Show Some Confidence: My Forehead, Exposed

April 29, 2013
I have had a love/hate relationship with my forehead for many years. In my younger days, I grew out my bangs and kept them parted -- photos will never be shared -- which exposed the rather large area of my face as well as a a birthmark that would come into question many times throughout my school years. It's very subtle, but in the right light it looks like a bruise, and you can only guess where teachers would think it came from.



After being made fun of for many years for having a large forehead, I decided to have my hairdresser cut me some bangs. They started off rather thin as a trial, and slowly became thicker over the years as my hairstyles changed. Sometimes they were choppy and short, and other times they were long and straight across or cut in an upside-down "U" shape. Any way you look at them, they were meant to cover my embarrassment.



There were still times when I would expose my forehead -- like the days when I was too lazy to wash my hair and so my bangs were gross and I pinned them back -- but, for the most part, my bangs have been a steady part of my life. 



Today, I promise that I will be embarrassed no more! I will show my confidence and expose my forehead more often. In fact, I already have. This past week I haven't had as much time to do my hair, and so I've been pinning my bangs back instead of waiting for them to dry and then straightening them. What a time saver this show of confidence has been.


confidencebutton



It's been a while since I've shared my own Show Some Confidence blog post.  I only have so many things that I need to be confident about, and so there's only so much that I can actually share with you. That's why I like sharing the confidence of other women too. Please contact me if you are interested in sharing some of your confidence.


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DIY: Dip-dyed Kool-Aid Man T-Shirt

April 26, 2013
Last week, a co-worker of mine and I were discussing ideas for Halloween costumes and she mentioned that she thought it would be fun to be the Kool-Aid Man. Well, my mind started running with it and I came up with this fun little project.



The idea was to make a shirt that looked like the jug of the Kool-Aid Man -- including that little bit of white left at the top of the jug where all the ice is. I found a tutorial for a dip-dyed t-shirt on the Wit & Whistle blog, and grabbed a dye packet at Michaels along with a fabric pen and some black fabric paint -- I've got a few more ideas swimmin' around.

I used:

Tulip Dye Packet
Marvy Uchida Fabric Marker
100% Cotton T-Shirt



I followed the instructions on the back of the package of dye, and then, after painfully waiting for the shirt to dry, I set to work making a template for the face of the Kool-Aid Man. I cut it out using an exact-o-knife and a pair of scissors, and then coloured it in on the t-shirt with fabric marker. Make sure that you put a piece of cardboard between the layers of the t-shirt or it will bleed through to the back of the shirt as well.



I decided to off-set the face and put it in a place that would be a little more subtle. It took about 30 minutes for the marker to dry completely. I look forward to using the fabric marker in more projects.



I just had to share this photo. It's a classic case of Monkey See, Monkey Do. He was a fantastic little assistant :)



And there you have the final product. Make sure that you are using a 100% cotton shirt. It takes the colour of the dye much better. I am pleased with how easy working with dye actually is, and plan on doing more projects with it.



I also decided to show you a possible way to style it.


Have a fantastic weekend!



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Recently

April 23, 2013
Earth Day was amazing with the children at work. They are such perceptive people that soak in so much information and just hold it there. They took Earth Day in with their whole hearts, and I couldn't have asked for more.

We talked about recycling and using just a little bit of water to wash our hands -- usually a gush of water comes out of the taps as they wash for lunch. They decided that they would put garbage into garbage bags and sweep the Earth. I wrote down their promises to the Earth, and one boy said "I promise the Earth I will hug it."


We made cookies that look like our planet.

After talking about what we can do and writing down their promises, we put gloves on their little hands and headed out to pick up garbage that people had thrown on the sidewalk and grass. We actually found quite a bit, but it was the things they were asking me and saying while we were cleaning up the litter that made me hopeful. They were asking me why people were throwing their garbage on the ground, and why they couldn't save it to throw away in their garbage bins at home. 

"Why are they hurting our Earth?" they shouted over and over. 

It was a fantastic experience.



When I got home from work on Monday, my husband had a vase filled with beautiful yellow tulips. They smell wonderful, and are the first sign of Spring in our house. I knew that I just had to snap some photos of this fantastic colour. There was also a Kitkat sitting at the base of the vase. It was gobbled up.



With much excitement, a special package from England arrived in the mail this past weekend. I knew I must have these Jane Austen stamps as soon as I saw them on the blog Send More Mail. So I contacted Cari-Jane over at Hybrid Handmade to see if she would be willing to send me some. I enjoyed reading her emails as we talked back and forth. The way she writes is so dreamy and actually made me think of Jane Austen's novels.


How was your Earth Day? Have you received anything special in the mail recently?



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Flock & Gather: Spring Market 2013

April 22, 2013
This weekend I went to the Spring Flock & Gather Handmade Market. I found so many goodies for myself this time because it's not Christmas and there is no need for gifting at this moment. I am always amazed by the businesses that are at the market, and I love supporting handmade -- especially when it's local. Believe me, if I had $1000 in my pocket, I would have bought something from every shop!


My sparkly purple nail polish from Pirate Polish.

Pirate Polish has the most amazing selection of glitter-filled nail polishes. I had a hard time choosing one, but I finally settled on Lovandula. Tara told me that it was good for layer on top of nails that already have a colour on them, but that with three coats it would look like it does in the bottle. Sold!


A beautiful bowl from Jay Kimball of Flux Designs.

Jay had bowls with turquoise on the inside that looked like ripples in the water. They were absolutely beautiful, but I was drawing to this yellow bowl. He said he worked really hard on finding a way to use the glaze so that it would sit perfectly in the swirls at the bottom of bowl, and he was struggling with making the turquoise. They turned out so amazingly.


A cute little zippered bag from Like a Fox Creations.

Like a Fox donates all of their proceeds to organisations in Africa. My money from the purchase of this little pouch is going to buy medical supplies for the people of Sudan.


The most adorable dog finger puppet from Chicken Tika Creations.

All of Chicken Tika's little finger puppets made me die. I literally squealed in delight at each one as I picked them up. There was a beaver with a cute little tail, an octopus with suction cups on each tentacle, and the cuuutest little penguin, but I had to go with the dog. Just look at the little patch on his eye!


What were you up to this weekend?



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Look for the Helpers

April 19, 2013

I saw this quote from Mr. Rogers earlier this week, and it really spoke to me. It is such a true statement, and a light for this world.

Peace, and have a great weekend.



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Inspiration: Pushing out of My Comfort Zone

April 17, 2013
I was inspired by an Instagram photo from the beautiful Elsie of A Beautiful Mess. It had been a long time since I sat down and painted something rather large, and after seeing the painting that Elsie made, I was driven to create something completely different from what I normally would do. It pushed my out of my comfort zone.



I started it while my son was having his first sleep-over with my parents. I am a perfectionist when it comes to lines and white spaces in my paintings, but I held myself back and forced myself to let go. It felt good.


Has anything in particular inspired you lately? Have you forced yourself to let go and try something you haven't done before?




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We All Need Love and Support

April 15, 2013
Listen up! There's a new blog around town that is absolutely fantastic!

I first heard about Bloggers Anonymous through Dana at Wonder Forest. She was kind enough to tweet about it over the weekend, and I must say that I am in love with the concept.


  A Good Deed Brightens A Dark World
source 

Bloggers Anonymous was created as "[a] place to build each other up against the critics that want to bring us [bloggers] down."

"With so much negativity online and offline, why not have a space to celebrate each other?" says their Mission Statement. ""Bloggers Anonymous" is meant for exactly that."

Fans of the blog, and people who stumble upon it, are welcome to Submit a Blogger that they love, are inspired by, or enjoy reading about. They also have a Blog of the Week submission form where anyone can share a blog that has less than 500 followers that they think deserves the spotlight.


Bloggers Anonymous


I am really excited about this idea, and I plan on flooding their inbox with submissions of blogs that I enjoy reading and am inspired by. It's about time that we all stepped up to give each other a pat on the back. Whether you have a following of 15,000 people or 15 people, we all need love and support. I commend the people behind Bloggers Anonymous for taking the first step.



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DIY: Burlap Bunting Banner

April 12, 2013
I found a couple of burlap bunting banners that I liked and ended up pinning on the Pinterest board that I used for inspiration for Little Boy's birthday party. I decided that it would be a simple enough project to do myself, so I bought some burlap and set to work.



First I made a template for the little buntings. A triangle is an easy enough shape to make, but you need to decide how large you want your bunting to be. I went with 3" triangles as I didn't want a very big banner.



I then pinned the template several millions of times to the burlap to cut out enough triangles to spell "Happy Day" including the space between the two words. In fact, I drew out the bunting and wrote the words in so that I knew how many triangles to make.



My burlap was freshly unrolled, so it wasn't very flat. I ended up using an iron to flatten out the triangles enough in order to paint the letters on them.



I had originally bought stencils to use to paint the letters on, but they turned out to be too big for the triangles, so I had to free-hand it all. I'm actually quite pleased with how they turned out. I just used some white acrylic paint and a small paint brush.



I bought some hemp rope to use as the string to hang all of the triangles on. I thread it through the little holes in the burlap by twisting the end of the rope, but it would be a good idea to find a needle that can handle the size of string or thread that you use to make the process quicker.



The end product is a simple little bunting banner that can be used for any occasion, or hung on your wall for an everyday decor item.



I didn't end up taking mine down after the party, and didn't realise it until the day later...I still haven't taken it down.



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How Much is that Doggy in the Window

April 10, 2013
This guy came to live with us on Sunday -- the guy you see in the photo down there. I've actually had him for quite a while, but I gave him to Little Boy as his birthday present and he got so excited when he saw him. He hasn't a name yet, but I was hoping that the child would come up with a name for him some time in the future.

I had seen Boolah Baguette's little animals and people hanging around local shops and handmade markets, but when I saw the sweetest little dog wearing a vest on her Facebook Page, I knew that I wanted a similar one made for Little Boy's birthday. She did a fabulous job!



And...he was a hit!



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You're Invited: Now He is 2

April 07, 2013

This year, the goodies at the table were all the things that he loves. Apples, raspberries, salt n' vingar and dill pickle chips, Oreos, Skittles, Smarties, yoghurt covered raisins, and juice -- we didn't offer any chocolate milk, though.

Invitations: Made by yours truly
Straws: Hey Yo Yo
Cake in a Jar: Pinterest -- my jars are 1/2 pint -- 250mL -- so I cooked them for a little bit less.
Blue Juice: Pinterest -- made without the mint



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Hook Them While They're Young

April 05, 2013




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