Zurich Thrifting: Brockenhaus

Isn't this painting cute? I think it's two bears holding hands--mommy bear and baby bear. I love kid's art. I can't wait till Lois wants to draw and paint. This is from the Zurich Brockenhaus. I've been wanting to go there for days now. I went the other day with Lois in the stroller, but you have to walk up about 6 steps to get in, and I noticed it was multiple floors, so I decided we should go another day. It's sort of like the Salvation Army, I think. Here's some interesting background on where the name comes from. It's three floors, though I really spent most of my time on one floor. It's very neat, well organized, and nicely merchandised. It's not like most thrift stores in the states where things are just piled up. It was decorated and arranged more like any other store that would have new merchandise. They had so much great stuff--clothes, shoes, furniture, artwork, books and especially glassware and the little things I like so much--the bric-a-brac. I was in used stuff heaven! I covertly took a few photos and you can see more in the photo gallery of their site.

One thing about the second hand shops I noticed is I don't think it's especially cool to shop at these types of places like it is in the states, or at least like it is in San Francisco (not that it's necessarily cool, but maybe you know what I mean). There you have to fight a bunch of other hipsters to get to the cute vegan clutch. And I felt like people shopping at the Brokenhaus, and a few other second hand places, kind of kept to themselves, as if they didn't want to be noticed. Maybe that's a Swiss thing and not a second hand shopping thing, but second hand shopping places are the only places I've noticed people behaving that way. I wonder. I could be totally wrong. Andrew often tells me I'm a bad people reader. Maybe they're just trying to be discreet to make sure nobody else notices the cool stuff they're looking at. Maybe a Swiss Miss blogger will tell me what she thinks.

Above are some of the beautiful books. They had tons of books, new and old. Below is a cute fabric lined basket. I thought it would be cute painted red to go with the cute brown flower print. Good for a yarn stash.

They had lots of great unbrellas, uh, and a swiffer mop thing.

The kitchen stuff was the best. So many great things!

I loved this hand painted mug. I wish I had bought it. I want to go back to get it! I want to give it to my mom. I think she would really like it.

I'm on the lookout for hotel silver for Lisa. I didn't find any here, but I'm still looking.

And below is what I brought home. I wanted so many other things, but it was time to go. Lois always tells me when it's time to go. I have no idea what these books are about, but I loved the covers. Sometimes it's just good to judge a book by its cover! The one with the thorny heart, rose, crown cover is great. I love it. The crown really makes it for me. Roses and thorns, eh, but with a crown on top? Like a cherry on a cake.

Then I bought this sweet illustration of a church on a hill. Everywhere here there are churches on hills. I've never seen so many churches, especially on our train ride to Paris. Every little town had a church on a hill, just like in the picture I posted from our train ride. Whenever we travel, we bring something home to remind us of where we were. I still haven't framed what we brought home from Dublin or Tokyo, but lucky for me, this one is already framed.


And lastly, I got this cute tin. Perfect for craft stuff.

There's also this funky shop down the street from the Brockenhaus. Sorry for the glare of the street, but it was the best I could do. Looks like a fun shop, but like so many places here, it doesn't seem to be open often. Last time I went by it was closed too.

Fun random stuff is in the window display.

I had tons of fun at the Brockenhaus, but one sad thing happened today. I lost Lois' cute bunny hat that my mom made. This is her wearing it for the last time. I took some pictures of her in it this morning before we left because she looked so cute. I lost it somewhere in the Brokenhaus. As I was checking out I went to grab it to put it back on her head. I had taken it off and put in my pocket when we got there so she wouldn't get too warm. When I reached for it, it was gone! I looked everywhere and told the nice women working there about it. They said if anyone brought it to the counter trying to buy it, they'd hold it. I will have to go back. I walked the whole way home trying not to cry, thinking about how silly it was that I was so upset over it, with people dying in plane crashes, fires, starving people in world, etc. Still, it meant so much to me. As my mom reminded me when I called her to tell her--things are just that, things, and it's not that big of a deal. She looks darn cute in it though, doesn't she? I just hope whoever ends up with it will love it too.

Home Again

Long time no post! We are back home from our trip to the US now but had a great time. Although we were there three weeks, time flew, as it often does of course when you're having fun. One thing I did with Lois and my mom is make peg dollies or at least try to. The one above is one of my inspiration peg dolls by Jess Quinn. I also love Alicia Paulson's peg dolls. So cute! This little "home" gal greets us in our front hallway. We haven't finished ours yet, but I hope our sweeties will be almost as cute. But peg doll making just took up a teensy fraction of our time. So lets see, what did we do? So much really!

Portland

We had a great time in Portland! We packed a lot into one long weekend--too much to tell you about in one post, so I'll start with one of our favorite parts of the weekend, which happened to be the hotel itself, and later this week I'll post more from our trip. The McMenamins Kennedy School Hotel was one of our top favorite places we've ever stayed. We love places that feel homey, and we usually prefer B&B type lodgings over your typical hotel. The Kennedy School felt much more like a B&B than a hotel. Not only are the rooms large, cozy and comfortable, but they're unique in that each was once a classroom and even has the original blackboards. The hotel also has a courtyard heated pool surrounded by lush plants, a few pubs, a movie theater (which is in the old auditorium ), and a great restaurant with yummy casual food. Oh, yeah, and there's a brewery in the hotel as well. The McMenamins brothers are known for their craft brewed beer. They even have their own brand of coffee as well, which is really tasty. If you go to Portland, we'd highly recommend staying at the Kennedy School Hotel. I imagine their other hotels are just as great and worth checking out as well.

The grounds around the school were beautiful. Gardens surrounded the entire building.

I love the lighting in the restaurant. All kinds of pendant lamps hang from the ceiling in various styles and colors. This is one I especially liked.

There are no TVs in the rooms, which we thought was refreshing. It pretty much forces you to relax. They had a good selection of books in the bookcase. Andrew almost finished a whole book in the short time we actually spent in the room.

We loved the blackboard panels and the way they opened up to a long closet with kid height coat hooks in the closet.

Nice, soft bedside lighting.

I loved our headboard! It has all the colors I'm always drawn to--red, green, yellow and blue. I wanted to take it home with us.

The theater is amazing! It's really intimate and cozy with random miss-matched sofas for seating. They have a popcorn and drink stand where you can order beer and food as well. We saw a really good movie one night called In Bruges.

The halls are lined with huge, beautiful old windows, and the walls are covered in artwork, most of which has something to do with the history of the school.


Some of the art.

More from our trip later this week!

And Speaking of Decorating a Child's Room...

So finally, here's a peek into Ellie's room! First, I should say that I was going for a softer, lighter look than Lois's room. Her room as always had bold, primary sorts of colors. You can see her room here. That was her room in our first place in London, so it's not her current room, but she has all the same items but in a different configuration. Also, for Ellie's room, since I was working with little to start with, I decided to consult Pinterest (of course!).

Come On In

Welcome to our little bedroom. Warm colors; late afternoon light. It's cozy in here. Right now it is anyway, thanks in large part to this wool blanket I bought recently at a local antique shop. I love the colors--yellow, orange, red, dark green, and navy blue. It warms our room right up and looks perfect for fall.


And this is a bedspread I've had for years that also looks nice and fall-ish. I use it all year, but it looks especially fitting now. I think my mom gave it to me.


There's Mr. Hoots peeking up from the bed (another great repurposed sweater treasure from Lorigami). And here's the shutter headboard that I'm, well, bored with. But it actually looks good with the other things in our room right now. And hanging on the shutters is this very interesting, worn out, folk art kitty. I found it at the flea market the weekend before last and loved it. When I saw the heart in its chest and the fish in its belly, I laughed and thought it was so cute. There's also a bird on its back. It was $8. At first I sort of thought I was crazy for buying it. It doesn't have the same look or feel that I'm normally drawn to, but I love it. I asked myself if John Derian would buy it. I love his flea market style. I thought maybe he would like it. Oh, yes, and Andrew likes it too. $8 well spent. Maybe. Mr. Kitty is quite worn out.

I love the embroidered pillowcases on our bed. Lisa gave them to me when she found out I was preggers. They have three little lambs jumping over a fence. Momma, daddy, and baby.

And this is the little corner of our room that I see from the bed. A few of my favorite things: a very sweet framed note, an "L" that Lauren gave me, a silhouette of a little girl that I bought in a thrift store in Zurich, a very small family photo, and a black and white photo that I've always liked.

Our lady head vase holding my wedding bouquet, which is quite dry and crisp after 6 years.

My favorite plant stand. I had to avoid the top or else you would have seen the saddest half-dead plant ever. I keep trying to revive it, but I think it's just time for a new plant. Looks like that glass could use some windex!

One of my favorite pictures of Lois, her 3 month birthday picture, beside the bed.

More family pictures. That's my mom there in the little picture (a very old picture, one that she thinks is silly that I have framed), and a picture of my nephew, Cash. Andrew's side of the bed still looks a little bit like this (except now he has a collection of glass telephone insulators along with his other things).

An old box for holding jewelry.

Mr. Hoots on the orange velvet chair. I wanted to have this chair reupholstered, and still do, but right now, it looks good in its burnt orange glow.

This wire card display is next to my bed. I keep all of my cards and like to read them every now and then.

This soldier stands guard and protects me while I sleep. I had to take his sword away though because it was dangerous. (Really, though, it just fell out and I was afraid Lois will get a hold of it, so I put it away.) I love this lamp. I've had it for a long time, at least 10 years or so, and it's always been in my room. I don't remember buying it, so that likely means my mom gave it to me. The lampshade is painted black, which is why it looks streaked.

A pedestal bowl of seashells under the window. I should probably switch them out for something more fall-ish, but they still look pretty.

And one of my recent little pillows. This one I'm keeping. I think I'll add a door and some smoke (buttons) to the chimney like I did with the other one. Home sweet home.

Hope you enjoyed the tiny tour. Our room looks better to me in pieces than it does as a whole, so it's still not quite where I want it to be, but at least I like being in there right now. Maybe one day it will feel just right.

Yuzawaya

I thought Tomato was unbelievable, but yesterday I think found the mothership of all craft and fabric stores in Tokyo: Yuzawaya. This place was off the hook! (And there are multiple locations--see the comments for info.) I don't normally say that, but well, it was. They'll be busy tonight mopping up my drool off the 5 out of 7 floors I made it to. If I ever come back to Tokyo and just have time for one fabric / craft store, this will be the one I visit for sure. Tomato was amazing too, but it's a little cramped and most of their stock is on the huge, long type bolts so it's hard to see and reach things. Besides that, Yuzawaya has a lot more variety in the cotton prints, which is mostly what I use. I've seen some of what they carry at Superbuzzy online (my favorite online fabric store), but seeing them in person along with so many other super cute prints was great. Yuzawaya also has a ton of ribbon and notions--buttons and trim galore. And yarn! Holy cow, rows and rows and rows of yarn. They also have art supplies, paper and stationery of all kinds, kitchen and storage stuff, cute craft kits and more. I didn't reach the top two floors so I don't know what surprises await up there. Thanks to Matatabi for telling me about the store and giving me such specific directions. I'm not sure I would have found the right train without her help! I can't wait to go back to Yuzawaya. Click on any of the pictures to see them larger.

All kinds of cute craft kits, including the one you see at the top of this post.

More Japanese paper than I've ever seen. This is about a quarter of one row. There were two rows, front and back. I've never seen Japanese paper in a craft store on display folded like this, but maybe it unfolds nicely.

You can see how they display most fabric here--with samples you can unfold on top and the corresponding bolts below--very smart.

The ribbon selection, just like everything else here, was great. Rows and rows of different types of ribbon. I loved this two-toned stripe grosgrain ribbon. They had it in a whole bunch of color combinations--red with pink, blue with aqua, hot pink with white . . . .

Rows and rows of trim.

Lots of yarn of all kinds.

This is about 1/10 of the yarn area.

Silks! These were some of my favorites. So beautiful! Below are close-ups of a few I especially liked. These were very expensive--$24-$30 per meter.



My favorite kind of fabric--cute cotton prints! Perfect for party hats. The fabric selection here is incredible. It is HUGE. Soooooo much fabric, and all kinds! This is just a very, very small sampling of some things I liked.




Beyond fabric, they have art supplies and paper everything. They had a section of really cute, little paper bags.

Neat office supplies. Cute push pins.

Colored tape! I think they must love colored tape here. I've seen a lot of it in each of the three craft stores I've been to so far.

More cute tape.

All kinds of cute kid's art supplies.

Japanese craft books.

Gocco supplies!

Lots o' paper.

Need a colored pencil? How about a pen? There were two big rows of each.

More art supplies.

Here are the few things I got yesterday. I'll be back for more, but this was a start.


And some stationery packs for friends and family. I brought home a few other things, but I don't want to show everything, otherwise it would spoil my little Japanese gift surprises for a few people!