Monday, February 28, 2011

The Crate

The other day I made a little trip to a couple of antique stores in town. I wasn't sure if I would get anything, but I did want to see if they had any old crates for sale. I've been keeping an eye out for old crates for some time now and I'm happy to say that I found one! It's an old evaporated milk crate with faded red and blue letters. There's even an image of a cow on the front. I love it! 


Because the lettering on the front is upside down the owner gave it to me for cheaper, so I paid $15. I'm not sure if this is actually a decent price because I haven't been able to find many old crates here to compare prices with. However, this one is sturdy and I love the colours, so it is worth it to me.


Now it happily sits beside my couch to house some books and magazines! I'll probably move it around a lot and have some fun finding new ways to use the crate. Initially, I actually wanted to use the crate as a wall shelf. I've seen this done a few times and I think it looks so cool!

Image found here.

Image found here.

I'd still like to try this, but for now these images will go in my inspiration folder! On the same trip to the Antique store, I also found an old window, but I will blog about that later!

I hope you all have a fabulous Monday!


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Cushions, Cushions, Cushions!

I think I can safely say that throw cushions are my favourite accessory. If I see pretty fabric, my first thought is of what a lovely cushion it would make. If I have a little spending money and I'm in a home decor shop, my eyes immediately find the cushions. If I want to make some changes in a room, the first things I think of are... you guessed it, throw cushions. I don't exactly know why I love cushions so much, but I have a few ideas...

They can add a ton of texture and colour to a room.



They are an accessory that can make a big difference if you are looking to make some changes, but don't want to break the bank! 


Lastly, they are easy to sew yourself and can be made from all sorts of different things. Like button-up shirts...

Pretty cloth napkins...


And old sweaters...


Oh, and let's not forget that they are just simply comfy and cozy! How can I refuse such a multi-functional and delightful little object?

Anyway, I suppose you'll now have no trouble guessing what my plans are for a lovely piece of linen that I recently purchased from this Etsy shop...


Photos from Unique & Shiny

I ordered the blue floral and I can't wait to get it in the mail- not that I, in any way, need another throw cushion! :)

P.S. If you are looking for some more ideas for handmade pillows, check this out!
P.P.S. I'm linking this up to Good Life Wednesdays over at A Beach Cottage!

*All photos are from Martha Stewart unless otherwise stated.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Weekend Walks

Well, the weekend is over and I'm back to work today. I had a lovely weekend though, and that always makes going to back to work a little easier. Yesterday, Patrick and I went to a park here called Seal Bay and took the trail down to the beach. It was so beautiful! We've only lived here for 6 months, so there are still many areas we haven't explored and this was our first time to Seal Bay. Sometimes, I'm totally blown away by how gorgeous it is here and as silly as it sounds, sometimes I forget that we're on an island and are surrounded by ocean!


You can see the Coast Mountains in the distance. On a clear day, they are stunning!



We enjoyed our little exploration together. At the end of last week I took some more pictures on one of our walks so I thought I'd share them. It was a clear morning and this is an area very near to our cottage.




The first signs of spring. Ironically, later this day we had a snowfall!



This is the Filberg Lodge- a heritage home in the park.


At the shore...


See what I mean? It really is beautiful here and I feel very lucky! Anyway, I have to go and get ready for work and I have to clean something out of my fridge because it is smelling rather stinky. I hope you had a wonderful weekend also! I'll be back a little later with some of my recent finds!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A Giveaway!

I just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know that my new blog friend, Courtney, is having an amazing giveaway over at her lovely blog, Honeycomb Creative Co.You can use this link or click the button in my sidebar to head over! Here's a little preview of what she's giving away...

(picture from Honeycomb Creative Co.)

Amazing right? I love absolutely everything in this giveaway! The lavender reminds me that I want to try and grow some this year, then I can hang and dry bundles of it! Mmmmm!

Anyway, go on over to her blog and enter in that giveaway. Plus, she giving away a special gift to the person who becomes her 100th follower!

Monday, February 14, 2011

A Shade of Green

Good morning and Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you're all having a lovely start to the day. My husband and I don't have much planned to celebrate, but that is fine with both of us! Perhaps we'll make last minute dinner plans or I might pull out my apron and bake something sweet. We'll see!

Anyway, the other day I made a little change to the chalkboard in our kitchen. The frame went from white to green. It all started because I had some extra paint in a lovely green shade that I desperately wanted to use on something in our home. I happened to have this green paint because I have been helping a friend of mine make some minor changes to her home and one of our tasks was painting her coffee table. We started out by painting it green to add a little fun and colour to her living room, but once we made some other changes we realized it totally stuck out. And not in a good way. So, we covered up the lovely green and painted it black which ended up working much better. And this is how I ended up with some green paint.

I really love the colour green and I have been thinking lately that I would like to try and add some touches of green throughout our home. Just some small touches to make me happy! I think what got me going on the green is the baker's stand that our TV rests on! It is an antique piece that some family friends gave to Patrick and I and it is one of my favourite pieces of furniture! On the inside of the doors is an old green paint and whenever I have the doors open and see the green in the room I love it! So, I decided that a little green paint in our kitchen would be nice. Plus, I had a can of paint in one hand and a paintbrush in the other and I was really looking for something to paint... do you get that way too? And so, the chalkboard ended up being the subject of my latest painting rampage.



While we're in this corner of the kitchen, I'll also show you a vintage-looking cake tin that I found at the thrift store the other day. It's enamel and the inside is kind of a biscuit colour. I'm so happy I decided to buy it. When I go to thrift shops, if I find something right away I usually take it around with me in the store while I peruse the various sections and then at the end I decide if I'll buy it or not. This beauty happened to make the cut and I'm very happy it did!



On the same trip that I found the cake tin, I also bought some old wooden spoons, an old cutting board and an old wooden rolling pin. When I got home, I put them up on the wall in this same end of the kitchen.



The little clay heart hanging from the shelf was a Christmas gift from a student (I teach art classes for kids two days a week). I believe she found the heart at a little farmer's market on one of the smaller islands near where we live. Here's a close up so that you can see all the pretty details.


So, there you have it! My newly green chalkboard and some of my latest thrift store finds! Also, you may have noticed some changes to my blog's appearance... in my little green kick, I decided to change it up a bit. I'll do this from time to time. I just have so much fun experimenting with changes like this!

Well, I have to be going now, but I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

P.S. I have linked up this post to Sarah's Good Life Wednesdays at A Beach Cottage and Linda's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

My First Quilt and Some Knitting!

I'm going to interrupt my usual posts about home decor to share with you my latest sewing and knitting projects! But, before I delve into those thrilling topics, I'd like to send a huge 'Thank You' out to Courtney from Honeycomb Creative Co.! She gave me a wonderful introduction on her blog! She is so sweet and you should most definitely pay her a visit. She has gorgeous style and a beautiful blog!

And now, onto the creative endeavors in my life. I am a knitter and I recently knit myself the most girly, flouncy and more importantly, cozy slippers! Are any of you fans of 'Little Women'? I sure hope so. I LOVE it and having grown up in a family of all girls I can completely relate. Growing up we didn't have cable, so we were always having to find alternate ways to entertain ourselves. Among other activities, one of our favorite pastimes was creating and acting in our own home movies or plays, much like the March girls. My sister, Kristen and her best friend were usually the masterminds behind the productions and I was usually an actor or stagehand. Anyway, back to knitting. The reason I brought up 'Little Women' is because the slippers I knit are called the 'Amy March Slippers' (for any of you that knit and are interested in the pattern you can find it here, though you will need a Ravelry account to see it). I wouldn't call myself girly, but these slippers were too adorable not to have, plus they were a fun and easy project. Here they are...



As well as knitting, I also enjoy sewing projects and I recently completed my first lap quilt. It's a very simple quilt, but I am in love with it and it is wonderful to curl up with! I'm not sure if I would have the patience or stamina to complete a large quilt, but maybe some day I'll try. For now, I'm happy with my little lap quilt. Here she is...



And a couple of close ups...



So anyway, that's what I've been up to lately! Do any of you knit or sew? What creative projects have you taken on lately?

P.S. This post has been linked up to Good Life Wednesdays at A Beach Cottage!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

What a Week!

Whew! This has been such an exciting week for me in the blog realm! It all started when I found out that I won a giveaway from Deb at Homespun Living! This is first time I have won a giveaway and I can't wait to get the adorable wallet and notebook she made! Thank you so much Deb!


(the above photos are from Homespun Living and were taken by Deb!)

The next exciting thing happened when Jenny from Red House introduced me to her blog friends! Thank you, Jenny!

Then, my week got even more exciting when I linked up a post to the 'Good Life Wednesdays' blog party over at Sarah's A Beach Cottage and I was connected with so many people!

And then, topping everything off, Brenda from Cozy Little House featured me in her Welcome Wagon Friday post! Thank you so very, very much for welcoming me to the community!

 It's so exciting to be able to communicate and share creativity within such a huge group of people from all over. I love seeing all the wonderful ideas out there in the blogging community and I'm happy to be able to share my ideas too! Thank you to everyone who has been stopping by. I have loved to hear all of your kind comments and I'm happy to have made so many new blog friends! 

I can't count the number of times I startled my husband this past week with my yelps of excitement! I have been in such a tizzy... I even had to double spell check this post because I kept typing the same word twice, or skipping out words entirely! This is not uncommon for me, though. As a child my parents thought I had a speech impediment. However, when they took me to the speech therapist, she informed them that I was simply, too excited and speaking so fast that I was skipping words altogether. Apparently, this trait also carries over into my blogging.

This has pretty much been my facial expression this week:


Okay, and here's my version:


Anyway, I just want to thank everyone again and can't say enough how excited I am to be a part of this community!
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