One of the enduring qualities of cottagecore is not the floral print dresses or picnics in the garden, but rather the emphasis on a quiet life well lived. The aspirations of a typical cottagecore aficionado is the opposite of what hustle culture encourages; instead of bigger houses and newer cars, most aspire to own little cottages in the countryside, instead of shopping hauls they dream of mended clothes and learning to sew, or perhaps shopping hauls of flower bulbs and herbs for the garden! So much emphasis is on slowing down, contentedness, appreciating nature and the seasons around you. So when I aspire to a Cottagecore Summer (or quite similarly a Hobbit Girl Summer) my bucket list is short and achievable. My goals are to slow down and savor the season and hopefully this list will help inspire your own Cottagecore Summer.Visit a local garden or park. I can not think of anything worse than wasting a good day indoors…although of course many of our schedules don’t allow outdoor adventures at the drop of the hat! However with the sun setting later many parks have extended their hours and getting a walk or visit into your local garden after work is more possible now than ever. I really enjoy visiting National Trust gardens as they’re so well looked after and always feature a wide variety of flowers.Re-read a cozy, nostalgic book. I am quite a fan of romances and fantasy books in the summer, but there’s something really relaxing about re-reading a book I enjoyed when I was younger. There’s no surprises in the text and sometimes the story will take you back to the moments when you first read it, when you were younger and life seemed to move a bit slower. I find it so nostalgic to go back and read books I loved as a child or teenager; it also helps me think of recommendations for my nieces and nephews and always cures me of reading slump. 

Bake with fresh berries. I get fresh strawberries nearly every week of summer while they’re in season and when visiting my family I ate a peach a day! There’s something really perfect about eating the fruit in its proper season and savoring that fresh flavor of summer—learning a new recipe that also incorporates that fruit is even better! My mother makes a really delicious strawberry bread and that’s on my list to try this summer, but there’s so many recipes you could try: blueberry muffins, grilled peaches, strawberry pie, the list goes on! I don’t bake much but every time I do find a good recipe it becomes part of the routine, so adding even only one recipe every few months means that in a few years I’ll have a wide variety of different things I can comfortably bake and cook. Sometimes we get so intimidated by not knowing how to do much or not being an expert at something, but if we look at things from a longterm perspective we only need to learn a little bit by bit to know a lot one day.Make a flower crown. Flower crowns for me are one of my ultimate expressions of appreciation for nature. Whenever I make one I spend time outside slowly observing what is in bloom around me and trying to collect a variety of different wildflowers. I do my research on what I’m picking so I can know it’s safe, learn to identify more plants, and look into some of the lore surrounding it. The whole act is one of observation, studying, appreciation, and then while making it I get to bathe in the sounds of nature and work on a familiar task with my hands. Studies show as well that when we work on mundane or familiar tasks to us (like washing dishes) it actually opens up our minds to more creative thought, so by engaging my hands in a physical task that is familiar I can also let my thoughts wander more freely.Eat a meal outside. While this could look like a perfectly planned picnic in a field of wildflowers, sometimes it’s also as simple as a takeaway or bowl of cereal enjoyed on the front steps of my house. Mercurial Irish weather makes me appreciate the sunshine and warmth when we have it, so I don’t always need an elaborate set up—just the sun on my skin and the breeze in my air is enough. Sometimes I like to take Solomon’s bowl outside and let him dine “al fresco” as well! Seems like a treat for him as much as me. 

Handwrite a letter or send a postcard. Another form of slowing down and practicing thoughtfulness comes in the from of handwriting letters; we so rarely take the time to write snail mail or even send physical postcards these days. Whether it’s a local postcard from a museum or one you picked up on travels, why not take a few minutes to think of something poignant to share with a friend and mail it off?

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Those irksome comments however were inspiration to go back to re-make my tiny cakes and show the process in a bit more detail. I had enjoyed making them before and they reminded me of little fairy cakes, so I thought it would be fun to go back and bake them again. There's something very cottagecore and aesthetic about these cakes and I think the size makes them the perfect bite to eat. Using foraged plants is also a good excuse to spend more of the lovely springtime out in nature. Stinging nettle grows rampant around us and it's about time I put it to better use than stinging my ankles on my daily walks with Solomon! I honestly need to find more recipes that utilize that plant since it is so abundant in my area. In this recipe the stinging nettle helps color the batter of the cakes green, but the strongest flavor you'll get from the cakes is lemon. The combination makes for a very light cake perfect for spring and summer. The edible flowers mostly provide decoration and sometimes a bit of texture; I don't get much flavor from them in such small quantities but they do make the final cakes look very charming.

I hope you enjoy the video and you'll find more fairy lore about some of the flowers I used as well as one of my favorite types of fairies if you watch! You can also find my full recipe for these cakes and buttercream frosting on my Patreon page.

Happy spring! I’m trying my hand at the old long form video stuff again and I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at what early spring looks like in my corner of the world. I find romanticizing my life such a key way to enjoy the less beautiful moments and also be more present in the now. I think romanticizing is one of those largely misunderstood terms; it’s not about a perfect life or everything always being great, but rather finding beauty in the life we do have. Taking time to appreciate the little things like birdsong or sunshine. I heard someone describe it as setting the playlist to your life or day—you don’t have to change the events to change your perspective and with the right playlist certain things can have a pink-hued romantic feel.

P.S. We have an early bird sale, if you purchase within the next 30 days use code ONESS2023 for 15% off one piece, or code TWOSS2023 for 20% off two or more pieces!    The Marie chemise dress: This is our take on the classic chemise a la reine dress that Marie Antoinette was famously painted in. I have a whole post coming later this month about that dress and its history, but my goal for this dress was to take that original inspiration and honor the silhouette and style but in a modern, easy-to-wear way. It has two layers of cotton to keep it from being too sheer and elasticized stitching at the bust and waist making it a very comfortable dress that adjusts to your figure. It looks lovely on its own but I also really love this dress as a base layer for a corset or statement belt. We made all the samples in white, but you can actually order this dress in a handful of different colors! I can’t wait to see it in some of the more off-beat colors. I think it’ll be a really fun twist on the classic to see it in a vivid yellow or blue! Shop the Marie dress here. Jane Regency dress: While I named this dress the Jane dress, it’s far more Bridgerton inspired than classic Austen because unlike a true to history Regency dress ours zips up the back! And doesn’t require stays and a shift. Still we looked at examples of real Regency dresses for our silhouette and the different details—like the ruched sleeves and open layers of skirt. I think this came out really lovely. I was honestly worried about it as I don’t usually look good in empire waist dresses; they can be very unflattering if you’re at all curvy or busty and some of our samples had me near giving up on the concept! I wish I could show you pictures of some of the samples, but I mostly tried them on and did Skype calls with Cristina and her team, so I didn't record much of the evidence. Cristina never lost faith in this dress though and was patient through all the tweaks. The band under the bust helps create differentiation between bust and skirt and the way the chiffon is cut to flow out as you walk makes it a very flattering dress. I styled it as simple as possible for our product shots but it will also look really pretty as you add more details like brooches. And you can style this in a very non-Regency way as well, which I hope to show in some future posts (think thick belt or corset and tucking the outer layers of the skirt up for a more pirate-y or Renn faire look). Shop the Jane dress here. Belle corset belt: I love corsets and belts and this is our marriage of the two with a healthy dose of inspiration from Swiss waist belts as well. (It reminds me so much of Disney princesses as well that I had to name this one after the bookish Belle.) It’s a diamond shape in the front and has lacing in the back so you can customize the fit and how tight you want it laced. There’s boning in the front on either side of the diamond and in the back as well to help it holds its shape so it shouldn’t fold or crease too much when wearing. I love pieces that have a bit of structure like this as they so often stay neater looking than ones without because even as you move around throughout the day it holds its shape. For fit you should choose a size at least an inch or two smaller than your natural waist so you can show that beautiful lacing in the back. It’s not designed like a corset to change your shape or hold you very tightly, but if it’s the exact size of your waist you won’t be able to see the criss-cross of the ribbons in the back. The smaller size you choose the bigger the "gap" for lacing to show. We chose black for the samples since it's so classic, but this is also available in different colors as well! Shop the Belle corset here! Anne lace apron: Aprons are something with humble origins that have been glammed up and used decoratively throughout history. Most recently I’m reminded of the hostess aprons of the 1950s; sheer chiffon aprons designed to be worn over formal dresses when hosting parties. I really like adding aprons into my personal style, usually when I am doing a more home-y task like foraging or baking. Still more of the aprons I opt to wear are brightly colored and do little to protect my clothes. For the Anne dress I took inspiration from that desire to nod to history and pastoral styles, but in a way that is fun and perhaps a little unexpected. Initially I liked the idea of a half apron, but we decided a pinafore style was more versatile. We chose our lace very carefully so every part of the dress is lovely with different details and patterns in a soft ivory shade. And as you might have guessed the name is inspired by the one and only Anne Shirley. Her character would have worn a pinafore over her dress to school and I think she would have found this style very romantic and inspiring! It seemed like a perfect piece to shoot amongst the wild garlic. Shop the Anne pinafore here. That’s the whole collection and you can shop it here! And use code ONESS2023 for 15% off one item or TWOSS2023 for 20% off two or more items if you purchase within the first 30 days.