A little bit of Christmas :) And a filled-up advent garland!

I know...I know.....it's definitely a *little* bit early to be pulling out the Christmas decor....

but we're heading to Malibu, CA this year for Christmas and I figured we could just start everything a little earlier, instead of missing out on the festivities :)

And I love it! I love love love it! 

There's something about holiday decorating that makes me giddy.

I didn't allow myself to buy anything new this year, and just made do with what we already had.

And we did just fine :) 

I'm still on the cozy, rustic, Scandinavian look that I've loved for the past couple of years. 

Kept the mantel fairly simple. My favourite cast iron deer, a little "pine" garland, red IKEA pots with red berries in them...and a plain red straw wreath in the middle.  oh...and my little very random garland from last year with various wooden ornaments and miniature wool sweaters :)  And the Elf on the Shelf....who is a new member of our family this year! The kids LOVE him. He decided to make himself at home in my wreath today....little rascal. ;)

I brought out the advent garland a little early this year.....decided to start it on the 23rd of this month (which so happened to be my birthday!), and it's exactly 24 days until we leave for California :) The boys were so excited!

There's just something about a row of chubby, choc-full stockings and mittens that gets kiddos (and their mommas) excited!

Our kids are on a no-sugar/no-starch diet right now (as I've mentioned before....to help Toby's little tummy), so there were no treats in the advent this year....just fun little toys and gadgets.

Some of the advent stuffers used this year:

Bouncy balls

Mini Christmas crackers

Holiday erasers

Vintage brass bells (thrift shop)

Stickers

Flashing Christmas light necklaces 

Hacky sacks

Mini nutcrackers

Vintage souvenir spoons (with little dangly bears and stuff-- thrift shop)

Christmas Stamps

Mini flashlights

etc etc....

Mostly from the dollar store, or the thrift shop.

Here's "Rusty"....our resident elf. If you've never heard of the Elf on the Shelf....you need to take a look! It's lots of fun, and definitely helps from time-to-time with behaviour issues ;)

Love this little birdie! (thanks, Gramma Karen!) :)

My sister-in-law Dayna surprised me yesterday with some very cozy, "perfect for my room", cushions...but sadly, the light is not good today so I can't show you a picture of them!  :(

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends!! Hope you're all enjoying some cozy family time :)

xoxo

A DIY Kraft paper car mat (anything to keep little boys busy!)

This little "project" is pretty self-explanatory.

Simple and easy.

Tools needed: Roll of Kraft paper (or any kind of paper, really)

Black  Marker (or any colour, really)

Two small, but very enthusiastic art critics (who "oooh" and "aaahhh" over every new road/town/house)

Basically, we were going nuts all cooped up in the house with sick boys.

Until the awesome new "our whole world" car mat came to life.

They played with it for hours. Literally hours. And, trust me, they never play with any one thing for hours. We've hit the jackpot!!

We had to draw our house...of course. And cousin Fenton's house above it :)

And of course our favourite Sky Train line to the River Rock resort, and Downtown Vancouver :)

Please excuse my 10-second drawings (literally....they were breathing down my neck!)

Heck...even trains can run wild in our world :)

Busy, busy boys.

We had to have Toys R Us....oh...and IKEA! "Can't forget IKEA !!" (Toby said)

Try it. :)

You'll see. 

Totally works.

In fact, before the first "mom, can I have a snack?" was uttered, I may have gotten the supper made, and half of a decor magazine read ;)

Tufted Wing Chair Makeover (Painting Upholstery)

It's been wayyyy too long since my last furniture project!

I seem to have lost my "oomph". 

When it comes to making changes/improvements around the house, it seems like my inspiration and motivation comes in spurts. I'm either super into it, and working on little projects in my spare time....or I'm just not into it at all.  

We've had the new flooring (a sort of white-washed wood-look laminate floor) in our basement/lower level for about 6 months now, and I still haven't finished decorating the space! Unbelievable. 

It's still nowhere near being finished, but at least I've started!

ok...now...on to the chair.

This lovely big wing chair was picked up by my sister in law, Dayna, for me at our local thrift shop's collectibles sale. How awesome is she!!!?

 :)

It was a great burnt orange colour, and I tried to make it work, but the room was sort of "rejecting" it ;)

so....I did what all good little bloggers do, and started googling/pinteresting (is that a term now??), etc and found this link.  The amazingly innovative Kristy, over at Hyphen Interiors had the guts to paint an upholstered chair.

heck....if she's brave enough, then I should be too, right??

So...I gave it a go.

Now...before you start wondering why mine doesn't look as vibrant as hers.....this is only one coat of paint (so far).

Here's the clincher....I kind of like it like this! 

What do you think??

It has a vintage-y "worn leather" look, reminiscent of copper that's turned green. 

I'm still debating whether or not I'll give it a second coat, to end up with a more solid, vibrant turquoise hue. Not sure. Still deciding.

This is the "before" shot :)

The big piece of driftwood that we're using as a little "side table" came from the beach...hehe.....you know...borrowed ;). Dustin was such a good sport and carried that sucker all the way to the car! VERY heavy. But totally worth it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts/opinions :)

Halloween... (the last post, I promise!)

Halloween was a fun day.

It was the first day that Toby started to feel a little better, after his dental surgery, so we made the best of it and headed outside for some fresh air. 

I've been wanting to take pictures of the boys in the fallen leaves for weeks now, but it seems like it never stopped raining!! ugh.

Finally...a beautiful, crisp autumn day!

Nothing quite like a leaf fight to lift your spirits, and help you forget about your sore teeth :)

(check out that new front tooth on the right (his right)...he says "I don't like my new tooth, it looks like a piece of GUM") 

Finny showing off his chompers too :)

So...as usual.....I tried and I tried to get just ONE. DECENT. SHOT of the two of them together....but alas.....this is as good as it's gonna get. 

hah!

Not for lack of trying, I tell you. I was literally sweating after this.

Finn is a crazy man. He's never content just doing normal "just turned two" year old stuff. Maybe it's because he watches his big brother doing all sorts of fancy tricks? I don't know....but he always has to push the limits. I quite often hear "Yook at me, mam....YOOK at MEEEE" :)....and always find him in some crazy position, standing up high on something. sigh. Boys.

Pumpkin carving was a bigger hit this year than it was last year. At least, as far as Tobes was concerned! He couldn't wait to get right into it. Finny, on the other hand, walked around going "aghghghghhhhh....yechhhhhh......I don't YIKE yucky pumpkin GOO" :)

Now, before you freak out and say "Why is that small child wielding a knife???".....this was a very dull pumpkin carving tool that was surprisingly good for carving! And it turns out, Toby was great at it!

This was his request (not sure where he got the idea...must have seen it somewhere?)....a big SCARY pumpkin eating a little tiny one. "But mom, don't make it too scary.....actually, I feel really sad for the little pumpkin. Can you make him a big brother to scare off the big pumpkin?" :)

And the the trick-or-treating :)

Dustin was rocking a superhero sweatshirt and the boys loved it!

There's just something completely irresistible about jack-o-lantern glow, isn't there? :) At least, the Cat in the Hat thought so.

Dustin and I carved most of the pumpkins the night before, after the kids were in bed. Yes...call us crazy, but we did quite a few! :) We actually only carved 3 of them, and used the power drill for the rest. Cheaters!

Ok...enough Halloween for now......I've got a chair project to show you next :) Finally....a little furniture love! (it's been TOO long!)