Doily Birthday Card {Echo Park}

In the last several days, it's been raining cats & dogs here in Saskatoon. Today was the first day of sunshine since last week. Because of all the rain, we've been stuck inside. We've been doing alot of reading, playing games, watching movies, & doing crafts. I even got some scrapbooking in, which I haven't done in a long time. 

Sunshiny summer days call for bright, summery colours! 

This was a very fast card, made with a bunch of paper scraps.

Insta-Friday #21

School's out for the summer!!

Woot, woot! We're all really excited around here. 

We have all kinds of fun plans, most of them to take place around here since we're not venturing away from home for very long this summer.

Today was supposed to kick off our 3rd annual park tour (simple idea, but really fun: visiting a different park every week, preferably one that we've never played at before), but it's pouring rain here so that plan will have to wait until the gloomy weather clears up. 

Instead, we'll do some reading, play some games, & maybe bake some cookies.

~~~~~

On to the look at our week via Instagram...

Last Friday consisted of a lot of shopping - groceries, plus a whole bunch of gifts for birthdays, teachers, & Father's Day.

Here's where I ended up for the Father's Day gifts...

I'd never been in by myself. I was a little overwhelmed, but I think I picked out some great gifts.

On Friday night we went out for supper with some good friends. The very fun, laughter-filled evening was topped off by peanut butter pie (which was amazing!).

Boys Room Reveal!

The day is finally here! 

After giving myself the challenge of completing my son, Parker's, bedroom makeover by the end of May, bit by bit I got projects done & this past weekend we were able to put on the finishing touches. 

Let me show you around! Come on in!

This yellow-with-black-trim room was how it looked when we moved here 6 years ago. And wasn't my little guy cute when he was just 4? I just want to kiss those cheeks! (He's still cute, btw!)

When we moved here, we painted his room & replaced the flooring, but that's about it. 

Pink Lemonade Cookies

Ahhh... Summer...

Sunshine.

Swimming in the pool.

Vacations.

Lemonade stands.

Did you ever have a lemonade stand as a kid? 

I did. We weren't very successful as we lived on a q-u-i-e-t street in a small town. Plus, we probably drank all the lemonade. That can't help, right?

Maybe if we had made some of these cookies to sell along with our lemonade, we would have had more success! ☺

Insta-Friday #18, #19, & #20 (The late edition!)

Welcome to Insta-Friday... the late edition! 

It's been a few weeks since I've done one of these posts, so I have alot of photos to share.

Let's dive in!

Spring has brought such amazing weather here & I've been going on lots of walks to take advantage of it.

Boy's Room Makeover (Part 3): The Window Valance

Part Three! 

I'm excited & thrilled with how my son's bedroom makeover is coming along!

Greek Style Grilled Pork Chop Meal

Barbecue season is here! Well, it's been here for awhile, but now that school is almost done, we are planning to have more time outside with friends.

And this is the perfect meal to prepare for nights like that!

Repurposing with Spray Paint

Earlier this spring, as soon as it was nice enough outside on a weekend, I gathered a bunch of my spray paint & thrifty items, as well as some things I had shopped from around my house.

Out I went & set up my driveway as Spray Painting Central!

Here's what happened that day...

Polka Dot Baby Card

Polka dots are all the rage, have you noticed? Geometric patterns are my fav so I'm loving the polka dots, stripes, & chevron that I'm seeing everywhere. 

I also enjoy bringing trends into my paper crafts as well...

Enter the polka dot baby card! A fun way to mix & match patterns too!

Strawberry Covered Chocolate Trifle

Happy Monday, friends! I hope those of you in the U.S. are having a great Memorial weekend.

Last week, we were invited over by some friends for supper - it was a fabulous night with lots of laughs, great conversation, & delicious food. My friend, Sarah, asked me if I would bring a dessert & I was happy to oblige! 

I did a twist on my Strawberries & Cream Trifle. Here's what I came up with...

Boy's Room Makeover (Part 2): The Dresser

My son's room makeover marches on!

Last week, I painted his beat up dresser a fun shade of orange...

Here is the war-torn dresser before...

(Complete with little boy hieroglyphics from years past.)

Insta-Friday #17

Welcome to Insta-Friday #17 - My week in pictures!

Last Friday, I had an errand to do downtown. I plugged my meter with an hour's worth of time & then finished my errand in about 10 minutes. So, I took the rest of the hour, & walked around downtown by the river, enjoying the wonderful weather & our beautiful city.

Saturday morning, I was up bright & early to go out to a town wide garage sale. This house had a ton of homemade baking for sale as well as fresh (she pulled them out of the frier while we watched), homemade donuts! My friend, Vanessa, & I couldn't resist trying them!

Button Baby Card

Is there anything more sweet than a new baby? I think God makes them so adorable so that we want to be around them & take care of them. :)

And because babies are so cute, we want the things around them & the things that celebrate them to be cute too!

Asian Mandarin Salad

Eating healthy can be hard for me sometimes. I find that when I have a meal plan, even if it's just in my head, that works the best for me. This is one of my favourite lunches to throw together - easy, healthy, & delicious! It's on my meal plan often! I first got the idea from a salad I had at Appleby's. 

If you want to make this into an entree, add a grilled chicken breast = yummy!

Insta-Friday #16

Welcome to my week in photos!

I think I say this every week, but it's been an exciting, fun week. You know, keeping track of my life on Instagram makes me really appreciate the small things in life. Even the seemingly meaningless errands & chores take on a new meaning when you can see a bit of beauty in them.

Last friday was spent doing doing some thrifting & errands with my friend, Sarah. I was on the hunt for some fabric to sew a window valance for my son's bedroom makeover. We discovered a fabulous quilting shop & I found the perfect fabric!

While we were out thrifting, we each found a large treasure! I found the blue trunk & she the great chair. We think a hotel was redecorating & got rid of a bunch of these chairs. It was in fabulous condition!

We also enjoyed seeing the cheery flowers at the Home Depot even though it's still a bit early here to be planting. Give it another week or two & we'll be good to go!

On Saturday, my husband, daughter, & I went garage saling for a bit. This pink elephant sadly was not for sale. :(

Doily Congratulations Card

Oh man! I totally blanked on yesterday's post & forgot all about it! Sorry!

So, a day late (but you know what they say, right? Better late than never & all that.), here is my Doily Congratulations Card with a splash of spring color & some chevron thrown in for good measure.

We are in the midst of baby shower & wedding shower season, right? It's an exciting time, with all kinds of preparations for new babies & new lives together. 

This pretty card is perfect for those special occasions. 

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

How was your weekend, friends?

Ours was really good... we were able to get outside & go to a huge community garage sale on Saturday as well as do some yard clean up. On Sunday we spent some time with friends after church. It was a wonderful weekend.

Spring is finally here! We've had two beautiful weekends in a row & it feels like summer outside today!

Insta-Friday #15

Welcome to my week in pictures. My opportunity to share with you some of the more behind the scenes moments of my life...

Last weekend started with some beautifully warm weather, so I gathered all the spray painting projects on my to-do list & started exersizing my trigger finger!

You'll see them all in a few days. Stay tuned!

My current Saturday morning routine includes going to swimming lessons with my little fishies. 

They're doing great!

Treat Bags for Teacher

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week!

We absolutely appreciate the teachers in our children's lives. Don't you? Their hard work, patience, & love do not go unnoticed.

Why not brighten up the day of the teachers in your life with a gift of appreciation & package them up in a sweetly decorated paper bag?

Boy's Room Makeover (Part 1): The Art Work

The month of May holds a fun DIY project for me — to makeover my son, Parker's bedroom. 

My to-do list includes:

• Create artwork
• Paint dresser
• Paint walls/trim
• Update window treatment
• Bulletin board
• Paint chalkboard one section on wall
• Update bedding

I'm done the first thing on the list, so that's a start!

While we were on our epic summer vacation last summer, we picked up some memorabilia with Parker's room decor in mind.

We got these coasters in Cars Land at Disneyland & the Lego minifigures at Legoland (you'll see them below).

After picking up some frames from Michael's, I simply backed the openings with cardstock, then mounted these coasters on with some permanent adhesive squares.