Elf-ette on the Shelf: Day 3

Once again, she left her previous post without cleaning up her mess...

 

Seriously...

And appeared in the kitchen this morning, with sparkler in hand. Guess she is ready for the long holiday weekend? 

I feel the same way, Charlie.

 

Birthday, Part One

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that to kick my butt into high gear to finally tackle the half finished projects in the house, there needs to be a very definite deadline to get things done.

So I threw a party.

Isabel is turning five this year.

(HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??)

 

And since the big party will be in Malaysia this year, I had a small one earlier at the house.

And invited some of her closest friends from her daycare whom she has not seen much of since starting kindergarten this fall

It makes the heart warm to see all of them together again

And something to note, almost 5 years olds are VERY noisy when they reunite.

Especially when they are all girls.

All in all, it was fun.

The guest list was small enough for me to have time to pay attention to the presentation details and DIY crafts and decorations that I have seen on the web and thought, "Oh, that is such a fantastic idea!"

The study/library worked exactly as I envisioned it when I was planned the room -- it was perfect for hosting a sit-down meal. 

 

2014 resolution: If my friends and family lived close by, I am sure that it would be a frequent occurrence, but I need to break out of my comfort zone and invite people over for meals (although I may want to leave the actual food cooking to the experts!)

Elf-ette on the Shelf: Day 1

Meet Charlie.

She is the little mischievous elf who has been assigned to Isabel by Santa. She will be reporting back to the big man on Isabel's behavior, to see if it Isabel deserves the items on her Christmas list, or if it warrants her a bag of coal.

The problem is, Charlie is a bit of a reprobate herself...

That first night, she decided that she needed to do something grand to grab Isabel's attention, seeing as it was the first time they were meeting each other.

 

The little stinker swung from the window over to the mirror to pen a greeting on the looking glass...with one of MY LIPSTICKS!

And here she is the next morning, looking all innocent and docile...

 

Except her little smirk gives it all away...

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of the activities that Isabel and I did over the past weekend when we were snowbound (besides lots of shoveling and long soaks in the tub) was crafting Valentine cards for her little friends at school

 

I decorated some, she decorated most.

The girls got lollipop butterflies (based on this) the boys got crappily made hearts (because it was Wednesday night when I finally got around to making those, and I was tired of churning up the same thing over and over again)

   

And the teachers got little bee cards with a Burt's Bee lip balm based on the idea found here 

Because my printer is broken, I did not have the option of just printing off those cards, but it was more fun to hand draw/decorate it anyway (albeit not quite as pretty)

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 Isabel with her V-day haul =)

 

Perspective

One of the things I like to do now that Isabel is older, is that when there's a little person's birthday party to attend, we will try to incorporate something "homemade" into the gift.

For little boys, that generally encompasses just a card, because I don't "get" little boys. There's nothing fabric related that I could think of that would potentially interest the kid. There was a good idea of making a cape and a mask, but I was too lazy. Perhaps next time.

(NOTE: Speaking of superhero capes-- just read this post about the U.S Cape Crusader Challenge. I am going to try and do it)

So on the morning of the party, Isabel and I will typically hang out in the reading/craft room of the house. I *TRY* not to coerce her to do things the "right" way, but....lets just say I have lots of room for improvement.

This time around, she just told me what to draw. And what colors to use.

And then she put on the finishing touches.

So here we have it...a picture of a house, with a car.

And on the back, a pond...with frogs. And a squirrel on the tree

 

And little Gavin in the pond...

Drowning
Swimming

 
 I felt compelled to tell the mother of the birthday boy that. Just so she knows, before she sees the card.

On another less morbid note, my butterfly bush was flourishing and attracting lots of butterflies

 Aren't they gorgeous? This is probably my favorite part of gardening --- the wildlife that it attracts. It makes me happy to see little bumblebees buzzing around the foxgloves and butterflies fluttering away

 

 Then I moved the bush (I didn't space it enough when I first planted it a few months ago) and it is flourishing a lot less. "Wilted" is a more appropriate word. But I will revive it back to its former glory.

Time to Bring out the Shovels

My backyard is the bane of my existance. Along with the front yard.

 Looking at it is enough to rile me up, and you can see why...uggghhhh!

This year is the year to start turning it around. My grandmother was very, very passionate about her garden, and when she passed away last year, I really wanted to try and cultivate a garden that she would be proud of. Plus, it would stop me from feeling embarassed of having the trashyard of the neighbourhood.

After a weekend of work, a real flower bed is defined:

Excuse the peeling garage. That's another to-do on this summer's list.

Lets just hope that the plants florish...Isabel was in on the action

Tulips that I planted last fall with mom and brother are coming up! I'm still surprised that it actually took root! There is hope yet for this black thumb!

Bedroom Transformation

For the past week, I've been working on the master bedroom. MY master bedroom. Finally.

Sunday

Even though majority of my stuff were moved downstairs last year, there was still a healthy amount of crap that was lurking in hidden corners of the room

ARGHH!!

JUNK!!!

Closet was emptied out and repainted and by the end of the night (and I mean about 2.30am Monday morning), it was filled with my bag collection and dresses/long skirts....ahhhh...organization makes my heart skip a beat.

Monday

  Started painting - 1 1/2 walls done after 2 1/2 hours? So slow....

Tuesday

Ex-husband was willing to trek down to IKEA with me and help me haul the packages up the stairs. Spent the night assembling ---

A major FAIL! 1 1/3 hours later and I still have quite a bit to do...this is probably the most complicated IKEA furniture assembly I've had to date.

Wednesday

More fail points.... =(

Durn thing is too big for the intended spot...change of plans needed. Bah.

By the end of the night, wardrobe is in place and is started to be filled

And finished up my gallon of paint, only to still have a tiny bit left to paint....sigh. Back to the Home Depot tomorrow.

Thursday

Wall painting, DONE!!! 

Room clearing, almost done. 

Mattress, OUT!! Sustained a bruise (or more) but I managed to move it downstairs.

Curtain rod, ON!

Couldn't resist pretty-fying it a little. The candle is from Bath and Body Works and it's my favorite-st scent ever

We are getting there!!

Friday

Afternoon - Bed's here!!!! Holy crap, it is huge!

Night - bedding all washed and bed all made --

My dinky little 18 inch tv is set up too -- Look how tiny it is from the bed!

Just to show how big this bed is -- against Isabel as a yardstick:

Decked up the side table with some books that I want to reread --- yes, I read Twilight.

That night, I lit my candle, turn on the lamp and breathed a huge sigh of contentment.

It is still far from done (curtains, mirror, armchair, dresser..argh) but the big pieces are in and it is habitable. I would have to say that this is the first time where I've had a grownup bedroom with pieces that are actually going to last me for more than a few years, and for that I am grateful (Thank you, Yee!!)

Party Prep!

My mom and I are frantically trying to get everything squared away for Isabel's shindig.

Pom-poms are up as of tonight

There's still a bunch of sewing to be done.

Good golly, that's a lot of fabric! And I'm still not convinced it's enough!

All for the sake of this little monster!

Table

For about a period of a month, I get the painting bug and will start spraying away.

I found this table at a yard sale for $30 I think, but my neighbor who was with me managed to knock it down to $15 (or thereabouts) And to think that I'm the Chinese, not her. I definitely do not have haggling skills (nor do I like to haggle, although I've started trying it out - won't turn down an opportunity to save!)

And this was also my mother's first piece! Yes, when you are here, you will be put to work.

Art from Central Market when I was back in KL last. I don't have many things on the wall as I'm not really the type who knows what to do with wall displays. But I saw these hand-crafted wayang kulit-ish pieces and wanted to bring a bit of Malaysia back with me.

It's ironic how you have to bring a girl out of her country for her to appreciate it. I highly doubt I'd purchase them if I lived in KL. 

And of course, another stack of my thrifted antique books.

It's Good To Paint

It's been a long time since I last painted furniture. But I started acquiring furniture again this summer (aka yard sale mecca) and I have to say, it's been nice. 

Isabel was also bitten by the painting bug. She's fascinated by it and wants to paint EVERYTHING purple. Her room, her door, my table....

She chose that particular purple herself. "It's my favorite", as she so aptly puts it.

Love how she sticks out her tongue in concentration =)

 

We take our painting very seriously around here. 

I Went A-Hunting...

And got myself a deer head ;)

A real applique this time, inspired by one from Anthro.

Tutorial from here

Don't worry about the wrinkles, the stitches aren't pulling it - I just didn't bother ironing it. The white fabric used to be Isabel's old bedsheets. She's moved on up to a real full-sized bed about a week ago.

It qualifies as Christmas decor somewhat, doesn't it?!