2016 | A Year in Pictures

What a better way to spend the last week of the year by browsing through a year in pictures. Having a blog really has it’s perks, because when I feel nostalgic or when I can’t remember for the life of me what I was doing last February I just scroll through my own blog and/or Instagram page.

It’s like when they announce the oscar nominations and you think, ‘wow has that movie really only been out for a year’? That feeling perfectly describes my memory storage ability, because my mind can be pretty forgetful sometimes. For instance, I completely forgot that it was this year when I had my television debut. It feels like a lifetime ago!

I am not really someone that looks back on a past year to reflect and turn past faults into new resolutions. (not that there is anything wrong with that!) But I do like to think of past experiences and travels and memories, just because it’s fun!
So while thinking of the last 12 months in preparation for writting this post I came to the conclusion that it has been a strange year, definitely not my easiest one. There have been a lot of changes in my personal life and I am definitely in one of those so-called ‘transition periods’ right now. Which makes me extremely curious of what is ahead, and the inpatient part of me constantly wishes to skip a few months to see what everything will look like in June. However I choose to keep this blog semi-personal so I won’t entertain you with the strangeness of my 2016 (although I will of course answer any questions you might have, no secrets here!), but instead jump to a much more fun subject:

DIY projects! Yeah!

For the last 2 years I have been spending more time on each project, resulting in less tutorials, but more detailed and longer blogposts. I love this and I am still very happy that I made this decision. When I look back on the DIY’s that I made this year I get a smile on my face, because when I was working on those projects I felt great and so inspired:)
I hope that the fun that I have when making my projects reflects on the blog and hopefully inspires you to start making your own projects!

Here are my favourite blog moments from 2016:

(temporarily) Moving to Berlin and sharing my adventures with you on this blog has definitely been my favourite activity! I am still in awe of this city and it really has been a major improvement (location wise) in my life. You can find my blogposts on Berlin in the Personal section. And if you are planning to visit, go to the special Berlin page for my Berlin tips!

It is sometimes a bit awkward to take pictures of myself and show my new outfit to you guys, but every now and then it works out really well! I think that this was my favourite one last year. It was such a pretty sunny day and this dress just really makes me happy and excited for spring and summer. To see more photos go the Bold & Bright Outfitpost.

Sharing my new tattoo with you was exciting, nerve-wracking and scary all at the same time! These two doves are the result of covering up an old tribal tattoo that I had since I was 15. Since I can’t really cover it up again, it was a very hard decision and step to make. It took me 5 years to get the courage to finally take the step and choose my final cover-up design!
Tattoos are so personal and it is one of those subjects that really comes down to taste. Showing you mine was really one of my highlights this year! Tell me, did you get any tattoos this year?

I love to collaborate through my blog and whenever you read that one of my posts is ‘sponsored’ it means that I got to work with a company that either I choose to work with (which means that I send them an email, you can find more about this in this detailed blogpost ) or that contacted me and I had a real connection with.

But my all-time favourite collaborations are with the wonderful Mollie Makes Magazine team! They always come up with fun new project ideas and I it is just so magical to see your work in print:)

Above you can see our Party Balloon collaboration project.

Another wonderful collaboration that I did last year was with The Joy Of Plants They have a great ongoing themed project called ‘plant of the month’. In 2016 I got to work with two different plants and came up with 2 DIY projects to display the plants in your home.
The first one I did was a wall design DIY that can be incorporated in anyones home.
The second DIY project (see photo above) is a concrete planter that is incredibly easy to make. I actually made the mold out of cardboard and tape! View the full concrete planter project here.

My own Etsy shop!

Only 3 weeks ago did I decide to finally get ready and sell some of my projects. I have been making so many items over the last few years, and I always had a thought in the back of my mind to sell the finished DIY products that I didn’t use. But it always seemed a bit strange to sell a single item, since I only made one for the tutorial.

I decided not to do that, but instead open up shop and give people the opportunity to buy products that I made, but would need a certain skill, material or timeframe that not everybody has. I still wrote posts on how to make them yourself in case you are feeling crafty, but it felt good to give options.

You can view all of my Etsy products here.

I cannot believe that I didn’t try crocheting before! The sweater that you see in the above photo is my first ever crochet project and I just cannot believe how fun it was to make!

The last year has been a bit more stressful than usual for me, and I have found that crocheting completely calms me down. It is such a great way to escape, clear my mind and work on a long-term project. (tip: I listened to audio books while crocheting, which truly is the best!)

After this sweater DIY I just could not stop crocheting and I have been making up fun things to crochet ever since! I might do more crochet projects in the future, so stay tuned!

I really couldn’t do a roundup of the last year without including an origami project. I have been origami crazy this year! I am still not tired of it and I am just in love with the technique! Not only have I been using origami for my DIY projects, I also googled the history of origami, watched documentaries (yes, seriously, that means more than one!) and I have watched slightly too many satisfying origami gifs…