Category — Crafts

Ah, what a weekend! Temperatures soared to almost 30 degrees and it felt more like August than the first weekend in May! No complaints here…we soaked it up as much as we could. My youngest came down with a bad cold at some point (really not fair to be sick when it’s so beautiful out!) but sitting in a kiddie pool eating popsicles can do wonders! I got some much needed gardening in as well as some much needed rest. I’m actually feeling pretty caught up (minus the 3 loads of laundry I put off folding all weekend) and am relatively ready for the busy week ahead. What about you? How did you enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures? Mother’s Day is next weekend and with three kids under 10, my expectations are never high but it always feels great to receive handmade tidbits, made with love…

Cartolina + Rifle Paper Co. cards at Spruce Collective

Better Homes + Gardens

Hitch Design

Parcel Post

Urban Outfitters via DesignLoveFest

The Paper Mama

Furbish

Quill + Fox

Isn’t that floral monogram especially lovely? It would be such a pretty DIY for a wedding or birthday party and looks relatively easy to make, bonus! Sometimes I think the best gift for busy moms “in the thick of it” is time alone. I can literally count the days that I’ve spent alone inside my house over the last ten years, strange right? But those rare quiet moments (without chores, cooking, driving around or other to-do’s) are such a treat. How will you be showing the special mama(s) in your life that you care? Enjoy this sun-filled Monday…how will we ever get any work done?!

So, here it is Friday again and I still don’t have a good name for this shiny new weekly post. Help please! Friday Faves…Weekly Round Up…Weekend Warm Up…yawn, yawn and triple YAWN!  What should I call my Friday edition? I’d love to hear your ideas since I don’t seem to be getting anywhere fast. This week felt a little stressful/overwhelming for some reason but we had a houseful of dear friends and kids over for dinner last night and I feel all the better for it. It’s amazing what good friends can do to restore the spirits, isn’t it? Here are a few of my favourite web finds of the week…

1. This print should probably be our new motto at the shop (we paint a lot of #$% gold!)…

Jay Roeder

2. This Mother’s Day tea party is far too perfect…origami butterflies,  anyone? Gorgeous.

Janis Nicolay for Poppytalk

3. We’re about to expand our clothing boutique at Spruce so I’ve got outfits like this on my mind…

Off of Broadway

4. Pretty taken by the geometric punch of this DIY pendant light…it would look great in Gabe’s room!

Vintage Revivals

5. Loving the curated collections in PJ Mehaffey + Dylan Hightower’s eclectic home…

Design*Sponge

6. Really trying to make my health a priority, exercising and drinking smoothies like this every day…

Camille Styles

7. Determined to break my current “black thumb” streak and get out into my garden…gnomes like this might help!

Tracey Ayton

And since at least a few of you seemed to like my mix tape last week, here’s another to help us roll into the sunshine this weekend! Pretty sure I’ll be enjoying at least one cool drink on my patio…how ’bout you?

1. Churchill: The War Within
2. Tegan + Sara: How Come You Don’t Want Me Now
3. Cayucas: High School Lover
4. Miike Snow: Animal
5. Vampire Weekend: Run
6. Me In You: Kings of Convenience
7. We Are the Tide: Blind Pilot
8. Plug In Stereo: Oh Darling
9. Stars: Hold On When You Get Love, Let Go When You Give It
10. Gotye: Save Me

We’ve got plenty of sun and a random heatwave in the forecast so it’s time to dig out the flip flops and get some colour onto my pale winter skin…very much needed! We’ve got 3 kids birthday parties and a Cinco de Mayo shindig packed in over the next couple of days, what do you have planned? So Cheers to the sunshine, Salut to good friends and Cin cin to a Happy Weekend :)

Admittedly, aside from Christmas, I’m not big on seasonal decorating for individual holidays and I give myself a shiny gold star if we actually get around to dying eggs at Easter. But after seeing the following eggshell succulent planters over at Le Robin’s Nest, I could very well change my tune! I managed to find even more egg-celent (sorry!) Easter-inspired DIY’s that step outside the food colouring box and thought I’d share some of my faves with you today…

Le Robin’s Nest

Joy Ever After

HomeLife

Stylizimo

Design*Sponge

Rook No. 17

The Sweetest Occasion

Rifle Paper Co.

Do you celebrate Easter? If so, do you decorate your entire house or stick to dying eggs? We’ll be spending the long weekend with family, heading off to church (it’s been far too long!) and setting up egg hunts for the kiddos. I’ll be enjoying some extra days off but will share some gorgeous pics from our last shop photo shoot when I’m back next Wednesday. Happy Easter and/or Happy Long Weekend!

As promised, I’m here to share some pretty pics and DIY’s from Sadie’s seventh birthday party that we hosted at Spruce last Friday. She’s been planning her crafty party in the workshop for months and it was so cute watching all the four-seven year olds trying to be ladylike in such a grownup space :) Because our back room is already so pretty, I didn’t even think about actual party decorations until about an hour before the kiddos arrived…whoops! But lucky for me there were plenty of creative supplies on hand! I rolled out a kraft paper runner for the tea party table and painted it with as many sweet sounding words starting with S that I could think of. Then I “borrowed” some goodies from around the shop (Jessica made the heart/string art and Monica strung the vintage doilies), brought in some fresh flowers and ordered child-sized High Tea from Tracycakes. I think it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself…

Another last minute decision was our DIY craft. Sadie and I had originally thought we’d try making polymer clay bead necklaces (like these) but without an oven at the store, I thought it might prove too tricky. We then decided to pick up terra cotta pots from the Dollar Store for her friends to paint until we started setting up for the tea party with our stash of mismatched cups and saucers…light bulb! We’ve got a number of Pebeo Porcelaine paint pens on hand from past classes and we have a wide variety of permanent markers, which also work great on porcelain. I happened to find some strong multi-purpose glue in the storage room that is strong enough for ceramic and had already purchased spring bulbs and divided them up into smaller pieces. So basically, it cost me the price of the plants…win win! It didn’t take long for Sadie and her 7 friends to get busy…

Step 1: Draw directly onto the teacup and saucer with Pebeo pens or permanent marker. Images will be much more durable if baked in the oven, according to instructions, but I wasn’t too worried about  things being dishwasher safe for this craft. This is Lilah’s saucer below ;)

Step 2: Use a minimal amount of ceramic-strength glue to affix teacup to saucer. Press firmly and let dry for one hour, or according to instructions.

3. After glue has dried, plant spring bulbs or other flowers gently in teacup. Lightly water.

4. Top with a gold critter of your choice! These ones were ones that I spray painted gold for a past terrarium class…love the hippo!

And voila! A messy but fun little party craft perfect for kids and adults alike! Pretty cute, right? Most importantly, the birthday girl was happy as could be!

How was your weekend? Are you nursing a Super Bowl super hangover today? Football’s not my thing (although I did tune in for Beyonce’s halftime show…I thought she rocked it!) and we had a relaxing day consisting of snuggles with my tiny niece, movies on the couch, and giving my house a thorough clean. Pretty exciting :) but a good way to start the busy week ahead nonetheless. I must admit that I’ve been feeling a bit of writer’s block these days. Nothing serious and it’s a good thing, pushing me to create more of my own images and my own original content to share with you. But here’s a bit of inspiration found elsewhere, in the meantime..

Paper Flowers at West Elm 

UUPP

Green Wedding Shoes. Photo by Steve Steinhardt.

Wit & Whistle

Ruffled. Photo by Al Gawlik.

Caravan Shoppe via Babble

Curious Doodles

I’m off to the city for some running around for the shop and lunch with a friend but wish you all a great start to your week! Talk soon,