Fall around these parts...

The past two months have been quite busy, too busy actually and along with this our laptop is on the fritz which means my posts have been few and far between.  So since I have the shortest amount of time on our other computer, (my husband has taken the baby out) I will be brief.  Here are a few things I have been working on and a few upcoming events in Toronto I am very much looking forward to.  Hopefully a longer post will come soon!

Reasons why homemade Halloween costumes are awesome:

1. They don't cost much - Kai's first Halloween costume cost $6.50
2. They can get you free stuff - for us it was coffee which basically is the same price as the costume itself therefore the costume in the end didn't cost a thing.
3. You can get really creative, let's face it inanimate object costumes are awesome!  A few of Kai's runner up costumes were a bag of popcorn, a garden gnome (I still really want to do this one year) and a peanut; this list could go on. So why not plan on going homemade next year - could be fun and you have a whole year to prepare!

Reasons why homemade Christmas gifts are great too:

1. Again they don't cost much - I better not say what I am making this year but last year I ordered mini calendar Pdf's off of etsy and they were seriously cheap.  I printed and cut them and then attached a bit of yarn and mini clothes pegs so they could be hung up in an office or even magnetically on the fridge.  These little puppies were good for everyone - co-workers, mums, the in-laws as hostess gifts etc.  If you want to really get fancy you can design them yourself - whoa, really homemade!
2. Nothing says homemade like edible gifts cause really who doesn't like Christmas cookies!  Just make sure to bake them fresh, they are better this way no matter what any website might say.
3. You can start making gifts early like me (currently working on a few) and save yourself the hassle and pure terror of Christmas shopping at the mall.
4. If you can't think of any ideas we now have Pinterest to help us out!

Events to check out this month:

1. This weekend is the Day of the Dead celebration at Harbourfront which my husband and I have really been looking forward to.
2. The Santa Claus Parade is coming up on November 18th and since it is Kyla's first Christmas we will be making an attempt to be festive, yet not freeze, while waving to Santa.  Here is a great article with a few helpful tips to help you and the fam enjoy the show.

August picks of the month

Two very neat places we stumbled upon this month are definitely worth a mention and are my picks of the month if you are down in our neck of the woods (Queen St. E.).  The first pick opened recently quite near our home just east of Woodbine and really tugged at my inner child heart strings.  One night Brett came home from running an errand and mentioned he had somewhere to take me the next day as a treat and so the next afternoon with baby in her Bjorn we went for our walk and wandered up Queen, I had actually forgotten we had a destination in mind until Brett suddenly piped up.  There is was in all of it's glory, a tiny storefront dedicated to a childhood favourite - milk and cookies. MooMilkBar is what I would define as genius!  Now the only downfall I see for this fun after school gathering is that there are no seats so it is for sure a snack on the go or snack to bring home kinda place but regardless their cookies were great!

Number two on my list is a place we came across when mattress shopping - not a fun experience so it was nice to stop in for a tasty treat to make up for the confusion which ensued while laying on beds.  Tori's Bakeshop was just the right spot.  This eco-friendly, all-natural organic bakery is gorgeous and their treats are awesome too!  If you are looking for a relaxing yet inspiring place to work, read or meet a friend check this place out.  I like everything about this bakery from the chocolate cupcake I had (which was so good!) to the decor. My fav about this spot - the mason jars, you'll just have to check it out to see what I mean!

And then there was food - a dedication of sorts part two

As mentioned in my previous post (which you can read here) my summer has been quite busy thus far and we have just wrapped up a garden party in celebration of my daughter Kyla's non-traditional baby dedication. I had a lot of fun planning this one and decided to go with a loose sea theme as the name Kyla means beautiful water and her nickname Kai means sea. I wanted to focus on easy to grab food items and add a whimsical touch to my food selection since it was a party in celebration of our baby girl.

Some of my favorites from the party:
1. Easy and inexpensive tissue paper pom poms. Super easy to make!

2. My awesome cupcake stand find - thank you Port Perry Home Hardware for an item which didn't look much like a cupcake stand but with a little love and spray paint fit the bill quite nicely I think.

3. Popcorn station - such a fun and easy idea. I thought this would be the biggest hit with the kids but the adults were chomping away too. So fun!















4. Mason jar vases - have I ever mentioned that I own 200 mason jars? We used them at one of my husbands video installations and now that I have them on hand I am always trying to think of creative ways to make use out of these gems. I picked up the flowers from my favourite florist (Jong Young flower market) for under $10, added some ribbon and voila easy and cheap decor! Seriously, get yourself some mason jars they are good for so many things.


5. Meringues -
I was so pumped when a local bakery we pop by from time to time started making tiny meringues. This was one of my favourite desserts when I was a kid. They were very inexpensive and were made in coral as per my request. You will be seeing many a meringue at future parties planned by moi, I just love them. Thanks Bobbette & Belle!




 6.  The paper goods - the invitations, programs and thank you cards turned out great! I used the program 'Pages' on our Mac as I had a clear idea of what I wanted them to look like.  We have a great printing company we use who rounded the corners on the programs and printed for an awesome price!  I added an oversized popcicle stick to each program so they could double as fans for the hot summer day that it was.





7. Kai's outfit - I found the dress at the gap and loved its lacey/vintage feel. I made her headband and finished it off with a small gem from one of my grandmother's necklaces.

Her sweet bangle is from my Aunt Janette all the way from Scotland and her necklace was given to Kyla from her Dad and I in celebration of her special day. I found a wonderful shop on Etsy (Coastal Sea Glass) where simple pieces of sea glass are transformed into beautiful jewelry and so we had a custom piece created for Kai. It couldn't be more fitting for our little girl as the aquamarine colour is her birthstone not to mention it's beachy beginning which is well suited for a little girl whose name means water. My husband and I also love the symbolism in this simple piece of glass as it has been molded and changed to become something more unique and beautiful.

I was so excited when the necklace arrived in the mail and to my surprise the package included a similar necklace for me so Kai and I would have a matching set. How special! A big thank you to Laurie, be sure to visit her site, her creations are so beautiful!

There are so many more things I could say about this day as it was so perfect! Here are a few more photos in slideshow format (sorry mobile users) for your viewing pleasure also check out my Project Nursery page where there are lots more photos of the big day.

With 7 months until her first birthday I guess it won't be too long before another party is in the works - good thing I love party planning!

A Dedication of Sorts - part one

Well as always I have failed to keep pace with my blog entries but I do have a bit of an excuse and that is because it is summer. As you all know, summers are busy with vacationing, spending time with family, BBQ's and my favourite, garden parties.  Speaking of which we just had a very special party for our daughter Kyla.

Taking a bit of a non-traditional route we had Kyla dedicated in my mum's backyard surrounded by family and friends.  It was a very special day and we were so thrilled to be celebrating our love for Kai while showing our gratitude for this tiny life that we have been blessed with. When planning our ceremony we did a lot of research on the Internet for non-traditional baby ceremonies and we couldn't find too much but what we did find helped us out a great deal so I thought I'd add ours to the mix for those out there who might be searching as well.  Here is a copy of our full service.


My husband is a PhD student studying theological aesthetics - what is that you might ask, well it is better to ask him but in a quick sentence it is the relationship between beauty, art & God.  Even though he is a theological student we don't always fit into a certain box when it comes to our faith. So we decided rather then go the traditional route of baby baptism, christening or dedication (all part of the Christian faith) to
combine our beliefs and create a one-of the-kind
ceremony more personalized for Kyla.  We set out to celebrate love and new life!  


Although it was a daunting task to write out the ceremony ourselves it was a fabulous exercise for my husband and I to really think through our
hopes and dreams for Kai as well as our promises to her as her parents.

We centered the ceremony around the word Shalom which in Hebrew is a word for peace; as our friend/officiant Jeff quoted at the ceremony, “Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight... Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.” With this in mind we focused on six values - wholeness, love, peace, justice, creativity and restoration.  Our hope is Kyla would come to realize and experience these values in her own life and live them out as she grows.

Including Kyla's Godparents was really important to us as she is blessed to have wonderful Godparents who love her very much.  Kai's Godfather, Bill is Hindu and chanted three prayers for Kyla during the ceremony.  They were beautiful both in meaning and as they were chanted.  Kyla's Godmother, Christine, read to her from the famous Dr. Seuss book "Oh the Places You'll Go".  It was the perfect combination of spiritual and whimsy which is exactly why we chose them for their special role in Kai's life.






With readings and a very special song for Kai written by my husband which you can read here  the ceremony was beautiful and perfect for our little girl, who was also very well behaved.  We could not have asked for a better day and are so grateful to those who were able to share in it with us.

My next post - which will come soon, I promise is devoted to the fun stuff - the party!  Stay tuned!

Oh so tiny...

For those of you who know me you might know I have a small obsession with miniature items.  One of my favourite place as a kid was the miniature village quite close to my house - what an awesome idea, a whole village made really small - brilliant.  Each year for Christmas my husband and I exchange ornaments and one year I found him a miniature Egg McMuffin and hash brown (a guilty pleasure of his is McDonald's breakfast). I was so pumped about this miniature dish and love pulling it out each year and putting it on the tree, probably even more then my hubby does.


Anyway, the main reason for me writing about miniatures is because I came across this amazing blog post about miniature food sculptures by artist Shay Aaron who also blends two things I love - miniature items and jewelry - Fabulous! 



I just had to share it - check it out!

Incredible Miniature Food Sculptures

PS:  Hubby, if you are reading this - super great gift idea for moi!