Craft Camp: No Snag Hair Elastics

       Last week I noticed that several of my friends had pinned these really cute DIY hair bands on Pinterest- of course I pinned them as well- mainly because I always need hair elastics for myself or Miss Lo. One of these friends had the great idea that we hit up our local fabric emporium - DressSew on Hastings St for you locals- and we loaded up on the magical elastic ( really meant for underwear and bras) with which to make enough hair elastics to last us for an eternity! At .25 cents a metre how could we say no to every colour available?

      So here's the deal- instructions on the original blog- love you madly- instruct you to measure your wrist and add and inch on each side- which for me would be six inches for my wrist plus two more- should be eight inches- perfect! So measure your wrist, add two inches and cut elastic accordingly- easy!

     Next up- tie a knot- yes if you can tie your shoes you can do this craft- just tie a knot and leave a little tail sticking out the end of the elastic. Now you are done- seriously how easy was that?

        Optional- place onto a piece of card stock cut accordingly to the size of your elastics - give away as gifts- but only to people you really like! These would make great take home goodies at a birthday party, perfect hostess gifts or stocking stuffers for sisters and Moms.

Happy May Long Weekend!

       The best thing about long weekends is that when you wake up on the Monday morning there is often- really- no where to go- no hurry- nothing to do. We are on holiday for a few more hours- I am going to grab another cup of coffee- sit back in the sunshine on the deck and relax a bit longer.

     In an awesome and surprising turn of events my good friend Caro nominated me for Vancouver's Top Mom Blogger of 2013- I seem to have made it into the top 30! Being nominated was more than enough- to think that someone actually pays that much attention to this little space on the interwebs- but to be top 30 is quite the thrill indeed! Voting for top blogger starts next week- meanwhile feel free to visit Vancouver Mom to check out some of my fellow nominees.

    Happy loooong weekend Friends- see you back here tomorrow for a fun and majorly easy craft tutorial! As well as more gardening chat and possibly some discussion about coffee!

Duck's Egg Blue

        Duck's Egg Blue by Martha Stewart from Home Depot is my colour of choice for today- no I am not painting walls- I am trying my hand at freshening up some furniture! I have long been boring close friends with an inability to chose a paint colour- finally a decision has been made and one of many painting projects has been ticked off the old list.

       This little coffee table has quite a history- it was one of my first really good pieces of furniture in University- my dad build it and painted it navy blue to go with my whole "Celestial"! It remained navy blue for several years until the Mr. and I started playing house- then I painted it Celedon green to match out kitchen table- good stuff. Next this little table was passed down to my niece for her first place- she didn't use it long before it and the rest of her belongings returned to my Sister In Law's house- where the coffee table was painted dark brown and had wheels added- great idea on a patio table!

      The brown was OK but over the past few years since the coffee table was returned to us our Littles have made a bit of a mess of it- it is ground zero for most painting that happens.  So I busted out the hand sander and took it back- almost to the original blue paint before starting in on it's fresh new colour.
I will admit I am a bit smitten with the new look of things- the Duck's Egg blue goes well with all the yellow, green and pink I have going on out there right now!

A Mini Shop Update!

In the same vein- I have a new goody going into the Home section of my Etsy shop next week- this cute little hand screen printed linen cushion cover is up for grabs here first as always- 100% linen front- hand screen printed with colourful flowers- backed with a neutral grey canvas- overlapping back pocket closure. This is a one of a kind pillow cover! $28.00 -19"x19"- if you are interested feel free to message me on in the comment's section or via Etsy or Facebook!

Friends it is Friday again- I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with some old friends as well as visiting with our family in the Okanagan. I hope where ever your days find you that there is sunshine in your heart even if it is not on your shoulders!

Road Trippin' : Snacks

      It's almost that time of year again- you know that magical time when the school bell rings one last time for two full months of Summer Vacation- Fathers Coast to Coast load their families into vans packed to the hilt- yes the kitchen sink might even be in there! What I am talking about is the all Canadian road trip.

    Back in the day- which as we all know by now was a Wednesday- my Dad would load all us kids up into our custom paneled, semi camperized Chevy Van (it was blue)  and we would set off across this great country of ours to visit our cousins in Ontario- yes British Columbia to Ontario in a van with no air conditioner and some shady short cut from my Uncle Jeff- good times always look like a Chevy Chase movie.

   Back to present day- I will not lie- the Mr. and I tend to be of the mentality that if we can drive somewhere instead of fly we should- in the van- which also does not have A.C. -  needless to say we are on the road a lot. Road trippin' can be synonymous with fast food and gas station snacks but it doesn't have to be! We have made it a habit over the last couple of years to pack yummy, smart snacks to go with our yummy, smart dinners- a few favourites include real fruit gummy bears, pop corn, veggies and dip, home made cookies with secret healthy ingredients and of course the ever present apples!

    So before you spend eight or even four hours in the car plan ahead- bake these yummy and secretly sort of healthy cookies- leave the Ipad at home and let your kid count telephone poles- that is what Summer road trippin' is all about- that and the outhouses.

My Sort of Healthy but Still Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup real butter- oh yah!
1/8 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 small egg
vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips- or M&Ms ( or split dark chocolate chips & m&ms- which is what I do as the kid's find dark chocolate a bit too bitter)

- combine sugars, butter and vanilla in mixer and beat until frothy- add in egg and incorporate well, add flour, flax and baking soda- mix well before adding final ingredients. Drop by the teaspoonful and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheets.

In The Garden

      OK so it is clear that I need a yard with room for a large garden- but until that day swings around we do what we can with what we have- we are learning the ins and outs of container gardening. Last week the weather was stellar and I should have planted then however I waited until the weekend- in a torrential downpour we headed to our local nursery to pick up just one more planter and some more dirt.

    The new planter is home to some yummy sweet snap peas, radishes and the lettuce- can't wait till they start popping up! We are loosely adhering to the square foot gardening rule- planting our planters by the square foot to ensure maximum plant growth and food production. Remember those tomatoes we started sprouting a couple of months ago in empty eggs shells? Well I now have to figure out how to fit six heirloom tomato plants out onto our deck!

    This all started a few years ago  with a couple of strawberry plants in Terracotta pots- now those same three plants have been joined by a few others- competing for space in the small area of full sun on our deck. Now we have loads of herbs, kale, garlic, peas, radishes, lettuce and all those tomato plants! Plus my Hostas are going bonkers and need to be split again- but I can worry about that in the fall!

Last Minute Sewing

       I needed some little gifties for this coming weekend- something fun and not too serious- just something to say Thank You. I found this great tutorial over on Noodlehead- step by step instructions for this ingenious zippered pouch. A great way to use up scrap- I had enough GeoCentric Circles (the blue) for the lining and contrasting detail on the bottom of the pouch and the top is a natural linen. Of course because I could not let anything be easy my "last minute sewing" also turned into some" last minute screen printing"!

     This pattern is just super- so easy to follow- I am not one who is good at or enjoys sewing a zipper in- so the fact that I made three of these little pouches is a testament to just how easy this pattern actually is! There are three sizes available for this FREE pouch pattern- you can bet that as soon as I have a spare moment I will be sewing a few for myself- perfect for travel- camping and well lets just admit that I have a thing for small zipper bags!

Field Trip: Momma's Choice

       This weekend it was all about staying local- the weather was a bit iffy and we just needed some down time- so we did what we do best- headed to the Farmer's Market. We went on a bit of an adventure and checked out a new market at Vancouver's River District (South East Marine Drive & Kerr St) which was bucolic and laid back but much smaller than the markets we are used to. Some Farmer's Market scores for the weekend were fresh radishes, organic seedlings and the best goat cheese ever- be still my beating heart!

     Of course since Sunday was Mother's Day all eyes turned to this Momma to see what the plan was- a rainy Sunday obviously called for a trip to the local nursery for more planters and dirt followed by a trip to Granville Island. The Kid's Market for the Littles and a half hour of uninterrupted browsing and brain storming at one of my favourite local haunts- Maiwa Supply. The ladies who work in the shop are more than a wealth of information and I picked their brains about an upcoming project that is brewing in my soul. I may have also bought myself some new knitting needles.

    I love connections with others that leave you really excited to try something new or just confirm that the path you are walking is populated with super awesome people- glad to know I am not walking this handmade journey alone- love that!