Just over a year ago, I started to crochet. I made quick work of pot holders, and then I was motivated to crochet a whole blanket. I predicted it would take me about 10 years. I got back into it in the last few weeks after a very long break. Here’s how it looks now.
I have 9 years to go.
Did you start any new hobbies during the pandemic that you’re still doing?
After a very eventful weekend (attending fun Halloween event for the Red Shoe Society, antiquing at Aberfoyle and Southworks with Rox-Anne, getting pampered at the Langdon Hall spa, and feasting on an incredible 10+ course meal with Chef Jason Bangerter of Langdon Hall and Chef Jackie Lin of Shoushin), I have a bit of catching up to do work-wise, blog-wise, and life-wise. Don’t be surprised if posts are light this week.
For now, here’s a cute (not spoooooooky) easy Halloween DIY:
Happy Halloween!
My family has never been an all-out-for-Halloween-decorations type of family. Growing up, we always had a couple of pumpkins to carve (usually one for me and one for my sister). A couple of times, we created scarecrows for the front yard. That’s about it. Halloween decor doesn’t quite do it for me, and while there are incredible ways to cover up the orange, I’m still not motivated to do much more than carve a pumpkin in terms of decor (for Halloween or fall, actually).
That said, two photos on Instagram recently caught my attention. They veer toward the Halloween Chic category (I’ve stolen the term from my sister…not sure if others use it).
The first floral pumpkin from Sarah Gunn is simple but dramatic. I just could not stop staring at it when I first saw it on her Instagram feed.
via Sarah Gunn Style
The second googly-eyed pumpkin (see it there in the corner) by Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day is part of a googly-eyed theme I can handle. Honestly, I actually laughed out loud when I saw it. So funny! (I saw large, sticky googly eyes at Dollarama last week in case you’re looking for them.)
via Oh Happy Day
If I ever throw a Halloween party, one of these two options may very likely be the decor.
When Minted launched its fabric collection a couple of years ago, I was intrigued. I ended up ordering some sailboat fabric for my parents’ Florida condo, and I was impressed by the quality…and the print, too, of course!
When I added “recover chaise” to my 2016 to do list, I looked into Minted’s fabric collection to see what could work for my chaise and living space. Minted’s search options are great so I easily narrowed down my search (dots, white, black, grey); doing this made my online shopping experience less overwhelming.
When I narrowed things down, I let my Instagram friends weigh in on my two options.
grey or black – what’s your vote? (fabric info: organic dot by Itsy Belle Studio, $32USD/yard)
What did I end up ordering? The grey!
The fabric arrived a couple of weeks after I placed my order, and it’s beautiful. It looks even better in real life than it does in the photo above! The background is crisper white rather than a shade of grey/cream. The fabric is thick enough to use for my chaise upholstery, and the print is going to modernize my chaise. The grey is going to work well with my existing (rotating) pillow collection, and it’s going to keep my living space bright and airy. Photos will come eventually, not to worry!
Here’s a peek into Minted’s fabric collection. Just about every fabric you see here is available in a variety of colours.
hand drawn scallop by Hooray Creative
stacked stripes by Lehan Veenker
scattered arrow by Aimee Guzman
the pelican beach by Jeanna Casper
moderne dalmation by Erika Firm
Thanks to Minted for sponsoring this post. I’m grateful for Minted‘s long-time support of my work and this blog! All opinions are my own.
Last week, I shared five black and white Christmas trees. This week, I’m sharing five paper Christmas trees. Who will be doing a bit of DIYing this holiday?
DIY paper Christmas trees in black and white, Therese Knutsen
DIY paper Christmas trees in black and white, Seventy Nine Ideas
DIY pop-up Christmas card, Maurice & King
via Creativ
 Have a great weekend!
Tomorrow is December 1st! Eek! Have you begun decorating for the holidays? Besides the wreath on my front door and ordering my Christmas cards, I haven’t yet decorated*. I’m eager to decorate, though, as I love when my house is full of the smell of a fresh Christmas tree and the look of twinkly lights.
One of the first pieces of Christmas fun that many people go for is the classic advent calendar. When I was a kid, we always had simple chocolate advent calendars, but these days, there are so many ideas for more involved and creative calendars.
I love the last one, and it could be easily recreated in your preferred colour scheme. I think red and white would be really pretty.
See more advent calendars here, here, and here.
*I’ve been busy with this project.
Playful pom pom trim is a great option for accenting pillows, drapes, gifts, Christmas stockings, clothes, and so much more. It’s easily found online and in fabric stores.
white pom pom trim, $16.50 for 3 yards, Snowy Creek Designs
I love these sweet leather gift tags that Geneva (A Pair and AÂ Spare) made:
Merry Christmas!
DIY doily Christmas trees, Oui Oui Oui Studio
My life this fall has been slightly chaotic. Sometimes I do wonder why I decide to take on so much work and extracurricular and blogging activities. Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? Then I realize that I have so much fun doing what it is that I do that I have no reason to complain about my sometimes-overly-packed days. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I headed to Toronto to join the very colourful Tiffany Pratt and about 20 other bloggers and influencers to create a #HappiMess sponsored by Delta Faucet Canada. Here’s my recap in five points…
1. Delta Faucet Canada welcomed us into a very white event space at Andrew Richard Designs. The long white table was all set with artsy materials.
2. Tiffany encouraged us to create and paint and sparkle up a unique clutch. I was totally frozen when I saw the palette of colourful paints. Luckily, the Tiffany and the PR crew had a spare tube of black paint, and I put it to very good use. I definitely felt more at ease once the black paint made an appearance! (Thanks, team!)
That’s my clutch! (It sparkles more in real life!)
4. We mingled and laughed and played with paint. And then washed our hands…obviously. Here I am washing up (and pretending to be a hand model):
 great faucet, right?
3. We nibbled on delicious eats by the Food Dudes and talked about Delta’s collection.
5. In addition to the painting, the clutches, the food, the drinks, and the Skittles, we filled our Instagram and Twitter feeds with photos of lovely flowers from Blush and Bloom.
It was a very fun evening, and completely different from my day-to-day university life. Kudos to Tiffany and Delta for bringing out our creative sides (and for showing us how magical sparkles can be!).
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Do let me know if you make a #HappiMess over the next couple of days!
Photo credit: Koko Photography
Okay, so I’m not really quitting my day job to become the next Jonathan Adler, but I am currently working on a very cool project which has required me to put on my very first ceramics designer hat (eek – so exciting!). Let me explain.
This fall’s BlogPodium will feature a local organization called Sistering that offers supportive and educational programs to homeless and marginalized women, so that they can develop new skills and have more control over their lives. Inspirations Studio is a division of Sistering that develops participants’ knowledge about crafting ceramics.
This year, I have the opportunity to design a collection of ceramics in collaboration with the artists at Inspirations Studio that will be auctioned off at BlogPodium in September with all proceeds going back to Sistering. Earlier this spring, I met with Victoria at Inspirations Studio, and I shared my designs. Under her guidance and instruction, the artisans are bringing my designs to life (um, amazing!). The process thus far has been really cool and creative, and the items are coming along so darn beautifully! I’m impressed, and I’m eager to see the final products soon (it’s so hard to be patient, but I’m trying).
 Inspirations Studio, photos by me
I hope to eventually share stories from the artisans at Inspirations Studio and the full production process, but for now, here’s a very small sneak peek of one of my designs (I can’t give everything away quite yet!).
photo by Victoria
Christine Dovey of Bijou and Boheme is also busy designing items, and attendees of BlogPodium have a chance to win a chance to design pottery of their own! I encourage you to submit your design if you’re attending BlogPodium this September. Read all about it here.
Little Mayhem‘s popularity is rising. Â The dresses she creates with her mom are pretty darn cute, but this one is my favourite look.
Apparently, the day Mayhem and her mom created this ensemble, she requested “All white today. And a fabulous headpiece too.” Â She just rocks that headpiece, doesn’t she?
DIY and diamonds don’t seem to go together, do they? Oh, but they do! Have a look…
via Design and Form
via I.De.A.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Here is my nephew Reef dressed up as a ghost last year (or was it the year before?). Easiest costume ever. And cute too!
Happy Halloween!
I saved this Halloween DIY from last year. It’s cheap and easy to create and the effect is, well, scary.
via Delia Creates
I love this gorgeous crepe paper peony made by the incredibly talented and donut loving Tiffanie Turner.
It was Tiffanie who inspired me to create this beautiful braided basket. I finished my basket long ago but because of the move, I have yet to photograph it and feature it on the blog. I will eventually!
Well, dear readers, I’ve been wanting to share with you the news that there is a new baby in the White Cabana family. Since I contribute on White Wednesdays and consider living in white a lightening and inspiring experience, I’m so delighted to welcome baby Everett to the family! My sister’s second child is here and he is adorable- his big sister Anabelle loves him very much, too.
I’ve always had a soft spot for handmade decorations and I adore these felted creations on Etsy in the shop Lazy Animals. Don’t you want the entire collection?
Nursery mobile – so sweet – at Lazy Animals
My friend Adrienne is not only a wiz at cross-stitching (it’s more advanced that just crosses, though, let me say) but she is an excellent paper crafter. She makes such thoughtful cards for me that feed my obsession with white. Today’s Friday Five are some of the cards that have inspired her to try new techniques and create lovely cards for friends and family. My favourite is the second one with polka dots!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Many thanks to Adrienne S. (paper crafter extraordinaire) for sending this my way.
I don’t know what made me think of carousels today but I did. I think it all started when I was browsing Anthropologie and landed on this sweet carousel clock:
carousel clock, $168, Anthropologie
Here are four more carousels to round up today’s Friday Five:
white carousel at Louis Vuitton, via Hello Magazine
GE’s solar powered carousel, The Carousolar (It’s solar powered!)
carousel necklace, $79.53, Laura des Villes Laura des Champs
carousel model puzzle, $11.54
Phew – that was a quick week wasn’t it? Hope the weather is beautiful where you live so you can enjoy a couple of free days outside! Happy weekend!
Happy first day of spring!
As we wait for the season’s fresh blooms, I’m totally in love with and inspired by Balushka‘s over-sized paper flowers. Easy décor for any wall- but I think I’d like to place these in a hallway where people tend to just wiz through.
Wouldn’t these give you reason to pause?
Balushka’s beautiful paper flowers are available for sale or rent here
All images courtesy of Balushka.
Anyone who has eaten a meal at my place or has eaten lunch with me at work knows that I use cloth napkins for everyday – not just for “fancy” times. I switched to cloth napkins about five years ago and I have two main sets – both white (one set from my mom and one set from Johanne – they both know me so well!). I find cloth napkins really nice to use – why wipe your mouth with rough paper napkins when you can use cotton? I wash them often and I iron them sometimes.
I’m now inspired to make myself a new set of (mostly) mis-matched napkins like Elsie did from A Beautiful Mess. She bought her fabric from Etsy shop Stash Modern Fabric and so I obviously had to browse the shop to see what fabrics might suit me.
Summersville Spring Collection
Prices for half a yard of each of these fabrics range from $4.50-$5.00 (USD).
I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to order fabric directly from this Etsy shop or from Fabricland but I do know that my new napkins will be black and white (surprise!). And if I’m feeling wild, I might just add some red. Woah.
The World Figure Skating Championships are coming to London, Ontario next month. This is going to be a great event in the city and it’s sure to bring people downtown (which always makes me happy).
figure skater art download, $3.99, Tuesday Mourning
Aren’t these fun? And not just for February, in my opinion anyway.
heart shaped fasteners, $2.69 for 25, Smart Parts
An all-white puzzle? Obviously this caught my eye!
25 piece puzzle, $6.50, Muji
I recently came across the sweet sparkly garlands at Etsy’s La Petite Fest. It’s nearly impossible to resist glitter, isn’t it?
The Amore Garland Hearts, silver, $12
Animal busts, Restoration Hardware Baby + Child
This week I’m coveting these lovely papier mâché animal busts available at Restoration Hardware Baby + Child. It seems I’m surrounded by happy news of spring babies coming this 2013 and I have baby’s room on the mind. I love how these modern papier mâché busts work as well in a cozy living room, front hall or baby’s room.
I spotted these last week when they were featured on flawlessly fabulous Gwyneth Paltrow’s pet project, Goop, and she informed me that they’re entirely eco-friendly. The animals are made by hand by Haitian artisans using recycled paper, recycled steel wire and arrowroot starch glue.
The best part: the outer layer is from French newspapers.
C’est merveilleux!
And look how lovely in a baby’s room!
Well, okay, tomorrow is December 1st so I guess it’s appropriate to start the Christmas countdown. When I was growing up the only advent calendars that I ever had were of the chocolate variety – yum! Has an advent calendar been part of your Christmas tradition? Have you crafted one this year or do you have a store bought one?
DIY advent calendar by Muffins in my Backpack
advent calendar votive set, $168, terrain
advent calendar, (sold), Pi’Lo
advent calendar by Charm Stitch
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy a wonderful beginning to December!
More advent calendar ideas here. Many thanks to Boba for sending me photo #1.
I’m spreading some pretty white goodness to you this Monday in the form of these gorgeous paper flowers! I think this elaborate floral artwork created by Helen Frances is simply stunning.
framed ivory floral paper art cluster, $250, Frances and Francis
Many thanks to Adrienne S. for sending this my way.
My fall decor this year consists of a cake plate piled high with little white(ish) pumpkins. I like to keep things simple as you could probably imagine.
Jordana’s pumpkin collection
When I have people over for dinner though I might just have to replicate the tablescape that Shannon created in her home.
via AKA Design
It’s so inviting, don’t you think?
The Penny Paper Co. is a Toronto-based stationery supply company owned by Lindsay Stephenson (of Little House Blog and BlogPodium fame). I’ve had my eye on her custom stamps for a while but I have only recently noticed these sweet cream-coloured drawstring bags.
large cotton drawstring bag, $6.25
Use them plain for wrapping small gifts or personalize them, fill them, and use them as party favours. Time to get crafty!
I have been working on my family tree on and off for at least five years now. It’s nowhere near complete. It keeps growing as I meet more family members (which is always nice) who can provide more information about relatives. Sometime in the future I need to go to the small Italian villages where my parents were born to learn more about my family history. For now, I’m happy to fill in names and dates as I learn them. My family tree is in very rough form and I never have a paper that’s large enough to fit all the info so I keep taping on paper extensions…
my family tree: this is only my mother’s side…I have another paper roll for my father’s side.
Maybe one day I’ll work it out so that my family tree is as pretty as one of these…
Diamonds Family Tree by Martha Stewart
Family tree by Melinda Beck via Martha Stewart
family tree, Martha Stewart
How about you? Have you ever worked on your family tree? Any tips?
Since discovering earlier that Jordana has not one but six rulers, I thought I should share & show my own special ruler.
I, too, have more than one ruler but you’ll understand why this one is still kicking around: it’s a three-sided drafting ruler that belonged to my geologist dad. I inherited it since he no longer needs it (he no longers drafts but still has the drafting table… ahem office supplies hoarding, dad!) and as much as it is mildly confusing (to me) I can’t help but like its specificity and said handiness.
Ta-da! My ruler. I know, eh? It looks nothing like a ruler.
Now you get a better sense of it
The drafting ruler is made by Faber-Castell; the model number is indicated
and when I searched online I discovered that there are Faber-Castell
vintage drafting rulers for sale on Ebay! Who would have thought-? Mine is
definitely vintage but certainly not a fancy one
What makes this ruler special is that there are various ratio measurements
all along each side. So if you’re in school and you use the wrong side
to measure your algebra shapes you can kiss those homework marks goodbye.
You’ll find that each side offers two different sets of ratios running in the opposite
direction along the length, so there are six measurement scales in total (fyi)
I also like that the three colours along the sides are different:
red, forest green and black
Images courtesy of me.
Today I’m in absolute awe of the beautiful paper cut art by Elaine Penwell.
The more I look at these beautiful designs, the more I discover this artist’s impressive skill and huge depth of creativity.
I think you’ll like it, too.
Paper cut art work is truly a matter of precision, planning and a very sharp edge.
All cut art work by Elaine Penwell
There’s so much more amazing stuff to see on Elaine’s website; check it out!
Aren’t these DIY Christmas jars sweet? Gather a bunch together and you’ll have an indoor winter scene in no time.
