We have yet to bring up our boxes of Christmas decor, but I am really thinking this year there will be much less red and green in our midst. Everything here I had on hand, except for my recent extravagant purchase of the Merry Christmas , $3.00 at the local dollar store. We inherited this blah fireplace when we bought this home a year and a half ago. It's on our list of redo's. Not sure when it will happen, but for now, this is our fireplace with it's Canadian Tire sconces. Eeeew. Last weekend I got out the Modge Podge/Sheet Music duo. I made a pattern for the B from the font  Storybook , cut it out with the jigsaw from  5/8" MDF we had on hand, and voila, our holiday B.  I also got out this old set of anters from the garden shed. My father was an avid hunter and we grew up having game on the dinner table. Not a big fan, but the meat did not go to waste and I have redone a few sets of these. It is always nice to have a free source for ...
Funky Junk Donna's theme tonight is 'white' and I've got it. In my kitchen now and outside. The white inside makes me happy. When we bought this house over a year ago the only thing I didn't care for was the kitchen. The BEFORE pics were taken before we moved in. Happily this past May we started the makeover. Mr. Crow's Foot wanted to rip out the whole kitchen, but I stuck to my guns (and budget) and we painted. The sanding begins. We use our potting bench as an outdoor work bench too. A happy day for us; chipping off the drywall compound fake tiles and grapes. You couldn't even wash this thing. Eeeew. We removed the old soffit and replaced it with beadboard. We  Mr. CF built in a couple of display cubbies. We did all of the work ourselves except for the stone backsplash behind the stove and the new countertops. Here Miss M helps our tiler. This part of the transformation took place in July. A reminder of the BEFORE: ...
One of my favourite toys as a child was my Barbie camper which I proudly purchased for $11.00 in fifth grade on our exciting family trip to Disneyland in 1972. I played with it, my nieces played with it, then Miss M, lamenting the taped together camp stools and missing steering wheel. This fall we discovered the new Barbie camper and she was pining away for it. On Saturday she sold her Little Tykes kitchen & vast pantry full of plastic food and is now the proud owner of the 2010 model. We're now running a Barbie Campground. I loved the picture of my camper on the box. It took Miss M a while to be ready to part with some of her favourite toys but after selling the kitchen & accessories she said that she felt good. More room in the playroom and now new Barbie love....
It's hard to believe it was eight years ago that Miss M celebrated her first Halloween at four months. Sigh. It was a beautiful night... the snow had melted and we didn't need winter coats. Always a bonus. My witchy poo with her neighbour friend at the start of their spooky trick or treat adventure. ...
I knew that I  needed one of these signs for my freshly de-80'd kitchen but between the price and the cost of shipping (almost $80.00) I knew I could make one much cheaper myself. So... I did. I mean WE did. I used a font I liked and printed it, made a pattern, and DH cut it out for me. I could have (I had many more woodworking tools when we met than he did) but he is darn good with a jig saw. I would have liked to make this out of pine, but we had a piece of MDF left after the kitchen reno, so we used that. I primed, painted it my island colour (actually not near as periwinkle as it looks here), then again with turquoise craft paint and sanded. Still not quite right so I dry brushed on ivory and white. Then sanded. My EAT sign; total cost: FREE! I'm still working on my nook. I've got finishing to do on the three pane window, still not sure about the placement of the hanging mason jar (the jar holder was my husband's great grandmother&#...
Miss M practicing piano last night in full witch regalia. Boo. ...
Crafting and decorating for Halloween has become Miss M and my most anticipated holiday fun of the year. The making of labels and collecting of jars and potion ingredients started in September. These labels are free to download at  Love Manor Labels   I spiced up Miss M's fall photo in  Picnik  and the frame came from one of my fav' thrift stores for $1.00, as did all of the black Halloween pic frames. I think the skull art frame may have been $1.99. I really went crazy there. :) Our mini schnauzer Max was only too happy to contribute to the wearwolf fur jar. We dried the huge mushrooms that sprouted in the back yard this rainy August for our Toadstool Clippings. We will add to these next year and I think I will pick a higher perch to display them so that they are easier to read. The skull and halloween bug graphics are from the wonderful and generous  Graphics Fairy . The brain specimen and jar came from the dollar store @ $1.00 CDN each.  The label i...
My 2010 version of Country Living's Paranormal Portraits is much sturdier than last year's attempt. I followed the instructions in the link (except I gave my family photos a sepia tint and printed on photo paper, skipping the black wash step). The frames are thrift store bargains sprayed black. Keeping everything together was interesting; I used 1/2 a roll of duct tape and you still had to tip toe when walking by them so the lights didn't pop out. For the NEW & IMPROVED method, put the frame backs on and take a pencil and carefully draw little circles through the holes you made for the eyes. Take care that your original holes are not too big, but just fit the lights. I used a scrapbooking punch to poke out perfectly round holes (no frayed edges). Anyway, draw through so that the frame back has the little circles on it. Find a drill bit a smidgen smaller than the light hole size and drill right through the frame back. You may have to take off the easel and then repla...