He Turns 8

My last birthday boy of this year, and his exuberance for his presents and cake was a great way to end the celebrations in our house. (Mine is still to come but we will be on vacation and I will be planning none of the festivities!).

At 8 Darien:

• Still loves to snuggle. He loves to come into our bed just as I'm waking up for the day to sneak in extra cuddles and sleep beside his dad.
•  Is so adventurous and independent. These are great attributes, they just make me nervous as he is also very focused on doing what he wants to do.
• Has a famous line when he is caught doing something he shouldn't and it is "I forgot". 
• Is so very thoughtful. He loves to make things for others and surprise them with his creations or good deeds.
• Is creative and has a keen sense for figuring things out. Like when he went to the salmon hatchery and put 2 and 2 together about the mechanics on how human babies are made. There is a logical trail he followed and I'm not sure all 8 year olds would have connected the dots the way he did. Ahem.

Happy Birthday Darien Bear!

alone

When I want to be alone I seem to be surrounded by boys and when I don't want to be alone is when I am. I am learning to appreciate the moments I have and those I share them with instead of wishing for something else.

This is my response to the prompt "alone" over on the Focus on Everyday blog. Please click here to see Gabi's response.

A Make-Over for my Clock

This clock is another item in my house that is functional but I was really getting tired of looking at it. I am not sure if it was ever my style, I think it was a gift. Instead of doing away with it and spending money on a new one I decided to give this guy a make-over.

Here is what I did:

1. I took pictures with my iPhone through the entire dismantling process, I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to put it back together properly!
2. Sanded the wooden part of the clock to prep it for painting. I originally was painting the outside yellow and then with a mishap with the clock that involved the wet paint portion to land face-down on my lawn, I decided I wanted it white anyway.
3. Using scrapbook paper, I traced the old clock face and cut out my new background.
4. In Photoshop Elements, I picked a font I liked and then printed out the numbers after flipping them horizontally. I wanted the numbers to be white and it was easiest to print the numbers in black and then cut them out. By flipping them your numbers won't be backwards
5. After the paint  and glue (from the numbers) was dry, I reassembled.

A few tips:

1. Make sure you haven't bent the hands, especially the second hand. That little guy is very fragile and if it is bent will either hit the glass or minute hand. Trust me, you don't want to undo your hard work (3-4 times) to get this one right.
2. Make sure that the minute and hour hands line up properly for each hour. This is easy to fix if they don't. Position the number hand exactly on the 12 and while (gently) holding it in place, move the hour hand to the proper position if it were to be exactly 1 o'clock. It would be a good idea to check this with all of your numbers.

Sunday Links No. 18 - Homemade Lightning, Food Art & Garden Signs

I just had a lovely coffee date with Gabi, so am only getting to my Sunday morning links now.

Making lightning sounds like a perfect summer activity for the boys.

I want to make this shirt, but I think I will use a jellyfish silhouette.

Food art, so fun! My favourite is the birds on a line.

This book is extra appealing to me now that my Etsy Shop is open for business.

A DIY family photo collage, another summertime activity me thinks.

Love this sign!

Browse some more Sunday links here.

In the Moment

So many things running through my mind; all things I "should" be doing. But I said no to all of them, shut them down and stayed in the moment. This moment.

This is my response to the prompt "in the moment" over on Focus on Everyday. Click here to see how the other ladies are staying in the moment.

Welcome to My Etsy Shop!

Last week I promised that today would be the day; the day that I open my own Etsy shop. And it is open for my business! I was ahead of scheduled and a wee bit excited, so ended up opening up shop on the weekend. I'm so glad I did, the response has been great and I've already made my first sale.

I plan on adding more items to the shop each week and so hope you will come and visit me.

Creating Harmony is all about items that are handmade with love. Be prepared for a wonderful array of knitting, crocheting, photography and curios.

Aspen Croft

Back in February, I wrote about some Etsy shops you should check out. One of those shops is Aspen Croft Heritage Farm Felt Studio. At the time I was anxiously awaiting a custom pencil case for my markers. It arrived over a month ago but since it was a Mother's Day present I wasn't allowed to open it until Sunday.

It is so sturdy, even more than I was expecting; there are no concerns about it holding up to the amount I am going to be using it. The craftsmanship is superb and it is so special as it was made just for me by a friend from high school.

Julie asked me what colours I wanted and then browsed some of my favourited items on Etsy where she discovered I like dragonfly's (now that's service!). It is perfect, I love that my markers stand-up in the case and I can see them all easily without having to pull every one out to find a specific one.

Thank you Julie!

Please visit her shop to discover more felt wonders.

A New Ironing Board Cover

This little ironing board has been in my house for almost 17 years. I was considering putting the after picture first so I wouldn't scare anyone off, but decided to be brave and show you what happens after 17 years of ironing.

I purchased this flowered fabric at a thrift store for $1.99 and have had it in my stash for 2 years. I love the sunny disposition this fabric has but haven't been inspired to use it for a project, it's a bit too bright for a skirt and doesn't match anything in my house for a cushion. But yesterday I was ironing and voila, a quick and easy project was born.

I ironed the fabric first and then laid it right-side down on the floor.

I cut off the extra fabric (enough left to do another project of some kind) and used a staple gun to pin the fabric to the board. I didn't take off the old fabric or padding.

My hands weren't strong enough to get the staples all the way into the board so I used a small hammer to bang them in all the way.

I made snips in the fabric around the corners and stapled each section individually to keep a smooth, round edge.

This little friend is a new member of the household (part of my Mother's Day/Anniversary present). He fits right in with the new ironing board cover.