Christmas = family time

This year as with every year we all make it out to my grandmother's house for Christmas day dinner, chestnuts, classic carols... I love looking through old picture albums, found my grandparents wedding pictures...just lovely.

I always thought my grandpa looked like Buddy Holly

DIY corkboard frames

Lately I have been writing notes to myself, you know notes that consist of shopping lists, future goals, New Year's resolutions and even some inpirational pictures. I am a writer so I have to constantly write things down. The problem is I have officially filled my planner and journal and have taken to writing on random things like take out menus and even the plain white envelope that my visa bill comes in! So I knew I needed to get a corkboard made and fast.

I decided to go with G (my man) to Walmart where I picked up 2 cork frames for $5 bucks each. I bought some black grosgrain ribbon and the rest (cardstock, white paint, hot glue) I had.

While I would love to say how super fast and easy it was to make, I would be lying. I found that the frames I bought were like shiny veneer so I had to prime them and paint them like 10 times ( okay maybe more like 7) before the paint would really cover the frames. So if you plan this sort of project I would suggest a frame that is unfinished because it would have saved me a lot of time and paint for that matter!

But from this point, after the paint had dried the process went smoothly. I had some Martha Stewart cardstock which went well with the greeny/blue accent colour in my room and I added the black grosgrain with hot glue inside the inner frame, banged some nails into the wall, and ta da! instant inspiration board.

I know it looks rather sparse but I will be adding to it daily :)

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Peace on earth.
I've included some pictures of Christmas trees and decor for you all to enjoy :)

Silver beaded Garland

I felt as though something was missing from my tree...yup the title gave it away, so off I went in search of some tree filler or as I like to call it garland. I found this 100 ft. one in silver at Walmart, bought it and didn't think twice that 100 ft. is a lot to unravel. One hour later in the midst of untangling my new garland I was about to give up, but I kept on and am truly happy with the results. I love my twinkling tree, oh and by the way I did not use all 100 ft. although you may see the leftover in a DIY some time in the future!

Cork

Since making my own DIY cork board frames for my room office nook I seem to have nothing but cork on the brain! So I guess it only seems fitting that I should post some of my favourite pictures of cork board frames that inspired my own.

Wrapped with love

Here is a sneak at just some of the presents I wrapped for Christmas about a week ago. Yes they match my decor blue, white and silver! I even made the snowflake gift tags. Almost here can't wait!

Oh and guess who got a haircut? Yup Jenny, I think she looks so cute :)

My Holiday dress list...

I know there will be plenty of holiday parties I will attend, and truly I love any excuse to dress up, so here are just some of my picks for this season.

All images from ASOS

Joy to the world

After recently visiting my old neighbourhood of East York near the Danforth where I did a sit down interview with a local in house stylist for Balisi, I decided that I would kill two birds with one stone and do a little Christmas shopping. I have not been in the Danforth area too recently as I now live farther away, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely new pop-up shop that features fairtrade and handmade eco friendly gifts called you guessed it,  Fair Trade and Hand Made Eco Friendly Gifts.

Not only is this shop great for your conscience but also had some lovely products like: heather grey scarves, hand carved home decor, jewellery, burlap shopping totes and much more...

They are up and coming and will only be at the danforth location, 503 Danforth (east of Logan) until December 31st, but I urge you all to go and support our local shop owners and get a little something for yourselves as well.

The store is run by three owners Craig, Andrea and Paul each featuring their own product lines, Nharo and the Traveling Princess, who will be happy to help you find a lovely gift. And on the same lines of gift giving, shop manager Craig Kovacs is offering this special promotion to readers of WALLPAPER, print out and take this flyer to the store and get a free gift with any compliment.

My flyer was actually printed on 100% hemp, practice what you preach! love it.

Happy Holidays to you all!

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LIV the way you want

As many of you know I do some freelance writing on the side and I recently had the great opportunity to visit LIV and sit down and chat with owner Joanna Goodman. The article will be out next week or so on BlogTO but until then I just wanted to share some of the great images that I was privileged to take.

The Paperie

My etsy shop has some new items up...yes those are Valentine's day cupcake toppers...yes we haven't even had Christmas or New Year's yet... is it so wrong that I think ahead? The ones in the second picture you could really use for any occasion, birthdays, showers, dinner parties etc.

Twig tree

Just thought I would hang some hand made paper ornaments on my twig tree in the corner of my living room...it looked so plain and sad before. The say NOEL and JOY.

Nail head trim

I love my dining room chairs, they are micro fibre, they are comfortable...but there was just something missing. Well not anymore, I recently added some nail head trim from Lee Valley Tools to them to make them look like more expensive chairs. Custom looking chairs for a fraction of the cost. Love it!

White feather wreath

Most of us probably have plenty of old holiday decor that we no longer use. For me I moved to a new house, and when I did my decor changed, so a lot of my old holiday decorations no longer match my new decor scheme. I know we've all experienced this, whether we love green and red one year or aqua and ice blue the next, it can get pretty expensive keeping up with our changing moods and decor choices!

So it was in this moment of reflection that I was inspired to use some of my old seasonal holiday decor and recreate it. Why on earth would I want to spend more $$$.

Here is the before wreath gifted to me by my mother, it was from Halloween/Thanksgiving...I hope my mother won't read this! LOL

And as most of you know, I recently made feather ornament balls, so I had plenty of feathers left over...the result is a whimsical white feather wreath. I have seen ones this size retail for over $30. I am pretty proud of myself right now :)

the before

the after