Tag: Tropical

A Tropical Welcome!

Well, an occasion occurred this week, which I wasn’t ever really considering as a future event in my life… our baby shower!

In Canada, it is more customary to have a shower AFTER the baby arrives but due to me being someone who does much better with time to prepare, wanting to be able to enjoy the shower rather than be learning the new baby ropes during a celebration, having summer weather to enjoy and covid being a weird post baby thing to factor in, we opted to have it pre baby H’s arrival 😉

I’m so happy we did and thankful for each one accepted the ‘out of the ordinary’ and made the time and effort to make it such a special day ☺️💗

To begin with… the theme, location and wording needed to fill out the information for the invitation was decided upon.

Obviously, ‘tropical’ was what we went with 😉

I didn’t have to do very much for this event, for which I truly do feel rather guilty about.
The sister and mumsie gathered decorations, worked on the details, recipes, food planning, games and all else that goes into hosting such a soiree.

Not to mention all of the outdoor work and preparation that Mom and all the family members put in 💗

On the Monday before the shower, I treated us girls to manicures and ice cream as a pre shower treat… even though ‘post baby shower’ back massage trading, is probably in our futures as well 😜

Wednesday came with some balloon blowing up, thoughts on deck seating arrangements and a game plan for the following morning.

That night and I’m sure before as well, I have no doubt prayers were going up all around us for nice weather.
The forecast had been bouncing back and forth between full rain, part rain, cloud, full cloud, part sun… you get the idea 🤪

What we got was a nice, cool, clouded morning for set up and then a perfect mix of sunshine, blue skies and fluffy clouds, with a hinting of a breeze come start time ☺️
Making for a absolutely, perfectly comfortable (and bug free) environment 🙌🏻

Using a mixture of leftover balloons from my wedding and some new color assortments, my sister rigged up this awesome display ☺️

Painted cardboard cutouts made up the backdrops base and then balloons strung together with fishing string were added using all means of adhesion 🤪
String, tape, wire etc.
Greenery and tassels were added in accordingly and how I wish balloons would last and that the whole thing could be transferred to the babes room to be.

Mumsie and the sister-in-law worked tirelessly on deck and house prep.
Chair placing, table arranging, deck furniture wipe downs, bug prevention, food layout and all else!

It takes a village to raise a child they say… but I think also to throw the pre party 😬🙈

We even had time to sit and rest up, get in a back massage and change outfits, before guests began arriving at 3:00 o’clock ☺️

It was a potluck style spread of edible enjoyments, both savoury and sweet 🍽

Refreshments aside from water, were a coffee punch and sparkling peach lemonade 🍋🍑🥤

The ‘event’ began with a welcome, a prayer and then the indulgence of enjoying all the fare.

Following that, the first game was passed out.

The winning guest matched 7 of the 15 language/word combinations 😉
I did a trial run of the game pre party and got ONE right… mostly by accident 😂

Next up was the play dough game.
Everyone was separated into groups and given a couple colors of play dough.
They were then given instructions and a 5 minute timer began.
Each team had to create a baby and then whatever embellishments they wanted and or could accomplish in their time limit.

It was then left up to me to judge which one I considered to be the best… and the worst 😂

The one on the very bottom being the chosen winner and the middle-ish/to the right, being picked as, the least appealing.

After laughter subsided and belly’s were satisfied, gift opening began… and continued… and continued!

I was truly blown away by people’s generosity.
Not only in the gifting but in the efforts made to come, food that was brought and the overall feeling of love and support… and the many uplifting compliments on ‘the bump’…which is truly such a nice term when in reality it could be called such things as, ‘the protrusion’ or ‘the beach ball’ for example 😂

Mingling and munching continued on throughout the time together. It was a very enjoyable day and I felt very spoiled, thankful and blessed 💗

(If you were able to attend and have pictures, I’d love it if you could send any! ☺️)

So, in conclusion… little bebe will not have to go without and this mom to be, can rest easy in checking items off the list and knowing what’s left to get in order to be prepared 🤓👍🏻

Thank you SO, so much to everyone who made this special celebration possible!

                                                                                 🖤🌺🌴🦜🐳🐚🍍🍋🍹🛍🎉

Sanded Down Storage Solution

Hi!

It’s time for another before and after… which seem to easily be my favourite type of thing to post about 🤪

 

I’d spotted this on the Facebook buy and sell page and loved the front panels and felt like they had the dark ish tropical kind of vibe I’m aiming for in our bedroom and we really needed more storage space.

Continue reading “Sanded Down Storage Solution”

DIY Floral Home Decor

A super simple DIY to create your own flower decor piece.

When I began making it, I thought it would grace my wall but after it was completed I ended up disliking it there and it has actually become a perfect coffee table decoration.
The low profile makes for what I consider to be a nice pop of color without being too much or blocking ones view 😉

 

 

(If my home was more tropically inclined on the outside, I’d totally use it as a door wreath at some point though 😏)

 

 

So, as for what you need:

 

A macramé ring or a wooden embroidery hoop, found on amazon or your local craft store.

If you’re using the wooden hoop, you can also get spray or craft paint in your preferred color.

I obviously chose gold 😜

Fake flowers… I suggest one bigger bloom with a few smaller flowers that also have ‘buds’ and one bunch of greenery.

Hot glue.

 

 

What to do:

 

It’s pretty straight forward and I trust any one of you’s could do this, without this instructional bit, but I’ll explain it anyways 😉

If you’re going to paint your hoop, do that now.

While it dry’s you can begin taking apart the fake flowers, removing the blooms from the stems.

Lay out your flowers to get a semi idea of how you want them applied before beginning.

Using one larger bloom as a centre and typically an odd number of smaller blooms on either side.

Attach using hot glue.

 

 

 

Hang, lay or display however and enjoy your handy work 😉

And tag me if you do it 😉🌺

Tropics Inspired Bedroom Reveal

It is finally time for the ‘master’ bedroom tour!
Actually a reasonably sized space for being an upstairs room with slanted ceilings ☺

 

Though it didn’t always feel as big as it does now😏

 

When we began renovating this space, there were cedar planks on the ceiling and an overly aggressive, built-in closet.
We considered leaving the planks and white washing them but they weren’t put on very securely, so it wasn’t worth it.

 

 

I got to demo the closet and because they are used to making use out of slanted ceiling spaces in Holland, Mike had the great idea of putting in, built-in dressers, which we got from Jysk 👌🏻
Keeping the room as spacious as possible, a feature all who have seen, love. ☺

 

 

 

 

Mike redid the drywall on the ceiling and it got white walls and grey trim like the rest of the house, for a start 😉

 

 

 

 

We found this antique/vintage mirror at our local habitat store for a steal of a deal! $30 from an original $100 😎👌🏻

We also got the window blind from there, finding one the perfect size for just $3 😏

Actually, we got a fair bit of our bedroom stuff there now that I think about it, because our bed frame with six drawers was found there too! 😜


It got painted the same grey as our trim and the extra storage was again, very handy 👌🏻

 

 

 

 

I’d kept the paint chip of the color we’d had in our apartment while we lived in Holland because I loved the it and it’s a good thing I kept it because the paint store here, didn’t have one even close to it!

After a paint chip match at Sherwin Williams, I painted the room while Mike was working away from home, as a surprise for when he returned and he was surprised indeed 😉

 

Before

 

After

I usually say things can be painted or spray painted or that paint would fix it and I’m never actually painting… he finds it annoyingly entertaining.
So the fact that something ACTUALLY got painted was pretty wowing 😉😜

 

 

Our light was found at Canadian Tire and I love it, though it for sure warned me of any future ‘clear glass’ light buys, which I now know require A LOT of dusting 😜

 

 

I found the two accent pillows from Wal-Mart.
When checking out, one was $8 and one was $16 even though they were the same brand/size etc. so customer service gave them both to me for $8 each 😏👌🏻

 

Michiel made our nightstands!
I couldn’t find anything in stores or online that fit my needs/style/budget… so where to go then? Pinterest of course 😏
I showed Mike some pictures and he made these.

Big enough to use easily, small enough they don’t crowd the space ☺

I stained them using a variety of things 😜
Firstly, a layer of strong, black tea, next a layer of coffee and lastly a layer of steel wool and vinegar.
The tea is needed to create the reaction of aging from the vinegar and the coffee was to help bring out some browns.

All in all I’m pretty happy with the effect and I think it brought the room together nicely ☺

 

We had the geometric gold candle holders from Holland still and there are a couple art pieces still waiting to go up.

 

 

Mike turned this little cut out space we had, into a small closet of sorts, small to look at but big enough to hang a few coats, dresses and shirts!

 

 

(As per my instruction… I get the good end of the deal, as I only have to imagine and then he has to create, as I am sure you’ve figured out by now😜)

 

 

Decorative necklace hooks were created too, which I stained using the same method as I did for the nightstands.

Before

After

I’m telling you, he is pretty useful to have around
😉💕

 

 

The most recent additions are the duvet and the SUPER soft blanket atop it 💕

We had a very nice, down filled duvet but for whatever reason, the square panels it was sewn with to keep the fluff in the right spots, created lumpy square designs that showed through the duvet cover and made for a ‘messy looking-even when made’, bed. So a new duvet was bought and it’s proving to ‘make’ much smoother 😉

Then, just as I was contemplating buying a new duvet cover, which I doubt I need to remind you, don’t come all that cheap for a queen size bed, I found a sale bin holding treasure, at Superstore of all places! ☺

I bought the dusty/blush pink blanket, that is splendidly soft and a FULL queen size, for $14, regular $50!

And so, that about sums up that grand room reveal, my inspiration for the room was that it would have a kind of dark tropical feel and I think for the sources available to us, it worked out well ☺

Inspo

 

 

Result

 

Specimens, In And Out Of The Zoo

Saturday Nov 18th –

Mike was feeling even worse, having been up throughout the night and serenading us with songs of the sickly that morning 😬

There was a big christmas craft fair going on in Hilo and Mom wanted to go to it, so the sister and I tagged along.
Mike decided to come too, wanting to get out of the house, though he looked like a much sadder version of his usual self 😬😜

The whole thing was christmas themed, holiday decorations filling some booths and holiday tunes in the air. It’s a weird atmosphere for us tropical weather vacationers 😜

I got a wooden sign saying ‘Aloha’ from Simply Signs and I’m hoping it will go somewhere in our entryway 😊

I also wanted this one, but decided to against it… for now 😏😜 Continue reading “Specimens, In And Out Of The Zoo”

The Sweet Taste Of Guilt

Saturday Nov 4th –

Snow had fallen throughout the night, so it was a fresh, clean palette that greeted my eyes that morning.

I impatiently waited for a fresh cup of java to brew, so I could gather strength to go into town with Mike, to try to scratch things off the fairly lengthy, ‘needed for house’ list 😏

 

 

There was a lot of looking and perusing and also finding out that picking cutting boards, can openers and garlic presses, is much harder than I would at first think…and also, most toasters are ugly 😜

There are limitless options for those items and a vast price range… so how does one even go about picking???

I’m even more grateful now, for the huge amount of kitchen stuff I already have from the shower/wedding presents 😬💕👌🏻

 

I did find this rug I really like and think it will go in the kitchen.

Continue reading “The Sweet Taste Of Guilt”

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