Things I Heart III

How awesome was your weekend?! I got to hang out with two terrific gals from work, go snowmobiling for the first time this year, drive a snowmobile for the first time ever, attend a great ladies' Bible study and have awesome homemade salsa, make plans for the week ahead, and chill on the couch with my darling. That pretty much sums up my favourite type of weekend!

I'm going to try and make the Things I Heart posts a monthly feature. There was one for December, and I'm sticking this post in before the end of January - since today is the last day, after all :)

Things I Heart is a general compilation of items that get the creative juices pumping for me. I am an extremely externally motivated person when it comes to creating - unless I'm inspired, I'm not going to pick up anything by any means within myself. Here are some of my latest findings:

1. wire baskets
2. white-washing
3. children's handwriting
4. simple drawings
5. yarn
6. paper scraps
7. vintage wallpaper
8. worn-out denim
9. ancient school readers
10. old photo albums

Don't you just want to get creating? Make this the week that you make something for someone else. Valentine's Day is fast approaching - why not make some cards to hand out to the lovely ladies and gents in your life?

Happy Monday!

Get 'Em While They're Hot

Every time I show something that I've created, I always feel a little twinge of nervousness. I feel as though I'm putting myself out there, and it's a little scary. What if someone thinks that my craft or creation is silly? Childish? Amateur? I know that those people don't matter, and usually won't comment, but it's a fear that I have, regardless.

Here we go - no turning back now!

I made a series of three paintings last year, and Daniel and several others have been encouraging me to sell them online. I think I'm ready to part with them - I'm ready to sell. The paintings have a cute, casual, fun and shabby-chic vibe:

Each one is a 16" by 25" stretched canvas. They can be sold separately, or as a set. They would be terrific in a child's nursery, in a craft room, a bedroom, or a funky living or dining room. The cheerful colours would work in a neutral, or a colour-friendly space.

Before I put the paintings in my Etsy shop, I thought that I would offer them here as a special offer to my Maritime readers (or someone with connections within the Maritimes). If you live within the local provinces, and are interested in one painting or the set, I would love to give you a special reader deal. That way, we also wouldn't have to worry about crazy Canada Post shipping charges. You know how nuts that can be!

If you are even a little interested, e-mail me at littleohmehotmailcom
We can talk more through personal e-mails. I'd love to give these guys a loving home!

Happy Thursday!

Tasty Treat

< image via weheartit >

I'm just dropping in to share a terrific recipe with you:

Rhubarb Ginger Syrup

4 c rhubarb, diced

1" ginger, sliced

1 c white sugar

1 c water

1 tsp vanilla

Bring all ingredients to a simmer.

Continue to cook 15 - 20 minutes,
or until rhubarb is broken down.

Strain liquid.

Store in refrigerator once cool. 

Add to club soda for a tart drink,

or to 7-Up for a sweeter taste.

Enjoy!

I don't know about you, but around this time of year, I love using up some of my frozen produce stash from last summer. If you have extra rhubarb hanging out in your freezer and you are itching to use it up, you have to make this syrup. It's so delicious and refreshing! It's great to mix up if you have friends in, since it's something a little unique. My friend Jessie made and bottled some syrup as Christmas gifts, and I've fooled around with a couple of recipes until I came up with these proportions. It works!

Also, I've been using the leftover stewed rhubarb and ginger as a fruity sweetener in our smoothies. It tastes terrific, and there's no waste! It goes really well with blueberries and raspberries - yummo :)

Happy Wednesday!

Phat Reads

I caved at the bookstore recently. I picked up this rascal...

 

I've been wanting this book for a while, but I wasn't willing to pay the hardcover book price for it. You know what I mean? Hardcovers are so stinking expensive! But, my friends, it was well worth the moolah.

I love home decor books, but I'm incredibly fussy. I have to hear great reviews, I have to look through it several times, and the biggest factor? The book has to have awesome photos. No yellow, unnatural lighting for me. Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces hit the nail on the head. I highly recommend it, regardless of the size or style of your home. They take great ideas from every day homes and tell you how to execute them in your own home. How perfect is that?

I hope that your day went smoothly. Here's to a fun Wednesday!

Polyvore Loves

Polyvore Loves is back!

My pal Jacalyn brainstormed the theme for this week's edition...

Ski Trip Chic

These Polyvore outfits are dedicated to Daniel... who enjoys snowboarding as much as I dislike snowboarding and skiing. A lot. Sorry, darling, it's going to take a lot to get me on the ski hill :) Jacalyn and I are making plans around the old slopes for Friday...

But - there are some pretty cute outfits that can be worn if you do choose to hit the ski hill! You have to keep warm, but you have got to look pretty darn cute, too. I chose one outfit for the hill - it is nice and bright and cheery. The other one for inside the lodge - it will be your time to shine in this classic black, red, and cream set. Hope these beauties are chic enough for you! Thanks for the idea, Jac!

snow1 by littleohme featuring a volcom

snow2 by littleohme featuring black leggings

Playing Catch Up

After a lazy-dazy weekend, today is my day to get all caught up. So far, I've been plugging away at the piled-up laundry... I'm on load number four. I took a few minutes to find some slow cooker chicken recipes, too - I'm itching to try something new (and easy!). It's crazy stormy out today, but I'm hoping to make a trip to the post office and the local bakery before the afternoon is over.

My father-in-law has been working on our laundry room, so everything that was in the room, is now in the middle of the living room. I'm painting the laundry room tomorrow, and hopefully the new flooring will go down in the next few days. We've been using our in-law's laundry facilities, but it will be nice to have our own space. Yippee for change!

Also, this week I'm going to get the Etsy train rolling. I'll let you know how things pan out, and share my progress with you. Here's to the start of a fun week!

Happy Monday!

Home Tour Week: Bathroom

It's the last post of the week - our bathroom. 

Let's take a look...

It's a teensy one - but we do have a linen closet! Our last apartment didn't have one, so I used a dresser. Kind of inconvenient - it was in the kitchen :) We also have a tub now - we used to just have a shower. Imagine a bath lover not having a bathtub for almost two years. Cranky :)

I love our waffle weave shower curtain. White's so clean - which is something that you want to associate your bathroom with. The bath mat is a nice acid green, and the flower canvas was a purchase last year.

 

Our sink has lots of counter space, so I can set up cute little displays :) The ring holder was also purchased on our honeymoon - best invention ever. If you don't have one, you need to buy one. The little piece in the middle keeps your rings nice and safe!

 

The art was a wedding present - it's made by a local artist. I love the aged wood frame - it's a nice rustic element. We have lots of candles, of course. What would a home be without them? :)

I hope you enjoyed the Home Tour Week. I had fun! 

Let me know if you have any questions. I'd love to chat!

Home Tour Week: Kitchen

Are you ready for the kitchen? 

Let's rock!

 

Against one wall, we have our little table and stools. Before we moved in, they put a door in the kitchen to go outdoors. It ate up what was going to be our table, so we were on the look-out for a substitute. We thought about building a breakfast bar, but we ended up finding the perfect table. It's long and narrow, and came with four stools. It's tight quarters if we have anyone over, but for the two of us, it's perfect!

 

Here's a look at the kitchen, coming from the living room. Daniel's dad build all of the cabinets by hand. Talented, eh? I've tried to have a few hits of red - a gingham curtain, Kitchen-aid mixer (not shown - it's by the fridge), and soap. Take a closer look at my window ledge...

 Two plants! I haven't killed them yet, they are actually growing! They are the cutest little things - we picked them up as a little pop of natural life before we moved. I'm quite proud of them. It's my longest track record yet - three months :)

 

Last but not least, my cupcake canisters. They're pretty cute!

Well, that's our kitchen! I'll be sharing some fun recipes that I've tried out in it soon :)

Home Tour Week: Giveaway Winner

The Home Tour Week giveaway winner is:

Congrats, Emily! I'll get your package out to you on Monday!

I'll be back with a kitchen and bath post :)

Home Tour Week: Living Room

Are you ready to take a peek at our living room?

Here we go...

Today is a little cloudy and over-cast in these parts, so I'm not too pleased with how the photos turned out. The room seems dark and shadow-y, but it isn't in real life. I love our beautiful floors - Daniel and my father-in-law put them down before we moved. Aren't they purty?!

I love lamp light so much more than over-head, glaring lights. We received these lamps as a wedding present, which we were extremely thankful for, but I'm ready to move them to the bedroom. I'd like to get big, statement-making lamps for our side tables. For now, we'll deal with the cards we've been dealt :)

 

The organ fits neatly into this corner. I'd love to take the time and get cute accessories to jazz it up. It's a great place to burn candles or put a reed diffuser. Our big mirror is also along this wall.

 

My parents gave me this awesome antique wire basket for Christmas! I was eyeing it up at a local antique dealer's place, and Mom went back later and bought it for me. It was the best surprise ever on Christmas morning! Mom made the cushion in the front (a Christmas present, too) and my in-laws gave us the one in the back. It's colourful loops of felt forming a huge flower with a wooden button in the middle. Cute!

 

We have cozy chairs along this wall. I'm so happy with our curtains. Mom and I made a day trip to find the perfect curtains, and on our very last stop, we found these gems. I love the little pop of glamour that they bring to the room.

You've seen this piece before, but I had to share it again :) Daniel made this bookcase/console table for me as my Christmas gift. I love that it helps us to have a "grown-up" apartment. We're slowly collecting things here and there that are upgrades from our hand-me-downs. It's nice to slowly be pulling things together.

I hope you enjoyed our living room tour! It's the coziest one that we've ever had - we spend so much time in here! In our last apartment, I never spent any time in the living room - I couldn't get comfortable, and I found it dreary and cold. Our current living room is top-notch!

Tonight's your last chance for the giveaway!

Home Tour Week: Thrifty Thursday

It's Thrifty Thursday, Home Tour Week edition!

I'll be sharing our living room with you later today (!) ... when I was taking the photos, I saw the perfect thing on our bookshelf to feature for this week's Thrifty Thursday:

I picked up these two adorable little shadow boxes last year. The bleached wood is a perfect accent in any room - a little Scandinavian influence. I believe I paid less than $2 each for these bad boys. A whole lot cheaper than a department store - and they were still in their original packaging!

I have a Black Apple print from Kelsie is one frame - I love this print! It's an albino girl with her albino rabbit - two peas in a pod. In the other frame, I made a little bunting banner out of coral coloured paint chips, and the word "one" in sparkly baby blue letters. They frames are cute, small, and great bookshelf fillers. Score!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Home Tour Week: Bedroom

Today I'm going to give you a little tour of our bedroom. 

Our apartment is small - only one bedroom - but we find it incredibly cozy. Out of all of the places that we've lived in together, this is the most homey. In our previous apartment, our bedroom had a shabby chic vibe going on. I'm slowly weeding out the pastels and trying to use neutrals with pops of colour in our current bedroom. Take a look:

Last week, I took off all of the accent pillows (except for one) off of the bed. I removed the pillow covers, and here's my game plan: make natural linen covers with strips of colour on each one. Hopefully this will help to bridge our tan paint colour and the bright(er) quilt. Here's the only accent pillow left:

When we went to Toronto last summer, I found a rug in Urban Outfitters that I loved. We managed to finagle it into our suitcase, and it currently resides in our bedroom:

Since our bedroom is too small for two bedside tables, we have our (shared) dresser on one side. It's worked well so far... but sharing a dresser?! That's a work in progress :)

On the other side, we have a rustic little side table with four drawers. We each have a sock and underwear drawer. This seems to work:

 

By the door, I have a little table with my girlier things on it: my necklace holder, hair products, and of course, my Momiji dolls:

 

Here are my little Momiji darlings:

We have a beautiful antique rocker in the corner. It was my mom's, and I've always loved it. She got it from an instructor of hers way back in the day. It belonged to his grandmother, so that's about... four or five generations. That bad boy is old!

 

We bought this little crab on our honeymoon. He's handmade, and the prettiest shade of mustard yellow.

I have a Nikki McClure print in our room as well. We bought this in Boston, and I picked up another one in Toronto. We don't have the other print anymore - a moving mishap. Boo.

Well, that's our little room. I'm sorry that there isn't a wider general shot, but it's hard to get the right angle. The joys of a tiny place, eh?

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Home Tour Week: Inspiration

I had the brilliant idea of compiling a list of specific home tours to show you some of my favourites today. 

Guess what? I can't narrow it down. I will share my links as to where I find inspiration, and you can cruise through the sites and come to your own conclusions :) Beware, I may make you spend a little longer on your computer than you planned. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The genius part of finding inspiration online is the fact that it is inspiration. You don't need to copy an entire room. You don't need to have the same style home. You don't need to have the same furniture or artwork. You don't need to have the same budget. You just need to appreciate some aspect of what you see, and apply it to your own home. It could be an idea, a feeling or sense, it could be furniture placement, sky's the limit. Take the time to find some inspiration - working on your dwelling helps to make it feel like home.

Enjoy!

My number one source:

Design Sponge - Sneak Peeks

My other top four sources:

Young House Love

Apartment Therapy

Decor 8

Making it Lovely

Don't forget to enter the giveaway below!

Home Tour Week: Giveaway

It's giveaway time!

The home tour week giveaway includes:

The Body Shop's Born Lippy lip balm in Mango Peach

Sally Hansen New Lengths Ceramics nail polish in Raven (navy)

Two black and gold hair clips

Here's how to enter:

Comment on this post or on Facebook

Tell me your favourite number

Include your e-mail address or contact info

Contest closes:

Thursday, January 20th at 11 pm AST

Winner will be announced:

Friday, January 21st

Good luck!

Home Tour Week: Paint Colours

Welcome to Home Tour Week!

To start things off, I thought I'd share our apartment's paint colours with you. Keep in mind, the colour on the screen can vary from computer to computer, but this is a pretty good representation of our colours:

The kitchen, bedroom and hallways are painted Summer Suede by Pittsburgh Paints. It's a nice neutral tan that goes well with whites or brights. My mother-in-law had just painted it a few months before we moved in. (Side note: we moved into the granny suite that's attached to my in-laws house - it's a separate apartment.) I'm not a brown sort of girl, but it's nice and light and helps open up our tiny apartment.

The bathroom is painted Benjamin Moore Gull Wing Gray. It's a nice deep colour that isn't too overwhelming in a small space. It sometimes reads as a smoky blue as well, depending on the accent colours and lighting in the room. I love it with white and acid green!

Our living room is Bird's Egg by Benjamin Moore. We were inspired by this room in a Pure Design episode. It's a beautiful light and bright shade of robin's egg, and it provides our place with a calming burst of colour. I'm so happy that we went a little more bold than usual - we were tempted to go gray, but I think we made the right decision in the end.

That's your first peek into our place. Stay tuned for more!

Next Week's Plan

Surprise!

Next week is Home Tour Week! 

I have got an action packed schedule for 

this little blog from Monday to Friday. 

There will be a look at our current paint colours, 

a tour of our apartment, an inspirational post for our new laundry room, 

a link-up post to some of my favourite home tours, and a giveaway. 

Keep your eyes peeled, starting Monday, for a super fun week! 

If you like interior design, then you'll love Home Tour Week!

Polyvore Loves

Are you ready for a nice change from your black, brown, and denim?

It's Polyvore Loves!

This week, it's Anthropologie time! Do I really need to link it? I'm sure if you're a fan, you know the site :) I chose some unique pieces to get us out of our hum-drum style. I know I'm feeling the winter lazies. Anthropologie always helps me to look at my closet in a different way.

Maybe it's time to do some outfit of the days, too! That may help me - put the pressure on for me to get out of my jeans or leggings. What do you guys think? I'll let you take a look at the Polyvore outfit and then make a decision. Let me know in the comments (or on Facebook) if you want to see me in outfit posts...

anthropolo by littleohme featuring anthropologie skirts

Thrifty Thursday

It's Thrifty Thursday time!

Each Thursday, I'll be showcasing an item that I've recently thrifted. It will be fun to show you the beautiful, cute, useful, and/or quirky pieces that I've picked up for next to nothing. I'll try to remember how much I've paid for each item as well - just to prove that I'm no extravagant shopper! :)

In December, I was dilly-dallying in the shoe section at Value Village. I received a few gift certificates for my birthday that were burning a hole in my pocket - or, um, purse. At first, I caught a glimpse of a red shoe that sparkled - and it was a flat! 

Upon closer inspection, I saw the brand name inside:

 

They're Frye! American made, quality footwear! These puppies had little to no wear, so I scooped them up - they were a size 9 after all - a perfect fit. 

The best part? The Value Village pricing associates strike again:

They were $3.99! These shoes would retail for around $150! 

I find that if it's a brand name or label that is sold in the area - and believe me, there aren't many - then the item will be significantly overpriced. For example - a dress from Suzy Shier for $14.99. No thanks, I'll go to the mall and buy it for $16.99, thank you very much. The most commonly overpriced items are primarily from Walmart (725 Originals or George), Old Navy, Gap, and American Eagle. Any other label is fair game. 

So that's my find for this edition - don't you love my sparkly flats? I can't wait until the spring when I can rock these bad boys with a cute floral print dress.

Have you found any awesome thrifted items lately?

Happy Thursday!

Lush Showdown

It's time for another Lush showdown! 

This week, it's Sandstone versus Summer Pudding. 

Let the best soap win!

Sandstone is a beautiful exfoliating soap. At first, the sandy bits seem a little too intense, but I promise, your skin will love it! The soap itself is silky smooth, moisturizing as the sand strips the dry skin away. The scent smells like lemon drop candy, or lemon Lifesavers. It's a delicious combination of lemon and sweetness. It's fresh and summer-y. Awesome stuff.

Summer Pudding is a lovely scented soap. It has a fruity, cherry almond smell - very soothing. The texture of the soap? Not so great. It doesn't lather very well, and I didn't feel super clean after using it in the shower. Would I buy more? I don't think so - although the cherry almond-ness was a fun scent to try out.

The verdict? Sandstone wins, hands down. If you are looking for a new body scrub, why not try this product? It's a soap and exfoliating product in one - perfect! I received a sample size in an online Lush order, and I also got a full sized piece in a Christmas present - lucky me!

Have you tried any new products lately?

Happy Wednesday!