Mission "Dress The Walls": Part One

So here I am, back in BC - back in our nice big rental home... that still doesn't feel totally like home. After all, we did move from a pretty tiny space into this larger home, which means we've slowly been finding pieces to layer in to make it feel more full, more like a family home. 


Right before we left for Boston and Toronto, one thing I decided that I needed to work on when we got home, was addressing our bare walls. The walls were pretty bare back in Toronto, but to be honest, we didn't have a ton of wall space to fill. Not like we have now...

{The Living Room}

{The Front Hall}

{The Front Entry}

{The Hallway}

This means, I'm officially kicking off mission "Dress the Walls". I hope to do so using a combination of items we already have, new purchases and DIY pieces. One of the first places I want to address is our pretty sad looking Master Bedroom. 

{Yup - we still need a headboard, and I'd like some pretty throw pillows}

{That's a HUGE empty wall that I have no idea how to address yet}

Believe it or not, it's  come a long way from when we first moved in and had our brand new king size sheets and duvet on top of our queen size guest mattress, which was laying on the floor with boxes and suitcases surrounding it. Yea, those above photos could be considered luxurious compared to what it once was. I mean, at least now we have a proper king size mattress and bed frame.


Anyway, right before we left for Boston I headed to Chapters and bought 2 Ash Wood & Linen frames that are 20 x 25, with an 8 x 10 opening, to hang over the bed. I love the texture that the linen and wood add to our bedroom.

Since the wall over our bed is pretty large (and empty), I knew we needed something other than the frames to help fill it, and I had the perfect plan in mind. A while back I had spotted a large ampersand at HomeSense, but I wasn't thrilled by the $16.99 price. I figured I could probably make something on my own that wouldn't cost that much. So, while I was home I mentioned it to my parents (who I clearly get my creative genius from! *wink, wink*) and we all brain stormed to come up with a good solution for making our own. 


Before my Mom left for work on Monday, we browsed through both of our computers for a font that gave us a nice looking ampersand. We wanted something that looked nice, and was thick enough that once it was cut out with the scroll saw it wouldn't warp or bend on us. When we found one we liked (sadly we don't remember the font, so I can't share that with you), she printed it off as large as she could and brought it to work to enlarge it to 18" and print on a heavy weight paper.

So, first things first, I grabbed a razor and cut out around the image...

After I was done with the cutting, I had to go out and run some errands, so my wonderful father was kind enough to step in and take over from there. He traced the image onto a piece of plywood he already had in the garage, and then drilled some holes in the middle sections, so that he would be able to cut them out...

Next, he used his scroll saw to cut out the entire thing. With everything cut, he gave it a good sand, and then filled in the areas around the middle sections that had chipped a bit. When that dried, he gave it another good sand, and we were left with this...

This is actually where we are right now. Which means, over the course of the next couple of days I would like to get this painted, get pictures printed for our frames and get everything hung on the wall. I'm pretty excited, not only about this individual project, but about the whole idea of finally getting things up on the walls - this empty house needs some warming up, especially since it already feels like home with the three of us being here together.

I want to know about some of your DIY artwork that hangs in your home? What meaningful, fun and/or unexpected pieces grace your walls? I'd love to be inspired by my blog friends and fantastic readers! 

A Slight Delay

Happy Hump Day! I planned on sharing a bunch of stuff with you this week that I'd been busying myself with, while visiting my parents. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to blog these past few days as I was trying to cross items off my list, and currently, Halle and I are in the air headed back to B.C. 


As crazy as it sounds, I plan to hit the ground running with a few of the things I have up my sleeve, so be sure to check back. I hope to have some lovely stuff to share with you tomorrow! 

Back in My Hometown

Right before we left for this little summer vacation, I was just starting to come out of a decorating rut. I had been feeling stuck for a little bit, not too sure what I wanted to do or how much I wanted to do, but after two weeks away, I've been feeling much more inspired. We've seen and done so much, but one stop in particular had me feeling ready to get back to our home and decorate. While I have been here, in my hometown of Whitby, I just HAD to stop by Michael Penney's store Penney & Co.

I've actually popped in for two visits already. The first was on a Tuesday afternoon, right when he was getting all kinds of new accessories in, and the second was on Saturday, once everything was unpacked and looking really gorgeous. Michael was so friendly and I really enjoyed chatting with him about so much. Both times I left with a couple of little things (of course I could've brought home everything in the store, but I think it would've been really pricey to ship it all). 

Here's a few photos from our first visit (keep in mind he was in the midst of unpacking a ton of boxes and moving things all over the place)...

Loving: The bird and floral prints hung over the sofa, all of the gorgeous throw pillows, and the cards from Rifle Paper Co. on the wall behind the shelves. A card came home with me on each visit.

Velvet sofa, gorgeous throw pillows and those blue and white lamps - what's better than that? (At this point I'm pretty sure Halle was busy rearranging and restyling the paper napkins on the shelves. She entertained herself with those the entire time we were there). 

It was during that first visit to Michael that I told him how excited I was to see a store with some serious staying power pop up in downtown Whitby. If you've been following Michael's blog at all, you've seen some of his other posts about the beauty that exists in Whitby. Though I have moved away (far away now), it will always be home and always hold great memories for me. 

Here's the photos from our second visit when Michael had worked his magic and laid out a ton of his beautiful, new accessories...

How gorgeous are these blue glass bowls and cake plates? The prices were fantastic too, but I knew that getting them back home without breaking them, and then justifying the purchase to B, would be a difficult thing to do right now, so I let them be.

These goblets are so pretty, and they came in a lovely green as well. Let me tell you I was shocked to find out they were actually plastic, and at $7 a piece, they are a perfect addition to your next outdoor dinner party!

Do you see the price tag on that pretty white bowl Yup - only $8! 

A beautiful rainbow of candles! My favourites were those pretty dip-dyed one's. What a nice hostess gift those would make!

This chair had to be my favourite piece in the store. It's an older chair that Michael recovered in that beautiful fabric. If I could, I would bring it home and decorate a whole new room for Halle, just around this chair. 

So there you have it, a recent look at the lovely Penney & Co. If you are in the area (or even the GTA), I highly recommend you swing by. He not only sells all of the beautiful furniture and accessories, he is also taking on clients. I may have got a little peek at some very lovely fabrics he'll be using in a client's home soon. I hope we get to see some photos of that finished room!

So, are you dying to get to his store yet? Let me tell you, I'm already looking forward to going back next month, when I'm in town, to see what's new!

Fancy Friday Love

Well, there was a little less blog reading happening around here this week, as I spent a lot of it running around with Halle squeezing in as many visits as possible, while still trying to do some planning and prep for her party here next month. (The more I can do while I'm here, the better!). I did however find some really pretty and inspiring things - take a peek...


Another great nursery find on Apartment Therapy this week. Love this idea for making hot air balloons, using Chinese Lanterns! Isn't it genius and absolutely perfect?

A week hardly ever goes by where I do not find something to love over on House of Turquoise. This week, I fell in love with this post sharing a beautiful East Hampton home that belongs to designer Patricia Fisher. Just gorgeous!

Besides beach houses, my other weakness has to be a beautiful neutral home. Crisp white. Something like this pretty place in Britain, from 79 ideas. However, I'm understanding more and more these days that white and small children have a hard time coexisting. For now, my white home shall remain only dream... 

Well, Halle & I are still visiting in my hometown this weekend. We have a ton of options for tomorrow, but Sunday we'll be going to a baby shower. We don't fly back to BC until Wednesday, and I have some more stuff to share early next week with all of you. We've been busy, busy and loving every second of it! What are you up to this lovely summer weekend?

Halle's Boston Tea Party - The Birthday Girl

So, you've now seen all of the sweets and decorations that we had at Halle's party at B's parents - so what's left? The most important part of course - our baby girl. Despite having a stuffy nose and a tiny bit of a fever, Halle did excellent at her party (so did B and I considering we got little to no sleep the night before). 

She was in pretty good spirits while we were decorating and getting everything ready for our guests to arrive.

She was all set in her dress and her sweet little ponytail when our guests started to arrive. She also enjoyed the "Halle Birthday" branded water bottles that her Grandma had made. By the time we were ready to get down to all the fun stuff like cake, the pony tail was done and the dress had to come off - not only was she going to get messy, but baby girl was getting way too warm, so a diaper it was for the rest of the day.

As I shared previously, she did pretty okay with the smash cake that we put together for her, but it took a few tries to get from this...

To this...

Which also came after we opened some gifts. Of course, most of the opening was done by myself and B, but she tried to get in there too...

 

She loved giving kisses to that baby in the card (her of course). She got two of those cards, and both times the baby got kisses. Everyone just ate it up.

It really was a perfect day, and we were so happy to spend it surrounded by family and friends - they are the ones that make it so special. We loved catching up with people that we hadn't seen in ages and celebrating our little munchkin. That's it for party #1 - Party #2 will take place next month at my parent's home, and I'll be sure to share a recap with you then, along with some of the projects I'm working on myself. 

Anyone else planning any fun celebrations for this summer? Any big birthday's happening?

Halle's Boston Tea Party - The Decorations

If you missed yesterday, I shared the details of all of the sweets that were on hand at Halle's first birthday party in B's hometown. While everything was tasty, treats alone cannot make a party. So, today I want to share with you all of the beautiful decorations that were there, mostly put together by B's Mom and his sweet cousin. They really did an incredible job and whipped up some really beautiful things - so I'll let the photos do most of the talking for me...

No detail was overlooked. A bunch of little tiny teapots were laid out inside of the house. Of course this one was my favourite! How sweet is this birthday cake teapot?

On the front door hung this sign made by B's Mom! I thought it was so adorable!

Beautiful tea cups galore! So many beauties from B's grandmother, all laid out in the kitchen. After Halle's afternoon nap (during the party of course) we came downstairs to find the ladies enjoying a little tea party at the kitchen table! It was so cute - and who could say no to gorgeous tea cups?

This wreath was just too sweet. B's Mom made it using a styrofoam wreath form, and some pink cupcake liners! So adorable, and looked extra cute hanging on their back door. It may have come home with me to be a part of her party at my parents in August as well!

She also made these little pom poms using styrofoam balls and cupcake liners. I thought hanging them from the kitchen light was a good idea, and they did look great there.

This was a flag that B's Mom purchased on clearance that was an Easter flag. Being the crafty woman that she is, she was able to transform it into Halle's very own birthday flag. Cute, right?

Of course there had to be pearls on hand as well. Halle's favourite was a necklace made with giant plastic bright pink beads. She went nuts over it!

I found this idea on Pinterest (of course) and B's Mom put together this time capsule for guests to leave notes for Halle. I plan to do the same for her party here in Toronto, and then combine all of the little notecards together and give them to her when she is older. 

Plates, forks, spoons, knives and napkins never looked so sweet. B's sweet cousin put together the poster board of Halle's monthly photos. Though I have been posting them regularly here and on Facebook, it blew me away to see all of them together like this. Makes me realize just how quickly time does fly, and how much changes in their first year.

However, my favourite part were these beautiful pieces that B's Mom put together. Using tea pots, cups and saucers, she made some incredibly gorgeous centrepieces.

Looking back on these photos, I realize how many fun little details I wasn't able to, or forgot to capture. I don't really regret it, as much as I wish I could share everything with you, since it means I spent more time enjoying the day with our munchkin and all of our wonderful guests. Plus, we have many more important photos of our little girl enjoying her day. Tomorrow I hope to share the final post on her first party, when I give you a better look at the many faces and experiences of our tiny birthday girl...