A Thank You Tote

About 4 months ago my BBQ died, it was a slow death but still hurt when it came. Not knowing if I was moving  to Ontario soon, or kind of soon I didn't want to splurge on a new one and it could mean 1 less thing to move.


Then summer came and the absence of the family BBQ - any BBQ really - was almost unbearable. In walked a friend who just got a new BBQ as a wedding present. And yep, her old BBQ is now on MY back patio. It hasn't been here quite a week yet but Jeremy has given it lots of love and it has provided us with lots of yummy charcoaley goodness.


As a thank you to my friend and bride-to-be I made her this Thank-you tote.

More Thrift Stores, a Picnic and Paint Chips

Jeremy and I went thrifting again Friday night - we laughed at ourselves that we wanted to go thrift store shopping again during our alone time, but hey it's our time to do what we want.

Here are some of the treasures we found while having a great time:

a matching saucer to the 2 plates and bowl from a couple of weeks ago

a hardwood duck to keep Jeremy's new collection company

and some new patterns I can't wait to try - the size isn't 100% perfect but I'm going to give it a few modifications to get it fitting just right in certain areas. (no matter which way I rotate the pattern photo it wants to load like this - I'll chalk it up to finicky old age as they are from 1969)

Then we went on a picnic to Alco Park, we sat by the river...

tried to get a good picture of us together...

had a couple of um, oranges...

met a few slimey friends...

and found a few rocks for the boys to paint this week.

We went to the hardware store to pick out paint colours for a couple of rooms in our house I have been wanting to do something about for 4 years. Since we're going to be in this house for another year we decided it is time to do something about it. Seriously, I won't show you how bad it is until I have before and after pictures - it will be more dramatic that way.

My Curtain Skirt

Eons ago (aka about 3 years ago), we bought some drapes from IKEA. Three sets to be exact. One has been hung and the other packages have been sitting unopened in our laundry room ever since. I figured if we haven't gotten around to it by now, chances are good it isn't going to happen.


When I came across this skirt pattern on Sew Mama Sew the drapes became a lot of possibilites. I wore the skirt today and love it. The next one I make I'll try the ruffle. The only change I made was to use my waist measurement instead of my hips because when I used my hip measurement the skirt was huge on me. Even still it is bigger than I would like around the waist, am going to cinch in the elastic some more.

You can see in the picture the original drapes and then my revamped ones (I personally think they look better on my than the window). I used some iron-on patches I had for the applique. They are still stiched in the traditional way only I didn't have to worry about interfacing - big bonus.



I cut-up an old shirt I bought from Old Navy for about $2.00 and used this tutorial for my fabric carnation. I like the size of the one in the tutorial better, but still think it's cute.

Tomatoe Sandwich Inspiration

Making lunch for Connor I came across an unlikely source of inspiration:


The inner design made me grab the camera and take a picture so I wouldn't forget to use the shape in something artsy:




The opportunity presented itself sooner than I thought. Notice how nature did a much better job in the symmetry department than I did.

Thrift Store Date

We had date night yesterday, went for a quick bite to eat (super-yummy, extra-spicy chicken burger) and then went thrift shopping!

Had so much fun and I didn't even buy clothes. I did find a cool watch with a fabric band that is interchangeable. Hopefully it works.

Found these cool dishes that I love don't go with anything else I have:




Along with other odds and sods we bought a book for each of us and one for each boys. As luck would have it when you buy 4 books you get the 5th one free. Knew we had a family of 5 for a reason.

Action - Live and Love it in 2010

I read blogs more than I actually blog, and I am fine with that. But sometimes I feel the need to let loose my thoughts and here they are:

A lof of the aforementioned blogs are choosing one word to sum up their goals, dreams and resolutions for the New Year. That is right, instead of long lists of items you try to make yourself conform to you have one word to remind you and steer you onto your chosen path.

It took me 3 days to come up with the word 'flourish', I like the look sound and meaning it has for me. But it also feels a little lofty for 2010. I am only now recovering my creativity and it is still in a delicate state. I have the need to strengthen my creative self before I can truly flourish.

In some reading I was doing today the pages were focused on action - don't put off a project because you don't have time to complete it in one sitting - do something. I am the master putter-offer - if I only have 20 minutes forget pulling out all my paints and finnessing that leaf or doing a few embellishments on a collage - not worth the time.

The word action kept jumping out at me and I finally realized - it is because I have found THE word. This blog post is an example of me living my word - Action; I thought I should blog about it and because I am now living a year of action here I am blogging about.

I expect many great things to come from my actions this year and they will set me up to flourish in 2011.