Vintage pretties

  I'm so excited! On Friday I had a brain wave... but let me start at the very beginning (a very good place to start. That's for all you Sound of Music fans.). The last time I went thrifting/antiquing one of my finds included an 8x10 black & white photograph. The man at the antique shop I got it at didn't know who the people in the photo were/are, but I wanted it anyway. The clothes, the hair, & the soft angelic look of all the girls drew me in. (I'm also curious to know why there's only one male in the photo?)

  I bought a simple black certificate frame at Wal-mart & discovered that it was too big for the photo. I set it aside to return & find a new frame. That's when the brain wave hit. I had some vintage sheet music I was itching to use in my home decor. So I got it out & mounted the photo on top of it. Then I slipped the music with photo into the frame & wa-la - almost instant vintage art. I'm lovin' it.

  I hung it near my back entry with my new mail / magnetic key holder from Umbra. 

I quite like the mix of modern & vintage.

  So that kicked off my weekend in a satisfying way. I had a wonderful weekend: flowers from a dear friend, a massage on Saturday morning, found some cute pumpkins at the farmer's market in the afternoon along with doing some window shopping at some thrift/antique shops. On Saturday evening I was able to get in some crafty time making some cards & a scrapbook layout. (I'll post those pics tomorrow.) Sunday was church with my wonderful church family & family time in the afternoon & evening. A blissful weekend all around.

Oh, and how could I forget?! I also joined Pinterest this weekend. What a cool site. I love the fact that now all the inspiration I come across on the internet can be corralled in one spot without a million bookmarks. 

Not to mention categorized! :)

(This girl loves all things organization.)

  What did you do this weekend? Did you find any treasures or start any projects? 

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day!

Linking up to Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

Fall Decor

 I've been seeing some fabulous fall decor in blog land as of late. I am especially enjoying all the fall wreath ideas out there. Alas, I didn't make one this year, but I did get a good deal on mine at HomeSense. That counts right? ;)

  I don't do a ton of fall decorating in our home... mainly just a few touches in the main living area & my front porch. I'm in awe of some of the beautiful front porch displays I've seen recently. Gorgeousness! Seriously, just Googling "front porch decorated for fall" will inspire you. There are some amazing displays out there. 

  Here's what I've done this year on our front porch. Our porch is pretty small, so I keep it simple. I'll probably add some pumpkins when I find some.

Fall Mums

Fall Mums

New doormat in fall-ish colours

My HomeSense wreath

I did something a bit different with some of my fall decor inside this year. I had some sprigs of fake fall leaves, but was never quite sure what to do with them. They weren't wired, so it was impossible to make them look real. So, I cut them all off the sprig so I could use them individually. I added some to the hurricane lantern on our front table. And don't worry - the candle in there is a flameless, battery operated candle, so it's not a fire hazard! 

I'm loving the orange accents with my purple walls.

Front table. Leafy pumpkin is from HomeSense as well.

I also used some of the leaves in my table centre piece. In the fall, I collect pinecones in the parks near our house. Yes, I'm that lady who is walking around the public parks, collecting natural items to use inside. :)

Centre piece on dining area table

More pinecones & a small birch branch adds a little touch of added interest to this pumpkin pie dish.

On the bar top

What have you been doing for fall decorating in your home? 

Please leave a comment & fill me in. I'd love to hear from you.

Enjoy your day!

Linking up to: the Fall Festival at Nest of Posies, Tater Tots & Jello, One Artsy Mama, & Craftaholics Anonymous

Chai Loaf

  I am loving fall. Well, here in Saskatoon it still feels like the middle of summer since our weather has been unusually warm. But I've started to see a few trees starting to don their autumn fashions, the nights are feeling cool, & school is back in full swing. It feels good to be back to the regular routine. With fall comes a change in menu & the foods we make take a bit of a turn. Soups, stews, & "comfort food" become regulars on my menu plan. I also tend to do more baking.

  Here is a great recipe for one of our favourite loaves. I'm pretty sure it will become a favourite of yours too.

Chai Loaf

Prep time: 15 min. Total time: 3 hrs. 55 min (includes cooling time)

Makes 1 loaf

Bread

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter or marg, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup prepared tea or water (I use decaf chai)

1/3 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. ground cardamom (found it in the ethnic foods at superstore)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

3-5 tsp. milk

additional ground cinnamon

1) Heat oven to 350 F. Grease loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) In large bowl, beat sugar & butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs, tea, milk, & vanilla on low speed until ingredients are well combined (will appear curdled) . Stir in remaining bread ingredients just until moistened. Spread in pan.

3) Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not underbake). Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool 30 minutes.

4) In small bowl, stir powdered sugar, vanilla, & 3 tsp. of the milk, adding more milk by the teaspoonfuls, until spreadable. Spread glaze over bread. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly & store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

  What are some of your favourite fall baking recipes? I'd love to hear about the things you're whipping up in your home. 

  Thanks for stopping by! 

Enjoy your day!

Linking up to: Nest of Posies Fall Festival, Tater Tots & Jello, & Craftaholics Anonymous

The big reveal

TA-DA!

  My little side table is complete! I can't believe it only took me an evening to complete the makeover on this little beauty. If I had known, I would have done it long ago.

  A reminder of the before:

Here's a rundown of the process:

I took it outside, gave it a light sanding, wiped off the dust, & taped off the black top & chrome trim - 

I kept those as is.

Got on my painting duds & broke out the spray paint.

My painting pants...
you can actually see all the past/present colours of my house on these babies!
They're like a work of art in themselves! :)

I used Krylon Metallic spray paint in Aluminum.

And all systems go! I sprayed on the first coat:

And a second coat:

After 2 coats. Before distressing.

It was looking a little too space age for me at this point so I got out some black craft paint I had kickin' around & played around with some dry brushing on the corners & edges. I ended up dry brushing on some black paint & then smudging it (purposefully) with a paper towel to make it look a bit more distressed.  

After distressing with black craft paint.

The finished product:

I think it will look especially stunning at Christmas time with my silver/white colour scheme. 

Here's some more after shots:

  Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment & tell me what you think.

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

Linking up to: The DIY Showoff,  Crafty Scrappy Happy, Just a Girl, Common Ground, Miss Mustard Seed, & Tater Tots & Jello

Happy Labour Day!

  Are any of you working on projects on this last day of the Labour Day Weekend? I was to have at least started my table painting project by now, but we had a family emergency involving my husband's grandpa on Friday evening & all day Saturday. He's okay now, but his health seems to be deteriorating. We were able to have a very nice visit with him during our time together & we cherish that.

  So, my to-do list today consists of cleaning the house & getting to that painting project. I promise I'll post the results as soon as it's complete.

 I was able to complete a scrapbook layout on Friday. My daughter had a Pretty Princess party for her birthday this year. For this layout, I used Echo Park's Little Girl collection almost exclusively. I added a few felt crowns & some jewels to finish things off.

  Have a wonderful Labour Day! I hope you all get to do/finish whatever is it that you have planned. Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

Yummiest Meat Sauce Recipe / Back to School Printables Link

  It's starting to feel more & more like fall these days. The weather has cooled off, school started this week, I put some fall decorations out yesterday, & I've started cooking more "cool weather" meals again.

  With that in mind, today I'm posting my Mom's recipe for the yummiest Meat Sauce I've ever tasted. I may be slightly biased since almost everyone thinks their Mom's cooking is best. That's okay. It's true. ;)

Yummiest Meat Sauce
serve with pasta or in lasagne


1 lb. ground beef or italian sausage
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 - 1 lb. can diced tomatoes
2 - 6 oz. cans tomato paste


Brown meat slowly; drain. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 So easy & so tasty!

  I also wanted to share some free back to school printables I got from howdoesshe.com. How cute are these? My son, Parker, has loved having these fun notes, jokes, & tags in his lunch bag.

Are things feeling like fall to you? I'd love to hear about them. Go ahead & leave a comment!

I'm also linking up toTatertots & Jello for their weekend wrap up party. Check it out.

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

My project this weekend & a tip for cleaning your microwave

 I've had this little desk/side table for going on 6 years with the intentions of painting it. But up until this year, I wasn't sure exactly the look I was going for with it. I was talking about it with my mom (interior decorator extraordinaire) this spring & she gave me a great idea...

  She took me to Urban Barn & showed me a little cabinet with a black top (like my little table already has), silver sides & front, & a butterfly decal wrapped around the side. I have searched the internet, but CANNOT find a picture of the exact one she showed me. So sorry. This is the closest I could find:

Madame Butterfly Tall Cabinet by http://www.frenchbedroomcompany.co.uk/
Pretty, no?

  I'm not sure I'll add the butterfly to my table... what do you think? I'm thinking it might be too busy with all the displays I do on this table. I would also have to find a stencil or decal. Anywho, I bought some silver spray paint & it's on my to-tackle list for this long weekend. I'll show you the results next week. I'm going to the keep the top black & the chrome trim is also staying. I'm excited to see the results & to finally cross it off my list!

Introducing the Cleaning Tips column! 

(or "One of Steph's handy tips" as my husband calls them)

  In my cleaning detail today I noticed that my microwave was in need of a scrubbing. I learned this tip from the show How Clean Is Your House? & it works so well, I thought I would share.


 Fill a microwaveable bowl full of tap water. Quarter a lemon & add to water. Or in a pinch just add 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

  
  Put bowl in microwave & set for 5 minutes. After it has "cooked" for 5 minutes, let it stand in the microwave for an additional 5 minutes or so. Then, just wipe your microwave out. The steam loosens cooked on food & it just wipes away! And the lemon makes it smell fresh - bonus!


  Thanks for stopping by!

  Enjoy your day!

~Steph

  

Before & After home tour (part 3)

  We recently finished our kitchen renovation. It had been mostly done for a long time, but we put the frosting on the cake this summer by completing the back splash. We opted to go with a simple white subway tile. I'm enjoying the clean, sleek look it adds to the kitchen. 

  Here are some before shots. These were taken before we moved in. We thankfully had 1 month to start our renos before we moved into the house. This kitchen was the first thing to change. It just wouldn't have worked very well for us - no dishwasher, single sink, no upper cabinet doors (I like "stuff" out of sight behind doors), very little counter space...

After shots complete with the new backsplash

  We reconfigured the kitchen layout by adding this peninsula with a high bar top which adds more cabinet & counter space. It also doesn't crowd the fridge & stove so much.

Our control centre 

Here's a better shot of my Paris gallery - B&W photos from a calendar &frames fromIkea - easy peasy.

Recap:

Sources:

Paint: Camalot by Benjamin Moore
Cabinets, countertops, hardware, light fixtures: Ikea
Flooring: Floor It
Backsplash Tile: Home Depot

If you'd like to see our living room makeover click here.
If you'd like to see our main bathroom makeover click here.

  Well, I'm off to start my fall decorating. I'm warming to the idea of Fall arriving & my oldest had his first day of Grade 3 today. My little girl starts Kindergarten at the end of September so I have some extra time to cherish with her. I hope you'll join me next week when I link up to Nest of Posies Fall Festival. September promises to be a month full of beauty & inspiration.

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

8x8 scrapbook layouts

  Last week, my husband, James, took me on an anniversary get-away. It was 5 days of loveliness. We went to Prince Albert National Park here in Saskatchewan. The weather was great so we even got in a little bit of beaching along with some fishing, hiking, lots of dinners out, & tons of R&R.

  I brought some of my scrapping supplies along & while James was napping/watching football one afternoon, I started working on an 8x8 album with photos from Spring 2011. I don't use 8x8 albums super often, but I do like how they bring focus to the photos & don't require much to make them look great. When I do a 8x8 album, I do it with a theme - Spring in this case, but I have done mostly vacations in the past. I gather all the supplies I have that goes with that theme, cut my papers (or in this case, used a pre-cut 8x8 patterned paper pack), & start the fun!

  Here are some favourites from my now-completed 8x8 Spring 2011 Album:

Supplies used:
Patterned Papers, Journalling spots, Butterflies - Making Memories
Die cut flowers, Photo corners - Creative Memories
Flair (Adhesive badges) - American Crafts
Chipboard words & phrases - Little Yellow Bicycle
Bird Punch - Stampin' Up!
Die cut Heart - unknown
Bling & pearls - Prima & Dollarama

Enjoy your day!

~Steph