Christmas 2014!

Hope you had a a very Merry Christmas!  One of my favourite times of the year and this year was no different.  Ross and I were a quite the house hoppers, but we loved every minute of it.  We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Ross's family, followed by my family in the afternoon/evening, then back to Ross's to sleep, then back to my parents, to the cottage for a few days and then home the 28th.  See what I mean? Luckily our families are very close so traveling isn't that bad!

My littlest sister has a major thing for sharks, and I wish I had her opening this on video because the screeching that went with opening it was hilarious, not to mention the tossing of bubble wrap.  Yes, this is just a big figurine of a shark.

Does anybody else have a thing for christmas brunch? I mean look at those sticky buns!

Told you I was a fan.  Breakfast round two at the cottage. 

I hope this Christmas season was a fantastic end to your year!

Winter Cranberry Scones

If you are like me, you love this time of year because fresh cranberries are in season, just in time for the holidays.  I was grocery shopping this week and finally saw them and knew that I immediately needed to make scones!

So go out get those cranberries and get baking!

Here's the deats:

2 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
1 cup plus 1/2 cup fresh cranberries

Add all your dry ingredients into a bowl.  If you are like me and don't have a standing mixer, you can use knives to cut the butter into your dry ingredients until the butter is pea sized.  Next, in another bowl mix your wet ingredients.  Once that is mixed pour into dry ingredients.

Tip:  I normally pour my dry ingredients into my wet ingredients so I don't have two messy bowls!

Once that is mixed, your can incorporate your cranberries.  I like mine full of cranberries, but you can lessen the amount or add whatever you would like (chocolate chips, blueberries, some orange zest is also very good).

Now you can roll out your scones into a 8 or 9 inch circle and cut into pie like pieces, place on a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes until golden brown.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Apartment Details

Today I thought I would share some details around our little apartment we call home :)  It has certainly come a long way!  Ross recently said he didn't realize that the decorating thing would be an ongoing thing, little does he know this is just the beginning!

I had been looking for a pot for this little guy and then decided just to make my own, may do a DIY soon but it was so simple.  I have so many empty candle jars, so I decided to put them to good use.  Just a little paint and tissue paper sponging.  The coffee table will have a tutorial soon, as we just made the top (still hoping to stain it).

If you haven't seen my bench styling post, you can see it here,  but I am still hoping to add some things, like a basket to hold pillows and throw blankets (whenever Ross is on the couch they always end up on the floor), and maybe a tray of some sort, more of that to come!

You can also see this Surveyor Lamp Tutorial here I posted about recently :)

Thanks for reading! - Ally

Bench Styling Ideas

We have recently purchased a bench for our living room and it is sitting on a wall that needed some attention!  Above it we have a really simple symmetrical photo gallery wall with 6 square frames, 3 frames per row.  But something is still missing, so I have been browsing pinterest and such for some ideas!  

Since we have some extra space along the wall I like the idea of placing a basket beside it to hold extra throw pillows or blankets.  Maybe something like this or this...

I have seen a bunch of benches with small sheep skin and I think it is something I will HAVE to include.  After all my bench needs some company... ;)

Another simpler option would be a couple throw pillows, Ross would say we have plenty as is, but I say we can never have too many!  The frames above the bench are black and we have a throw pillow with some black velvet on the couch so I think a smaller black velvet pillow might be a perfect fit.

I love this.  The frames would not be practical but perhaps a tray with books, or trincets from traveling...The options are endless!

Images

1   |   2   |   3   |   4

I will be sure to post some pictures once I get shopping!

Thanks for reading - Ally

Blurb Instagram Photo Book

I discovered Blurb a while ago, and fell in love with the idea of creating a photo book of all my Instagram photos!  What I really liked about the site was that you can log onto your Instagram account and it uploads all your photos for you, to make the whole process really simple.  I mean, I post them, people like them and then what? Put them on paper! It will be nice to go back and look at all the "little things" that happened each year. 

For my first book I did all my Instagram photos from 2013 and think I will keep this going for as long as I can.  

Let me know if you try making your own!

Thanks for reading!  - Ally

DIY Surveyor Lamp

I completed this DIY back in May, and I am finally getting around to posting on just how I did it (pretty simple).  I surprised even my self when I saw the final product, it was so much better then all the 200-300$ lamps I was seeing everywhere.

I was telling my dad that I wanted to make this lamp and after saying I wanted to use an old surveyor, he actually knew someone who had one and was willing to give it to me! So of course I said YES PLEASE and begun.

I must note I did not take photos of the entire process and all the photos were taken on my phone simply, because it was the easiest thing to use when I was staining, sanding etc.

So here is the before and after...

So where to begin...

1.  Find a old wooden surveyor or tripod that you love!

2. Assuming it is made from wood give it a good sanding, in my case A LOT.  It was coated in a couple layers of awful neon paint,  the sanding took hours I will admit but well worth it in the end. 

3. Select a stain.  Once I picked one I liked, I used a sponge brush (and gloves!) and coated the surveyor three times, letting it dry in between.

4.  Since most of the lamps I liked in store had a glossy finish I decided to do one myself.  In the same section as the stain you can find glossy top coats.  I did 4 coats, but you can do how ever many you like until you get the "glossy-ness" you like.

5. Buy a lamp kit.  They are super simple to install!  Luckily my surveyor had a hole in the top so I could feed the wire through. Another option is picking a old lamp you have lying around or thrift a lamp with a harp you like.  I found an old lamp with the same worn metal harp as the feet and top that my surveyor had so I used that instead of the brass that came in the lamp kit. 

6.  Pick a lamp shade.  I found mine at Homesense.

And Voila!  You have a beautiful reclaimed lamp!

Thanks for reading! - Ally

August 10, 2013

August 10, 2013 was by far the best day of my life.  Ross and I were surrounded by great friends and family as we said "I do".  Here are some pictures that only capture a small picture of our perfect day. 

All the beautiful Photos were taken by my lovely Aunt at Mason Photography! https://www.facebook.com/masonphotography.ca

Thanks so much for reading -  Ally