Butterfly Tree

Lately something has been bugging me. I couldn't figure it out for awhile and when looking at photos of our old house I realized I missed Norah's old room. I spent hours making the tree for her old room and it is the only thing from our old house that I miss. Oh I was so proud of this tree in Norah's first room!

To see how I did the first tree in Norah's old room go here for the trunk, here for the leaves and here for the shelves. Norah turns 2 in February... AHHHHHH when did she get this big!!  And lately she LOVES taking her naps in our spare bedroom bed! When I say loves I mean she refuses to nap in her crib and will only nap in her big girl bed.  She is ready for the bed and the only thing holding her back is me.... This bed was mine growing up and its VERY high!!  Ryan and I just haven't found the time to drop the mattress by taking out the box spring and installing the safety railing on the bed.  Plus I don't want to move her into a room that isn't decorated!!  This is a horrible photo of the spare room but apparently its the best one I have... Since this photo we have actually turned the bed sideways into the nook on the right side.

I realized about a week ago that I REALLY wanted another tree for her room!  And when I get a thought in my mind I just can't get rid of it.  I also knew I wanted to do butterflies this time!  So I did what I always do when I have an idea... I spent a few hours hunting Pinterest for ideas and found this tree decal on Etsy. I loved it but realized the swirling branches would be difficult to do for me... I wanted to keep this simple just like last time. 

Then I found this one and thought it was perfect.  So using a pencil and an eraser I drew my tree using this one as a rough sample.  It took me all of about 15 minutes to draw the tree.  Then using brown craft paint I painted the tree.  Last time I went out and bought a can of wall paint and barely used the can and then left it at the old house... SO to keep things on the cheaper side I just used dollar store brown craft paint. I used less than half of a tube of it too and I love how the tree looks!! 

After drawing the tree I pulled out my butterfly stencil and using different colours of purple dollar store craft paint and a sponge stenciling brush I randomly put butterflies all around my tree.  This maybe took a half hour. When I was finished I took a step back and starred at it for awhile.  I wasn't overly happy with it... something was missing!  So I pulled out some green craft paint and added random leaves by hand all over the tree until I was happy.  So here is the new tree for Norah!

I do still plan on adding some 3D butterflies on the branches and the wall but as for the painting I am finished!! I LOVE this tree!!! I'm SO proud of myself!! You have to remember that I'm an accountant and although I may be a crafty person I CANNOT DRAW OR PAINT if my life depended on it!! When Norah asks me to draw Mickey Mouse she will look at my drawing and shake her head saying "No Mama Wrong!" SO just because you have zero skills doesn't mean you can't create something like this too!! I had to constantly remind myself that trees are not perfect so I really can't make a mistake with this!! 

Just for reference the walls are still a pale yellow, closer to the colour in the original photo of the spare bedroom above.  This photo makes it look beige but its definitely yellow!!  I'm so excited to decorate the rest of her room... now I just have to gather up ideas from Pinterest!!

A Smorgasbord of Stuff

I would like to start off by saying I had no idea Smorgasbord was an actual word... Who knew spell check would correct my spelling!! Moving on!

I had high hopes of writing these posts before the new year however my little lady had a horrible cold and we spent the holidays sitting on the couch watching Monsters Inc more times then I want to admit!!!!  So this is a post about all of the projects I have been dying to post for some time now!!

At the beginning of December a friend threw a Cookie Exchange Party.  Norah and I were in a sugar coma for weeks afterwards!! But my one friend made these amazing 'cookies' that I HAD to make again!  Mostly because they are SOOOOO simple!!!  Literally they are Ritz Crackers dipped in chocolate... um yep its that simple!!!  I had a bunch of candy cane Hershey Kisses on hand so I melted them up. I don't have a double boiler so I just used 2 small pots I had and put the water in the bottom one... worked just fine for me!

Then I rolled out some wax paper onto a cookie sheet and using a spoon I put a drop of the melted chocolate on the wax paper. Then put the Ritz Cracker on top and squished it around a bit. Then added another drop of the melted chocolate on top of the Ritz Cracker and smeared it around and threw the tray in the fridge so the chocolate could harden. They were DELICIOUS!!!!

Remember back Here when I showed my Quietbook pages.  Well I finally finished it and presented it to Norah on Christmas Eve.  We decided to give it to her then because we were going to church and what better place to play with it!!  Here are the rest of the pages.

I showed this page before.  I sewed a rectangle onto the opposite page to hold all of the dolls clothes. Norah LOVES that the doll has shoes... its her favourite part!

This is the cover of the book.  Norah had these 3 little finger puppets that were in a birthday card from her first birthday that she still loves playing with.  So in the interest of time I sewed another rectangle on and shoved the puppets in the front!

I previously showed the Mr. Potatohead, all I did to make the page was sew on part of Mr. Potatohead leaving the top open so the pieces could be stored inside him. (sorry no pictures) The same went for the flower counting page. You can see those here.

Finally I made a shape page using puffy paint! I traced out some shapes and cut them out of felt. Then using my puffy paint I traced the shape with a corresponding colour onto a page.  Norah has a blast matching the shapes and colours!!

Now onto a fun last minute Christmas Gift that I made for all the little people in our life (ie. babies under 8 months).  At that age Norah LOVED touchy feely books!!  I decided to attempt to make some!  Now mine didn't turn out like I wanted but the babies still love them! 

I made the pages out of sheets of foam (non-toxic too!!) and used pinking sheers to make the edges pretty. 

Then I thought out what I could use... puffy paint was an obvious choice for 'BUMPY'.  Actually this was my favourite page of the entire book!  I used a yellow paint marker for the lettering.

Next up I had some sparkly paper left over from a previous craft.  I had planned to write 'sparkly red circle' however this was a key lesson in what not to do while watching tv... somehow I wrote Bright... OOPS!!!  I think on at least ONE of the books I got it right... Oh well!! Lesson learned!

Next up I knew I wanted to do a 'Soft' page. And since I still had a bunch of felt leftover I pulled out some green and cut an oval!

Finally I had some shiny blue material left from the wings I made for Ryan and I for Halloween and cut a triangle out.  I had some issues gluing it on but eventually it stuck on!

Finally I used a hole punch to punch some holes and tied the whole book together with some ribbon I had on hand.  This project probably took me about 10 minutes per book but the kiddos love them and I couldn't be happier with the result!!! Plus it cost next to nothing to make!!

It is now 2013 and most people are setting out their resolutions.  I have never been one for setting a resolution because I know I won't stick to it.  However this year I am setting a goal of sorts.  My goal is to organize my life... Yes its a broad topic but I have so many things on the go and everything seems to be in shambles.  Organization would be key to making 2013 a fantastic year!  To clarify a bit I have a million areas of the house that are literally a disaster!!  I need to take the time to organize them better so they are functional for us.  For instance, currently I can't even get into our storage/tool zone in the basement because there are a million boxes and tools blocking the way! Next our front hall is a disaster of shoes and coats constantly... I plan to enlist my dad to help us organize that.  Our tiny main bathroom has non-functional storage that I plan to fix up.  The office upstairs needs some serious TLC.  Our laundry room has so much space but nothing is in its place so its a constant pile of junk.  We have a huge shed but have never properly organized it so its bursting with junk!  Life just needs organizing... I have yet to figure out how to juggle work, a little lady and cleaning a house!

With all of that said... we got on our organization plan over the holidays.  Previously Norah's toys were in baskets in her play area... then we were given a toy box which I thought would answer all of our problems.  Nope... I would like to refer to the toy box as the box of 'wherediditgo'.  It wasn't a deep box but Norah couldn't get anything out of it without help and it lead to frustration on her part.  So over the holidays we invested in a toy shelf with baskets.  It has been in the living room now for about a week and I LOVE it!! Norah LOVES it too! She can get all the toys she wants and her books are even in one spot (instead of all over our book shelf) which gives me more room for MY stuff!!

Finally on the organization track, we have a blank wall in the kitchen which we had previously hung a corkboard from a nail that was left by the old owners.  The corkboard was functional but MUCH too low!  When at Ikea a few months ago I came across some awesome organizers for the wall that I loved so I picked them up (I think they were like $15 or something).  We rehung the corkboard higher and put the organizers on the wall. Now all of our bills/paperwork/pens etc that used to sit on the kitchen counter have a proper space for themselves!! I still plan to do something fun with the corkboard I just have to find the time and figure out what I want to do with it!!!

Giant Ruler Growth Chart Tutorial

Lately Norah has been growing like a weed but I didn't realize it until my daycare lady mentioned she had grown about 5cm in 4 months!!! Then I realized I didn't have a growth chart set up for her...  We have 2 growth charts but one has velcro pieces which Norah loves to pull off and the other is too pretty to mark up with pen.  SO off to Pinterest I went to find something easy to make and found this pin. Which took me to Dear Lillies website where you can buy this for $49.99.

I LOVE the look of it!!!  And it would be SUPER easy to make! SO I had Ryan run to Home Depot and get me two (I planned to make 2 of these) 1 by 6's.  Then they sat in my hallway for a month.  I had planned on staining the wood with some leftover stain I had from back when I helped a friend stain her bed. (see here) However its now super cold outside and staining outside is not an option. I could stain it in the basement but then the house stinks and its not properly ventilated... so that was going to happen.  I had also planned on bringing the wood to my parents house and staining it in their garage because they have a heater in there. But I forgot the wood when we went to visit. Thats why the wood sat there for a month!!  Then last Friday I took the day off work and decided it was time to deal with it!! I sat back and brainstormed what I could do without using stain!  Then I thought meh lets try something new. So I pulled out some brown and silver paint and mixed them one a plate.

Then using a rag I wiped the paint onto the wood letting it truly soak into the wood. I tried using a paint brush but it looked bad. The rag was the way to go! It made the paint smooth and even and I only had to do one coat!!!

I honestly wasn't sure how this would end up turning out but I figured it couldn't look that bad!!! And I was right.. I LOVE how it turned out and I'm so glad I used the silver because it gave it an awesome yet subtle shine!

Then using a measuring tape, a ruler and a marker I marked the lines onto the wood.  I made the foot markings 2 inches in length and the inch markings 1 inch in length.  This took about 5 minutes to do.  Then I freehanded the numbers.  I had wanted to use a stencil for them but couldn't for the life of me find my numbers stencil... so I freehanded it!!

 And there you have it, Norahs growth chart!!  Now we just need to hang it!! I made it so it starts at 6 inches, which means we need to hang it 6 inches from the floor. 

Santa Claus Parade!

We have been SUPER busy the last few days getting ready for the Mississauga Streetsville Santa Claus Parade!!  Ryan's new company (not sure if I mentioned it but Ryan started up his own insurance brokerage... couldn't be prouder! Message me for details if you need help with you insurance if you're local!) decided to create a float and walk in the parade!!  Oh boy was it work!!!  We decided on a gingerbread man theme!  So one Saturday a few weeks ago Ryan's entire office came to our house and we made a Gingerbread House float!!  Couldn't be happier with the result! It wasn't huge but it was perfect!!  We painted it a nice reddish brown and decorated it up with dollarstore decorations!  I don't have a photo of just the house but here is the float with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew!

The next task was costumes!!  As you saw in the photo above they turned out amazing!!! My sister-in-law made hers and my brothers! They were completely AWESOME!!!!  I had the task of making 4 pairs of brown fleece pants, 2 adult sweaters and Norah's little sweater as well as 4 hats.  SO I got my sew on and hammered them out in a week!  Then I had to decorate everything with large white rick rack!  In the end I couldn't be happier with the result!!!! Ryan got to dress up as the 'Baker' for the parade! 

Norah had an absolute blast!!! She waved and smiled the entire parade and was SO happy to be sitting in her wagon most of the way.

My nephew was 'Frosty the Snowman'.... Ohhh I just wanted to squeeze him the whole time!! He actually fell asleep for part of the parade... hilaroius!!!

Overall the parade was so much fun and we learned a lot!!! First off... 6,000 candy canes is NOT enough... oops!  Second off, it gets VERY hot no matter how cold it is outside when you are running around giving out candy canes dressed in fleece and too many layers!!

And to just finish off because I know everyone LOVES a good screaming child pose.... As much as Norah LOVED her gingerbread costume this time (remember the incident with the peacock costume here) she did NOT enjoy sitting on Santa's lap at my work Christmas Party the day before the parade....

Poor child.... Just for reference she isn't normally a screaming child... I just love those photos so much I have to share them!!! They make me laugh!

Stairway to Heaven

Yesterday when I got home I just about had a heart attack,  I was running up the stairs to grab something for Norah. I didn't have the lights on so I could barely see and on the back of one step there was a LARGE thing... It looked like a tarantula sized spider. I froze! For those of you who know me you know I HATE spiders and what I hate more than spiders are those house centipedes with there freaky freaky legs that go everywhere and they refuse to die and they secretly plot against you on how they are going to eat you!! Ok maybe that is an exaggeration but I HATE all large crawly things!! Totally just shivered describing the bugs that haunt me!!  Anyway, I freaked out and ran downstairs to grab a shoe and turn the light on. 

WELL I discovered it wasn't a bug after all.... (silly me) it was just the paint peeling off the back of our stairs... BOOO!! Not as bad as a bug but equally crappy!!  I think the old owners of our house quickly painted the back of the steps... they looked great but its a thin coat of paint... its streaky and starting to crack/peel in areas. 

Sorry for the quality of this photo I can't find my other photo! This is our stairs... will update with a better picture later.

There is nothing wrong with them other than the peeling paint... I know I need to repaint them but that got me thinking.  Remember in the old house when we wallpapered the stairs here

I loved the look but it took a LOT of work to wallpaper those stairs.  Mostly because they weren't even.  But the problem with wallpapering our current stairs would be because of the banister. The photo doesn't show it but part of the stair goes to the other side of the banister... making it VERY tricky to wallpaper.  Thats why I hadn't even considered it before. 

While browsing Pinterest I came across this which is from Martha Stewart. I LOVE this idea!!  I know I have to repaint the stairs... why not add a super cool stencil!

I'm thinking of a nice grey toned stencil of a flower or a vine.  Something neutral... I may even add the stencil into the front hall on the walls to tie the stairs in... we shall see.  First step is getting Ryan on board with a stencil we can both agree on.  I want something neutral that adds a little fun to the stairs... maybe even a butterfly or dragonfly....

Family Fun Artwork

We have been absent lately... that doesn't mean we haven't been busy working on MANY projects... just busy having fun as a family!!!  I have a bunch of updates I just need to find the time to write about them!!

Norah LOVES to paint!! When I pick her up from daycare in the evenings the first thing she says when she gets home (other than Daddy Daddy) is paint??  She LOVES it... however she also HATES getting dirty... my little princess!  When painting she must use a brush so she doesn't get paint on her hands and when she does get paint on her hands she freaks out until I wipe it off.  I decided we needed some art work in the upstairs hallway.  I had previously hung a few of Norah's paintings but it was sparse and I had a plan in mind for the hallway. SO stealing an idea from Pinterest I taped off the word LOVE onto a canvas and let Norah have fun painting!!  

I let her chose the colours. She was hilarious!  She kept wanting MORE paint.  When she painted with the brush she would make the noise 'swosh swosh' and when she painted with the sponge she would dab it and say 'blob paint blob paint' so funny!! 

After letting it dry I peeled off the tape and this was the pretty result!!

I opted to hang it at the top of the stairs, I need to add something else to the wall but for now this is what it looks like.  I definitely need to centre it a bit more... the light switch (which is NOT centered) throws it all off... Oh well you get the gist!

For my birthday my brothers and sister in laws took some gorgeous family photos for us!!  Lets just say we like to have fun!!!  Yes we hula hooped!!!  I knew I wanted to frame the photos and decided the upstairs hallway was the perfect spot for them.  Here are two of my favourite photos!

I have seen people make their own photo canvas on Pinterest and I decided I would try the same thing. Instead of one photo on a big canvas I wanted to do a collage type canvas.  We had this one canvas that I had previously painted... I put lace over the canvas and spray painted it. I loved the result just not the colour... too bright blue and green.. not what I was going for. So I decided it would be a good canvas to cover up!  I pulled out the Mod Podge and Norah helped to cover the canvas. She didn't like getting her hands sticky... this photo is captioned "Mama stick, wash ... PEEEEEESE!"

I used eight 4 by 6 photos that I loved from our photo shoot and Mod Podged them onto the canvas, let it dry and then did a few coats of Mod Podge overtop.  I am SO happy with the result!!!  They were hung on the one wall in the hallway upstairs along with some older Norah paintings that she did when she was super little with her fingers!

This is where they currently hang, I plan on adding Norah's future art work to this wall!! 

Then on the other wall I used some frames my brothers and sister in laws gave me for my birthday to hang the rest of the family photos!

This is a work in progress that will probably never end... I will add photos here when I get some more or switch up older photos.  I just love that my upstairs hall is fille with love and amazing memories!!

Pumpkins and Peacocks

Over the weekend Ryan and I hummed and haaed about what to do with the pumpkins this year.  In previous years we have carved our pumpkins. But this being the first year that Norah can participate in Halloween we wanted her to help out with the pumpkins.  Now giving Norah a knife to carve a pumpkin would probably end with childrens aid being called!  That wasn't an option. So I thought maybe we would carve something that she wanted and she could help us take the insides of the pumpkin out.  Then I remembered that this is MY daughter... Here is why that wouldn't work.  When Norah gets ONE speck of dirt on her hands she comes running and asks to wash her hands. If she gets a tiny dot of paint on her hands she immediately has to wash her hands.  She does not like being dirty and she certainly wouldn't like putting her hands inside a pumpkin where its all slimy!  I thought maybe we'd try it anyway but figured it would just end in a big melt down.  Next year we'll introduce her to the fun times of carving a pumpkin. This year I opted for painting a pumpkin!!  On Sunday I pulled out the paints, Norahs little pumpkin and some sponge brushes (so her hands don't get mess... god forbid her hands get dirty!!)

She had a blast painting her pumpkin yellow and purple (her requested colours!)

Then it was time to decorate the big pumpkin!!  I picked up these Mr. Potato Head like faces at Dollarama and asked Norah where each should go. There were 2 sets of faces so the pumpkin has 2 sides!

She had a LOT of fun with these!!  Great alternative to carving a pumpkin. I figure if the pumpkin lasts till Halloween we'll cut him open afterwards and roast some seeds.... we'll see.

For Halloween I am making Norah a peacock outfit.  I got some blue and green feather boas from Dollarama and sewed them onto a little tulle blue skirt we already had for Norah.  I made the back feathers a little bit longer for a 'tail'.  I wanted to see how it looked on Norah however she did NOT want to try it on for mommy. This was the result.... My Not so Happy Peacock.... (Yes I'm that mom whose child is screaming and instead of taking the skirt off I run and grab the camera.... )

I tried to snap a photo of the back before I took it off but Norah just wouldn't have anything to do with it. Lets hope I can get her to wear it for Halloween.... Don't worry I have backup wings if she refuses!

This is the back of the skirt lying on the ground... see how its a little bit longer! I didn't want it too long because I didn't want her to slip!

I have made her some brown leggings that she can wear with the skirt. She'll have a brown shirt on the top and on her hat I've attached a Peacock feather that we picked up at the High Park Zoo for her. Plus we have a mask that is on a stick that she can carry around with her!  If I ever get her in the costume I promise to take more pictures!!!