High v.s. Low: Spool Side Table

I haven't done a High Vs Low feature in quite some time, but when I came across this cute side table, I couldn't resist. 

HIGH:

I first saw this little spool table over at <a href="http///urbanbarn.com">Urban Barn</a> and thought they would be a cute little addition to my living room. 

But at $129.00, it was more than I wanted to spend for something like this.  The "Ace Side Table" is yellow, the "Jig" is a pretty grey. 

LOW:

Well,  low and behold I popped across the complex over to <a href="Http://homeoutfitters.com">Home Outfitters</a>  to get my mom a gift and stumbled upon these doppelgängers.

While not an identical match, the idea, shape, size and colors are similar. These also came in yellow and I believe a white as well! The price on these is $79.99 but the great thing is Home Outfitters have a coupon every week so you can get 20-25% off depending on your method of payment. Plus, they also have a scratch and match where you could get up to 50% off! So at best possible price, these would be about $40! Obviously I think the quality of these is a little less- mostly in that these are less glossy than the others.

Which one would YOU choose? High vs Low? I know there are also many orher 

Note: I should point out that aparently the Urban Barn price has dropped to $99! So while better, they are still the "High" for this post! :)

As I'll be making High vs Low a weekly feature so I would love to know what kinds of items my readers would want to see!  Please share your thoughts! 

Product Review

Two weeks ago, I got a nice little surprise when this package arrived in the mail:

The lovely folks over at <a href="http://influenster.com">Influenster</a> selected me to try out the Broadway Nails imPress Press-On Manicure sets!

I have to admit I was initially a little skeptical of press-ons due to the stigma with them.  All I kept imagining was losing a nail somewhere awkward...  But these little kits were super cute so I figured why not?  

I was sent 2 sets, one patterned - these cute lace overlay looking ones.

and a Solid color set. These hot pink babies that were the perfect color for me! 

Each set has 24 "nails" in 12 different sizes which means finding a good fit should be easy, and it was!  I simply held them up to my nails and selected the best looking sizes and then laid out the 10 nails on the table in order that they'd need to be applied! 

After washing my hands and trimming my natural nails, I used the included wipe, on my nails to prep them for the covers.  Then it was super simple to pull the tabs off the glue and simply press them on to my nails.  They immediately felt like they were on there nice and secure, which was a good sign.  I also had to admit they looked pretty great! 

These were advertised as a "short length" and while I don't think they were all that short, they were an ideal length for me; just slightly longer than my natural nails.

It did actually take a few days to get used to the nails, I haven't had anything other than my natural since 2000!  Admittedly, I loved how they looked and am sure I was flashing them around a lot as I got a ton of compliments on them! People were pretty shocked to hear they were artificial! 

The package says they last at least a week and I'm pretty happy to report that mine probably would have lasted even longer! However, after a weekend at the cabin without the proper tools to keep things clean, eating things like ribs with my hands, the underside was pretty gross and I had dirt and BBQ sauce between my natural nails and the covers so for same of hygiene, I knew I had to remove them....

 I didn't have the package to refer to for proper removal tactics, so I decided to try simply using a nail to lift a corner and ended up getting pretty lucky as they peeled off pretty easily ( I went really slowly so as not to damage too much of my natural nail.  There were a few spots where I think the glue was still pretty stuck on there but my nails look fine now so I think it might have just been residue. 

Overall, I'm really  impressed with these nails and am excited to try the patterned set! As someone with super brittle nails that break very easily, I like this option to protect my natural nails as they grow out. They looked great and most of my friends and co-workers thought they were my own nails. 

A big shout out to Broadway Nails, Influenster VoxBox and imPressManicure for a great little beauty surprise!

Disclaimer: I was selected by Influenster to try their imPressManicure VoxBox complimentary, however all opinions and comments are my own. 

Bits and Pieces: Sprucing up the Outdoor Spaces

 Well it's official, after another long, yucky winter, spring is here! 

May long weekend is always the official starting point to me for Spring as the weather here can be so wishy-washy. As usual, this past weekend did not disappoint and while I spent most of it at a friend'a cabin, I did get out and work on the yard quite a bit on Monday. 

Here's a bit of what I managed to do so far:

First up, I got working on the front yard. The grass up there never seems to grow that green and lush so I definitely want to see if I can improve that this year. I got the rake out and took off as much dead stuff as I could. Unfortunately my neighbours aren't so concerned about their grass and get a lot of weeds so I pulled as many as I could out of my lawn, but it's sometimes a never ending battle when others don't care...

The crabapple tree already has some shoots so there wasn't much a need for pruning thankfully. The biggest work needed up here is for the small flower bed. While I do have some tulips that are coming up and should start blooming very soon, the 4 shrubs look a little worse for wear. I will definitely be trimming those up this week. I cleared most of the dead leaves out of here by hand and added some new mulch. It really helps make the space look a ton better! 

The little owl planter I got last year didn't fare so well over the winter- the metal flaked off in a few places and he was starting to rust; so he got a quick little makeover. I thought I had some hammered metal spray but all I had was black. Since the damage was mostly on the inside, I simply did a quick coat of that and popped a new pink Gerbera Daisy pot inside, and we were good to go! 

Up on the porch, I added two new hanging baskets. I'm sad to say I had a really bad time at Garden Centres this year- I visited Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart and just didn't really like what anyone had. Plus, no one had a big selection. But since I'm impatient, I still ended up buying and spent much more than I wanted to for these babies, they better last throughout the summer! 

Sorry, it's tricky to get a nice shot in this covered space! 

I also picked up some new "refills" for my step pots. I haven't potted them yet cause I'm not sure if I like them as is/ want to get new pots or will just keep my old ones...

I already swapped out a bit of the season decor on the porch just after Easter, so the front door has been sporting it's Spring "wreath" by way of this cheerful butterfly hanger. 

The chair has been put back up here with a brand new turquoise trellis cushion ( I bought 4 last year and 3 found homes so this one was found hiding). 

The little table has it's regular lantern and the same bird as last year. I think it could use some sprucing up in the styling department so I'll be making some changes. I'd also really like to add something to the wall above, whether that's a chalkboard or a plaque or little wall shelf/basket, I'm not sure yet. 

While the whole exterior still needs a good pressure washing, (my hose bib needs repairing before I can hook my hose up again) it's already looking a lot better out there.

Easter Wrap-up!

Happy Easter Everyone! 

I was super fortunate to have my entire family come in for the weekend and spend some much needed time together!  While my dad lives in the city, my mom is about an hour and a half North, and my brother and his family are 4 hrs away, so typically we only see them on major holidays! 

Easter is always a pretty special time for us, as my nephew Phoenix was born 3 years ago on Easter! While I know the date moves around, we roll the weekend into one big celebration as they are usually only here for 2-3 days! 

While they are leaving today, since my brother has to work on Monday, I am grateful for the time we had together! Here's some of my fave shots from the weekend:

Super unimpressed with us singing "Happy Birthday"

3 seconds after we stopped and he blew out his candles...

Siting on his new chair from Auntie! 

Finley helping her "cousin" play with his new tractor.

Dad and Dawn watching P open his gifts! 

My beautiful Easter hydrangeas.... That immediately wilted. Except the purple...those like my house :( 

The sweetest bunny cupcakes I whipped up! Super proud of how cute they are, but note to self: oil in cupcake batter will make ur fancy cup look weird, so bake in a plain paper and then use a "fooler" fancy one! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Light the Way: Master Bedroom Update

Yesterday I mentioned that I had made another little update to the Master Bedroom and it's one I am super excited about! You see, a few years back, I purchased a great light fixture at an amazing price over at Home Sense and the ex said he would hang it, over and over and over.....

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and it was still sitting in the office waiting to be hung. Thankfully, I had someone come over and give me a hand with hanging it!  You can't imagine how happy I was to get rid of this boob light.

Since electrical stuff frightens me, I'm not even going to pretend that I did the work myself, so this is by no means going to be a tutorial.

But it is a reveal so here's the after:

Sooooo pretty!  Even the pattern it creates on the ceiling is pretty! It's been installed for a few weeks and I'm really happy with how it looks. The only downfall is that the bulb situation is different and less bright, but that's what happens when you put a dining room fixture in the bedroom.

Instead of regular bulbs it takes these chandelier bulbs, which are slightly more annoying to buy.

My favourite thing is how well the fixture coordinates with other elements in the space: the diamond pattern that's repeated in the bedding, which coordinates with the slightly Moroccan styled shape on the stencilled wall! 

(The color of the bedding looks weirdly purple here, which is odd since it perfectly matches the walls...) 

So that's where the room is at right now. I will try and get some good daylight photos this weekend since I finally have some days off for Easter.

What new additions have you made lately? 

New Addition: Master Bedroom Edition

Last week, I came across a steal of a deal and couldn't pass it up! While I wasn't actually in the market for a new upholstered bench, I essentially snagged this one for FAH-REE so I couldn't NOT bring it home with me! 

You see, I've been working part time at a local home goods retailer for the past few months. I happened to notice that this beauty was marked down from $180 to $99! As an employee, we also have the ability to earn "dollars" towards our purchase, up to half the cost of the item! I had more than enough to pay for half the bench and wouldn't you know it - I already had a gift card that I had won at a charity event, making this baby FREE!

What's even better? I absolutely ADORE this piece! It's worked everywhere I've put it, so far! 

 When we put it together, we originally set it up in the dining room, which was absolutely perfect!

Not only did it look great, but it was very functional. My main floor is setup as one large room and putting the bench between the dining room and living room means it's perfect for pulling into the living space when I have guests over! However, we have some guests under the age of 3 coming this weekend and white linen really wasn't a great option, so I moved it up to my bedroom for the time being and absolutely love it there too! 

It actually looks really nice in this little window alcove. I originally planned on refinishing a vintage chair that's sitting in my basement for this space, but now I am loving the bench! 

So far, we've managed to avoid getting this thing dirty, but I have to admit that since it's spring and someone's paws are exceptionally dirty, we've been keeping things under cover. But, it apparently is Teflon coated, so I'm sure with 3 pets, I'll be putting that to the test soon enough. :)

The legs are super traditional but it works really well in this house

These photos do NOT do the fabric justice. It is definitely white, NOT cream!  But sadly, working so much, limits my time frame for taking some good shots! Plus, I've somehow lost both of my cameras sd cards....  :( 

Oh, and since I wanted to add a little something to the bench but didn't have any free toss cushions, I added this beautiful handmade quilt. A fiend of my mom's made it for me and it is gorgeous!  Here is a closer shot of the pretty fabric! 

So while I wasn't looking to add more furniture in this space, I am super happy with the new addition! 

Stay tuned tomorrow as we've made another change in this space!

From This to That!

I'm currently working on getting my office put back together, but until my handy mover friends can get their butts over to move my furniture, I' m only able to work on the little things. 

Tonight's project wasn't so much a project as it was re-purposing. But anytime I can save a few bucks on something decorative, I'm a fan! So today's feature is taking an old candle and turning it into a pretty pencil cup for my desk.

I'm a big fan of Essenza Brand candles and reed diffusers (I can't find a website but Costco carries them here once in a while, or HomeSense and apparently <a href>="http://amazon.ca"</a> . Not only do they smell lovely, but their packaging is so pretty! I finished another candle this week and figured it would be the perfect addition to my desktop! 

First step was to get the last bit of wax out. I first put the whole thing in the freezer for a day to make the wax nice and hard so it'd be easier to remove.

Once that was good, I used a paper towel to wipe the spot off the inside so I wouldn't get my hand all dirty ;) 

Next step was to use an old knife to slide down between the glass and wax (since it's frozen it kinda of pops out). **this is where you have to be careful - if the glass is too cold still you can shatter the glass easily!! This was not my first attempt at this but it's the only one that's survived! 

Once that's all clean, you just need to get rid of the residual wax. I sometimes pop it in the dishwasher but this one was pretty clean so a quick hand wash and it was good to go! 

Isn't the floral etching super pretty? I put it against the fridge so you could see it. Pretty little vibes! 

It's the perfect size for pens, scissors and other desk accessories. I've also used them for other craft supplies, makeup brushes and even tampons in the guest bath! 

(I have to get some pretty, matching pens now apparently..) 

So, just a quick little reminder to think about re-purposing before throwing it away next time!