Liliana's Playroom Series: The Inspiration Process

I have been planning Lili's playroom basically since her conception. I added "create a playroom" to my 30 Before Thirty list in an effort to ensure it gets done in a timely fashion, and that I don't go overboard, as I am wont to do. In this era of Pinterest, Houzz and all manner of home decorating blogs, there is certainly no shortage of inspiration, and I tend to err on the side of taking things to a whole. nother. level. 

I have narrowed my inspiration down to several "essential elements" that the playroom must have. The room is a little basement guest bedroom now. It has very low ceilings, and it still has to accommodate guests when we have them, which is often.

They playroom must-haves:

• space for guests to spend the night
• lots and lots of storage
• some kind of pretty tent structure
• a play kitchen
• a reading nook
• a chalkboard wall
• an art station
• some kind of puppet show structure

...I think that about sums it up. Now for the inspiration!

^^via Design Crush^^

^^via The Handmade Home^^

^^via Houzz^^

^^via It's All So Funny^^

^^via Lover's Lounge^^

^^via Pinterest^^

^^via Etsy^^

^^via These Moments of Mine^^

I'm too excited to get moving on this project...but alas, I think it will have to wait until after her birthday party. My head is already swimming with all things party-related. I don't know if I can handle two projects of this magnitude at once!

Here's where I'm Linking Up:

Monday: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Oliver's Mad House, Flour Me With Love, C.R.A.F.T, Say Not Sweet Anne Tuesday: Crafty Confessions, Him & Her, Ladybug Blessings, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios, Bebetsy Wednesday: A Life From Scratch, The Pleated Poppy, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Because Shanna Said So Thursday: My Fashion Forward, House of Hepworths, A Glimpse Inside, Chocolate, Chocolate and More Friday: Rattlebridge Farm, Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Thirty Handmade Days, Finding Fabulous for Less, While He Was Napping, Young and Crafty, Simply Designing, Serenity Now, The Best Blog Recipes Saturday: A Vision to Remember, Be Different, Act Normal, Angel's Homestead Sunday: Super Sunday



     

Happy Friday and a Free Printable!

Good morning all! I hope you're sufficiently recovered/ing from your Fourth of July celebrations. Lili and I spent yesterday in Toronto's historical Distillery District with her baby besties. Since one of her little favourites is a half-American, we celebrated the day with shopping (of course!) and lunch at the Mill Street Brewery. 




To celebrate the fact that it's Friday, and this was such a fun-filled week, I am offering up a free 8x10 printable (my first one! yipee!) This would be adorable really anywhere, but I'm picturing it in a beach house...probably because that's where I wish I was! Ha! 

To download this printable, click here.

Happy weekend!

Here's where I'm Linking Up:

Monday: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Oliver's Mad House, Flour Me With Love, C.R.A.F.T, Say Not Sweet Anne Tuesday: Crafty Confessions, Him & Her, Ladybug Blessings, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios, Bebetsy Wednesday: A Life From Scratch, The Pleated Poppy, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Because Shanna Said So Thursday: My Fashion Forward, House of Hepworths, A Glimpse Inside, Chocolate, Chocolate and More Friday: Rattlebridge Farm, Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Thirty Handmade Days, Finding Fabulous for Less, While He Was Napping, Young and Crafty, Simply Designing, Serenity Now, The Best Blog Recipes Saturday: A Vision to Remember, Be Different, Act Normal, Angel's Homestead Sunday: Super Sunday

Super Easy DIY Strapless Maxi Dress

One of the items on my 30 Before Thirty list is to sew (and wear) a dress for myself. I absolutely adore sewing, but I'm still pretty novice. I'm so happy to report that this dress is absolutely easy-peasy. It's literally a tube made of jersey with two hems and elastic ruching.

The process:

N.B. I used jersey for this project. You'll notice with any knit fabric it stretches more in one direction than the other. You want the stretchy side of the fabric to run horizontally across your body. That way the dress stretches over you and acts as an elastic. Jersey is also usually reversible so as long as the stretchy side is running across your body, you're good to go. There is no "right" or "wrong" side of the fabric

1. I measured myself across the chest, starting and stopping in the centre of my armpits. Since the fabric is a stretch jersey, I didn't leave too much of a seam allowance at the top. This dress is strapless and I didn't want to use elastic to keep it up, or to add too much bulk. Then I measured from my armpit to the floor and added 2 inches for seam allowance and to account for shrinking in the wash.  

2. Then I drew my pattern directly on my fabric. First I plotted out my "across the chest" measurement at the top of the fabric, then I plotted out the length of my dress. I drew a diagonal line to connect the top measurement to the bottom. Effectively my pattern looked like this (x2 one for the front of the dress, and one for the back):      

The line down the centre at the top is where the elastic is going to go for my ruched top. This line is only on the front.

3. Sew the back and the front pieces of the dress together by stitching the long sides of the dress. You will have a long, conical shaped tube when you're done. Since this is not the stretchy side of the fabric, you can use a plain old straight stitch on your machine. 

4. Try the dress on. Is it nice and snug? If yes, continue to Step 5, if not repeat Step 4, taking out some of the width as you make a bigger seam.

5. Once the dress fits nice and snug, fold the bottom hem of the dress under and topstitch it in place. Do the same with the top, obviously ensuring that your hem will not be visible from the outside of the dress. Since this is the stretchy side of the material, be sure to use a knit stitch. Your machine will have one for sure, just consult the manual. It will ensure lots of stretch in the fabric. If you just use a straight stitch it will snap.

6. Take your piece of elastic. I used about 4 inches, but if your bust is larger you may want to use more...conversely if it's smaller, you may want to use less. Line the elastic up with the top hem of your dress, right in the middle of the bust. Fold the dress in half to find where this is, if you're not sure.

7. Pin your elastic vertically (as in the picture of the pattern) and drop your presser foot. Drop the needle into the elastic carefully before you begin sewing. Once the needle has secured the elastic, pull it tight (ONLY the elastic, NOT the fabric). Keep that tension on the elastic as you sew it in place. The tighter you pull, the more ruching you'll have.

8. You're done sewing! Now to Ombré-fy. I used these instructions, by RIT. The effect wasn't quite as "Ombré" as I'd like, but I think if you use more than one package of dye and vary the amount of saturation as you prep the dye, that would be more effective.

^^Without the belt this is the perfect "buffet dinner" dress^^

^^With a belt. I worked with what I had...Brown would have been preferable.^^

Here's where I'm Linking Up:

Monday: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Oliver's Mad House, Flour Me With Love, C.R.A.F.T, Say Not Sweet Anne Tuesday: Crafty Confessions, Him & Her, Ladybug Blessings, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios, Bebetsy Wednesday: A Life From Scratch, The Pleated Poppy, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Because Shanna Said So Thursday: My Fashion Forward, House of Hepworths, A Glimpse Inside, Chocolate, Chocolate and More, Glued to my Crafts Friday: Rattlebridge Farm, Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Thirty Handmade Days, Finding Fabulous for Less, While He Was Napping, Young and Crafty, Simply Designing, Serenity Now The Best Blog Recipes Saturday: A Vision to Remember, Be Different, Act Normal, Angel's Homestead Sunday: Super Sunday

What We Wore Wednesday

I call this edition of WWWW "Black and Navy." I've been seeing this combo everywhere and I'm absolutely loving it. There's something about rocking a former fashion faux pas that makes me want to really own it...Like "red lipstick own it." And so I did, and I do. I'll admit when I wear red lipstick I always worry that I'm coming off more "Steve Buschemi in Billy Madison" than "Marilyn Monroe" but I figure if I look like I know what I'm doing, I can fool most people.

As always, I'm linking up with ALFS, The Pleated Poppy, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Get Your Pretty On, and Because Shanna Said So.

                               

                                       

On Mama: 

Shirt: Old Navy // Shorts: Cost Blanca // Necklace: Stella and Dot // cuff: vinatge // 

shoes: Aldo // lipstick: Rouge Coco in Monte Carlo

On Bébé:

Dress: Handmade by mama (tutorial to come!) // shoes: Tiny Toms

Weekend Rewind: Happy Canada Day!

This long weekend we celebrated Canada Day in Niagara with my family. It's lovely to be able to get out of the city and enjoy a slower pace of life. Below are some scenes from our weekend, which included a little bit of sailing, (well, almost...darn batteries!) a carnival and a ride on the beautiful carousel in Port Dalhousie, a little bit of sewing, and (naturally) a whole lot of baby. Hope you enjoy! 

^^Rainy Day // Sippy Baby at Breakfast // New Hat // We're on a BOAT!!^^ ^^Lakeside Park Carnival // Vintage Carousel // Candy Apple Excitement // The Zipper^^

^^Marina // Sunset // Pre-Carnival Date // Little Mouse^^

^^Canadian Baby // Festive Breakfast // New Dress Made by Mama // Maple Leaf Bum^^

New Helmet // 10 Months Old Officially!^^

Not quite from this weekend, but so cute I had to share!

Here's where I'm Linking Up:

Monday: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Oliver's Mad House, Flour Me With Love, C.R.A.F.T, Say Not Sweet Anne Tuesday: Crafty Confessions, Him & Her, Ladybug Blessings, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios, Bebetsy Wednesday: A Life From Scratch, The Pleated Poppy, Walking in Memphis in High Heels, Because Shanna Said So Thursday: My Fashion Forward, House of Hepworths, A Glimpse Inside, Chocolate, Chocolate and More Friday: Rattlebridge Farm, Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Thirty Handmade Days, Finding Fabulous for Less, While He Was Napping, Young and Crafty, Simply Designing, Serenity Now

The Best Blog Recipes Saturday: A Vision to Remember, Be Different, Act Normal,Angel'sHomestead Sunday: Super Sunday

Lili's Birthday Series: Ombré Smash Cake

When I saw these sweet mini cakes on Jordan's blog, I knew they would be perfect for Lili's birthday "smash cake." I wanted to make them pink ombré to match the theme. They turned out so well and they look so adorable! I iced one and left the other two plain. Ultimately I think I prefer the look of the non-iced cakes. What do you think?

I baked these minis in three 28oz BPA-free tomato tins. I divided a boxed cake evenly between three bowls and used Wilton gel food colouring in varying amounts to get the ombré effect. then I baked each colour in a separate tin. When the cakes were baked and cooled, I carefully cut them into thirds (they were conveniently three inches high) and mixed and matched the colours. I basically followed Jordan's instructions to a "t" so if you want to know exactly how it's done see here. No sense reinventing the wheel, am I right?

Although I used a box cake for the practice run, I'll be using this recipe from Sweetapolita for her real smash cake. I'm not against cake from a box at all, but I think her first birthday calls for homemade. 

Linking up here:

The Shabby Nest
Rattlebridge Farm
My Romantic Home
Simply Sweet Home
Thirty Handmade Days
Simply Designing
Young and Crafty
Finding Fabulous
Serenity Now
The Best Blog Recipes
A Vision to Remember
Be Different, Act Normal
Six Sister's Stuff
Angel's Homestead

S'more Milkshake

I've seen iterations of the S'more Milkshake all over this fine internet over the past few weeks. I was turned on to the idea by a good friend who is a former New Yorker in LOVE with toasted marshmallow shakes (And really? Who wouldn't be?) In my mind, once you've got a toasted marshmallow, you only need to add a little chocolate and graham cracker and you've got perfection...I chose to use Nutella in this recipe, but this stems from my current obsession with stirring a spoonful of Nutella into everything I eat/drink these past few weeks. Any chocolate sauce or fudge sauce would work (equally? not sure...) well.

This recipe can be easily doubled for two.

Ingredients:

1 generous handful of mini marshmallows
1 tbsp Nutella or other chocolate syrup (you could use less, but why?)
1/2 cup (packed) vanilla ice cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk (depending on how thick you like it)
3 squares of graham cracker pulsed to large crumbs in a food processor or chopper

Directions:

Toast the marshmallows in the broiler on a Silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet (watch them carefully!) This will only take a few minutes. You can flip them, but that gets messy. At least toast them very well on one side. Reserve a few for garnish.

While the marshmallows are toasting, melt the Nutella in the microwave at 15 second intervals until it flows easily. This should only take one or two intervals at the most.

Reserve one tbsp of graham crackers for garnish.

Put all ingredients (except the reserved marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs) into a blender and blend until well combined.

Enjoy!

**for bonus points, add some fluffed marshmallow vodka**

Linking up here

Chocolate, Chocolate and More
Rhinestone Beagle
Our Sunday Best
Miz Helen's Country Cottage
A Glimpse Inside
House of Hepworths
Sparkles and a Stove