the ghosts of halloween past

Posted by meghanrushton

It’s a sad halloween for this mom. Since about October 25 of last year, David has made it very clear that he no longer digs the homemade costumes so it was the Green Lantern or bust in 2016.A lot of blood, sweat and minimal sewing skills went into my creations but this year, all I did was a check-out at Amazon.ca … To be honest, I have checked-out completely this holiday since the marathon is in SIX DAYS and I am trying to avoid all things sugary including chocolates and stoop wine on Halloween night. Lame. I know.

So to celebrate my lack of creativity, lets take a trip down memory lane and look back at some of our better years. I have less than 365 days to convince my child to let me put my fine arts degree to good use again.

Fire fighter: 2011 halloween-2011 My Itsy Bitsy Spider : 2012 halloween-2012 Boo-ya!: 2013 (2 costumes, 1 year) halloween-2013 halloween-2013b Up and Away: 2014 halloween-2014 Mission Halloween: 2015 halloween-2015 Be safe. Have fun.

(I’m a purple pencil crayon)

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baby, baby, baby oooh

Posted by meghanrushton

Last weekend my sister Erin and I (+ mom) hosted a baby shower for our little sister, Jill.

Newsflash: Jill and Alex are having a baby and I am finally getting a local niece or nephew!!! Thanks guys.

As you may know, I love planning a party so I got to it early on… so early, that I may of leaked the big news to some of her friends accidentally. Busted.

* * *

First up, the invite: And because I truly believe in mailing out invites – I am including a sample of the envelope too. The invitees has custom address labels. Tip: I like to purchase somewhat-related stamps when sending invites!
Decor: I made a few banners for the party room and the front window. I bought some flowers and pulled out that springy table clothes. Easy! We also had some balloons and raindrop banners outside but again, I forgot to take a pictures. Tip: Buy a cute crib sheet (last photo) and use as a table covering – then give it to the mom when the party is over!Favours: This is when Pinterest makes you do things you don’t need to do… like favours for a baby shower. Simple but cute although Mike’s comment was that the popcorn has already popped and I should of filled the bags with kernels. Um, no – not pretty. Tip: Avoid Pinterest and ignore your husband. Games: Erin planned a few games – one being Trivia because Jill is a trivia nut. It’s a fun addition to a party and no one in my house was forced to smell diapers with random brown stuff in them. Tip: Have paper and pens ready to go so your games look legit.

Erin’s Ten Trivia Questions

Q: How many children did Queen Victoria have? Bonus point if you can name one.
A: Nine – Victoria, Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, Beatrice

Q: Name one of the top three baby girls name in 1916?
A: Mary, Helen, Dorothy

Q: Originally Pampers diapers used pins. In what decade was the pin replaced with Tape?
A: 1970s

Q: What percentage of babies are born on their due date?
A: 5%

Q: In 1928 the Gerber company introduced its first line of strained foods. Name one the first varieties.
A: peas, prunes, carrots, spinach and beef vegetable soup

Q: How much did the heaviest baby born on record weigh?
A: 22 pounds, 8 ounces (Italy, 1955) (Somebody sure carb loaded!)

Q: In what year did Uncle Jessie and Aunt Becky (from Full House) give birth to twins. Bonus points if you can name them.
A: 1991 – Nicky and Alex

Q: What is a baby owl called?
A: Owlet of Fledging

Q: What Michael Jackson song topped the charts the month Jill was born (May 1983)?
A: Beat It!

Q: Jill’s baby is due in July. What is the birthstone of this month?
A: Ruby

Food: We had 32 guests from the age of 7 months to 91 years-young! All female, except the dog. We served mimosas, perrier, tea and juice packs for drinks and all of the food was utensil-free. The spread included chocolate and carrot cupcakes made by mom, lemon poppy seed loaf, homemade sprinkle fortune cookies, cheese and charcuterie boards, traditional devilled eggs, beet-pickled devilled eggs, a cheese ball with maple syrup, guacamole, artichoke dip, veggies, a baguette and skewers (feta + watermelon + mint) (bocconcini + tomato + basil) (an idea I got from another baby shower I attended). Tip: If you decided to make homemade sprinkle fortune cookies, be sure to let your guests know you put fortunes in them! So that’s it. Another party over. I said I’d host 12 parties in 2016 and this is party #3. I have to step it up!

My apologies – I got so caught up in serving mimosas and catching up with all the lovely ladies that I didn’t take any pictures at the event BUT as a dedicated blogger / designer / party planner – I got lots of detail shots! Hah.

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with a pom on top

Posted by meghanrushton

My office in Montreal has a secret Santa gift exchange – and not the cheap $10-here-is-a-bunch-of-crap kind. We are big spenders.

I got my favourite tank from Lilas, and Caroline gave Nancy a toque (made by her mom) as a gift. My instant reaction was to snap a picture and send it to my mom (hint hint):Although Nancy’s was not faux, I am all about the faux fur pom pom toque. They’re everywhere this season. How can you not want one?

So, I returned to Halifax and began crafting up a request to my mom but was feeling…

Guilty because she just made me an awesome sweater.
Concerned because I knew my request would not be at the top of her crafting list. Winter is here.

My revised plan was to skip mom and buy a toque, but then I discovered I had a reject hat that’d be perfect for a pom pom! Etsy is a great resource for faux fur poms and within a week my mink brown faux fur poms arrived (I got two poms for $10 total). It only took me two minutes to attached and voila! I am happy, my pom bounces, and winter just got a bit better.

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10 under 10 stocking stuffers

Posted by meghanrushton

You asked for it. You got it.

After reposting last year’s 50 Under 50 Favourite Things list, my friend Anna suggested a 10 Under 10 Stocking Stuffer list. Ok!

Here are ten awesome items, all under $10.00, for the little and big kids in your life:

Stocking Stuffers

Kids

Lego 8pcs Super Heroes figures ($7.18)

Shopkins – Season 3 – 5 Pack ($7.99)

Mud Puddle and other mini books by Robert Munsch ($1.99)

Nutcase Bicycle Bell ($9.50)

2-pac Dot Socks ($7.20)

Crayola 16 Pip Squeak Markers ($6.49)

Geo Form Diamond Shaped Wooden Puzzle ($10.00)

WinnWell Street Hockey Balls ($1.99 each)

MEC Newbie Kids Sunglasses ($10.00)

Star Wars Pez Dispensers ($3.36 each)

Big Kids

Rose Salve Lip Balm ($7.70)

Beer. A bottle fits nicely in a sock. This is my pick ($8.00)

MEC Turbo Red LED Light ($6.75)

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara ($7.79)

Feed Nova Scotia – A New Kind of Light CD ($10.00)

Cocoa Camino Fair Trade Instant Hot Chocolate ($6.75)

e.l.f. Studio Matte Lip Color ($4.99)

HotHands Hand Warmers 10 Pair Value Pack ($7.99)

Made in the Maritimes Seaweed Soap ($7.50)

Nautical Letterpress Bookmark at Inkwell ($3.00)

* * *

Oh, and don’t forget to add a clementine, toothbrush and lotto tickets in all the stockings!

* * *

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care!Mike and I made our stockings when we first moved in together … 12 years ago … and we’re still fighting over who’s better. My mom made David stocking – which is the better than both of our combined because it’s bigger and wool expands better than felt. My mom knit/felted these as well: Happy stocking stuffing to all and to all a good night.

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a whole new world

Posted by meghanrushton

Finally, David’s bedroom update!

Way back in 2013, I wrote about wanting to do this (here) and I had full intentions to start right away but the project kept getting neglected… funny, considering he’s an only child and they tend not to get neglected but I am happy to say (show), after a lot of research, it’s done.

I will be the first to admit, I got major inspiration for his room from a post I read here. I fell in love with the atlas wallpaper /red bunk bed combo and used them as my starting off point. We searched high and low (haha) for a bunk bed in the city that was affordable but not cheaply made.

We found a beautiful locally made bunk bed but it was + $1000 (unfinished) and was too big for the room. We thought about buying online (here or here or here) but again, very pricy and not quite what I wanted. We also thought about buying and painting the Ikea bunk bed but shipping and paint would cost more then the bed itself.

So, in the end, I convinced Mike to build it. Reason being, it’d be sturdier than Ikea’s, cheaper than the other 3, no shipping and we (Mike) could paint them red! The other great thing about D.I.Y. is it’s attached to the wall – meaning it saves a few inches of space in the room because there’s no gap between the wall (and baseboard) and the bed. We also added an extra foot to the length of the bed to allow room for custom boxes at each head to serve as built-in nightstands. Clever eh?

Because I am an honest and a non-professional interior designer, I think it’s fair to share some of the problems we encountered.

First and foremost being the Wallpaper – apparently (from the amount of cursing I heard), it was not easy to hang. Matching up outlines of counties is hard, especially in an old house with wonky walls. Once it was hung it looked amazing for a few months until one particular time-out session when David decided to draw some run-away escape routes… on his wall. Hard to resist when you are stuck in your room with a marker and a ten-foot long map. So many possibilities. I was really mad until I realized he could be the next Columbus… or Cabot!

The second lesson learnt was the paint. We used Annie Sloan’s Emperor’s Silk. It was our first time using the product and the colour is great but the purpose of the paint is more for refinishing old and/or ugly furniture. Not raw wood. It was expensive and soaked up a lot of paint. I think it would of been smarter to shop at a big box store instead. Opps. Still, read about the paint – I highly recommend it for what it’s intended for (and stay tuned for an upcoming post featuring the paint again).