Birthday cards with a new purpose

This is a little idea that I totally "borrowed" from a friend of my mothers. I gather up all the birthday cards that my kids receive each year and make them their own custom placemat. I figure out the main placement of pieces and then get the kids to embellish at will with stickers and what-not for the finishing touch. Then, it's off to the local copy place for a quick lamination for protection from drips and spills.

I now have an archive of placemats that bring back all kinds of memories of birthdays gone by - and they take up very little space. The kids will pull out old versions every once in a while and can miraculously recall who gave them certain cards and of course announce which were their favourites. When they were younger, it also gave them something to look at and kept them occupied while at the table.

Happy memory making!

Monday is a good day to clean...

Your drain

Keep you drains running smoothly with products you can find around your home. It's far gentler on your pipes (and your wallet) than commercial drain cleaners.

Solution 1

To clear clogs in sink and tub drains, use a funnel to pour in 1/2 cup baking soda followed by 1 cup vinegar. When the foaming subsides, flush with hot tap water. Wait five minutes, and then flush again with cold water. Besides clearing blockages, this technique also washes away odor-causing bacteria.

Solution 2

To speed up a slow drain, pour in 1/2 cup salt followed by 2 cups boiling vinegar, then flush with hot and cold tap water.

Solution 3

Pour a 2 litre bottle of cola down your drain to help with a slow drain.

Monday is a good day to clean...

Your oven

Here's an easy way to clean your Electric oven without the toxic fumes of store-bought oven cleaner.

Turn the oven on, let it warm to 150°F and then turn if off. Place a small bowl containing 1/2 cup ammonia on the top shelf, and a large pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf. Close the oven door, and let it sit overnight.

The next morning, remove the dish and pan, and let the oven air out awhile. Then wipe it clean using the ammonia and a few drops of dishwashing liquid diluted in a quart of warm water. Even old burned-on grease should wipe right off.

Always wear rubber gloves when working with ammonia and work in a well ventilated area. Never mix ammonia with bleach as it produces toxic fumes that can be deadly.

Cool Stuff

Food Face

Here’s a chance for junior to play with his food and exercise his creativity at the same time! So bring on the mashed-potatoes and peas…

Vintage Tumblers

Set of four glass tumblers with vintage glassware designs in relief. As seen in Oprah Magazine, Daily Candy and Better Living Through Design. Dishwasher safe

Readymechs

Readymechs are free, flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are designed to fit on an 8.5″x11″ page and printed with any printer. You’ll need double-sided tape, thick matte paper, and 10-15 minutes for build time

lovely logos

These beautiful logos are from livefrombklyn

Cool Stuff

This illustrated version of the classic nursery rhyme and song There Was an Old Lady by Jeremy Holmes should appeal to adults and children alike with its pages folding outward to reveal each creature in the Old Lady’s guts.

Muji & Lego recently released a joint product that consists of a box of Lego pieces that also comes with sheets of paper — with a particular hole-punch (not included), the paper and Legos can be combined into some cute creations.

Need business cards quick and don’t want to skimp on sophistication? My friends at The Mandate Press (they did all my cards) are now offering these quick personalized calling cardsfor sale in about 10 pre-designed templates.

$95 buys you 1 box of 250 gorgeous letterpress cards. You can pay more for different paper, colored edging or rounded corners.

A trip down memory lane...

While looking for an old picture in my photo album recently, I stumbled across this little picture of myself at about 5 years old. We were living in Sarnia, Ontario at the time and I was showing off my new dress-up outfit complete with plastic hat and purse, plastic heels with elastics across the top to keep them on and the finishing touch, the fake fur stole.

Now anyone that's known me knows that I've had fairly muscular arms my whole life (otherwise known as the "pipes") and although I've been involved in many sports, I've told everyone I was born that way. The picture above pretty much confirms that. In fact, the running joke in our family is that when I was born, the doctor said, "Here's your little football player!"

PS. Oh, to have that blonde hair again....

Monday is a good day to clean...

Your microwave

Below are different ways to get rid of that dried on goop in your microwave and freshen it up a bit without the use of harsh chemicals.

Solution 1

Put a solution of 2 Tablespoons baking soda in 1 cup water in microwave-safe container and cook on High for 2-3 minutes. Remove the container, then wipe down the microwave's moist interior with a damp paper towel.

Solution 2

Mix 3 Tablespoons lemon juice into 1 1/2 cups water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on High for 5-10 minutes, allowing the steam to condense on the inside walls and ceiling of the oven. Then just wipe away the softened food with a dishrag.

Solution 3

To get rid of the odour of fish or another strong smell, pour a little vanilla extract in a bowl and microwave on High for one minute.

Solution 4

Place a glass bowl filled with a solution of 1/4 cup vinegar in 1 cup of water inside your microwave and cook on High for 5 minutes. Once the bowl cools, dip a cloth or sponge into the liquid and use it to wipe away stains and splatters on the interior.

Monday is a good day to clean....

Your plastic shower curtain

Get mold and mildew off your shower curtains by washing them along with a couple of bath towels (to prevent the plastic curtains from crinkling) in warm water with 1/2 cup chlorine bleach and 1/2 cup laundry detergent. Let the washer run for a couple of minutes before loading. Put the shower curtain and towels in the dryer on the lowest temperature setting for 10 minutes, then immediately hang-dry.

A dollhouse of memories

When I was around 10 years old, my friend had made a cardboard dollhouse that I was completely envious of. I made an attempt of my own to replicate said dollhouse but it wasn't quite "it". My father (who has many talents, including building things) stepped in and offered to make me a real dollhouse out of wood with all the trimmings. And so the project began with my dad taking care of the construction of the exterior and I, making my first debut as an interior decorator. He even made a little stove and fridge with doors that opened (washers painted black were the burners) and I was in heaven.

The years went by and I grew up, but the dollhouse still held a special place in my heart. When I got married and moved to the east coast, a generous friend offered to bring the dollhouse back to Halifax in the back of his pickup truck after the wedding. My hopes were that someday we would have kids that would enjoy it as much as I did.

Well, we've had two beautiful daughters (now 9 and 6) that have enjoyed the dollhouse but over the years, I'd noticed that a facelift might be in order. Small items could get lost in the not so current shag carpeting and it had suffered some damage. For my daughter Emma's birthday, I decided the makeover was due and the redecorating began. A friend from work had some great carpet leftover from her house, so out went the shag. Scrapbooking paper provided a ton of options for wallcoverings. Some new wood furniture from Plantown (made from organic Rubberwood) was bought to work with some of the original pieces my father had made. I sewed some new curtains and bedcoverings and just in time, the dollhouse was ready for unveiling. We even bought a new family of dolls complete with a grandma and grandpa doll!

A friend from work also connected me with a couple of other sites that had intriguing dollhouses as well. Using UP! the movie as an inspiration, a couple made a house for their daughter using cardboard boxes and wrapping paper tubes (and then as they say in the blog, they took it to "crazytown"!). Sounds like something I would do... check out the full article here

Another site shows how a woman in Manitoba took an old abandoned farmhouse and turned it into a lifesize dollhouse! Very cool... check out the full article here

20 years of Christmas cards

Long ago, when I graduated from the Sheridan College Illustration program, I decided to try my hand at illustrating my own Christmas Card. Who would have guessed that 20 years later, I’m still spinning them out with a little card portfolio under my belt. I’ve looked forward to doing them every year – almost like a little project that no one else dictates but myself. I’ve experimented with different mediums and styles and I always seem to come with a design that has “some assembly required”. In fact in 2003, I was in full labour with my second child while my mother and I were sitting around the kitchen table, hand trimming the last couple of cut-outs for my card!

This year, I went a little art deco, inspired by the designer Erte. The line inside the card reads "A woman can never have enough jewellery."

My little card portfolio is like a trip down memory lane, recalling where I was living, where I was working and who was in my life during each card project. The biggest challenge every year is coming up with the next great idea...

A mural for my daughter

For Christmas this year, I decided that my daughter Amanda had enough toys and that it was time to give her a little more grown-up girl room.

I started with painting the yellow walls a sophisticated grey to go with her new funky hot pink and chocolate brown bedding. I made curtains to match and recovered her headboard. The only thing left – the big empty space beside her bed. I thought of doing a funky montage of shapes and areas where she could post up her own pictures but then we stumbled upon a shirt with this groovy image of a girl on the front and the idea was born. We adapted the colours to suit the room and I started to draw. It took a day and a half, but I think the end result was worth it.

Now all her friends want me to paint their rooms too!