We spent part of the day at the Airplane Museum yesterday for kiddo 3's birthday.  I couldn't help but take a picture of this little sitting area outside.  I'm not quite sure what it is about iron patio sets but I love them!  Probably not the best choice for comfort (no one loves the pattern of the seat to be imprinted all over their bottom if you know what I mean) but they sure do look mighty fine!

Cheers,

Around Here. Instagram Update

Summertime is proving to be a difficult time to write blog posts!  So it's an instagram update for today!

I ventured out on my first run after months off. 5km kicked my butt, I could hardly walk the next day! But it still felt great to get going again. This lovely bridge is part of my route.

the older two kiddos played in a three game tournament this past weekend, marking the end of their season. shiny medals and huge freezies for everyone!

 an extremely weathered place to sit in the backyard

so this is about to happen. the gold mirror is finally going up along with the two square frames that I bought for the family room which didn't go so well. (more on that below)

those vintage chairs. I love them so

the upstairs hallway & nook are sooooo close to being done!

a touch of pink. I can't ever resist.

So the family room frames. I'm having SUCH a hard time deciding what to hang above the couch.  The couch is about 73" (I think, around there at least) and we have 9' ceilings. I really don't want to hang a mirror or a large print but maybe that's the best way to go?  I've had two failed attempts trying four square frames (two rows of two) but those didn't feel right, and then I tried four rectangular frames (again, two rows of two) but those didn't feel right either.  I'm not sure if it was because the frames were dark brown and they would look better white or if it was something else.  Maybe two large square frames would be the best?  I'm plugging away trying to find the perfect solution, but until then, the family room is kinda at a stand still, which is a bummer.  I don't want to do anything else to the room until I figure out what's going to go above the couch.

Cheers,
 

Family Room Drapery - Pinch Pleats!

As I mentioned here, I have a few projects that I recently finished and haven't shared here on the blog.  I've also realized that I need to take much better photos (you'll see what I mean below), I love to share peeks of what I've been up to on instagram and those photos are fabulous to use on the blog as well, but I need to make sure I take some quality photos too.  Note to self.

Anyhow, so the drapes.  I originally planned on making them on my own.  I have come to realize that I'm a sucker for plain drapery.  I adore and love patterned panels, but for our home I always end up going with a solid fabric.  We have 9' ceilings on the main floor, so it was tricky trying to find panels that were the right length, which is why I decided to just make them on my own.  I headed over to fabricland to purchase some lovely twill that I had spotted earlier only to find that it was no longer there.  Bummer.  So as I headed towards the exit, I spotted some pre-made rod pocket white panels with a gorgeous herrigbone weave.  Get out!  And you know what, they were 108" AND 40% off!  Ummm, made for me, I think so.

Needless to say, I picked up four panels along with some pinch pleat tape (same one I used in this post) and headed home.

The panels were just over 50" each, so I to sew two together for one panel because you lose so much width with the pinch pleats. Simply take out the side seams and then I used a french seam when sewing the two panels together for a nice finished look.

Then you sew the tape on to the top, right onto the rod pocket portion (nearly the same width as the pinch pleat tape) and buy your hooks (there are all sorts...simply depends on what type of pleats you want and where you want your drapery to hang in relation to the rings, covering them or right below).

The result, some lovely pinch pleated drapery:

I'm so so so happy with them and will be making more for the kitchen window (patio door, next to the white table in the photo above) next.

Cheers,

Guest Post over at The Pink Zipper!

via

Today you can find me over at Hollie's uber fab blog The Pink Zipper, sharing 25 things you don't know about me!

I know you're totally curious about which movie inspired me to have a long veil on our wedding day!  Head on over to Hollie's blog to find out that answer to that question and 24 more!

Cheers,

DIY Double Gourd Lamp Transformation

Sometimes I go ahead and finish a project and then just forget to blog about it.  Well, it happens a lot actually!  I'm going to do my best to share my latest DIY's here on the blog in the coming weeks.

First up is a lamp that I found at Homesense in the clearance section.  I had been looking for a lamp to place on top of the black cabinet in the family room.  Originally I had my eyes set on a $150 white marble base lamp, also from Homesense, but then when I spotted this one in the clearance section with a $27 price tag I couldn't pass it up.

I have been loving the look of white lacquered or glass double gourd lamps with a gold base forever but hadn't had any luck finding any.  This was the next best thing!

So here it is before:

A side by side of the before and after:

And the lovely newly refinished lamp sitting in it's new home:

I used a white satin spray paint by Valspar and then Rustoleum's gold metallic spray paint for the base.  It had a clear base which I later discovered I could remove to spray gold, which was made things much easier.  

Any hiccups? Of course.  Being overly impatient to attempt this transformation, I sprayed it on a very humid day.  Such a big mistake, which I knew, but I ignored.  So next time I spray anything, I will be sure to take a patience pill and wait until the temps are right.

Cheers,

Star Wars, Drapes, Propellors and Peonies! A Photo Recap!

Whoaaaaaa, Nelly!  Here.I.Am!

Okay, I'm sorry, that was uncalled for.  Being gone for over a week.  You see, typically when hubs returns home after being gone for a long period of time, the first few weeks he's back are jam packed. Everyone is basically playing catch up, getting things that have been waiting for weeks to get done, done.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks!

I thought I'd start back with a little photo recap!

we've spent a few days now at our favourite spot. da beach! 

we road tripped to Ottawa for kiddo 2s bday to see the Star Wars Identities Exhibit....

Where we stood with the Dark Side....

and met with some old Trooper friends.

then we hopped on over to the airplane museum, the kids favourite spot (I love these vintage propellors).... 

Chris Hadfield's got nothing on us! 

Of course, we got some work done around the house....

the family room drapes are up and I'm one happy camper! Love, love, love them! 

Ikea solved my pillow dilemma in the living room....

my gorgeous Cozamia print is no longer leaning, it's finally up and I'm in love! 

And now, we are following the dogs lead and putting our feet up for a few days.  It's been a blast and we've gotten a lot accomplished but we are beat!

one of his favourite spots to rest!

So, what have you been up to?  How's summer treating you so far?

Cheers,

Pretty Friday - Shine On

my own photo - I fell in love with the chandelier at first sight!

Oh boy, I apologize for the radio silence.  I honestly didn't mean to be gone for an entire week.  Life is super crazy busy after my husband returns from a long trip (6 weeks to be exact).  Everyone is trying to catch up, everyone wants to hang out and there is a long to do list of things to get done.  The first week back is usually pretty exhausting, just go go go.

We have started our gardens in the backyard, which I'm so excited about, but gosh it sure it a lot of work.  The weather has been absolutely spectacular which kinda makes us wish we were at the beach vs in our backyard with spades and shovels, but it will be time well spent once all is said and done.

So you can pretty much guess what we will be up to this weekend!  Gardening plus hanging some curtains (yay, finally) and then perhaps we will reward ourselves for a job well done with an afternoon oh, heck, a day at the beach!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!!!

Cheers,