what a door

On our way to drop off a Christmas present to our dear friend Pauline, Shayna Bloomer and I, as always, couldn't help but stop and marvel at her door. Oh what a fantastical door she has at her house - it's like the most solid, antique-looking door - the stuff we read about in fairy tales! It's like an enchanted forest Hansel and Gretel door...although with lots of love behind it...no scary ovens to bake kids in!

A new year

I am an utter failure at doing nothing. Yesterday I cleaned the apartment, boxed up a bunch of stuff to cart off to Goodwill, found an awesome but totally beat up table by our dumpster and felt compelled to rescue it despite the fact that I have no idea where we will put it if we can ever fix it up (pictures coming soon) and then I reorganized all my crafting supplies and went to the library to check out a dozen books.

Are you tired yet? Me too. So in the late afternoon, I sat down for some much needed holiday tea (a gift from a darling friend who knows I have an addiction), leftover cookies and a big bout of thank you note writing.



It feels good to get the house all calm and quiet for the new year. I am so not a big New Year's Eve person. D and I have some nice champagne chilling in the fridge, but that's about it. I usually don't even bother to make resolutions, although I'm thinking about doing it this year.

Where do you stand? Do you make resolutions? Or ever stick to them if you do?

happy happy new year!

What a year! And it's hard to believe it has flown by! But it has been a great one - a year of new independence and much success and I am so happy to have formed my new 'blooming' company only a few months ago. Writing this blog has been amazing too, and I look forward to 2009 and the many new ideas, projects, and ventures that are just around the corner.

Happy New Year to all! And in the meantime, I'll leave you with a postcard of inspiration from one of my favourite stores, Lululemon {click on the postcard for a large version!}. I think it will be my mantra for 2009 to 'dance, sing, floss, and travel.' All the best!

pretty packaging...

I'm a sucker for good packaging...and yes, I do judge a book by its cover {and sometimes I wander into bookstores simply to stare at book covers!}. Take a peek at this beautiful packaging for Thymes Sweetleaf Baby. Created by the renowned Duffy & Partners, it was actually hand-painted and illustrated which is a refreshing change from computer graphics. So delicate and lovely! {seen via The Dieline}.

Camping in my apartment

So today is the first entirely free day I have had in almost two months. Seriously. Between family obligations and work, I've barely been in our apartment. I swore I would lie in bed until noon and then just sit around drinking tea all day, but naturally I am out of bed and itching to start re-organizing the apartment. It's a disease, I tell you.

I'm also tempted to run down to the stores and see if the deals are really as good as people say they are. Are they? Do any of you know? Is it worth a peek?

Meanwhile, I'm sipping tea and contemplating cleaning and making spaces for new things. Isn't this little candle holder darling? It was part of my Christmas loot from D. He actually got me a set of three different designs and they just make me smile every time I look at them. They are designed by David Weeks for Kikkerland.

See, if I reorganized the apartment, I would probably find the perfect place to put them.

What he got

I love buying gifts for D. He's pretty easy to shop for, to be honest. This Christmas, he got...

The Lucha Loco calendar, to go with the book he got for his birthday.

A set of mixed design pint glasses, from Etsy seller BreadandBadger. These are so awesome. Super high quality and all done by hand.

A couple of tee shirts from Etsy seller MisNopalesArt. Hilarious graphics, all printed on American Apparel shirts.

The new Sidestepper CD, which we've been eagerly waiting for.

Plus a fun architecture book, as usual.

Can you tell I usually go a little overboard with the gifts? I start buying stuff in October, so I end up ordering too much by the time Christmas gets here. Of course, it helps that I'll enjoy some of these gifts just as much as he will.

my vintage find!

A friend and I were shopping in Kensington Market last week looking at old crinoline skirts that might come in handy for the Practice Wedding. Little did I know, instead of crinoline, I was going to actually find my Practice Wedding Dress!! Hanging innocently in the window of a second-hand shop, my astute eye {the same snazzy one that also fell in love with Kate Hudson's wedding dress from You, Me and Dupree} noticed it from down the street. With single-minded focus I made a bee-line for the store just knowing this dress was mine. Its like it was just waiting for me to come along....a little Chrismukkah miracle!

No fuss or alterations....this is about ten minutes after I brought it home! I'm in love...

Bread and Butter

Look what Bread and Butter has been up to. Love it. See more in their etsy shop.

love of dresses

This video is too cute! I think I might be able to recreate a similar montage with shoes {my weakness!}.

one of my favourite wintery projects...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmukkah! We definitely did, and our menorah stood proudly beside our gingerbread house {pics to come soon}. With even more celebrations next week, I just wanted to share one of my favourite winter decor projects - making lanterns {or wine chillers} out of ice!

It is quite simple: all you need are two plastic containers of different sizes. Place the smaller container into the larger container, and fill the space in between them with water. You may have to weigh the smaller container down with a few rocks so that it doesn't float. Stick it in your freezer {or outside if you live in a chilly winter climate like ours} and let it freeze. Once frozen, remove the ice from the containers - you may have to run the containers under warm water to loosen it up. Just add a votive candle and voila - an ice lantern! And how beautiful it is to add branches or berries into the water before it freezes, a la Kathryn Kleinman's creation above. Note that there are also some lantern molds available, like this star-shaped one from Lee Valley Tools.

I went to a New Year's Eve party one year where the entire walkway leading up to the house was lined with ice lanterns and it was stunning. An easy and cool way to decorate for a party!

christmas cactus

How does the Christmas Cactus know to bloom at precisely the right time of year? Its sense of timing is impeccable! This beauty is in the bay window of my dad's kitchen.

christmas-y centerpieces

Over the past few weeks, I've been commissioned to do some Christmas centerpieces. Looking online for inspiration, I can hardly find anything without pine branches, tea lights and poinsettias in it. I just really REALLY wanted to do something different - a modern, stylish take on Christmas, if that's possible? So, daring to break out of the little box of pine needles and poinsettias, here's what I came up with. What do you think? I sure do love parrot tulips and red berries. I have to admit, I was feelin' the woes of Larry David while making these arrangements. Apparently, every time he embarked on writing an episode of Seinfeld, he would almost bawl his eyes out because he didn't know what to write about (hence the fact the show is about nothing). With the lack of modern Christmas flower inspiration, it took me some serious, and yes at times stressful, brainstorm and sketching sessions to come up with something I was happy with. I'm pleased with how they turned out. I'm sure Larry is also pleased with how Seinfeld turned out too!

on one side, parrot tulips, pin cushion and green orchid

and the other side...

i love the bare bones look of the red winter berry branches...

another arrangement for a dear family friend...

happy holidays!

My sisters and I are cooking Christmas dinner tomorrow night and we are each taking care of a few dishes. I am in charge of salad, dessert and drinks! I will be making this salad, and perhaps this flourless chocolate cake among other goodies.

My sweet neighbour made this cake for me in the summer when I was on a gluten-free diet and it is truly delish. I found this Evian water bottle 'dressed' by Christian Lacroix...priced a tad high, but I thought it would look pretty on the table!
Happy holidays and I hope Santa {or the Chanukah Fairy} is good to you all!

Merry Christmas + Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you get to spend time with your loved ones. Thanks for stopping by, I love you dear readers. I will be back soon.

"It is good to be a child sometimes,
and never better than at Christmas,
when its mighty founder was a
child Himself." - Charles Dickens

(1: Find photo print here via .v )

Get your very own Santa's beard

Download a Santa beard cut-out here. Also view uploaded photos and send in your shot for a chance to win a goodie bag from their website. Very clever Un.titled.

Creative Holiday Greetings

Unique Holiday Greetings that spread great cheer.



(from Fitch London)


My friend Caitlin received the above hilarious photo.


Creative map card from AceJet


How adorable is this family? Melancholy Smile



Microwave Jingle Bells by AKQA (via gizmodo)

modern menorahs

{featured on Domino Magazine}

{featured on Domino Mag}

{on This Next.com}

{on This Next.com}

{Featured on Domino Mag}

{on This Next.com}

It seems to me that the topic of menorahs keep coming up lately in conversation! First with my friend Carly over lunch (she loves old ornate menorahs), and then with Shayna Bloomer the other day (she likes modern menorahs). Finding a nice menorah is NOT an easy feat, we've decided. Especially one to match your home! I personally like any menorah that is different and makes a statement either way, whether old and ornate and modern and sleek. Look at some of the different menorahs we've found! Happy Chanukah!!

from the office of the tooth fairy

How sweet is this?! What a wonderful gift for a little person...

{as seen via MerMag}

Another last minute gift

What do you give a 10 year old with a serious detective obsession?

How about a personalized detective notepad?



And some disguises (cut out of wool felt)?



We considered adding a trench coat and some crazy dark sunglasses, but we're trying to keep this strictly in the detective territory without letting it veer off into a scary flasher-esque costume.

Meal planning notepads, part II

Still whipping up a couple of last minute holiday gifts...

The meal planning notepads have evolved. (Click the picture below to see the full sized image.)

Want to make your own? Click the picture to see the full size image, save it to your desktop and then print it as a full page document. Print out as many pages as you would like (I make my pads with 50 sheets, which means I print 25 pages) and then cut them straight down the middle.

Bonus points: I perforate the sheets right above the grocery list portion using my beloved rotary cutter with the perforating blade. This makes it easy to simply tear off the bottom portion to take with you to the grocery store.

Create the notepad as described in this post. For more detailed instructions, see Sarah's post, where I got the idea from originally.

Use magnetic backing (I picked up some rolls like this at Home Depot) to allow you to stick them to the refrigerator for easy access.

I made a personalized version of these for each of the families on my Christmas list. Hopefully they go over well.

*This tutorial is provided for personal use only. Please do not sell this tutorial or create items for re-sale using this tutorial. Tutorial may be re-published only with my permission.

Sell out?

So on Friday I mentioned that we do not have a tree, despite our plethora of Christmas ornaments.

Well, last night I stopped at Home Depot for magnetic backing (this has been the full extent of my holiday shopping by the way, people - I have been way too busy) and I ended up walking out with a Christmas tree.

A fake one.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it because I adore real trees, with the scent of pine filling the house. But you know what? I do not adore having to haul a dead tree out of my tiny apartment and down the stairs and out to the dumpster. Last time I had to do this it involved a hacksaw (I thought it would be easier if I took the tree apart before trying to move it) and ended in tears of frustration. Plus weeks of finding crunchy pine needles in my socks. Not okay.

So now I have a lovely, incredibly realistic, pre-lit tree that comes apart in three pieces and folds into a box. I'm officially a sell out.

If you're interested in fake trees, check out the GE Just Cut line. They are made out of some amazing synthetic material that looks and feels just like a real tree - not that weird paper confetti. Ours is something like this and it was on sale at Home Depot for $125.

I feel a little guilty, but I'm loving having the tree in my living room. I'm decorating tonight, if I can pry myself away from my craft table.

and speaking of white...

...the other day I heard a tip that you can find some great things on Craigslist by using the search term "shabby chic." Check out some of these great finds! The dining set, complete with 8 chairs is only $800...

happy chrismukkah to all!

For our blended family, ever since I can remember, we've had a combination-celebration that usually included Christmas dinner served with latkes and even a lit menorah as centrepiece if Hanukkah coincided that particular year. And somehow, way back then, I remember my mom miraculously finding holiday greeting cards with a picture of a menorah with christmas lights wrapped around it and these were our standards for years! My father always got his presents in a Hanukkah stocking completely covered with Stars of David and our Hannukah 'gelt' was hidden in the Christmas tree for us to find. It was always fun and quirky and we knew we were a bit odd but that made us all the prouder of our unique situation. A little difficult to explain sometimes, but we didn't care! I've excitedly noticed that blended families have started to become the norm and especially thanks to 'The OC' and their famous Chrismukkah episode, new traditions are on the rise. These days it seems like anything goes and as a lover of creative, odd, and innovative ideas, I was excited about what other families like ours were doing for this holiday season. I started to do some research and hands-down my favorite find was a whole website dedicated to Chrismukkah: The Merry Mish-Mash Holiday! There is so much on the site to giggle over but these are my personal faves:

Matzo House!

The latkes surrounding the Santa bowl is so awesome!

Funny "kosher fruitcake" artistically placed next to a menorah and Santa...fantastic!

And my favortist of favorites.....

Matzo Snow Man!

So in the words of the Chrismukkah gurus.....OY JOY!

winter wonderland

I enjoy changing up my displays every once in a while, and so this console table usually gets a bit of a makeover every season or so. I decided to go for a white and wonderful wintery wonderland look for the first day of winter! My mom had a huge collection of vintage doilies that reminded me of snowflakes, so they were added to the table as a bottom layer. The branch of cotton look like little puffs of snow, and I have a real thing for naturey elements like birdies and birch bark...so they were thrown on there too. Happy winter everyone!

DIY fabric tags by Inchmark

My favorite thing in the winter issue of Martha Stewart Weddings are the details from a beautiful textile inspired wedding which included these amazing fabric escort cards. Come to find out, Brooke Reynolds from one of my favorite daily reads Inchmark is the creator behind them. On her website, she shares a template of how to make them into adorable last-minute holiday tags. One sweet DIY project, details here. Thanks for sharing your magic Brooke! Off to look at some fabrics at Purl Soho.


(images 1: Martha Stewart Weddings 2: from Inchmark)