Tag Archives: Shopping

Pretty Things

Posted by Leanne on October 6, 2011 2 comments

I love pretty soap, and showing it off in the bathrooms… but single income with 3 kids… it’s getting hard to explain to the family-money-maker why I need to spend $6+ on each bar of soap. So, in need of something pretty, my big 3-year-old helper and I headed off to the Canadian Superstore. We spent much time sniffing every bar of soap (this has been something her and I have loved doing together since forever, this girl loves to sniff everything… and I mean everything – don’t ask specifics, because my answer is probably, “yes, she sniffs that.”) After we agreed on a couple different scents from Oil of Olay, it was time to hit up the thrift store. I wanted these soaps to be wrapped in music…

Thrift Store Buy, 50 cents

We have tons of music books in our home, but my butt would get kicked if I started tearing them up… so when I found this music book for a French Horn, I figured no one in our family will be learning the French Horn anytime soon… my husband was still disappointed I tore up this book.

all wrapped up

My big helper helped me with all the wrapping too, so none of them are perfect, but I don’t think my visitors look too closely… do you??

If I had more ~~patience~~ time, I would have tea died the wrapping to give it a little more character, but I’m happy enough with the results!

Big Helper, so Proud

Speaking of pretty things, when I was in the store Cozy Home the other day, I found a beautiful picture with a quote on it I wanted to share:

Life is not a race – but indeed a journey. Be Honest. Work hard. Be choosy. Say “thank you”, “I love you”, and “great job” to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you’ve been given, it is not accidental – search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself – plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you’ve been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment.”
~ Bonnie L. Mohr

I really love this quote; I couldn’t afford the picture, so I’m going to have to brainstorm my own way of making it into something pretty!

Thanks for reading!

Big Girl Room Reveal part 2!

Posted by Leanne on September 8, 2011 None comments

Here we go… the reveal!

So I mentioned that this wall paper was my inspiration… the colors followed quickly. Benjamin Moore’s WildFlower for the bottom and Diamond Dust for the top.

The Inspiration

Insert Opera Singer singing “AAaaaaahhhaaaa”

The Bedroom

We Love it!

The Details:

Those curtains were made by yours truly. I found the fabric in the sale section at the local fabric store and got a huge amount of fabric for $10! Since I don’t know how to sew at all, I did all the “stitching” with iron-on-hemming. It was a little tricky, as this fabric is very slippery, but it holds! One day when I learn to sew, I will fix it up properly (maybe!)

walking towards her room

The Wallpaper was found at Home Depot, at about $35 a roll I believe. Now had we wanted to be more thrifty, and had I known about this option, I have since found there’s a couple of very cool wall stencil companies out there, and you can get the same effect for around $40 (but probably a lot more labour!) Two of the companies I have found are 1. Royal Design Studio, and 2.Cutting Edge Stencils (which, I found, has a stencil named Anna, and would have given a very similar look!) For this space, and because of the pattern size on this paper, we used about 3 1/2 rolls. Like I said, my big splurge.

new born and 1 year old pictures

Ribbon for detail

another splurge

This chandelier also came from Home Depot. I can’t remember if it was $40 or $80, but I know I had to wait till her birthday and gave it to her as a birthday present!

Always Remember to Kiss Me Goodnight

When I removed the “Always Remember To Kiss Me Goodnight” wall decal from the wall before the makeover, I was afraid I might have to throw it out, as it got all tangled in itself, and wouldn’t adhere to the wallpaper. But then I got this bright idea - I painted a stretch canvas the wall color, added the decal and the ribbon, and ta-da -Gorgeous!

Quilted by Grandma D

My first "distressing" project

This bookcase was a hand me down 7 years ago for my son. It was handmade by the previous owner, very sturdy, and used to be a dark blue with wood stained shelves. The toy storage also had a door on it which by this time was torn up from rough-play. This is when I found how much I enjoy painting furniture. I primed it once, then painted it in the dark purple color from her walls, followed by 2 coats of paint that matched her other “new” furniture. The distressing was a bit testy. I found the sandpaper took off too much paint, and the original blue would show through. Then I heard that those Mr Clean cleaning pads worked for this, and it did! It worked best if I wet them down first, then went at it…

Purple Distressing

Craigslist Score

This is when I fell in love with Craigslist. I found this dresser, the matching side table, the bed frame, headboard and mattress all for just over $100. Wow. the furniture needed a coat of paint, so I took a drawer into Rona and had the color matched. LOVE.

That doll house was a purchase sight unseen… my sister found it on a fabulous sale due to it being the floor model. She called me up and told me I would love it. I had her pay for it, and I picked it up later that day. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe how gorgeous it was, and how amazing it fit in with the room – almost like we planned the room around the house! But we didn’t. Honest.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

2003

2004

2011

Big Girl Room Reveal!

Posted by Leanne on September 7, 2011 None comments

So, I have mentioned before that our big girl, Anna, received a bedroom makeover lately, and I am so excited to share this with you. But before I do, I am going to take you back, waaaayyy back, to 2003…

this was the room of tonight’s topic, when we first came to look at the house for purchase

Now, just in case the last people who lived in this house read this blog, I will put in here that they rented this house, had I believe 3 teenage daughters, and we showed up with the real estate agent at 8:00 am on a school day. Woops!

Anna's room before

anna's room before

We were blessed to find we were expecting our first child shortly after we bought the house. So our “dump room” at this point, needed a remodel.

baby #1 on the way!

baby room

Jordan

We had a baby boy!

4 years later, along came our #2 baby…

Anna

Having not much money in the budget, and again, thinking the colors of the room that would be passed on to her was very unisex, she moved right on in…. however, all the pink that also moved in, completely clashed with the room.

walking toward her room

Always remember to Kiss Me Goodnight

Pink

Now, you also have to understand, our little anna was born with fire red hair, and is a Diva in the truest form. some people have princesses, we have a Diva. So this bedroom did not suit her at all, which, of course, irritated me. So when baby #3 was coming along, I was thrilled to have the freedom to do a makeover. I had just sold my business, and had a little extra cash for this adventure, so there were a few things I could splurge on. The first splurge was the inspiration for the room: The WallPaper:

So beautiful I could hardly stand it!

…Anyways, I am really tired right now, and still have a hutch and a desk to add another layer of varnish to, so I’m going to leave it at that, and continue tomorrow!! Thanks for reading!

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to school we go!

Posted by Leanne on September 5, 2011 2 comments

Well, this was it…the last day of summer holidays! And wouldn’t you know it, after a summer full of rain, this week is forcasted to be the warmest yet! Figures! I’m looking forward to it, but I must admit, I’m a little nervous about tomorrow! First, I’m nervous we might not get out of the house on time, next it’s because it’s a new school – a whole new list of “rules” to figure out, where to park, where to wait with my children, new parents to meet… all that. I’m not nervous for my son, I know he’ll transfer over just fine!

I have a few projects in the works right now, just nothing to show for it all! There is something wrong between the camera and the computer – I don’t bother myself with the details, my husband is the computer geek, and he’s in charge of the problem… however, here are some things on the go:

I spent 1 1/2 hours glazing my kitchen hutch and desk last night, and I love the way it turned out. It’s very subtle, which was exactly the effect I was going for. Next will be a bunch of applications of varnish, so we don’t need to worry about the abuse it might undertake, being in the kitchen.
I have cut out and am 1/2 way through stitching my first bird for my baby girl’s mobile. This, you must know, is a huge deal for me. Even though this is on a very small scale, the most I have stitched since grade 8 home ec class is mending small holes in our clothes!
today my husband and I attacked the baby girl’s bedroom: we got the window curtains hung, the curtain for the wardrobe hung, and shelves put up. I took pictures of every step, so I can write a tutorial on it, for any of you who don’t have the patience to wait (4 months) for the curtains to go up!
Writing up a tutorial on how to make IceCream! We did it a couple times this year, and although not more $ wise than just buying a huge tub of icecream, it was fun, and DELICIOUS! Yum!
plus, should I write a tutorial on the perfect toe-nail-polish application?! Cuz I really need to get at mine – none of the toes match! So embarrassing, considering I’m a trained esthetician!!

So, since I have no pictures to post for you, I will link you up with a fun little project posted on “Centsational Girl”, I thought would be very handy to make and have. Enjoy! If you make one, let me know about it!

Easy, very cute idea!

The Perfect Crib Mobile

Posted by Leanne on September 1, 2011 6 comments

Perfect!

The theme for my baby girl’s room is birds. This happened completely by accident when my husband’s cousin’s fiance posted a crib quilt she sewed, on Facebook. I fell in love and ordered it for my baby’s room while I was still pregnant with her. Not knowing if I was expecting a girl or a boy, this quilt was the perfect neutral choice. Since then, I have found ‘birds’ seem to be ‘the thing’ right now – I see them in designs everywhere! And I am loving the theme. Standing in her room I decided she needed a bird mobile above her bed, so I headed to the computer and googled it. I love Google. There, I was stoked to find a fabulous idea, courtesy of www.spoolsewing.com. The website even has a free pattern available! Baby girl already has a butterfly mobile above her bed, and since she loves the way it spins and plays music, I will figure out a way to take the butterflies off, and put on the birds instead… but first I gotta get sewing! …did I mention I don’t know how to sew?! This is where my creativity comes in!!