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30 Oct 2013

FAMILY: 3 Years

I'm just under the wire for getting Little Pilot's yearly photos up here on the blog before his birthday month is over!  He did really well for me during the photo shoot and I am so glad that I was able to capture his personality in many of the pictures.

At three years-old, Little Pilot is full of energy and spunk.  He also has a "Pikku Vanha" (literal translation = "little old" ) side to him.  He can talk about airplanes with his Pappa like a grown up and I often find myself sitting at the dinner table listening to him chatter on and on about everything that has happened.  It is quite amusing and I can get totally lost just listening to him. <3  Little Pilot still loves airplanes most and his toy airplanes are what he largely plays with.  He has started to make up his own songs although none of them really have a tune (he must have gotten his singing talent from me). ;)  His sense of humour is great.  He loves to try to make people laugh by doing silly things.  Little Pilot also still has a sensitive side to him.  He tends to be equally fascinated with and scared of certain things (e.g., lawn mowers).  He really loves to please others and is always trying to make sure that guests are taken care of.   I don't think we've gotten over the "terrific" twos, but I have noticed that he is starting to understand consequences more.  

I've noticed that Little Pilot is beginning to learn to play with his little brother.  There are still times when he can get too rough and tries dragging Co-pilot around.  It really is wonderful to see the two of them begin to share toys and "chase" each other around the house.  "Chase" usually involves Little Pilot lapping Co-pilot by a couple of laps around the house.

Now that Little Pilot turned three, he is able to go to the "big kids" Sunday School and I was so happy that he loved his first time there.  We didn't start preschool yet, and I'm a little freaked out to think that he will be going to kindergarten next fall!

Let's take a look at his pictures. :)

Little Pilot has THE BEST smiling eyes!

You can see his eye colour best when he's serious.  I think they're a grey, green, blue mixture.

The skunk that I narrowly escaped has gotten around our neighbourhood.  There was a very skunky smell a couple of doors down from us.  Hence, the pinched nose here. :)


So that's our three year-old!  One more post about the fox party and this birthday month will be a wrap!

To see Little Pilot's One year and Two Year photos click here and here.

Little Pilot:  We prayed and waited for you for a long time and our lives have not been so full as they are since having you!  You are loved by an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).  Your aunt says you will be a "pastori pilot" ("pastori" Finglish for "pastor"), but no matter what you become, I know that God has an amazing calling and future for you!  Love you to pieces! xoxo

29 Oct 2013

DIY: Cage Light Sconces

Hey everyone!  We finally had our fox party and I'm still cleaning up party decorations and gift wrap.  I'm going to do a final party post soon, but for now I am really excited to share with you one of my latest DIYs. It's a pair of cage light pendants for our bedroom.  I love the modern, yet rustic and industrial feel that they have.  They were super easy to make and cost a little over $20.00 each.  Not too bad  for a sconce that looks this nice, no?  I'm also excited to be actually doing something in our bedroom again.

Here is one of them on my side of the bed.  Our room is super small and we have a king bed.  That little stool is about as much as I can fit there for a side table.  Now that I finally have some nice new lights, I think I need a little art to go on that wall too.

Okay, so I bet your dying to find out the details on the parts and how we made these. ;)  I actually purchased the cage lights first when they were on sale at Target not really sure where I was going to use them.  They are the Threshold Industrial Pendant.  The bracket is the Ekby Valter from Ikea.  The other hardware you'll need are some screws and a plug.

Before I get into the details, I want to state two safety items: 
1) this project requires some wiring work at the plug end of your light fixture.  It is best to have a certified electrician inspect your work and/or complete the wiring portion for you.
2)  This is pretty common sense, but if you are going to be working on the light fixture make sure it is unplugged.  I really don't want anyone to get electrocuted!

Okay, so here goes...

1) The first thing you will want to do is drill three holes in your bracket.  There are two pre-drilled holes at the top of the bracket which we just widened and the third hole was drilled into the bottom portion of the support/angled piece of the bracket in line with the predrilled hole at the top of the bracket.  In the photo above you can see where the three holes are.

2) Next you will need to cut off the plug end and the switch portion of the pendant light with wire snips so that you can thread the cord through the bracket starting at the outermost hole and going up over the top of the bracket and down through the bottom hole.

3)  Have an electrician install a new plug on the end of your light fixture.  Tech Guy has experience with electrical work and works with electricians and therefore was able to do this himself, but I can't give you a tutorial on this since we are not licensed electricians.  Once the light is wired, you're ready to plug your light in and enjoy your new sconce!

One of our outlets is operated by the light switch in our room so it it easy to turn on and off, but the other one is not.  For this outlet we have a lamp dimmer that we plugged the sconce into and it allows us to be able to switch the sconce on and off easily.

So here's a peek at my bedroom as it is right now, wrinkly, mismatched linens and all.  I think the Ikea pendant is on it's way out.  It's fighting a little with the new sconces.  We still need some nightstands and art of course!  I'm on the hunt for all of those now!  We'll see how long it takes me to find them. :)

Happy Tuesday and go make some sconces!

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25 Oct 2013

FAMILY: 12 Months

My baby is one!  Does that mean he's not a baby anymore?  He's still very much a baby to me although he has changed so much in the last month.  I have been quite teary eyed over the last month realizing how quickly this first year went and how truly blessed I am to have my beautiful boys.  I guess hitting the milestones makes me more reflective!  I'm very much a baby person and love every stage of it from newborn to toddler.  

The big thing this month has been walking.  He was a little slow to get moving, but once he did, he started walking really quickly.  I think he cruised for a couple of weeks non-stop and then just started taking steps a few weeks before his birthday.  My little guy continues to be not so little for his age.  He is the most easy going baby ever.  He will let you know what he wants and can get frustrated at times (especially when something doesn't go his way).  He also really really loves music and dancing.  His dancing has progressed from head nodding to moving side-to-side picking his little feet up as he does this.  It is too cute!  He's also a very cuddly baby.  He often interrupts his play to come and snuggle in my lap.  I don't mind at all. :)  The most consistent words he says are "all done" and "ota" ("take it").  Sometimes he says "ummy" for "mommy" and "dada" for "daddy".  He loves to fly airplanes with his brother and Pappa.  He does an excellent "aaaah" for the airplane sound. :)

Here are some of the photos from this month with the numbered pumpkin.  The pumpkin is tradition now (you can see the other two years here and here. :)

I had to add a couple of black and white photos since I did this with Little Pilot's 1 year photos too.

Lastly, the oh so tricky onesie picture.  I probably should have ironed the tablecloth I used for the background.
So that wraps up Co-pilot's baby photo project.  It feels like I just started it yesterday.  I am so glad I did this and am planning to make a photo book with them as well.  I'm not sure what I will do going forward, but I'm sure you'll see this guy making appearances throughout my future posts.  Up next, I have to edit and share Little Pilot's three year photos.  Thanks for joining me on this photo project journey!  

A note to my baby, if you ever decide to read this when you're older, I want you to know that your mommy and daddy love you more than you can imagine, but that God loves you even more than us which is just unfathomable!  Hold onto that truth and He will guide your path!

23 Oct 2013

DIY TREE STUMP CAKE STANDS

**Spoiler Alert!  If you are coming to the rescheduled party this weekend and want to keep the goodies that we are serving a surprise.  Don't read this post until after the party. :)**

Our fox party had to be rescheduled as one of our foxes was sick. :(  The party is now going to be this coming weekend.  I had everything ready for the party including some yummy deserts so I decided to take a few pictures of the DIY cake stands I made.  These are probably the easiest DIY ever!  You can make them in just two steps.  The how to is at the bottom of this post, but first here are a few pictures of my DIY tree stump cake stands.

I really love how simple these cake stands are and that they go so well with our fox party theme.  They have a modern-rustic look with the clean white plates and tree stumps.  I think they would be perfect for almost any occasion.  They'd be great for a fall/winter party or even an outdoor/woodland themed party.  
In case you might be wondering, the treats on the cake stands are graham cookies with acorn cut-outs, vanilla cupcakes and s'mores marshmallows all made by me.  I'm going to have to make most of it all over again for this coming weekend!  After we finally have our party I'll share some more details on all the food and the party decor in another post.

To make these cake stands all you will need is a stump/log, dinner plates and a saw.  I used our everyday dinner plates.  To find my stump, I went for a walk in the ravine by our house and found this stump on the ground ready for me to turn it into a few cake stands. :)

I had Tech Guy cut the stump into three different lengths with a mitre saw creating the pedestals.  Check to make sure each pedestal stands level on a flat surface.  You may need to trim a little off to make it level.
*please follow the manufacturers safety instruction whenever using a power tool.

The tallest pedestal was a little over 1 foot tall and the middle-sized one was 3/4 as tall and the smallest was 1/2 the height of the tallest pedestal.

To turn your stumps/pedestals into cake stands place a rimmed dinner plate on top.  I didn't use any glue or other adhesive.  I found that the stands were really sturdy as is and the bonus was that I could use plates I already had.  I also like the fact that I don't have three large cake stands to store in my small space.  I think I may store the stumps by our fireplace with the other logs we have. :)

I hope you liked this super simple DIY.  I'll be back to show you the cake stands in all their modern-rustic glory after the actual party. :)  I'm excited about how these will look on our dessert table.  
Now go make some cake stands and bake something yummy to go on top.  Hopefully you won't be baking for two weeks straight like I'm doing. :)

21 Oct 2013

A SPACE TO WORK

We live in a small home and with our basement in reno mode we are really tight on space.  The space that we do have has to be multi-functional.  You already know that I sew from my living room on my mid century sewing table, but I have also recently decided to add a bit of a workspace to this room.  I've been spending a lot more time on the computer over the past few months editing photos, blogging, Pinteresting (that's a word, no?), etc. and trying to do this from the dining room table or kitchen island was starting to get tough.  I decided to turn a corner of our living room into a workspace for myself and today I'm showing you the bones of what I have so far.  I haven't decorated/styled this space yet, but I did find a desk and am using a chair I have had for awhile.

The desk is from Ikea and the chair is a yard sale find from several years ago.  It is a Stokke Variable Balans and it is a little weird looking, but necessary for my bad back.  Little Pilot likes to rock on it.  The desk and chair is all that I have done so far.  The pictures were already there and will likely be changed up or at least updated!  I'm thinking of adding some kind of shelves, art and a light of some sort.

The desk itself was a very minor DIY to get it to look like it was made for this spot.  The Ikea desk is actually their worktop with two different "leg" options.  We bought the longest worktop they had and cut it to size.

To cut the laminate top, we placed masking tape on the laminate side at the point where we wanted to make the cut and then used the straight edge on the wrong side to draw the line where we would actually cut the top.  The excess length was cut off using a circular saw.  The masking tape helped to keep the laminate from splintering.

Here are some random things I had/threw onto the desk.  Definitely not styled, but I do like the brightness of the desk with some black accents.

Another look at my chair.  I'm thinking that once I get to decorating this new space, I may change up the upholstery.

Lastly, in case you were wondering where exactly this new space is and where my boys were hiding. :)    {P.S. Can you spot, the now walking, Co-pilot?}  The desk is actually in a pretty tucked away spot and not really visible from the front entry when you first walk in.  The door(s) next to the entry lead to Tech Guy's den/office.  I'm excited to finally have a space to put my computer and a few drawers to stash my stuff. Stay tuned for some workspace inspiration and updates in the next little while.

16 Oct 2013

DIY FOX COSTUME

The fall fox party ("kettu" party) is this weekend and I've been DIYing some fun party stuff including a couple of fox costumes.  Little Pilot wanted to be an orange fox (his favourite colour).  The costume is pretty simple.  It consists of a mask and a tail.  I think it looks cute with just his regular clothes in coordinating orange. I tried to make the costume very easy for Little Pilot to put on himself.  The mask is mounted onto a pair of kids sunglasses from the dollar store (I popped out the lenses) and the tail clips on with an i.d. badge clip.  You can read the full DIY at the bottom of this post and download the mask template too.


I also made a brown fox costume that's for Co-pilot.  He's not much into the mask part, but the tail is so cute that I can't stand it.  Hence, there are a few tail pictures here. :)




This was as close to getting a photo of the mask on as I got! 


Here's the i.d. badge clip that works really well to hold the tail.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about poking through a safety pin on my squirmy baby.

I'm planning to use these costumes for a little party game and hopefully I can get some decent photos of it to share with you after.

Here's how I made my costume.

Fox Mask:

Materials:  felt in three colours, mask templates (available for personal use only here & here) , hot glue, child-sized sunglasses and thread(optional)

Step 1:  Trace the mask template pieces onto felt and cut out.

Step 2:  Once you have cut out the pieces glue the fur, nose and ear pieces onto the felt mask outline that was cut in step 1.  Top stitching with a sewing machine over the glued felt pieces is optional.

Step 3:  Glue the felt mask onto a pair of children's sunglasses that have had the lenses removed. 


Fox Tail:

*I made two different sized tails (the orange is the preschool size and the brown is the toddler size)
Materials:  jersey fabric in white and a contrasting colour, sewing machine and thread, polyester fiber fill, i.d. badge clip

Step 1:  Cut a 7" x 15"(preschool size) or 5" x 13"(toddler size) rectangle out of the contrasting fabric.  Cut another rectangle that measures 7" x 6" (preschool size) or 5" x 4" (toddler size) from the white fabric.  Cut triangles out of the top edge of the white fabric to create a jagged edges.  Then place the white fabric on top of the contrasting fabric making sure to line up the straight edges at the bottom.  Zigzag stitch along the jagged edge of the white fabric securing it to the contrasting fabric.
Step 2:  Fold your rectangle in half lengthwise and stitch along the long seam creating a tube.  Turn rightside out.
Step 3:  With the seam in the centre of the back of the tube round the bottom edge.  A small bowl was used to round the end here.
Step 4:  You will have a rounded open at the bottom of the tail.  Turn the tube inside out again and stitch this rounded end closed

Step 5:  Fill the tube with fiber fill and close the top of the tube.  A zigzag stitch was used here, but a simple hem would work as well.  Use the button hole option on your sewing machine to create a button hole at the top of the tube.
Step 6:  Insert the i.d. badge clip through the buttonhole.

So there you have it!  A really simple DIY fox costume for your little one.  I think the tail is my favourite part. :)

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