Easy Peasy Skirt

I came across a pattern for a skirt from NicoDesigns at http://www.etsy.com/listing/68239695/easy-peasy-skirt-a-basic-you-can-dress?ref=pr_shophttp://
and decided to give it a try! It was super easy, and then I added a ruffle on the bottom.

I found a cute little ruffle shirt from Joe Fresh for $10 and added it on top. This outfit gives me hope that spring is coming soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

A final Valentine's Day craft came about with the age old idea of tissue paper flowers. I was reminded of this idea at a library craft class for my little girls, and decided to add it to my "collection".
Instructions for making tissue paper flowers can be found at http://crafts.kaboose.com/flower2.html

I found these frames either on the side of the road, at garage sales or thrift stores. I painted them white and hung them on little nails. I added felt heart stickers inside the frames and placed the tissue paper flowers in my old bottles found at a thrift store.

Enjoy your day, wherever it may take you!

A Valentine Birthday Party

We had a wonderful party yesterday to celebrate Sofie and Maya's 3rd birthday! I took a few pics of the dresses I made before the craziness of the party!

The cupcakes were a hit...

The parents loved the "wrap your parent in toilet paper" game... (PS..this can be quite humourous when your kids are potty training. My good friend Heather discovered this when her boys tried to wipe her behind!)

Pin the tail on the donkey was a success...way to go Lola who put the tail on the perfect spot on her first try!

Thanks to Auntie Nette and Joe for their balloon expertise!

These gifts were stunning, made by my incredibly creative friend Lidija.


Overall, the day was filled with good friends, good laughs and good food!

The after party turned into a cousin dress up event!



A huge thanks to all our friends and family who have supported, inspired and sustained us through the first 3 years of our little girls' lives.

Party Dress

I finally got around to making dresses for Sofie and Maya's Valentine/Birthday Party! Maya was so exicted to wear the dress that she just had to try hers out today. This dress is really nothing special, just a very simple pattern, but I am so new to using patterns that I am sticking to the same one for now so I can master the "pattern jargon".

Maya was so proud of herself because on a very rare shopping experience with just the two of us, she picked out the gingham buttons because they looked like her Raggedy Andy doll that her Grandma sewed for her!

The shirt underneath the jumper has three fabric roses that add a bit of life to the outfit.

More Valentine Decorating Ideas

Sofie and Maya turn 3 the day after Valentine's Day, and I have been obsessively decorating our home for their birthday/valentine party. Here are a few more ideas to build on my last post.

1. Wood Garland

I found wood branches at the dollar store that inspired me to make a garland with hanging hearts that I had created a few years ago from cardboard, fabric, ribbon and lace. It is all held up by two thumbtacks.

2. Doily Garland
This garland is nothing special, just ribbon, doilies and fabric hearts.

3. Cinnamon Hearts
Who doesn't love these little treats? Just fill a jam jar up with cinnamon hearts and top it off with some cute fabric and ribbon!


4. Valentine Take-Out Boxes
I dreamed up the idea to jazz up my stairwell by hanging valentine take-out boxes from ribbon using scotch tape! Another fabulous dollar store find.

Valentine's Day Craft Ideas

The instructions for these sucker covers came from http://www.craftown.com/Sucker-Covers.html

I created a valentine garland using bias binding tape, paper and alphabet pop-outs from a dollar store.

These tulle balls were easy to make using instructions from http://www.momdot.com/how-to-make-a-tulle-pom-pom-ball.

The flower tins are simply tin cans I saved over the last few weeks and using a glue gun, I stuck on scrapbooking paper, ribbon and lace. I cut little branches down from a bush in my front yard and stuck them into tulle balls and fabric flowers. In order to have the flowers stand up, I went to Walmart and bought styrofoam for flower arrangements. I simply cut the foam to fit the cans and stuck in the branches.

I dreamed up this valentine garland one day when trying to incorporate my new obsession with fabric flowers. I used a thick ribbon, cut a small cross every 4 1/2 inches and used fabric glue and some twisting to stick the flowers in. I then stuck on felt heart stickers from the dollar store in between the flowers. Double-sided sticky circles from the dollar store attached the ribbon to the mantle (I am hoping that they don't strip the paint!).

The love message was created by simply lining up my daughters' blocks.

And finally, these are a few of my daughter's heart crafts!

My Laundry Room Makeover

I finally have completed my laundry room! Now let me first mention that my goal was to redo this room on an extreme budget. The only thing I went to a store to purchase were the curtains and curtain rod (from Zellars) and a kleenex box that inspired the colour scheme. The rest of the makeover involved objects that were either found on the side of the road (the dresser) or found in my house already. It is not perfect (the old paint-covered faucet, pipes and random wires hanging from the ceiling) but it definitely is a treat to walk into my new room to do laundry. Be sure to read my previous post with pictures of the original state of the room!

Ta-Daaaaa! I struggled for a week with how to cover an old window that was covered in ragged plastic and finally came up with the idea of hanging my chalkboard with hooks from the ceiling. The chalkboard was a side-of-the-road pickup that I painted with chalkboard paint.



I painted underneath the washer and dryer and displayed a few of my art pieces to distract from the pipes.



The corner of the room is my favourite part. I created artwork and added an old dress I had found at a thrift store a few years ago, and of course the dresser had a makeover as well. Don't you just adore the fabric?

Now onto...well cleaning up the mess I created outside the laundry room.

*Please excuse the odd lighting in the pictures as it really is a dark room and I tried (rather unsuccessfully) to edit in some light, but I think I went a little overboard.*