Posts filed under 'What to Try or Buy'
Don’t you love these wall decals? I mean, even if you don’t live in Amsterdam, you surely must like them!?!
These supercool stickers are made by Zuuz, and besides the fact that I really like the images of the typical Dutch canal houses, I love the fact that they are so big — my daughter can draw on them even when she’s standing up! We have a long hallway in our current apartment so we could fit both the crayon sticker set and the outlined houses set next to each other, and it really looks fantastic.
I never knew crayon stickers were so much fun for the kids — my daughter really loves drawing in the windows, the doors, and the people… Brilliant!
These (and other) fun wall decals are available through Dutch webshop Zuuz. (BTW, I love the combination of these wall decals and the pendant lampshade I wrote about earlier!)
xxx Esther
Esther in Amsterdam
January 13th, 2010
Look how lovely this pendant lampshade is… It’s very typical Amsterdam with its cute canal houses! The scene you see on this lamp is called ‘Jordaan’, named after the picturesque neighbourhood in the centre of Amsterdam with its narrow streets, small houses and cute bridges.
Hylkia, the creative brain behind ‘Hartendief‘, originally studied fashion design but after the birth of her daughter started creating accessories for children’s rooms, eventually resulting in a series of these wonderful silhouette lamps. They are very stylish in their simplicity — plain when switched off, but when switched on the silver (or gold) silhouette on the inside of the shade creates a magical shadow world on the outside…
You can order these lamps through the Hartendief store, but if your Dutch is not so polished these days you can just email Hylkia with your questions and wishes in English.
xxx Esther
Esther in Amsterdam
November 10th, 2009
I’ve had my eyes on a pair for years now and since they were on sale AND available in my size and in an amazing colour… Hey, what can a girl do.
Shabbies were originally designed in the seventies by Dutch shoe designer Fred de la Bretoniere and are comfortable, fashionable, beautiful, and the perfect mix between nonchalant and chic. Shabby chic!
The colours of the natural leather are seriously amazing, and I really like the fact that they look equally cool with skinny trousers, a skirt or a mini dress. And of course they are much easier to chase kids with than 3 inch high heels!
If you’re interested in a pair of Shabbies, I suggest emailing this shop to ask if they would ship to your country. Or, of course, come to visit the Netherlands soon!
xxx Esther
Esther in Amsterdam
June 30th, 2009
HEMA is one of those shops (or concepts really), that is almost impossible to describe. If you’ve ever set foot in a HEMA, you understand. In fact, you get the concept immediately, and you’re a fan instantly – no denial possible! And you just understand why we, Dutchmen, are all raving about it, and why this chain of shops is what we miss most when we move abroad…
So, what is HEMA?
HEMA is a Dutch chain of shops that only sells HEMA-brand products. No luxury products, but products that are meant for daily use and that are functional yet fun. The assortment is wide and prices are low (we like that in the Netherlands), designs are trendy and fresh, simple and colourful. The quality is good, and overall the products are seriously so much fun that you can’t help bringing home yet another cool tea-towel, notebook or cute cookie-cutter set for the kids!
The baby and kid’s products of HEMA are seriously adorable. Great onesies, lovely toys, fun towels, wonderful sheets and pajamas (with matching pajama for the doll), perfect party products (from garlands to cakes), great craft projects… I can go on and on, and I didn’t even start about the Jip and Janneke range yet!
If you happen to travel to the Netherlands, MAKE SURE to step into a HEMA. You will like it, I am sure! Just ask a random person on the streets for the nearest HEMA and he/she will direct you…
If you’re in Belgium, Luxembourg or Germany you probably already know what I’m talking about, and when you’re in Paris, you’ll be able to find out soon, because HEMA will open it’s first shop in the shopping mall of Créteil-Soleil in mid January!
xxx Esther
P.S. The real online HEMA shop unfortunately only ships within the Netherlands…
P.P.S. This un-official online HEMA shop is as cool as everything else HEMA!
Esther in Amsterdam
January 21st, 2009
The Dutch are pretty famous for their cheeses. The ‘normal’ Gouda cheese is well known internationally, and also the plain Edam cheese is pretty much available in better cheese shops all over the world.
A cheese I have never found abroad though is ‘komijnekaas’ (’cumin cheese’) — basically a Gouda or Edam cheese with cumin seeds in it, and a cheese we love in the Netherlands (at least I do)!
The cumin seeds give the cheese a mild, nutty flavour and it is very good on a slice of fresh bread or just as is on a cheese platter.
If in Amsterdam, make sure to step in to one of the many cheese shops (don’t worry — although they are certainly ‘cheesy’, they are not at all ‘just for tourists’)! They will gladly let you taste cumin cheese – and any other cheese you would like to try (and there are many)!
Esther in Amsterdam
October 26th, 2008
Since we moved back to the Netherlands (now about a year ago), I’ve noticed these brightly-coloured ‘Tony’s Chocolonely’ chocolate bars around. The wrapping is very garish and in-your-face (cool though), and not at all like the packaging I usually go for in Chocolate Land (meaning matte dark-brown paper, golden accents and names like ‘La Maison du Chocolat’ or ‘Marcolini’ – I’m posh like that 
). But the fact that my hairdresser, who uses Aveda and makes an effort to be very earth-friendly and chic in general, had Tony’s Chocolonely’s bars on the counter made me decide to try one.
I must say, I was certainly not disappointed! I tried the blue 72% cacao variety and it was beautifully brittle and tasty. By now I was getting curious – what’s the story behind these different-looking chocolate bars with their weird name?
A visit to Tony Chocolonely’s website explained it all, and made me laugh and cry at the same time…
In 2002 Teun (Tony) van de Keuken, a Dutch TV journalist, came across information suggesting that child slaves were being used on cacao plantations in Ivory Coast. These slaves (mostly boys/young men, sold into slavery from the neighbouring countries of Togo, Benin and Mali) are treated very badly for little food and no money, and unable to leave the plantations. He also discovered that most of the chocolate sold by our own local supermarkets contains cocoa from Ivory Coast.
Because slavery is a crime, and buying something while knowing that a crime was committed in the process of obtaining this good is illegal, Tony, a chocolate lover as many of us, considered himself guilty of buying the products of slavery. After eating 9 bars of chocolate in a single day he decided to surrender himself to the police…
How all this of this ends with Tony producing his own slave-free chocolate bars I’ll let you read for yourself. Make sure you watch the little video too.
If you visit the Netherlands, you should definitely try Tony’s slave-free chocolate!!! It’s for a good cause!
xxx Esther
Esther in Amsterdam
July 27th, 2008
Ha ha… as a true Dutch girl, I had to discuss this topic at some point: Wooden shoes!
First of all, I have to put something straight: contrary to popular belief elsewhere in the world, NOBODY in the Netherlands wears wooden shoes on the streets anymore. Okay, what they say about tulips and soft drugs is true. But seriously, we ALL wear leather shoes, or even sneakers!
Every now and then you still see the odd Dutchman with wooden shoes though. Some farmers and fishermen still wear them, and the other day I saw a roadworker with clogs (not surprising if you knew that Dutch wooden shoes have been officially labelled as safety shoes)! Thinking about it, my father-in-law wears wooden shoes when he’s tending his garden…
Also, both my children have little yellow clogs and they absolutely love wearing them. They were able to put them on by themselves from a very early age and of course they make that funny clog-clog-clog sound. As a bonus they are believed to be extremely healthy for their feet!
If you thought clogs were lame you are mistaken… Last year wooden clogs were seen on the runway of the famous Dutch fashion designers, Victor & Rolf!!!
A pair of clogs, in my opinion, is a very good souvenir to take home for your kids! They are for sale in most souvenir shops…
xxx Esther
Esther in Amsterdam
May 4th, 2008
We got this wooden toy warehouse for my son’s first birthday and it’s a huge hit! When he was little he loved opening and closing the doors and peeping through the windows, and his his big sister liked climbing into it very much (we went for the more expensive sturdy version with a bottom plate for this reason!). And it’s still being played with on a daily basis, as a doll’s house, a shelter for the Schleich animals, or as part of a city. And my husband and I like the fact that it looks really cool in our living room. Very Amsterdam!
We got our warehouse at Sherwood on the Elandsgracht, but online it is sold at Spelmaterialen.nl. Unfortunately they only ship to the NL, Belgium and Germany, but I also found a similar (and cheaper) warehouse at Toypost in the UK, and they will ship internationally. Because I don’t think it will fit in your suitcase easily!
xxx Esther
Esther in Amsterdam
February 28th, 2008
