~ Designing by Numbers ~

In{grain}ed in my Mind

2012-03-21T10:18:00.000-04:00

I’ve known it would happen for months now, but boy did I not prepare. That fateful day when spring finally arrived and my winter themed pillows got stuffed back into the closet. Unfortunately one of my spring pillows had been moonlighting in my lounge, and getting it back to its day job on the couch meant it was time for me to address the lack of accent on a very nude chair. Well, I’ve had grain sacks on the brain lately, so it was just a matter of putting two and two together to come up with a fantastic solution for my pillow case woes. Join me over at Remodelaholic today (one day EARLY!!) to find out how you too can remedy all of your pillow-less chair dilemmas!

Ballard Designs Inspired Bulletin Board Feature at Knock Off Decor

2012-02-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

Ballard Designs Bulletin Board Knock-Off
{FEATURED}

I'm very excited and honoured to report another wonderful feature!

I received a lovely message from Beckie this week letting me know that my Ballard Designs inspired bulletin board that I blogged about over at {Remodelaholic} is being featured on the AMAZING site,

{Knock Off Decor}

THANK YOU!!!

For featuring my {bulletin board}, to Beckie from {Knock Off Decor}!!! I truly am honoured to have made it to such an amazing blog.

I do hope that you'll all take a moment to pop on by {Knock Off Decor} to see what all the well deserved hype is all about. This is a site absolutely JAM-PACKED with so many creative knock-offs of just about every amazing (and pricey) drool-worthy retail item you could ever want, all at a fraction of the original’s cost! I do warn you though, you may be inspired to try out a LOT of projects, so your To Do list is about to get that much longer! Of course, I would also love it if you would consider following us both as well.

Google Friend Connect: Going the Way of the Dinosaurs

2012-02-24T11:29:00.000-05:00

By now you’ve all heard the news, that Google Friend Connect is going offline for many bloggers on March 1, 2012, and could be phased out entirely for us all in the future. Luckily all is not lost! A few really wonderful blogging ladies got together with Brent Riggs, the creator of Linky Tools, to design a fabulous new Linky Followers application. Just like Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers allows you to show your love for amazing blogs – BUT, it also lets you organize your followers, feature them, and it acts as a reader! The best part: it’s completely FREE!!! Many bloggers have already made the switch, and to keep connected with all of my favourite DIY’ers I am adding the Linky Followers tool to Designing by Numbers as well!

Please consider following me using this new fantastic tool by clicking the link below, or using the Linky Followers widget that I have added in my right side-bar – did I mention it’s FREE!?! If you are already a follower of mine through Google Friend Connect I hope that you will continue to show your love via Linky Followers. For now I will keep both applications available, but I hope you will make the switch to Linky Followers to stay in touch with me (and so that I can stay in touch with you too!!)

{Click here to follow Designing by Numbers!}

Thank you all for your continued support; it means so much to me!

But WAIT, there's MORE...

Cheri from It's So Very Cheri has been kind enough to start a wonderful Blog Hop for new Linky Followers users! This is an AMAZING way to not only promote your own blog, but to find some new ones that you can follow using this great tool.

There are a few rules to the hop, as follows (taken from It's So Very Cheri):

1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.
If you see that your link has been deleted you need to add the LINKY FOLLOWER tool to your site and then come back over and re-enter your link (You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool to participate in this party hop.)

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4. Grab the BLOG HOP code.
You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER–
Just under that it says: {WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE}
Click on {GET THE CODE HERE} and enter it into a post on your site.

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)
Leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

Now onto the FUN!!!

Nailheads: Round Two

2012-02-23T10:05:00.001-05:00

In this corner, a tiny nailhead, weighing in at a few grams; and our challenger, in the opposite corner, weighing in at…. well, it’s none of your business really! That’s right folks, this will be a match to remember! After a harrowing {Round 1}, our challenger is left badly bruised but manages to get the win; will she be so lucky in this round? Head on over to {Remodelaholic} to find out!

I am thrilled with how this project turned out, so I'm also linking it up at the following blogs: The 36th Avenue, At the Picket Fence, French Country Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Shabby Nest, The DIY Showoff, and It's So Very Cheri. Please take some time to visit those blogs as well; there are so many other inspiring projects there, you won't regret stopping by!

I am also trying something new: Cheri from {It's So Very Cheri} is hosting a Blog Hop, which is what I have linked up to this week on her awesome blog. The Blog Hop featured below is called It's So Very Creative, and showcases MANY wonderful projects that I think you'll all enjoy taking a peek at. I hope that you'll also consider joining in and linking up a creative project of your own. AND, if that wasn't enough, there is a link at the end of the Blog Hop for you to add this little party to your own blog as well; so have FUN!!!

No Need to Let the {Paint}Chips Fall Where They May

2012-02-02T16:07:00.000-05:00

I just recently {Put a Pin} in creating a custom piece of art using nothing but FREE paint chips, and already I've accomplished the task! Pats on the back for me! This is a great, simple, and inexpensive project that will leave you with an amazing work of art that you'll be proud to brag that YOU made! And boy have I got your back on this one; I will even give you an extra little FREE incentive for you to try this project. So, how about it; are you ready to impress?

Before you get started here are the supplies that you will need:

A few supplies that will give your art amazing impact!

Paint chips: of course paint chip art just wouldn't be the same with out them! Pick up a large variety from your local hard ware store - remember, they are free, so don't worry too much about donning a disguise before sneaking over to the paint isle. If you want an ombre effect make sure to grab light, medium, and darker colours, and do get adventurous by picking a few different colours. Grab more paint chips than you think you'll need to save you a trip back to the store.

Paper, cardboard, cardstock: whatever you would like to paste your paint chips onto.

Frame: for displaying your masterpiece - mine is an 11" by 14" black frame with a fancy shmancy double mat (8" by 11" window) that I picked up from Michaels on sale and with a coupon so it only cost me around $15

Additional tools: such as scissors (or a trimmer) to cut out your design and glue for affixing the cutouts onto your chosen paper medium.

To make cutting out my herringbone pattern even simpler I decided to create a template and print it directly onto the back of my paint chips. I used Microsoft Word to design the template, stacking up my cutouts in a column for optimal cutting. I only used one column of the pattern and placed it on the right back side of the paint chip in order to avoid the colour codes that appear on the right front of each chip.

Rectangular cutout template for a herringbone design that
can be printed directly onto Behr paint chips

Before running the paint chips through my printer I had to cut off the punch out that is on Behr's chips (so as not to have it snag in my printer, thus ruining it and making this project just a tad more expensive). To do this I simply lined up the very edge of the punch out with the top edge of my trimmer, then lowered the blade handle to cut a strip right off of my paint chips. I received this trimmer as a gift; it's designed for use with photos, but my Behr paint chips fit just perfectly. This is an awesome little tool and I would highly recommend one (for ~$25 it is a bit pricey, but it will save you lots of time on cutting and can be used for many projects).

Don't forget to get rid of that tiny little punch out that can potentially
give you a massive printer malfunction headache!

Then I simply inserted each paint chip into my printer's paper feed tray, making sure to place the BACK of the paint chip facing UP. This configuration avoids messy template lines on the coloured part of your cutouts.

Print out the cutout template onto a paint chip, then just easily start cutting away

Use either your trimmer or plain ol' scissors to cut along the template lines of your paint chips. Just keep on repeating for as many paint chips as you like until you feel you have enough to complete your design! The dimensions of my art were 8" by 10.81" which gave me enough room to make 64 left and 48 right rectangles (for 112 total). I also made plenty of extra cutouts so that when I assembled my pattern I could easily switch around colours if I wanted to.

Hello little paint chip cutouts! You're all right (not like those pesky {nailheads})

Since this project was so super easy, I decided I must add in an extra step just to make it feel like I was really doing something - so, prior to gluing any of my pattern onto cardstock, I thought it would be a good idea to arrange my cutouts onto a small board to help me get the most appealing colour combination to me. This really didn't add too much time to the whole project and made re-arranging so much easier (I just used some sticky tack to secure the cutouts in place while configuring my design).

Arranging your cutouts before gluing will help you visualize your final product

Then it was back to Microsoft Word one more time so that I could create my full page herringbone template. I used the same rectangular shapes that I used for my paint chip template, but with a bit of a tweak; I reduced the size of the rectangles slightly, lightened up the line colour, and changed the line from a solid to a dashed pattern.

See that subtle herringbone pattern {eyes squinting}

Why the heck would I do that? you ask - well, because I only wanted the template to be a guide for my cutout's placement - NOT an outline for each cutout. Thus, I needed to make sure that once I glued a cutout on top of the template the lines would be completely covered by that cutout. Next it's just a matter of gluing each cutout onto your cardstock in whatever colour combination you've decided on.

Making a full page template of your final design keeps you right on track when gluing down each cutout

Once you're finished gluing your cutouts just position your masterpiece inside the mat of your frame and bask in the glory of your fantastic creation!

Ombre paint chip art in a herringbone pattern

I would like to send out a very special

THANK YOU!!!

For featuring my art on her blog:
Gail at {My Repurposed Life}, post {here}

Again, thank you SO MUCH!

So what do you think!?

Will you try using paint chips to add some artistic flair to your home? Or, have you already gotten creative with these awesome free little chippies? The possibilities are virtually endless when it comes to using paint chips - I'd love for you to share a link to any of your amazing designs! And now for that FREEBIE!!! I hope you enjoy it!

Free Downloadable Templates:

If you would like to try my herringbone paint chip design,
please feel free to download the below templates.

Behr Paint Chip Template *

FREE

Designed for use with Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint chips
Behr paint chip size 7 3/4" x 3 3/8"
Six columns utilize entire paint chip
Herringbone cutout size 1 5/8" x 11/16"
Use with Herringbone Template

Download

Herringbone Template

FREE

Full page herringbone design
Light dashed outline slightly smaller than paint chip cutout for ease of cover
Page size 8" x 10 13/16"
Prints on standard 8 1/2" x 11" sheet
Use with Behr Paint Chip Template

Download

* USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I make no guarantee that your printer will be able to handle printing on paint chips. Use only if you are confident that the paint chip will not cause any damage to your printer. Any damage that is caused is solely your responsibility.

I am linking up this project to the following blogs: At the Picket Fence, The 36th Avenue, French Country Cottage, Not Just a Housewife, Remodelaholic, The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, My Repurposed Life, and Everything Under the Moon. Please stop by to be inspired by just about a million other wonderful projects over there!!!

Attention All Remodelaholic-aholics!

2012-01-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

The New Year has started out super busy for me, and one of the exciting things I have been up to is working on a contributor spot for Cassity and Justin of Remodelaholic! Once a month I will pop on over to Remodelaholic to share something I've been up to. This month I have a great little project that is super inexpensive and certainly not LACKing in style {now there's a little hint for ya!} Please head on over to Remodelaholic now to check me out!!!

I am also linking up this project to the following fantastical blogs: Miss Mustard Seed, and The 36th Avenue. I hope you'll also take a moment to stop by those great sites to peruse some of the other talented projects featured there.

It's a Wrap! {Well, Almost..}

2011-12-21T15:36:00.000-05:00

OK, OK, so technically I do have one more present to wrap - but at the rate I'm going if I wait any longer it'll be New Year's before I show you my kraft paper presents! As you'll recall from not so long ago, The Great Wrapping Paper Shortage of 2011 forced me to think about getting creative in wrapping holiday gifts using plain brown paper. Now for the eagerly anticipated reveal... ahem.... drum roll, please...

Oh wait, hold on a minute! First, let me show you some of the supplies I used:

First and foremost, you've got to have your brown kraft paper!

While out on a walk with my pup, I snagged several sprigs of greenery and, of course, a few pine cones for good measure

Don't forget that great tip about using up holiday odds and ends! Grab some baubles.. and don't forget your paper scraps and ribbons (as I did for this photo!)

Now I'm ready to show you the goods (one more drum roll... pretty please...):

Gold ribbon, greenery, a felt reindeer, and some pine cone wrapping disguising brown paper

This snowflake paper is one of my favourites; I'm so glad I was able to muster up enough to use for this gift:

Scraps of snowflake paper actually match and enhance kraft wrapping!

I just couldn't resist trying out Carolyn's idea to use a sweet little bird to accent a gift; and I just realized that the bow I tied using jute looks almost like a tiny nest (...I mean, I intended that, total genius!):

Darling little bird by Geninne Zlatkis perched atop this gift

I managed to have just enough of this candy cane wrapping left over to almost entirely cover a gift; ah well, close enough! I think it looks great even with a tad bit of plain brown paper peeking over the sides:

Some left over candy cane wrapping makes another appearance, this time with a white satin ribbon,
sprig of greenery, and faux mercury glass ornament

This green damask print is one of my all time favourites, and I've had it for a few years now. Unfortunately I am down to my absolute final scraps, so here it is in one of it's last performances (I'll miss you Green Damask, you were a star!):

Green damask paper scrap, polka dot bow, and green balls

Phew! I'm tired just showing you all those wrapped gifts! Using kraft paper was a bit more cumbersome to work with, as it does not fold as easily or crisply as regular wrapping paper. However, I think that in the end it was worth it - at least I hope so. Alright, I suppose it's time to stop procrastinating and wrap that one final gift...

What about you...

Are you ready for the holidays yet? Only a few more days to go and I actually think I might finally be finished. Now, if only I could get motivated to take some photos of the house! I would love to see what everyone else has been up to in terms of decorating, so please don't forget to leave me a link in the comments!

This week I'm linking up to the following blog: The 36th Avenue. Don't forget to grab a mug of hot chocolate, mosey on over, and get comfy for some inspiring other projects over there.

Wrapped Up in the Details

2011-12-15T15:38:00.001-05:00

I love wrapping presents! I like to think I'm quite humble about any talents I may have, but for wrapping, I don't mind admitting that I am a master! I put a lot of time and effort in presenting a gift in as beautiful a way as possible. Last year I made the switch from those boring plastic bows and ribbons to fabric ones... although now that means that during the holidays hubby has to be on Ribbon Detail, quietly gathering back the discarded ribbons from freshly shed packaging before they make their way to the waste basket (unfortunately, as much as people enjoy my wrapping, they're not too keen on keeping the remnants once the goodies from within are in hand; and I love my ribbons). So, with one packaging upgrade already in effect I wasn't planning on having to deal with another...

As I began wrapping gifts this year I quickly realized with each tube of wrapping I grabbed that I had left mere scraps of paper on each roll. Certainly not enough to cover every present. Nothing a quick trip to the store couldn't solve, right? Wrong! It seems I've become a wrapping paper snob! Gasps! I don't know how or when it happened, but for some strange reason no paper seems to live up to my standards.

Rustic pine cone wrapping dressed up with a sprig of faux greenery, a real live pine cone,
and a jingle bell (background); candy cane wrapping decked out with a red satin ribbon and
shimmering snowflake confetti strung together using fishing line (foreground).

I did manage to get a few presents wrapped before the Great Wrapping Paper Shortage of 2011 hit. During this time, perhaps serendipitously, I began to give significant focus to the embellishment possibilities for packaging.

Gold paper embellished with a decorative green and gold accented bow made to really shine
with sparkling silver and gold balls; a silver box is elevated with snowflake patterned cellophane,
a stark white satin ribbon, and a faux mercury glass ornament.

Then it really started to sink in; even with paper on the plainer side a package could still make a statement by adding some interesting bobbles. I know, not a particularly innovative idea, but hey, I never said I invented awesome wrapping I just said I was good at it! Thus, back at the store, rejecting roll after roll of what I'm certain was perfectly good wrapping paper options, I finally grabbed a tube of plain ol' brown kraft paper and throwing caution to the wind decided I would make this work!

Now, since I've never used plain brown paper for a present before, I need a bit of inspiration. Enter my dear old friend the Internet. Here are some of the great options I found:

I just adore this simple and sweet idea from Carolyn's Homework:

A little bird by Geninne Zlatkis perched atop this
lovely package from Carolyn's Homework

Sofie from Simply Sofie uses natural elements to give brown paper great visual appeal:

Tuck some fresh greenery under ribbon, or just use it as ribbon! Add some
bark and leaves to packaging for a natural look; inspiring ideas from Simply Sofie

Ah, and now the perfect use for all my little leftover paper scraps courtesy of HGTV (I even have that exact green damask paper!):

Don't have enough fancy wrapping paper for an entire gift? Then just use it as
an embellishment like in this shot from HGTV

Keighley from Fancy House Road gives us a great tip, "DO NOT throw [Christmas scraps] out"! She shows us how to effortlessly add pop to presents with holiday themed odds and ends:

Extra holiday bits and bobs left over? Put them to good use by
adding them to presents as per Fancy House Road!

Well now I am feeling truly inspired and ready to finish the task of wrapping presents!

What about you?

Have you finished all your wrapping (or am I the only late one!)? What's your favourite way to embellish a gift? I would love for you to share your tips and photos if you have any!

I'm linking up to the following blog: Not Just a Housewife. Now, head on over there to be inspired by some other fantastic projects that are linked up this week!

Put a Pin In It ~ Paint Chip Art

2011-12-07T13:24:00.000-05:00

Now that I have finally taken a pin out of my {custom coloured magnetic chalkboard}, I feel sufficiently comfortable enough to Put a Pin in something new. I'm also hoping that putting a pin in a project doesn't turn out to be the dreaded kiss of procrastination for it (considering how long it took me to get that chalkboard completed)! But I suppose I will just have to take that chance with this next fantastic little project.

I have been struggling for a long time to find art for the New Place. I can never seem to find anything that really speaks to me; and when I do, it's usually WAY out of my price range (which, let's be honest here, isn't a stretch when you're talking about art). I have found a few amazing artists through Etsy, but I need to try to branch out just a little before I quickly turn the New Place into an homage to a select few individuals, despite how wildly talented they are. So, while strolling through Blogland one day, I may have found a great, inexpensive, solution to my art dilemma: DIY art.... with paint chips!!!

Take a look at this gem by Heather from The Lovely Cupboard:

Ombre Paint Chip Art

Heather gathered up a plethora of paint chips from the hardware store, cut out cute little triangle shapes, and assembled them all together to create a gorgeous ombre effect. Just add a great frame and you've got yourself a custom piece of art as stylish as any other for next to nothing! Just the cost of the frame really!

So, with my inspiration from Heather in tote, I'm off to the hardware store to smuggle me some paint chips! Wish me luck!

What about you???

Are you an art aficionado, able to sniff out a good deal at all times? Or, do you struggle like me to find inexpensive treasures? Where do you go for art? Or are you an art DIY'er extraordinaire, and if so, please share some of your masterpieces!

Promised & Delivered ~ A Custom Magnetic Chalkboard!

2011-12-01T14:19:00.000-05:00

Martha Stewart Custom Chalkboard Paint

Last October I "Put a Pin" in making a custom coloured chalkboard like the one pictured above from Martha Stewart. While I've slowly been succumbing to all the amazing images of the usual black chalkboard paint enhancing all types of interesting objects - from globes, to river rocks, and even to pumpkins - I'm still not ready to embrace it in it's typical incantation as a chalkboard. My vow to you was to create my OWN colour - and do I have news for you!

It actually WORKED!!! I can hardly believe it; it didn't explode all over the room in a nightmarish mess of tile grout and paint - which is what I had imagined would happen.

I decided to add a little oomph to the chalkboard and also make it magnetic. So, to that end, the supplies I used were:

Rust-olium's magnetic latex primer (if you want your chalkboard to be super awesome that is; feel free to skip this if you're just going for awesome though), $23.67 (a little pricy, but you can use this for many other projects)

Paint in your colour of choice (I used a small sample size of Behr's Spring Stream), $4.99

Unsanded tile grout, $17.99 (but for a GIANT sized box - 4.54kg; just think of how many things you can customize with chalkboard paint! Oh, and I guess it works as grout too, if you're looking to grout anything)

Particleboard (hubby found this laying around when we moved into the New Place, not sure how much it goes for, but I can't imagine it's expensive)

Picture frame (I used the Ribba frame from Ikea, since I had it laying around), $19.99

Additional supplies, such as a paint brush and tray, container to mix paint in, cloth, sandpaper (150-grit)

A tad bit costly as an initial investment if you're buying everything for the project, but I did already have most of the items on hand and anything I did purchase (such as the magnetic primer) can be used more than just once.

First thing's first: gotta magnetize that particleboard!

First just slap a few coats of the magnetic primer onto a pre-cut piece of particleboard. Do let each coat dry in between each application. You may need a few coats in order to get your desired magnetism - I believe I used about three coats so that I could use smaller, light-weight, magnets. Heavier magnets may require you to use more coats.

If you don't want to use the magnetic paint to prime your surface, that's completely OK. Just remember to still use some sort of primer before adding your paint.

The experiment begins... (imagine me bracing for the explosion;
not sure why I thought it might explode, but it's all I could think about!)

Next it was onto mixing the chalkboard paint. You'll need one cup of paint to two tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. I've noticed a lot of people complaining about this mixture - saying that it gets all clumpy and difficult to work with. So, here's a great tip for you: pour the paint into your container for mixing first, then SLOWLY add a tiny bit of grout at one time and mix thoroughly in between each addition. Voila - no clumps!

Magic time! Get your magnetic canvas spruced up with
some custom chalkboard paint.

Now hold onto your hats, it's time for the most exciting part of all: painting that particleboard with your super awesome chalkboard paint! Wooo hoooo! Um, actually, it's pretty boring. It's just regular old painting.

I would recommend painting a few coats (drying in between each coat, of course), then sanding down the surface with your 150-grit sandpaper. You want as smooth a surface as you can stand to get. For me, each time I sanded, in some areas the primer would start to show through - nothing another coat of chalkboard paint couldn't fix, though! Use a cloth to wipe away the dust from each sanding in between each of your paint coats. I didn't sand the surface completely smooth because... well... because I got lazy - OK? So there; I admit it! But even with a few bumps here and there the chalkboard (and magnets) still work juuuuuust fine! Once you're done with sanding you will need to condition the chalkboard by just rubbing chalk aaaaaalllll over it. Finally, take a slightly damp cloth and wipe away the chalk... then enjoy your handy-work!

Here's the final product:

Works like a charm!

So what do you think!?

Have you tried your own custom chalkboard paint before? What project did you use it for? How did it turn out? I'd love to check out your chalkboard paint projects so do share!

I'm linking up my chalkboard over on the following blogs: The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Remodelaholic, At The Picket Fence, French Country Cottage, Funky Junk Interiors, and Under The Table and Dreaming. Don't forget to head on over to check out some of the other linked projects!

I would also like to send a big, super special,

THANK YOU!!!

To Desiree from {The 36th Avenue} for featuring my work on her blog!!! Please head on over to check it out {here}. There are some really amazing features this week so your trip will be well worth it I assure you. Desiree even gave me this sticker to commemorate my feature:

I LOVE IT! Thanks again, Desiree, for being such a sweetheart!!!

Also, to Roeshel from {The DIY Showoff} for a special shout out to me for inspiring her to get on making some chalkboard paint and redo her basement stairwell. It turned out spectacular! So please pop on by to see it {here}!

You Like Me, You Really Like Me!

2011-11-16T11:14:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I have been toying with the notion of starting a blog for, well, almost a year now I think! It really did all begin with my headboard project - after having researched many wonderful blogs that featured their own headboard creations. My hubby has even suggested several times that I start my own blog for all my decorating adventures and crafty creations. As you all know, I did finally take the plunge last month. Recently I have had a few lovely surprises from some great bloggers out there in Blogland that have made me think I may just have made a good decision.

First off, I need to say to a big:

THANK YOU!!!

Mel, from {The Crafty Scientist}, has been such a sweetheart to me, having invited me to join her {Crafty Scientists Blog Hop}. Please do check it out - especially if you have an involvement in science - this is a fantastic group that features amazingly creative and crafty individuals who just happen to have a special connection to the scientific world, of which I also do! Mel has invited me to her blog for a guest post, including both an interview and crafty tutorial - so please stay tuned for those upcoming special features!

Cassity, from {Remodelaholic}, has been so encouraging and has shared some wonderful blogging advice with me. She has also been an amazing support and we're in talks right now about having me join the Remodelaholic team as a monthly contributor!!!! I am just so excited about this prospect and I hope you will all check out the site and especially stop by when I'm posting! It's no mystery that Remodelaholic is packed full of great projects - not only completed by Cassity and her hubby Justin, but also reader submissions, making for a phenomenal "go-to" resource for everything home related.

Kelli, from {The Turquoise Piano}, is an amazingly creative individual that has been so kind to AWARD me with the Versatile Blogger Award!!! I am so stunned, and incredibly honoured, to have received this award, especially so early on in my blogging endeavors. {The Turquoise Piano} has a stunning collection of amazing projects, so please pop by and check Kelli out!

As a recipient of the Versatile Blogger Award I have the opportunity to share a few interesting tid bits with you all. The award entails the following:

Thank you, {Kelli}, for this amazing honour!!!

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave the award to you.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Award it to 10 other bloggers.

So, after all the thank yous (by the way, {Kelli}, did I mention THANK YOU!!!!!), it's time for some sharing!

1. As mentioned above, I do have a connection to science; I am currently a graduate student working towards my doctoral degree in clinical geriatric neuropsychopharmacology. What, huh, who? you ask. In essence I am interested in how psychotropic medications act in the brain and whether the aging process changes that activity. I use a machine that exerts powerful magnetic forces to create images of brain regions that are important for emotional processing, and this lets me see how a drug is working in a particular area. The goal is to better personalize psychiatric medical care, particularly when it comes to pharmacological interventions in the older population.

2. When I was a little girl and all my friends were dreaming of being princesses or ballerinas, I was dreaming of being a lawyer - yes, a lawyer! I used to argue with everyone, and very rarely lost a case. My 8th grade mock trial was just about the best thing that ever happened to me in school - I absolutely loved it and fought furiously for my fake client; so much so that all my classmates were pretty stunned at how seriously I took it. I even lined up a ton of fake witnesses. It.Was.Awesome. Unfortunately, I lost that case - jury was rigged though. I'm sure of it.

3. My hubby and I have been together for 15 years (married for the past four). We met in highschool and the moment I saw him I just knew we'd be together forever - no word of a lie.

4. I'm suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper shy - so much so that, even though my hubby encouraged me to start this blog and he's a wonderfully supportive guy, I still haven't told him that I took his advice! Yes, I'm THAT shy! Not even any of my friends or family know. I'm just too nervous to tell anyone... except for all of you, that is!

5. I haven't had a vacation in four years; I can thank my graduate work for that one. BUT, the last time I went away was for my honeymoon and hubby and I spent two spectacular weeks on the islands of Hawaii. It was the most breathtaking place to be (if anyone is thinking of going send me a message - I've got a ton of great places to go and the BEST places to stay). When we left a part of my heart stayed there and I miss it so much. I will absolutely make my way back there some day.

6. I used to be a pathological workaholic (and still struggle with that a lot). It was so bad that if my supervisor sent me an email at 1am (just so she wouldn't forget to ask something) I would start working on her request immediately. At one point I caught a cold, and thanks to my obsessive working I didn't take care of myself to get better. In fact, I continued to go into work (at a hospital where there are elderly people - VERY bad idea), until one day I wasn't even able to speak to my supervisor because of the terrible pain in my chest from even breathing. My supervisor had to order me to go to my doctor right then (she practically had to dial the number for me because I STILL wanted to keep working). I ended up diagnosed with a serious case of bronchitis, which put me out of the office for a few weeks. My doctor warned that I was on the verge of developing pneumonia - which could have been life threatening. Unfortunately I kept working from home on the couch while trying to recuperate. I've really never been the same health-wise since and a simple cold will stay with me for months. It took me a while to realize that working until all hours and pushing yourself that hard is just not worth it, not even for a job you love, and I've been trying to be better at "leaving work" at a reasonable hour (a real challenge when a lot of what I do is done from home).

7. My favourite thing to do is really just to spend time with my hubby and our pup, Maxwell. There's nothing better than snuggling up on the couch with the two of them and just watching television. I don't know what I would do without them - but especially my hubby! He means the world to me and I feel so lucky to have found the perfect person to share my life with.

So now you all know just a little bit more about me!

I would like to pass on the Versatile Blogger award to a few other amazing blogs (in alphabetical order):

1. {At The Picket Fence}
2. {Beach House in the City}
3. {French Country Cottage}
4. {Funky Junk Interiors}
5. {My Covered Bridge}
6. {Remodelaholic}
7. {Southern Exposure}
8. {Teal and Lime}
9. {The Crafty Scientist}
10. {The Painted Hive}

All of these blogs are just fantastic - they are filled with great projects and beautiful photos. The bloggers are creative and captivating. I'm always curious to see what they will come up with next, what stories they will have to share, and what they will inspire me to do. I highly recommend you check out each and every one of them, if you haven't already! Of course, fulfilling the "requirements" of this award is completely optional (I've selected some super busy gals to highlight here!). I simply wanted to acknowledge these women for their talents and show my appreciation for their work. So thank you, ladies, for being so inspiring, and congratulations on this award!

~ BIG APPLAUSE! ~

Wreath Feature at Under the Table and Dreaming & The 36th Avenue

2011-11-14T11:43:00.001-05:00

Mini Pumpkin Pod Wreath
{FEATURED} and {FEATURED}

What a fantastic start to my week!

I am so happy to announce that I have been featured TWICE again this week! After one failed wreath design my second has hit a home run, and two wonderful ladies in Blogland have been so gracious as to feature my mini pumpkin pod wreath on their spectacular blogs:


{Under the Table and Dreaming}	{The 36th Avenue}

THANK YOU!!!

For featuring my {mini pumpkin pod wreath}, to Stephanie from {Under the Table and Dreaming} and to Desirée from {The 36th Avenue}!!!

Desirée was also kind enough to award me the Wreath-alicious Sticker for my work, which is just absolutely amazing to me!!!

Mmmmmm, wreath-alicious!!!

I would love it if you could all take a moment to visit the ever inspiring {Under the Table and Dreaming} and the thrifty and creative {The 36th Avenue}. Both of these blogs are jam packed with so many fantastic projects, I dare you not to be inspired!!! Please also consider following us all - I know it would certainly make my week that much more special :D

Stop! Wreath Time

2011-11-06T13:26:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been on a major wreath kick. I don't know why; I've never been particularly wreath crazed before. But for some reason, I'm finding myself looking at wreath after wreath after wreath. A very interesting wreath caught my eye a little while ago; I'm sure you all know the one - it's from Williams-Sonoma; it's mossy, with fun mini pumpkins dotted throughout, finished with a luxurious brown grosgrain ribbon. And it's expensive. Way.Too.Expensive. I've seen many amazing knock-offs of this particular piece and I was even considering making one for myself. Until a trip to Michaels and a 90% off sale changed my life.

OK, so maybe it wasn't that dramatic... But I did come across a fantastic sale and scored a great deal on some mini pumpkin pods and thought they would look great on a wreath, perhaps inspired by the pumpkin wreath at Williams-Sonoma, but not an exact replica.

Actually, I thought they could save the wreath I had originally been slaving over - I had found some lovely copper satin ribbon on sale at Walmart and pikced up some shimmering copper and gold leaf picks from Michales earlier. I imagined I could create something glorious with these items by using some old pipe insulation my hubby had in the garage. Well, I worked so hard - and so obsessionally - wrapping the ribbon around the wreath form I fashioned, over, and over, and over again. I placed the sparkly picks here, and there, and every where. I re-did the wreath probably four times before... voila... it was done... and spectacular.... er... maybe? Something just wasn't right about it, so I brought it to my hubby. Well, there wasn't much he had to say because the sour look on his face said it all really. Promptly I tore the abomination apart. There are no photos of this monster. So consider yourselves lucky.

I did, however, redeem myself with my second design. In fact, I think turned out quite lovely, so I will share with you how I made it!

First you'll need a few supplies:

Supplies for a DIY mini pumpkin pod wreath

Pipe insulation (or a wreath form, if you wanna be all fancy about it), $2 for 6 ft (good for two wreaths)

Jute (for wrapping the wreath form), $2 for 0.5 lbs (uh, yeah, not too sure why jute is measured in pounds... but apparently 0.5 lbs can cover 6 ft of pipe insulation with some left over!)

Pods (or anything you want on a wreath really: acorns, candy corn, pine cones, whatever your little heart desires), $0.74 for 110 grams (OH YEAH!!! Savings of $9.25!!!)

Ribbon (for hanging your wreath), $1 for 15 ft

Additional supplies - like a glue gun, glue, and duct tape

Initially I intended to use a yellow houndstooth ribbon to wrap around my DIY wreath form as a backing to glue my pumpkin pods to. The moment I saw the ribbon I thought, YUCK! So UGLY! I won't feel bad about gluing over that hot MESS! Yeah, well, then as I walked around the store with it, glaring at it disparagingly, ever so slowly it wore away at me until finally I started to think, huh... maybe this isn't such an ugly ribbon after all. So I had to think of another wrapping solution - and luckily jute caught my hubby's eye and he offered that up as an alternative. He's so clever sometimes!

LOVE my yellow houndstooth ribbon and mini pumpkin pods! Thank goodness for SALES!

To wrap the wreath:

Preparation of the wreath

Remove the protective layer from the pipe insulation and carefully stick the ends together

Join the two ends of the pipe insulation together to form a circle and use some duct tape to secure the form; don't worry if you aren't able to get a perfect join - this will be hidden by the jute

Start wrapping jute around your wreath form; I took the jute, wrapped it around the form quick and loose about 10-20 times, then tightened up each wrap by hand, making sure to keep each row close (remember, you are trying to hide either your pipe insulation or your actual wreath form from showing through the jute)

When you finally finish (I'd say it took me about an hour) gently pry apart a couple of rows of jute and put a tiny dollop of glue from your glue gun onto the pipe insulation (DO NOT touch the pipe insulation with your glue gun, the gun is HOT HOT HOT and will melt your insulation! Just squeeze out some glue and let that settle onto the insulation), then set your end piece of jute onto the glue and move your jute rows over top of that end to hide it

Just the ever so tiniest dab of glue, please!

Now you are ready to start gluing your embellishment onto your wreath form. Just use a very small drop of glue from your glue gun; seriously, don't coat these little buggers in glue, you're bound to end up getting hot glue on your fingers, and glue may just ooze out all around your embellishment, it's unnecessary - just a tiny dab will hold those suckers down!

Glue, stick, and repeeeeeeat.....

Once you have a bit of glue on your decoration, place it onto the jute and press it down for just a moment. Then repeat this a bazillion times over!

It might take some time, but it will all be worth it soon!

I'd say it took me about a good five hours to get all the pumpkin pods down. A big part of that was because each pod was not exaclty the same size or quality, so there was some sorting involved. I tried to select the nicest pods to run the center most visible portion of the wreath, with less attractive pods relegated to the top, insides, or back of the wreath. If you choose to use something like acorns you may not have this type of added concern. Or, if you're not weirdly obsessional like I am, you may be better able to appreciate the uniqueness and thus beauty of even the stranger looking pods.

At any rate, you will finally finish your wreath... and then you can spend 45 minutes fussing and primping over your ribbon in order to hang your wreath. Hmmmm, or maybe that's just another obsessional oddity of mine? No, no... you're all like that... this is completely normal. To hang the wreath I first cut my ribbon in half (I didn't need all 15 ft to hang it, and I actually made two of these wreaths so the other half of ribbon went to the second wreath). I then decided how low I wanted the wreath to hang on my window (eye level is usually a good bet), this meant about 19" of ribbon for me (i.e., on either side of a nail at the center fold). Next I tied a knot to sit at the top center of the wreath, I wrapped one side of the ribbon neatly around the back of the wreath and brought that up to the top of the wreath. I then tied another knot and began to construct the bow (that's where the obsessional primping began). Once you get the bow looking as you please (or in my case, once you're just sick of working on it and can't take it any longer, even despite your thinking it still looks all wrong) you may need to cut one end of ribbon to match the length of the other. And then you're done!!!

Top it all off with a beautiful bow

I would like to send out a very special

THANK YOU!!!

For featuring my wreath on their blogs:
Stephanie at {Under the Table and Dreaming}, post {here}
Desirée at {The 36th Avenue}, post {here}

Again, thank you both SO MUCH!

So what do you think?!

Do you have any amazing wreath ideas to share? I'd love to see what you all have done! Yeah, apparently I'm still not wreath satisfied and need some MORE inspirations!!!

I am linking this project up to the following blogs: Funky Junk Interiors, French Country Cottage, Under the Table and Dreaming, Tip Junkie, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, and At The Picket Fence. As usual, there are a plethora of other crafty gems over on those wonderful blogs, so please do take a moment to pop by and explore some!

Arachnophobia

2011-10-31T10:55:00.000-04:00

Martha Stewart: Spider Nests

Spiders are the bane of my existence. Whenever I see one I completely lose all functionality and the only thing I can think is, Spider.Must.Go! I have an eagle eye for them - I will spot them left and right, behind blinds, around corners, under furniture; yes, that's right, for spiders I can actually see around walls and through furniture... It's my gift, it's my curse. Suffice to say, my hubby gets a work out if there's a spider in the house. Of course, to dress up the front yard for Halloween, the most terrifying thing I can think to put out there has to do with my arch nemesis, the spider!

While surfing the site of the Queen of Crafts, Martha Stewart, I came across the above inspiration photo of a disgusting, terrifying, petrifying, spider nest. Immediately I thought, in a moment of insanity I suppose, I must have this! I showed it to my hubby and he also thought it would make a great addition to our outdoor display. Although he duly noted that I would likely no longer be able to exit the house after we erected these horrendous specimens.

The nests are actually SUPER easy to make (so if you need to add some extra ick to your Halloween decor last minute, this would be a great project!)

All you need are the following supplies:

Spider nest supplies

White nylon
Styrofoam egg
Batting (I just used the batting sold for spider's webbing)
Spiders (an assortment of big and small, if possible)
Pennies (to give the nest some weight)
Glue gun

To assemble, just cut a small length of nylon from the top opening of your stocking (that is, the OPPOSITE end from the foot of the nylon). Tie off one end and add some pennies (I used $1 worth) then shove the egg into that nylon. If you want, you can shape the pennies around the egg a bit (that's what I did), or just leave 'em all at the bottom of this sack. Next, wrap batting all around the egg so it's difficult to tell that it's an egg with pennies around it. Then place the sack with batting all around it into the longer length of stocking (push it all the way to the bottom of the foot end... this may take some finagling).

If the only spiders you managed to find are those little ring spiders - as was my case - next you'll want to cut the ring section off your spiders.

Remove ring portion of spiders

Position some spiders (ideally some small ones) inside the stocking nest (between the nylon and batting), then hot glue some more spiders on the outside of the nest (take care to hide any protrusion that looks like a penny by using a spider body!)

Hot glue gross spiders all over the awful nest

Finally, hang that disgusting sack of spiders near your entry way, from a tree, or where ever else you desire... and never look towards it again!!!

Nauseating nest at the corner of my house

Seriously creepy!

Horrendeous nest right above the doorway;
So wrong! What was I thinking!?

Bleh!!! Spider.Must.GOOOOOOOO!

How brave are you....

Is there anything that makes your skin crawl during this time of year? Are you one of those (awesome) people that gets your front yard all ghouled up for Halloween? If so, how do you like to decorate? Share some links to your displays in the comments!! And, of course, have a very...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

I am linking up to the following blog: Under the Table and Dreaming. Don't forget to pop on over to check out some other great projects!

Headboard Feature on At The Picket Fence & Beach House in the City

2011-10-28T10:33:00.001-04:00

Upholstered Headboard with Nailhead Trim
{FEATURED} once, and {FEATURED} twice;
could anything else be so nice?!

I feel like the most popular girl in the whole world!

Yes, that's right; anotherTWO features!!!! My headboard project was selected to be featured on these beautiful and inspirational blogs:


{At The Picket Fence}	{Beach House in the City}

THANK YOU!!!

For featuring my {upholstered headboard with nailhead trim}, to Vanessa and Heather from {At The Picket Fence} and to Natalie from {Beach House in the City}!!!

Please do take a moment to stop by the dynamic sibling duo's {At The Picket Fence} and the visually inspiring photog's {Beach House in the City}; last but not least, of course consider following us all! By the way, there are some other fantastic features on both blogs today as well; I don't want to spoil if for you, but... they're AMAZING! Go see!

Tablescape Feature on Remodelaholic

2011-10-27T14:15:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving Tablescape {FEATURED}!

What, what, whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!

Yes, you read that caption right! Today I'm being featured on the wildly popular, ever inspirational, powerhouse blog:

{REMODELAHOLIC!!!}

THANK YOU!!!

To Cassity and Justin for featuring my {Thanksgiving tablescape}! Everyone, please head on over to Remodelaholic to check it out, and don't forget to follow those awesome renovators and DIY curators (ahem, and me too! After all, I am the star today!)

In Living Colour

2011-10-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

As mentioned {previously}, my hubby and I have done some work on The New Place since moving in two years ago. In fact, we did have quite a few things jam-packed into The Old Place that we were able to fill up some rooms with. However, when going from about 700 square feet up to around 1500 you're bound to need a few new pieces - especially for a brand spanking new living room!

One thing I knew for sure was that our old Tylosand couch from Ikea, that my hubby just loved and had to have, was NOT going to be on display in my glorious new upstairs living space but would be relegated to the basement {den}. Don't get me wrong, I love Ikea and the Tylosand is just a huge comfy beast, but that couch was never what I had wanted for The Old Place's living room and it certainly wasn't going to work with my new aesthetic either.

I still wanted a neutral sofa, just something a little more sleek and sophisticated. And of course I needed a new coffee and end table and a few new chairs to really round out the space. Instead of sticking with a brown and beige palette this time I wanted to expand my colour repertoire. How can you not want to try some colour when you see images like these bursting from the pages of a magazine?!:



Top left: House and Home; Remainder: Elle Decor

I love how there are still neutral elements in each of the rooms, but with hits of colour everywhere really livening things up. From paint to upholstery to rugs to cushions - the possibilities to add pop to a space are virtually endless.

So hubby and I went on the hunt at one of our new fav stores Cornerstone Home Interiors. Both the Toronto and Cambridge showrooms are just massive and the room displays are so inviting. This is where I spotted the first gem - a beautiful tub-style chair upholstered in a rich brown fabric - Wait, you say? BROWN? OK, OK, so it was still brown, BUT here's the kicker, it has a lovely green floral motif - something The Old Me would have simply admired from afar but never even considered purchasing. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another find, a curvy tufted slipper chair in a luxurious green velvet - that's right, totally GREEN! That was it. I was sold. Hubby and I decided to just take the plunge and we picked up both!

Cornerstone: Floral Chair (left); Velvet Slipper Chair (right)

For a while these two lovelies were all that we had in the living room - admittedly I am super picky and terribly indecisive (especially when it comes to spending the money we had saved up so long for, even if this was it's intended purpose) so the hunt for these two chairs took months, along with each and every other item for the room.

Eventually we did find a comfortable couch from Urban Barn with nice clean lines that fit the bill for sophistication - but also wasn't hard as a rock like so many of the other sofas we had tested out:

Urban Barn: Sean Sofa
(ours is upholstered in Polo Oyster)

And back at our old haunt, Cornerstone, we found a great coffee and side table constructed of solid wood and metal - although still quite dark in colour, I did deviate from my norm in that we went with rounds instead of my usual rectangular inclinations:

Cornerstone: Coffee Table

We found some plush pillows from Pottery Barn in a bold strip and graphic crewel with punches of reds, yellows, and greens:

Pottery Barn: Susanna Paisley Embroidered Pillow Cover (right); Paolo Stripe Pillow Cover, Red (left)

The rug took the longest to find because I had imagined that it should be a large floral print which would match the pillow's colour scheme - but Pottery Barn did manage to hit it out of the park with the Brianne Floral Rug sporting the exact design I had envisioned (well, pretty darn close anyway; after all, Pottery Barn isn't reading my mind). The colour, of course, was perfect!:

Pottery Barn: Brianne Floral Rug

I swear to you we don't only shop at Pottery Barn - but boy did they have some awesome stuff when we were shopping for this space. On another trip we found this gorgeous industrial style birch mirror and we just had to have it (although it was a HUGE pain to actually get it up on the wall - imagine me, this tiny out of shape thing, desperately trying to hold up this big honking mirror with my hubby yelling "hold it steady, lift it higher! HIGHER!!" We were literally in fear of being crushed):

Pottery Barn: Benchwright Mirror

And here is the final result... so far (we're still looking to replace the terrible lighting - yeah, I wasn't kidding {here}, I literally have a ton of these lamps! - and are at a complete standstill with window treatments, but we'll get there... some day):

Advert for Pottery Barn & Cornerstone? Ah well, I still love it!

I think I managed to break free of some of my old limitations - and you've got to admit, there is some colour in here now! I'm even thinking of papering the wall with the window in a green damask print... but still haven't found the perfect one yet.

Tell me what you think:

How do you think I did with changing my style between The Old Place and The New Place? Have you gone through any similar changes in style, and if so, how did you manage to do? Of course, if anyone has any suggestions on lighting, window treatments, or even some great wallpaper finds, please do let me know!

Coming Soon to a Master Bedroom Near Me {Sneak Peek, & a Special Thank You!}

2011-10-23T13:33:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned my new goal to expand my colour repertoire {here}, and that includes one of my biggest challenges: getting used to GREY! Many of the walls in The New Place were painted some shade of grey; the master bedroom was no exception. Instead of going on a mad painting spree I decided, I'm going to learn to love grey even if it kills me. Well, maybe not if it's going to kill me; but you get the picture.

The first start was, well, to leave the grey walls as they were.

Grey Walls - check!

Since my hubby could no longer stand our old bedroom set (remember my struggle with {matchy-set-itis}?), we did make a brand new {headboard} for our bed. We even stuck with the colour theme and chose a beautiful geometric patterned fabric in a silver (don't worry, not a shiny silver! What am I saying, you probably know by now that I'm STILL not that adventurous!).

And now, the next project in the master bedroom is to replace the old side tables:

Old Side Tables

With two new similar, but not exactly the same (YEAH!), french provencal side tables. Not only that but we picked them up from a great antique store - so my hubby is also branching out in not having to buy everything brand new! Here's a tiny sneak peek at them:

Sneak Peek at New Side Table #1

Sneak Peek at New Side Table #2

Hubby and I have managed to strip the bad paint job from one and the awful stain off the other (that took FOREVER!!! Those finishes were just caked on and in every crevise). Both pieces have also now been sanded down. All that's left is to decide how to finish them. And that's where we are stuck. We just can't decide on whether to paint them white (properly, that is!), or if we should keep them in a natural wood stain. Our decision would also influence what we decide on as a replacement for our large six-drawer dresser - which will either be white or natural wood coloured (basically, whatever the side tables are, we'll choose the opposite for the large dresser).

This is a debate that has lasted, oh, probably about three months now. I'm sure one day, waaaaaaaaaaaay in the future, I'll finally be able to make my big reveal to you all!

Or, perhaps you can help me out?

Any suggestions on how to finish these babies would be greatly appreciated! Have you ever had such a struggle with how to finish a piece you were working on? What did you end up doing? Did you ever make a finishing choice you ever regretted? As always, I'd love to hear your stories!

Now, I would like to send out a very special shout out:

THANK YOU!!!

To Courtney from the beautiful blog French Country Cottage for sharing my {headboard} project on her Facebook page. I really appreciate it, Courney, and I'm so flattered! Everyone, please go check out the feature {here} and consider following the French Country Cottage on Facebook and in Blogland!

Let there be Light

2011-10-20T10:16:00.000-04:00

The Old Me, from The Old Place, thought that everything in a home had to come in a set... a bedroom set, a living room set. It was so bad I was even buying lamps in sets! Bleh, I know! When moving into The New Place, hubby and I needed some more lighting and, before I could stop her, the Old Me promptly ran out and bought ANOTHER set of lighting to match the original set that I still had. What was I thinking, you ask?

I ask myself the same thing and I have no excuses!

Well, I'm slowly starting to realize that while furniture should compliment each other it doesn't have to be matchy matchy - and that includes lighting!

Don't get me wrong, I did love my lamps. I got the first set as a gift a loooooooooooong time ago and thought the style was unique and interesting. The shades had a beige colour - yup, there's that weird {beige} obsession again - and an almost soft leathery texture. But now that I look at them all I can think is, Ugh, why so many of you?!

Here's a shot of the offending suspect... but I warn you, this is not for the faint of heart.

Ready?

Here it comes now....

One last warning... once you see it, you can't un-see it...

There it is!

First 23 seconds of O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) rings
menacingly from the skies

Avert your eyes now! Everything is OK. You're safe; you're by your computer; the bad lamp can't hurt you anymore.

Alright, it's not as bad as I thought; I actually do like my lamps still, they do have a nice shape to them. But why did I need to have eight of the same thing?! So after about seven years, I think I'm ready for a CHANGE!

Here are just a few of my latest table lighting obsessions:

I love this little technical looking number from Restoration Hardware... not so jazzed about the price tag though.

Restoration Hardware: Surveyor's Tripod Lamp

How about the oh so shiny mercury glass craze? Yup, it's sucked me in too... oooooooh shiiiiiiny...

Pottery Barn: Antique Mercury Glass Lamp

You might recognize this little number from my Den Moodboard {here}.

Crate and Barrel: Mack Lamp with White Cord

Look at the curves on this lovely lamp! I am just nuts for all the gourd lamps out there.

Ethan Allen: Dianna Gourd Table Lamp

I really love the spotlight feature on photographer's style lighting as well; this table lamp from Elte is particularly interesting.

Elte: Tripod Candlestick Lamp

Of course, I have way too expensive tastes; so unfortunately I'm going to have to live a while with my old "mistakes".... or will I?

Thanks to some inspiration from Kristen at My Covered Bridge I may be able to turn this:

Bad millionth iteration of the same lamp; BAD!

Into this:

Pottery Barn: Orinda Table Lamp with French Stripe Drum Shade

A Pottery Barn knock off for way less - considering I already have almost the same bases; now, all I need to do is pick up a couple of textural drum shades (maybe in linen or even in burlap) and I'm set! Kristen was able to find a great deal on both some similar bases to the PB inspiration and on a gorgeous set of textural shades with a very similar shape to the shades I have now (go on, check them out on her site {here}). Thanks so much for the inspiration, Kristen!!! I may be able to change up a bit of my style just yet!

Spill it:

Is there anything you have a love-hate relationship with in your decor? Something you think is great, but still in need of some serious re-vamping? What are some of your favourite lighting picks? Do share your stories, and stay tuned to see my lighting update!

Leaf it to Me!

2011-10-17T11:30:00.001-04:00

BHG: Leaf Place Cards

Yes, I held out as long as I could in decorating for autumn, and yes, that means I left it until just about the last minute to set up my table for Thanksgiving this year as well. But, with a few simple touches, I was able to whip up a stylish backdrop for dinner just in time for guests to arrive!

Luckily I had the major stuff down:

table cloth - check

chargers - check

utensils - check

plates and bowls - check

But I needed a little more oomph. A few of the usual fall staples make great ingredients when you're in a pinch to adorn the table with that little something extra: pine cones, mini pumpkins, and best of all - leaves!

First thing's first, you've just got to get a centerpiece together. For my natural focal point, I grabbed a large bowl and arranged some apples, pine cones, and moss inside and jazzed it up a bit with some faux branches around the base. Having just made a trip to the pumpkin patch (that morning!) I added a few mini pumpkins to the display. Some bright yellow flowers embellished with a bright green satin bow added a real pop to the table.

Apple and pine cone centerpiece

OK, centerpiece done and done.

Next comes the seating cards. While these can be completely unnecessary (especially if you have a small family like I do), it can be a nice touch to create your own place markers - especially using leaves like in my inspiration shot above from Better Homes and Gardens.

These are so easy to make; just select a few nicely shaped/coloured leaves - either preserved, like I have used, or found for FREE from autumn's bounty outside - then grab a pen and start writing!

I used a gold pen with a bit of shimmer to it. Just remember to use a darker ink on lighter coloured leaves so that your guest's names appear prominently on the leaves.

Leaf place cards

I finished off the place cards by affixing them to napkins using a plain canvas ribbon. Super fast, super easy. NEXT!

I just love how these place cards turned out

Leaves make another appearance on my table to style up some plain glass coasters (actually, these are candle holders from Ikea doing double duty!) Just drop a leaf on the table and set that glass "coaster" right on top of it. I am on a roll!

Leaf coasters

As a final touch I broke out some mini autumnal cookie cutters my mum had given me and crafted mini leaf and acorn shaped butter (another {BHG} inspiration). You can use either miniature sized cookie cutters, as I did here, or the larger sized ones, as featured on BHG.

Leaf and acorn mini butter

I think this turned out just adorable - and my family was swooning over them! It's the little things, after all ;-)

They are almost too cute to use!

Despite being rushed to get things set up for Thanksgiving I think I did a pretty decent job overall with the things I had on hand, and best of all my family did appreciate the effort. It's the least I could do since I'm certainly not the chef of my household!

Thanksgiving tablescape

Now, on to thinking AHEAD for Christmas dinner! (Yeah, right!)

Be honest...

I would like to send out a very special

THANK YOU!!!

To the wonderful Cassity and Justin of {Remodelaholic} for featuring my tablescape on their amazing blog!!! You can find that post {here}.

I am also linking this tablescape up to In My Own Style. Please do drop by and check out all of the other projects on both of those great blogs!

For my Canadian friends, how did your Thanksgiving decorating go? What were some of your favourite table features this year? And to our American cousins, are you all geared up for your Thanksgiving celebrations? Please feel free to share some of your past or present tablescapes!

This is Halloween!

2011-10-15T11:24:00.000-04:00

Martha Stewart: Pumpkin and Tombstone Treat Bags

Since we moved into The New Place my hubby and I have become obsessed with Halloween... well, actually, make that more obsessed. Halloween has always been one of my favourite times of year; I used to adore it as a child - not so much for the candy, which don't get me wrong was awesome, but more so for the costumes and the decor. Now my hubby and I enjoy entertaining the kiddies with our outdoor displays and I especially enjoy seeing big smiles when I hand out treat bags filled with goodies. As complicated as they may seem to make, pumpkin treat bags are actually pretty easy, the tombstones are a little more complex, but both are a spectacular alternative to the little plastic bags that most people use.

I first saw these bags on Martha Stewart's site and just fell in love with them. I've been making the pumpkins for the past two years now, and will continue the tradition for sure! For the pumpkin treat bags, all you need are:

Small orange bags

Green floral tape

Treats!

I purchased the bags and tape from Michaels craft store and we got a ton of yummy goodies from Walmart.

Once you have all your supplies just pull up a chair and start working! While the bags are easy to construct it can take a little bit of time, so don't start this the night before the kids are set to arrive - give yourself a few days, depending on how many you'd like to make.

My hubby and I tackle this in an assembly line fashion, where he places a variety of treats in a bag and I construct the pumpkins. To do this, carefully twist the excess of the bag as close to the treats as you can while maintaining as round a shape as possible where the treats sit in the bag. Then grab the floral tape (which is sticky on BOTH sides - so get ready to do some hand washing in between batches) and, working your way down from the top of the bag, wrap the tape around the "stem" of the pumpkin to the base. To add a little flourish, as Martha suggests, I cut the tape leaving a small length so that I can twist and curl it around my finger to look like the pumpkin's tendril.

Here's how they look in the end:

Pumpkin Treat Bags

We then hand out the treat bags from a large pumpkin basket that I believe we also picked up on sale from Michaels.

The first year we made these little bags we also made Martha's tombstone style bags. The looked so simple but were much more involved than the pumpkins (although terribly popular with the kids). The tombstone bags require the following supplies:

Small black bags

Tombstone templates (you can find Martha's {here})

Stamp or stencil/pen (if you wish to include messages on the bags)

More treats!

I had three different styles of tombstones, which were created by tracing the templates onto cardboard, tracing the sturdy cardboard template onto the black bags, then cutting out the shapes. Another cardboard template was made for the "RIP" design which I hand stenciled onto the bags using a silver pen. Once the bags were filled with candy, hubby and I carefully glued each of the bags closed at the opening to make sure the candy didn't spill out during transport.

Here's how the tombstones turned out:

Tombstone Treat Bags

A lot of tracing, cutting, and gluing for this design made for a huge time investment... so sadly it's just pumpkins from now on, which turned out to be the easier/faster of the two bags!

What do you think:

Do you remember what the greatest treat you ever got was while trick-or-treating as a child (mine was full sized chocolate bars, mmmmmmm!)? Have you ever tried either of these treat bags? Or, do you have any other treat bag designs that you love to use? Share some links to your favourite designs!

I'm also linking up to the following: Under the Table and Dreaming, The Shabby Nest, The DIY Showoff, Tip Junkie, The 36th Avenue, French Country Cottage, At The Picket Fence, Remodelaholic, and Funky Junk Interiors. Please take a moment to pop by some of the other great projects linked on those great blogs.

Falling into Fall

2011-10-13T09:54:00.000-04:00

Pottery Barn

Make no mistake about it, I am a summer baby all the way. I love the lush colours of summer and I especially love the heat. Much to my dismay, I live in a country that unfortunately experiences four seasons, so I not only have to adapt my wardrobe to the temperature changes but also my home decor. My hubby loves the fall, and as soon as October hit he proclaimed it time to "fall the place up". Despite my seasonal preferences I do happen to have a few items geared towards the fall stuffed away in a tiny box; the first weekend in October I finally broke down and fished them out of storage.

I have quite a few apothecary jars and have recently started to collect some Mason jars as well, so I thought I could use these as a starting point for my displays. Other items included mini beaded pumpkins, leaves, moss (sheet and reindeer moss), river rocks, and candles - nothing adds warmth like the soft glow of a candle, so what better way to create a fall ambiance than including some candles in an autumn display.

I had purchased some preserved leaves years ago from Michaels so my first project was to spruce up a square vase. This was easy enough; all that is required are two square vases and some leaves. The smaller of the two square vases is placed inside the larger one, then the leaves are positioned between them. The space between the two vases shouldn't be too large, but this may make it a bit difficult to use your fingers to position the leaves. A thin, flat, tool, such as a butter knife, will help gently push in and arrange the leaves around each other. The smaller vase can then be filled with water and flowers placed into it for a lovely fall display. Just make sure you have the flowers you want for your display before filling the smaller vase with water - after all, if you decide to change your mind, or need to change the water, you'll have to redo your leaf positioning. However, to avoid this I used a third, smaller, vase and placed water/flowers into that so it is much easier to change things up whenever I want.

Autumn leaf embellished vase

The apothecary jar displays were even easier - just plop in a dollop of moss and sit some mini pumpkins or other gourds on top, then add the lid.

Apothecary jars with mini gourds and moss

I also added candles to some of the jars, surrounded by river rocks, moss, and a few leaves.

Apothecary jars with candles

Just always remember to use a holder for the candles to protect the open flame, and make sure any potential hazards - like surrounding moss or leaves - are kept well away from the holder's opening. And of course, remove the apothecary lids before/while burning the candles!

The Mason jars were a little more work, just because they are taller and thinner than the apothecary jars. In order to get the candle close enough to the jar's opening I used an empty toilet paper roll as a platform. First I placed the roll in the jar then I placed sheet moss around the roll to completely cover it. Next I used a butter knife to gently move the moss/roll away from the side of the jar so I could position a leaf against the inside of the jar (I originally tried to put the leaf in first, but it kept being crumpled once I tried adding the moss in). Once you have things looking how you like, just drop the candle (in it's own protective holder) into the jar and enjoy!

Mason jar candle holders for fall

I've kept my displays pretty simple this year, just enough to fully appease my hubby about the level of autumn in the house!

Let me know....

How have you been adapting to the brisk autumn weather, and how has your decor evolved to suite the season? Did you fall behind on your autumn decorating this year (like me), or were you ready to go as soon as September hit? What kind of fall decorating have you been up to?

I'm linking up to the following blogs: Common Ground, My Simple Home Life, Funky Junk Interiors, Under the Table and Dreaming and Remodelaholic. Please take a moment to check out some of the other lovely projects on those sites!

In the Mood{board}

2011-10-11T14:42:00.001-04:00

I'm in the mood for... sharing a moodboard! A moodboard (or inspiration/storyboard) is a wonderful tool used by many interior designers (and by many other professionals, in fact) to help visually experiment with a design. It is an excellent way to get a more concrete idea of how your room will look and the atmosphere it will create for you. Usually it's done by taking pages from magazines or catalogues - anywhere really - compiling textile samples and colour swatches and assembling them (either in an organized way - reflective of the rooms layout - or as more of a random collage). However, in this technological age there are more options for moodboards. Recently, I've been working on one for my den.

The Internet is my main resource for inspirational photos - mainly because I just can't bring myself to tear pages out of magazines - so my moodboards usually consist of me copying and pasting images into... brace yourself... Word documents! Yeah, I know, complete lunacy; but hey, it works pretty decent for the most part. I have previously mentioned my new obsession with Pintrest {here}, and adore the aesthetic appeal of the boards on that site. However, what I really love about a moodboard is the ability to layer images to bring a room to life. I think Pintrest is a great first start to help me acquire ideas, but I need something more to get that ideal moodboard layout.

I think I may have found just the thing in Olioboard - an online moodboard creator which not only allows you to select from a multitude of brand name product images (including some of my favourites, Crate & Barrel and West Elm), but also permits you to upload your own photos (and registration is FREE!!!)

The user interface is super simple and within minutes you're able to fashion your own moodboard - complete with background room shots if you so desire!

Without further ado, this is the moodboard I created for my den (drum roll, please):

Olioboard Den Moodboard

Some of the items hubby and I have already purchased (either previously for the Old Place or to fill out the New Place), but there are a few items that will have to wait for a while. I'm dying for the Dash & Albert rug as well as the new slipcover from Bemz for our Ikea sofa (Tylosand), so right now we're saving our pennies for those gems - not to mention a nice comfy slipcovered armchair (pictured is the Hanover chair from West Elm, which sadly is no longer available). I will be making my own pillow cushion covers from the turquoise geometric print and I might consider even trying curtains in the multicoloured floral print (the red floral print is on our existing two giant, plush, pillows courtesy of Pottery Barn). I haven't sewn anything since I was in gradeschool (glow in the dark killer bunny shorts... um yeah... it happened), so I will need some backup on that one but I think it can be done!

Hmmmmmmm....

Does anyone else put together moodboards before starting on a room, or is your style more to wing it (that is to say, your imagination is awesome!)? How have your rooms turned out using either method - close to your vision or evolved into something completely different? What do you like about my den ideas, or what would you change?

I'm linking up my moodboard to Remodelaholic. There is a great series on living room moodboards with LOTS of inspiration, so please pop by and check it all out!

Nailed It!

2011-10-07T10:49:00.000-04:00

Crate & Barrel: Colette Bed

What happens when you fall in love with a great upholstered headboard with nailhead trim that is just way out of your budget? Well, you try to convince your hubby it's a great investment - and when that fails, you start to consider his revelation that he could easily help make that headboard for you.

The headboard that started it all was the lovely Colette bed from Crate & Barrel, as pictured above. My hubby assured me that this would be a super simple project; but with all his other easy tasks slowly mounting, I figured if we added this to the list I'd never have a headboard.

Well, the lure of the headboard was just too great for me to resist; try as I might. I thought I would at least go online and check out how difficult the project would be. I came across blog after blog of amazing DIY'ers tutorials on this very subject; and almost everyone indicated that they made their headboards (upholstery, trim, and all) on their own and in about two hours on a weekend. OK, so that sounded promising:

1 Crafty Person + 2 Hours Labour = 1 Custom Headboard

Yeah, that's not so bad! And if that's all it takes then really, how long and how much effort could it take for both me and my hubby to knock this sucker out?

Southern Exposure

Then I came across a blog by designer Rachel Bishop (Southern Exposure) and was blown away by her headboard - and that was it; I was sold. Rachel's headboard was just stunning and, before I figured out she actually is a professional designer, I thought if she can make such a beautiful professional looking headboard then surely so can I!

Here is my story as to how my hubby and I made our own upholstered headboard with nailhead trim:

Plywood too large? Just have staff at the home improvement
store cut your plywood in two for easy transport and
reassemble using brackets at home!

First you go to the home improvement store and purchase some plywood to the correct size (ours is for a queen sized bed). Then, mesmerized by all the intricate design possibilities, you force your hubby to pick up a jigsaw and painstakingly cut out the way too complicated design you decided on.

Framing the headboard

Then, since the hell of cutting out the design wasn't enough, you get hubby to cut out a frame for the headboard. This gives the headboard more depth and support, as well as a place to nail in your oh-so-simple nailhead trim.

Foaming the headboard;
or foaming at the mouth (I can't remember)

More fun with cutting out shapes to line the inside of your frame with foam which adds a little plushness to the headboard (just attach using spray adhesive... or a few staples using a staple gun).

After a "few" hours that fabric isn't going anywhere
(not with the amount of staples we put in!)

Many, many, hours later... oh yes, more than two that is for sure... you finish attaching two layers of batting and your chosen fabric to the headboard using a staple gun (we used P. Kaufmann Soho cotton fabric in silver/beige from Designer Fabrics). This was by far the most frustrating part of the project. Using a cotton fabric is almost impossible to work with around curves. Take it from me - use linen!

Hello little nailheads; I hate you so much!

Oh wait, still haven't had enough of cut outs yet? Well good news, you'll need them as templates to help guide you in painstakingly nailing in each and every nailhead for your trim. Hmm, did I say attaching the cotton fabric to the plywood was the most frustrating - well, I guess it's a tie then, because this was most certainly a pain! Because I was too eager to get the project underway I did not order a nailhead spacer as some bloggers suggest. Mark my words - GET A SPACER! I ended up fashioning one myself (actually two - a "draft" then the final version), which was way too time consuming when you consider they are already pre-made and available for cheap. The spacer helps evenly distance the nailheads and keep them in place while you gently nail them in using a mallet.

Although terribly time consuming, not to mention frustrating,
nailing in each nailhead gives you more control and a
professional finish (versus nailhead trim kits)

And then the beast is done, and you can have your life back...

Sigh of relief!

That is, right after you drag it up two floors and attach it to your bed frame; here's the final product on the bed (at least I got the Crate & Barrel bedding I wanted!)

After all the work I just can't stop staring at it

And there's the headboard in all its glory! Yup, this project took forever, and we hated every minute of it. But wow, we did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself; now, onto the next headboard for the guest room....

I would like to send out a very special

THANK YOU!!!

For featuring my headboard on their blogs:
Rachel at {Southern Exposure}, post {here}
Vanessa and Heather at {At The Picket Fence}, post {here}
Nicole at {Beach House in the City}, post {here}

For featuring my headboard on her Facebook page:
Courtney from {French Country Cottage}, page {here}.

Again, thank you all SO MUCH!

Now I would love to hear from all of you:

If you've attempted your own headboard project please share the details (and perhaps a link to some photos). Am I just nuts, or was this project seriously tough!? Has there been any other project that you might have tried that originally seemed so easy but turned out driving you up the wall?

I am also linking this project to: Funky Junk Interiors, The 36th Avenue, Saved by Suzy, At The Picket Fence, Miss Mustard Seed, Remodelaholic, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, French Country Cottage, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie, Not Just a Housewife, The Shabby Nest, and Fine Craft Guild. There are a lot of great projects linked on these blogs, so please do take a peek!

Put a Pin In It ~ Custom Chalkboard Paint

2011-10-05T11:58:00.000-04:00

I recently started using a fantastic site called Pintrest which allows you to easily save, or "pin", items you find online, as well as organizing your selections onto specific boards. Not only is this an excellent tool for capturing and keeping all your inspirational goodies in one place but it is also a great source for additional ideas - and the board presentations are just lovely, too. If you haven't already happened upon Pintrest you really should take a peek at it {here} - but fair warning, it is addictive!

I would like to start a recurring feature where I post about something interesting that I have recently pinned - a new DIY project to test out, something magnificent I've found for the home, or perhaps even a delicious recipe.

So, for the first Put a Pin In It feature I'd like to share with you all a pin about how to make chalkboard paint in whatever colour you desire.

Martha Stewart Custom Chalkboard Paint

The original pin is from MarthaStewart.com - a site I just love to get great DIY ideas from on a pretty regular basis. I have always been interested in using chalkboard paint and have seen some very creative applications - not just on walls, but on lamps, tables, even globes! However, I just can't get over the typical black - it's such a dark colour and I am not sure how long I could really live with it. So, imagine my joy to find that I am no longer limited by colour! To be fair, there are more pre-made chalkboard paints in alternate colours nowadays - but you are still limited to whatever colours have been made available. Mixing your own chalkboard paint opens up many more possibilities, and what could be better than the satisfaction of knowing that you did it yourself?!

I haven't tried out the recipe just yet, but it couldn't be simpler - a cup of paint, two tablespoons of unsanded tile grout, and some mixing to get out all the clumps; then apply the mixture to your chosen primed surface, sand with a 150-grit paper (wiping off dust), condition by rubbing chalk over the surface then wipe off the residue with a slightly damp sponge - voila, custom chalkboard!

There is a wall in my kitchen that is just terribly bear and lately I've been eyeing it up as a great spot for some chalkboard paint. However, I also love the above photo from Martha where a frame was transformed to a chalkboard. I have a rather plain Ribba frame from Ikea that I think I'd like to re-vamp:

Ikea's Ribba Frame

My hubby and I did recently re-paint the powder room on the main floor of our house - after a lengthy search for the perfect paint colour. We picked up a few mini test paints before finally deciding on Martha Stewart Living's Rainwater:

Martha Stewart Living: Rainwater

While the colour may look a little dull, it actually looks fantastic in the room and is just the perfect shade of jade that I was desperately seeking. Originally I was crazy for CIL's Opal Silk - but unfortunately in the powder room it came out less of a jade and more of a robin's egg blue! Here's a picture of Opal Silk:

CIL: Opal Silk

We also tried Behr Ultra's Spring Stream which ended up looking a little more tropical than we were ultimately going for. We still have the test paints left and I think one of them may be used for this new project. Here we have a sampling of Spring Stream:

Behr Ultra: Spring Stream

Tell me what you think...

Has anyone tried to make their own chalkboard paint? I'd love to know how it turned out and what the project was. Stay tuned to find out how my experiment goes!