Robin's Egg Blue

f you didn't already know, I have a passion for décor.

I'm constantly picking things up for the house. I still have a ways to go before I'm completely satisfied with the house (my husband and I are thinking of renovating our kitchen in the near future).
Today we stopped by Ikea because my son loves their breakfast. While we were there I picked up a gorgeous Robin's Egg-coloured tray. It's hard not to leave that place empty-handed! The tray is called OMVÄXLANDE and it was only $9.99. It's quite a large tray. I picked up 2. My husband always wonders why I buy things like this, but it always comes in handy when I'm hosting a dinner party.

The tray is made of a coated steel.

The stamp in the centre of the tray is so beautiful. It's supposed to symbolize the
place Ikea was founded.

My 2 gorgeous trays.
I also love displaying pretty things on shelves so maybe once our kitchen is renovated
I can display these. I can just picture them propped up on white open shelving or
even propped up against the backsplash. I dream of a white kitchen…

Bling bling for the new year

finally ordered 3 things that have been on my wishlist for a while now- the Emmie necklace from EllandEmm, the Original Cuff and the Original Acid Cuff necklace from HRH Collection. Yes, they are all bold pieces, but I think these would look great styled over a simple top. I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival so that I can play around with how I would style them with items in my closet. I'll be sure to post photos of the different looks I come up with.

The Emmie necklace in Tri-Color, $43.50USD.
Jenn always sells out of her jewelry once she posts them on her Etsy site so you kind
of have to get whatever is available and FAST. I've seen her other Emmie necklaces
that come in different colours and I'm glad I waited until this particular colour became
available. It's so unique and I'm sure it'll be a conversation starter.
She has noted that she will restock some pieces on January 7 so please check out her
Etsy site. 

The Original Cuff necklace, $50USD.
I've been ogling this necklace ever since I've seen Alex (shown above) wearing it
on her YouTube channel and on her blog. I finally caved and ordered it.

The Original Acid Cuff necklace, $50USD.
The silver version of the Original Cuff. I love the turquoise suede tie.

All photos were taken from their respective sites.

What I've been up to…

een a busy little bee this month because I've been doing so many preparations for Christmas- making my own Advent Calendar for my son; shooting our family Christmas portrait; making our annual calendar and designing our family Christmas cards. I've also been doing a lot of shopping and going to parties.
If you don't follow me on Instagram yet please do- @Cujo931. I usually post what I'm up to there daily. I'm addicted to it!

Shopping at Old Navy. Was debating whether to get this leopard-print cardigan, but
passed on it. 

My OOTD last week.
Top is from Wilfred by Aritzia, jeans are from Paige Denim, bubble necklace is a
J Crew-inspired necklace from eBay.

I had a gift certificate from Club Monaco that I was saving until I lost my pregnancy
weight. I was eyeing this Reva coat…

I took the plunge and got it. I initially bought it on sale for 30% off the original
$299 sale price, down from $398. But the day after I got it I received an email
from the Club Monaco newsletter that they were having a 40% sale off the sale
price. I ended up returning it and repurchasing it for 40% off. Yes!
(FYI: Club Monaco has a policy of not doing price adjustments on sale items, but
the salesgirl I dealt with allowed me to do a return and repurchase)

The faux-fur collar is removable.

The coat is a bit wrinkled, but I adore it.

I'm loving my makeup here.

I happened to go in Gap to check out their sales and I came across this sequined
clutch. I missed out on the Zara sequined clutch that all the fashion bloggers have
been sporting so when I saw this I couldn't pass on it. The Zara clutch is a gold colour
and this is obviously not gold, but I still like it. I think it'll go with a lot of items in my
closet. It's hard to capture the true colour of the clutch. Here, the sequins are pointing
up and it gives it a completely different look than the shot below.

Here the sequins are pointing down. The clutch looks more silver here.
I love how this clutch has a strap. I don't think the Zara one did…
I got this for 20% off 39.99?

Here I am holding it. It kind of looks purple in certain lighting.

Surprisingly it fits a ton of stuff. I can fit my huge Kate Spade wallet plus many
more.

This will be great to carry around with me when I don't want to carry a huge purse.

Last Thursday I stopped by Indigo (one of my favourite stores) to kill some time
with the family. It is a bookstore, but they have a fantastic home/gift section.
I came across this Botanicals Labels and Stickers book by Rifle Paper Co. I have
one of their other labels and stickers book and I always use it when I gift wrap because
it really makes the package that much nicer. I ended up purchasing this and I can't
wait to gift wrap!

This is the Cath Kidston 2013 agenda.
Although I loved it I already have a Kate Spade agenda and I buy the refills every year.

The lovely frames and display cases at Indigo.

They also had a shelf with ombré book covers of classic titles. Such a pretty way
to display books, no?

Lots of stocking stuffers out too. They had colourful enamel bangles and other
knick knacks. 

Voluspa candles.
The packaging on Voluspa candles are exquisite. I had to stop
myself from getting these because I had already made several candle purchases
from Bath & Body Works.

One thing to note is that I rarely buy home goods from Indigo for full retail price.
They always have sales and if you wait you can get things for 30-50% off.

Indigo is holding a contest now on Instagram where if you hastag #MagicalHoliday
on one of your instagram pics with something relating to the theme "Christmas
Morning" you have a chance of winning a $100 gift card. This was my entry.
Fingers crossed!

Lastly, I'm starting to restock my Etsy store. It's just so time consuming to take photos
of all the pieces, but that is my New Year's resolution this year.

DIY: Advent Calendar

Instagram'd a photo of my finished Advent Calendar that I was working on this year for my 3-year old son and I got a few people asking me how I made it and what I was going to put in these boxes. So I thought I would share. I'm happy with how it turned out, but it was A LOT of work. I plan on using this again next year because I'm not sure if I would have the time to make something like this again…

Just an FYI that all the supplies were purchased at the dollar store.

I bought a pack of card stock paper that came in 5 different shades. I thought it would
be a neat idea to do an ombré effect for the boxes. 

I found several box templates online and tested them out by printing it out on plain
paper. I settled with this template and redrew it on Adobe InDesign to match my
paper size.

I scored all the dotted lines with a bone folder and then cut out the rest of the outline
with my exact-o knife. I started getting a blister after doing 25 of these cutouts :-S
I applied double-sided tape on the backside of where it is labeled on the photo before
putting the box together.

Here's what the complete box looks like. It's pretty small.

I found these cute rhinestone and glitter numbers at the dollar store and I thought
it would be the perfect way to add the numbers on the boxes.

All the boxes complete! Now to stick them onto my foam core…

I laid out all the boxes on the foam core before gluing it on so that they looked
symmetrical.

Because these boxes were too small to store all the activities that I wanted to do with
my son I decided to make tags with the activities printed on it. Again, I went back
to my design software and typed up all the activities. I made sure to space them
according to the size of the tag punch that I had.

Close-up of some of the activities.

I printed it out on one of the card stock paper that I had leftover and punched it
with my tag punch.

I punched a small hole near the top to thread the ribbon through.

All the tags complete!

And here's the finished product.

Another view.

Here are the tags inside the boxes.

You may wonder why I made boxes if I was just going to stuff flat tags inside, but
it's because in some of the boxes I had little toys (like the dinosaurs above)
and even candies inside.

I can't wait to start this on December 1!

I propped up the Advent Calendar on my dining room credenza. Earlier today I went
out and bought the mini tree (called Cupressus 'Goldcrest')

Here's a close-up of one of the tags.

I propped up one of my favourite ornament on the top of the boxes.

It doesn't look like a dollar store project, does it? I don't think so.

And here's a look at some of the activities that my son and I will be enjoying in the
coming days. We will also be doing some baking. I'm so excited!