Treasury: Friendship

In two weeks it's Valentine's Day, which means that many people all over the world are going to buy sweet and romantic stuff for their lovers (or secret lovers of course) to show them how much they love them. 

The last couple of weeks Lisa and I have met many times for Spring to Fall-related stuff, but also just for laughs and good times. And we were thinking, Valentine's Day is not only meant to show appreciation for your romantic love, it is also meant to show your appreciation for your friendship! Since Lisa and I have been friends for over ten years and have grown through puberty and young-adulthood together, we can say that we have built a very good friendship. And hopefully, we will be babysitting each others children and pushing each others wheelchairs in the future, when we have a lot of wrinkles.

So today we wanted to present to you: a collection of our favourite friendship items on Etsy! If you want to see the pictures in better quality, or want to find the shops where they sell these items, you can click here. Maybe you'll find some inspiration for a sweet Valentine's gift for your own friends!:)

Love,

Lisa & Ivanna

Recipe Cajun Spice Mix

Time for a fun recipe! Actually, it's not even a recipe, just a homemade spice mix to use for meat rubs and marinades. But it's very easy to make, and it's pretty damn tasty too!

You can watch the video below for a clear overview and some background info.

Or - if you're in a hurry - just mix these things together:
- 3 parts sweet paprika

- 1 part cayenne

- 1 part garlic powder

- 1 part onion powder

- 1 part thyme

- 1 part oregano

- 1.5 parts black pepper

- 1.5 parts white pepper

We didn't use any salt, because we like to season each dish individually, but feel free to add some if you feel like it!

The numbers indicate the proportions; you can use a tea spoon, table spoon, cup, bucket - all depending on how much you want to make. As long as the proportions are the same, you're good. We used a table spoon, and multiplied it by 5, to make half a jar of spice mix.

This mix is incredibly delicious on chicken (try this recipe!), but if you know any other dishes, let us know!

Lisa & Ivanna

New video! DIY storage jars

Aaand we've got a new DIY for you! Again a video - we're just so hyped about our new channel. We've wanted to something with our old glass jars for a while now, and we're always looking for more storage ideas (seriously, our bead collection is getting a little out of hand).

We could give you a lengthy tutorial on the ins and outs of spray painting a jar lid, but watching the video is probably more fun. Especially if you watch the bloopers afterwards ;)

Of course, your glass jar isn't complete without a fancy label, so here you go - a free printable with cute, colourful labels.

Download this baby!

You might have noticed our enthusiasm on our new Youtube channel :p It is so much fun to try something completely new, and we really feel like we learn something new every day. Of course, we would love to hear what you think, so if you want to give us feedback or share your ideas with us please do!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 

Lisa & Ivanna

For the love of cats

Oh my lord, it's 2015 already! I know we're already 2 weeks in, but today I caught myself once again writing 12/01/201415. So yeah, I still can't believe how time flies.

I may not have shared a lot on the topic, but my boyfriend and I have been living together for six months now, and it has been absolutely wonderful. However, we did feel like something was missing. See, in my 25 years on this planet, I have never not had pets, and I felt terrible about leaving my two lovely cats behind with my parents.

Just look at them - aren't they perfectly adorable? I miss them so much. My boyfriend never had any pets himself, but he's also completely in love with them. Obviously, we can't just kidnap these two from my parental house, so we decided to adopt our own little furry kitten ^^ This was a slight problem, since we live in an anti-squat house*, which means we are not really allowed to have any pets unless we get explicit consent for them. And we got our consent this week!

As if by magic, everything seems to fall into place, since my former neighbours just happen to have a litter of the cutest little kittens ever. They only have three kittens - a red male, a black/white male, and a black/white female - but we're already having difficulties choosing. They are only five weeks old now, though, so there's absolutely no rush. But this also means we'd have to wait until the end of next month to pick him/her up, and I'm just so excited already!

I only have this crappy photo to share with you, but any picture of kittens is better than no picture of kittens, am I right?

Now, I'm not sharing this with you for nothing - I need your help! Which one would you choose? And do you know any cute kitten names? ^^

Love,

Lisa

 * I don't think this is an actual English word, but here in the Netherlands it means that for some reason (selling it takes longer than expected, the block will be taken down, it will be renovated in the near future, etc.) a building is empty, and to prevend it from being squatted, an anti-squat company makes sure to put in residents until it gets sold/taken down/renovated. In this case, we are the residents of this lovely house in the city center, until it gets taken down.