Home Sense - Storage Boxes as Gift Boxes

As you know, I LOVE Home Sense.  I love the variety, especially when I shop for my home.  I used to hesitate, however, when buying gifts from there because almost nothing comes with a box.  If I did buy a gift it would never include anything breakable.  I used a basket from Home Sense to put all the items in.  The package looked great all wrapped up in cellophane and tied with a nice bow.

But recently, I'm all about the boxes.  It seems like lately Home Sense is carrying more storage boxes and I've started to use them when giving a gift that is breakable.

The other day I had two house warming visits and placed the items in a storage box and made it into a gift box.

The bonus is that the box is also part of the gift as it can be used for storage purposes. I chose the colours of the boxes to suit the colours of the home I was visiting.

Since I am talking about Home Sense, I thought I would share that they have a Holiday site.  Click here to check out great ideas for gifts, decor, gift wrapping and much more.

DIY Paper air balloon mobile

I wanted to create something special to place over the change table to keep baby busy while being changed. I came upon quite a few mobile ideas on Pinterest and chose to make something myself. I had been into air balloons, elephants and stars while planning for this baby and so air balloons it was!

My DIY air balloon mobile

There are so many tutorials online...You can follow this one from Simply Frugal.  I followed a few and worked with a free air balloon template I found using Google. I used paper from a pad of cute scrapbook pages in various prints (something like this) and some wood dowels in the craft aisle at Walmart and voila! Not sure how long a paper product will last in our house but it's definitely a cute inexpensive addition to the space.

I used a small clear 3M Command hook to hang the mobile from the ceiling. I love these as they can easily be removed without any damage to your walls. Amazing!

3M Command Hooks via Walmart

This would make a sweet gift to give at a baby shower or to gift over the holidays.

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!