Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A Mantle for Fall

Hi everyone!

How has it been two weeks since my last post? The last two weeks has been seriously nuts! My office job has me working harder and longer hours than ever before. I'm really loving my job right now but with all the busyness at the office and working at night, it's been hard to talk to all of you. I also attended an incredible conference a couple of weekends ago, called BlogPodium. I had such a great time! If you can believe it, it was the 3rd time in 6 years that I was away without any of my kids! Yikes. I've gone away many times since they've been born but I've always had at least one babe on my hip. This conference weekend...I.was.free! Yup, it felt so great! I learned tons, met great people, connected with fellow bloggers, saw some of my family, went to see the musical Wicked with my mum & Aunt Mary and RELAXED. I so needed it.

Please bear with me while my day job has me working ALOT! I have lots of ideas I want to share with you, it just might take a little while to get them all to you. With the arrival of Fall on Sunday, I did say good-bye to summer and hello to crisp mornings, cozy sweaters and a new mantle for Fall.

Have you decorated for Fall yet? I went hunting around my house and came up with this simple mantle.

I used these faux pumpkins on my Halloween mantle last year but paired with this square Fall wreath (it was my Nana's), they don't look so Halloweenie!

This is one of my new brown insulators that I got at an amazing Antique Shop. I will definitely tell you all about it soon. It was like nothing I had seen before. Have you seen the show Hoarders? Well, this place could have it's own show! But, there were lots of great gems waiting to be scooped up.

VOILA!



 
So that's my simple, clean and fresh Fall mantle. As much as I love summer, there is something about creating cozy Fall spaces with pops of colour as the weather cools. Keep it easy. Fresh.Fabulous.Sophisticated.

Keep it Beautiful.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

A New Playroom for the Minis!



 
Hey guys!
 
With all the "back-to-school fever" hanging around our house, Mr. Fix-It and I started to make a list of all the things we want to do in the house this year. You all know that I've been wanting to re-paint the playroom for months now. The playroom was a yellowish-beige colour that we did when we first moved into the house and I never loved it. I always felt like it looked dirty. Blah. Yellows can be tricky for this very reason. Since the initial paint job, we've painted over most of it, except the playroom. 
 
So....when Benjamin Moore reached out to me, I reached back with open arms. They have something fabulous that you will love. It's called ben & ME. Honestly, it's just like buying a Bed in a Bag. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you need to paint a room is in the ben & ME bag. One happy package!


 
In the bag you get all of this!


So great right? Here's what's in the ben & ME kit...
  • 2 gallons of premium paint and 1 quart of trim paint
  • sleeve roller, paint brush, paint tray, drop cloth, paint can opener & green painters tape
  • How-to guide and even a playlist to get you on a roll! Ha! What a funny girl!
Next up was choosing a colour. Just because it's a playroom, doesn't mean it has to be painted every primary color under the sun. Remember, your home should flow from one room to another. Here were my thoughts...

And the winner is: Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal for the walls and Cloud White for the trim
 
I felt like it would flow well with the Benjamin Moore Stonington Grey in the living room and dining room. Plus, the dark colour would be a great anchor to the back of the house.
 
Here we go! This is what I was working with:
PLAYROOM BEFORE
The colour felt flat and dull. This project would also be a great excuse to organize all that stuff!



I turned up the tunes, put on my painting clothes and it was just ben & ME


Tape Trick. Here is a master taping secret: heat-seal the tape's edge (with friction!) by running a smooth tool like your finger, a spoon, or a paint stick along the edge. Heating up the sticky stuff helps it form a stronger seal against paint seepage. You don't want seepage!
Also, don't wait to pull your tape. Remove it, preferably while the paint is still wet, downward and at a 45-degree angle. Otherwise you risk puling some paint off with the tape, making your hard work for naught. If that does start to happen, run a sharp blade lightly across the painted edge of the tape before pulling. Phew!

Another tip: Wrap it Up! If you don't finish the paint job all in one go, don't let your brush or tray dry out. Wrap them super tightly in plastic or foil (I usually use Ziploc baggies) and seal all edges to keep the air away from them, then store them in your fridge. Don't eat them.

Okay, I've got one more tip to share: Defeat the Drips! When you dip your brush straight into the can and wipe it against the sides, you get messy drips on the can and, eventually, the floor. Ugh. Take a rubber band and wrap it around the can, forming a band across the top of the can. Now you can wipe away excess paint without a drop in sight. 

Ready for the new and improved?

VOILA!


 
I LOVE IT! You? It's fresh.fabulous.sophisticated. Clean and crisp. We added a few new hooks to the walls for the kids growing pile of dress-up clothes...

and...whipped out the old spray paint for the frames


Thanks to Ben & Me, our kiddies' playroom has gone from drab to fab. Honestly, this kit is amazing! If you're thinking of painting a room but don't want the hassle of picking up all the materials or unsure what rollers/brushes to buy then you need to march into your nearest Benjamin Moore Signature store and get this kit. Oh and did I mention it's only *$109 (value of $169). AMAZING! Go get it fast, this cool promo is only on until October 5th!

Oh and for all you Twitter party lovers, sheblogs Canada is hosting a ben & ME Twitter party on September 18th from 7-8pm EST. You can win some fabulouso prizes! I will definitely be there. Follow @sheblogsmedia and use the #DIYWithBen. Don't forget to RSVP here

Like it?

PLAYROOM AFTER
Here it is. Our new playroom!

 
Keep it Beautiful.
 

 
 
 
Although this post has been generously sponsored by Benjamin Moore, the opinions and language are all my own, and in no way do they reflect Benjamin Moore.

* With a qualifying purchase of two cans of 3.79 l ben® interior flat K625, eggshell K626 or semi-gloss K627 and one can of 946 ml ben® interior semi-gloss K627 for $109.00 suggested retail price, receive a FREE ben® & Me tote and painting kit at participating dealers. Limit one (1) per customer. While supplies last. No substitutions. Qualifying purchases must be made in single transaction. Actual price will be determined by dealer at checkout. Offer cannot be combined with other offers, discounts or promotions, or applied toward prior purchases. Offer valid August 25, 2014 – October 5, 2014. See your local participating dealer for details. Void where prohibited.


 
 

 


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Back to School!




That's a wrap! Hard to believe that summer is over and a new school year begins today. Why can't winter fly by that fast?!
 
Our big guy started a new year at school today and the air in our house this morning, was filled with first day excitement and jitters. As I watched him line up with his new class I was excited for him, but as the big blue doors closed behind him, my heart pounded. Oh my big boy!

 I don't have too much to share with you today. We savoured every last minute of our last day of summer vacation yesterday and didn't leave the cottage dock until supper time. I did do a round-up of some back-to-school lunch ideas from Pinterest. You can head over there by clicking here if you need some ideas on how to get your little ones to eat up their lunch at school.
Back to School Lunches
If your have kiddies that went off to school today, I hope they (and you) have a great day and few tears (I definitely had some...mom's are always allowed to shed happy tears as their babies start a new school year).
 
Talk soon.
 
Keep it Beautiful.





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