Bath salts and essential oils make a pretty, scented and therapeutic soak for your feet at the end of a long day.  Wind down and clear your head with this eucalyptus and mint foot soak you can make yourself.

Gift Guide for Students and Twenty-Somethings

Gift ideas for the college and university students on your Christmas list, and the twenty-somethings just starting out on their own.

Once again, I’m excited to be partnering with Ten Thousand Villages on this post. As always, all ideas and opinions are entirely my own.

Well my friends, it's one month till Christmas.  One month.  till.  Christmas.  Yikes!  Isn't it time to get shopping?  So raise your hand if you love a gift roundup... *raises hand*. I personally love them all.  I find them super helpful, or at least super fun.  And I thought I’d put out one of my own. One for students and twenty-somethings, because that’s who I have on my gift-list. So I consider myself a bit of a pro on that age group.

Must-Have Sugar Cookie Recipe

A basic sugar cookie recipe is a must-have in your baking repertoire. Simple, versatile and keeps well, this is a recipe you'll come back to again and again.

If you’re like me and don’t bake all that often, I’ve found it helpful to have a few standard no-fail baking recipes to reach for over and over again. Recipes like ginger cookies and chocolate cake which suit many occasions, and make you look like a rock-star chef.

Homemade Gourmet Olives

Homemade gourmet olives are simple to make. A small batch is perfect for fancy snacking, entertaining or gifting.

Hello friends! I have two things for you today, one delicious and one beautiful.  First, with the busiest entertaining season of the year just around the corner, I thought I would share one of my favourite appetizers with you.

DIY Photo Covered Notebooks

Detailed DIY instructions for using your photographs to decorate and personalize the covers of plain notebooks.

Hey everyone! Can we talk about how easy it is to take a ton of gorgeous photos all the time? Now that we’re all carrying amazing cameras, disguised as phones, right in our back pockets or purses? And let’s also talk about how hard it is to do anything with all. those. photos. Some will get posted to social media, maybe we’ll print a few, and maybe even frame them and hang them on the wall. Or give them as gifts…

5 Helpful Tips for Buying Succulents

Helpful tips for getting started with buying succulents or expanding your succulent gardening.

Hello sweet bloggy friends! Is it really already the beginning of October?  Because my outdoor garden is all but finished for the year #blackthumb, so now I can start to think more about gardening indoors.  If you follow me on instagram then you’ve seen me starting a few succulent gardens that will be coming inside soon.  If you're new to buying succulents, or are wishing you had a few more around, then read on...  I'll share my tips for getting the most bang for your buck in succulent gardening!

Peach Bourbon BBQ Sauce

It’s peach season. Why not preserve the fresh fruit flavour in a a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce with a splash of mellow bourbon?

Trash to Treasure Denim Look Desk Makeover

I rescued a desk headed for the trash and gave it a makeover with spray chalk paint and a coat of soft wax, plus new drawer pulls and wire storage baskets. Now it has a new life as a denim look desk in a tween boy’s bedroom.  
If you are visiting here as part of the blog hop, welcome!

Earlier this summer as I was walking the dog around the block, I noticed this desk at the side of the road waiting for the trash, probably a leftover from the day’s garage sales. I convinced Mr. PA to drive the van around and help me rescue it, since I knew it would be perfect in our tween boy’s bedroom. It was a laminated particleboard desk, but solid. The size was just right for the room and I liked the two drawers plus cubbies for storage.

How To Love Your Suburban Backyard

Suburban backyards can be tough places to create, maintain, and enjoy through the summer season. Here are my tips on how to love your suburban backyard.

Hey there friends! Summer is upon us, ready or not. And if you’re nosy like me and love checking out other people’s spaces, you’re in luck today. I’m offering the very first tour in this blog’s history, a tour of my summer backyard. Plus you can hop through the links at the end of this post to see backyard/patio/balcony tours from a few of my Canadian blogging friends for a huge dose of inspiration.  If you're visiting here from one of the co-hosts on the tour, welcome!

Chalkboard Style Garden Container Makeover

These DIY chalkboard style garden containers add a minimal and slightly industrial look to your backyard kitchen or vegetable garden. Perfect for your urban or small space outdoor decor.

Hello friends! I hope you’ve been enjoying the beginning of summer weather wherever you are. I’ve been out in the yard a few times, puttering around and continuing to give it a new look. If you remember, a couple of years ago we had all the ash trees... All. The. Trees. ...  removed from one side of our yard due to the Emerald Ash Borer. I wrote about it in this post about DIY Birdseed Ornaments.

Double Chocolate Almond No-Churn Ice Cream

This homemade no-churn ice cream contains two kinds of chocolate and toasted almonds for truly rich and decadent treat, perfect for summertime, long weekends, or anytime dessert!

With the first long weekend of the summer upon us, it’s time to start stocking the freezer with cool treats. Did you know how easy it is to whip up a batch of homemade ice cream? No ice cream maker required and only two ingredients... plus any and every kind of flavours you want to add. This is my latest favourite. Double Chocolate Almond. If you’re a fan of Jamoca Almond Fudge at Baskin Robbins this one’s for you!

Birch Slice Garden Markers

Recently I needed a quick and inexpensive way to create customized garden markers for a photo shoot, and came up with these birch slice garden markers from supplies in my craft cupboard. They’re pretty cute. I think you’ll like them too!

DIY Tray with Monogram Using a Cabinet Door

So as a continuation of last week’s post on Breakfast in Bed, today I’m going to show you how I DIY’d the pretty monogrammed tray in the photos.  Prepare to be wowed.  You’ll never look through the IKEA as-is section in the same way again.

Thoughts on Breakfast in Bed and a Giveaway

Well that was a longer blogging break than I thought it would be, but I’m happy to be back!  I’ve missed you, and hope that life has been good.  So let’s get back on the blogging track by talking about two of the best things in life… breakfast in bed and getting free stuff.

Mini Eggs in Mini Peat Pots for your Easter Table

Anything mini is immediately cute, so pair some Easter mini eggs with mini peat pots for a cute addition to your Easter table setting.

Espresso Brownies Using a Boxed Brownie Mix

Happy Monday friends!  And happy new week, the last one in February…yay!  Thanks for all your lovely feedback on my doggy story last week!  Sounds like at least a couple of people are off in search of a foster dog. Awesome!

Thoughts on providing a foster home for a breeding dog

Hey there friends.  It’s been a snowy week here, are any of the rest of you experiencing a belated winter too?  If you’re following me over on Instagram (here) you’ve seen posts like this from time to time of our snow-eating labradoodle, Mars.

How to Freeze Pomegranate Seeds

How to freeze pomegranate seeds (arils) to keep them longer and ready for baking, breakfast smoothies or salads.

Nutmeg Spice Mini Loaf Cake

Deliciously spiced and light nutmeg spice cake, baked in mini loaf pans it's perfectly sized for snacking or gift-giving.

Last summer we had the good fortune of spending a few days in Boston, MA to do a bit of sightseeing, shopping and eating well.  I looked up some of the most highly recommended restaurants ahead of time and one of them was the Flour Bakery.  It didn’t disappoint.  It had all the charm and character you would want in a neighbourhood bakery/cafe.  Plus a completely decadent assortment of baked goods and yummy beverages to go with them.

Pretty Photo Covered Planner {DIY}

February is the new January.  That’s what I’ve decided this year.  I don’t know about you but it’s taken most of the month to wrap my head around the fact that it’s a new year, and I’ve been delaying making goals and plans for 2016.  It took me more than New Year’s Eve to say goodbye to 2015 and start 2016.

* pin me *

How to Make Birdseed Ornaments

How to make birdseed ornaments for your own backyard birds, or as a pretty and practical handmade gift.  Fun craft to make with kids!

So a sad thing has happened in our neighbourhood over the past couple of years.  An invasive species called Emerald Ash Borer has either killed or made sick all of the ash trees.  All.  Which is a lot of trees, considering our neighbourhood bears the name Ashgrove. 

Reclaimed Barnboard + IKEA Brackets = Display Shelf

First of all I just have to say thanks to everyone for their sweet feedback on my last post To Blog or Not to Blog.  As one friend mentioned, maybe it resonates with all of us, that we need to take stock once in a while of the stuff we work hard at, remember why we’re doing it, and make sure that it’s still important.  Then either keep on keeping on, or switch directions and work hard at something new.

* pin me *

2016: To Blog or Not to Blog?

Well, I’ve decided it’s a valid question since I haven't published a post since the end of November!  ... and so far no big welcome to the new year from me with goals and resolutions, or even a top-ten from last year list.  So what’s up?

diy kate spade inspired desk