Who Lives Here? Martha Stewart?

So you can take the family out of the floral business, but...

This Thanksgiving we finally had a chance to gather together and have an unrushed family day.  Sure it was particularly special because we were not tied down to the shop, however the best part was that for the first time Dave and I could finally host our first holiday. Sure our dining room is in need of a few things, but I pulled out my best Martha Stewart and this is the result....

I also managed to whip up an awesome pecan pumpkin cake complete with fondant leaves and acorns. Damn, those acorns were more difficult to make than I first suspected.

And, of course, you cannot forget about the finer details of the flatware...

Then weeks later we were thrust into my favorite day of the year...

Halloween!!!

I think we are hated by the other people on the street, 'cause we are a little too focused on decorating for this particular day. 

I know this because one woman who came to the door with her brood of Trick or Treaters asked in a venomous tone, " is this where Martha Stewart Lives?"

Ok, sure the owl pumpkin was carved from an idea from Martha's web site. But why do people need to be so nasty on the best day of the year? Sure we have real fire and the pizzazz of pumpkins that are fancy, but we don't have a full grave year on the lawn...yet.

And besides, I never forget to pay an homage to my favorite classic childhood moment: The 'free hand carve'

To be completely honest... it is always the moment that gives me the most joy.

March Break - Activity # 3

As per usual, we have used our holiday to do home renovations.  The first goal on Dave's list was to tackle the spare room.  Or rather, the Barney room as we had aptly named it. You see, when we moved in, the room had been a little girl's bedroom.  And for some reason, perhaps because this sweet 6 year old had been able to choose the colour, it was the colour of a popular  large dinosaur from the early part of the decade.  To say the very least, it was offensive.  

So, armed again with a giant pail of primer, Dave happily began to tackle this room as the next room in a series we like to call The Olden's Paint Everything.  

So far, we had painted the main floor powder room and the dining room and the study.  The powder room, if you remember from a past post, was the room with the lovely teal textured walls that needed to be sanded down and Greco-Roman light fixture that smoked from the halogen lights that were in it.  

This is it now:

The print on the wall is from one of my favorite Canadian artists, the late Norval Morrisseau.  He is considered the "Picasso of the North" and as an Anishinaabe artist his works feature the beauty of Canadian Aboriginal spirituality and mysticism.  This particular work is entitled A Branch From The Tree of Heaven.

Though not nearly as well known, Dave is also a skilled artist with a paint brush.  In later posts I will show the final result of the study and the dining room, but here, I actually managed before and after shots of the Barney room, so I figured I would post them ASAP.  

 There is something to be said for a man who has a thirst for painting.  Look at the sense of satisfaction he has as he rolls the last bit of primer over the abomination that was the purple walls.  Pure joy I tell you; that is pure joy!





I have a bit of a commitment issue when it comes to paint colours.  I know how absolutely temporary they are, but I still break into a sweat having to make the final decision in the paint store.  Inevitably, I always hate the colour for about two weeks after it goes on the wall. Here is the final result of our spare room.

It has all the furniture from the spare room in the old house (a.k.a. my old university furniture) , so I think maybe it is throwing me off, but it has only been a few days, so I have miles to go until I love it.  The main thing is, NO BARNEY!!!! And that's what counts isn't it?  

And as I type, Dave is filling the walls and sanding in the laundry room and bathroom.  I suppose I should get back to him. It is, of course, The Olden's Paint Everything, so that means  both of us...

March Break - Activity # 2

Our egg tree on the foyer table

So, I love Easter. That's right, Easter.
In fact, it is my absolute favorite holiday of the year (All Hallows Eve being the next runner up).  Faith aside, and believe me, most of the reason I love this holiday has everything to do with my faith, I think it is the most beautiful and hopeful holiday of the year.  In the colour department it is absolutely the most pretty, and in the season department it brings Spring. Who couldn't love Easter?

On the faith side, Easter ultimately means that we all have a new start. We can brush off the dust and crap like the Winter leftovers that remain from the thaw and like an Easter egg, we are given a chance for a fresh start at beautiful new beginning.  Easter and Spring bring us re-birth like a cuddly baby little lamb after a long time in the barn.  That's Easter to me.

My birthday is in March, and as a result, all my life I have received gifts that somehow had a connection to Easter.  At some point people began giving me bunnies and it became a birthday trend that turned into an homage of seasonal decor.  It also doesn't hurt that the scent of Easter lilies and hyacinths is the best smell on earth (next to a freshly tilled garden) and it is also my birthday smell, if you will indulge a person to have a birthday smell. So, as a result of combined celebrations,  I have embraced this holiday season by filling our house with all the Easter things I love.  Dave just smiles with that, "look how I managed to domesticate the wild one" look as I participate in these sorts of things.

This year I was determined to have an Easter egg wreath for our front door.  Dave humored me as we went on a hunt (no pun intended) for this egg wreath.  We searched high and low. I think I may have been in every shop in our town to find one, but to no avail. Those I found were either ugly or too small.  Then it dawned on me! Why not just make one? So I did...

I decided that the best place to make this project was at my family flower shop.  For 16 years I have had the luxury of easy access to supplies of the trade at my finger tips.  Though this was not at all going to test my floral skills, it gave me the excuse to hang out with my sister while I dipped my cute little eggs in the hot glue pan.

There was a need for me to scout out just the right eggs for this project.  The right melange of eggs is key to ultimate curb-appeal once on the door.  These were two sizes, some glittery and some beaded.

This is the standard wicker frame I decided to use.  Not too heavy but nice and strong.

This is the pile as I take a break from gluing.  They started off as eggs on a metal pick, so thanks to Max, I did not have to cut a million eggs off their wires!  That's love I tell you.

Here is the final product on our front door. Gone are the very yellowed Christmas containers and greenery.  Now we have a festive little purple urn with artificial forsythia and the ultimate egg wreath.  

I am thinking I might need to scout out an Easter door mat though, don't you think?  I pulled out our summer one and it's just not doing it for me.  The hunt continues...