Today I Crocheted a Hat

So I never can stop learning new things to create. This past weekend I decided to take up crocheting. I went to our local Michaels craft store and bought myself some yarn and crochet hooks and took them home and sat down with youtube. I now have many baby hats. Learning how to make a baby hat made everything else easier to understand. So after I mastered the baby hat I went on to something a little more challenging, but still possible! this is what I came up with!

 

I`m thinking about making a few more of these to add to my etsy shop. If you haven`t checked it out already you must!! Emily Giles Hair & Design  Its full of feathery goodness!! 

 Since you`ve got me started on feathers.. here is some inspiration that I just can`t get enough of!

these above photos are feather extensions from finefeatherheads. If you don`t have some already you need to get some because they are so cute!

Okay goodnight blogger world. Busy day tomorrow! xx

DIY: Stairs

While my husband was away visiting his family back home in Australia (JEALOUS!) I stayed home with the kids. This is the first time the hubster and I had been away from eachother in the 3 years we`ve been married. SO it was CRUCIAL that I found something to fill up my time (as if 2 kiddies wasn`t enough!). So I took a little stroll on the world wide web, specifically Pinterest - which don`t even get me started!! And got a little bit inspired. STAIR RENO!

So for starters EW. My stairs were so bad, I can`t believe I didn`t do this sooner!! Like 3 years ago maybe!?? The carpet on the stairs was so worn out and nasty that even a rented carpet cleaner and vacuum couldn`t make a slight difference! Take a look...

I know everyone is running to their nearest carpet store requesting this!! vintage, right? WRONG! awful is what it was. Thus the DIY stairs project!

First things first. Send Toddler to Grandmas.. Next few days stairs are off limits!

Step 1: Have ugly stairs! The uglier the stairs the better the transformation!

Step 2: Pull off horrible carpet and under mat stuff - if its as old as mine (which could very well be 100 years!! haha, if they did carpet back then) might want to use a mask for dust purposes.

Pull out nail board and staples. For me this seemed to be the worst part. Each step had about 15 staples and nail board on the step and back (the back is a challenge because of the lip) I`m not sure how a normal person would remove these, but for me a chisel and hammer did the trick! and I used a knife to get the staples out. Once this was finished Day 1 of project stairs was over.

Step 3: Sand those babies! Now luckily my stairs were hardwood - this is not recommended if they aren`t.. Grab your electric sander and lots of sandpaper and go to town!! For me, I wasn`t looking for the perfectly smooth stair as my house is old and I`m not sure that would even be possible with these old old stairs. But a good sand they needed none the less.

After a good sanding its time for Primer. My stairs were quite dark still so they required 2 coats of Primer. Make sure you don`t need to use the stairs before you do this step. Bring everything up or down that you will need because your stairs will be out of commission for some time. After this step I went shopping :) What else is a girl to do while waiting for paint to dry?

Looks better already doesn`t it??

Step 4: 2 coats of paint!! I ended up using Semi-gloss paint in Cloud White from Benjamin Moore because I had it already for my trim. But it doesn`t seem to shiny at all!

After all the paint was dry I went through and filled all the cracks with caulking and they look as good as new! Now I`m on the hunt for the perfect runner or stair treads. I was thinking of getting some natural stair treads, but debating between that and a stair runner. Would love to hear your thoughts!!

I`m loving the new stairs!!

A Year In Review: Did I Mention??

I am not pregnant.. but a big part in why I haven't blogged in a year is because I WAS pregnant. Baby Giles #2

Eloise Eilynne Giles
7 pounds 15 ounces
born July 17 2011

proud parents!!

Harrison checking out his new sister

My hands and heart are full.

A Year In Review: Kitchen Renovation

So while we were away.. this happened. I look back and am so happy this happened to us, but walking into my kitchen in this state when I got home from Australia made me want to cry.

While we were away our furnace shut off in the dead of winter. This caused our kitchen pipes to freeze which then caused them to burst and thus the picture above.. My poor mother was the one who walked in to see the flood. Glad it wasn't me! So my dad just went to town and gutted the place.
Our kitchen was really horrible before. If i didn't have to be in there, then i wouldn't. So this really was a dream come true! Just took a little longer than expected. We started the project in January and it is now ALMOST finished and its October. Here are a few pics of the kitchen when we bought the house. I don't have any from when we moved in, but pretty much the same with new paint.

And here are some pics of my favourite place to be evolving!!

FLOORING!!

CABINETS!!

DOORFRONTS!!

ISLAND and LIGHTS!!

BACKSPLASH!!

BARSTOOLS!!

LOVE IT..
Thanks to my husband for working for such a great kitchen company, Timberwood Custom Kitchens, and also for being so great at installing and building everything to your wifes desire. I Love YOU!

A Year In Review: Trip To Australia

December 2010 we took a trip to Australia with our son Harrison so that he would be able to meet all his family that live there. We had such a great experience flying for the first time with a baby - he was 11 months old at the time. I researched ahead of time to figure out how to entertain a nearly 1 year old on a 24+ hour trip.. lots of snacks, drinks, new toys and get a lot of sleep before the flight because you won't sleep much on it! I really prepared myself for the worst. He was great. The first flight we had a row with 4 seats to ourselves and so we made a bed for him on the middle two seats and he slept a rather large chunk of the flight. It was awesome.

We had such an awesome time catching up with family. We spent Christmas and New Years in Australia which was a new experience for me not having a winter Christmas as Australia is in peak summer mode!! And therefore we spent a lot of our days at the beach!

1 year anniversary

Of what? you ask... well, October 19th, which is only 7 days away... is my 1 year anniversary since my last blog post. How appalling.. I know. Well a few days ago I got a little kick in the butt from a friend, Frosted Spoon, and I must say I'm glad she did. A whole lot has happened in a year and being so far behind in blogging I don't even know where to start.. So I'm going to turn to Picasa for a minute and remind myself of the events of this past year. Be back soon!