Ideas and Goals

I read the Nesters blog or Instagram the other day about clearing out the clutter and I got inspired. As Baby stuff is taking over some of my living space I am having strong urges to purge. I am planning to clear out all the tchotchke, some will go into a bin to store because I'm not ready to part with it and some will go into a bin to donate or sell, which brings me to the next goal. One weekend this summer I want to pack up my collectibles and furniture I am no longer in love with or have a place for and I want to rent a table at an antique market! I want to play dealer for a day! I may even try to convince some friends to join me!

Fab Find Friday: What's in my Workshop

I have to admit, this blog has seen better days, but to be honest our mind is on other things...namely waiting for Baby Madia to show up! Today was my last day of work, so I am now officially on maternity leave. I celebrated with pedicure- classic OPI Red.

On to Fab Find Friday! My workshop has started to collect a number of items that I can't really do much with until I am without child and able to use my furniture stripper and paint products again. I probably have half a dozen projects waiting for a little TLC.

On the left is an industrial stool Chris and I picked up for $5 at a garage sale last weekend. I'm not sure where it will end up (Kitchen Island is currently in the lead), but it was too good of a deal to pass on. The item on the right was also a yardsale find. It's a wooden suitcase. I have never seen one before, not even at the antique shows. It has leather straps, and I have no idea what I will do with it, but that's half the fun right?

Weekend Find

I stopped by a garage sale on the weekend and found this really cute metal rack/planter/stand/I really don't have any idea what it is. When I asked the hosts how much, they said "10 cents, actually we'll give you a bag of cookies if you take it away." The garage sale was for charity, so I offered them a dollar and they gave me a bag of cookies and this lovely item. I don't know exactly what I am going to use it for, I think it would be a great stand for cupcakes if I had a bakery, but I do think a coat of bright spray paint is int its future! Right now I am thinking red or yellow, but we'll see!

Does this item look familiar to anyone? Anyone have any idea what it may have been used for in the past? Happy Wednesday!

Handling the Dresser

When I last left you, this was the state of the dresser that we purchased for the Nursery. After testing to make sure it didn't have lead paint in it- which it didn't- yay; I then had to decide what we were going to do with it, and specifically if I was going to do it myself. Although I feel my pregnancy has been fairly easy (knock on wood) all things concerned, the one struggle that I have consistently had to deal with is not being able to do everything I want to do independently. Asking for help is hard, especially when you are used to doing things on your own and you enjoy doing those things.

That said, my super friend Dixie Anne agreed to paint the dresser for me, and I couldn't be happier. She has been keeping me updated by texting photos of her progress:

1. Here are the drawers all primed (love your thumb DA)!!!

2. Here is the frame primed and ready for paint!

3. And here is the finished product she texted me last night- so exciting:)

The next step for this project, will be to replace the handles for an updated look. My dream handles are little white anchors from Anthropologie, but for $10 a pop, i'm not sure they're worth it. Here are some of the ones I have liked so far.

What do you think? Any that stand out as favourites in your mind?

Dresser Hunting

We were on a mission to find a dresser for the nursery at the Aberfoyle Spring Sale. We looked at almost everything and as you can see from the pictures below there were lots of styles and colours to choose from. We're planning to use the dresser as our change table, so we needed it to be a specific height and length- tip: always bring your measuring tape to antique shows!

In the end we went with this cute 3 drawer dresser with original hardware and casters. It was an absolute steal at $40 and is clearly in desperate need of a paint job (right now, I'm loving the idea of bright red or cobalt blue). Most of the others ranged from $95-$250, and some were a bit too big for the space. We think with some TLC and a fresh coat of paint, this guy will be perfect for our little peanut

A Tale of Two Quilts

We went to the Aberfoyle Spring Show on Saturday and managed to walk away with not one but two cutter quilts in fabulous condition! I love looking through cutters because I love the shabby chic-ness and the colours and patterns are usually my style.

Boy-Cat's favourite is a small square patchwork number that was in a $10 bin of cutters. I loved it and didn't even haggle!

The second quilt was found much later in the day. I had just taken my pick up slip to the loading area for the dresser we found (more on that later), and noticed this sweet quilt. When I asked for the price, the vendor said $25, which was half of what he really wanted. He asked if I wanted it and I said I would have to think about it as I had already bought another that day. He said $20 if I bought right now. At that moment Chris showed up with my other quilt and I told the guy I only spent $10 on the first one. He immediately said, alright let's do $10 and it's yours...I handed him a $10 bill and didn't bother mentioning I would have paid $15. It is absolutely beautiful and in great shape!

Favourite Spaces- Bathroom Corner

Although this room has a long way to go, and I have major plans including a full paint job and totally new light fixtures before Spring, I love this space. With the cold winter we've been having, I've spent many an evening soaking in our deep claw foot tub, which I hadn't really taken advantage of until now. I added the snowflake garland at Christmas time, and liked it so much I left it up. I think one of the reasons I like this space so much is it has so many treasures I've collected over the years, and everything has a story (like the old liquor bottle or the cracked Japanese china jar on the little shelf above the tub.

In the picture below, you can see the old metal hospital table that Chris negotiated at Christie a few years ago, a wash-stand given to my by close friends, a pretty tray I picked up at Aberfoyle, a vintage suitcase and old painting I found at Goodwill

Here is a close up of the pretty tray. I think I paid $6 for it, and loved it the moment I saw it. The frame is wooden and the tray is ceramic. No room would be complete in our house without a couple of fruit jars. I have also added an old first aid kit and tin of baby powder for good measure!

As you can see from the pictures above, I'm not the only one who likes this space. This is Missy Cat's favourite bathroom activity- catching drips on her nose. In our old house, we used to let the tap run for her, now we use an old enamel pan to catch her drips.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you have a good weekend, we're going to see a good friend, and I am hoping to get some thrifting or antiquing in at some point, definitely in withdrawl this time of year!

DIY Friday: Wedding Venue Decor

After reading the Style Me Pretty and Ruffled blogs religiously for over a year and a half, I knew the decor for my venue was going to be really important to me. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I did want it to reflect my style; rustic, colourful and full of patina! It was hard because we don't live where we got married, so I had to make sure whatever I planned was manageable. I was very lucky to have the help of my parents on this one. They travelled to visit us earlier in the year, so they were able to take all of the jars I have collected over the years that I planned to use for my centrepieces. My dad also arranged with a friend to borrow a few items his daughter was using for her rustic wedding that was held just a few weeks before mine. One tip for brides getting married in a different city is to check Kijiji and Craigslist in the city their getting married in for items they may want to use. That's where I found my colourful bunting and old door I put my menu on. You just need a Super Dad or Relative to pick stuff up for you. I'll never forget when I sent him for the door- "You need me to pick up an old door...and you want to use it as decor?"

I found the wooden C and J at the Christie Antique Show, after a coat of paint they were ready to go. My mom and grandmother arranged all of the flowers in the canning jars.

I got this printable online (Wedding Chicks Blog) and put it in an old frame that use to have my mom's grad picture in it!

This old door was converted into a chalkboard and used to display the buffet menu. It is currently living in my parents shed and we're working on ways to bring it back to Ontario as I am in love with it.

The centrepieces were a burlap square with a stack of old books, two flower arrangements in canning jars (the smaller one on top of the books) with tea lights and a floral table number held up by a vintage spool. My friends did an awesome job arranging these and I loved how they turned out. We personalized a few of the tables by picking books that related to the people sitting at that table. 

Since only my maternal grandparents were still alive to witness our special day, we wanted to do something to remember all of the grandparents. We got black and white copies of each of them and had a table dedicated just to them with the word "Memories" in scrabble tiles.

When we asked our baker to put sprinkles on our wedding cake, I think she was probably very surprised. It turned out exactly how we pictured it, and looked great with the DIY bunting cake topper I made (tutorial here). When I sent a thank you card to the Baker, she said that her and her husband drop off a lot of wedding cakes, and most decor set ups don't make them take a second look like ours did. I like that we didn't have a cookie cutter reception, and I'm glad we did it on really light budget by using a ton of items we owned already.

We also used scrabble tiles as place settings for the wedding party at the head table.

Speaking of head table, here was the panoramic view I took on my iphone during the reception. My dad and brother hung all of the bunting along the top of the room the morning of the wedding. Did I mention how thankful I was to have family and friends pitch in to make this day great?

I love this picture. Chris surprised everyone with this big kiss! I made the Mr. & Mrs bunting out of burlap and stencils I got at the dollar store. Behind us is the crocheted bunting my mom made that says "Love Is All You Need". It was such a great day, and we truly are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that helped put it all together. I also need to thank my friend Shaun for taking many of these decor and venue pictures. He knew how much work I put into planning everything, and knew it would be important to capture all of the details. He did such a phenomenal job!

Favourite Holiday Spaces- Sitting Room Mantle

I have seen tons of Holiday House tours on blogs I read lately, and I wanted to join in the fun. Instead of giving one tour of all my holiday decorations, I decided to share some of my favourite spaces. This is our first Christmas in our old country cottage, so decorating was exciting this year as I had to pick new places for everything to go.

Our sitting room doesn't get used very often, but it does have a lovely fireplace with a barn board mantle. It already had my collection of blue fruit jars and the wooden C and J from our wedding. I added some garland and lights as well as my Christmas mitten bunting. I found two bags of vintage glass Christmas bulbs at Value Village earlier this month and used the green and blue ones on top of each of the jars. It looks great during the day, but magical at night!

Last Day of Aberfoyle

Last Sunday was the last day of Aberfoyle for another year. I love going on closing day because despite the cold, you can actually get some really good deals as it is the Sellers last chance to make a sale (the cold probably helps).

This was the first thing I noticed when I walked up to the market from the parking lot. I have dreams of owning a truck just like this...or a little older...you know for when I own a business in a quaint little town (think Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride).



The next bright light in my Aberfoyle trip was meeting up with this cute chick. It's been a while since we've seen each other, and I always love the time we spend together. For the record, this isn't her bike...but she really wanted it to be...you know for cruising around town!

As always, there were many things I loved that I didn't take home with me. Here are a few of my favourite things that didn't make the cut:

Top Left: Sweet grey chair; Right: Nice car blanket, perfect for Christmas styling. Bottom Left: Wooden crate that I was considering as a side table; Right: Sweet candy can from Halifax

I thought long and hard about this guy. I was thinking he might be perfect in a small corner I have in my kitchen, but alas I wasn't sure he would fit and wasn't totally sold on the price.

Last but definitely not least, I saw this guy as we were heading out, and he looked like someone had left him behind...many moons ago. There's something very sweet about this little guy, and I am sure he was loved by a few children before he made his way to this can!

In the end I picked up some hooks for my front entryway and bathroom as well as a little side-table that needs a bit of a makeover for the low price of $20! I will share the table in a future post:)

Happy Wednesday everyone- i'll be back on Friday with a Halloween themed post.

Goodwill Hunting for Treasures

It's been a crazy week as exemplified by my lack of posting. I still want to get up a number of wedding posts, but I am waiting to receive my photos from my photographers. Yesterday before meeting my friends for dinner, I stopped into a Goodwill store for a quick peak at their Housewares and Furniture Section. Here are three of my favourite things that I didn't take home:


Top Left: Wooden Birdcage ($10), Top Right: Wooden Baby Sled ($15) Bottom: Wooden Bench with Storage ($15)
The pillows definitely would have been left behind or recovered!

 
We have a relaxing Saturday and busy Sunday ahead of us. We're going to Soupfest if the weather holds out, and I am looking forward to making some goodies with all the great veggies that showed up in this week's farm basket! Happy Weekend everyone:)

Distressed Door DIY

When we first moved into our sweet cottage home, the door to our basement was painted brown. I didn't really know why...was it to match the beams because i'm pretty sure they're stained. I knew I had to do something once the kitchen was painted gray (it was so hideous I refused to take a good before picture).

Chris pulled the door off its hinges and I gave it three coats of paint after one coat of primer. Once it was perfectly painted, I realized it wasn't perfect. It was missing something...patina, so I preceded to sand all the edges, bumps and dents to create a distressed effect. What is even more amazing is that somehow I carried this very solid wooden door into the house and hung it back up on the hinges all by myself. This had nothing to do with priority or help not being available, but everything to do with impatience (Chris was away for the weekend) paired with intense stubbornness of a woman who hates asking for help. 

Things I Left Behind

I stopped in at a few Antique shops this weekend, once on the way home from Stratford in Shakespeare (unfortunately there was only one shop open), then the red barn on the way to the Cookstown Antique Market and then in Cookstown. I can't always bring home everything I love, so here is a glimpse at the things that didn't come home.

Clockwise from top: Cute vintage stools, great tall chimney cupbard, a beautiful iron crib converted to a daybed and ornate ladder back chairs.

I loved this chalkboard and thought it would look sweet in a child's room one day!

Hope you all had a great Canada Day long weekend!

I'm in love...

...with a table. Chris (my true love) spotted this sweet, original, well loved, gorgeous, 1870's farmhouse table at the show we went to on the weekend. He knew it would be perfect in our dining room, and it is!

As you may recall, I have posted previously about my existing kitchen table. I still love it, and it is going to make an excellent craft table.

Raising the White Flag on the Blue Island!

One of the first things I did in the house (after removing the tacky gems and ribbons from the guest room chandelier) was paint the island. It was a blue that didn't go with anything in the kitchen (those lights are also on my list...did you even have to ask)? While painting the island, I learned that it is actually made of an old door cut in half and some beadboard. The beautiful table top is the top of an old harvest table. I primed it first and then used two coats of acrylic enamel paint that I found downstairs. I then added one coat of water-based polycrylic to protect the finish since the island also houses our dishwasher. I'm loving how it turned out!

The BEFORE shot

Post Primer

The Finished Product!

Loving Lately

So I was able to stay away for one week! In that brief time away, I actually come up with a few ideas for posts that I really didn't want to wait on, so i've decided to post when the creative juices are flowing. This may mean once a week or once every couple...so bear with me:) Thank you to everyone who told me you would miss my blog and for understanding that sometimes you just need a break! The kitchen reveal, a picture by picture to-do list and loving lately recaps are few of the posts I have floating around in my mind!

In the last two weeks we have made much wedding progress including my last dress fitting (I LOVE how it turned out), bridesmaid dress shopping in one day (i.e. 8 hours of shopping), my friend Cait came to visit and my mother-in-law to be threw me a wonderful shower!!!

Now on to a  few of the things I'm loving lately:


1. Using the vintage suitcases for storage- this one is holding all of my table linens!

2. Funny kitty sleeping poses- last week they both decided stretched out arms was the way to go...I think Boy-Cat looks particularly regal!

3. The idea of hanging my platters on an old plate rack. I saw this one at the antique show, but it was too pricey...it will be my summer hunt item!

Happy Friday everyone, hope you have a great weekend!

Jess