Holiday DIY Workshops

If you missed the announcement last week, I've organized a few holiday DIY workshops in and around Toronto through the month of December (the first one is tomorrow night at Bicyclette Boutique). Each night will be filled with crafting, tea, wine, yummy treats and an all around fun ladies night out. Please spread the word and I would love to see you there!

***All holiday workshops are $35 plus tax***

Workshop: Holiday Gift Tags & Cards
Where: Bicyclette (880 Queen St. W)
Date: December 1st, 2011
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Includes: wine, treats & 15% off at Bicyclette
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: Holiday Gift Tags & Cards
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 12th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: DIY Bracelet
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 5th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: Recycled Sweater Stocking
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 14th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Cool Shit: PC's Holiday Collection

I previewed PC's holiday collection a few months ago and I got pretty excited about a few of the products in the line. Here are my favs:

Tree Cookie Cutter Set $9

I love how unique this is and how you can make any cookie you want with it. I think it would work really well with gingerbread or sugar cookies.

Gift Loaf Baking Pans (in a set of 4 or 6) $10

I'm in love with this product! I absolutely love giving baked goods as a gift and these disposable loaf pans are the perfect way to present your gift. I imagine wrapping the pan up in cellophane and tying twine around it with a cute gift card with the recipe.

Mini Cupcake Maker $19

I think this is just adorable and would make a great gift item!

Style Ideas: 3 Looks, Same Accessories

I have several upcoming holiday parties and I need to figure out what I will be wearing. I love having great staple accessory pieces in my closet because it will save you money in the long run - you will get more use out of accessories than clothing pieces. Instead of having the same dress to wear over and over again, why not spend some time picking out key accessories that you can mix in with several different dresses? Good accessories should compliment your dress, so that the dress is what people remember. A classic black tuxedo jacket, a chain bracelet, crystal earrings, a basic black clutch and killer black shoes will take you a long way!

{click on each outfit for information on where to purchase each piece}

Spotlight: Covet's Holiday Collection

Loving Covet's holiday collection! I may or may not have purchased the cheetah printed blouse ;)

Crush: Omiyage

Omiyage (pronounced OH-ME-AW-GAY) is a Canadian based online boutique that carries items that have a little taste of Japan. They of course have a huge selection of washi tape (Japanese masking tape) along with adorable stationery sets, stamps, calenders, packaging supplies and greeting cards. Everything has a kitschy quirky quality to it which I love!

Inspiration 11.28.11

{print by Dave Bain}

Make everyday happy.
Life is too short to be sad,
to be worried what others think,
to not be following your dreams, and
to not appreciate what you have right in front of you.

Happy Monday!

DIY: Cookie Mix Jar

This holiday sesaon I'm going to do my best to make handmade gifts for all my loved ones. This cookie mix jar is a great gift idea - pick your favourite cookie recipe and layer the ingredients in a cute jar. Head over to Sweetspot's Holiday Guide to learn how I made mine along with a few tips!

Guest Post: Aleksandra from Realty Queen

First off, I have to thank the lovely Renee for allowing me to do a blog post on her wonderful blog. I'm truly honoured, so here it goes!

I'm a big sucker for old homes with charm and character and believe me, we have plenty in downtown Toronto, but one thing I don't like is radiators. They are a source of heat used back in the day and still used today. If you don't have money to replace your entire heating system to a more popular kind like, gas forced air, here are some things you can do with those old, nasty radiators to spruce them up.




Decorate It
When your radiator is not being used in the warmer weather, you can turn it from an eye sore to a focal point in your home like this one. The antique looking pieces really work with this ancient looking radiator.

{eclectic entry design}

Paint It
A great way to express your personality and design sense is by painting your radiator. You can use your favorite colour or a colour that matches the rest of the decor in that space. If painting it your favorite colour is not your thing, you can also paint the radiator the same colour as the wall it's against, to help it blend in.

Hide It

If you absolutely cannot stand the sight of your radiator, you can cover it with a radiator cover (don't worry you won't lose heat) or build around it to make it functional.

Use It
The top of a radiator is a great place to create extra space. It can become a handy side table or bookshelf, the possibilities are endless. I love how an old barn shutter was used to create a shelf on the radiator! You can really get creative here.



Replace It
If you have a few extra bucks kicking around and just want to get rid of that old radiator, you can replace it with one of these chic designs.

Hope this has inspired you to do something with your old, dingy radiator! I would love to see what you have done.

Images via Houzz, Shelterness, Divine Consign, Vintage Culler, Apartment Therapy, Designer Radiator Co., Design Boom, Global Daily Star



You can find Aleksandra (aka Ola and one of my closest girlfriends!) over on Realty Queen where she gives insider tips on home decor and selling your house.

Cool Shit: Cement Pendant Light

(designer Rainer Mutsch)

VERY cool shit.

Guest Post: Alex from Lex in the City

Hey ELS readers!

While Renee is on vacay she asked me to do a guest post. I thought it would be a good excuse for me to experiment with some DIY nail ideas I've been wanting to try. I didn't take into consideration that I'm a sloppy nail painter. And struggle with pretty much everything I attempt for the first time. So rather than a conventional DIY, I will present you with 3 different finishes on my nails since I didn't like the first two.

First things first, the necessities:

- nail polishes: 2 colors plus a base/top coat (OPI Passion as base, butter London in The Full Monty, and OPI in Steady As She Goes)
- tape
- scissors

I put a base coat on first to ensure that each layer went on smoothly.

Success! So far..

I did this earlier to give the nail polish time to properly dry. Then I taped off the section that I wanted to paint. I cut strips of tape (I only had packing tape) and placed them on each finger on a parallel angle. This took me awhile since I was using packing tape. I advise using scotch tape!

Then I painted 2 coats of the gold nail polish and waited about 5 minutes for the polish to dry.

This was the end result. I wasn't too impressed. I feel like it would have turned out the way I imagined if instead of using a clear coat on the bottom, I used a colour.

So then I tried this out - I painted the entire bottom half in the gold color.

I still wasn't impressed with the result. So I filled in the rest of the nail with the pale purple.

Et voila! I love the result. And now I can easily duplicate this look very easily. Just put a base coat and color on the entire nail, then tape at an angle on each nail (after waiting for about an hour). Put the secondary color over the top and finish off with a top coat. And there you go! What do you think??

Alex is a great friend of mine who has a hilarious blog called Lex in the City.

DIY: Embossed Holiday Gift Tags

Head over to my Handmade with Style blog on Sweetspot to learn how to make these embossed holiday gift cards.

Holiday DIY Workshops

I`m super excited to announce a series of holiday workshops I`ll be teaching in Toronto during the month of December. I have a lot of new things in the works and all I can say is that there will be a lot more workshops in the near future. I`ll keep you posted and in the meantime I hope to see you at some of these workshops!

***All holiday workshops are $35 plus tax***

Workshop: Holiday Gift Tags & Cards
Where: Bicyclette (880 Queen St. W)
Date: December 1st, 2011
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Includes: wine, treats & 15% off at Bicyclette
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: Holiday Gift Tags & Cards
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 12th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: DIY Bracelet
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 5th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: Recycled Sweater Stocking
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 14th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Sunshine

{print by CJ Prints}

I'm off to Florida today with Nate to meet up with my fam for some fun in the sun and probably one too many cocktails. I'll be taking tomorrow off from blogging and for next week instead of the usually two posts a day there will just be one. I have a couple of fabulous guest posts and some fun holiday DIY's lined up.

Off to catch a flight! xo

I'll be announcing my holiday DIY workshops today at 9 am so stay tuned!

DIY: Reclaimed Wood Art

What you`ll need:
An old skid
Saw
Drill
Screws
Plastic cup
Acrylic paint

1. Decide on the size of your art piece and cut your two pieces of wood to size.
2. Cut two more pieces of wood that are about two inches shorter than the length of your art piece. Screw these two pieces onto the back of the first two pieces. This helps hold the art piece together.
3. Dip the rim of the plastic cup into the paint and press firmly onto your wood piece starting at the top left corner. Repeat this placing the next one directly beside the first one. Continue until your wood is covered.
4. Once the paint is dry it`s time to do the next round of circles. Dip the rim into the paint (you can choose another colour for this step but I decided to keep the same colour) and press the cup in the middle of the top left four circles. Repeat this until all the middles have been printed.
5. Trim off any excess wood on the right side of your art piece.

Recent Project: Nursery

A few weeks ago I posted an inspiration board for the nursery I was working on for Alyssa and Mike. Since then Weston King was born and he`s freaking adorable! I completed the project with some help from my handyman boyfriend and my dad the painter.




I made some DIY art for the room for a personal touch. I made a version of the scrabble piece art for my apartment a few months ago (click here) and I`ll post the instructions for the reclaimed wood piece later today.


Nate made these custom shadow boxes out of pine. This vintage display shelf and vintage toy cars were Mike`s only requirements in the room.




I made this crayon art after being inspired by one I posted a couple of months ago.




Nate and I found this vintage enamel factory shade which I`m obsessed with. He was able to wire it and hang it as a pendant fixture.

Wallaper - Taylor and Wood
Paint - Rustoleum Chalkboard paint in school house green
Crib linens - Carousel Designs
Mobile - Jess Koehn

Spotlight: Biko Fall 2011

I'm absolutely loving Biko's first ever look book - the styling is great! Biko's fall collection is full of bold pieces with a hint of sparkle. The inspiration for the collection? Tribal elements and outer space. Amazing.

Quoise Jewellery Winner!

And the winner is.......

Maribel F!

Crush: Sambellina

Sambellina is every parent`s birthday party dream! They`re online shop offers a ton of party accessories and stationary that make planning a birthday party a piece of cake (no pun intended!). The shop includes a wide variety of invitation designs, fun tableware, treat bags, gift tags and note cards.

Inspiration 11.14.11

{print by Silje Camilla}

Happy Monday!

Weekly Round-Up

{via The Man Repeller}

Amazing custom DIY desk idea from The Sweetest Digs.

Incredible textured fall wall via Coco + Kelly.

Inspirating thoughts on personal style from The Man Repeller.

Adorable 'cocoa to go' idea from Garnish.

Delicious and easy dessert from Sweet Paul.

Have a great weekend!

DIY: Shadow Art

This is a little sneak peek at the bathroom make-over I did for mini mioche. I created some custom art using stencils. You can head over to my Handmade with Style blog on Sweetspot to see how I did it.

Wish List: Kitchen Stuff

I don't have much space in my tiny apartment and the little space I do have is filled up with the necessities. My super small galley style kitchen has very little storage area and there's no room for a table to eat at (dinner on the couch isn't so bad!). I have a kitchen wish list for items I would love IF I had a larger kitchen. Here it goes!


waffle maker - Hamilton Beach | food processor - Kitchen Aid | ice cream maker - Hamilton Beach| panini press - Hamilton Beach | french oven - Le Creuset | placemats - Urban Outfitters | mixer - Kitchen Aid

Cool Shit: Potato Letters

{via Ed Cornish}

Seriously amazing.