Crafting Girls Night and Dollar Store Goodies

When our friend Becca invited us to a holiday craft night, I was pretty excited; I must admit this is one type of holiday get together I have always wanted to host myself! Her idea was to create some of these vintage mason jar snow globes inspired by these at the Anthropologie website:

Anthropologie

I knew I wanted mine to go in Holly's  room because she has very little decorations for the holidays. So of course, Holly needs everything pink and sparkley! I decided to spray paint some dollar store nutcrackers and dip a bottle brush tree in turquoise paint :

The girls made some amazing jars, I admit I was jealous that I didn't make one in natural tones for my own decor!

Maybe I will just have to make some for myself another day. It was worth getting covered in pink paint to hear the squeal of delight when she discovered the jar this morning. Here's my nutcracker in all his glory surrounded by some lucite loveliness:

And may I just mention my dollar store find? A dollar each for these beautiful reindeer; which are (so far) resistant to the wrath of Holly:

A great start to Holiday decorating!

Bathroom Reno Progress

Well, here we are after week one and already my bathroom is taking shape! Today is grouting day, and Monday the floor gets ripped up and the toilet moved...until then, here's your sneak peak:

I am so pleased with the mosaic border, Rona is having a truckload sale with glass and marble mosaics! Luckily, they had this one which has the perfect blues and greens to go with my bargain floor tile. For those of you curious about the price, a border of this size cost around $40 (at 6.99 a square foot), and the subway tile was a bargain at 1.99 a square foot. A good way to get a classic look that will suit lots of tastes.
Hope you have a good weekend and I'm looking forward to sharing progress next week!

A Vintage Road Bike in progress

I wanted to find a vintage road bike for my husband to ride for fun. He has a very sensible hybrid bike which he uses for year-round transportation (including through the harsh Canadian winter!). He also uses it to tow our kids in the Chariot. But, like lots of people he does like to go fast sometimes. I think it irks him that old men can pass him on the bike trail as his main bike is a total slug.

As I've mentioned before, he's a rather leggy and tall fellow so finding a bike to fit can be a challenge. So I was pretty happy to find a diamond in the rough on kijiji:

Whoa, I hear you say! To say it was a filthy mess was an understatement. But underneath all the grime there was a pretty good bike. Mieles are a Canadian bike company and used to be very high quality. This bike seems to be a mid-range, mid-eighties road bike designed for really going fast. Plus, the chrome forks really do it for me.

So what I did next was a huge learning curve for me and quite a lot of fun. I took almost everything off the frame - the pedals, crank etc. I then took out the bearings and cleaned and greased them. I also got to buy some cool tools, like a crank puller (I think this is the funniest name for a tool ever). I have also been spending way too much time at the bike shop (Rachel's husband's one, natch) watching them work and asking my stupid questions. The thing was so crusted with filth that I had to use a screwdriver to carve the old grease out of the nooks and crannies!

Anyway, it is almost done! Here is what it looked like a few days ago:

Quite an improvement, wouldn't you say? Since then i have added white bar tape. New brake hoods are on the way. But what I really need is a nice white vintage saddle for it.

Stay tuned for the next installment!

My Love-Hate Relationship with Homesense

Yes, I admit it. I love to shop. I would be in big trouble if I lived in a big metropolis where my options are plenty, but alas, I live in London, where there exists one or two independent design shops to pick from. I am lucky I like vintage, because thrifting helps a lot; but once and a while I find myself giving in to my addiction to Homesense. These are the top things I look out for when I go, to prove that Homesense is not just the land of giant nutcrackers and hideous furniture:

 Lamps! The curvier the better...I have loads of these in my house and am pretty sure they all came from that store. I have never paid more than sixty dollars for one!

Mirrors, like lamps, are another obsession. I always find a big variety, some hideous, some awesome, all cheap...

Pillows! These are feather filled, name brand and I only paid thirteen dollars each! I wish I had bought four or five because each one has been claimed for movie watching already. I love the crazy colours, something my living room desperately needs.
A few other things I have picked up for ridiculously cheap:
sheets,
patio chairs (teak),
towels,
kitchen utensils,
rugs/mats,
frames,
baskets.
What about you guys? are you a secret fan like me?