A Memorable Birthday Gift

I made my Mom's birthday gift last week and couldn't post the project until after I gave it to her.  As I've written before, I have these great vintage picture encyclopedias and have a lot of projects planned for them.  

My mom and I traveled around Europe together in April of 2006.  Going through the encyclopedias, I was able to find all the cities/towns we visited and decided to create a collage of these images as a reminder of our trip.  

After finding all the various locations throughout the five volumes, I trimmed each image and then laid them out on the frame I was planning to use making sure that all the city names were visible.  I also took photos to remember the final layout.

St. Patrick's Day - Wreath loving

I love wreaths on front doors. They may be considered 'old-fashioned' to some people but I really like them.  I think they dress up the front of your house.  When I was living in apartments and condos, I couldn't have wreaths on my front door but as soon as I owned my own home, I started pulling out the ribbon!

For St. Patrick's Day, I was inspired by some foam, glittery shamrocks I found at the Dollar Store.  I paid $4 for the packets (with extras to spare) and the rest of the materials used were items I already owned.

For the backing, I used cardboard from a leftover moving box I had in the basement.  For the template, I just traced around a glass bowl.

I then traced around a small plate so I could cut out the middle.

Then out came the glue gun and I started to alternate the foam shamrocks by colour around the cardboard circle.

It wasn't a perfect fit and I was left with a bit of a gap at the top, so I just covered it up by layering three of the same shamrocks (glittered of course) at the top.  I ended up really liking the effect.

I finished up the wreath with some green ribbon so I could easily hang it and here is the finished project:

The entire project only took about 20 minutes and with a low cost of $4, it's perfect to hang outside for a couple of weeks.

One of a Kind Show

I am so excited to have a business trip next week to Toronto and even more excited that it coincides with the One of a Kind Christmas Show & Sale.  The show happens twice a year (the Spring show falls around Easter) and I tried to go at least once a year when I was living in TO.

The show isn't your typical 'craft show'.  First, it is absolutely massive and takes hours to get through the whole show.  Second, every type of craft is available at all price points and the curators for the show ensure there is a mix of artisans to meet everyone's taste.

Here are the booths I'll be stalking:

Artwork by Kelly Grace

I love Grapefruit Peppermint, Spiced Pumpkin and Cranberry Vanilla

Old Island Stamp Co.

Children's toys by Fidoodle

Amazing printed textiles by Bookhou

And that is just a VERY small sample as each time I visit the show I always find a new and original artist. I also tend to finish most of my x-mas shopping and am planning to bring a large suitcase with me   on this trip to bring back lots of goodies.