MISSING IN ACTION

I have had a few people question me lately as to why I haven't been writing on my blog.  I really don't have a good answer but you can choose one for yourself from the excuses below (one or more of them might actually be real).

The reason I haven't posted on my blog for three months is because...

• blogging is so last year.
• I let it go so long that it just got embarrassing. 
• I started reading 50 Shades of Grey and I haven't left the bedroom since.
• my husband has banned me from writing because of risqué  comments like the one above.
• I received some unsolicited criticism from someone about my writing and it kind of put me off writing.
• I am perfecting my greatest talent...procrastinating. 
• my life is so totally awesome and I am too busy living it. 
• it was weird having mere acquaintances know so much about my life.
• there were no funny stories to tell people when I saw them because they had already read them on my blog.

I have been trying to spend less time with technology and more time doing other things so blogging was one of the things I let slide.

Here's a few highlights from the past few months.

I redid the grandkids bedroom.  The girls were so excited to sleep in it that I found them in bed right after supper one night.  I had to tell them to get up and go play because I didn't want them in bed at six and up at five.

We held an awesome tobogganing party in February complete with hot chocolate bar and Chinese lanterns.  

There was a trip to Florida in March with two of the grandkids and it just made me excited for our big family trip in November to Disney.

There was an Easter egg hunt...

and a squirrel hunt.  I caught four of these little guys in a matter of a couple of days.  I even spray painted one because I was pretty sure they were coming back even though I was driving them at least ten miles away (two as far as thirty).  Somehow they managed to get into the ceiling and would wake me up each morning at around five.  I think I have won the battle (fingers crossed).

So whatever the reason I've neglected my blog, I am back now and I have a few funny stories tucked away in my memory that I'll be sharing soon.  

HAVE YOU HEARD?

For all my DIY friends out there (there's quite a few of you) have you heard of the coolest thing since Pinterest?   It's called Chip It and it is awesome.  It is a service offered by Sherwin Williams and it allows you to match paint colours with any photograph or picture you can find.  Check out how it works here...

You're welcome.

PATCHWORK WALL

This is a little different from my regular posts but I have had a number of questions asked about how I went about doing the patchwork wall in Ava's room so I thought I would answer everything right here. If you are not interested in doing this ever, stay tuned for my next post where I will share my Purolator  story (it's a good one).

So back to the wall... this is what it looked like before I started.

Before I did anything, I measured the wall to figure out how many 12 inch squares of paper I would need then I went to Michaels and found a 180 page ( I only needed 88) pad of coordinating scrapbook paper on sale for $15.00.  This was not card stock, just regular weight paper.  Then it was a trip to Home Depot to purchase a container of wallpaper paste and a paintbrush (to apply the paste).

Once home, Brittany and I went through the pad of paper and picked out the paper we liked best and laid them out on the floor in a design that we were happy with (no two of the same colour or pattern adjacent to another).

I marked a plumb line 12 inches out from the corner of  the wall so that I would be sure to apply the squares straight. I pasted each piece of paper and applied one square at a time. I was sure to brush out any air bubbles as I went along. In total it took less than three hours to complete an eight by ten and a half foot wall.  

Things I learned as I went along.

• 12x12 paper is not completely square.  Use the rough edge (where it's torn out of the pad) of the top of the paper to know which way is up. (some patterns were hard to tell otherwise)
• once pasted the paper is prone to tear so be gentle with it.
• wait until the paper is dry before trimming (refer to the the above comment)

Here's a picture of the wall at almost the halfway mark.  

And here it is completed.

It looks better in real life but even in a photograph, it's still pretty cute.  

I chose not to seal it for two reasons. 1. I wasn't sure how the paper would react to the sealer. 2. It is on a wall that has no light switch etc. on it and it is behind the bed so it won't get touched much.  I think it would be easy enough to just paste another piece over any dirty patch.  I have enough paper left over for any such damage.

JUST CALL ME MARTHA

I was in what I like to call a Martha-esque mood when I made a cake for Daniel and Olivia's little mini reception. That basically means I was at my creative zenith , willing to spend ages fiddling with tiny little details. The result was awesome and the complements that followed went straight to my head. I was quite pleased with myself. My reason for this post is not to brag (okay, maybe a little) but rather to save me time in explaining how I created this masterpiece. After sending out three emails last week with directions (silly me didn't think to copy and paste) I thought I would just post the directions on my blog and direct enquiries here.

The cake is simple to put together but does require some time. Trust me, the adulation you receive will be welll worth it.

First, you will need to pick about 100 or so small leaves off a bush or tree. Leaves that look similar to those of a maple tree work best.

Wash and dry the leaves then paint the back of the leaves with melted coloured chocolate. I bought the merkins buttons at the bulk food store and spent $4.oo total on all the buttons and I had some left over.

I used my finger to spread it over the leaves (don't worry, I washed my hands thoroughly first). I put the leaves in the fridge to set and then carefully, and I mean carefully, pulled the leaves from the chocolate. Unfortunately, quite a few broke. I was able to hide some of the broken ones behind the good ones but alas, some just had to be eaten... ahem... I mean... discarded.

The acorns were made from caramels rolled into balls then flattened a bit on one end which was then dipped into a bit of melted chocolate and dipped again into little chocolate sprinkles.

I iced the cake with regular chocolate buttercream icing and then starting form the centre working out, layered the leaves.

I told you it was simple.

WHAT FUN

I had no idea that decorating a tent for a wedding was so much work or so much fun. The joy in it came from working together as a family to create something beautiful for our only daughter/sister. It took us the better part of an afternoon to set up tables and chairs and hang lanterns but the end result was well worth the effort.

The most amusing part of the day was the phone call I received from my dear husband as he tried to purchase more fabric for the tables. I had decided early on that I would prefer one long piece of cloth to cover a row of tables rather than smaller tablecloths for each table. It ended up being much cheaper than buying tablecloths and the effect was nicer. I am now the proud owner of 25 meters of white material. At $2.50 a meter it was a fraction of the cost of the cheapest tablecloths I could find at $14. I would have needed 12 so that was a saving of over $100 dollars. Then there was the added benefit of talking my husband through the ordeal of having to go to a fabric store and finding/purchasing the appropriate material. With the help of an attentive employee at the store, he passed with flying colours and arrived home quite pleased with himself. There is hope for the man after all.