project 2012

I've been a little MIA the past month and a bit -- I just haven't been too inspired to blog about much! Christmas was fun and it's not over (going to my Dad's and then Mom's for two more dinners!). I'm not going to lie to you - I'm full. I've never been one of these people to gain weight over the holidays, but this year I feel like I've been packing on the pounds. Too many sweets around these parts!

Since 2012 is around the corner, I thought I would share with you my project list for the New Year. I don't typically make resolutions, but I do like to get things down on 'paper' to get the ideas ingrained in my brain. So here it goes:

1. Finish our main floor bathroom.

(source)

Source: southernhospitalityblog.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I wrote earlier this year that it's a bit boring and I'd like to add some molding and stenciling to the walls. I think it will really cozy up the room.

2. Add the finishing touches to our bedroom (hmmm I just realized this was part of 2011's list of projects! DOH!)

We've got the curtains up and I've added a bit of colour, but haven't done much else! Still do do: reupholster Mark's grandmother's chair (the nice flowery chair in the corner there), finish the little photo vignette wall, get a new mirror (I don't have a pic of it but I haven't liked it ever since we put it up over our dresser! It's oval and doesn't look right), figure out what to do with the wall behind our bed, consider a new duvet cover and pillows - ok this seems like more than finishing touches! But really it's not that much. I don't think. :|

3. Get framing.

Source: architect-theif.tumblr.com via Gaile on Pinterest

I love the look of walls full of framed photos and I've been slowly collecting frames from Goodwill and prints of photos to use around the house. I would like to get a few more photos along the stairway and downstairs in the basement.

4. Relaunch my etsy shop.

This is something I've been thinking about, but wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I have some ideas for projects using Spoonflower fabric since I can find fun and different fabrics to work with. A few things have changed around Etsy and I'm excited to try some of the ideas they offer to promote shops.

One thing that isn't really a project, but more of a mental resolution is to get off my butt. I used to get a lot of shit done around here and I find I'm spending way too much time surfing the 'net. Once I find something fun on Pinterest or blogland that I want to try, I want to do it instead of just pin it.

That's it so far!

Have a great New Year's Eve everyone and see you back here in the big '12!

-Steph

Merry Christmas!

one

One year ago today, at 4:07 am, the coolest little guy on the planet was born (ok I'm a tad biased). It has been an interesting year learning the ins and outs of what it takes to raise a little being.

This past weekend, we had Leo's big birthday bash. The theme: safari. I ordered a little lion shirt from etsy, but it didn't come in time, so I improvised and dressed him up as safarish as possible. Here are some shots of the day...

We gave Leo a gluten free and vegan cupcake which may or may not be why he freaked out when we gave it to him ;). He didn't touch it and was quite happy with his blueberries and pancakes I made him earlier that day.

We saved the gift opening until after most of the guests left since the cake presentation was so dramatic and I couldn't believe how attentive Leo was while we opened up each gift.

Thanks to everyone for making this day such a great one for us. Happy Birthday Leo!

on the walls

A few months ago, we ordered a Toronto poster from Ork Posters out of Chicago and we finally got around to framing it and getting it up on the wall in the basement.

First I would like to get this off my chest: framing is such a rip off! I made sure to get to Michael's for the "60% off sale" and even with this discount the stupid thing was more than $200. Ridiculous.

That being said we do love it :)

It even has our neck of the woods: Mimico! Can you see it down there? Please visit our little neighbourhood. It's quite lovely with the lake and swans and such.

ps- I just learned that there are three NHL players from Mimico! Wow! I had better get those hockey skates for Leo pronto!

cozy [clothing edition]

Yesterday I wrote about making your home cozy, but equally important is making your clothing cozy. Here are my cozy clothing options via Pinterest:

Source: etsy.com via Terri on Pinterest

Source: ae.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: jcrew.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Source: jcrew.com via Christine on Pinterest

Source: gap.com via Veronica on Pinterest

Gotta make the boy cozy! So cute!

Source: carlynnvictoria.tumblr.com via Lexy on Pinterest

Source: zara.com via Gayan on Pinterest

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Renee on Pinterest

cozy [home edition]

This afternoon during nap time, I was over at Susan's blog where she was writing about nesting and getting cozified for the winter. I am not a winter person by any stretch of the imagination, so I too will be looking to make our place as cozy as possible. I did a little search for cozy on Pinterest and found some rooms I'd love to find myself in this season:

Source: emmas.blogg.se via Miriam on Pinterest

Source: sweethomestyle.tumblr.com via Jada on Pinterest

Source: decor8blog.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Beth Ann on Pinterest

Yes I know this is outside but it's so cozy looking!

Source: traditionalhome.com via Aline on Pinterest

Source: seenandsaid.blogspot.com via Miquette on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Molly on Pinterest

Ok this pic makes me want to keep my front porch in use for the winter -- so cozy to be outside with ho-cho & blankets when it's snowing!

lark

I was just checking out the fabric shoppe on facebook and noticed some new Amy Butler fabrics. They're so bright and cheerful! Here are some of my favourites:

I'm picturing a pillow for this one! I would love this for the basement to add some colour.

This would be so pretty as a headboard for the bed in my sewing room.

The blue version of the first fabric. Would love to see a pillow our of this too (or perhaps a pin board cover??)

You can never go wrong with some cream and black. Not sure what I would do with this one since I'm trying to add some colour into my house!

Check out more beautiful fabrics on the fabric shoppe and amy butler's website.

halloween happiness

This past weekend we went to Leo's first Halloween party. It was with the group of girls from the baby bootcamp class I go to every week in High Park. For some reason, we decided it would be a good idea to get the kids on the couch for a picture. This is the result. It's fuzzy, but hilarious. I can't stop laughing at the tigger on the right. Leo is the spider. So cute.

I'm sorry pardon?

I'm currently looking for a basket to put beside the fireplace in the basement and I found one on Crate and Barrel that I really like. Since C&B delivers to Canada now, I thought I would see how much it would cost to ship it here instead of getting my lazy bum in the car to go to Yorkdale to check it out for myself (I love online shopping and once ordered a pair of Birks from Get Outside on Queen Street when it would have taken me 15 mins to drive there...).

Anyway, I went through the process of checking out to see what the shipping would be and did a quadruple take at the total. Check out it in the screen shot I snapped below. I thought I did something wrong but I don't think so?!

family shots

When we got married in Italy three and a half years ago, we were fortunate to have a family friend travel with us to take our photos. Jennifer Kirk did a great job capturing the wedding week with most of our friends and family. Jenn now lives in BC and made a quick trip to the Toronto area a few weeks ago, so we took her up on her offer to snap a few family shots for us.

I'll be honest, the weather was crap with a capital C, but Jenn is used to crappy weather so she knew what to do. One of the solutions was to focus on shooting in our home. We were able to take a few shots outside in the yard (somehow I don't mind our poor garden in these pics!) and along the street.

Overall we are pretty happy with the outcome and can't wait to see more shots on the CD that is on its way to us now.

Happy Thursday y'all!

chalkboard thingamabob border - done!

Well I did it! I spent an hour painting my new chalkboard in the basement while watching Charlie's Angels last night after dinner (I was excited for this show but I kind of get while it was cancelled last week)...

Can I just take a moment to say this is a big deal for me. You should know that I'm afraid of doing things that involve walls. My husband paints (or we hire a painter), and my husband hangs things on walls for me because I don't have patience to find studs in a wall and add plugs so that a picture holds up properly (I usually use tacks or two sided tape!). This may be the reason why I haven't done this project yet!

So the other day I thought Ok I'm just going to do it.

Again, here are my inspiration photos:

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

And here's my version as it stands now:

It's a bit wonky, but over all I'm pretty happy with it. Mark doesn't think it's practical for kids because he thinks they'll write on the wall, but I figure if that's the case then we'll just paint out the entire wall down the road. Also, I'd like to jazz up the border a bit, so last night I ordered some chalk markers online and with those I'd like to add a bit of a design of some sort.

ps--I was going to fold up the drop cloth for the pic, but look at my cat! He's so comfortable there! I think he discovered the in-floor heating and likely won't move from this spot for awhile.

blackboard borders

So there's a little area in the basement I don't think I showed you and that's our little desk/play area. It's not finished yet and I'm excited to get it done because when I start work again in a couple months, I'll likely be working down here a lot of the time.

One of the projects I want to get started on is the chalkboard wall. Originally I thought I wanted to paint the whole wall on the left side of the bulk head in chalkboard paint, but then I got thinking it would be fun to try something different. I started poking around on Pinterest to see if I could find some fun chalkboard border ideas.

Source: sweethomestyle.tumblr.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

I love this over all look, especially because it's an office setting.

Source: None via Stephanie on Pinterest

This is cute for the play look and feel I'm going for.

But then I found this...

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

...and I fell in love with the shape. So my idea now is to paint this shape onto the wall. I was looking around the 'net for border ideas and found this:

...and then I was on gap.ca and found this!

This is turning into quite the run on post! Anyway so you get the idea now so stay tuned for the final project!