DIY Baby Feather Headband

Are you underwhelmed by the giant flower headbands that everyone puts on their baby girls?

Or just looking for something different?

Personally, I like the flower headbands, but I was also looking for something unique. 

I'm really loving feathers these days - on cards, on scrapbook pages… why not on headbands?

Here's a quick and easy tutorial on how to make a feather headband for your little one :) 

Read more »

DIY Stained Mason Jars

Have you seen these coloured mason jars before?

I've seen them in pictures, but I've never seen them in a store!

So I decided to make some. Can't be that hard, right?

Well, its not. And bonus: I had all the necessary tools on hand already.

Read more »

Washi Tape Easter Garland

As time flies by, my love for washi tape only grows. 

Its nothing special, really. I envy the person that came up with it! It's just decorative tape! 

But it has so many simple uses to spice up your life. 

If you don't believe me, just check out my washi wonder Pinterest board. 

Read more »

DIY Wooden Baby Blocks

As a mom, I'm always on the search for cute clothes and toys for my daughter. 

That's why I jumped at the chance to make some DIY wooden blocks for Ellie when I saw

  this template. 

Read more »

St. Patrick's Day: Mommy Style

Now that my girl is a solid 9 weeks old, and thought it was time for me to get back into my old habits. Old habit priority #1: Host a party! 

So I decided to invite some mommies over with their little ones on St. Patrick's Day to enjoy some coffee, some company, and some green treats!

Read more »

St. Patrick's Day Mantle

 

It's that time again! 

Time to change my mantle that is…. 

With a new baby in the house, I'm definitely not headed out this year to celebrate, but I CAN decorate my house for myself and my guests to enjoy! 

Here's how I added some Irish flare this year: 

Read more »

Sunshine Gift Package

Have you ever had a friend or a family member that you felt could use some cheering up? 

I'd say most of us have... only, most of my friends and family live in Ontario, which is five hour flight away from me!
I can give phone calls and FaceTime, but can't stop by with tea and desserts to cheer them up. Can't offer to babysit for them. Can't organize a party. Can't stay up all night chatting.
This is where the ever-popular care package comes into play.
When my friend needed cheering up, I decided to send some sunshine to take away her winter blues.
 I made a "Happy" themed care package (i.e. it was all yellow, lol).

Read more »

DIY Gift Mug

I've seen mugs like this floating around the Pinterest world, so I decided to try and out and make one for myself! Or rather, for someone else :)

Read more »

DIY Baby Closet Dividers

As always, when I'm doing something new, I scour Pinterest for ideas.
I was looking for nursery DIY projects and came across some cool closet dividers for baby clothing.
The problem with all the ones I found, was that they had to be purchased (no thank you!), or they weren't adjustable (i.e. had a permanent 0-3 months stamped across). This doesn't make sense to me because they are only going to be in 0-3 month clothes for 3 months, IF they don't grow fast!

Read more »

Owl Mobile for the Nursery

I'm so happy with this owl mobile that now sits in Ellie's room above her crib :)
I knew that Ellie's room would incorporate many homemade items, and a mobile was always on my list of things to design.
In keeping with the owl theme that I imagined for my nursery way back in this post, I decided to brainstorm ways to make my own owl mobile.
Although I have a sewing machine now, I didn't have one when the brainstorming began, and sewing by hand is not my forte, so I ixnayed that idea, leaving me with the option of knitting or crocheting.

Read more »

Mini Thank You Cards

This post is feeling looong overdue!

Not that there needs to be a timeline on when I post scrapbooking cards or pages, but these cards were made before I had Eleanor... and that seems like a looong time ago. 

Read more »

Chocolate Bar Love Letter

Valentine's Day - the holiday of love. 

With a new baby at home for Valentine's Day, I knew I wouldn't have a chance to run around town looking for gifts for my husband. In lieu of something new, I decided to make something sweet (no pun intended). 

Read more »

Twine Letter for the Nursery

Read more »

I'm a Sewing Machine

Ever since I got my amazing new sewing machine for Christmas, my head has been swimming with projects that I need to learn to sew. So far, I've only learned how to make one project, and I am perfecting my skills! 

This week I found some time to make a few more baby receiving blankets while mom worked on a crocheted blanket for my baby girl :) My skills are slowly improving! 

Read more »

"I LOVE U" Baby Room Frame

Read more »

Birthday Gift for Oma

We were very lucky this year to get to celebrate Oma's birthday with her. 

Usually we don't get to see my mom on her birthday because we live so far away and January is an odd time to travel. Plus we usually would have just gotten back from somewhere over Christmas, sometimes from visiting my parents. 

But this year my beautiful daughter was born in January and since Oma HAD to come meet her (obvi!!), it meant we got to share in celebrating her January birthday too! 

I knew we wanted to have something homemade for her birthday, and that we wanted the gift to represent her first grand daughter too. 

I came up with the idea to make a scrapbook page and frame it for her with pictures of Ellie from her visit. I made the page ahead of time, but we had to be sneaky and go print pictures to add while Oma was here, but without Oma knowing! 

Then, I also wanted to frame some little Ellie footprints. We stamped them so that they looked like hearts. My husband made both the frames in his garage before Oma arrived for her visit and we had everything ready to go when her birthday rolled around. 

The footprints were done when she was just 5 days old! 

We anticipated needing a few sessions to get them all done, but Ellie just let us stamp while she was wide awake! 

We used a water soluble paint to that it was safe for her little toes and washed off easily. 

Here were our finished products up close: 

This is one proud grand parent :) 

Happy [belated] birthday to the very bestest mama and Oma ever! 

We love you VERY much!!! 

{xoxo}

Knitted Nursery Owl

I love decorative owls.
I know owls are a bit of a trend right now... but I'd like to think started the trend, rather than jumped on the bandwagon....
When I began planning out a nursery, I knew I wanted to incorporate owls into the design somehow.
Even in this "early nursery ideas" post I highlighted the idea.

So when I saw this pattern for a snowy owl, I knew I had to make it! 

Finding the extremely soft alpaca wool turned out to be difficult in Grande Prairie, but luckily for me a trip to Edmonton was quickly approaching, and a stop at River City Yarns was only a small detour from where we were staying :)

I was VERY intimidated by the pattern when I first read it, but with help from some very skilled knitting friends, I was able to problem-solve my way though it. 

I sized mine down from the one in the pattern above, cause I didn't want to buy as much yarn, lol. The smaller version is just as cute as the big one I'd say! 

Here's the finished owl for the nursery:

What started out as a stuffed animal for the baby, may end up as a decoration... for mom, lol. 

After all that hard work, I don't want it to get ruined!
Next step is to use my newly acquired and specialized knitting skills to recreate a white owl - so they can sit on the shelf together :)

{xoxo}

Knitted Baby Hats

Knitting is so rewarding. 

It's so easy to learn, and so easy to become moderately good at. 

PLUS, you can easily do it was you're 9 months pregnant, don't feel like moving, and ready to pop :) 

Here are the dogs keeping me company while I knit a baby hat:

You can see the pattern for this super easy hat here. 

My friend found the pattern and warned me that I could make them quickly - but seriously, they're easy! I finished both of these in one night. 

Couldn't just make one, because I don't know if I'm having a boy or a girl yet... but I'll keep one, and the other one will make a lovely baby shower gift for someone :) 

I can just picture these cozy hats on the baby's head now :) 

So excited!

We'll see how much time I have before the babe gets here - maybe I'll get some booties done too! 

Pregnancy and knitting are a good combination! 

{xoxo}

[Belated] Christmas Crafts

This post is a tad belated... but I still wanted to share so read on!

 My husband and I have a tradition of creating Christmas crafts together each year.
The first year we painted ornaments. The second year we decorated picture frames.
This is our third year and we seem to be getting more ambitious!

This year, inspired by a picture in a magazine, my amazingly talented husband MADE these items from scratch in his garage for us to decorate!
I'm so impressed by his talent.
The truck is meant to resemble our truck, so obviously he took all of the little details seriously.

 I got out everything we needed to decorate and we got started.

Here's how the pieces evolved: 

 The trees and the truck were painted.
We were a bit late finishing the craft this year, but these items will definitely make for a nice display in Christmas 2014.

The boxes were decorated with Christmas scrapbook paper using Mod Podge.
I'm excited to add some ribbons, labels, and other little touches when I put them out next year.
Who knows... maybe I'll even hide a gift in one box one year!

This marks the official end to our Christmas season here.
I even packed these decorations up for head to Christmas storage.
I'm sure next years craft will look very different, as it has to include the new baby somehow.
Little hands or footprints? Is 11 months too small for finger painting?
Who knows!  Lots to look forward to!
Hope you liked our 2013 Christmas craft :)

{xoxo}

Hot Chocolate Bar

Decided to try something new (again) for a Christmas party we were hosting at our place this year :)
We made a very delicious crock-pot creamy hot chocolate, and provided a plethora of (adult) drinks and treats for our guests to flavour and decorate their own drinks:)

Check our our Hot Chocolate Bar!

Obviously a hot chocolate bar must start with delicious hot chocolate :)
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups whipping cream
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups milk
2 tsp pure vanillla extract

I doubled this recipe and it just fit inside my crock pot :)

Combine everything and cook on low for a 2 hours (or longer if you double it!).
Whisk it every 30 minutes to an hour to make sure the chocolate chips are getting melted and mixed in.

I made tags for each of the toppings I provided - with cute little washi tape designs on them :)

The toppings I provided: 

Chocolate chips

Toffee bits

White chocolate chips

Mini marshmellows

Peppermint sticks

Cinnamon sticks

Chocolate stir sticks

Hazelnut/chocolate sticks'

Whipping Cream

Red and green sprinkles

Caramel flavouring

If it's an adult party... you can also provide:

Peppermint Schnapps

Baileys

Amarula 

Frangelico

or Kahlua

Then enjoy a steamy cup of creamy delicousness :) 

You WILL be asked for this recipe! 

Guests went back for seconds (despite how sweet and filling it is!) because this hot chocolate was so good!

Drink up!

{xoxo}