Weekly Round-Up + Announcement

{via Pinecone Camp}

Fun DIY embellished denim from the girls of Honestly WTF.

Loving all of the cute touches from this wedding via 100 Layer Cake.

A case of house envy with this super rad, girly loft via Pinecone Camp.

Fun free download of a August desktop calendar from Going Home to Roost (it's on my computer right now!).

Amazing white washing tips and demos from Rambling Renovators.

So ready for the big annoucement?!

Introducing....

After weeks of analyzing my work load and business, I've decided to merge Eat.Live.Shop. and Re: Creative. This means that as of Tuesday August 7th, Eat.Live.Shop. will no longer exist and the URL will be forwarded to the new Re: Creative blog. It was a very tough decision to make because it's hard to see a brand I poured blood, sweat and tears into for 3 1/2 years end. My decision was based on building the Re: Creative brand which is where my heart lies at this point in my life and I'm excited about what the future holds for it.

Having said all of that, the new blog will still very much be the same type of content as Eat.Live.Shop. The only change is that I will be posting less frequently while I focus on building the Re: Creative brand and providing the best original content I can for the new blog.

My readers mean the world to me and I would love for you to follow along with this new journey. I'm trying to make the transition as painless as possible (thanks for your help Libby!). I'm still working out the details for the RRS feed, but I think it will transfer over without you having to sign up again - I'll keep you posted on this! As for Twitter, if you follow along with @eatliveshop, you will notice the name has change to @recreativeworks (effective yesterday) - again you won't have to do anything new but I wanted to give you the heads up about the change. If you only follow along with the Re: Creative twitter account, it's going to be closing and I would love to see you over at the new one.

It would also mean a ton to me if you could change your blogrolls to the new URL which will be officially up and running on Tuesday.

I have some great posts lined up for the next few weeks and I can't wait to share them with you! I'm off to Huntsville tomorrow for the long weekend - have a good one!

xo,
Renee

Guest Post: Baby Gift Ideas

It's Alex again from lex in the city, Renee's asked me to do a blog post and I of course said yes.

I'm not sure about you, but all (most, okay, some) of my friends are either pregnant or have little babies. My news feed is filled with baby pictures and birth announcements. And cute little pictures of fingers and toes. And then there's the baby showers. If I didn't work for a kid's clothing company, I would have no idea what to get as a gift. I don't have kids. What do babies need? What is the perfect gift?

Well, it's your lucky day because I have a ton of ideas. I work for mini mioche, so I will be extremely biased in saying that we have the cutest stuff. I have to warn you, there will be no frilly tutus in this post.

Here are some gift ideas based on the type of gift you want to get:

1. For the friend who doesn't know the sex of the baby. This is easier than you think, as there are a lot of unisex options out there, and you don't have to get green or yellow. And if you do, it's not pastel.

- Onesies. Yes, it's boring, but babies spit up and poop and sometimes there are messes. Opt for a plain coloured onesie (grey, white, bright green) so that they can pair it with anything and everything. And go for something soft. Do you get 0-3 or 3-6 or 6-12? I would go for 3-6, it will fit sooner than later.

 - Slippers. Except for the hottest days of summer, babies always have their feet covered, and socks can be boring. Grab a pair that has a stretchy elastic opening so that the little bugger can't kick them off!

- The bundler. This contraption has an open, elasticized bottom for easy diaper changes. Especially the first few weeks when it's 4am and you want to get a diaper change over with as quickly as possible, these are a life saver.

2. For the shoe-a-holic. Get a pair of baby Toms or Converse. Or if you want to spend a little more, Frye. There might not be anything cuter than a miniature version of your own shoes - for newborn sizes, go for anything between a 1 and a 3.

3. For the newborn baby. If the baby was already born, and you just want to get something extra, then get something in a 6-12 month size. Babies grow fast. Keep in mind what season you're buying for as well. If you're not sure, then going with a cute little cardigan, or some jeans (yes, little stretchy jeans, babies can be stylin') will be perfect for most seasons.

More important, I think, is what you might want to steer clear of while shopping for a baby gift:

1. Hair clips. Even if the baby is born with a head of hair, it will be too fine to stay put.
2. Most toys. Anything that needs to be built, or requires work is probably not for a kid under 2 or 3, and won't be used within the first few years.
3. Clothes and shoes in size 12-18 or bigger. Parents will put these gifts away and not remember them until it's too small.
4. Items that can't be exchanged or returned. Yes, you got the perfect gift, but so did Aunt Sue last week. So unfortunately yours needs to be exchanged. Always grab a gift receipt. Most often it's just a size exchange, so don't doubt your awesome gift selection.

Those are all of the tips that I have for shopping for baby gifts. But if you're in Toronto and want some help picking out a gift, visit me at mini mioche and I'd love to help you out! Or just stop by for a visit, I like visits too.

Current Obsession: The Olympics!

I'm all about the Olympics right now. I'm super jealous of my sister who lives in London and has attended a few of the events. Doe anyone else get goosebumps and teary eyed watching some of the athletes? Or perhaps drooling over the athletes - some of those male swimmers are serious babes!

 

{1. typography print - Hop Skip Jump Paper | 2. dog bandana - Doggy Design | 3. Canada tee - Drake General Store | 4. London subway map - Dual Habit | 5. pillow - Kijsa | 6. cupcake topper - Brown Paper Goods | 7. Canada flag onesie - mini mioche}

Cool Shit: Edible Coffee Cup

I'm not a coffee drinker but am a huge fan of this cookie coffee cup!

{seen on Design Crush}

Guest Post: Painted Brick

I've trying to play catch up this week so I have a couple of my besties doing guest posts for me. Thanks Ola/Aleks from Realty Queen - be sure to check out her amazing blog full of realty tips, reno sneak peeks and lots of eye candy!

I recently ran into a dilemma. I'm helping my boyfriend renovate his house and we really wanted an exposed brick wall on the main floor, so we had the contractors expose an entire only to realize the brick ended up being really ugly. Normally I would never think of painting brick as I like the oh naturale look, but something had to be done about this wall. I wanted to paint it an off white, but before deciding on a white colour, I turned to the internet for some inspiration and to make sure the painted brick would look good. Here is what I found, I must say I got a bit side tracked with all the pretty pictures....

Source: houzz.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: onekindesign.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: sadieanddasie.wordpress.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: tilevera.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: thekitchenvote.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: decor8blog.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: cocokelley.blogspot.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

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Source: remodelista.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: designsponge.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

We ended up settling on antique white from C-I-L paint and it looks amazing!

But before I sign off, I also found these pretties and couldn't resist...

Source: housetohome.media.ipcdigital.co.uk via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: homefurnituretrend.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: dustydeco.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

I saved my favourite for last....

Source: fauxology.com via Aleksandra on Pinterest

After seeing these pictures, would you ever paint your brick?

Thanks again to Renee for allowing me to do a guest post on her ever inspiring blog!

Crush: House of Bauble

I had the pleasure of first meeting Justyna, the creator behind House of Bauble, a few months ago at one of my DIY craft workshops. Since then I have seen her at another one of my classes rocking a very cool necklace that she told me was part of her jewellery collection. Her jewellery is fun and super affordable (the most expensive piece is $35!). She uses a variety of materials and each piece is handmade in Toronto.

Inspiration 7.30.12

{print by Jonathan Ford}

Happy Monday! Good luck to all the athletes competing in this year's Olympics. Let the games begin!

Weekly Round-Up

{via 79 Ideas}

Festive DIY chocolate bowls from A Subtle Revelry.

Great how to guide on how to mix patterns in your home from Making it Lovely.

Loving this pastels and ice-cream photo shoot via 79 Ideas.

Coveting this cool home via Creature Comforts.

The most interesting burger I've ever seen from How Sweet It Is.

I have lots planned for this weekend including a golf game which will be a first for me (what the hell do I wear???). Wish me luck!

Recipe: Pickled Kale Salad

With these insanely hot temperatures, all I seem to be craving are big healthy salads. My Naturopath has been encouraging me to try kale so when I came across this pickled kale salad, I decided to give it a go! Nate and I love pickled anything so I thought this recipe would be a hit and it was. It was easy to make, full of flavour and super nutritious!

• 1 3/4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large cucumber (about 10 oz), thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cups thinly sliced kale
• 1 1/4 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon canola (or vegetable) oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered 

Combine vinegar, 1/2 cup water and sugar in a bowl. Stir in cucumber and onion; set aside to let pickle. Toss kale with chickpeas, 1/3 cup pickling liquid, oil, salt and pepper. Divide salad among 4 bowls. Strain cucumber and onion; divide among 4 bowls. Add 2 hard-boiled egg quarters to each bowl before serving.

Party Ideas: Donut + Coffee Bar

I love donuts. I mean I LOOOOVE donuts. Well I love them all except the chocolate ones for some reason. My absolute favourite donut is a French cruller. I try not to eat them often but when I do I'm in pure heaven.

When I came across this donut + coffee bar I thought it was genius! It's really the perfect set up for any time of the day - morning, noon or night. Some of the donuts were pre-made and some of them were plain so you can dip them into different topping options. The guests were able to sample different coffee and donut flavours and could rate them on the custom made cards. And of course doggy bags were available so each guest could take home a selection of their fave ones.

I am so doing this one day!