By Janis Roseanne at My Suitcase Heart.
Slow holidays with Inntravel
Holidays are meant to be relaxing. We don't know about you, but we're big advocates of taking a little extra time and making the effort to turn something ordinary into something special and personal.
That goes for what we eat, how we shop and approach our days. It also goes for how we spend our holidays. When work and family life is crazy, nothing is better than escaping the real world for some R&R.
One idea we like are 'Slow Holidays', by our friends Inntravel, which aim to let you 'see more, discover more, remember more'. Ahhh, sounds bliss!
Slow holidays are not about following the tour group, but carving your own way, immersing yourself in another way of life, exploring and taking your own time - no matter whether you're after a hike in the Himalayan foothills or a gentle cycle round little villages in Europe. With detailed guidance from Inntravel’s notes, you’re free to go entirely at your own pace, and to unearth some enticing little finds along the way.
What is your idea of a slow holiday? We'd love to hear!
Chocolate Week 2012
Chocolate Week starts on Monday 8th October, and we are licking our lips already.
We're all massive chocoholics in the Simple Things office, so we were very excited when rumours of Chocolate Week reached our ears. A whole seven days dedicated to our favourite sweet treat? The right side of swimsuit season? Events all over the UK? Sign us up!
If you can make it down to London, the grand finale Chocolate Unwrapped, with top British chocolatiers, demonstrations, and lots and lots tasting opportunities is a no-brainer. If not, check out the Chocolate Week website for more info on what's going on near you.
Book Launch : My Berlin Kitchen
We've been feeling the Berlin love ever since reading all about Sandra Juto's experiences of her city in The Simple Things issue 1.
Luckily, tying in neatly with our feature is the release of The Wednesday Chef Luisa Weiss' My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story (With Recipes).
As you'll have gathered from the title, this is not just a cookbook, but a memoir of Luisa's journey so far, punctuated with the recipes that defined these different phases in her life.
In her own words, from when Luisa first decided to put pen to paper:
'I'm moving back to Berlin and I'm writing a book, about Berlin, about my life, about cooking and home and family and love, about being divided and finding a way back to being whole again, about a city and its recipes, and a girl who's learning how to find her way.'
Wordless Wednesdays ... in the garden
From Carrots and Kids.
The Simple Things launch party video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIKZVN5B3TU *Sigh* We loved our launch party. So many fab people, so much amazing cheese.
In the midst of all our excitement for issue 2, this gorgeous little video of the launch party provided us with a moment of calm. Spot anyone you recognise?
P.S. You can also see some pics from the party here ...
Wrist Worms by Sandra Juto
Sandra Juto's Wrist Worms are just the best way to fend off the early autumn nip in the air.
Hand-crocheted and available in a range of gorge autumnal shades, these keep you cosy and let you type on your computer, swipe on your iphone or eat your cupcake (fluff-free) in a way that is rather tricky with regular mitts.
Head over to Sandra Juto's online shop to get your hands on a pair.
Wordless Wednesdays ... morning coffee
Win! Josie Jeffery's Seedswap (closed)
Competition time! We've got 5 copies of Josie Jeffery's Seedswap to give away.
In her Seedswap guide, Josie introduces the exciting new global seed swapping movement, looks at why plant heritage is so important and gives us plenty of advice on how to go about getting involve!
We've got 5 shiny new copies to give away! Click over to our competition homepage to enter.
P.S. If you're already embracing the seed swapping spirit, this year's
will be taking place on Saturday 20 October at Wakehurst. Pop over to the
for more info!
Issue 1 : reader photos!
The Simple Things went to press last week - can you believe it?!
We're still buzzing from the launch, and could not be more pleased about all your amazing comments! Loads of you have been sharing pics of yourselves getting into the Simple Things spirit - taking time out to do some crafting, baking (our raspberry brownies especially proved to be a massive hit!) or get back to nature. Here are a few of our favourites.
Keep 'em coming on our Facebook and Twitter pages, we love to see what you're up to!
Thanks to (deep breath) ...Caroline Madaher, Miss Leoniest, My Red Wellies, Betherina, Jody Richardson, House Mouse, Madeline Norris, Poppy Sakulku, Bella and Will, Kate Helen Carter, Forest Flower 23 and Jayne Lynch for your photos.
Mollie Makes Christmas book - reader offer!
Have you heard? The Simple Things' big sister Mollie Makes has put together their very own Mollie Makes Christmas book!
Mollie Makes Christmas is filled with cute craft projects for the festive period, designed exclusively by regular Mollie Makes contributors especially for you. Whatever your craft of choice, there are ideas to decorate your home or give as gifts, all with the loveliness you'd expect from your fave craft mag!
Mollie Makes Christmas is out on 4th October in the UK, but pre-order now and enter code Mollieloves at the checkout to get your copy for just £7.00 (it's usually £9.99)!
Click here to pre-order your copy now.
Wordless Wednesdays ... afternoon tea
By Alice Gao at Lingered Upon.
Etsy love : Good Intent
You'll know from our Canopy and Stars post a couple of weeks ago that we're big fans of camping. The latest items to make our holiday lust-list are these beautiful handmade sleeping bags.
The handiwork of Etsy seller Good Intent (geddit?), we have a whole lot of love for their lush fabric combos and wriggle-friendly shape. We might have missed the camping-appropriate weather window for this year, but these unzip into a lightweight quilt, which makes them perfect for visitors during the colder months.
Welly boot liner DIY
It's half-way through September now and we can't ignore it any more ... we've officially reached autumn.
We might be waving goodbye to the sunshine for a while, but it's definitely not all bad. Autumn means blackberries and apples, brightly coloured leaves and blustery strolls in the countryside.
Combat the nip in the air and the drizzly days with these welly boot liners from H is for Handmade. We especially like her clever scarf upcycling for the turnovers.
Do our readers have any ideas for autumn craft projects? We'd love to hear from you!
Wordless Wednesdays ... late summer lunch
By Susk + Banoo.
Cool camping at Canopy and Stars
‘Camping’ and ‘luxury’ are not two words that often go hand in hand. Don't get us wrong, we're big fans of getting back of nature, but for all this chat of ‘glamping’, in our heart of hearts we know a floral Cath Kidston tent and beribboned Hunter wellies do not an indulgent getaway make. And yet … when we stumbled upon the Canopy and Stars website, we were more than ready to eat our words. The Bristol based company hunts out exceptional, eco-friendly camping places, cabins and tree-houses.
All Canopy and Stars' destinations manage to couple unmistakable luxury with a sense of adventure that has our inner child hopping with excitement (did we mention there are tree-houses?). Wood-burning stoves, sofas and iron bedsteads, these are tents unlike any tent we’ve seen before.
Click over to the Canopy and Stars website to plan your next getaway, or simply gawp at the photos.
The Simple Things launch party
On Wednesday night was The Simple Things official launch party. We've been twittering on about it for so long, we thought we better share some snaps with you! So here goes - see who you can spot ...
The venue - the coolest cheese shop in London, La Fromagerie. We knew we were in for a treat from the moment the delicious cheesy aroma hit the cab as we pulled up!
The Simple Things team ready to meet, greet, mingle and generally announce our new magazine in style. Do we scrub up okay?
Lucky guests each recieved a cool canvas tote filled with sweet eats, beautiful stationery and other Simple Things loveliness.
Psst... we managed to save a few precious goodie bags for those of you who couldn't be there, so keep your eyes peeled for your chance to win one very soon!
Our talented marketing team helped us put our stamp on the gorgeous venue.
You can't have cheese without a bit of vino!
'The Cheese Room' proved a surprise hit with mini-tours from an incredibly knowledgeable La Fromagerie employee (we're calling him the cheese guru).
Bloggers, producers, crafters and writers got their first peek of the new mag.
La Fromagerie came up trumps with the best. snacks. ever. Diets out of the window all round.
Pause for a quick speech ...
... and then it was time to let our hair down!
Finally, a cheeky cup of tea to round off the night.
... and so to bed.
Mud pie kitchen
Remember making mud pies as a kid? The inner child inside of us is clapping their hands and hopping about in excitement about this mud pie kitchen idea from Ginny for Rhythm of the Home.
Old packing crates are turned into kitchen cabinets, a line of bricks in a sunny spot make the perfect mud pie oven, and old metal pots and pans are stacked up ready for the baking to begin!
Infographic: Nature is the best medicine
Did you enjoy finding out about Why Trees Matter in our Simple Things sampler? Now we've discovered this fascinating infographic from the David Suzuki Foundation all about the effects of nature on our health.
We always knew that a little of the great outdoors helped brighten our days, but we had no idea that it could make it physical difference to our wellbeing. The Big Disconnect infographic also reveals some shocking information about how society interacts with nature in the modern world.
You'll probably have spotted that we've only shared a little bit with you, so click to see the whole thing!
Book launch: Cupcakes and Cashmere
Today, we thought we'd take a little break from our Simple Things magazine excitement to let you know about another fab launch.
Cupcakes and Cashmere is now not only the title of one of our favourite blogs, but it's also the title of a fabulous book! Creator Emily Schuman's first book promises more of what she does best on her blog - cute and quirky fashion, unique interiors ideas and chilled out entertaining.
Have a rifle inside and hear what Emily's thoughts on the Cupcakes and Cashmere blog. Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom to see her simple ideas for home-made cards, too - we love.