A Home Is About The People Within The Walls

We are all moved in! It still hasn't really hit me. In a lot of ways it feels like we're away for the weekend. Granted, it's with all of our stuff, but still...

In the last couple weeks I've been going back and forth between elation at selling our house and panic that things are changing. Matt and I lived in a small apartment for the first 8 months of our marriage, but we always consider this house our first home. I remember the feeling I had when we saw it for the first time. As soon as the realtor opened the front door, both of us knew it was for us. Besides all the perks it had (central AC, a master bath, garage, ect), it also had a feel to it. It was easy for us to see ourselves living there. It was comfortable and homey, but still open and roomy.

We celebrated so many milestones in that first home. Matt started a successful home based business in our garage, we brought home our puppy Hershey as a distraction from my baby fever, and then a year later we brought home our first baby, Ella Grace. What an amazing time in our lives that was! Both Matt and I were on cloud 9, and that baby had us both wrapped around her little finger. I will always associate our house with that year that was so full of awe and wonder as new parents. After that we had many birthday celebrations, a few Christmases and last year, we added another baby girl, Hannah Joy. We had painted the future nursery brown and green, not knowing what we were having. Matt was so excited to have another girl, that he insisted I repaint her room pink, which of course I did very willingly. So many great memories.

Today I stopped by the house to grab a few more things that were left behind, and I didn't really feel anything. It was just an empty hollow space. I'm realizing that that place is just a house. The roof covered our heads, the carpet kept our toes warm and the AC kept us cool in the summer. It wasn't what mattered. Don't get me wrong, I love home design. I love decorating and I still have a dream house. It's ingrained in me and I believe it's the way God has made me. Let's face it, He is the ultimate designer. But beyond that, I realize that home truly is where your heart is. We're now temporarily living in a one bedroom basement suite (which happens to be beautiful). We've left behind the walk in closet and ensuite bathroom, but we've taken with us everything that's important.
To be honest, downsizing and simplifying life for awhile has proven to be very good for the whole family. We've had time to laugh and enjoy each other everyday. Another bonus: on night #3 the novelty of sharing a room must have worn off for the girls and they both slept through the night.

I can't imagine being on this adventure with anyone other than that amazing man I married and our two wonderful kids. We are genuinely excited to see what the next chapter brings for us.

Stay tuned :)

Moving, Clutter and Costumes

We're moving! We sold our house and are temporarily moving into a one bedroom basement suite. I know, we're insane. The bottom line is that it was too good of a deal to pass up compared to our other options. I think it'll be an adventure. Kind of like indoor camping! Plus, it's in the basement of some good friends, so whenever I'm going crazy, I'll bang on the ceiling with the broom and Megan can come down for coffee...or something stronger.

Because we are downsizing (big time), I'm spending this week boxing up everything we won't need in the next 6 or so months. This is what is happening in my house for the next few weeks:

Matt's office, where there is 3 years of paperwork hidden in every nook and cranny.



The many dishes that are getting stored away. It's funny how hard it is to part with dishes you never use, just in case I need them desperately now


The storage bins are starting to stack high!


Ok, I realize we're not packing the bed yet so it should be made, especially for picture time, but the house is such a disaster I just can't be bothered.


Boxes and piles and bags EVERYWHERE. We have so much junk! I hate clutter. Even if I know it's going to be gone in a couple days.


And our lovely basement/crawl space. This is only one corner. Everything in here has to be moved. The clutter in this room makes me itch.


So, as you can see from the photos, I'm going to be a little occupied in the next few weeks. Blog posts are going to be scarce for awhile, unless I suddenly get inspired-and by that I mean, procrastinate on packing.

In the meantime, here's my adorable little 50's gal all dressed and ready to go trick or treating. This kid, who is so shy of people she doesn't know well, had no trouble walking up to complete strangers and holding her bag out expectantly. The skirt was made by the very talented Keren. That right folks, she also sews!


Hannah's cheeks filled out the chicken costume beautifully


First sibling Halloween


Have a great November everyone! I'll see you just in time for Christmas decorating!

A Halloween Project

I'm really not one for Halloween decorations. I realize it's a big deal for most, but here's my confession; they totally freak me out! Even the cute bats, spiders and witches creep me out.
Ella is at the age now where she's starting to understand that she gets to dress up and go door to door for candy, so I wanted to find at least something to decorate with.

I found this adorable idea on the Hallmark website, and it seemed pretty straightforward so I decided to try it out. Turns out straightforward means nothing for this craft challenged girl. Peeling paint, lopsided pumpkins and unglued accessories made me want to pull my hair out.


Anyway, it held up long enough to take a picture. Ella is visiting her grandparents, so once she's home, I'll take a picture of her with it.

And you now how I like to keep it real around here, so here's the aftermath:




Have a fun Halloween!

Inspired By Coffee Sacks

Have an old coffee sack laying around? What could you possibly do with it? Anything! How about a pillow, a tote or even a pin cushion?

This is one of my new favourite trends. I love the natural look of burlap and the different prints and colours of the lettering. It's easy to recycle when you can do things like this with it.

Inspired By Exposed Brick

I love anything that looks like it has history. I would pick old and rusty over brand new almost any day. There's something about a house that looks loved and lived in that makes it feel like a home. Which is why I love exposed brick. I'm not talking about new brick. I'm talking old, chipped bricks. Doesn't it add so much character?










That last one is my absolute favourite. I am definitely saving this idea for the powder room in 'the Dream House'. The brick, the door, the lighting, the transom window. Sigh.

On that note, check back next week for a post on my new love, transom windows. Beeeeautiful.

Homemade Fall Scarf

We are in the middle of selling our house, so my furniture projects are on hold for now. It's also too cold to paint outside, so I'm moving on to indoor projects.

I've noticed fabric flowers everywhere. Necklaces, hair accessories, shirts, ect. While browsing some blogs, I found this idea for a flower scarf. I can't remember where I found it (you know when you follow a link and then follow a link...), so if you recognize the idea, let me know. I thought I'd attempt sewing it myself.

I bought some chocolate brown jersey material. The great thing about jersey is that you don't need to hem it, it won't unravel. It just rolls a little bit around the edges, which I think gives it a really neat look. The fabric came 60 inches wide (which will be your scarf length), so I only needed about half a metre. I measured 14 inches and set it aside. With the remaining fabric I traced 3 different sized circles using objects around the house, including a starbucks mug and a baby bottle. Use each size 6 times.

After that I cut them out and layered them by size


I made a stitch through all three to hold them together, and then threaded them into the scarf, near the bottom. Next, through some trial and error, I found the best way to make nice looking flowers was to pinch and stitch. Every one turned out different.



It still seemed unfinished so I added some left over fabric to the ends to give it even more curl


All done. The perfect Fall accessory!

Beautiful Bathtubs

Once the cooler weather hits, there's nothing better than soaking in a bubble bath with candles and a book. Who wouldn't want to soak in one of these tubs?