Vintage delights

During one of my frequent trips to the thrift store I stumbled across a delightful bundle of vintage gift wrap.

For me this was really exciting because it combined two of my favourite things – vintage era and gift wrap – win for me!

Here are a few shots of my favourite patterns from the bundle.

Don't you love these wedding prints?

 

And these fun patterns?

 

And these adorable ones for kids?

 

I think this one is my favourite from the bunch.

Can you believe this package was only 35 cents? I wish there was a year printed on the package. I'd love to know how old it is.

 

Now that I have all this great paper, I need to find some gifts to wrap and some creative uses for it in home décor projects. Any ideas?

Pretty peonies

I just wanted to share with you the beautiful peony blooms I just picked from the bush at the side of my house.

Peonies are one of my favourite flowers. Their big, delicate blooms are so pretty and their smell is intoxicating!

Light pink peonies are my absolute favourite, but our dark pink bush came with the house, so I'll take them.

Do you love peonies? What's your favourite colour?

Happy Easter!

Here is a quick little post to show you the easy Easter eggs I made. All I used were some brown eggs I had in the fridge, a pencil and a sharpie.

First I blew out the eggs using a straight pin and a straw. I roughly followed these directions.

 

Then to decorate, I sketched out my design on the egg first with pencil, then went over it with a black Sharpie. Easy peasy!

I wasn't super perfect with them, as I didn't mind if they were a bit wonky and abstract. Plus, I didn't have a whole lot of time! You could get as detailed as you like. The Sharpie was really easy to work with on the egg. It didn't bleed, dried fairly quickly and the egg was a nice smooth surface to draw on.

 I have them displayed in a little basket in my front porch.

I want to wish you all a Happy Easter this weekend as we contemplate the death and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ. I was reminded this morning at the mothers' connect group I attend, to not let Easter pass me by without really thinking on its significance. It's not just another holiday, it is the centre of our Christian faith. My prayer is that God will give me a fresh understanding of the significance of the cross this season.

Happy Easter!

Some Sewing Fun

This past weekend, my little family made the trip to the National Home Show and Canada Blooms at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. A big thanks to our friends at aka design for the tickets! (The show is on until March 24 if you're interested in checking it out.)

Among the rows upon rows of booths displaying windows, doors, decks, hot tubs, massaging recliners (not that I have a problem with all of that) I found a little gem - The Sewing Studio. They are a store/studio in Toronto that sells sewing machines and offers sewing classes.

Their booth was set up as a mini studio and you could sit right down to make your choice of project in about 15 minutes. What a unique idea and totally fun! It was nice to take a break from looking at all of the home reno stuff.

It didn't take much convincing for me to sit down and make a project. Their booth was so cute and inviting, and the instructors so friendly and helpful!

I chose to make a mini cosmetic brush roll. I have been wanting to get a brush holder like this, so I was excited to find out that was one of the options. Now I don't need to buy one!

It was such a simple project, yet the finished product is really attractive. The fabric patterns they had to choose from were so fun.

Here's the outside. Who doesn't love chevrons?

 And the inside. Cheerful polkas and stripes.

And here it is with my cosmetic brushes loaded into it.

I don't have step-by-step photos/instructions because it was an impromptu sewing moment. But there are lots of easy tutorials available all over the web.

The Sewing Studio was also giving away little bundles of fabric. The best freebee of the day by far! (I was a bit tired of the mini flashlights and measuring tapes.) How chic are these patterns? I wonder what project I will come up with for them...

Maybe I will make some more cosmetic brush rolls to give away as gifts!

Thanks to The Sewing Studio for a fun memory and a cute/functional/easy sewing project!

Birthday wishes

First things first...

I'm still alive! My apologies for the VERY long break I've taken away from my blog. I think the cold weather hindered my motivation and inspiration.

Now that it's getting warmer and the days are longer, I'm hoping to get going again with my posts. Thanks for sticking with me!

My husband is turning the big 3-0 this coming weekend, so I surprised him this past weekend with a birthday dinner at a restaurant with friends.

As an added touch to the simple get together, I designed some note cards for guests to write a birthday message for Jeff. I collected the notes, tied them together with ribbon and gave them to Jeff at the end of the night.

Guests enjoyed sharing their sentiments and Jeff loved all the special messages.

Happy 30th Jeff! I love you.