1 Minute with EZ

EZ is so happy it's Spring. He likes to play outside {like any good boy}.  Now that he's 2 years old, he knows how to get REAL dirty. And he LOVES to get dirty.

I took these photos in less than a minute yesterday. It was a balmy 24 degrees out and EZ wanted to play in the mud of the yet-to-be-planted vegetable garden.  You can see he's taken his boots off and is playing with his hockey stick and his "'boni" {Zamboni or a.k.a his plastic toy bike} sock-footed in the mud. 

Did I mention this was his 3rd outfit of the afternoon? 

Did I also mention I HATE doing laundry?!

This is his precious "CHEESE!" face - so adorable!

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Baby Shower Saturday - Nesting for a Mum-to-Be!

Hello folks! Here are some snapshots from the lovely baby shower I co-hosted this past Saturday for my very good friend. I've never known a baby more anticipated so we had to make this party spectacular.  And it was. We had nearly 50 people attend and it was amazing to share in this joyful occasion with you all.

Thanks to all who attended and helped prepare this party.  A special thanks to my wonderful co-hosts - you girls are amazing and I'm lucky to have such talented, reliable and thoughtful friends!

The theme colours were gray, white and shades of pink 

{she's having a little girl! YAY! A friend for Little A!}. 

A wish tree {adorned with paper fleurs & dangling crystals!} - Every guest was invited to make a wish for the mom-to-be and hang it on the tree.

By the end of the shower, the tree was full of lovely wishes for the mum-to-be!

Aren't my dining chairs to-die-for? DIY, baby - with a little help from a friend who knows how to upholster with croc embossed vinyl!

The dessert table...delicious cupcakes, brownies & cinnamon rolls - all homemade {not by me!}

Sweet, chocolately cupcakes with a little bling in the background!

See the little chocolate cake? One of my co-hosts' husbands brought me the cake for my birthday! Isn't that lovely? I'm so spoiled!

A very cool diaper cake made by one of the co-hosts! Isn't it amazing?

So amazing that it deserves another photo...

...or two :)

Doesn't this look delicious?

Little A got dolled up in clothes to match the party - she likes to be festive!

Amazing food prepared by my wonderful guests & co-hosts!

One of the guests brought me the orchid for my birthday - so thoughtful. I adore orchids.

The same friend who brought me the orchid also brought this amazing cheese tray - I am swooning over the ceramic labels for the cheese! Now your guests can know what kind of cheese they are indulging in! I need to own these now!

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Something to whet your appetite :)

I'm prepping today to host a baby shower tomorrow {which is also my b-day!} for a good friend.  So today's post will be short...

...Just one little photo to give you a hint of how my dining room is coming together!

See you soon! Thanks for stopping by! Stay awhile and become a "follower" of my blog!

Thanks!

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What I'm Loving Now...

What I'm Loving Now... by Mummy Maggie featuring printed scarves

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Chevron Ruffles? YES - Thanks to Crazy Wonderful!

Check this OUT!

One of the newest followers to Mummy Maggie Chronicles is having a very cool giveaway {her first!}.

We so excited. 

Sorry for the Rebecca Black reference, I can't help myself sometimes.

Visit Shelly's lovely blog at Crazy Wonderful to check out her giveaway items. The ruffle chevron pillow is STUNNING! And anyone who follows my blog knows that I'm a sucker for ANYTHING chalkboard - coasters? What a great idea. And everyone needs more thank you cards - we need to write more handwritten notes in this crazy word, don't you agree?

So be sure to check out Crazy Wonderful for your chance to win this little bundle of lovelies.

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From Brassy to Sassy - Spray Painting Door Knobs

When we first became homeowners in 2006, we moved into a brand new home.  We decided against getting satin nickel door knobs & hinges at that time because they were going to charge us too much {like $1000+}. The FIRST thing I did, however, on moving day was replace all the door handles & hinges with egg shaped satin nickel knobs.  That's when we were kid-less and could spend money on such frivolous things.  When we moved, I was sad to let me cool door knobs go.

We've been in this house for almost two years and I've had to look at the ugly, worn & fading brass door handles, and we simply don't have money to replace them.  So...what's a DIY with style gal to do?  What about SPRAY PAINT?!

I searched online and found that this has been done before {Infarrantly Creative gives an amazing tutorial so I won't repeat it here.}.  So this past weekend, I couldn't take staring at the brass any longer and went to Home Depot to buy spray paint.

I wanted my knobs in a flat black for a modern "Up-Country" look, so I chose RustOleum's Painter's Touch in Flat Black.

So I followed the tutorial on Infarrantly Creative, and here's what I came up with.

From Brassy...

...to Sassy

 I think the key to getting the paint to stick is sanding the heck out of the handles before you apply the paint.  Then I did about 3-5 light applications of the spray paint, including touch ups.

I also realized the strike plates were brassy and scuffed up, so instead of spraypainting those, I decided to hit up Home Depot again and buy new chrome strike plates {$3.49 for two - totally worth buying new!}.

This update is EASY to do and adds tons of style to otherwise ho-hum door knobs.  I think many of us don't like our old door knobs, so why do we live with them?

Many of you are likely to ask me, "Ya, so how long do you think THAT will last?"  My answer is that it's spray paint, so it will likely have to be touched up occasionally and I don't mind that.  Door handles are easy to take off and put on again, and it won't be often. Even if it is, I will always have the satisfaction of knowing I only spent $5 on paint, not $500+ on replacing ALL my door knobs. 

Plus, the brass handles don't hold up very well over time anyway - they discolour and fade. And they're ugly. I'll take spray painted door knobs any day over the brass!

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Two Quick Updates...

The GIANT mirror is now hung on the wall. It's home was the wall with the chevrons on it, but once we painted that wall, we didn't want to cover it up with this ginormous mirror. So we hung it. The dining room now looks so much bigger and the reflections are amazing. I can see to the front door just from the mirror!

I also added two more pillows to my outdoor bench. These two {the citron ikat and the white & black geometric} were on sale at Fabricland - and I got both for $30! GREAT deal!  I like the punch of colour and pattern they bring to my bench!

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My Spring "Mantel"

Remember when I recently shared with you the "mantel" addition to my kitchen. Well, I've added more SPRING to it - I quite like it now.

I added some sparkly eggs from the dollar store and used Umbra's white wall flowers.  I got the yellow print for free from TipJunkie. I think everything else came from HomeSense from 2 years ago.  I used all white pieces to style a bookshelf when I was selling my old house.  I just found that box last week.  Eeeek...I wonder what other treasures are lurking in my basement?

 

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The Hockey Stick - EZ

So it all started last week. Adair was out of town all week. One afternoon, I took the kids to the dollar store.  Ez has been obsessed with hockey for the past couple of weeks, even since he went to his cousin's hockey games.  We found this hockey stick for $1.25, so I thought, "Why not?", without realizing what I would create with this tiny purchase.

From the moment we got home, EZ held on to that hockey stick and played for HOURS. He went to sleep with the stick in hand, and woke up with it in the morning. He played with it ALL the next day - literally. It's been attached to him.

I took this video last week to show his skills and the cute things he says: "Score! Goal!" and my favourite when he's trying to engage you to play with him, "You ready?"

Also, he's obsessed with watching hockey.  He'd rather watch Hockey Central on tv than Thomas or Cat in the Hat.  He recently found a Maple Leafs hockey jersey in his closet {from his cousin} and we can't get it off of him. 

He likes to chant, GO LEAFS GO! Hopefully his new found love for the Leafs will bring them some luck in getting into the NHL playoffs this year :)

Perhaps the cutest incident was this past Friday. I had my niece & nephew over to play with EZ. Unfortunately, EZ had become quite good with his stick and was beginning to scratch my gorgeous Brazilian wood floors.  {I'm sure you winced as I did merely watching the video above when EZ hits the puck in the dining room!}.  Anyway, I told him not to play in the dining room any more.

When my sister arrived to pick up her kids, Ez happened to be in the dining room and I had just finished telling him to stop playing hockey on my wood floors.  My nephew told my sister to watch EZ hit the puck, then my darling 2 year old EZ said, "Not in front of my mom!" Clear as day.  How sweet {and smart!} of him!

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Little A: 4 months

Image from Blink of an Eye photography and is a teaser.  More photos to come soon! My mommy group had a photographer come in to do photo sessions with our little bebes. Can't wait to see the rest!

Little A is 4 months already.

She is 25.5 inches long - 90th percentile.

She weighs 12.8 lbs - 20th percentile.

I think I may have created a supermodel. Look at those eye lashes!

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Spring Inspired Porch - Reveal!

The weather seems to be warming up {despite last night's freak snow fall!}, and I'm ready for Spring!  Over the weekend, I was feeling like my front porch needed a bit of a makeover.  We've lived in the house for almost 2 years now and have focused mainly on the inside.

But...I'm hosting a party this coming weekend, so I wanted to create a more gracious & inviting & vivacious entry way for our guests.  

Here's what I did:

The HomeSense bench from last week's haul moved to its rightful home on the porch.  I added a $14 outdoor pillow from Bouclair Home, and I'm still searching for 2 more outdoor pillows with a yellow, gray & white punch. The rug is the one I used to have at my front door. I still like it and want to use it, so I just put it underneath the bench for now.

Here's a shot of my front doors and what the overall look is for the porch.  Ignore my brassy door handles {YUCK!} - I'm working on a DIY project now that has to do with breathing new sass into the brassy door handles so many of us have in our homes. Time to class it up, ladies!

This vignette is a faux topiary bush - a birthday gift from my mom - thanks mommy! - and two lanterns. I like the juxtaposition of the sophisticated swirly topiary and the two rustic gray painted wood lanterns. All items are from HomeSense.

Since yellow & gray are the accent colours inside my home, I thought the continuity might as well begin at the front porch! This cool mat is made from coconuts {40 coconuts to be exact!} and was $25 from our local garden centre - Terra Greenhouses.

Our front porch is pretty long, so here's a photo to show both the length of the porch and my modern black planters {from Terra Greenhouses a couple years ago!} that flank the porch.

I adore Spring's pussy willows.  But of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I added these cool bright yellow curly twigs {$10 per package} to brighten up the overall look and add dimension to my planters. I think I may need some greenery too. We'll see.

So there you have it, folks. My front porch - inspired by Spring. We're ready for you now, Spring. You can come any time. PLEASE!

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