Last Week’s Loves – April 30th to May 6th

Tags

Amy Friend Art, Bloom Theory camera straps, Lee Bloom crystal bulbs, maxi skirts, shelter co.

Good Morning Everyone!

There are going to be some changes here at Recreated starting today (or at some point in the next 24-hours), as I will be converting to a hosted WordPress site. OK, so you likely won’t notice much change except a new URL. And my understanding is, you will be directed to the new one (www.recreated.ca) from the old one. Hmm, so I guess it’s really only a change for me.  It is possible that the blog may look a little weird over the next few days until I get everything set-up, but hopefully it won’t take me too long to do that.

But now, back to our regularly scheduled program….Last Week’s Loves!

1.  This week, the amazeballs peeps at Poppytalk highlighted Shelter Co, which is a very cool pop-up (literally) lodging service.  You can read about it here.  Such a great concept, and look at the lovely space they provide.  You can see more great photos over at Poppytalk.

2. Love the maxi skirts highlighted by Brittany in this post at My Daily Randomness.  These are the two I loved most of the ones she featured.

1. I love discovering new Canadian talent so when SF Girl by Bay featured this phenomenal art by Amy Friend where she uses vintage photos and light, I was floored.  How gorgeous are these?? You can read more here.

Miss Sheralee over at Escapade featured these great crystal light bulbs by Lee Broom.  Such a pretty version of a simple light bulb!

Ugly camera straps be gone! This post over at A Dairy of Lovely featured these sweet-a$$ camera straps by Bloom Theory.  Seriously, people come up with the best ideas.

Have a lovely day sweet readers!

XO,

Over the Moon for Ostrich

Tags

faux ostrich fabric, ostrich, ostrich fabric decor

Good Morning! I was recently reminded how much I like faux ostrich fabric, after reading this post over at Redesigning Sarah about how she fixed her damaged leather cubes by having the top reupholstered.  Check out how great they turned out!

Great huh?  This inspired me to find more faux ostrich loveliness….but it was hard finding an abundance of inspiration.  However, I did find a few things…

Like these chairs….

This bag…

These chairs, specifically the seats (from the home of Ms. Meredith Heron, designer extraordinaire as featured in Style at Home)

These flats….

This bench…

These heels….

These stools…

Can you believe that bench was a DIY project? You can see it here. I do love to see people having success with DIY re-upholstery, and that one tuned out amazing! Oh yea, and I would give my right ear for that bag…for realsies.

You just gotta love a little (faux)….

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

I’m over the moon for ostrich…

Have a great day!

XO,

Last Weeks Loves – April 23rd to 29th

Tags

Bettina Prentice's apartment, black and wood, drapery tie-backs, Molly Hatch Plate painting, outdoor movie theatre, teokenaka bento box lunch box, treehouse

Good Morning Dumplings….

It’s Monday again, and that means Last Weeks Loves is back!  I’ve got a great line up of posts that showcase my blogger inspiration from last week.  And here were go….

1.  On Thursday, Amanda from Recycled Consign and Design posted about the comeback of the drapery tie-back.  I think she might be on to something, especially with the great selection of great tie-backs she featured like the vintage ones below.

2. I always enjoy a little whimsy so when Escapade posted about this treehouse in Scotland, I thoroughly enjoyed.

3.  On Friday, Heather of Interior Groupie had a great guest post from Jessica, a writer for Arcadian Lighting on black and wood.  A great design combo and this outdoor space below was my favourite of the examples she provided, though I would recommend checking them all out for yourself.

4.  I LOVED this post from Ambiance & Armoires all about how to set up a summer night at the movies! I loved going to the drive-in as a kid so I  think it would be crazy fun to have a movie night in your backyard.  I seriously loved this post.

5. I was asking the same question Vanessa over at A Casa Da Va did when I read So…When can I Move In?, a post she did on Bettina Prentice’s apartment, as featured in Vogue. I love just about everything about this apartment: the amazing art, the use of colour and pattern….all beautiful. J’aime beaucoup.

6. How stunning is this plate painting by Molly Hatch? Molly is a ceramic designer who also creates fabric patterns, furniture, jewelry, prints, pen and ink drawings and paintings.I found this amazing plate painting in a feature this week on Design Sponge.  Seriously, it floors me how insanely creative people are.

7. How much fun are these Tekenaka Bento Boxes I found on this post over at Creature Comforts this week? Ez always finds the coolest products. These definitely make me want to take my lunch to work.

Photos via: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

As usual, my blog reading keeps me full of inspiration, and this week was no exception.

Enjoy your day, even if that means pretending it’s Friday. I’m out….

XO,

Poppies and Seedling Update

Tags

flowers, garden, poppies, seedlings

Good Morning!

Ahhhh, Friday….here again.  Love it.  Today I’ve got a little update on my seedlings for you. Yes people, I’ve got germination. I now have little sperm-y looking sprouts coming out of many of my seeds. It looks like starting seedlings in the fridge is working fabulously! Now I have to plant them and try not to kill them…no promises.

Check out my cosmos….

A zinnia sprout….

And the flower I’m most excited about is the poppy…

I’m a huge fan of poppies. They are so delicate and come is such gorgeous colours. Not only are they lovely but they are also highly symbolic and political.  Firstly, in Canada they are a symbol of remembrance for fallen Canadian soldiers and are a common symbol around Remembrance Day in November.  However, the papaver somniferum variety of poppy (the opium poppy) is far better known as the culprit from whom the illegal narcotic drugs opium and heroin originate.  These flowers are more than just a pretty face.  That being said, I’m going to focus on their pretty for today….

Photo sources:  1, 2 (discontinued), 3, 4 (narelle), 5 (sold), 6, 7, 8 (Jamie Beck), 9 via, 10, 11

Love the chair by etsy seller Green Gage Vintage (unfortunately it’s sold), and I’m not big on tatoos but that poppy tat is truly body art.

Have a good weekend!

I’m a Sleepy Liar

Tags

liar, sleep, tired

OK, so I’m a big fat liar.  I said I was going post on Last Week’s Loves today, since I posted about the baby shower yesterday buuuuut, I think I’m (*gasp) skipping it this week.  There, I said it.  I know, it’s bad, but I started to go through my Reader and I was overwhelmed and couldn’t get through everything to pick my “loves” from last week.  I just have been pretty tired the last couple of days and, really, all I want to do is this….

I’m not a great sleeper so when my body tells me I need sleep, I usually try to listen to it.

XO,

Photo Sources: unknown original source via, leslie mk Flickr, Cassie Kammerzell Flickr

Baby Shower

Tags

ABC baby book, baby shower, cake, diaper cake, fondant, paper pom-poms

Good Monday Afternoon!

Being Monday, I should be doing my last week’s loves, but since I spent much of my weekend putting together and hosting a baby shower for my friend Amber, I thought I would share some highlights with you instead!  It was a fun afternoon with some of my favourite ladies.

 For the decor, I made a the little bunting banner with Amber’s name on it, and added some paper pom-poms (which Martha taught me how to do here) to make it feel a little more festive.

Some of the snacks and flowers for the party…I actually made enough small arrangements like the one below for everyone to take one home with them as a little gift. However, I failed to take pictures of any of them except this one!

Ummm….cake.  The was my first foray into fondant icing.  I made it from scratch and it was shockingly simple……except for the rolling of the fondant, my weak ass arms got a workout.

And on the topic of cakes, my friend Jenn made this amazing diaper cake, complete with a little Sofie and some other fun surprises inside. Total cuteness.

My friends and I aren’t really into baby shower games, so for an activity we created a ABC book for the baby.  I bought some card stock, printed out some clip art, bought some letter stickers/stencils and kids colouring books and between the bunch of us we made pages for all the letters!  We are going to get all the pages made into a book for the little one to learn his/her ABCs! I love this idea but I totally stole it from another baby shower I’d been to….no credit for me on this one.

We had a great time coming up with words for each letter, some more creative than others (Kel, I’m talking to you – U is for bunny UNDER a (palm?) tree). Here are some of the finished pages.

All in all a great afternoon with great company.  Here’s wishing Amber all the best for the remainder of her pregnancy, and I can’t wait to meet her new little one soon!

I’ll be back with last week’s loves tomorrow!

XO,

Baby Shower Inspiration

Tags

adorable, babies, baby, baby shower ideas, cute, parties

Hello Lovelies! On Sunday I’m hosting a baby shower for my friend who has a wee one that is due to arrive in about a month.  I’ve been planning and making preparations the past couple of weeks and everything is just about set to go.  Because I’ll be posting about the shower next week, I won’t divulge too much on the plan. What I am going to share are some of the great baby shower ideas I came across while searching for inspiration….

via

via

via

via

via

via

via

via

Let’s all do a collective, “awwwwww”!  So adorbs!  I love the fondant beehive and the countdown theme with all the clocks!

Have a lovely day!

Starting Seedlings in the Fridge

Tags

flowers, garden, germination, herbs, seedlings, starting seeds

Hello all!

I am lucky enough to have a have the use of an amazing backyard/garden space with my apartment.  And let me tell you, it’s a real luxury to find that with a one bedroom rental apartment in Toronto.  I had a great sized backyard with the house I sold 2 years ago, post break-up, and it’s one of the only things I knew I would miss.  I find gardening very relaxing and therapeutic and so my backyard is real blessing.  Last year I tried to start flowers from seed and they did ok….for a while….and then their growth stunted, and  they died.  I started a few more earlier this year but most didn’t even germinate.  (The few that did germinate, I didn’t take very good care of and they died).

Despite this, I am determined not to have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on annuals and herbs this year so I enlisted some additional advice from my co-worker Erin. Seriously, Erin is the plant whisperer, her plants flourish and she always has the best tips.  She told me of a method of germinating seeds by putting them in the fridge so I decided to try it out, and I thought I would share it with you today.

Tools:

seeds, paper towel, water/spray bottle, tweezers, baggies, tape or labels, marker, a fridge.

Step 1: Wet the paper towel

Step 2: make a small square with the paper towel, and spray with more water if needed.

Step 3: Place seeds on the square, if need be space them out using tweezers if they are very small seeds.

Step 4: Place the paper towel and seedlings in a baggie.

Step 5: Make labels with the name of the seed and date.

Step 6: Label the baggies

Step 7: Put them in the fridge

Step 8: Wait…

Once they start germinating and produce tiny seedlings, I will plant them in soil using tweezers.  I hoping this method will get me more germinated seeds than I have been getting. Now this won’t necessarily help me grow the seedlings after that. But I figure the more seedlings I have, the higher chance of getting actual flowers/herbs will survive to plant in my garden. I’ll keep you updated.

Does anyone else have tips or experiences growing plants from seed?

Have a great day,

Last Week Loves – April 9th to 15th

Tags

a Crafty Bee DIY art, Design for Mankind, Emerson Fry tank, Francisca Pageo, free arrows brush download, Oasis pleated dress, Pedret Lighting, porcelain lighting, Simple Dwellings

Good Morning lovelies!

I kinda hate Mondays….but I kinda love re-hashing the week in blogs with my Last Weeks Loves series!  Here’s what I loved from last week:

I LOVE this DIY art that Beatrice posted over at A Crafty Bee.  The upholsterer in me has been trying to find some cool furniture art for awhile, and this is an easy and affordable way to get it!

Love this free arrows brush download from Creature Comforts! I’m just learning Photoshop Elements and I am always looking for cool ways to add fun to my photos, and these are pretty neat.  She also has great instructions on how to upload brushes to Photoshop which is really helpful.

I always enjoy Bliss Blog’s I Heart Mondays.  I often find many things in her list that I love too. This week its the top from Emerson Fry.  Love the simple, yet interest cut of this tank.

Check out these yellow chairs spotted in Desire to Decorate’s post on Spring Fever. She found the photo from Decor Pad, but Decor Pad doesn’t seem to have a source for the designer or where the chairs are from. Would love to know where they came from, they are gorgeous.

I didn’t get a chance to do a fashion/style post this week, so instead I’ll share with you this lovely Fashion Friday outfit put together by Amber over Simple Dwellings.  Love the pattern, colour she used, and that purse is to die for.

How pretty is this porcelain lamp posted on Design Sponge this week? The lamp is called the Brahma lamp and is by Barcelona lighting company Pedret Lighting.

Really enjoyed this Artistic Apparel post by Design for Mankind this week. Love the art by Francisca Pageo inspiration and colours, but mostly I am in love with the amazing pleated dress by Oasis.

Hope you enjoyed, have a great day!

XO,

Family Heirloom

Tags

crocheted blanket, family heirloom, history

Good Morning!

Over the Easter break I got one of the loveliest gifts I have ever received. My Nana gave me a beautiful crocheted blanket that she made.

However, there is more to the story than that.  You see many of the squares were crocheted by my great-grandmother before she died.  Nana found the squares one day in a box and decided to finish what her mother had started and pass it on to me!  That is why you see that some of the squares are slightly discoloured compared to others. Those are the ones that have been sitting around for decades waiting to become a blanket.

Isn’t the craftsmanship amazing?

Every little detail, right down to the tiny individual balls around the edges, is perfect.

I am in awe of the amount of work that went into this blanket and I love that I have a beautiful family heirloom to keep that has so much history behind it.  Millions of thanks to my Nana for this amazing gift.  I’m a lucky girl.

Do any of you have special family heirlooms?

Have a great day!

XO,