Ideas For An End-of-Summer BBQ

  The end of summer is almost here. It's sad, but true. To send summer out with a bang, why not throw an end of summer or Labour Day party? We plan to.

  Here's some ideas that are inspiring me to make our party just a bit more festive.

Don't you just love the look of bunting? I don't know what it is, but it's just so darned cute! I'm thinking of whipping some up with some colourful handkerchiefs from the dollar store.

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Continuing with the handkerchief theme, I might make a table runner to match. :) 

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And use them as napkins with the cutlery in mason jars. The mason jars can also be used as glasses. 

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Adding some mason jars with brightly coloured flowers would be pretty. 

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And because our meal is a pot luck, I'm thinking of making some of these so people can label what they brought.

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I'm all inspired to party now! How are you ending your summer?

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Enjoy your day,

An Old Friend Gets A Makeover

  

  Years ago, when my grandpa was moving into an assisted living home, he had an auction to sell off his & my granny's estate. We, as a family spent the day at the auction, helping out. My parent's told my brother & I to let them know if there was anything of our grandparent's that we really wanted. As a teenager, I didn't always speak up & let my thoughts be known. (In fact, I'm still learning to speak my mind.) Anyway, that whole day I had my eye on this mustard coloured stool. I loved the retro look. It reminded me of playing pool in my grandparent's basement because that's where it's home was. But... I didn't tell my parents. 

  Most of the day went by & finally this stool came up for bid. Because I hadn't said anything to my parents about my desire to have it, someone else bought it. I was kinda bummed & finally mentioned it to my parents that I really wished I could have had that stool. 

  My parents were so nice about it & didn't give me a hard time. They went to the people who had just bought it & explained that that stool was the one thing that this man's grand daughter really wanted. The people were very understanding & accepted what they had paid for it in return. 

  I got grandpa's stool after all! And learned a lesson in speaking up...

  After years of use & after our two kids came along, the stool had seen better days. But alas, the stool holds a lot of  sentimental value for me. I was not willing to let it go. (Which is saying a lot for me. I rarely have a hard time getting rid of things.)

 Finally, last month my mom (who happens to be an interior decorator - I know: Score! Love you mom!) & I took the stool & went in search of an upholstery shop. We found a great place that specializes in boat upholstery & therefore had a ton of vinyl to choose from. 

  I chose a dark grey with a bit of veining to make it look more like leather. I took the legs off before hand & spray painted them a glossy black.

  

My old friend looks new again & we are enjoying the new look so much!! I wish I could say I upholstered it myself, but since I've never upholstered in my life, I wasn't willing to practice on such a special piece. 

I left it to the professionals. 

I love it!!

Enjoy your day!

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This project was featured on:

Map Wall Art

Several weeks ago, I posted about our family room & a few of the changes I wanted to make in the space.

I'm happy to say I have another project complete!

Here was my original list:

• New artwork above the couch - done!
• New artwork for T.V. wall - done!
• Makeover the little table my map lamp sits on
• Paint the dress-up box (to the right of the couch)

I wanted something a little less boxy to go on the wall over the T.V. Because the T.V. isn't centred on the wall, it was awkward to hang rectangular art on that wall. I needed something more free form.

I had these embroidery hoops in my crafting box & a bag of maps from my parent's travels. I put the two together & in about 10 minutes, I had new art!

I also really like how the maps nod to the map lamp that's in the room too. :)

Enjoy your day!

I link up to these great parties

This project was featured at:

Home Tour (Part 7) : The Family Room

  Wow, it's been several months since I shared the next instalment in my Home Tour. It's about time I showed you another room! 

  I must admit to you that the reason I haven't showed you this room is because I'm not in love with some of the furniture. We are hoping to be able to replace some of it soon, but for now it is what it is. 

  So here's the family room as of last week...

  Sorry about the bad lighting. This room is hard to photograph since it's in our basement & there's no natural light.

Here's what this room looked like when we bought the house. 

Pretty much a blank, boring, & somewhat dirty slate.

(And look how little my daughter is! That was almost 5 years ago now...)

 
  So, as you can see, we ripped up the old, dirty carpet & laid laminate flooring. We painted the walls & trim (No more periwinkle door!) and we updated the lighting.

My Ikea Expedit Bookshelf which I love!

Here are my ideas of how to spruce up the space while we wait for some new furniture:

• New artwork above the couch (I'm in the middle of working on this one & should be able to show it to you next week.)
• New artwork for T.V. wall
• Makeover the little table my map lamp sits on
• Paint the dress-up box (to the right of the couch)

And because we all enjoy before & after shots...

Ta-da!

So, be sure to come back next week for the art project I'm working on for this room.

Here's a little sneak peek:

Haha! Can you guess what it is?? :)

Have a great weekend! See you next week!

Valentine's Vignette

I have to tell you that I don't usually do any decorating for Valentine's Day. 

But this year I was feeling pretty inspired by all the pretty mantels I've been seeing. 

Small problem. I don't have a mantel. 

Bah! That can't stop me!

So I started looking around our house. When I got to the piano, I stopped. It's deeper than a mantel top, but our antique piano has plenty of space to do a vignette. 

Off I went.

Another problem. After looking around, I found almost nothing to use for my desired Valentine vignette. I had red books, a pink candle, & the felt "Love" sign I had purchased at a dollar store a couple of years ago.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this display since it's not up for very long, so I started to create. 

I went & bought some bulk Valentine candy & displayed them in clear jars.

The button stash came out & I made a little button heart, mounted it on some pink fabric, & displayed it in an embroidery hoop.

This old frame was hiding out under our guest bed. 

I painted it white with some craft paint to go with the Valentine theme.

This paper heart garland was so easy to make! Paper, a paper cutter, & a stapler is all you need! 

The idea came from The Wedding Chick's blog. Check out the link for the measurements & photo instructions.

My daughter is thrilled with this garland & is begging to have it in her room after Valentine's Day. :)

 So... do you decorate for Valentine's Day? Do you decorate differently each year or the same each year?

Love day is getting ever closer! But hey, don't wait... share some love today!

Enjoy your day!

This project was featured on:

Boy's Bedroom Inspiration

  If you've had a look through my Grand Tour Page, you'll have seen most of the rooms in our house. There are a few I haven't blogged about though. Mostly because I'm not 100% satisfied with the results of a couple of the rooms. One of those rooms is my son's bedroom. Last summer, we gave his room a fresh coat of paint & he was blessed with a cool loft bed. It's a start.

  But I've at last come up with a plan. Here it is!

 I'm wanting to repaint his old dresser into something like this, using the numbers of his birthdate:

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Create some wall art like this... using his name & maybe some of his interests:

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He needs some cushions for his reading chair as well. I'm looking at creating some like this. Maybe one with a letter & one with a number? 

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  Now that I have some kind of a plan, I feel like I can tackle this room. Here we go!

Enjoy your day!

On A Map Quest

  Maps... they bring me a sense of excitement. Probably because my husband & I love travelling so much. So when I see old maps used in clever ways, it really brings a smile to my face. 

Here's several favourites I've spied over the last little while...

Cover some old shoe boxes in maps & use as a nifty storage solution.

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Cut out a bit of several maps that represent your favourite places 

and frame them together as a nice reminder of your travels.

Frame a vintage map.

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Use a map to brighten up a drab dresser.

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Cover some wooden letters spelling out the place on the map.

Cut an old globe in half & use as a bowl.

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Cut letters out of an old map (or sheet music) to add a nice alternative to a gift tag.

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Cover an old trash bin with a map.

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Add some fun colour to a monogram.

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Make some pretty pinwheels for your desk.

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Make light pennants from an old globe.

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Wrap a gift with a map. Wouldn't it be fun if the gift was a trip or some airline tickets? Or perhaps a travel book?

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Line a drawer with an old map. 

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Make a Christmas ornament.

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Line a table top.

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Make a set of coasters. Another great way to remind you of your favourite travels.

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Which was your favourite? Have you made any projects involving maps? Please let me know! I'm always looking for fresh inspiration. :)

I've actually been working on my own map-themed project this past week. 

I hope you come back to check it out next week!

Enjoy your day!