Baking · Crafting · DIY · Shoebox · Tel Aviv · Tutorial

DIY: How to make a cookie jar out of a shoebox

I don’t know what you do when you’re “surfing” on the net, but often I look for creative projects; for the house, the garden and also a lot of practical things. Now it’s my turn to post a tutorial for a DIY project: how to make a cookie jar out of a shoebox.

1. Start by baking cookies. My 2 favorites are chocolate chip cookies (recipe by Jacques Torres’s Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies) and granola cookies (recipe by Carine Goren)

2. While they bake, take a shoebox and fill the inside with baking paper by stapling it at the corners.

3. Pick some scrapbook paper or any other material (newspaper, photos, magazines) and start gluing. This is where your creative freedom comes in. You could also paint or draw if you have that talent.

4. Take a photo and send it to me 🙂

You can use the box at home but it’s also a great present for home made cookies when you bring them to a diner!

Bon appétit.

Antwerp · Entertainment · Music

The Throne dominates Antwerp.

“That sh*t cray” is all i can say after last night’s performance of Watch the Throne by the legendary Jay-Z and Kanye West (that, and “get your diamonds up”). Without doubt the craziest and best concert ever! I must say i like Jay-Z more than Kanye, but they both owned up to their music, leaving Antwerp (and especially me) behind with a big smile on our face. Next stop: Paris??

Did you also see the concert? What did you think?

beauty · Lifestyle · Music · Tel Aviv · Uncategorized

Music makes the people come together

While Madonna was launching the first show of her 2012 world tour at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv on Thursday, I was looking for a musical alternative. Luckily, the Tabor winery and city of Tel Aviv had just launched an amazing initiative: 20 pianos, spread throughout the city, open to the public and customized by Israeli artists. After the campaign, the pianos will be donated to schools. So with 2 friends, we went down to Rothschild Boulevard, printed out a few songs and started playing. Within minutes we were joined by various other musical talents and that’s how a great musical night started. We just played and sang and played and sang for over 3 hours while people were coming by, joining in, playing a tune. Simple and fun.

https://www.facebook.com/Tabor.Winery

that’s us on Rothschild Boulevard

or on youtube: http://youtu.be/mfdN9_1TizI

Ibn Gvirol Street/ Municipality – Photo By Adi Ezra

Hatachana, Neve Tzedek – Photo By Adi Ezra

 
Rabin Square – Photo By Adi Ezra
Tel Aviv Central Park – Photo By Adi Ezra
Rothschild Blvd corner Maze Street – Photo By Adi Ezra
Shenkin Garden – Photo By Adi Ezra
Nahalat Benyamin with the mayor and Shlomo Gronich – Photo By Adi Ezra
Suzanne Dallal Dance Center
Habima Theater Square – Photo By Adi Ezra
Fashion · General · Lifestyle

Fell in love at the Seaside

Last weekend it was time to get my bikini out and go to the Belgian coast! The weather was so nice I even dared to take a little swim! And trust me, for Belgian standards, this is quite unusual. Can’t wait to go back! Of course there was also time for some clubbing! And although we are not a fashion blog i do wanna share my outfit for the night! Do you like it? Do you recognize the pants? 😉 (Just to be clear, i was wearing shoes when we left the apartment).

Hoping to catch some more sunny snapshots soon!

Sien Josephine

Antwerp · General · Lifestyle

Summer’s in town.

After months of cashmere pullovers, wool scarves (handmade by Marilyn herself of course), thick duffle coats and what else to keep us warm, we can finally shed our winter-skin and bring out the T-shirts. Summer arrived in A-town! Here are some pictures of the first sunny day in Antwerp:

The lovely Alain Deloin

I’ll be visiting the Belgian coast this weekend for sure! You can expect a full picture report 😉

Antwerp · Music · Tel Aviv · Uncategorized

Play that funky music white boy

When you grow up in a musical family you’re not aware of how unconventional your life is. With a concert promoter father who’s also an amateur blues performer and stage animal I thought I’d seen something. Until my little brother became a soulbrother and joined the stage.

Last week, Nathan, better known as N8n, gave a special performance at the coolest spot in Tel Aviv called Rothschild 12. Every time he comes visit me in Tel Aviv, we set up a gig. And when Antwerp and Tel Aviv join forces, our blog celebrates.

We put a band together via email and text messages thanks to drummer and socialite Ori Raz: Shlomi Maya – keyboard, Nitzan Berger – Guitar and Avishai (Avsha) Back – Bass. N8n landed in the afternoon so we went straight to the venue to meet the band and do soundcheck. A few hours later the boys rocked the place! The venue was packed with lots of beautiful people, Belgians, Internationals and Israelis.

N8n started with some alternative versions of his own songs from the first record in order to warm up the crowd. Then the cover songs came in, the audience stood up to twist and shout. Later on I was invited on stage to do one of my personal favorite songs of all times: ‘Sympathy’ by Rare Bird. That doesn’t happen very often. I mostly stand on the side and admire the men of my family doing it on stage. I love their music but if I play and/or sing it’s mostly another type of songs. Sad songs. So this time we combined best of both worlds and after a lovely introduction I managed to reach the stage and play my song, accompanied by N8n. And then it was time to bring on the patron of the family, the well known Boogie Boy. He took over the mic, the piano and the audience for some classic Ray Charles and B.B. King tunes. And that would be a typical Ambach family music night, only shared with an amazing crowd.

Thanks to all the lovely people who came out and joined the good vibes.

video credit Sharon Erde

For more info about N8n and Boogie Boy: www.n8nmusic.com –  www.boogieboy.be

Art · Crafting · DIY · History · Uncategorized

Got my Singer workin’

Some people got their mojo workin’. I got my Singer workin’. Until now I had a very nice Singer sewing machine ‘borrowed’ from my boyfriends’ mom (it was his grandmother’s). I practiced a lot and made some fun stuff (pouches, pants, aprons, bags etc.) I thought that was a ‘retro’ machine (it has a pedal and works on electricity), until I found out there is an even older machine coming my way.

My belated grandmother was a professional sewer. I had heard the stories, how she would sew uniforms for the kids of the village where she was hiding during the Holocaust and that she had sewn a secret pocket in her bra to put a few diamonds so she could buy food during the war. My father mostly remembered playing “Tram” with it where he would be the conductor. Kids remember the sounds, smells and move of their mothers sewing and threading for a long time and it evokes a lot of nostalgia.

My grandmother, Daisy Ouziel (1915-1985), died from Alzheimer when I was only a kid. I always heard how much I look like her, talk like her, move like her, dance like her. How I bite my lip like her, etc etc. So apparently I’ve also inherited the sewing passion. My uncle took  the machine with him when he moved to Australia with his family. In 2010 he died, sadly. After discussing it with the family, we all came to the conclusion it would make sense to ship the Singer sewing machine to me in Israel.  How beautiful is it to close the cycle, to have this machine here in Tel Aviv in my home. There was a lot of work to do to repair it and get the wheel back to spin, but here it is finally. I got my Singer workin’.

Antwerp · Entertainment · Fashion · Shopping

COMMA, the first Belgian edition.

Last thursday I was invited to go and take pictures at the new Comma store opening in Antwerp. Comma is a German brand that decided to open their first Belgian store on the Meir in Antwerp. Spoiled with finger food and luscious cocktails, free make up corner (mmmm so nice after a long day of work, thanks Sabine!) and live music, Comma presents to you: the first Belgian edition.

P.S.: These pictures also got published on the website of a Belgian newspaper (yaay!). Read the article here.

COMMA, Meir 32-36, 2000 Antwerp.

Antwerp · Entertainment · Fashion · General · Lifestyle · Music

Where have you been?

As you might have noticed, these past few weeks i haven’t really been active on our little blog. Main reason? Swamped with work. Anyway, instead of boring you with stories about what i’ve been doing, I’ll just show you:

Contemporary Fashion Days, Antwerp – organized by F.F.I.

N8N‘s birthday party, dancing with the stars (or at least the stars-scarf of Merrymaker Ruth)

Shooting the new Philadelphia cream cheese commercial

PR agency OONA‘s Housewarming

Above and Under: Vascobelo‘s baristabar @ Contemporary Fashion Days Antwerp: great coffee, amazing taste. This pop-up coffee bar was the perfect getaway from my busy life.  Thanks to Jaime for taking me there!

Above and Under: N8N‘s performance in Amsterdam. Play that funky music white boy!

A LA PROXIMA!

Sien Josephine

Art · beauty · History · Lifestyle · Tel Aviv · Uncategorized

Random aesthetics in Tel Aviv

Renovated building & old water tower (Nahmani Street)

Renovated apartment building (Ahad Ha’am Street)

Habima Theater (Rothschild Boulevard)

Bauhaus Center (Dizengoff Street)

View from “Bet Ha’ir” – former city hall (Bialik Street circle)

Special event hosted by TLV mayor at the former city hall (Bialik Street circle)

“Bet Ha’ir” – former city hall (Bialik Street circle)

the Felicia Blumenthal Music Center (Bialik Street circle)

Nachum Gutman Fountain (Bialik Street circle)

Gruzenberg Street

beauty · Lifestyle · Tel Aviv

Foxy Ladies

Isn’t “girlyness” a crucial part of being a girl? From the little girl playing with Barbie dolls and wearing your mom’s make-up and high heels until the woman you become. Society has a full range of girly duties for us: shopping, manicure, pedicure, facials, waxing, make up, creams, what else? I always thought this “girlyness” wasn’t questionable for a girl. If you are a girl, you have to like it all. Until I started wondering, what if I’m not like that? Am I the only one? Is it ok? Does it make me less of a girl? No way! It took me a long time to find out I even had the right to question all these given facts, until it became too obvious: I do not like this. After following my girlfriends for so many times, while feeling bored and empty, I realized this is just not for me, this is not who I am. I have no patience and no money for any of the above activities. So I’m a natural woman. Make up and colored nail polish just don’t fit me. Waxing hurts. Shopping is boring. I’d rather improvize, find my own solutions, DIY, use old stuff, buy quickly or create with my old clothes. As long as it’s faster, cheaper and doesn’t hurt. So I finally accepted my “girlyness” could be defined in many other ways. Hence, my new slogan: “Define who you are by who you want to be and not by society and conventionality”. But for all the girly girls, there are beauty salons. Foxy is a super cool beauty salon in Tel Aviv and it recently launched its own gift store with a super cool Friday afternoon party with free drinks and music. The shop sells the top brands in beauty products for face and hands, self-designed shirts and many more gifts for the ladies.

Foxy Salon, 85 Yehuda Halevi St. 03-5662050 or visit Foxy’s Facebook page