DIY Wooden Headboard

A few months ago, I wrote about my DIY project weekend and I finally have a picture to show you of you one the projects. Here is the link to the original post: DIY Project Weekend.

Design
We wanted to something that was easy to clean, comfortable and had a rustic modern look. I am so in love with Rustic Modern right now. After looking at many headboards (both online and in print), I decided that I wanted one made slatted boards. My husband suggested that we curve the back of the headboard to make it more comfortable to lean against when we read in bed. Once he got my ok on the look of the headboard, he proceed to make up the plans for the bed.

The Process:
It is made up of 1"x 2"x 8' pine boards which we cut to my desired width (65") for our queen sized bed. After we cut the board to size, I then did a painted, distressed finish with some left over paint from other projects. The paint colours I layered were a mid-tone grey and a chocolate brown. The paint was diluted with a little water so it would go on transparent and then before the paint dried I wiped off some of the colour. Once the paint was dry, we proceed to assemble it.

It couldn't have turned out any better. I absolutely love it!

What's your favourite DIY project you've either made or would love to make?

My Top Five Favourite Beauty Products

Since it's the time of year for giving I thought I would share with you my top five favourite beauty products that would make great stocking fillers. 

Top Five Favourite Beauty Products

1. Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten. It is a really pretty gold shade. It is perfect for this time of year when you want to add a little bit of sparkle and glam to your look. I love Stila lip glazes because they are really easy to put on and you can get the right amount of lip colour by simply turning the dial. It's also not sticky like some other lip glosses. I almost forgot to mention they smell awesome! You can't beat a great smelling, not sticky, pretty lip gloss. 

2. Almay Smart Shade Anti-Aging Concealer in Light - This is one of those self-adjusting make-up products and I will admit at first I was a little sceptical to try them but I fell in love with this one. I have never been a big fan of the mask feeling you can get with some foundations and concealers. Up until this point I haven't really had to worry about dark circles and blemishes since my skin has been pretty clear. But now that I am in my thirties with a two year old to keep up with means being tired more than before this concealer has done wonders for my dark circles. You just dab it on with you ring finger and because it is self adjusting the concealer is easy to blend into your skin. 

3. La Roche-Posay Lipikar Xerand Hand Repair Cream - I suffer from moderate-extreme eczema on my hands and this cream has done wonders. It really helps with the severe dryness. I like to put it on overnight so it has more time to work. The only issue I have with it is that it has a rose-like scent which can be a little intense when you first put it on but disappears as time goes on. The scent did surprise me as it is a product for sensitive skin but the product's ability to repair my hands makes up for the scent. It's also paraben free. 

4. MAC Eye Shadow in Naked Lunch. What can I say MAC eye shadow? MAC Eye Shadow is my favourite and will forever be my favourite eye shadow. The colour pigment is amazing and the texture is luxurious. Naked Lunch (the name makes me laugh every time...hehe) is a great soft pink champagne colour. It is prefect for day to be warn alone or as a base for a night time smoky eye. The most important part for me is that it stays and you don't have to put have the pot of eye shadow on to get the amount of colour you want. 

5. MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash. It is awesome. A few months back I was having irritation issues with my eyes and I think my old mascara was part of the cause. This one is a beautiful, black colour and goes on super easy with it's teeny tiny brush. It doesn't clump or flake which is what I was looking for and it definitely doesn't irritate my eyes. It's a bit more of an investment compared to the drug store varieties but my motto is you only get one pair of eyes so invest in them.

These opinions are solely my opinions and I have not been paid to review any of these products.

What are your top favourite beauty products?

A Little Bit of Christmas Everywhere

This year I decided I wanted a little bit of Christmas throughout the whole house. I like a little seasonal reminder in a every room but I don't mean I like my house to look like Christmas threw up all over it. Just a little hint, whether it be ode to my Christmas colour palette of the year in the bathroom towels or ornaments in a vase in the kitchen. This year I decided to have a neutral base colours for the tree and one colour for pop. I choose brown and gold for my neutral base colours (but it could easily be white or black) and for my pop of colour purple. The pop colour you can change out each year or every second year and rotate every few years.

My palette for 2013. 

Tree: The majority of the Christmas ornaments are gold and brown then for my pop of colour I have two dozen ornaments in purple. My tree skirt (actually is a faux fur throw) is in the same purple. I also like to play up the texture so the accent colour ornaments are in different textures: some are shiny, some are matte and some are glittery. The reason for doing this is so that it adds dimension to the tree and I love the way the light hits each of the textures differently.  

Back Story on the Type of Tree: We are team real tree. It started about fifteen years ago when my brother and I convenced my mom to get a real tree. We wanted to see what all the real tree hype was about and I haven't been able to go back to a fake tree since. The companies that make artificial are making a good fight though and maybe one day I will go back to an fake tree. We do a real tree because we really like how they look and you can't beat the smell of a real tree. Yes, it's messy but I don't mind because it's only for a few weeks a year. My husband and I have made a tradition out of it where each year we go to a tree farm, pick out our tree and cut it down. It has become a nice family tradition and now that our son is beginning to understand more he is so excited to help daddy cut down a tree.  I don't have any pictures to show you yet because we haven't cut down our tree yet. I will post pictures soon.

Accent Decorations: Purple

Here are some Simple Touches you can add to your house.

1. Glass vase with Ornaments and Pine Cones - a super easy way to add a touch to any room in your house. Just take a glass vase put in some pine cones (The ones in the picture are Home Depot a few years ago. Or you could get them out of your yard or from a park or the woods.) I choose one colour to keep easy and simple. This one is gold.

I wanted to add some height for mine so I found a cake stand that I already owned and put the vase on that. Ta da! I put this simple touch in the corner behind the kitchen sink. Now when I do the dishes I have this little reminder of the season and it makes me smile.

2. Front Door - A Simple Faux Wreath. I made this one a few years ago. I bought the pre made faux greenery wreath and hot glued in so faux berries. Then I made a bow and attached it with some florist wire. You can get all these supplies at a craft store like Michaels.

3. Planter at your Front Door - To make the planter, you can go to a local florist or garden centre and buy the greenery and accents or you can go into your yard and cut some stuff. I used a stone planter I have on my front step all year long that I change it out seasonally. 

For the planter below, I went to a local garden centre for the greenery. I bought magnolia leaves and an assortment of branches: fir, spruce and cedar. The stars and gold glittery balls came from Home Depot. As for my technique, there is no right way to do it I just started sticking things into the existing soil. I make sure the floppy cedar is in the front to drape over the edge of the planter and stuck the taller spruce branches in the back. I filled in the empty spots with the fir and magnolia leaves. I love the colour of the back of the magnolia leaves against all the green. The accent ornaments I added to the front for some sparkle and added texture. 

Like I said before, there is no right way to do this. It's all about placing things, playing with it and having fun.  

4. Currently, I working on painting wooden blocks to look like little presents and the word joy. Stay tuned for pictures.

Let the decorating continue! Have a great weekend!

Great Caribbean Vacation

I'm back!!! My husband and I went to Caribbean for a good friend's wedding. My friend picked a cruise for her wedding festivities and then get married at one of the ports of call. My husband and I decided that my son would have more fun with his grandparents on the farm than with us confined to a boat. It was also our first time leaving him for longer than a couple of hours. He had never even done an overnighter before we left. The first day was a little rough but as time went on I knew it would be great for both us and our son. I also knew he was in great hands as his grandparents have raised four boys of their own and now have eight grandchildren.

Our vacation was great though not as relaxing as I thought it would be as an adult vacation. Even though we didn't have to think about nap schedules and 8 pm bed times we still had to keep a schedule for excursions, dinner times, and making it back to the ship before it left for the next island.  We got to see six islands in seven days. The six islands were Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. It was incredible. We also did two excursions: a hike near the Pitons in St. Lucia and Snorkelling in St. Kitts. Both excursions were a lot of fun and the scenery was breathtaking.  We had a great time with our friends but were very excited to see our son when arrived home.

I only have two pictures to share because we misplaced our camera. :(  No worries, I am sure it will turn up soon.

Design Chaos

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Finally, after a few weeks of shuffling things around so that we can paint and redecorate some of our rooms, I am starting to get things back into their proper place. I am such a "type A" person who needs everything to be neat and tidy and in it's place so my days runs as smoothly as it can with a two year old. Also, have a place for everything means little hands are less likely to find it and I say "less likely" because he just seems to find a way to get things he really wants.

Today list of things to do keeps growing but I am determined to get them done.

First off, where did I put my new pens? I am so excited to use my new colourful pens and haven't yet since  I bought them a couple of weeks ago. With all the chaos I seem to have misplaced them and have spent the last half and hour trying to find them. Err! I hate when that happens.

Next up, paint the dresser for my son's new room. We are up-cycling an old dresser of mine from my university days. Hopefully the dusty rose carpet (from the previous owner I promise) we have to deal won't throw our colour scheme right out the door. What bossy carpet!

Then, I need to email the minutes from a meeting I had.

Lastly, I need to  gather everything we need to pack for our vacation on Friday. By gather everything I mean, pack for our cruise and then pack for my son's visit to his grandparents. My friends are getting married while we are on the cruise so I am also hair stylist and make-up artist for their big day. That means I need to pack all my make up, hair products, flat iron and curling iron as well as all my beach and formal attire. Trying to remember everything gets me feeling a little frazzled and excited for this trip at the same time. I am really looking forward to celebrating with my friends.

 Hopefully, by tomorrow we can start to put my son's room together. Yeah! {Insert happy dance here}

The pictures I promise are coming. So here's a little sneak peak.

N's Big Boy Bedroom - In Progress

Caribbean Travel Must Haves

My apologies for my missed post last week, besides being very busy I haven't been feeling very well. I am hoping to feel better for my vacation next week. We are going to the Caribbean for a long-time friend's wedding so I am very excited.

In honour of my trip, I thought I would share my vacation must haves.

1. Great Pair of Sunglasses. Right now my dream sunglasses are these Tory Burch sunglasses They have a great shape and the perfect shade of tropical blue.

2. Add a little height to your beach look with these awesome wedges. They will add great length your legs.

3. I am not a total lover of flip flops but Havaianas have one me over. You can walk all day in these and look super cute at the same time.

4. A fabulous hat to keep the sun out of your eyes.

5. Fun Nail Polish for the superb pedicure.

6. Large Pretty Beach Bag for your magazines, books, and sunscreen.

The six must haves will keep you stylish on the beach so keep these in mind for your next beach getaway.

Stayed tuned this week because I hope to have another post for you this week to make up for no post last week.

A Very Busy Month

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. We decided to go on a road trip and redecorating a couple of rooms in our house all in the same month.

Last weekend, we went to Montreal to visit friends. As usual we had a fantastic time. We used to live in Montreal and miss the city and our friends so we try to visit regularly. The city is like little a mini trip to somewhere exotic where everyone speaks French, home to great fashion and shopping, amazing bike trails, fantastic food (especially cheese and baguette), extraordinary restaurants, and great culture. The city has that beautiful European like charm.

Montreal Recap
One stop we have to make every time we go  is the Atwater Market , one of the best markets I have been to with incredible selection. We tried cannoli for the first time and it was very delicious. Another thing we started to do now is to always bring a cooler so we can stock up on different cheeses, baguette, my favourite olive oil La Belle Excuse. It's my special olive oil that I use for dipping baguette, drizzling on pasta, or as salad dressing. After the market, we took a ride on the Metro (subway) downtown to go shopping at my favourite Quebec store, Simon's. My friends made meat fondue (one of my favourite special meals) for dinner on Saturday night. The fondue with wine, cheese, baguette, and great conversation was the perfect end to our day of shopping. Fondue is a great way to slow down. You cook one or two pieces of meat at a time leading to lots of conversation.
On Sunday we went hiking up Mt. St. Hilaire, QC which took about 2 hours and was 5kms. After our hike we had amazing Poutine at Le Fringale. Once we were stuffed with then went to my favourite supermarket called Marche Adonis before heading home. Marche Adonis predominately specializes in Mediterranean foods with connoisseurs in each department of the supermarket. I came away with fresh pitas, Greek feta, oregano from Greece, and a selection of Baklava.

 It was really great to see our friends again and enjoy one of our favourite cities in Canada.

Atwater Market in Montreal, QC

Mt. St. Hilaire, QC 

I am currently designing three rooms (My Office/Studio, Our Family Room, and my son N's big boy room) in our house at the same time. Crazy! We are slowly getting there. Right now we are painting two rooms at once, my studio/office and the family room. I still have to pick out the wall colour for my son's room, buy his accent pieces, and decide on drapes or Roman blinds. Can't wait to show you more of the details.

This weekend we are continuing to work on our design projects. Hopefully by tonight we can have my studio painted and start to move everything back to normal. Have I ever told you that chaos makes me crazy? Well it really does especially when you have been in the middle for a few weeks now.

Stay tuned for pictures and details of my newly redesigned rooms.