DIY Dinosaur tails and dino party!

My beautiful boy turned 3 and a dino party it had to be!

We kept it small at his daycare but he had a lot of fun! I made the dino tails I mentioned in a previous post and they were a definite hit!  You can find the tutorial by Jessica from the Running with Scissors blog here.

My DIY dino tails

The kids each put on their dino tail and we proceeded to have a little dino dance party! Love that my hubby got it on video for him to see when he gets older!

Ready for a dino party!

Every day fun with his dino tail!

I also made the kids dino cupcakes and dino treat bags but of course forgot to take pics of both...

Simple and sweet!

These dinosaur tails would make a great Christmas gift for any young child! The parents of the other children at the daycare thought I bought them! Everyone will be surprised when you tell them you made it yourself!

DIY dog bed cover!

Our dog beds are getting old and used up...I shopped around online and found modern dog beds that actually match our decor but are a little pricey for my liking. Then I saw this pic below and thought I can do that! It's pretty much just a pair of extra big pillows!

Dog bed inspiration pic via it's my visual life!

I had a few minutes Saturday afternoon while my husband and eldest were out and baby was sleeping...I whipped out some grey fabric that I had been hoarding for a while :)...perfect for a dog bed as the weave is very tight which makes for a nice durable and pet-friendly fabric!

Star sleeping on his new bed

Star on his new bed

Mookie enjoying his bed

Mookie on his new bed

It literally took me less than 10 minutes per bed cover! I just made a very simple giant envelope type pillow case. Follow this tutorial if need be and just adjust to dimensions wanted for dog bed. Mine was approx. 3ft by 2.5ft.

Easy pillow case tutorial via Decorating Vacation Property for Profit

Last but not least I just stuffed them with the old dog beds! Not bad for 20 minutes of my day and no $$$!

The beds fit perfectly on either side of the sideboard.  Now onto the next item on my list...finding an extra large (affordable) mirror to go over our sideboard...

This DIY would be so easy and inexpensive to do in a fun print or plushy fabric to revamp an old pet bed as a Christmas gift for your favourite furry friend!

Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker: Best.Gift.Ever.

My husband is the ultimate music lover. He lives, breathes and works with music. I wanted to find a portable speaker he could play music on from his Iphone/Ipad/Laptop/Computer using bluetooth technology (no wires!) for his birthday. I did my research and chose the Bose Mini Speaker and have to say it is AMAZING. The sound is fantastic quality, it's very compact to travel with, it comes with a sleek charging base and it can connect via bluetooth to all your gadgets!

Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker via Best Buy

Aside from using it in his office while working, we also use it in our main living space, we also carry it onto the back deck with us or even up to the bathroom to play music while giving our son a bath. The other day I was watching a movie on my laptop and the max volume was too low...with one click I connected to the speaker and had loud clear volume...It really is fantastic and quite affordable. This would make a great Christmas gift for any music lover, young or old!

Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker via Best Buy

Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker via Best Buy

Our baby boy has arrived!

Hello! It has been way too long! My last post was mid August and I have not seen these past months fly by! We welcomed our brand new baby boy at the end of September and have been swept up in newborn world!

Thankfully our eldest is in love with his baby brother and so it has been a fairly smooth transition. However there's really been no time for blogging...as any new parent knows, just fitting in a daily shower is a challenge the first few weeks months! However I do miss it and have lots to catch up on and share! So many posts to come very soon!

I couldn't help posting this picture of his little foot! Babies feet are the best no? :)

A Celebration Gift

A few weeks ago we celebrated with a friend who got married this past weekend.  He and his fiance are combining two households.  They do not have a wedding list and are having a very small wedding.  We took him out to dinner and as a gift we gave him a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

Via LCBO

Simple yet perfect!

They can enjoy their bottle just the two of them when the hectic times of the wedding planning are over.  A perfect celebratory gift.  My husband and I got a very nice bottle on our wedding as well from a friend of my father's and we shared it with my family on our first anniversary.  It was a special time.

So when you don't know what to buy a friend or a colleague when they are celebrating a special occasion, why not some bubbly!

Best Early Christmas Gift for my Almost Two Year Old

If you have a two year old kid in your life, you know that they absolutely love pretend play.  Actually our son has loved pretend play for a while now and some of his favourite toys are anything that has to do with the kitchen.  Back in the summer we bought him a kitchen from Ikea and he plays with it all the time.  We love it because it is compact.

Via Ikea

As an early Christmas gift he received this amazing pretend play food set by Learning Resources.  

Via Amazon.com

I found it online at Amazon.com but I know it can also be found sometimes at Costco in store.  It kept my son and his friends really busy.  They would take the items out of the baskets and put them back in; then they would make the food; then they would carry the food in the baskets from one end of the room to the other; and finally they would keep busy asking me the names of the items and repeating them after me.  We spent quite some time playing with the toy, so it is now on top of my list of perfect gifts for a two year old.  It is very hard to keep them interested in one toy at that age, but this one succeeded.

Thank you Kyko and family!!!

A Pretty Cool Birthday Party - Artist Kate

Two days ago a good friend of mine shared pictures from her daughter's 7th birthday party.  It was an art themed party and she invited Artist Kate to host a self portrait session.  She picked the  "I LOVE ME - Self-portrait" package and Artist Kate taught her daughter and friends techniques to paint a self-portrait. The girls apparently had so much fun and got to take their art work home!

I would have loved to attend the birthday party myself.

Such a great idea! Click here to see some of the packages Artist Kate offers.