A little project

Now that Sean has started school, he’s been bringing home papers from school. Instead of losing them all over the house, I decided to figure out an option to hold all his school papers, in one spot, and I came up with this:

A canvas, some paint, some paint brushes & a clothes pin.

I painted the canvas (and the clothes pin).

And once dried, I glued the clothes pin on in the middle of the canvas and stuck on some fun foam stickers (from the dollar store that I had on hand from another project a while back). And now I just need to bug my husband to hang it on the wall in the kitchen. It’s been sitting on the window sill in the kitchen, and I am hoping to get it hung up soon. Now all of Sean’s school papers (the few that there are, as the school is trying to be as paperless as possible), are in one spot, and we’ll hopefully never forget anything that is needed for kindergarten.

You can totally use this for holding anything, a calendar, or birthday invites or clippings from the newspaper, etc. If you make one similar, drop me a note or comment to let me know!

Monday Morning Link Love

- Loving this Pre-School/Kindergarten Chore Chart in Blue (or Pink if you have a girl)
- Neat ideas to organize children's clothing.
- How to make your own nail polish!
- Mmmm! No Bake Raspberry-Lemon Cheesecake!
- This car seat cover would have been totally awesome when my guys were little.
- These whole grain chocolate chip cookies look delicious.
- Lusting after this Kitchen Aid Mixer......
- Neat camera strap tutorial.
- Mmmm! Homemade Banana Ice Cream!
- Love this bracelet tutorial.
- I think the boys would find it fun to make suncatchers!
- Tips to maintain a tidy kitchen.
- How to organize the perfect kitchen pantry.
- This silver dress is awesome!
- Totally want these light saber chop sticks!
- Light Sabers using noodles and duct tape! Great for a little boy's birthday party!
- Once all 3 boys are in school, this might be a great idea for organization.
- ADORABLE!
- I want to renew my vows so I can wear this! Wowza!
- Love this chip & dip bowl.
- Make your own Rock Candy!
- Love this pearl & ribbon bracelet.
- I wonder what gum paste cake letters taste like.
- Upset this dress is sold out. STUNNING! And totally my style!
- These aprons are super-awesome!
- I think the boys would get a kick out of putting golf tees in play dough & balancing marbles on top!
- I think my boys would love to color in a lego man!
- Lusting over this reading room.
- Loving these DIY wavy bracelets.
- This is the coolest cereal bowl ever.
- Love this portable drink holder.
-This floating chair/table is awesome.
- Digging this dress. And this one too.
- I totally want to have a pinterest party - anyone local in?
- Mmmm! Chocolate covered cherry bombs!

Place mat for Kindergarten

Last week at Meet the Teacher night, Sean’s teacher asked us to send our child in with a place mat for them to eat their lunch on to keep the table clean. Since I went to a few stores (dollarama mainly) and couldn’t find all material ones (as his teacher requested) I decided to crochet one for him instead.

I used a 5.0 mm (H) hook and 80 grams of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Solids & Denim in the Swimming Pool colorway. The pattern is Placemat (crochet) by Bernat Design Studio. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. The final dimensions are 14”x9.5”, which is perfect size for him to place a sandwich or whatever he has for lunch and his juice box, napkin, etc…

While making it, it dyed my finger blue, so I’ll have to set the color in vinegar and see if that helps when I try to wash it. Has this happened to you before when working with this cotton yarn, or any yarn for that matter? Did you set the color in vinegar or try something else?

Totally Desperate Mom Winner!

 

The winner of the book Totally Desperate Mom by Wendy Hagen is:

“Krystal M. said... You always have the coolest giveaways! Thanks for hosting.”

Krystal, please email me at knitpurlmama at gmail dot com to claim your prize! You have 48 hours to do so, or I will draw another name.

If you didn’t win but want to purchase a copy of this book for yourself and for gifts for other mommy friends, the book is for sale here. You can read Chapter 1 as a preview here. (You can also get it on Amazon here, or for kindle here).

7 Years Ago

♥ 7 years ago today I married my best friend! ♥

7 Years later, 3 handsome boys later, life is beautiful.

Labour day weekend Jamie and I went out of town to celebrate a friend’s wedding and we celebrated our anniversary as well.

Last weekend we celebrated my cousin’s wedding. September seems to be a good month for weddings, I couldn’t agree more. The letters of chai (“to Life") add up to 18 and for this reason, 18 is a spiritual number in Judaism. We chose the 18th of September as a good luck number for our wedding date. L’chaim!

Monday Lunch Link Love

- This recipe for Zucchini Lemon Cake (dairy/egg free) look yummy!
- Would love some nice refreshing Iced Passion Tea Lemonade!
- Loving this top, it's sooo cute.
- These yarn wrapped bangles are fun!
- I've been looking for an easy granola recipe and this one looks good.
- Totally want to learn to embroider!
- This DIY maxi skirt dying tutorial is fun.
- I still have a ton of zucchini frozen from last summer's garden, and I'm thinking these zucchini brownies look yummy.
- Totally want to make a rag rug!
- This watercolor image is gorgeous.
- Great tips on turning your children into book lovers (I know mine already are!)
- I love these agate stone pendant necklaces.
- Now that the weather is turning cool, I need to whip up one of these bandana cowls.
- Love this quote on Motherhood.
- This river sink is awesome.
- Need to make some fishtail bracelets!
- Does mirrored nail polish actually exist?
- Please tell me WHY?!
- The idea to use letter holders to store fabric is pretty genius!
- 11 reasons why you should drink more tea.
- A neat idea of what to do with that cracked iphone (which hopefully won't happen to you or me!)
- This baby snuggler (PDF) makes a great baby shower gift.
- I know summer is over, but swimming lessons still go on, and I'm totally digging this bathing suit, but in this color.
- Love this top. Totally my style.
- This is my fave color right now.
- Love this cloud investigator project for kids.
- Love this parking lot game!
- Love this hot wheel shelving system!
- This is a gorgeous necklace pendant.
- Totally want to do this to my hair for when I'm MOH next year.
- Love these nails!
- Quentin's 2nd birthday is fast approaching, I like this idea!
- I ♥ vintage pyrex.
- Pooh is the best.
- Mmm these Teryaki Meatballs look delicious!

Comic Con Montreal 2012

Yesterday Jamie & I took the kids to this year’s Comic Con festival here in Montreal. I surprised the heck out of Jamie and dressed up as Wonder Woman. He totally didn’t think that I’d do it (after borrowing the costume from a friend of my brothers). Even though the costume was slightly too big, I made it work with some safety pins and a bustier. I got asked plenty if people could take my photos (which I obliged) and got a lot of “you’re a really cool mom” and “you look fantastic”! Last year, 40/50 lbs heavier than I am today, I would NEVER have dressed up, but now that I have lost a lot of weight, I have more confidence to pull stuff like this off. And you know what? I’m only young once, so why not! I had an awesome time. The only requests I turned down, was to those who asked for the kids to be in the photo, since they thought it was awesome that Wonder Woman was pushing a stroller. I rejected the kids being the photos floating around. It’s one thing for me to blog or put photos of my kids up on Facebook, (I shrink the images to web size so they’re not enlargeable) but for them to have full resolution photos of my children, I wasn’t cool with that.

I got to meet Adam Baldwin, who played General John Casey on Chuck. He wasn’t there for Chuck though, but had some Chuck images along with other images and I got him to autograph a photo (of him on Chuck, since that’s where I know him from). I was extremely disappointed that he was a tad cold and refused any pictures. When he wasn’t signing autographs, he was glued to his cell phone, which made him look disinterested in even being there. Jamie got to meet Malcolm McDowell, and got a Clockwork Orange picture signed. Malcolm on the other hand was super cool and Jamie got to sit down with him for a photo.

The kids had a fantastic time too, and even Quentin was a super trooper especially since he skipped his afternoon nap. What an awesome time we had as a family, and I cannot wait for next year’s Comic Con already. Next year though, I’m hoping we find a theme and we all dress up together. I was the only one from us 5 that dressed up, the boys refused to dress up (and I didn’t have anything that Quentin would have fit into, otherwise he would not have complained in a costume, he’s still too young). The boys did wear superhero tshirts though, so they had some spirit. There’s always next year!

12 on 12 :: September

 

7 am.
Making silly faces while waiting for the school bus.

8 am.
Mackenzie playing on the iPad

9 am.
Machine ate another piece of clothing. F#$!!

10 am.
Sit & Knit.

11 am.
Procrastination of folding. (But it's clean!)

12 pm.
Taking a small break for a cuppa tea.

1 pm.
Prepping some yarn for sale.

2 pm.
Last night's Parenthood while on the treadmill.

3 pm.
Walking home from the bus stop.

4 pm.
Freshening up

6 pm.
Meet the teacher night. Sean's teacher asked us to draw something for our child's year end scrapbook to surprise them. I knew what I was drawing! I even got to use Sean's pencil crayons in his pencil case at school! I can't wait for him to see this in June! (And let's hope we have a hockey season!)

10 pm.
Home from Meet The Teacher night and a Governing Board Meeting. Checking emails and heading to fold some of the laundry before calling it a night.

This is my 12 on 12 project for September. All pictures were taken during the hour that are written below, not at the exact hour on the nose.

10 on 10 :: September

7 am.
Off to School.

8 am.
Morning tea.

9 am.
Driving the mom taxi.

10 am.
Checking out some books at Chapters. This one looks interesting.

11 am.
Stocking up on my boys fave drink.

12 pm.
Finishing up my errands.

1 pm.
Good mail day.

2 pm.
Realized I could load my tv shows on my iPad to watch during my workout.

3 pm.
Meeting the bus.

4 pm.
Daycare Corn Roast.

Here’s my 10 on 10 project for yesterday. All pictures were taken during the hour that are written below, not at the exact hour on the nose. I had started to work on this post last night, but getting up early to have Sean get the bus to school has been making me fall asleep early these days. Don’t forget to come back on tomorrow for my 12 on 12 project!

Monday Morning Link Love

- Need some icons for your blog, these free ones are awesome!
- For kid camping. Use a blow up kiddie pool and fill with pillows and blankets. BRILLIANT.
- This video for the iPhone 5 is hysterical.
- Love this tutorial for a color block tee!
- I'm thinking about making this Taco Chicken Bake, it looks yummy!
- Love this fun spoon mirror!
- In a jam, love this emergency baking ingredients substitution.
- Have fruit flies in the kitchen? Here's a great way to capture them.
- Love this recipe for paint palette cookies!
- My boys will LOVE this DIY Captain America Shield!
- Love this shirt to skirt tutorial!
- Love this painted wood bead necklace tutorial.
- OMG, I want these clogs.
- Totally want to make some cupcakes in a jar!
- Loving these printable to-do lists!
- LOVE this wooden watch!
- I think I need this app that stores your kids artwork!
- Chocolate-Banana Cream Trifle - YUM!
- This made me laugh!
- Wish I had a daughter to make this cake for.
- This tutu is stunning!
- 50+ ideas to use an empty toilet paper roll.
- Love this chore chart "DONE" idea!
- I love love love this sweater.
- Love this cupcake rose!
- Interesting tips from a podiatrist on lacing your shoes.
- How to make tiny pom poms (with a fork!)
- Think I need to sparkle the bottom of my shoes!
- What a STUNNING ring!
- Cute apple shaped gift box! (DIY)
- Loving Suburgatory, almost done watching Season 1, and cannot wait for Season 2 to start in October! Do you watch the show? Love Jeremy Sisto!
- Love this pearl look!
- These pants look so cozy!
- If I were to get a dog, I think it would be a Weimaraner. 
- Loving the Glee version of Don't Stop Believin'!

Totally Desperate Mom

I just finished reading Wendy Hagen's Totally Desperate Mom. I read it in one sitting, on the car ride home from a wedding we went to last weekend in Ontario.  There were numerous times in the book that I found myself laughing out loud and my husband giving me strange looks. Just to give you a taste of the funnies, these were my fave parts:

"When Elijah was three he asked me some well-thought-out questions. 

"Mommy, are there any letters called poo?"

"No, Elijah."

"Not any?"

"No, Elijah. You know all the letters in the alphabet and there is no poo. Why would there be poo in the alphabet?" And then it hit me - because there is pee in the alphabet! How could I be so potty-talk unaware?

Another part that made me laugh out loud and spit out the diet pepsi I was drinking was:

"I used to teach a body sculpting class at a gym at 6:30 A.M. One morning before class I used a cotton ball to clean my face with an astringent. (This was before I had children and actually had time to clean my face and use products). This cleaning felt particularly tingly. That's when I realized I was using nail polish remover. Oops. That's also when I realized I needed to find a different time slot to teach."

As a mother of 3 kids, like Hagen, I found myself relating a lot to this book. There were some parts that I couldn't relate, but that was more on the religious side, however, it was still interesting, even though I couldn't relate. Hagan also has a section of the book dedicated to taking care of the home, and has a great time budget chart for chores, which I actually want to start implementing in my house, as I need to come up with a better (and more efficient way) to do chores.

I absolutely recommend this book, it's a quick read & totally funny. Hagen's blog is quite refreshing as well. I love her weekly Stylin' Saturdays and her Hollywood Days posts (she was a childhood actress on The New Lassie show, also guest staring on 2 of my fave childhood shows,  Growing Pains & The Wonder Years! Her blog is definitely one you should add to your blog roll.

For one of my readers, Wendy Hagen has sent me an autographed copy of her book. All you have to do is leave (one per person please) a comment on this blog post. You have until the end of the night, Tuesday, September 18th to enter the contest and on the 19th of September I will randomly choose a winner to mail the book to! Open to Canadian and USA residents. If you don't win, but want to purchase a copy of this book for yourself and for gifts for other mommy friends, the book is for sale here. You can read Chapter 1 as a preview here. (You can also get it on Amazon here, or for kindle here).

4Cats Art Studio

Last week, just before Sean started Kindergarten, while we were babysitting his best friend, I took the boys to check out a new local Art Studio that is opening it’s doors tomorrow, called 4Cats Art Studio (Facebook Link). Trisha & Catherine were really nice, and we had a great time. We got to choose a Star Wars themed workshop to check out and each of the boys got to make a piece to take home, while I made a piece to leave on display at the studio. Here’s a quick peak at the studio. (Above is the awesome splatter paint room, I wat to go back and try that out sometime).

They have beautiful art work on the wall, and also inspiring famous artist posters to go with the artist of the month. The first artist will be Van Gogh, who has done some pretty amazing paintings.

The Studio will hold classes, and the Fall session begins this Monday, September 10th and will run for 10 weeks. You can choose from:

• Artist of the month
• Arts & Letters Club
• Drawing
• Clay & Sculpture
• Stop-Motion Animation
• Mixed Media

To view their class list, view/download their schedule, or to register online please visit here. 4Cats classes qualify for the Children’s Art Tax Credit, to learn more, please contact the studio at (514) 505-3727 or by e-mail at westisland@4cats.com

Looking for something fun to do for your child’s birthday party? 4Cats studio has party packages that include an afternoon filled with Paint Splatter, Pop Art and much more! They can also host corporate events.

  

We chose a Star Wars Workshop, and it was a ton of fun. The boys at 5 and a half and six are totally into Star Wars, so that made it so much more interesting. The other option was doing a Warhol inspired Pop Art piece, but knowing these 2 boys, the Star Wars one was definitely the better choice.

We even got to do a bit of splattering on the pieces, in the splatter room. After a few tries, the boys finally got the wrist movement down, and had fun. I think they wanted to continue splattering things with paint.

   

After the painting was done, we got to work on the clay sculpture to put on our canvas. Since we were working on a Star Wars piece, we did a Yoda clay sculpture. Mine was Mme Yoda though, I made a lady one!

We sculpted and formed all the pieces, mainly with just our hands. The mouth indents for the boys pieces used a tool to make the markings. We even used glow-in-the-dark clay for the eyes, how fun!

These are our 4 Yodas before they went into the oven to bake. Top are ones belong to Sean’s friend & Sean (purple light saber) and the bottom two are mine (Mme Yoda) and Catherine’s.

Then Catherine glued the Yodas onto our canvas once they came out of the oven. The boys did some oil pastel coloring while they waited for the clay to cook in the oven.

And lastly, our 3 finished pieces, Sean’s, his friends & mine on the right.

The boys were soooo proud of their work. They had a great time at the studio, and I hope to take Sean and hopefully Mackenzie there again soon. Quentin is still too young for this type of thing, but one day he’ll be old enough to join in.

Everyone is invited to the GRAND OPENING this Saturday, September 8th from 1-4pm.  Tour the studio, make a polymer clay sculpture, create spin art, try silk screening, splatter painting & more!!!  Snack & refreshments will be served, fun is guaranteed!  Don’t forget, dress for mess!

Thank you so much to Catherine & Trish for the wonderful opportunity to check out your studio before it opened, and attend a private mini workshop. I am absolutely keeping this idea in mind for Mackenzie’s next birthday next year. I think he would have a blast at the splatter painting party!