I Believe in Pink...

" I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing a lot. I believe in being strong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is a new day and I believe in miracles."- Audrey Hepburn

Pink. Every single person who knows me assumes my favourite colour in the whole, wide, world is pink. Why? Because the front door of my house would make Barbie envious. It is the pink that every little girl wishes she was allowed to paint her bedroom. It packs a punch and nearly blinded all of my neighbors when I painted it (it had always been traditional black). I have a confession, pink is not my favourite colour. I don't really have one, I love mustard yellow, mint green and turquoise. I love black clothing, peach blush, white tulips and red shoes (...and red wine). The only time I opt for pink is when I am buying or applying lipstick. Nothing in my house is pink, it is all greys, blues and mints. I painted my door pink 'cause I wanted something modern on an otherwise traditional house. A pop of character.

The problem with painting your door pink (and really, it's the only problem) is that you then have to decorate the exterior with complimenting colours. Traditional red and green Christmas wreaths clash, flower choices look best when they are pink and white. This year I opted for the first time to not buy hanging baskets. My front step is breezy and they just dry out so fast, it is almost impossible to keep up with their thirst. Instead I filled my flower pots with begonias, impatiens and dusty miller and I filled my window boxes with corn flowers and sweet peas. It looks lovely, but without the hanging baskets, a little something is missing.

As a rule I hate fake flowers. No offense to anyone, but they never look authentic and they are dust magnets. The only time fake flowers are acceptable is if and when you live in the Arctic tundra, or somewhere fresh flowers don't grow and aren't readily available (I swear, I am not opinionated). They are also OK in flower crowns because let's face it, flower crowns are gloriously fun. Today I broke my rule. I bought a grapevine wreath for six dollars at a craft store and half a dozen bright pink silk (gah!) flowers to affix to it. I don't know what possessed me. But with a little hot glue and some strategic placement of the fake (sigh...) flowers, I ended up with a pretty cute little focal point for my bright pink door. The wreath cost a total of eight dollars taxes in and you can find pictures of my adventure to the dark side of fake flowers below!
Happy crafting/beautifying !
ps. first time not using my iphone and using my fancy camera, hence the kitty at the end!
-m

My Fake Plants Died....

"My fake plants died because I didn't pretend to water them."-Mitch Hedberg

So lets talk succulents. The often soft, waxy cacti that have quickly become one of the biggest trends indoor gardening has seen in years. Modern design shows, pinterest and hipster-esque terrariums are practically teeming with succulents of every shape, size and color. Most succulents are drought resistant, storing water in their leaves and stems. There are hundreds of different varieties but the most commonly found ones include jade, aloe and Christmas cactus's.

Being trendy, these little green jewels can be hard to find and when you do they can be greatly over-priced. I found an air-plant at a local market for over twenty dollars and little non-potted varieties for as much as thirteen bucks a plant in local flower shops (!!!!). I have also found succulent workshops which look amazing but the price tag of seventy odd dollars is a little daunting to make a centrepiece. You can imagine my surprise when I found just what I had been looking for all along at the Superstore this weekend. In the floral department they had oodles of succulents in adorable lime green and white pots for only $3.99! I picked up three and took them home. When I got home I hunted in my pantry and found a small, oblong plate I had purchased at the dollar store that just so happened to fit all three tiny pots. What resulted was an adorable little centrepiece that is modern, on point with trends and that takes up the empty space where my tulips usually sit during tulip season (which sadly, has just ended). This cute little display cost about $17 dollars and I couldn't be happier with it!

Now that I am the mother of some new plants, I had to do a little research on how to keep them happy and healthy. Here are some tips to keep your succulents alive....

• Don't over water them, they don't like the TLC we are used to giving to many of our other house plants. Only water them when the soil is completely dry. Over watering can cause the roots to rot and your lovely, plump succulents to shrivel and die.
• Don't place them in extremes. Extreme sun, extreme heat, extreme darkness and extreme cold can be damaging to the little guys. Reasonable temps and light is what these guys want, you may have to move them around to help achieve this. General rule is a foot or two away from a window that gets good light (not on the window sill), they can sunburn!
• Feed 'em. This one surprised me a bit in my research. They love a little extra nutrition and succulent food is cheap at flower markets and on line.
• If your little plant isn't growing, it may be pot bound. They need a little room to expand and grow, sizing up a pot may be exactly what they need. If you do re-pot, try to make sure the new soil is damp before you transplant. This will allow all of the roots to have access to moisture from the beginning.
• Lastly succulents require pots that have good drainage. Whether it is a pot with a drainage hole or a good, thick layer of gravel before the dirt goes in, they really do hate saturated soil. Remember many of these little gems are desert plants, they get a soaking from the rain and then they dry out and the cycle continues. They won't dry out efficiently if there is no drainage.

Happy planting all!
-m

 

Spring Is...

"Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!' "-Robin Williams

It is ever-so-slowly starting to feel like spring and the snow is finally starting to melt. Where there was once an eleven foot, gleaming-white glacier in my front yard, there now stands a three foot tall, dirt covered, pile of old snow. There are little patches of grass to be found and on every block or so you can spot crocuses starting to sprout up through the soft mud. It was eight degrees today. Last week there was frost and snow on my car in the early morning, I will take eight degrees with a smile.

Find pictures of my spring-inspired bouquets and flowers around the house ('cause we all know I LOVE fresh flowers) below. Also find a recipe for the tastiest, most decadent and inspired thumb-print cookies courtesy of Ms. Martha herself. Happy Spring!
-m

Don't these coconut thumb-print cookies with sea-salt and caramel look divine? Find the recipe and tricks of the trade from Martha Stewart here. Martha made me do it, I swear.

  

The best not-so-secret, secret ingredient courtesy of Presidents choice black label. 

Creativity....

"Creativity takes courage."-Henri Matisse

In the time since I last posted, Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone. My computer has all but died (no amount of resuscitation or intensive care seems to be enough) and I am knee deep in new certifications for the new-to-me job I will be starting in January.  I also made a very "adult" purchase today; I bought a new oven. Why did I have to buy a new one? As I was taking my perfectly browned, 15 pound turkey out of the oven for Thanksgiving dinner, my oven door fell right off. Crash, bang, boom. I saved the turkey but couldn't save the oven. Luckily the stove still worked and my pie had been baked in the morning. My guests didn't starve and all was well in the world. I am sure the waistlines of myself, and those belonging to my co-workers are the only to suffer through this oven-less ordeal. Sigh...

I have finally completed the "gallery wall" in my living room. I had been on the hunt for ages for pieces that both fit the space and spoke to me.  I am happy to say all of my gallery prints were purchased from local shops and/or are all printed printed locally and/or designed by local artists! I am proud to be from Atlantic Canada and am glad to continue to live in such a beautiful place so I may as well show it off !

Over five years I have collected or received these prints. As they are all unique and are all different styles I framed them in simple black gallery frames. Some frames were matted, others were not but the simple frames helped to keep the pieces uniform. I must admit, I was a little leery of traveling all of the way up to the ceiling in a fairly scattered way but I am glad I did! If you are interested in owning any of the above prints or checking out more local art and gift ware you can find them and much more in the links provided below! Happy decorating!
-m

Poster Boy - The Atlantic Canada print, and  many more of his fantastic screen printed and hand framed art can be found here.

The Girl From Away and English Muffin Print Shop- The lighthouse! You can find  it and other awesomeness here and here.

All others can be picked up at Dots and Loops (here), Kept (here) and Inkwell (here) which are some of my very favourite and adorably curated local shops! Check them out, you will not be disappointed!

I Believe In Love At First Sight For Houses..

"I believe in love at first sight for houses, not for people."- Danielle Steel

I do not believe in love at first sight, at least when it comes to houses. I saw about fifty. One of the fifty I maybe kind of loved but being out of my price range it was more like lust than love. My little house had a lot of "potential" when I bought it. It was filthy, unloved and beige. The entirety of the house was beige/yellow with the exception of a superbly bland, white and black exterior. My 80+ year old grandmother, who is wise, stylish and full of good taste told me it was a mistake. That it was a "money pit". She couldn't see the potential. I must admit, I have questioned the "potential" a lot myself, including on the day I took possession. Good things take time and luckily time is something I have a lot of.

In today's modern world, a world where most house hunting happens on line, curb appeal is important. With over saturated housing markets, any future home owner scans dozens of listings before they narrow down their few favourites that they may want to see in person. Without curb appeal, a house can quickly be overlooked. I am convinced that is one of the main reasons I was able to land my house. The poor beast was overlooked. Curb appeal can not only increase the value of your home, but it can increase the value of your neighbour's homes. Happy neighbours are wonderful things!

To increase my curb appeal I did four very inexpensive things. They included painting my door a punchy colour and tearing off the horrible storm door (the one that kept catching my heels!). I put up shutters, window boxes and did a teensy, tiny bit of gardening (which includes flower pots).  I figure everything cost less than $200 total and the change is dramatic. It amazes me how the little things make a huge difference!

This is my little house on the day I bought her, look at how naked and sad she looks!

Adding shutters reminded me of the change you see in a persons face when they go from having no eyebrows to painting them on. They frame your face and make your eyes "pop". Only problem was that shutters wouldn't fit on my lower windows, they were too close together...sigh.. The six shutters on the top cost $66.00. Thankfully my dad was around to help me put them up! Painting the door cost as much as a gallon of paint!

This is where the window boxes came in. They balanced the black on the top and evened everything out! Plus they will be so fun to decorate with evergreen boughs and Christmas garb in December! These were a gift from my dad (he is the best!) but I am certain they cost no more than $100 to have made. 

Tahhhh-dahh! Xo

A Good Deal Is Only A Deal..

I"A good deal is only a deal when you actually need it ." Nanny lecturing my Papa

I have many qualities and some are more endearing than others. One of the least endearing ones is how much I love the thrill of a sale. Yes, I said a thrill. Not much can make me happier than getting an amazing deal on something I need. I will wait and scour and wait and scour for the perfect price. Don't get me wrong, I am not cheap and have no problem paying full price for something. I really do believe there are certain things you should not be looking to get a good deal on and those would include a hair cut and furniture (often times you do get what you pay for!). I also believe that buying fresh local produce is worth every penny. My general mindset is why pay someone for something you could do yourself and why pay full price when you can wait and get it on sale.

Why am I telling you this about myself? Well I took a risk this week that could have gone either way. This risk was taken due to an incredible price on a can of paint. I have needed to paint my final spare room since the day I moved in. It was the only room I didn't paint and the only room that was stuck in a boring, beige funk. When I moved in it was the best colour in the entire house and although I am not really a fan of neutral beige, it won by a long shot over the rusty brown and nicotine yellow that danced upon all of the other walls in the house. My plan had been to paint that room a light, airy grey. I even had the colour picked out and the swatches taped to the wall but the little make-over kept being pushed to the side as one project popped up after another. This week I was at Kent looking for Adirondack chairs and hoping they would be on sale (see it is a disease...) when I wandered through the paint isle and noticed a mis-tint . Now a mis-tint is a can of paint that was tinted wrong by the paint machine. It is never a true colour and therefore can't be replicated and a swatch can not be found to see what it may look like on a wall. Because of all of this they are usually half price. Mis-tints generally go for $20, which is a great deal if you are looking for a very cheap face lift (and let us be honest, paint is cheap to begin with!) but most of the times the colours are hideous. Well this can was $7. Yes, $7. That is the price of a grande' latte at Starbucks. It was what appeared to be a robin's egg blue and it was a paint and primer in one which was a $55 can of paint. Clearly my disease of good deals would not let me leave it there. Even though it was not at all what I wanted I figured it had to beat beige and if I hated it, it was a little time and $7 wasted.

Now I must remind you at this point that it is August. August on the East coast is humid and muggy and there is very little air circulation in older homes (like mine) that have the windows propped up with old books and pieces of dowel. To say I was sweaty and hot after painting my basically free paint on the walls is an understatement. When I left the room 2 hours and two coats of a bright blue later I looked as if I had jumped into the shower fully clothed (and not in the attractive way, if there is an attractive way to do that!). I must confess I waited an entire day to look at the finished room. It was brighter than I anticipated from the the little thumb print of dried paint on the top of the lid. In day light and with the room put together I surprisingly  love it. It was the best $7 I have spent in a long time and potentially the cheapest update my house has had to date. The next time you are in the paint section at your favourite hardware store make sure to check out the mis-tints, you may find what you didn`t know you were looking for!
-m

Before....

After...

I Advise Keeping Four Feet On The Floor...

"I advise keeping four feet on the floor and all hands on deck."- Anne Launders

As I type this I have a chai tea in hand, there are stars in the sky and I am cuddled up with a blanket on my deck. Sounds peaceful right? Things are good around here, my deck and I are old friends again.

One week ago my deck and I were not friends, we were hardly even acquaintances. I was fumbling with a book of matches and with the idea of putting myself and my deck out of our misery (but arson is a felony and my insurance probably wouldn't have accepted insanity as my plea). All I can say is that the people who built the deck and then chose to very sloppily apply a brown solid stain were lucky I didn't know where they currently live. They would have had a burning poop bag on their front porch to say the very least. Solid stain the the worst. It peels, it rubs off and eventually it needs to be scraped and/or stripped. I plead with you fellow deck owners. We are in this together and although solid stains look "right some nice" when they are fresh and new, they quickly turn into the spawn of Satan and what will soon become the bane of your existence. My deck should have been stripped and stained the year I moved in but it was just such a big under taking that I kept putting it off. Finally I could no longer stand the look of it and I put my foot down on my inner procrastinator. "It won't be that bad.." I told myself. "A few hours work and it will totally be worth it"...my pep talk included. My inner cheerleader was so wrong. I can honestly say that painting my entire house; trim, ceilings and all was a walk in the park compared to revitalising my poor back deck.

What I did was I bought a deck revitaliser and stripper in one. It was made by Thompson's Water Seal. I brushed it on and then let it sit for five to ten minutes allowing it to work it's magic on the old rotten solid stain.  I then pressure washed it all. This took approximately ten hours (but who is counting). The floor came up easily, it was the rungs that gave me a hard time. Next I had to sand (I chose to use my handy palm sander...the rotor dug into the wood!) the rungs to get off the rest of that stubborn stain. This took about four hours (again, I wasn't counting..). Next I went to home depot and had a horrible time deciding on what to use to finish it. Ultimately I would have preferred to use just clear sealer but because the knots in the wood seemed to have a death grip on the old dark stain I chose a transparent stain and water sealer in one. Deck stains come in solid, semi transparent, transparent and clear. I wanted something I would never have to strip off again and something that would protect the wood. I went with Thompson's Water Seal again and I chose the colour "honey", hoping it would make the knots less apparent while giving the deck a uniform appearance. I made the right choice but again fellow deck owners, I urge you to just use a clear waterproofer if your deck is new or untreated. Let your decks naturally turn grey while protecting them. Low maintenance is good my friends. Staining the deck took a full day.

Although I complained and yes it was the worst project to date, I am so happy with how my little deck turned out. Water beads on it and it looks mighty fine if I do say so myself. You would never know the deck it six years old. If I continue to treat it every few years it should last me for many more to come. I must be getting old if decks are so high on my priority list....sigh. Happy rejuvenating all.
-m

Before......

Stripped and bare....

What I used...

Going on and then finished !