A Little Celebration

I turn 22 today, so I'm going to take this opportunity to paint my nails with glittery polish at my desk and eat an entire plate of cheese for dinner. Here's to champagne and having a job and playing with beauty products and graduating and family and happy hours and this dress (need it, but my wallet just shriveled up and died from sticker shock) and heirloom teacups and friends, both new and old.


Things I learned when I was 21:
1. If you can smell the whiskey on his breath through the door, keep it closed.
2. I hate Ikea. I love Ikea. I have a love-hate relationship with Ikea.
3. Whispering is rude.
4. Wearing a slip is important when your dress is sheer. Owning a full-length mirror is also helpful.
5. How to tell the difference between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA.
6. Pear and bleu cheese ice cream exists. It's not too bad.

[photo cred here]

Beautiful Brunch

Its Mother's Day this Sunday and HandyMan has been asking me what I want as a gift. Call me sentimental, but really I'd like nothing more than a sappy card, a delicious brunch, and spending the rest of the day with my family.

I came across this Farmhouse Brunch Shower on Hostess With The Mostess and I have been swooning over every detail of it. Maybe I'm still in party mode, but I'm just loving the styling, the presentation, the petite prettiness of it all.

Mini quiche, maple bacon skewers, tiny cups of maple syrup topped with french toast triangles - yum, yum, and YUM. And how about that donut hole tree and decorative oreo cookies? So cute!


The decor is pretty too and a great way to use some of your vintage accessories. What a clever idea to put a nursery rhyme on the chalkboard instead of just a typical "happy shower" message. I love how everything is in individual portion sizes too. I did that for Chloe's birthday too with the mini mac&cheese and bumble bee jello cups... it made feeding the toddler guests so much easier!

Ok HandyMan - make it happen! Haha!

How are you celebrating Mother's Day?


– Party Design & Styling: Frilly Milly Events
– Photography: Lauren Blair Photography

Scenes from Easter

Its Easter weekend so I'll wish a Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. We didn't do any Easter activities with Chloe last year but this year she tried her hand at dyeing eggs and it went a little like this...

...grab first hard boiled egg and crush it in my hands...

...let mama dye the eggs while I play with the water and soak the table...

...get the hang of using the wire scooper...

...bored with the eggs. Let's have a tea party instead...

...bored with the tea party. Time to play with the baby dolls. And run around the room for the 32nd time.

...eggs are dry. Let's take two and smash them together! (Oh yes, yes she did).

I saved the eggs from further trauma at the hands of Chloe and put them on the little Easter table I set for lunch today. I think the bunny shaped serviettes distracted her.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

A Little Bug Picnic Birthday

Chloe's birthday week celebrations have wrapped up and we had a fabulous time! We managed to squeeze around 40 adults, kids, and babies into our humble abode on Saturday. It was so much fun, and actually felt quite cozy though people and toys were EVERYWHERE.

Here's some pics from the two parties. Unfortunately, we were so busy getting food together and meeting and greeting that I missed taking some shots like a pic of the loot box goodies, more pics of the birthday girl with guests, and a family photo (argh). I'm sure you parents can relate.

Chloe's invitations really got everyone in the mood for a "little bug picnic". A sign greeted guests at the door and we invited the wee ones to "Come bee a bug!" by wearing one of the bumble bee headbands.

There were lots of buggy decor details, like the DIY ladybug banner, the bug and bee straw toppers, and the beehive drink dispenser (filled with ice tea "beetle juice"). The loot boxes contained some plush bean bag bugs, "Buzz-bles!" labelled bubbles, insect finger puppets, magnifying glasses, and tattoos.

Activities with the kiddos were a bit of a hit and miss. I made a little photo booth and managed to get solo pics of each of the Nanny kids but the birthday girl was having none of that :( And then there was the DIY frog cutout for the bean bag toss game. I found a frog pic online and HandyMan printed it, mounted it on a piece of 1/4" MDF, and cut it out with a jigsaw. He then made slightly angled 1/4" cuts into two pieces of scrap wood to hold it up. It was pretty cute... most of the kids liked tossing the bean bag bugs into the froggy's mouth... and then the cutout turned into an impromptu photo cutout!

Then there was the cake!!

I wanted a small cake for candle blowing and was surprised by my mom and aunt with THE MOST adorable cake I had ever seen. The cake was made by Gladycakes. Glady is my aunt's goddaughter and I had asked too late to make the cake and unfortunately she was already booked up. I was resigned to getting a store bought cake but I told my mom my dilemma and unbeknownst to me she called my aunt and my aunt convinced Glady to make the cake! So thanks to her Lolas (or "grandmothers), Chloe got a little bug picnic cake. I loved all the cute details - the picnic blanket, the grapes, the ants! - and it went perfect with my itty bitty bunting.

The rest of the table was set with bug-themed food: Snails 'n cheese (baked mac 'n cheese), ladybug cupcakes, striped bumble bee jello, caterpillar kebobs (balled fruit on skewers). And guests got to take home a little treat too, scones in gingham bags.

So that was the party. I know it might seem a bit overdone, but the smiles on Chloe and all her little friends made it worth it :)

Sources:
Straw toppers, stripey straws, paper cups, wooden spoons and forks, gingham bags: Fort and Field
Sugar ladybug decorations, gingham cupcake liners: Sweet Estelle
Cake: Gladycakes
Beehive drink dispenser: Pier 1
Gable boxes, cupcake stand, blackboard signs: CreativeBag

*****

And for my friends in the Greater Toronto Area, I have some leftover/reusable party decorations I'd hate to go to waste. There's some edible sugar ladybugs (good for at least the next three months), straw toppers, some DIY and store-bought felt headbands, a Happy Birthday banner, and ladybug decor. Its like a bug birthday in a box!

If you're interested, write to me at ramblingrenovators@gmail.com. First person to email gets it. Pick up only please. 

Pretty Jello (and Tales of Insanity)

Did I tell you that Chloe kinda, sorta, is having 3 birthday parties? No?? Maybe because I didn't want you all to think I was insane.

Party #1 was at daycare. All I did was bake cupcakes for that. Party #2, affectionately called "The Nanny Party" was for some neighbourhood friends and their nannies. Chloe gets invited to all their parties so you know I had to do the same. And party #3 is for family and friends who we have playdates with. I didn't plan it this way (especially after Chloe's huge shindig last year), but I guess I want to encourage all these relationships Chloe has. I want her to have friends in the neighbourhood, to spend time with her family, to feel a real community around her... so, three parties it will be :o\  Plus I had all this free time and the living room reno wasn't keeping me busy enough (hardy har har!).



Here's a little detail from the Nanny Party. Keeping with the little bug picnic theme, I made some bumble bee jello, alternating layers of lemon and grape jello. I thought the cups would look cute served with these wooden spoons from Fort & Field - but how to attach them? I thought of tying them with baker's twine but that would be too time consuming. Instead, I used little pieces of gingham tape - easy, functional, and keeping with the picnic theme. That's the party planning trifecta right there ;)

More party pics to come... that is, if I survive party #3 this weekend!  Happy Friday!

Sources:
wooden spoons, gingham tape - Fort & Field
mini chalkboard sign - CreativeBag  (Note: I bought these in store. I don't see them online unfortunately)
polka dot tray - Dollar Store

Becoming A Bee

For Chloe's little bug picnic birthday, I've made some bumble bee headbands. They're super easy to make look awfully cute on the wee ones. First, get some styrofoam balls at the dollar store. Stick them on toothpicks and spraypaint them whatever colour you want. 

Get some kid-sized headbands too (not pictured). The ones I found were sparkly and pink so I sprayed them black. Gather up the rest of your materials: the painted balls, craft glue, and pipe cleaners.

Wrap the pipe cleaner around one finger, leaving a three-inch length on one side.

Put some glue on the spiral end.

Stick the ball on the spiral end and wrap the long end around the headband. Do the same with the other antenna.

Find the nearest little bug and have them begrudgingly model your masterpiece :)

Party Planning: Itty Bitty Bunting

Nothing says "party" like bunting. I love bunting and I still enjoy the bunting I made for Chloe's 1st birthday that we now have strung up in her room. For this birthday, I wanted to have some of the mini-bunting you see in my inspiration post (#2). Isn't it adorable? Totally a DIY project, I think.

I started off with some fabric tape from boqinana, baker's twine from Knot and Bow, and two wooden barbeque skewers.

First step was to cut 2-inch pieces of the fabric tape and fold them in half. Then I took the paper backing off the tape. Starting about 8 inches in from the end of the twine (I wanted enough twine to wrap around the skewer plus some extra), I placed the twine along the middle of the fabric tape. Fold the tape over the twine to create a little flag. Cut the bottom of the flag into a V shape. Repeat, leaving about 1/2 cm between fabric flags. Et voila, a little bunting fit for a birthday cake.

Or in this case, some banana bread.

And speaking of birthday, here's the soon-to-be two-year-old herself. This was her weekend morning outfit - winter hat, crazy scraggly hair at the back of her head (it looks like that EVERY morning!), training underwear, stained pajama top, and no pants. I especially enjoyed the lion imitation. It doesn't get much better than this :)

Holiday goodies

Almost too cute to eat. Almost.

via One Charming Party

Christmas Decor 2010

I'm an ornament-o-holic. There I said it. I have way way way too many Christmas decorations and my problem seems to be getting progressively worse. You see, I get intrigued by the "it" colours of the season, chartreuse and citrus colours one year, whites and silvers the next, and then I'm drawn to different styles - traditional reds and greens; vintagey kitchy things, or the rustic tones of birch, pinecone, and greenery...which means I've built up a collection of holiday decor items that has no rhyme nor reason.

I can't be the only one. Do you put out all your decorations? Or are you careful to edit and have a clear colour palette for that year's decor? Me, I must put everything out. I mean I get to see these decorations only once a year so I want to bring everything out and enjoy it.

Which is how I ended up with a mostly modern green and silver tree...


...and a vintage red & white scheme right beside it.



I don't have a mantle so I've strung our stockings on the shutters. I love the skate stockings which I found at Chapters/Indigo. The rest of the red & white decor is a mix of Ikea ornaments and the vintage ornaments HandyMan rescued for me.

After I decorated the tree, as you can expect, the little one became fascinated with all the sparkly ornaments. She was pretty good at just looking at the ornaments and not touching too much. I would let her hang up any of the ones that had fallen off... and, well, you know what that lead to... her pulling ornaments off, dropping them on the floor, and saying "Uh oh" just so she could have the chance to hang them up again. Smart kid, haha.

So to save my ornaments and faux branches from further destruction, I gave her her own little tree, complete with indestructible felt and plastic baubles.



And we are a happy, jolly household once again.