Tutorials

As I was running errands this weekend, I happened upon a garage sale where they were giving away four pairs of cross country skis for FREE!! And as I love anything with good value, I scooped them up.  We’ve been wanting to try some cross country skiing for the past few years, but haven’t gotten around to buying any!  So ... Read More »

We’ve all seen those beautiful wood signs on Pinterest made of re-purposed pallets. Often, the pallets that you get your hands on will be beautifully aged, with that grey, weathered look. However, more often, you’ll find pallets that look pretty shiny and new. And if you’re going to use wood that looks new, you might as well use NEW wood.  But. ... Read More »

I’m pretty excited to be teaching art again this year. I haven’t taught it for a number of years, and it’s a subject I really enjoy. I love coming up with an idea and seeing what the students can do with it! Our first project was based on the Back-to-School Hand Art I did with the Grade 8 students about ... Read More »

We’ve all seen the Pinterest posts about making lanterns by emptying glow sticks into bottles of Mountain Dew – and I think we’ve all figured out by now that it doesn’t work. At all.  You might have also seen the posts about making a lantern from a plastic water jug and a flashlight. Does this one work? Marya and I ... Read More »

 Running out of activities for your kids this summer? Need a fun project to work on? Here are 6 awesome tricks your tween can work on this summer. They’re all quick videos, with tricks that can be learned and practiced for a few weeks, with impressive results! Don’t give up right away, if you’re frustrated – keep at it!  Challenge your ... Read More »

If you’ve been on Pinterest AT ALL, I can guarantee that you’ve pinned at least one of Ana White’s wood working projects. Maybe for yourself, maybe for your husband to make for you… but you’ve pinned at least one.  How do I know this? Because my DIY Pinterest board looks like this:  A few months ago, I decided that the tiny little ... Read More »

Last summer, I spent hours upon hours refinishing my childhood bunk beds for the kiddos. I finally had them up, and the kids moved into them – they were THRILLED! Now, these bunk beds predate my birth – my mom picked them up at a yard sale in the early 80’s – so the top bunk didn’t have a safety rail ... Read More »

There’s no denying it – butcher block counters make a kitchen look rich and warm. They were one of the reasons why we fell in love with the first house that we bought – I mean, what a charming kitchen, am I right?  However, we soon learned that butcher block counter tops require quite a bit of love and attention ... Read More »

I had posted a few updates about my newest project, a Temperature Blanket. If you haven’t heard of it, basically it is a blanket where you crochet one row a day for an entire year, based on the temperature. Mine was a few days (okay, weeks) behind which is why I’m a little late showing off the first month. Here ... Read More »

Last week I introduced to you my year-long crochet project: a Temperature Blanket. It’s been so much fun choosing colours and watching them change from day to day, especially with our crazy “El Nino” weather this year! Here’s a picture of the progress so far. Lots of grey (0 to +6 Celsius) and even a row of green (7 degrees!), ... Read More »