Advent Calendar Tree!

I'm getting this project done just in time. Its Dec.1st so time to put up the Advent calendar! I showed you how I stamped the bags and now I'll show you what went inside of them...

Last year, when Chloe was a curious wee one, she would grab at the ornaments on our 'big' tree. I ended up giving her own little tree with little ornaments that she would drag around the house and play around with. I thought it would be a fun tradition for Chloe to have her own tree again this year, but this time it would be made of felt and so would the ornaments.

Those are 24 little ornaments, lovingly handmade by Chloe, me, and my mom. I knew I wanted to incorporate some fun and crafting into making this Advent calendar, so instead of putting store-bought or ready-made trinkets in the bags, we made some of our own. Chloe only made a few of them and then my mom and I made the rest while she was napping so there still is a bit of surprise for her. A fun outcome of this project - my mom really got into making the ornaments and made some beautiful designs. I'm not gonna lie... the thought of taking these hand-made ornaments out years from now when Chloe is all grown up and Grandma no longer around, brought a tear to my eye. I love that my mom had so much fun doing this.

Each bag contains an ornament and Chloe will get to put one on the tree each day. Another bonus - felt sticks to felt so no adhesive is necessary to make the ornaments hang on the tree! For another fun surprise, I've added activity cards in some of the bags. On the days those bags get opened, we'll do some special things, like write Santa a letter or bake some cookies. I made sure to put the cards so that they fall on weekends when we have more time and dad's around to join in on the fun ;)

So now where to put them? Not a lot of choice in our small house. I strung a red bead garland across the plantation shutters in our dining room. Then I simply tied the bags around the garland. Easy peasy and the cotton bags work well with the country-ish wreath I have in that room.

I plan to take this advent calendar & tree out every year going forward. Maybe we'll make some new felt ornaments and add new activities as the years pass. I'm going to love telling and retelling Chloe the story of how we made these ornaments with Grandma. That's what traditions, are all about, right?

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Sarah's House 4: Curb Appeal & The Agent Review

Its the last episode of Sarah's House 4! Can you believe it? This 13 episode season just whizzed by.

In this final episode, Sarah puts the finishing touches on the front landscaping. Unfortunately, I have no exterior photos to show you so you'll just have to imagine the beige brick exterior (which Sarah thought would be grey in the first episode) and the giant 7 ton Norway Spruce tree Sarah puts in the front yard to add "been here all along" appeal.

Sarah invites three real estate agents to assess the changes and they tell us what they really think of the house:

ü  Marble flooring in the entry sets the tone for this elegant home

û  Living room is not a child friendly space

ü  Every upgrade spent in the kitchen was worth it. Money very well spent

ü  Use of hardwood throughout reinforces the open concept layout

û  Family room isn't cozy enough

ü  Beautiful flow throughout the house. Every room has own character.

û  Very bold dining room for the suburbs. It’s a statement but not sure it’s the right statement you want in this home

û  Bold wallpaper in powder room

ü  Romantic master bedroom with interesting colour scheme

ü  Upgrading the lighting in the ensuite adds a feeling of luxury

ü  Nook in girls room is great for homework

ü  Boys room has an edge to the design

ü  Money was put into the bathrooms and it shows

û  Craft room instead of a 4^th bedroom is a gamble. Many families in the suburbs have 3 or 4 kids and need 4th bedroom

ü  Family friendly rec room that doesn’t look like a basement

ü  Walkout upgrade well worth it

So what's the final verdict? List price of the house was $730,000 + upgrades of $111,170 + decor of $45,550 means that the agents need to recommend a price of at least $886,720 to break even. Looks like the upgrade dollars were well spent because the recommended price on Sarah's House is in the $949K-$959K range (and after a bit of digging, I found out the actual list price was $1,050,000).

So chime in folks... what did you think of the house overall? Would you pay $1M+ for it?

All photographs by Stacey Brandford.

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One Of A Kind Show Picks

On Thursday, I attended the One Of A Kind Show to select my top picks for my upcoming seminar on designing kid spaces. I have to say this was my favourite show yet! There were SO many great handmade products, especially for children. I noticed too that there were many artisans from Quebec. Their products really stood out - the French Canadians really do have an innate style that comes through their designs.

Here's some of the things that caught my eye. If you come hear me speak on Thursday, you'll hear my ideas on unique ways to incorporate some of these into your home.

Have you been to the show this year? Do you have any favourite artisans? The show runs until Dec.4th so there's still plenty of time to check it out!

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My big news: BlogPodium

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that on Friday I tweeted about my newest venture. Together with the brilliant Lindsay from Little House Blog and the talented Shannon from What's Up Whimsy, I'm proud to announce the launch of BlogPodium, a series of conversations on blogs, brands, and design.

BlogPodium arose out of some conversations Lindsay and I had. We had been to a few blogger meetups and while we loved getting together with our community and meeting new bloggers, we were left wanting more. Having been at this blogging thing for 4+ years now, I was craving more - more information on how to make my blog better, more education about sponsorships and SEO, more knowledge about working with brands and media.

And we thought there may be other bloggers that are craving more too. Some of us are new to blogging. Some of us are trying to use blogging to propel our careers - in interior design or event planning or etsy selling - and other design-related businesses. There are a wealth of things we could be talking about. And while our American blogger friends and our mommy blogger friends had conferences of their own, there was nothing decidedly Canadian out there for design bloggers. Until now.

"Conversation, collaboration, connection... At BlogPodium, we believe in the power of conversation (after all, isn’t that what a blog is all about?). We will bring bloggers and industry experts from shelter magazines, design television, and social media together to talk – because great things can happen when we do! Through our quarterly conference series, we aim to educate and empower our bloggers and deepen our relationships within the design community."

That's our mission. I feel so fortunate that we have a thriving and accessible design community here, with numerous design TV shows, many talented designers, and our great magazines Style at Home and Canadian House & Home headquartered right here in Toronto. Why not expose these folks to bloggers and vice versa?

The first BlogPodium event will be on Trade Day at the prestigious Interior Design Show, Canada's largest contemporary design fair, making it easy for bloggers to connect directly with other media and the design trade. BlogPodium @ IDS is well worth making the trip into Toronto for, my east coast & west coast friends!

Exciting times ahead. Check out BlogPodium and let me know what you think. I hope to see you at our first event!

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A (LED) Lighting Revolution & Giveaway

A few weeks ago, I was invited to the Philips Design With Light event. I admit I don't think much about lighting (do you?) but its such an important element in room design so when they aimed to inform me about the new innovations in LED lighting, I was intrigued.

Samantha Pynn, previous host of Pure Design and current host of the HGTV's web series The Mix, spoke at the event. She talked about all the different uses of LED lighting in this room:



Can you believe those are all LED lightbulbs? I guess I'm behind the times because when I think LED, I still think coil-shaped bulbs that give a cold blue light. That's no longer the case, obviously. Here's what Philips LED bulb* looks like today:

Yeah, its a bit different, isn't it? This new advanced LED technology has a few tricks up its sleeve:

• long life and kinder to the environment - lasts 25,000 hours or more than 15 years!
• energy savings - saves 80% in energy costs when compared to a 60W incandescent bulb
• mercury and lead-free construction
• quiet (no hum) operation
• emits virtually no heat
• non-breakable
• dimmable!

I decided to give it a little test and lucky for me, one of the bulbs in my dining room chandelier was out. You can see that the bulb has a yellow casing. The Philips representative told me that this is because the bluish diode inside the bulb plus the yellow casing produce the cleanest white light.

 

My chandelier had two lightbulbs in each of the shades. I kept the three existing 60W incandescent bulbs and installed the LED (in the second photo above, its to the right of the metal vertical post in the first shade. I was pleased to see that you couldn't notice the yellow casing whether the light was off or on. 

The light produced was very white but not glaring. You can notice a slight difference when the LED is put against an incandescent lightbulb. Not so noticeable in the photo above...

but much more noticeable when the light is dimmed. All the wattages are the same (60W incandescent = 12.W LED). The incandescents on the right shade give a yellowish cast while the LED is more pure white. This wouldn't be a problem though if you used the LED in a single bulb fixture like a table lamp.

Overall, I like the whiteish light of the LED bulb much better. I'm typing this at the dining table right now and I find I'm straining my eyes less under the white light. They are a bit more expensive at the outlay, ~$30, but save you money in the long run. As the bulbs go out around our house, I'll give a second thought to replacing them with LED ones.

Now here's the part where you get to test the Philips LED lights for yourself. Sorry, this giveaway is only open to Canadian residents!

One person will win a collection of lighting products courtesy of Charlene Magnaye at One Voice. Valued at $100, the winner will receive two 12.5W household bulbs (like I used above), one chandelier bulb, and one globe bulb. To enter:

• leave me a comment about anything fun!
• become a follower of my blog by clicking here

Contest closes midnight Dec.1st. I'll announce the winner on Dec.2nd. Good luck!

*Disclosure: Philips did provide me with the bulb but I was not otherwise compensated for this review. I just wanted to share with you my opinions on a product I really do like!

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A Stamping Fool

It started innocently enough. I wanted to make a DIY advent calendar. So I went to Creative Bag (aka "packaging heaven") and purchased some cotton bags. I knew I wanted to stamp them so I bought a Martha Stewart stamping kit. And then I went all crazy and stamped everything in sight.

I made monogrammed bags for gifts for my girlfriends' kids (didn't you love things with your name on it when you were young?)...

I made monogrammed bags for gifts for Chloe's daycare teachers (heck, even adults love things with their name on it)...

and I made those Advent bags. You'll notice that not all the fonts are the same on the bags. I didn't check to make sure the longest word would fit with the larger font I had started with. Oh well. Just like the ink smudges, its part of the stamping charm ;)

And now with all that stamping, my fingers are stained and my eyes are buggy but I'm left with a pile of stamped package pretties.

Now all I have to do is finish finding what goes inside all those pretty bags!

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Sarah's House 4: Master Ensuite & Basement

Wow, it’s the second to last week of episodes of Sarah’s House 4! The season has just flown by.

MASTER ENSUITE

With an upgrade budget of $11,000 and 195 sq ft to play with, Sarah and Tommy set out to create a dreamy ensuite. There is room for every luxury in this space – a water closet, separate shower enclosure, soaker tub and double vanity. Sarah is set on making the most of her upgrade budget by using natural stone for the floor and less expensive ceramic tile for the wall.

Using the floral fabric from the ensuite as a jumping off point, they select a Ming green marble for the floor and set the colour palette for the watery space. Next up is the vanity. Instead of opting for the expensive $3500 upgrade offered by the builder, Sarah chooses to get the standard cabinetry but customize it with antiqued mirror in the recessed panels of the door fronts and adding feet to make it look like glamourous piece of furniture at a cost of $2100.

A freestanding, sculptural tub is added (definitely a Sarah “perk” – I’m not sure if many home builders would agree to this change). In a design move we’ve seen Sarah use before, she puts a 12”x12” tile on the floor but adds a tile carpet pattern using different sized tiles (total cost $1975). Large 4”x12” white subway tiles line the shower stall with a diamond tile border and chair rail to liven things up. A cross-handle chrome and porcelain faucet and vintage glass sconces add some retro glam. Full length drapes $875 in washable cotton add some softness.

Curvy accent chairs ($195 for the pair) are dressed up with a new paint job, shimmery fabric, and white piping to enhance the shape. The glam vanity is brought to life with a quartz counter upgrade of $1575 and a pair of custom narrow mirrors (which repeat the diamond motif from the shower accent tile). All in all $11,200 upgrades plus décor of $4,500. Creating a grand and soothing suitable for this grand home.

BASEMENT

On to the huge basement! During the construction stage, Sarah added a walkout for $15,000 - a big investment but one which adds abundant natural light and value into this multipurpose space. Another upgrade: $1740 spent on modifying the ductwork and walls to create a larger space with less unsightly bulkheads.

With the entire basement clad in an upgraded wool carpet, Sarah decides to add a amp up the colour by layering a red Persian rug on top. The bold pattern of the rug needs to be balanced with other similarly bold elements so a mix of patterned fabrics in a vibrant palette of red, grey, and cream are sprinkled throughout. Soft felted wool grey is used for the William Birch style sofa while modern striped blinds in red and cream draw your eyes to the windows. More zing is added with the two opposite end walls painted in a bold barn red to visually reduce the length of the large room.

A casual, clean lined pool table at $4,375 eats up most of the décor budget so the rest of the large room is filled out with cheap finds like Craigslist chairs and a country table-turned-coffee table. A mix of feminine floral art and masculine car art make the room appealing and welcoming to all.

Tips from the show:

• Do basement changes at the construction stage. That way, you get a finished usable space rather than having to live with a builder basic unfinished basement for years. 
• Mix lighting. Potlights are necessary but add pendant lights to pull the eye down and add decorative interest. 
• Carpets can add vibrancy and colour to a boring basement. 
• Using a variety of fabrics – wool, linen, cotton – and patterns contribute to an easy-going, easy-living feeling in the rec room 
• Basement seating should have a deep seat, tight back and high back – perfect for kicking back and snuggling in to watch a movie. 
• Custom built media units can be expensive. Save money by using flexible component pieces. 

The tally for this large basement: décor cost of $22,600 and upgrade cost of $43,600. That brings the total upgrades thus far to $107, 375 – more than the $100,000 budgeted and there are still a few more rooms to do!

What do you think – was it money well spent?

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Handmade Gifts

The older I get, the more I appreciate receiving handmade gifts. These gifts are the ones that always stick in my memory... the batch of shortbread cookies our friends give us every Christmas, the hand-drawn art from my nephew, the crocheted blanket I received days before Chloe was born. They're just a bit more special aren't they, these gifts infused with thoughtfulness and effort?

So I've made more of an effort to give some handmade gifts of my own this year. One of these gifts will be going to one of my dearest girlfriends. I have a great group of friends I've known since high school and for the past twenty years, we always find time to celebrate the holidays together and exchange gifts. We're all into baking these days so I decided to sew up a fun apron and put it together with my fave cookie recipe and some cupcake liners and gift it in a mason jar.

I saw this tutorial pinned on Pinterest and gave it a try. This blogger Jona had some really great time-saving sewing tips in her tutorial and it was really easy to follow. I'll have to check out what other projects she's done.

And here's how my apron turned out:

That little one... she is always in motion. She may look a little downcast in this photo, but actually she had just given my leg a hug and said "I love you Mommy". Melts my heart, she does.

What do you think of handmade gifts? Are you making some this year? Any favourites you've received? I'd love to hear about them.

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Photo Christmas Cards from Tiny Prints

Its less than six weeks to Christmas. This is where my stress levels start rising as I think about all the gifts I have to buy, the crafts I want to whip up, and the baked goodies I want to make (and eat). One thing I am getting a head start on though is our Christmas card.

For the last two years, I've been getting my Christmas cards from TinyPrints. I really loved this Chloe-as-a-bear card from two years ago and our tri-fold card from last year so it was a no-brainer to go back to them again for this year's batch. There's a few things I love about TinyPrints:

• their cardstock is thick and the colours print nice and sharp
• cards are printed with a design on the front AND back. Plus, you can customize the back with additional photos or text at no extra cost!
• pricing includes white envelopes
• the unique design options: rounded corners, full bleed photos, round cards & many more

Their website makes it really easy to pick and choose your card design. You can add cards to your favourites as you browse and you'll see them in a bucket at the bottom of your screen. This makes it easy to compare and save everything that catches your eye. Once you've settled on a few, you can personalize them and save them in your projects folder until you're ready to purchase.

Here's a few I tried out... modern & trendy cards:

traditional cards:

and multi-photo cards:

I think this is the one we'll be ordering (Mom, avert your eyes!). HandyMan liked the modern, clean look and I liked that I could put a photo of Chloe front & centre ('coz, seriously, we all know she's the looker in the family) and a family photo on the back with a short message. Isn't it sad, this is the only half-decent photo I have of the three of us this year.

At least that's one thing I can cross off my list! If you're in the market for Christmas or holiday cards, do have a look at Tiny Prints.

***

Disclosure: Tiny Prints will be providing me with free cards this year but I love their products so much, I would have happily paid for them as I have in the past.

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