The Christmas Table

T'was the night before Christmas, the table setting was prepared and linens pressed. The pudding was on a low simmer on the oven top while the crust was warming in the oven below. The night before I had prepared a delightful arrangement of roses and fresh pine and polished the fine crystal... so what was left to do (besides making sure the pudding didn't burn?) fill every inch of our wonderful home with Christmas!

I wanted to share with everyone the delightful idea I had come up with on a budget for this holiday table! I remember when I was young, my mom would have the most distinguished table setting, traditional settings, with large chandeliers gracing things table delightfully playing in the candle light. I think as we all get older Christmas fades from being about gifts and what we give or even what receive as being replaced by the Christmas dinners with family and friends. The conversation of a year well done, the amazing travels or life experiences that we have encountered. The things I remember the most of my moms home was the warmth of Christmas spirit - A combination of candles glowing, music playing and a extra heaping Christmas plate. As we've gotten older I've also began to see my dad open up and begin to tell the stories of our Christmas's past or of our journey to Canada from France.

So what was the budget for the table? 50$ (or less... preferably less) Drum roll please! 16$ ribbon, 21$ flowers, 15$ Table Cloth, 5$ tea lights! If my Christmas math is correct it was a total cost of 57. Not too shabby.

So without further hush hush, I'll show you the first place setting before I went all out!

Are you ready for the big finally? I sure was! After ironing the table 5 times washing it then ironing it again 5 more times, I think that me and this table cloth don't have "The love" but finally after hours at the iron, my grandma had shared some pressing secrets to a tidy table cloth!

Then I had to quickly bustle lover to the store nearby and grab some flowers so that I could make a perfect setting.



So here we are, waiting for our friends and family to arrive, to sing and laugh. But until then, I'll still be here... pie simmering with some candles lit and Judy Garland saying the most wonderful words "Have yourself a merry little Christmas now".



The Perfect Peacock

With the holiday season blooming, the Christmas shoppers bustling I always like to take a moment to sit down and refect on this years blessings. Christmas presents nestled under the tree, cookies baked, Christmas cards sent. All for what I call the perfect moment. Andy Williams Christmas vinyl playing, the sweet aroma of pine flowing freely in the air lighting the warmth of the Christmas spirit all around you. Friends new and old gathered sipping on a beautiful red. Perfect.

I was lucky enough to get a bit of a Christmas challenge this year! Rhys Mother was looking for a tree change (and I don't mean the upside down Christmas trees!). She was wanting to have her total tree revamped. Rhys and I had wanted to do something special for his mom, something with bright colours (she loves peacock green and blue). And with a more modern twist for her lovely new condo. Lets take a peek at what we have to work with!

Before:

We were given the sky as the limit for colour choices and styles with a budget of 60$. Now, I will say that under normal circumstances.... and those of you who decorate your Christmas trees splendidly, 60$ can be a bit of a tight pinch. But with Michael's, coupons, some left over peacock feathers from his moms wedding this past year we were able to pull a little Christmas miracle of our own.
After:

Some really cool things we did to cut corners and get more bang four our buck: that tree skirt underneath? It's not a tree skirt at all, we actually thought on a sixty some dollar budget that a twenty some dollar tree skirt would just eat up way too much of what we had to spend so we went out and got a window panel and wrapped it around the tree for 5$! I find to get that beautiful "full" tree look, the easiest thing is to use outside fillers, twigs, branches, flowers, ribbon, feathers. Fill that tree to express who you are. Care to take a closer look at the topper!?

Well! With the snow falling down as I sit down here at my home, the home made hot chocolate warming on the stove, the cookies freshly baked I look forward to a visit from Santa.

Wishing you a happy holiday season :)

Christmas Fever!

Here we are again, three hundred and sixty five (or so) days from where we were last year when the anticipation for Christmas would begin to build. I remember as a child I knew that Christmas was about to begin when we would get a beautiful parcel from SEARS in the mail, the wishbook. I would take it everywhere with me, school, home and bed that catalogue would be my new best friend for several weeks. Of course as any child, I knew the selection of the gift I’d write to Santa for was of utmost importance. Not to mention careful thought had to go into how good I was this year.... good enough to get remote control car... or perhaps only good enough to ask for a GI-JOE? After all if anything, growing up with 3 brothers I had a clear understanding of how Santa rated my overall kindness throughout the year.

Christmas hasn’t changed much for me over the years. Previously it was gifts and St. Nick, now my mind is ravished with gestures of kindness, gatherings with friends and soul food. But nothing has ever warmed my soul (In Canadian winters sometimes we need a little warmth!) as the day we would put up the Christmas tree. I’m about to share with you some family secrets of how to get that tree perfect and prepared for the holiday season.

STEP 1: Let there be light! – Did you know that one of the most common mistakes is lack of light? The rule of thumb for lights is 100 Lights per foot (7ft 700 lights) it’s what gives it that mystical glow, not to mention the warm feeling that draws you towards it.

 Or the view from my bed as I wake up (yes I get up turn it on and run back into bed and pretend towake up! Don't lie, you do it too)

STEP 2: Bigger is Better! – I myself have fallen victim to the “awww... look how cute that ornament is” only to bring it home and realize that it’s the smallest ornament I’ve ever seen. To get that department store look, it’s a must to grab some larger ornaments. We place these on the tree first, evenly apart so the tree doesn’t look to cluttered on one side.

STEP 3: Medium and small: Now I grab hand full’s of the small or medium ornaments and spread them out over the tree working top to bottom, just keep in mind you will need more as you get closer to the bottom. Keep them spaced apart but don’t be afraid to have some close together. Clutter in the right amount and spots can give the tree a charming feel.

STEP 4: “La Tree Topper”: I’m going to tell you what most people don’t like to hear, I’m not a fan of angels or stars. Tradition tree toppers have their place and can be quite stunning, but I’ve always felt doing something more personal can really add that zest you’re looking for. In a majestic mood? Add some Peacock feathers... Feeling childish? How about placing a teddy bear on your tree? Want something more modern? Add some sparkle with strands of mirrors! The key to a stunning topper is make it you!

STEP 5: Ribbons!: Get depth by adding ribbon, strands of beads or stuff your tree with branches, flowers and twigs. Remember there is no right and wrong way with how you’d like your tree to look.

Here I am November 12th ready and waiting as always for Santa, friends and the perfect moments that come every Christmas. Let's decorate!

Mirror, Mirror on the wall....

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post some of the progress of the balcony. I won’t lie, I’ve been procrastinating, turns out even being frugal and saving money at every corner you still want to not spend money. Or at least since my trip I’ve been thriftily trying to cut corners to save even more money. So that’s meant a lack of spending in the balcony department.

Have no fear! I have good news blog readers that I can share  with you, I Michael being of sound mind and semi awesome waves have completed a project of a lifetime (for under 6$ to boot!). Wondering what that project is? The sad mirror...

There it is in all it’s glory, lonely, queue IKEAS sad song for the lamp in the rain. -> Was I the only one that watched that commercial and actually felt sorry for the lamp? <- now you may be asking yourself now... what could he possibly do with this cheap hand me down mirror? Let me tell you! (alas I did not photo the project because well that might have been a smart idea grrr)

Step 1: Remove mirror from old frame (which was surprisingly harder than I had anticipated)

Step 2: Cut new frame out of 1x4’s so that its slightly smaller than the mirror. I made it simple by using those 90 degree angle cutting cubes that you can get at WALMART or HOMEDEPOT that we already had here from doing the sectional.

Step 3: Put the pieces together, I used regular carpenters glue for the corner, several screws from every angle and a nail, believe me those bad boys aren’t going anywhere.

Step 4: Connect mirror to the frame. So simple, I used mirror anchors, the kind that people use to hang mirrors in there bathroom.

Step 5: Super glue. **insert mohahah here** I rounded the frame with gorilla glue just for that added security and so it wouldn’t move around at all. No one wants 7 years bad luck!

Step 6: Stain, and spray on finish. Which I’ve put in one step since it took a full day to do but really took no time at all.

And after all that hard work (use your mind to in vision the process) we finally come up with this new fabulous mirror that really adds a special something to the outside!

So that’s one small step for the balcony and one giant step closer to completion! What’s next? Well we are finishing up the frames and getting ready to add them to the walls, then we are done line dinner!

A Poof by any other name?

Happy birthday party day! Well I wanted to post a quick little something because I have something exciting to share with you. This year most of the things at the party were handmade (except for the flowers... I’m not that talented yet). So I found these “Pom Pom’s” all over the web... the thing is that you can find them at Martha Stewart or Michaels for like 8 bucks for 3.... which is pretty pricy for something  that is a simple pimple to make. How you ask?

You just take a regular piece for tissue paper (I found 8 was a good number) and you accordion fold them.

So once you’ve done accordion folding it, then it’ll look something like this: see! So simple! And that’s really the hardest thing, then you just separate the paper pulling it towards the center on both sides to get a full wonderful ball!

And the great thing is you could make as many as you want, hang them from the roof of even have them all over the floor! – and guess how much each one costs to make? 50 cents for the big ones and 25 cents for the small ones.... you could really make as many as you want!

So here’s some in a group! Or you can have them alone! I made one massive one, but net party I’d see how big I could actually make one... A gigantic sized one? Hmmm!

As for right now, I’ve baked some almond shortbread cookies and have some teas steeping! We’re pretty ready for the party tonight! Now just to add guests!

"Old Fashion Birthday Party"

When I was growing up one of the fondest things that I remember about my youth is spending the summers in Ontario with my grandparents. The beautiful lakes, the wonderful cooking that my grandma would always prepare (something Ukrainian smothered in sour cream) and the camp side fires beside a small lake outside of Kenora called blue lake. A particular summer the weather hot, the sky blue and the lake cool. During the afternoon I remember coming up from the lake to the camp site parched. When I arrived at my grandparent’s camper I was greeted by the familiar smile that my grandmother always had on her face, pleasant and welcoming. She had a tray of glasses filled with ice tea, the funny thing is at this moment where I grabbed the glass of the tray and began to sip on my cool tea (yes I said thank you) I remember the glasses, covered in blue stripes with sail boats and a large sunset. The funny thing is I’ve been trolling the web trying to find the exact glasses to show you all the inspiration to my birthday party this year. I loved the colourful bright cheeriness of the summery vessels (not to under appreciate my amazing BLACK AND GOLD themed party last year). So here’s what a love for old school cups and a fresh wonderful memory can offer a “Good Old Fashion Birthday Party”.

I actually did have a few hiccups on the way of design awesomeness. These fans actually were originally meant to hang from the ceiling.... which became a really big problem when I found out that living in a concrete building with a concrete roof might hinder sticking pins up on the ceiling to hold them up. So there came an idea: I used sticks and taped them to the sticks to create sunny flowers/sunset bursts (not bad right?)

Since I believe even like with decor in a home you need to have a focal point you need to have a accent wall which came out perfect in the form of a streamer wall. Call me old fashion (haha get it?) but I think there isn’t anything as beautiful as a good streamer wall.

Something that I’ve always been told by my roomie (the lovely and talented Karen) is that I tend to go crazy and hate the idea of everything I pick out then have an intense calm and love it after it completed – It’s what she calls “my creative process” Lets take a full look at the room

And some more lovely pictures of the hallway right as you enter the house and go to the main room.

At this point you might be asking yourself “Where are the people?” Yes I am one of those people that decorate a day early. If there is anything that I’ve learn it’s that the best way to have a wonderful birthday is to prepare everything in advance that way you yourself can enjoy the whole night with your friends playing games and relaxing (A tip that my wonderful mother had taught me – the ultimate party planer)

So here I am for the rest of the night, in a party ready room asking myself – Why can’t my birthday be right now? After all I’m ready. I guess the moral here is that I’m 100% prepared to wow my guests tomorrow with a buffet of amazing food and a fun packed evening with a low budget of 40$ Stay tuned! Party stories and meal menu to follow!

Amazing Patio

Remember how a few days ago I was telling you about that surprise that I was going to have finished? Well I have finally put on the last coat of finish so it’s nice and smooth and it’s ready to see. You had probably noticed in all of our pictures that we had created a side piece for the DIY sectional (for more info on how to make your own check this link out!) despite the fact that it looked a little out of place it served 2 purposes 1. It made a nice place to lean up against that wasn’t railing 2. It gave us a smidge more privacy from the office building across the street (hi guys!) So lets take a sneak peak at the before:

And a new look at the after (et voila!):

Now I’m not bragging but I was pretty pumped about the mini green pillow (as you know Karen and I love all home decor that’s green) which was an awesome super cheap find at superstore for a total of 5$... not too shabby right?

I’ll be the first to admit it’s a love hate relationship, I actually find that I love the colour itself... I just don’t know if we are in love with the idea of that colour there. So what did we do the night that we got it all set up? Well we put on some brazillian jazz (if you haven’t heard it try it you’ll love it for the next summer party you host) had a big glass of red and ate strawberries till about 1 in the AM... despite the fact that we both love going to bed early every once and a while you have to take advantage of a beautiful downtown view, with red and a sparkling candle lit party.

So lets take a look at our list to go:

Finish side thingy

Get bigger pillows/possible bum cushions

Finish building frames for back wall

Do mirror project for old mirror

Get unique piece of something for beside bench

Talk to plants

Find pendant lantern (or build)

Find another banana fiber rug

Almost done I can feel it. So tomorrow it’s off to home depot, than possible value village and of course one last little thing – it’s almost my birthday! – who’s happy? It’s me!

Before and Progress

We’ve come a long way baby! It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a few short weeks since we took this picture here:

I know what you’re thinking. Way to show progress! We are very excited that things are finally shapeing up and starting to show really what the space had been drawn as several months before. Although I have to be fare when we were putting this little balcony together I did have some pretty crazy moments... the ones where you look at the space and say... oupps... not to worry! They ironed themselves out and everything feel together.... So lets see where we are and where exactly we started

2 months ago:

Then add some pots 1.5 months ago

Vacationing... nothing gets done.

Brings us to 1 week ago

Finally.... Here:

No we are in the process of doing something rather unique... the bad part... so far I don’t like it (and I’ll be honest I’m pretty sure Karen doesn’t either) but I’m a firm believer in order to really know if something doesn’t belong you have to finish the space and then decide, so that’s exactly what I plan on doing. -> what is it? Well I’ll show you all in a few days here once it starts to dry out!