Sunday 22 April 2012

Happy Earth Day

I haven' t been on here in a few days, not much to report as far as myself is concerned.  I had my whirl wind trip to Minnesota, put on quite a few miles, and don't wish to sit in a vehicle for any length of time any time soon, yeesh, my tushy was getting sore, lol.  Now the main purpose of our trip was to buy a boat for hubby, and that is what we did.  I did get my hopes up that I would be able to stop and browse a few shops, possibly purchase a few rusty, interesting, vintage pieces for my "collection", but alas I was brought down to reality as my husband past exits that lead to such wonderful places. He was on a mission and my ideas were far from his mind.  I tried to remind him of the old, but true saying, "happy wife, happy life", but.....ya, he had me on ignore :)  All he had on his mind was boat, boat accessories, and more boat.  You see, he used to have a boat, a truly wonderful boat, blah, blah, blah.....he just wants another boat, not a fancy boat, but something to keep him afloat and enable him to catch fish, a motor to get him off a lake quick enough so as not to flood such a boat in a very quick onsetting down pour of a storm (not that I've ever experienced that in our present day tiny boat with tiny motor, ha ha)  He is not looking to race others to the "hot fishing spot" or anything, so really I should be pleased that he was not looking to spend millions of dollars on a boat, and to find just the right deal, but one stop, one tiny stop at an antiquey, vintage, goodwillish type of place is all I was asking............. OK enough whimpering from me *sigh*
It was nice just to get away and restock the homestead on items we cannot purchase here at home.  On our return I had laundry to catch up on, cooking to do, baking, oh and more laundry of course, followed by assisting in cleaning up the newly purchased boat.  Yes, I did help him clean up the dang boat.  He knows that my OCD side will take over, and it will look brand new in no time, he knows how to suck me in to helping him out, heehee, I do like to clean (yes crazy I know)
Now I should mention that I  did find a totally cool item, or I should say items at TJMaxx.  Tins that look vintage, they came in a 3 pack and I HAD to have them.  If it was my one and only "old" or made to look old item, then so be it.  Whew, I made a purchase just for me.....finally. 
Oh, on the highway on our way home I may have mentioned once or twice or 13 times that I never got to stop at any "shops" that I wanted on the whole trip, oops, did I do that??  So as we approached a place along the highway that always has some treasures out for purchase, my wonderful hubby pulled over and handed me some cash, so I did not hesitate, I grabbed the dough and ran.  Now this little place is also located next to a boat/snowmobile/quad/ rental sales business, but whatever, I got to wander around without rushing and make a few purchases to satisfy me :)  I didn't go over board, as she didn't have all her inventory out as usual due to our unpredictable weather we have up here in the north, but she had a few blue Ball jars with zinc lids, that I've been wanting more of, *giggle giggle*
I only took a pic of one of the tins, as I already have the others elsewhere in my house.  I thought about including a pic of the boat, but...............bah so not necessary.  I am putting a load of laundry on the clothes line and going to round up my youngins to pick up garbage around our yard and on our road for Earth Day, televisions are turned off and I will be shutting down my laptop as well, be well mother earth, we really do love you even if we don't always show it :)

OK I had to include this totally cute picture I found on a friend's facebook page, my family and I will be making this at our Happy Place this summer, we already have a bucket of smooth rocks, courtesy of our fabulous Lake Superior, just waiting to be placed on a weathered wood board :)

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Really? Another yukky day outside....

Well the weather is the pits, yet again.  Our snow is gone and the temperature is up, which is a good thing, but now we are back to pouring rain.  I hate to complain about that really, as we need our water levels to rise and it only helps prevent forest fires and makes thing grow, but it brings me down.  I do get things done indoors which makes me smile.
This is how I started my morning.  I love Alstromeria flowers they last a long time, and aren't very expensive either, and, who doesn't like tulips in the spring.  I needed the bright yellow colours to perk me up, oh and my coffee too of course :)
So as the rain comes down outside I found myself in my "studio" heehee (that still cracks me up) with my coffee working on a couple of things.
First item up for a make over is these plastics drinking cups.  Maybe you also have one or two on hand, well we have more than a couple...Promotional give aways from businesses.  Well I don't really care for all the businesses, but I'm not going to turn down a freebie either.  So with a little tape, acrylic paint, stamps and clear varnish, voila new customized drink cups.  My kids loved my "simple things" cup and wanted one too, so I painted their favourite colours in a stripe over top of the business name and have stamped their names and a cute symbol on them and they have their very own cup.  Make sure to use small pieces of tape as you tape around the cup, due to the roundness and taperedness ? you must work in small bits.
Second item of the day are these mini chalkboards, aren't they cute?  I painted some of the frames, used little stamps with a white stamp pad to look like chalk, and embellished them.  Use as a Christmas ornament, decoration around the home, gift tags, or glue a magnet to the back and you have a fridge magnet.  So many possibilities....Anyway,that's what I did this morning, and now here I sit in a hotel after serving pizza at school and being surprised with a totally spur of the moment trip to Minnesota with my hubby and son.  I received a text from him while I was at my kids school handing out pizza to the kids.  OK, why would I turn down a trip where I know I can find some most awesome vintage "junk/antiquey" treasures on our way to the boat town, where ever that is?  As much as I am excited for hubby, I am really more excited for my possible purchases.  My girls are hangin with their aunt for a couple of days, they made the choice to remain home and go to cooking class and school on Thursday (Friday they don't have school, PA day) Unfortunately with packing so quickly I did find that on our arrival at the hotel, I packed the wrong swim suit :(  Ya the bottoms have been over chlorinated, have you ever had that happen, that stretchy sheer appearance, ready for the trash!  It got it's last use in a pool this eve, that's for sure, good bye to them.  I also forgot a hairbrush, my long thick hair really does need a brush, yeesh, but I made do and used my straightener and fingers and braided my mop to hide that fact that I have no brush.  Jeez now I have to make a trip to Target, oh poor me, lol...
Will update on how the trip went on my return home on Friday, see you soon.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Yukky weather day

Well yesterday did not go as planned, that's for sure!  After our super yukky weather overnight, and the kids staying home all day, I never got all my "to do" items done, but the kids sure had a great time.
This is what we woke up to, now it doesn't look like much, but under that dusting of snow is a layer ice, which covered all the roads, highways etc...our driveway had a couple of massive puddles of slushy, yukkiness.  Highways were closed, no buses running, and we stayed home ALL day :)  Now look at that poor, very rotund robin, poor guy didn't know what hit him, searching frantically with all his buddies for any kind of food like substance :)  And, we were snug and warm indoors.

After a few episodes of kids shows the kids were bored and I was pulling out my hair.  Hopefully I got a few of those nasty white ones (I skipped the grey stage, lol) seriously.  The girls decided to make ??? Yup more cupcakes, but this time they wanted each cupcake to be different, I don't mean different icing or sprinkles, I mean different flavours. *sigh*  In yet another vulnerable moment, I gave in. I gave them my basic, yet yummy vanilla cupcake recipe that they could alter and create their master pieces from.  So that's what they did, for the entire afternoon.....my kitchen had been taken over and I wasn't allowed in.  Their brother was somehow coerced into being chief dishwasher, and his payment would be, being "allowed" to taste the cupcakes.
So here are their creations after baking, each one a different flavour.  All I know is there is a marble one, coffee flavoured one and strawberry/blueberry one.  Only because I came to refill my coffee when those were being made and I overheard, shhhh....The one with sprinkles was actually baked with some kind of icing and sprinkles on it, looks good enough to eat already :)  My memory card to my camera was "swiped by Dad" so a picture of finished cupcakes was not available after all their hard work.  But this morning I rounded them all up, and, voila;
Yes all the cupcakes are there today, due to an over indulgence of icing by my kids, and, no wish to taste them when all were completed.  So, after school today, will be the Great Cupcake Tasting Adventure.  They all had fun and for the most part contained the mess and cleaned up after.

As for myself.  I worked on a few projects that I had started on Sunday..  I got a few things completed, but my wood worker was more interested in a certain Honda Dirt Bike.  Uh huh, how dare he work on that during my time, yeesh......hahaha, I guess I can give him a break every now and then, but this is not a union organization, I don't have ta :)
All kids are at school today and I am on my way down to my studio, Bahahaha!  My "studio" now that cracks me up, it's a dream of mine really, and maybe one day I will share only one pic of my work area with you, but not yet.  A studio it is not, that's for sure, hahaha I'm still laughing at that, I think that term will stick, my kids will get a kick out of it I'm sure.  Just a little info on my work "area", I moved some things around and put a table in the furnace room, you read that correctly, furnace room.  With all of our square footage in our house, that's all I get!  So I am making do and making the best out of a small, odd space :) *deep breath* I do have a built in magnet board tho, that duct work comes in handy for my clothes pin magnets holding my template and tags :) Heehee!
I would like to let you in on a wonderful site I discovered not long ago, it's the Online Fabric Store, I placed my order and not long after, it arrived, and I was more than satisfied.  My main reason for the order was some burlap and sisal sacks.  I have loved them forever, but here in the north, they are hard to come by, and even harder to find at a reasonable price.  Well, they had them, and I ordered them.  I got a few large ones that the kids can use for sack races, and yes of course, my son and a friend of his did put them to use immediately after I unwrapped them.  I had a few remnant, green coffee beans scattered around my home for a while, hahaha.  Here is what I have done with them, so far that is;
They are hanging in my front entrance on a rustic ladder, purchased at Vintage Pixie Studio, have to say that after taking the pic I noticed that heart (also purchased at the Vintage Pixie Studio) needs to be raised, lol, I can't believe with my OCD that I have not noticed that before, anyway...that is how I will end things for today....the sun is shining, but, we still have some snow on the ground, it was cold this morning, and I feel like uncovering my rhubarb with my hair dryer to see a sign of spring again. 

oh well...

Monday 16 April 2012

Well, well, well...

Well, we had a great weekend, started a bunch of projects all at once and none are completed yet, ha ha.  In good time :)  My oldest slept at her BFFs all weekend, and the other two played outside, blew bubbles, made a fort in the bush.  We ended our Sunday with a fantastic cupcake making/decorating adventure.  My youngest daughter loves to cook and bake and she received a "Topping Tornado" for her birthday, and we finally had the perfect day to give it a whirl (get it?  a whirl, tornado? corny yes, I'm sorry)  I have to say that it worked much much better than I thought it would, it spread the sprinkles out perfectly.  The cupcakes were yummy and all the kids chose which sprinkles they wanted and set them free in the tunnel.


So the Tornado and toppings were all purchased at Michael's.  Just in case you feel inclined to buy one too :)  It is super easy to use and contains most of the mess inside.  The red tray inside collects all remaining sprinkles to be used on other cupcakes.  Easy Peazy!

Now for today, well it poured rain all night, and then went below zero, about a centimetre of snow fell overnight, and the roads are icy, therefore our rural schools are closed and no buses are running in the city either.  Sooooo ALL my kids are home today and my plans are put on hold, *sigh*.  Not sure what we will do today yet, but I'm sure we will come up with something.  Like...finish a couple of things I started yesterday, maybe make a couple of other things.  My hubby got the old Honda dirt bike running, was supposed to be a drawn out project but once started it had to get done, only now no  riding in this snowy, yukky, slushy stuff.  Maybe some more work with the oak boards I came across?? hmmmm.
I came across a heck of a deal on a bundle of solid oak boards, couldn't pass it up truthfully, and I came up with a style of cutting board I wanted.  Made a "normal" size one and a smaller individual size one, that I totally love.  Maybe a couple of long ones for baguettes, small ones for cheese, possibilities are endless.  Who knows??
On another note, I have been playing around with Picasa as you may have noticed with my pictures.  Just having fun with the features is all, finding my fave.  I don't usually tweak my photos but love some of the new things they came out with.  That's all for now.
Again, thanks for stopping by, will return soon.
I have to say that the planter/cup and saucer and the plant were a gift from my sister last year for Mother's Day, actually my nephew's idea, love love love it, unfortunately, I left it outside over the winter and the cup literally shattered and I am so totally bummed out, so, as a constant reminder of that awesome gift I am inculding it on my blog until I get an equal replacement (hopefully the same design)  It was beautiful.  Ok now I'm done :) 


Saturday 14 April 2012

Time Flies

Well yesterday flew by and I don't even remember what I did.  Besides taxi driving children all around, truly the day passed and I didn't have much to show for it.  My house was cleaned and three loads of laundry done and hung on the clothes line, but nothing was created, made, or baked....Yikes!

I will show you a couple of my ideas, that my talented husband made for me.  I design it and he builds it, hahaha.  I ponder quite a bit on my ideas until I believe I've got the design down and then I give my husband, oh.....about a day to make it, sounds fair right?!  He does do good work, even with short notice.



So the shelf/ledge is the newest homemade item.  I have thought for a few years about what to do with the wall above my sofa.  I've never been happy with just a picture there, and have tossed ideas around for ever....So here is my idea.  Very inexpensive, rustic style, distressed (although it's hard to see)  I did hit it with a screw driver and hammer for a few dents, I poked it with a nail several times to appear like worm holes and lastly I stained it and waxed it, I'm not a lover of shiny wood.  I prefer a worn/distressed look.
I can change my decor on the shelf to go with the seasons or my mood, what ever strikes first.  I distressed the "H", and acquired the rest of the items, and made the "nest" canvas.  I took old pages from a dictionary (when I say old, I do mean old, I got the dictionary from the Salvation Army, it had been written in, torn pages out of etc...)then I took a canvas bought from Dollarama, and cut the pages, modge podged them at different angles for layers, and printed up the "nest" description that I found some time ago and loved.  Then further distressing with stain and a coat of polyurethane to seal....voila!
Oh I've been playing around on Picasa with my pics so that's why the colouring is different, just having fun is all, heehee.  OK on to creating some thing newish today, chat soon.










Thursday 12 April 2012

Here I go...

Well, I have thought long and hard on this and here I am, taking the plunge to begin a blog, who'd a thunk it.  I've been following a few blogs for a while now, and have loved the reads, pics, and general sincerity and openness of the women I have followed.  They have inspired me more than I thought possible.  I have a busy chaotic life with three kids, a husband, full time job (hubby and I work opposite rotations of 4 on 4 off) plus a dog (T-Bone) a couple of fish and a couple of hermits crabs, just for fun!  I've always liked simple things, truly I am a hippie deep down, lol.

As T-dog nudges my hand for attention, I don't even know where to begin.

I can back track a few days to Easter and what our goings on were;
My Easter Vignette
I should give some credit to a couple of blogs that inspired me, because if it weren't for these couple of  women I certainly would not be writing this right now.  Diana at Our Vintage Home Love is absolutely fantastic.  Her home is so welcoming, and her ideas are an ispiration and motivation to me.  Shannon at {aka}design is also another fave of mine, with super ideas, and I have to say, I can relate to most of what she says and does, lol. 

OK so the long weekend was upon us and what should we do;  well decorate eggs of course, I won't post the pics of that event as I didn't take many.  We may have had the odd spillage of coloured water here and there, which I cleaned up with a white and pink tea towel.  Yup, I did, so I then proceeded to dip the towel in all the colours of water/dye so as to have a memento......well the towel cleaned up so well, not a drop of dye on it after washing.  The kids thought I was a bit crazy dipping it in the colours, but hey might as well have some fun too, oh well we now know the colours are washable, haha.

Dinner was of course an engorgement of all the fixings and a buffet of desserts, mmmmm....
 
Yes I made a bunny cake, I HAD to.  Isn't it cute, and made of butter pecan, yummm, it was tasty too.  Made some bird nests but used some goodies that we like.  The nests are made out of Hickory Sticks, pretzels, and some coconut, add some melted chocolate and holy yum :)  Had to chase down the bag of Hickory sticks from my son, who caught me at a weak moment while melting the chocolate in a double boiler.  He asked if he could have some, I said yes and he said thanks..... off he went with the bag, needless to say there wasn't as many Hickory sticks in the nests as I would have liked but that salty mix with the sweet of the chocolate was simply deelish.  Add a few other treats with a side of coffee, and, ugh, good thing I thought ahead to wear stretchy leggings to the family dinner.  Haha!  But seriously thank goodness :)

Well I think that's all for now, gotta get a few things done around here, but will return shortly, hope you enjoy your day, the sun is shining here, going to put some laundry on the clothes line....love that fresh outdoors scent that you can't get from a bottle of dryer sheet.