Have a safe and Happy Halloween

We had a great time last night at our neighbours annual Halloween Bash , this is only the second time we have gone but it is a great time to let loose and have a good time , it is so fun to get dressed up , Todd was Jason from Friday the 13th , he got that mask on Ebay and I picked up the coat and waffle shirt at Value Village which is like Salvation Army , he used cooking oil to dirty up the shirt as well as some fake blood as well as making knife holes in it , I tell you it was pretty scary , the girls had a lot of fun with it , Mason did Todd's nails with brown and red polish , they looked so gross but great ...could you imagine opening your door to this guy , we even got to scare our friends 14 year old daughter and her friends that were watching scary movies , that was too fun .

I have to admit I love this photo of me , I look so creepy , the contacts we bought for Mason at a comic book convention but she couldn't get them in her eyes , which was a score for me as I could wear them easily for my Glampire get up , the teeth really made the look , but I could barely talk with them in , I had the biggest lisp.

We make quite a couple don't we.

Sophie is also a big fan of the fun events of Halloween we all love it .

Here are our friends Lisa who is the Bride of Chuckie , and Craig who was Chef Ramsey , lots' of fun ...

Hope you have a Happy Halloween we are just gearing up for some stunning makeovers , Mason is an 80's diva , which I think I can help her with seeing as I was a teen in the 80's and Sophie is going to be a Witch for the first time ....be safe.

A mudroom evolves {before and after photos}

Here is a good before and after diagram , you can click on the image to make it easier to view if you have a small monitor like me...

I thought I should show you how our "mudroom" and I use the term loosely it is really our entry has evolved over the years , this is how it looked when I started this blog , the kids were small and the low hooks easily accommodated their size but they grew and so did the wall treatment to allow for longer coats and growing children. As you can see I removed the outdated checker patterned ceramic , that we chose , which seemed so cool way back when but which quickly became outdated.

I notice how icy everything seemed , adding earthy neutrals has really warmed this house up. I much prefer my simple bamboo blinds , I also feel the addition of the black interior doors adds a little polish and glamour and the newer slate floors are much easier to keep clean and add a rustic appeal .

Now that I have added this half wall this space feels complete and more useful and I am happy it doesn't infringe on the living space as much anymore , I imagine it will help keep drafty winds from chilling us in the living room in the upcoming winter months as well.

I think it looks like it has always been there , which makes me very happy , I didn't want it to look like an after thought.

Front door open view.

I am still on the look out for the perfect mat , still haven't found it , this one all though cute and wool and traditional , it is too busy , do you know of the perfect rug ?let me know , I do not want sisal or sea grass , we live in Canada we need a hard working yet attractive rug.

Station Gallery Holiday House Tour 2010

I am happy to let you know you can now get your tickets for the Station Gallery Holiday House Tours check out the virtual ticket link here , I hope you can make it , I am looking so forward to touring all of these great homes.The proceeds of this tour fund wonder arts programs so not only will you have fun but you will be supporting a great cause .

Hope you are all ready for Halloween

Its about time I dug up all the Halloween decor for the kids , what fun and it really gets us all in the mood.

Pillar no post

I got my pillar without a post , I didn't want this half wall to look like an after thought , what I came up with was creating the look of a pillar on the corner of the wall , it is exactly what I was looking for , a little more finishing and painting and a hook in my cubby and it will be all done .

I'm loving it .

putting up walls and hiding clutter

We use our front parlour or living room nightly and this is my view , looking at coats and shoes has made me wonder over the years should I build a wall a partition , with a post , without a post , well as I often do I just went for it

I built us a wall , I even drywalled it , OK that is pretty simple stuff , but I did have to put it on my car roof to get it home , they cut a damaged sheet in half for me , made it much easier to move and it was barely damaged at all , and I was going to be adding lots of trim to this tiny wall anyway
I didn't want a skinny wall so I doubled up the studs to beef it up

I pushed on in a little marathon to get most of it complete before my husband got home , he saw the drywall in the driveway and became confused , thought I had damaged a wall or something..he's such a good sport , if the shoe was on the other foot I don't know if I would be so understanding , glad he likes my ideas if sometimes not in theory in reality and when executed.

I was able to get the bulk of the work done by last night.

I made one side a cubby , this will be my little space to hang my things nicely out of sight .

Lot's of finishing to do of course, it will look much better than this soon , most likely by the end of today , my only issue to decide is the post to do it or not ? right now I am thinking not because I have two posts on my staircase just steps away from the entry , I don't want it to posty in here ...I am going to trim this all out nicely and then I am sure I will know which way to go , so far the wall feels good to the space and is not in the way , we can still move furniture in and out when and if needed.

I bring to you the Steven and Chris Schedule for the US

Last week while at the taping of the Steven and Chris Show they shared with us that it does in fact air in the US not all of the US but it does indeed , and I requested the full listings so I could share them with you here as many or most of my readers are from the US , they were kind enough to compile a list for me to share with you , so here it is , I hope you can find the show near you to enjoy the boys like we do here in Canada. Thanks to Deb.

LOS ANGELES, CA , KABC (DT) , 9AM

SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND-SAN JOSE, CA , KICU ,12NOON

SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND-SAN JOSE, CA , KFTY, 10AM

WASHINGTON (HAGERSTOWN), DC , WJLA , 2AM

HOUSTON, TX , KTBU ,9 AM

PHOENIX, AZ , KAZT SATURDAY ,4AM & 4PM

MINNEAPOLIS-ST PAUL, MN , KSTC , 11AM

SACRAMENTO-STOCKTON-MODESTO, CA , KCRA-DT, 2PM

PORTLAND, OR , KGW-DT2 ,9PM

PITTSBURGH, PA , WBGN, 2PM

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN , WNDY, 5PM

BALTIMORE, MD , WBAL ,12NOON

HARTFORD-NEW HAVEN, CT , WCTX, 11AM

KANSAS CITY, MO , KMBC-DT2 ,9PM

SALT LAKE CITY, UT , KCSG , 9AM

MILWAUKEE, WI ,WMLW, 6AM

SAN ANTONIO, TX , KCWX , 4PM

BIRMINGHAM (ANNISTON-TUSCALOOSA), AL , WVUA , 2PM

HARRISBURG-LANCASTER-LEBANON-YORK, PA ,EHP, 8AM

LAS VEGAS, NV, KTUD ,9AM

NORFOLK-PORTSMOUTH-NEWPORT NEWS, VA, WSKY , 2PM

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK , KOCO ,10AM

AUSTIN, TX, KBVO, 3AM

LOUISVILLE, KY, WBKI , 4PM

PROVIDENCE (RI)-NEW BEDFORD (MA), WLNE , 9AM

NEW ORLEANS, LA, WDSU SATURDAY 1AM

FRESNO-VISALIA, CA, KAIL , 9AM

LITTLE ROCK-PINE BLUFF, AR, KLRT , 11AM

MOBILE (AL)-PENSACOLA (FL) , WFNA , 11AM

FT MYERS-NAPLES, FL , WXCW , 10AM

WICHITA-HUTCHINSON PLUS, KS , KSCW , 9AM

HONOLULU, HI , KHONDT2 , 8AM

TOLEDO, OH , WT05 , 11AM

OMAHA, NE , KETV , 8PM

PORTLAND-AUBURN, ME , WPFO , 6PM

MADISON, WI , WISC , 3PM

SOUTH BEND-ELKHART, IN , WSBTDT2 , 4PM

JACKSON, MS , WRBJ , 10AM

CHARLESTON, SC - CW PLUS , WCSC-DT , 5PM (5.2 Channel)

JOHNSTOWN-ALTOONA, PA , WHVL , 9AM

EVANSVILLE, IN - NOT CW PLUS , WAZE , 9AM

YOUNGSTOWN, OH - NOT CW PLUS , WBCB , 4PM

TYLER-LONGVIEW (LUFKIN-NACOGDOCHES), TX , MYTX , 8AM

SPRINGFIELD-HOLYOKE, MA , WGGB , 10AM ( ABC 40)

MACON, GA , WPGA , 11AM

LA CROSSE-EAU CLAIRE, WI , WKBT , 4PM

ROCKFORD, IL , WIFR , 1AM

PALM SPRINGS, CA , KMIR , 11AM

ANCHORAGE, AK , KYES , 1PM

ROCHESTER (MN)-MASON CITY (IA)-AUSTIN (MN) , KIMT , 10AM

MERIDIAN, MS , WTOK-DT , 10AM

GREENWOOD-GREENVILLE, MS , WABG , 6AM, Saturday 5AM-6AM

PARKERSBURG, WV , WTAP-DT 15.3 , SUNDAY 8AM

PRESQUE ISLE, ME , WAGM , 10AM

JUNEAU, AK , K17HC , 1PM

Pretty crystals

I just couldn't wait for good lighting , it has been a gloomy few days , and I wanted to show you my chandelier finally completed.

When looking to find a new chandelier I found myself forever drawn to lights with with crystals and beads , I was still looking for a one of kind fixture and not a big box mass produced over sold piece. I think I achieved my goal.

I headed over to Michaels Craft Store and picked out a box of simple clear cut beads as well as a few strands of aqua beads and crystals , I strung out strands using clear line and simply attached them by tying them onto the middle rod ring and then to each arm by the magnetic crystals I already had, so simple.

Sneak Peek

here is just little sneak peek of my bedazzled chandelier , I am so thrilled with my new addition of crystals and beads , it is finally complete , I will show you more soon, gotta run

Making new pillows

With the Holiday House Tour quickly approaching I have been dreaming up new projects and making sure everything is worthy of the tour , the stairs have been on my mind for sure , I was even just about to go carpet shopping for a new runner or even thinking of removing the carpet all together , with that comes some risk , like bumps and bruises are my biggest concern .
What I did do was take out my handy carpet cleaner Bissel green machine and some heavy duty Resolve stain remover and bissel carpet cleaning solution and I brought the runner back to life , removed an alarming amount of dirt and sand and I even worked up the loop bringing new life back into my runner , it was a great workout for sure and best of all I have a clean carpet runner .

Pillows are my next major concern , our existing pillows which all have washable removable covers are looking tattered and shabby , really shabby , pillows should have an expiry date I think . These are two of the pillows I made last night , the fabric is from Tonic Living and it is a nice heavy weight cotton with a linen look , I washed it all in warm first to shrink it all down to size.

I always make washable pillows with fold over back panels , I have a husband and two dogs and two kids my pillows need frequent washings .

I have a few more to make , I love the new look and these fabrics...

Some lovely linen .

Beachy chandelier

So like a mentioned the basket idea didn't work out , so while I had the light down I thought what was bothering me was the grey paint and the striped scrunchie and the shades , so really everything , it just didn't fit so I had nothing to lose in changing it .

So I used some linen I had and made a new scrunchie , then I sanded the fixture to rough it up , but I didn't love that look , so I sprayed it with creamy ivory spray paint I had , then I removed the roses and I decided they may look good dipped in blue paint , so I dipped them and then dipped them again in water until they had a good coat but not a globby coat , and off the under the fan they went to dry , so far so good , and then after looking at lots of pretty blue lights on line I thought the candle sleeves would look cute painted a brighter blue so I sprayed those too in the garage all the while acutely aware there was a mouse in a trap in the corner of my garage , eeeekkkk! at least he was stuck where he was eating his food {aka poison} , he didn't know ....he's probably dead.

I received my small order of fabric yesterday from tonic living , the two left ones are new , I am planning on making lots of new pillows , must wash all the fabric first though , I love how linen looks after its was all rumply , gorgeous . I have lots of sewing to do this weekend

Making things over and changing my mind

I dove right in a tried a great basket I have as a fixture and I hated it , it was wierd and strange all over the place , oh well , so while I had the chandelier down I figured I would give it a makeover , I will show it to you tomorrow but for now here is a dark moody tease it needs to be seen in the daylight for the full effect .

Did a little flowers re-arranging today, love a tight little arrangement like this so much ...

I dipped and dipped ....oh and ...

here's Me and the boys....

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-business-industrial-Glass-Carboys-W0QQAdIdZ236650967 would you like to tackle this lamp project too , I found these bottles for only $10.00