Paint dipped wooden spoons

A super simple project today! I was in London last week and came across a selection of wooden spoons, which had a gorgeous range of colourful handles. I got a little carried away and bundled up about 10 of them before even looking at the price - £10 each! You have to be kidding me, there is no way I was going to spend £100 on wooden spoons, no matter how colourful they were. I realised how easily this could be achieved at home, so when I arrived back in Paris on the weekend, I decided to make a few of my own. It was probably the easiest (and cheapest) project I have ever done. I bought a range of wooden cooking utensils for a total of €5, mixed up a nice ruby red, cream and soft pink and a few moments later, I was finished! Here's how it's done ... 

Buy yourself any mixture of wooden kitchen utensils

I think it looks best when you have a range of different coloured woods

Mix your favourite colours in a small pot, deep enough to submerge half of each handle

Dip the handles in one by one & try to give each a slightly different length

Allow to dry on a raised surface for a couple of hours

Voila! Some bright and fun new cooking accessories

Dia duit fair Ireland

En suite, from Dublin Scott and I picked up a car and spent a week driving the glorious southern and western coasts of Ireland. It truly is magnificent countryside, with wide open farmland and rugged beaches, all connected by narrow winding roads and cliff-top drives. The local people we met on our journey were so friendly and full of information about their country and the history of the O'Connor's and Cunneen's. We couldn't get enough of the local seafood and of course the famous chowder (served at every pub) and simply enjoyed the easy days, watching waves roll in on the wild Celtic Coast and driving through local towns along the Dingle Peninsula. Here are just a few pictures from our week on the coastal roads. Enjoy x

The Celtic Coast

Tranquil harbour beach

Scott admiring the view

Lifeguard HQ

Wild and rugged

A little colour for those grey skies

Gorgeous old house front in Kinslae

Wildflowers and farm fences

Cliffs of Moher - an amazing sight

Kinsale lighthouse

Driving through farmland

Wheat fields on the open road

Cattle grazing on the green green grass

Blissful day

Local pub serving great chowder, in Doolin

Colourful homes in the tiny town of Doolin

Beautiful drives

Even she appreciates the view! 

Local coastal homes

A calm bay on the southern coast

So long Ireland, see you again soon. x

Dublin

Scott and I spent the last week and a half road tripping around beautiful Ireland. We flew into Dublin on the most glorious day Ireland had ever seen and rested here to check out the city for a couple of days. We loved Dublin. It's such a vibrant city, full of interesting little pockets and a diverse mix of expressive cultures. We filled up on fish pie, Guinness and cider and were quite content checking out all of the local pubs and vintage stores. We stayed close to Trinity College, which is a beautiful part of town and a close walk to the Grand Canal and to my favourite part of town - the many small streets around George's Arcade. The simple buildings in Dublin are wonderful and I seemed to develop a strange fascination with their brickwork and their roofs full of chimneys! - for some reason I found them to have loads of character and are reminiscent of the many cold winters gone by. Here are a few pictures from our time in Dublin and I will follow up with our trip around the Irish coast shortly. Until then, bisous x

Arriving to a beautiful early morning sky

Grand Canal view from left bank

Gorgeous Grand Canal buildings

Grand Canal

St Stephens Green,  green oasis

National Gallery of Ireland

Trinity College grounds

Dublin streets

Blue skies, buildings and power

Our street for two nights

Flags overhead in Temple Bar

Old tram tracks

Gorgeous buildings and brickwork 

Dunloe Hall

A beautiful dungeon

Chimneys, all in a row

Typical Dublin buildings

Marché aux fleurs

Sometimes flowers just make you feel better. Not that I was feeling particularly bad this morning, but I felt myself smiling as I wandered through a large outdoor marché aux fleurs (flower market) in the 7th arrondissement. The flowers smelt amazing and the colours looked incredible against the neutral Parisian buildings. With the sun pouring through the wee awnings and the bees buzzing around, I couldn’t help but buy a few bunches for the kitchen table – It’s such a simple way to make your home look and smell so much better! Here are a few pictures of the beautiful flowers in the house. Bisous x