April Giveaway: luxury soaps

As a way to promote my new business and reward all my awesome followers and readers I am having a giveaway for this month. Up for grabs is three 4 oz. soap bars from my shop. These are the most popular bars: 1 goats milk green tea, 1 goats milk lavender and oats and 1 chilli chocolat bar.

All you have to do to enter is be a FOLLOWER of my blog, and tell me what you will be doing for mother's day or what you plan to get your momma's for their special day of recognition!

To get a second entry: you can feature my new shop on your own blog via links or a blog post and leave a second comment with a link to the post.

The contest will be open until May 4th 2010 until 10 pm EST, the winner will be announced the following day through random.org. Good luck to all and of course don't forget to check out Lather & Soak!

Weekly DIY: patterned vases

This week's DIY comes from Elizabeth at To be charmed who used Japenese washi tape to decorate her simple vases. I really love that this idea is very simple, no clean up! plus most of us have tons of empty vases laying around  (a lot of mine come from winning the centre pieces at weddings!) that need filling especially with all the lovely flowers that are starting to bloom. I also like that you can decorate vases for certain seasons like winter or fall and spring and even for events like birthday parties, dinner parties etc, and then peel the tape off when you are done. Very inventive idea, love it!

Also forgot to mention, if you don't have Japenese washi tape (google it for local retailers), you could really use any kind of tape, including all of really neat lace shipping tapes that have been so popular lately.

lace tape

Soap & Chocolate?

I know weird post title...but I can explain. I just recently opened a new business, and since I don't make chocolate, well I guess you can conclude from the title I've gone into the soap making business.

It all started when my sister Patti mentioned how much the soap we regularly use in our home was always bothering her. We changed the soap, several times but still her skin seemed to be sensitive to the overly drying generic and name brand soaps.

I do buy a lot of LUSH products because well to be honest I love them (as does my sister) but to be honest they are pretty pricey...I once payed over $30 for a large block of "Honey I washed the kids", which by the way lasted a little over a week!

So my next idea was to research, and research I did. I found out how to make my own soaps, this way I knew exactly what was going into them and I didn't have to pay ridiculous retail prices!

So I wanted to share my new endeavour with everyone and share some pics of some of my products.

My shop is called Lather & Soak and can be found here I would love for you all to head over and check it out. I also carry organic soap products.

This one is called "Chilli Chocolat"

oatmeal and lavender

green tea and goats milk

Weekly DIY: fabric ottoman

This week's DIY comes from Kellie at Scraplog who made her very own ottoman from scratch.

the building process

spray painting the legs

the final product in all its glory!

You can find all the details on her blog

Outdoor Updates: red garden stool

I had bought this garden stool a long time ago... when I realized the space between the armchairs in my patio furniture set was well... missing something, I knew just what needed to go there. So a little trip to Lowe's for some Berry coloured spray paint and ta-da! A great new side table/garden stool/ extra seating for my outdoor living room in a co-ordinating colour with my set!

Did I mention I love spray paint!!!

Stay posted because I have a few more things to add to the space outside...

the garden stool inspiration

the before

the after

Potted Plants and Lanterns

I have added some things to the deck oasis (as I like to call it). I bought some potted plants for a Miami/tropical vibe and Patti bought a large outdoor lantern for the table (it has a very Hampton's vibe). 

I am still not very sure about an umbrella back here. The reason is because the backyard gets a lot of shade due to a rather large maple tree whose branches ever so strategically sway above the deck; so I needed something for the centre of the table to cover the umbrella hole enter lantern! and I can't wait for warm summer nights to light up an oversized candle and put it to use.

There are still lots of things that need to be done. You may have noticed the deck is missing railings for the stairs, which has to get done soon don't want guests to fall! I also would love to stain the deck, but I believe for pressure treated wood you have to wait a year or two. The standing lantern in the background by the potted plant is actually an old lamp (gifted to me) which works fine, so I sprayed it last year in black and use it for the night, however I am not sure if I really like it will all the new furntire. And the pots themselves may be temporary until I spy some that I like, I know HomeSense has some around this time of year. I want to add some flowers to the lounge area table, maybe when my hydrangeas start to come in! Obviously I still need lighting...maybe an outdoor rug...

But despite all the to-do's I really really love spending days out here reading and relaxing and I guess I have all summer to add more accessories. I really also like that once I have a BBQ there is plenty of seating for everyone or at least 12 people for now. Speaking of seating you may have noticed I removed the cushion backs from the lounge set, I think it makes it look more expensive and lounge-y.

Thrift Store Finds & my 200th post!

First let me just mention that this is my 200th post here on WALLPAPER! Very exciting when I logged in and just noticed that. I hope for another 200 soon...slowly but surely.

I wanted to show everyone my other finds at my neighbourhood Thrift store. I had seen a few bloggers like Holly over at Life in the Fun Lane make their own pedestals and cake stands from candle holders and vintage plates. So while I was browsing the thrift store aisles I saw candle stands and gold rimmed plates and got inspired.

I haven't decided yet if I am going to spray the bases or keep them glass what do you all think SPRAY or STAY?

I will have the reveal soon, so keep checking back.Here are the raw materials for this DIY.

Office Accessories: 99 cent find

You have to love going to thrift stores and finding little treasures. Here is my latest find, a black and clear glass jar with lid, and I think it is just too cute for words. You can house office supplies like erasers, paper clips or like me push pins for my corkboard inspiration and idea board.

Stay tuned to see what else I found on my visit plus more backyard and deck updates...

Store Spotlight: Frontiers

In keeping with the theme of this week and the DIY, I thought I would let everyone know about a little secret place I love to shop. I have a store that I really love to scope out for great antique and art deco furniture at great prices! It's called Frontiers and I am sure many of my fellow Torontonians already know about my little secret shop because it has also become theirs!

I love Frontiers for their selection and prices, and the fact that a lot of my DIY projects once came from this shop. So sit back and enjoy all of the DIY possibilities...

French bistro chair vibe

lovely bones

I want this!

too cute...hmm...are you thinking what I am thinking?

re-invent with reupholstery

spray this a bright colour and instant chic!

Anyone ever been to Frontiers? I'd love to hear about your experience?

Craigslist & Kijiji: Ottomans, foot stools, benches

Here are just a few stools and benches that caught my eye on Craigslist and Kijiji this week.

Foot stool $45

Antique bench $75

Needlepoint foot stool $150

DIY week continued: Designer friends

I know I just recently started a new series of posts called Weekly DIY, however I have seen so many great DIY's that I just had to post more than one this week, especially because this one's from a friend of mine. Blogosphere meet Natalie, interior designer extraordinaire! Natalie was kind enough to send me some pictures of her most recent DIY projects.

This girl has killer style, and a great design eye, and she can do it all on a dime! Oh yes my kind of gal :)

Her first project is this lovely tufted ottoman, in her own words:

"ottoman made from scratch: I found a small ottoman in the garbage, took the legs off, sprayed them , built a frame out of plywood and 2"x2", put 4" foam and batting on it, upholstered it, tufted it (handmade buttons were made of the same fabric) then I hot glue gunned the tassle trim around the bottom."

Isn't her place awesome

The second DIY is her stylish lamp:

"I took a roll of ribbon ($1.50) cut it to height and hot glue gunned it over the spines of an old lamp shade, the lamp base was from Frontiers....of course."

If anyone is interested in some custom work by Natalie or a consultation you can message me via WALLPAPER's email until her website is up and running.

Weekly DIY: Frosted mirror

This weeks DIY is from paper n stitch where blog author Brittni re-invents the use of the doily. You can head over to her site for full instructions and details on how she took:

This plain glass mirror, a doily and some frosted spray paint...

and turned it into this

Just stunning! I have to try this.

Designer Love: Lisa Canning

I remember watching Marriage Under Construction season 1 on HGTV Canada...I also recall how much I loved the final reveal and the designer very responsible for the entire look, the lovely Lisa Canning. You can go check her out here on her blog.

Here is some of her most recent work on a client's downtown condo:

So proud of our Canadian talent!

Weekly DIY

I wanted to start a new weekly post here at WALLPAPER called "Weekly DIY" where I search the net for fun, innovative, creative and affordable ways to DIY your home. I love DIY projects, to be honest throughout my life I have always tried to recreate things myself that I thought were not worth spending money on. I have made my own jewelery, upholstered chairs, headboards, refinished furniture, made pillows, decorative headbands, holiday cards, party supplies oh and the list goes on...

These days what better reason then the environment to reduce, re-use and recycle as well!

So without further adieu... this weeks first DIY is from Jenn at Livin the simple life.

She took this old headboard that she bought for $4...yes you read that right! and took it from,

this...

to

this

I hope this inspires us all to try a DIY of our own :)

Teeny Tiny

Apartment Therapy has there Small, Cool contest  going on right now and I couldn't wait to check out the entries. As I don't exactly live in a huge home myself (a quaint bungalow) I love to see what people do with their small spaces. I always get so inspired! Here is one of my favourites in the Teeny Tiny division from Natalie in San Francisco. I couldn't believe the size of her place, I had to do a double take... are you ready...285 square feet! She manages to make it look cozy and oh so romantic. Go check it out at AT and see the other entries,  and don't forget to vote for your favourites.