spring planting

I live near a dump. A smelly, unsightly dump. It's not a big draw to the neighbourhood and probably does keep some away, but the smell doesn't reach our house and I only notice it when I'm getting off the highway at our exit.

If their can be a good thing about living next to a dump it is this. I'm keenly aware of what we put out at the curb every week.

If I can recycle, reuse or reduce I do and if I can find beautiful crafts that have been re purposed it makes my day. Here's just one example of re purposing at it's craftiest. At Shrimp Salad Circus

easter cupcakes

Yay bunnies! Hippity hop to Bakerella for the how to!

the happy baker

After drooling all over the laptop looking at Erin's creations I just have to try making these cookies myself. Made from Cadbury's mini eggs these Easter cookies are what I want in my basket.

Please visit Toronto's The Happy Baker Blog for more drooling.

dog toy!

I don't have a dog.

I doubt that I ever will, but if I ever have a dog, I will buy them this toy.. infact I'll buy several for all their doggie friends too.

Go here now.

painting ceramics

I had a date with my daughter a few weeks ago. We went to the Ceramics studio and painted mugs. She made this one for Daddy. What a great activity to do with kids! You can have a great afternoon out, create one of a kind artwork or a present and have it be something functional!

In Ottawa check out Gotta Paint. Shops like this often do birthday parties and other functions on the premise too!

make your own shower spray

Acrylic tubs suck. I am tired of plastic everywhere. Plastic bags, plastic sippy cups, plastic tubs! We recently moved and have found ourselves with acrylic tubs in our new home. They look wonderful while new, but soap scum seems to be very difficult to wash off and anything abrasive seems to ruin the finish.. so I started looking for alternatives. What I've ended up with is a daily shower spray that cuts down on the soap scum and keeps that shiny finish from getting scratched up so quickly. The best part for me is that its also an eco solution that I don't need to go out and buy. Here's all you need:

a dollar store spray bottle and..

1 part vinegar

4 parts water

cap full of jet dry

OR

1 part vinegar

4 parts water

tbsp of baking soda/Borax

dino-mite mits!

I won't lie. I'm blogging so I don't loose the link to make these next year for J. So cute and there's a tutorial here. Yay!

family

I want to try this and with family in other cities.. it might be a really neat thing to pull off. Go here for details.

ferm living - robot bedding

Oh how this rocks my world. But it's sold out and I can only imagine what 67 EURs would be Canadian.. and then shipping. Check it out here.

This bedding would also be FAB in the coolest boys bedroom ever.

butterflies

The snow is melting and spring is in the air! I know because I actually opened my windows today for the first time in about 6 months and I didn't start to freeze till they'd been open about an hour! Yippee!

So in honor of our newly visible driveway we did butterfly crafts today with a few things we found at our neighbourhood Dollarama. Precut butterflies, pipe cleaners twirled around a pencil and loads of glitter glue and pom poms.

giving good news

There are many nifty ways to announce an engagement or baby on the way.. and I love the creativity in this pregnancy announcement from Inchmark.