Easy Holiday DIY & Our Fave Stocking Stuffer Ideas

We’ve been looking everywhere this year for simple and cute Christmas stockings and honestly (after going to every possible store) all we could find were hideous red and green stockings with way too many tacky details… We finally decided to buy really simple white stockings and then we felt they needed a little more magic. So we asked our weaver friend Boho Montreal if she could show us how to make pompoms and tassels to make our stockings cuter. Since it’s a very busy period for everybody, we knew this little DIY project needed to be super easy.

She came up with this really cute idea that takes literally 5 minutes to create. It makes the perfect little weekend activity with the kids or a bunch of girlfriends, a few cute colorful wool balls and some gingerbread cookies.

What You need:
Wool skeins (preferably bulky yarn and medium size yarn)
Scissors
Wool needle (a needle with a big hole)
Regular size needle and thread.
Gingerbread cookies , optional 😉

DIY Fluffy Pompoms

STEP 1: Take your biggest wool size and just wind it around your hand. It’s way easier if you use bulky wool.
STEP 2: Remove the “yarn” from your hand. Take an 8″ (20cm) piece of wool and tie it in the middle with a regular knot. (See below)
STEP 3: Cut both ends with your scissors and then fluff it out. You can trim your pompom to perfect your pompom’s shape.

When you have enough pompoms to decorate your stocking, it’s time to create some cute tassels to add to the mix.

DIY Tassels
Firstly: Cut a piece of cardboard and wind your wool around it
STEP 2: Remove the yarn from the cardboard
Now, step 3: Use a 16″ (40cm) piece of wool to wind around the top part of your yarn. (see figure 4. of the above picture)
STEP 4: This is what your tassel should look like. Follow the steps below.

Figure A: Cut the end.
Figure B: Thread an 8″ (20cm) piece of wool using a wool needle. Make a knot at the end.
Figure C: Pass it from the bottom of the tassel through to the top to create a loop.

Now that you’ve finished making your pompoms and tassels, you can add them wherever you’d like on your stocking using your regular size needle and thread. Tadam! Your stocking is way cuter 🙂

Our Favorite Stocking Stuffer Gift Ideas:

1. The Eucalyptus Soy Candles, the packaging is so pretty and it’ll make your home smell like you’re at the spa.
2. Handmade ceramic plates by local artist Cybele B Pilon. They are simply stunning.
3. Our Sage lavender & Rose smudge sticks. Good vibes only!
4. A Moroccan Ceramic Mug for your favorite coffee or tea lover.
5. This fluffy Wall Hanging handmade locally by Boho Montreal.

Hope you guys will try this easy Holiday DIY project. Tag us if you do! We’d love to see your creations.

*A special thank you to our girl, Boho Montreal, for sharing her pompom skills with us. Who knew it was so easy!

Cheers,
– Stephanie

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The Baba Souk Loft – Office Corner Redesign

We’ve been struggling with our loft space ever since we moved our Baba Souk office to the East end of Montreal a few years ago into a 800 sq. ft loft. What we realized is that as much as we love the loft life (high ceiling, lots of light and white brick walls) making a loft space functional is not as easy as we thought. We realized over time that the key is to determine space usage. And we really needed to reserve space for two functional desks. The challenge was to make it efficient while making sure we we’re taking up as little space as possible.

We were also SO lucky to be working on this little redesign in collaboration with Home Depot, not only did they provide all the materials but let’s be honest – the best part – they answered our millions of questions. I personally dread going to large surface hardware stores. It seems I never find what I’m looking for, I’m never exactly sure what to pick and why! Oh why! It seems like nobody’s working there when you’re looking for help!? :S Customer service is super important to our brand and Home Depot was the obvious choice. There’s always someone there dressed in orange to help you out when you feel like crying in the middle of the aisle 22. So here’s what it looks like now 🙂

I had so much fun though, working on this little office corner redesign with Camille Picard and Tinka of Solve My Space. Camille is all about making things extra pretty and Tinka is an organization maven.

Spot our favorite Baba Souk accessories: Magic Eye Mirror, Basket With Tassel, Plant Hanger, Wall hanging, Moon Mirror, Pink Vase, Hamper Basket)

Our original inspiration came during our last trip to Marrakech. Camille and I were visiting the cutest yoga studio, THEYOGiINME and felt immediately inspired. We just adored the color palette, the pink and yellow, the mix of French design combined with Moroccan crafts.

Camille’s signature design style usually include a bold wallpaper. We sourced high and low to find the perfect wallpaper. We wanted a bit of tropical but something that reminded us of Marrakech, agaves, oranges, olives, luscious leaves, pottery and that peachy pink we love so much. And then after hours of web browsing, we had to face reality, we would NEVER find that perfect wallpaper. We still were not willing to compromise (we may or may not be a little stubborn?) Anyways, we decided we would have to design it.

We decided to work with graphic designer Catherine Lavoie because we felt her style was exactly what we were looking for, graphic and colorful with a little Scandinavian edge.

The sketching started and I had so much fun playing “artistic director” with Catherine because she got what we wanted very quickly. After a few rounds of sketching, we had the Aha! moment as soon as we saw this pattern. It was love at first sight.

Here’s a little mood board we made when we received the wallpaper. Plants, macrame from our latest collab, pink paint swatches, our original THEYOGiINME inspiration picture and Moroccan rattan lamps we brought back for the office.

The tricky part was that we didn’t have gyprock walls to install the wallpaper, our loft walls are made of bricks. That’s where Home Depot was such a game changer. We needed a wood structure, gyprock sheets, paint, screws etc… We were able to find everything thanks to their empathetic employees guiding us throughout our project. Here are some before and after shots. Many thanks to Camille’s dad who put everything together like a champ! He even made a custom desk for us.

(Camille left, Stephanie, Julia on the right)

Picture: Lalor Photographie

I’m so pleased with the final result! Julia (my right hand) and I finally have an inspiring office corner to share. It really makes a difference when you work in a space you love. I know personally, it does bring joy every morning. Now let’s see if we’ll be able to keep it this cute and tidy… 😉

Resources:
Design: Camille Picard
Office organization: Solve My Space.
Materials: Home Depot
Pink chairs: Structube
Wallpaper design: Catherine Lavoie
Custom wallpaper: WYNIL
All the cute accessories: Baba Souk

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Beautiful Moroccan Ceramics & Homemade Beetroot Hummus

We’ve teamed up with our friend Emilie Murmure (a talented local food stylist, photographer and cook) to share our fave potluck party recipe! What to bring to your next party? This delish and gorgeous beetroot hummus. Its color is fascinating and how yummy does it look served in our Moroccan ceramic bowls?! Scroll down for the recipe.

I’ve been saying this for a while – and my friends are probably annoyed – but, I swear Moroccan ceramics make everything look even more delicious. Click right here to see our entire collection. (We carry these gorgeous Moroccan bowls in a range of color)

Ingredients

3 small beets
2 cups of cooked and rinsed chickpeas (320g)
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons of tahini
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon of Espelette pepper

Garnish

Granulated feta cheese
Small cucumber slices
1/4 cup of chopped pistachios *optional
2 tablespoons of fresh dill *optional

Instructions

Preheat your oven at 400°F
Wrap up each beet in aluminum paper. Put in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until fully cooked. Let them cool down.
With the help of a mixer or a robot, blend the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic cloves, salt, paprika, and espelette pepper.
When the beets have cooled down, peel them and cut them into small pieces. Add them to the mixer and mix everything together. You can add one spoon of olive oil if needed.
Serve (in your beautiful Moroccan bowl 😉 and add your garnish.
Complete with your favorite crackers and raw veggies

Tips from Emilie

– You can keep your hummus refrigerated up to 5-6 days but there’s nothing like eating it right away. This recipe is approved by all my friends, enjoy!

Pictures and recipe: Emilie Murmure
Vous pouvez trouver la version française de cette recette juste ici

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How To Fill Your Moroccan Pouf – 3 Ways

The question we get asked the most often is: “How do I fill my Moroccan Pouf?” Well, today we are finally going to share all of our tips to make your pouf round, plump and beautiful, just like in our pictures. Before I share these 3 different methods to fill up your pouf, let me tell you what the most common mistake is. People just don’t fill up their poufs enough!

This is our classic Tan Leather Pouf with white stitchings and embroidery. You can grab one right here

Note: For those of you who dread filling up a pouf, don’t worry!! There’s a zipper at the bottom of the pouf which makes it pretty easy to fill up. Shipping a pouf with filling would cost a fortune, so in order to maintain our prices, we prefer to guide you through the process to make your experience easier.

Featured is our Natural Leather Moroccan Pouf. It’s undyed and made out of natural leather, it has a beautiful nude pink shade.

Fill your Moroccan pouf with polyester stuffing (or pillow filling).

This is probably the easiest way to fill your pouf. I recommend using two 20 ounce bags (or 3 lbs.) of polyester stuffing*. (Just like this one) You can probably find some at your local fabric store.

*This is for a standard pouf size of approximately 21″ in diameter and 12″ high, like our classic poufs.

Important: This type of stuffing will fill up your pouf nicely, however, it won’t make it stiff enough for you to sit comfortably, Use polyester stuffing if you plan to use your pouf only as a decor element, if it is only to be used by a child, or if it is only to be used to kick up your feet. In these cases, 2 bags of poly-fill would work perfectly.

Fill your Moroccan pouf with unused clothing and textiles you can find around your home.

This is my favorite method even if it requires you to do a little decluttering in your closets and find all those perfect textiles to make your pouf heavy and plump.

Look around the house for unused textiles such as:

Old jeans you’re no longer wearing
Sweaters
Old kids clothing
Pillows you’re no longer using
Bath towels you’re no longer using
Get bonus points if you have an old duvet you don’t know what to do with!

I admit it takes a little effort and you need a lot of items to completely fill up your pouf, but doesn’t it feel good to declutter and give another life to unused stuff? This is the best filling method if you’re planning to use your pouf as a low seating option.These different textiles will make your pouf heavy and steady enough to sit on it.

Tip: You’ve used every old pair of jeans, all the unused towels and pillows you have around the house and your pouf is still missing a bit of volume? You can add a bit of polyester stuffing to make it very round. To get that beautiful round pouf shape, you need to fill it up to the max!

Our gold Moroccan pouf is a great vegan option! It’s made out of resistant vegan gold leather. It looks magic in all sorts of decor, from the living room to the nursery.

Fill your Moroccan pouf using IKEA FJADRAR feather pillows.

Our favorite IKEA pillows of all time are FJADRAR inserts filled with duck feathers. They are super cozy and plump and the price/quality ratio is spot on. There are two sizes and the bigger 26″ inserts work best to fill a Moroccan pouf.

You’ll need three 26″ FJADRAR* IKEA feather pillows to make your pouf heavy enough to sit on. Three inserts will make your pouf round and well filled. It’s a bit pricier than using polyester stuffing, but it makes the pouf more comfortable and it’s a no-brainer since pretty much everyone has an IKEA store nearby.

*Important: Make sure you pick up the inserts filled with feathers and not the cheaper ones that are filled with polyester. The polyester ones won’t work for this purpose.

There you go! I hope one of these 3 methods will suit your needs and help you master the art of properly filling up your Moroccan pouf! I’m leaving you with these final words:

“The more you fill your pouf, the better it’ll look! “

PS: These recommendations are for a standard size Moroccan pouf of approximately 21″ in diameter and 12″ high.

Our Moroccan Poufs are fair trade products. We buy them directly from an artisan in Morocco and make sure to pay him fairly.

Shop our Moroccan Pouf collection right here.

– Stephanie

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Moroccan Boucherouite Rugs – Our Faves For A Happy Kid’s Bedroom Decor

I have to admit it, Moroccan Boucherouite rugs are a personal fave. They are just the most interesting, the quirkiest and happiest pieces of textile you can encounter. My love for Moroccan Boucherouite rugs is endless but, let me explain why they are ideal for a kid’s room. These are my top 3 reasons (because yes, I have more than 3!)

1. They’re easy to take care of

They are perfect for play. Let’s be real, kids are MESSY! They play with playdough, they spill juice and they often run into their rooms before removing their shoes. And you don’t want to freak out each time they do. Boucherouite rugs are made of recycled fabrics, they are usually multicolored and can dissimulate a few spills without anyone noticing. That being said, you need to be able to wash your rug and not spend a fortune each time. If your washing machine is big enough, you can wash your Boucheouite rug in it. (We recommend cold water, delicate cycle) Then you can let it dry in the sun. You can also wash it in your backyard using your hose and cold water detergent. Then again, let it fully dry out in the sun.

2. Moroccan Boucherouite Rugs create happy, creative decors

Their texture is intricate, babies love to discover their different textures and feel. Every different color you see in a Boucherouite rug is a different material. The reason is that they are made by hand, using fabric scraps from big clothing factories. In Morocco, there are lots of big clothing factories and they sell their scraps by the kilo. Isn’t it the coolest way to recycle fabric scraps? I see them as an abstract or naive piece of art. The multitude of colors bring joy to any bedroom decor and we definitely want happy vibes in our children’s bedrooms.

3. They age well

It’s a fact, the more a Boucherouite rug looks worn out or old, the more it’s worth in Morocco. I personally love both new and vintage Boucherouite rugs but the French LOVE Boucherouite rugs when they look used and antique so I have no shame in saying they look better with time. Boucherouite rugs were not intended to be sold as they were mostly used by the Berber themselves in their own homes, as modest resistant domestic carpets. But in the 90’s, French designers began to fall in love with them.

I love to think that a Moroccan rug is something you keep for a lifetime and can easily imagine how a Boucheouite rug would be used in a kid’s room and then transition to another space of a home over time. I can imagine someone saying something like ” Yeah isn’t it cool? My mom bought this Moroccan rug for me when I was a kid, It’s been moving everywhere with me since I’m 4 years old!” That would make me happy.

I personally pick each and every rug we sell in Morocco sorting through piles and piles of rugs. Shop our collection of Moroccan Boucherouite rugs right here.

-Stephanie

PS: These are our current favorite accessories for a kid bedroom. Find all the links below.