodling this weekend with my brand new pens! And glitter tape.... Combining glitter AND tape: awesome! I had some left over cake from tea with friends on saturday, so that was sunday's breakfast :-)

 

On monday, I visited my friends F + R who welcomed a brand new, teeny tiny babygirl named Malin on friday. As a thank you for helping out with the design of the card they surprised me with a perfectly wrapped Holy Mary.

When a baby is born in the Netherlands, it's an old Dutch tradition to eat 'beschuit met muisjes'. Beschuit is the Dutch word for rusk and muisjes is Dutch for 'little mice'). Muisjes are sugar covered aniseed sprinkles. In case you are interested, here are some tidbits about muisjes:

• there's only one company that manufactures them since 1860
• there's also a variety that is named 'gestampte muisjes', those poor little mice were crushed...
• when the Dutch crown princes was born, they were sold in orange for one week only (orange is the colour of our royal family)
• before the 20th century, they were only available in white. After that, in a mixture of pink and white (for both boys and girls). Now boys have their own blue and white mix
• Anise was said to stimulate lactation and was a symbol for fertility

 

The last two photo's: a beautiful spiderweb and colourful mail. I am terrified of spiders (I know they won't do me any harm, and I shouldn't be scared of them), but without the spider itself in sight, I thought it was safe to take a photo. 

Other than that, I finally joined Instagram. Are you on Instagram? Where can I find you? Any tips on who (or should it be 'whom'?) to follow?

Are there any special traditions when a baby is born over where you live?

Oh, and I can't get enough of Pharrel's new album and the Weeknd's remix of Drunk in Love.

The one with all the graffiti (2)

Last week I did a post on graffiti, here is the second (and last) part. The place where these all were taken, is named 'the Vasim'. It was build in 1948 and was originally housing an artificial silk factory, and after that from 1970 on, a factory for carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). I had to look that one up, but CMC is used in foods like icecream, and in paint and toothpaste (is it me, or is it a bit odd that paint and icecream have an 'ingredient' in common?). After that, from the mid eighties fly ash (yes, I needed to look that one up too) was produced in this building until 2000. Nowadays it's a cultural center, with workspaces for artists, you can participate in workshops, it functions as a theatre and it is known for it's parties. 

 

 

The one with the leek tart

What you'll need:

• 2 eggs
• 3 big tablespoons of mascarpone
• 3 sheets of ready made dough (150 grams)
• 3 leeks
• blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven at 190 C / 375 F, and start by lining a pie tin with baking paper. Cover the thin with the dough and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the washed and chopped leeks until they get soft. Remove from the heat and let this cool down a bit.

 

In a bowl, mix the eggs, mascarpone and season this with salt and pepper. Add the leeks and give it all a good stir. Fill the pie tin with the mixture and crumble over the blue cheese. Let it bake in the preheated oven for about half an hour, or until the top has a nice golden colour. Wait for 10 minutes to cool down and remove the tart from the tin. Enjoy!

More recipes are over here. Have you made something worth sharing in the kitchen recently? I'd love to see your links in the comments below, I can always use a good recipe!