Camden's Photo Wall

Happy Wednesday!  Things are finally settling in here - everyone is happily back to school and back into a routine!!  (Cue the choir of angels!)

Our oldest has begun grade 3 and is loving being back at school with his friends.  

Our daughter, in grade 1,  adores her teacher and is already wondering how long til they visit the school library and get started on "harder books."

And Camden, our "baby," has begun kindergarten - all day, every day.  He loves it, but boy is he tired!  Not just "need a nap" tired, but full-out, way-past-tired-into-the-exhaustion phase  TIRED.  Poor Little Dude.  He crashes into bed right after supper, and wakes up the next morning still a little under slept.  Hopefully his little body will get used to it fast .....or this is going to be a long year!

I tried to get the perfect "First Day of School" photo, but to no avail.  

Bryn is doing his "Chandler" smile, Afton is faking a smile because she was mad at me for making her wear a jacket and Camden refused to put down his breakfast long enough for the photo op.  Oh well.  I guess the pictures go into the scrapbook as is.  

Reality Check 2012.

I decided this past weekend that a new school year would mean new decor in Camden`s room. 

It has been decorated the same way since he was born - except that the crib has turned into a big boy bunk bed!

It was time to change this cutesy little wall vignette into something a little more "big boy."

The wall decals, as cute as they are (were), had to go.  Cam`s still a big fan of forest animals but he prefers them a little more REAL and a little less cartoon-ish.

In the before pic, you might have seen these framed pictures of an earlier Camden - maternity pictures of me at 35 weeks and he and I at 2 months.  I treasure these photos and really wanted to include them in the new wall arrangement.  

AND...... I wanted to add in a few more - all three kids together shortly after Cams' birth, a recent photo of Cam  and........

....this awesome "Camden NJ" postcard I bought from Etsy.

I framed everything up in brown/wood tone picture frames, arranged them in a pleasing manner on the floor and then applied them to the wall.  

After a little "shopping" around the house, I found a collection of objects perfect to finish off a vignette on the dresser below.  

This suitcase used to reside in big brother's bedroom, but I really like how it's golden tones and brown trim echo the frame colour.

The fern is fake, but it  adds a little taste of "nature."

Camden received these piggy banks on his Baptism Day.  He takes great joy in adding into them every penny he finds or is given.

And this little church ( Homesense deal a few years back) works wonderfully into the scene and echoes the colour that can be found throughout his room.  

Ah yes.  There we go.  Fresh, tidy, nostalgic and "grown-up."  Just what Camden the "School-Aged" boy needed.  

A Vintage Mix for the Tabletop

My dining table is well-used.  I wish it was because we host many a dinner party, but no. Most of our parties happen in the kitchen where the kids attending it  can spill on the floor and the parents can stay close by.  

Instead, our table is always covered in tons of stuff.  Your table might  be the same.  My hubby often has his "office" set up on it - laptop, ipad, cell phone and  papers to mark.  Then throw on the kid's stuff - toys, books, empty snack cups and my stuff - purse, school bag, magazines....well you get the picture.  

So this weekend I begged for a bit of serenity.  I wanted that table cleared and cleaned- and I wanted to place something pretty on it instead!!

So, once the "stuff" was gone, I laid out hubby's great-grandmother's lace tablecloth (she crocheted every square inch of it and it is beautiful!) and a mirrored tray ( you can see the reflection of the chandelier in it).

Then I pulled my old brown toolbox out of storage and started adding in a mix of vintage items:  old mason jars, candles, a mix of plates, tarnished silverware and a couple of aged bottles.  

I LOVE the sparkly topper on this bottle.  

One plate is from our every day set of dishes, the other is an antique that often shows up in my decorating.  

The wooden box itself came from a garage sale.  It was pretty beat up, but a slick coat of chocolate brown paint cleaned it up very well.  

My delphiniums didn't flower this year.  Luckily I have several "faux" bunches to stick into vignettes throughout my house.  

I love the mix of textures in this small space.  And it looks so HOMEY.  

I think this vignette will work well into the autumn. Maybe if I change the flowers into sheaves of wheat.....

I have begun a table runner for the upcoming autumn season.  It is a traditional "tumbler" pattern. I used a charm pack of fabrics with pale green, aqua, peach and a rosy pink.  I think these colours may be the colours of autumn in our living and dining rooms this year.  

Keep watching for the upcoming  autumnal changes!

Corn and Blueberry Salad

Labour Day weekend has come and gone.  It was  the last breath of summer before it was time to go back to the  books.  And we took full advantage of our last days at home.

Afton and I did some of this:

Bryn, Kevin and I did a lot of this:

And because it was so wicked HOT, between runs in the sprinkler, Camden did a fair bit of this:

We also went for frozen yogurt a couple of times and lounged in our PJs til noon.  

Oh summer - how I love thee..... Why must you expire so quickly??

Sweet corn is a bit late around here due to a fairly dry summer.  Late or not, we have been eating it by the bucketful. In fact we had one meal of just fresh-from-the- field corn and boy, was it good!

On a corn theme, I'd like to share a recipe for a favourite summer salad of mine. 

 My mother laughs whenever she sees me making it. 

Why you ask?  

Because when I was younger you get couldn't get me to eat either corn OR blueberries.  I would turn up my nose at the thought of them.  

I guess my palate has become more sophisticated over time, Mom!!

• 
  

  • 4 cups corn (canned or fresh off of the cob)
  • 
    
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 
    
  • 1 cup chopped cucumber
  • 
    
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion
  • 
    
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, minced with seeds removed
  • 
    

I like making this salad for potluck BBQs.  I cut everything at home,
carry it in containers and dump it together when I arrive.  

For the Dressing:

 2 tablespoons lime juice 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

I pre-mix my dressing ingredients in my shaker ( or in a mason jar)
and carry it with me to potlucks.

And do people enjoy my salad as much as I do??

Oh yeah.  

I recently took it to a "Christmas in August" party and it was gone within minutes! I think people are intrigued by the interesting mix of ingredients.  And yellow and blue are a nice change from green lettuces and white potato and pasta salads!!

Give it a try - and tell me what you think!!

Hugs,

Bronwyn

Afton's Patchwork Pencil Case

Here it is. The last weekend of the summer. We all head back to school on Tuesday.  It hit me last week that we had never made it to the beach. So, Saturday morning I loaded the kids in the car and headed to my mother's house which is within a 15 minute drive to Lake Huron.  

We spent 4 hours on the sand and in the water.  The wind was high and the waves were huge, but it didn't stop my little people from enjoying every minute.  

My oldest is already hoping we can head back to beach one more time before the real cold of the autumn season sets in.  I guess we'll have to wait and see....

While resting on the sand I had the  realization that our daughter is off to grade 1 and in need of her own set of school supplies.  Her big brother, in grade 3,  has a plastic pencil box to contain his pencils and markers, but I knew the little lady would like something with a bit more of a feminine touch.  

So when we got home from Nana's this morning I hauled out my charm pack collection and let Afton choose her favourite fabric squares.  

We agreed this was our ABSOLUTE favourite.  Like mother, like daughter!!

I cut the squares into smaller 3 inch squares and began sewing them together in a checkerboard pattern.  

For fun I added a row of ball fringe in Afton's favourite shade of fuchsia.  

To finish it off I sewed on a row of white white ric-rac trim (the cuteness is all in the details!) and picked a pink patterned fabric for the inner lining.  

TA-DA!!

I am so glad I can finally sew in a zipper without any problems.  It has taken me ages (literally decades!) to perfect this technique.  But this one went in like a breeze!

Did it pass first-grade daughter inspection??  

Oh yeah.  I think she likes it!!

I think she'll be very proud to pull this mom-made accessory out of her backpack on the first day of school.  

Cheers to all,

Bronwyn

Bench and Basket Makeovers

Hi All. It's the last weekend of the summer.  I've been doing some last minute "sprucing-up" - at home, on the blog and in the garden.

I've picked a meal's worth of these every second day for the last 2 weeks.   Oh! They taste so good when they come out of your own garden!

I just happen to have the camera nearby when this fellow paid a visit to my garden one day earlier this week.

And these geraniums have finally responded to the fertilizer I gave them 2 weeks ago.  One small plant has blossomed into a spectacular view!

Do you like the new fall feel to my blog?  I needed something new and fresh and I think my new header has captured the feeling of the upcoming season very well.  

Now onto some changes on the home front!

I have had this bench in my front entry for just over 2 years now.  There is a basket underneath for each child and  they (reasonably) contain all of their daily gear - hats, sandals and runners.  

I  recovered this bench 18 months ago with a pale green fabric that matched my walls perfectly. It looked lovely for about 2 minutes until the sippy cups, muddy boots and sticky hands destroyed it.  Hubby tried on several occasions to use a carpet cleaner to remove the stains but unfortunately the marks just spread out and looked worse.

Ewwwwww!!

Time for a makeover - part one! 

 Ten years ago I fell in love with a beautiful Laura Ashley print fabric.  At the time, we were building our first home and I planned on using it as the inspiration for one of the rooms.  However, after I returned home with 6 metres of it, hubby quickly vetoed it for being "too flowery" and "too pretty."  So, into my fabric stash it went.  It has moved three times with us, always hoping that one day, dear hubby would allow me to use it.  

And now, ladies and gentlemen, that time had come.  

So, using my stapler and screwdriver, my ugly bench became......

..... my lovely new floral- covered bench!!

Isn't  this a gorgeous print??

Now to do something with the far-from-pretty baskets.....

They function very well - they hold a ton of stuff and fit perfectly under the bench.  However, the mossy green liners were dingy and ripped and they could use a real lightening and brightening!

Vintage White spray paint to the rescue!!

A lot less shabby and a lot more chic!

Now to label  them for each child.

I went to Michaels hoping to find some tag-shaped wooden cut-outs.  No luck.  So instead I brought home these wooden FOOTBALLS and had hubby drill holes them.  I also picked up wooden letters in the initials of my 3 children.

(Yes my kids' initials really are A, B & C.  People find it funny that my hubby and I, both teachers, have kids with these initials.  It really was a fluke - completely  unplanned!)

I painted each "football" the same green as my walls.  The initials were painted in our traditional family colours - Bryn's stuff is always blue, Afton's is always pink and Camden's is always yellow!

I dry-brushed some white paint over top to create am "aged" look then tied some twine to each end to help fasten them to the baskets.  

TA-DA!!

Don't they look so much better?

And each basket distinguishable from the next.  

I took some time to this out the basket clutter - removing broken flip-flops and out-grown shoes, and re-stocking the hats and sandals for the upcoming days of school.

And you know what?  Hubby doesn't mind my fabric choice one bit.  Really, how could not love pink roses, blush coloured pinks, and white lilies sprawling across the most perfect shade of aqua you have ever seen?

Just look how cute my daughter's sparkly shoes look next to  it.
  And my new raspberry coloured purse - lovely!!

Now the next thing....should I paint my picture frames white or leave them wood-toned?  I have lots of dark wood in this room mixed with many light fabrics. Hmm.....what do you think??