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I'm keeping up with the running...although it's pretty icy here right now, so I am very grateful for our second hand running machine in the basement. I saw this today on pinterest - so true! Just the bit of motivation I needed to keep going to week 3!
Chalkboard paint is probably considered a "not" on a hot or not list of trends these days. It's one of those things that has been done to death and this project is no exception. But I had half a tin of leftover paint knocking about and decided to use it up making these placemats I bought on sale (previously a hideous Christmas design).
My children's classrooms have smart boards these days so apparently old skool chalkboard slates rock! The children love them and they're proving quite useful for notes, spellings and calculations at homework time. Just a light sanding and two coats did the trick. Although I will point out that good ventillation is a must - I decided to paint these in our basement (outside or in the garage is just too cold) and the paint fumes were ridiculous!
I'm turning 40 this year and I'm suddenly feeling a bit middle aged. So I'm using a free C25K podcast to build myself up to running 5K again. Or should I say jogging. I'm not an athlete and I'm horribly out of shape, but I have (pre children) run two half marathons, so I know that it's entirely possible. My new year's resolution is not to compete in a race necessarily, but simply to get fitter, stronger and a little less wobbly in the thigh department. This week I went for my second run with a friend outside at -14C wearing hubby's yaktrax to stop any spectacular slidey ice wipeouts. So far so good!
Shortly after new year we packed up and drove to NYC to spend a few days exploring while my husband was working there. He's a fairly frequent visitor to Manhattan and this time we decided to all tag along for some family fun. It's been 15 years since my last (and only) visit. I'd almost forgotten how breathtaking it is and the children loved the excitiment and noise too. We were lucky enough to stay in the heart of the city and walked for miles every day taking in all the sites.
A very memorable way start to the new year!
Santa Hat brownies inspired by pinterest.
Wishing you a very merry Christmas and healthy and happy new year!
A bunch of neighbourhood mums got together with our children this weekend and decorated these mini gingerbread houses. I made the houses up with a friend the day before using graham crackers and icing à la Martha and then they went to town with icing and candy. Not before I photographed them in the dusting of snow we had in the morning. Madness, but they looked so magical!
The Christmas after we first moved into our house, a neighbour, who we barely knew and who has since unfortunately moved away, delivered one of these on a plate with a bag of candy and a bag of home made icing to each of the children in the neighbourhood, ready to decorate. Such a wonderful and unexpected gift that my children have never forgotten.
This year, I'm opting for a simple Christmas in my home. That doesn't mean I don't want to put up decorations for the house, buy gifts or make the season any less special for my family, but I just really want to focus on simple this year.
As I get older (and although you wouldn't necessarily realize it looking at the state of my house) clutter and too much "stuff" bothers me more and more. And although I am certainly not a minimalist by any stretch, this time of year the thought of Christmas decorations everywhere makes me feel slightly overwhelmed instead of joyful. I recently came to the realization that although we have amassed quite a few Christmas decorations over the years, many of them highly sentimental, I don't have to use all of them, every year.
A revelation I tell you. Why did it take me so long to work that out?!!
I'm feeling in a festive mood so much earlier than usual this year. I wanted my house to smell like Christmas, so, in the spirit of Emma's Making Winter series, here's an easy recipe for a Christmas simmer pot which makes the whole house smell amazerful with just a few simple ingredients.
Mix of all the above ingredients with 2 cups of water and a cup of apple juice in a saucepan. Gently simmer over a low heat for a few hours, making sure that the liquid doesn't evaporate. Once you're done, remove from the heat, let it cool and you can keep it in the refrigerator and re-use it again a few times. There really is no exact recipe, it's just trial and error...you could use cranberry juice, oranges, clementines,add a few sprigs of evergreen...whatever takes your fancy.
Before
During
After
We've been painting our bedroom. It's taken over four years to get around to it and it's the final room to be decorated by us. Between work (I'm now contracting part-time from home) and general other busyness, progress has been a bit slow. Dark wood trim and closet doors have taken so much paint that I can no longer remember how many coats I've slathered on...but it's almost there. The most exciting part was painting stripes this weekend. Tearing off the masking tape to reveal this subtle effect was the instant gratification needed to motivate me to finish the room off this week.
Just one more final coat on the trim to go.
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