what you can do in a day....

You can admire the lilacs that grow in your yard.

And wish that you had a pretty white pitcher to put them in.

But wait.

You do have a pitcher.

It's just not white.

But with a can of spray paint....you can make it white.

I love my 'new' pitcher.

It's just the perfect place for pretty flowers.

You can tackle a project like this in a few easy steps:

Choose your makeover object.

Pick your spray paint. There are lots of colours to choose from.

Take your object into a well ventilated place to spray. I use my garage...I lay down some newspapers so I don't leave spray marks on the floor.

Spray paint your object following directions on the can. You will mostly likely need to do 2-3 coats with light sprays. If you spray too heavy....you will get drips.

Let your object dry.

You are done!

I am linking up this post to:

DIY Linky Party @ Fine Crafts Guild

Frugal Friday@ The Shabby Nest

Show & Tell @ Blue Cricket Design

menu planning for the week....

(image from Amy Butler)

Lately, I have been on a kick where I have been looking for meal ideas which are super easy peasy.

For a long time, I have been cooking from recipes,

but there are times when just simple and homemade will do.

One thing that we really enjoy are pita bread pizzas.

I just chop up ingredients and shred some mozzarella and then we can all choose

our fav pizza toppings.

And after putting the pizzas in the oven for 10-15 minutes and whipping up a green salad,

our supper is ready.

The meal plan for this week:

Monday-BBQ'd chicken with roasted potatoes & a green salad.

Tuesday-Flat bread pizzas.

Wednesday-Pasta & salad.

Thursday-Salmon burgers with sweet potatoe fries.

Friday- Grilled steak with orzo pasta salad.

Saturday-Invited to a BBQ.

Sunday-Dad or Hunter cooks.

Baking projects for the week:

Oatmeal raisin cookies.

Bran brownies.

Kids' Art Gallery Wall...

This is a project that I have been working on for a few months.

I 've been collecting my children's art from closets and rubbermaid totes in the hopes of creating an 'art gallery' in our lower level family room.

I have been gathering up any frame not is use from around the house and snapping up any frames I could find on sale for $7.00 or less.

The images below are but a few that have inspired me to create this project.

I love the eclectic look of the different frames, mismatched frame colours, textures and variety of pictures.

I think it adds wonderful personality.

I chose my children's art because I am all about 'living with what you love'.

My children have created some really fabulous pieces of art at school over

the course of their elementary school years.

Two of these creations were created by my son and daughter as far back as 2003

 when my son was only 2 years old and did a colourful picture (scribble) for Mommy.

I could not purchase anything that I would love half as much as these creations.

I am really pleased with how this wall turned out.

It adds some much-needed fun & personality to the room.

In the right corner, you can see the handle of the tread mill...just keeping it real here. This room is totally multi-functional with a TV, sofas, games table, & tread mill along with my newly created 'art gallery'.

The good new is that I only managed to break two of the glass inserts while I was hanging everything.

One frame bit the dust when I stepped on it.

Another fell off the wall and smashed while I was hammering a nail for another.

Ooopsie!

Thank you so much for visiting me!

ps-Feel free to check out some of my boards on Pinterest:
Wall & Picture Ideas
Winter Fun & Activities
Organized Homes

 

menu planning for the week...

I love spring weather not only because of the warm temperatures but also for the gradual changes that appear in our meal choices.

Although no one feels like a sandwich when the snow is swirling about, a paninni on the grill makes everyone happy when things are looking green and lush outside.

And is there anything that hits the spot like warm sun on your face, a sandwich with a few chips and veggies on the side along with a tall glass of iced tea?

My kids love this kind of meal.

Monday-Steak, small potatoes in Montreal Steak Spice with a green salad.

Tuesday-Shrimp Creole with rolls.

Wednesday-Ham & harvati paninnis on the grill.

Thursday-Chicken stir fry.

Friday-Pizza night for Hunter & I. Boys are away at a hockey tourney.

When I was stocking up on groceries at Costco yesterday, I came upon this brand of baking cocoa in the baking aisle. I have never tried this brand before and it intrigued me, so I threw it in the cart.

After I got home, I opened up the foil to smell the cocoa.

Oh. My. Word.

I have never smelled anything so good as this cocoa.

Full force chocolate aroma right in the face.

Simply divine.

I CANNOT wait to make a double batch of my mother's brownies recipe.

I have a feeling this cocoa will elevate them to a new kind of deliciousness.

Baking projects for this week:

Brownies.

Brownies.

Brownies.

Living with what you love....

 I  recently picked up the latest issue of Country Living magazine, and discovered an article about this new book......

I was immediately inspired to dispatch myself to the local bookstore to search out this book.

The book wrapped it's pages around me like a warm blanket.

I love, love, love the sentiments inside it's pages.

It's not about buying new, buying old or buying anything.

It's about displaying what you already own and love.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have long had an affair with pictures.

Pictures from both the past and the present.

This love is what has led me into the hobby of scrapbooking.

And this love has spurred me on to create groupings of treasured photos throughout my home.

I think the picture arrangement in the staircase below is stunning.

If I were to visit a home with a staircase like this, a trip to the upstairs would take me hours.

I would study each picture and wonder who each person was.

I am still working my way through the delightful pages of this book.

My mind is absorbing every idea offered inside.

Now...to decide on my next project.

my 6th blog photo...

Grace over at Sense & Sensibility tagged me for a fun post. For this tag, you need to find the 6th photo posted on your blog and re-post it and tell the story behind it.

I have been blogging on and off since 2006.

I started this blog as a form of memory-keeping.

But it has also evolved into a place to share creative projects, recipes and other things.

But, alas, we digress.

This is a picture of my then 5 yr. old Tyler in the spring of 2006.

The Edmonton Oilers were in the Stanley Cup playoffs that year.

And this picture is from the final game where the Oilers lost their Stanley Cup dreams.

Tyler's little tear-stained face shows all of his heart's dissapointment.

He was so sad that Oilers didn't win the Stanley Cup.

A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Thanks Grace for tagging me! Please go visit her amazing blog!

how I love Amy Butler anything....

A friend of mine introduced me to Amy Bulter quilting fabrics a few years ago.

And I fell in love.

The happy prints.

The delicious colour combinations.

The incredibly beautiful punch they give to any room.

And here we are a few years later and her designs have branched out into much more than quilting.

Her designs now grace wall art.

I love the vignette above.

And there's a fabulous line of stationary products.

I would never want to leave my desk.

A line of papercraft products can be found at Michael's. I have all of her scrapbook paper.

I am so love with it that I find it hard to use!

There's a line of sewing patterns for purses, pillows, cushions and lots other amazing projects.

All so very pretty.

There's also gift wrap.

And all of these things are so lovely.

It makes me want to open my own "Amy Butler" store just so I could be surrounded

by all these items of pretty..... every day.

what's happening around here?

I had a scrapbook date with a friend at her house.  Hunter got to tag along.

She enjoyed many hours of cuddling with this sweet little six week old boy.

Momma was able to get some scrapbooking done.

Hunter gained some little baby skills.

I was so happy for her to have this experience because we don't see tiny babies very often.

For a lot of households, spring brings a nice break from winter activities before the summer activities start.

Not in our house however.

Welcome to spring hockey.

It compresses the same number of games of winter into half the time.

And my two boys show how much they hate this schedule by the sad looks on their faces.

I spent 'National Scrapbook Day' doing the appropriate activity.

My project was our little trip to Colorado.

I will share when it's finished...and that will be soon I hope.

I really love scrapbooking mini albums.

There is such satisfaction in a  project that can be tackled and completed in a day or two.

I made this new dish for my family one night for supper.

(I'm from the Maritimes, and we say 'supper'. Dinner is lunch.)

This recipe was snipped from an issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

It was called Chicken Chili and it looked so good.

But it fell flat in flavour.

Peanut butter.  Coconut milk. Chili powder. Cayenne powder.

Fresh cilantro.

All the right ingredients, yet the taste was not there.

Ron didn't find it appetizing.

Hunter tried to fix it with more spices.

Tyler wasn't interested.

It got a thumbs down and into the garbage it went.

Darn tootin'.

Here I am working a bingo for the skating club.

I am sitting in the big uppity-up chair of the bingo chairperson.

It sounds like a special job, but really it's not.

It just means you get to arrive early, count more money, and leave later than everybody else.

The big guy in this picture had a birthday.

Yes.

 That's a Dairy Queen cake.

It's the requested confection for his birthday.

I secretly think he likes this cake because it goes into the freezer downstairs in the storage room.

The storage room located right off the TV room.

This means less walking for a midnight snack while you watch your fav shows or movie.

We got this overnight snowstorm and awoke to this on May 4.

Just when you think spring is here, the black abyss of winter sucks you back into the icy cold.

(But really I have to confess... it was raining and windy when I went to bed....and I slept like a baby because the sounds outside my window of soft rain, wind and then snow reminded me of  the sounds of home in the Maritimes...and I felt strangely comforted in my nice & warm, flannel-sheeted bed.)

I threw Tyler's winter boots away 2 weeks ago thinking we were done with winter and

 they would be too small for next winter.

The boots he hated wearing all winter suddenly became his most prized possession.

Throwing away winter boots in April. Mommy..what were you thinking?

Hunter made this dish for our family while I was at Bingo.

It sure was nice to come home to a wonderful meal.

She made a chicken & olives dish from Martha's new book, "Fresh Flavors Fast".

It was delicious.

This recipe is a keeper.

And so is the daughter who made it.

I have started a little makeover on these yucky-looking stairs.

These are the stairs that go to the downstairs TV/Family room.

The prep work of washing and taping off took longer than the actual painting.

As life interrupts the painting marathon, I am still  working on them.

And after all the hard work on the stairs, I needed a big 'ol brownie.

 So I made a pan of apple brownies.

I love this recipe.

It's basically a brownie blondie recipe with 4 cups of chopped apples.

And cinnamon.

 Lots of cinnamon.

Apple pie spice works nicely too.

And a little drizzle of icing.

 If you are going to take the time to make squares, then you should make a 9x13 pan.

The pan lasts longer and there are lots to pack into lunches.

Except.....well... it really does not  last longer.

It gets eaten just as fast.