Kelly’s big beach adventure

On Saturday, I was torn between going to the Etsy Made in Canada craft show in Halifax, or doing the beach tour that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. In the end, the sunshine and blue skies said one thing – go to the beach! So I did. I made my lunch, packed my atlas, extra shoes, and cooler in the car, recharged my camera battery and iPhone, and checked Google maps to see how far my great adventure was going to take me. Turns out, I was going to be traveling a whopping 33.1 kilometers from home. Hmmmmm…. so it was a mini adventure. And every good adventure starts with a ferry ride :-)

First stop – Risser’s Beach. Once I finally figured out where to park, I took a walk up the beach and along the boardwalk. I don’t know what it is about boardwalks, but I love them….

 

      

And walking on the beach…

 

 

 

 

Then I headed over to Cherry Hill Beach. I timed it so I would get there at low tide. The vast expanse of sand is incredible.

It was a long walk from one end of the beach to the other and back, but it was so nice to be outside enjoying the gorgeous weather and watching the waves.

 

 

 

On my way back home, I made a quick stop at Green Bay Beach. We had a great time here in 2010 with a bunch of dogs and a few humans :-) From 2010…

And from 2015…

 

Right around here is where the ocean water meets the bay water, and all of a sudden the water is warmer.

Thought this sign was cute :-) Especially because when we were here in 2010, Squirt pooped in the ocean!

 

One last stop before getting on the ferry – the LaHave Bakery. Yum!

And back across the river on the ferry – almost home!

There are a LOT more beaches to explore. Maybe my next beach adventure will take me more than 33.1kms from home ;-)

Sewing fun at The Lunenburg Makery

The Lunenburg Makery is a place for learning, making, and gathering around craft. We are a multi-purpose craft space including sewing facilities, a library and reading area, a retail space and studios. We offer workshops and courses as well as drop-in projects, sew-by-the-hour, evening craft circles, and studio space.

The Lunenburg Makery is one of my favourite places in Lunenburg. It’s a great shop that sells fabrics and yarns and crafting kits and does clothing alterations and hosts workshops that teach you how to make all sorts of crafty things. They also offer sewing lessons, and if you buy an annual membership for $65, you can use all their sewing equipment for free!

A while back, I blogged about the stool Brian and I recovered in Summer Fun fabric from Minted.

I LOVE this fabric, and after covering the stool, there was still enough fabric to make a cushion cover. Except I don’t know how to make a cushion cover, and I have absolutely no sewing supplies. So I took a sewing lesson with Rita at the Makery. She’s a great teacher – very knowledgeable, encouraging, and gets you to do rather than watch.

Rita had a great idea – she suggested that I used a plain fabric on the back of the cushion cover, and that way I would probably be able to get two cushion covers out of my piece of fabric. I came up with the idea of using two different colours on the back, and I chose turquoise and coral.

There were a few boo-boos along the way, but after a couple of hours of hours of sewing and lots of laughs with Rita, I finished my very first cushion cover :-)

Yesterday, I went back to make cushion cover #2. This time I was able to do most of the work on my own. I’d already cut all the pieces with Rita’s help at my lesson,  so it was pretty much just a matter of sewing hems on the backing pieces and then sewing everything together. Except nothing with me is ever simple ;-) I was pretty happy with the hems on the backing pieces that I sewed all by myself. But when I went to pin them onto the front piece of fabric, they were too small. I had sewn the herms on the scrap pieces of backing fabric. Oops! Oh well, extra practice :-) Once I got the right pieces done, things went smoothly and pretty soon I had cushion #2 all done :-)

        

I love my new cushions! Thank you Rita at The Lunenburg Makery, and thank you once again to Minted for providing me with the beautiful fabric :-)

Happy weekend!

Build journal – The driveway continues!

The closer the excavator gets to the end of the driveway, the more excited I get! On Friday, it was about halfway done…

Love this machine!

 

 

This was the view from the excavator towards the lot on Friday – still a ways to go…

And this was the view from the excavator towards the lot on Monday!

WOOT! It’s almost there!

 

Have I mentioned that I love this machine?

Nothing digs a driveway like a John Deere ;-)

Before the driveway work started….

And now!

If all goes well, the driveway will be finished today!

Bedroom beautification – Let’s take a tour

I’ve shown you my night table makeover and my super-cheap headboard made from cupboard doors. The master bedroom still isn’t completely done, but I think it can make its official debut here on my blog :-) There are still some things I want to do, but I’m pretty happy with how it’s looking so far.

OK, so  here’s the original bedroom – as you can see, not too pretty! I had started prepping the room to paint before I realized I  needed a Before picture, but you get the idea. The turquoise curtains were my attempt at adding colour to the room. But they’re kinda skimpy and too short, and looked more sad than cheerful.

Just painting the room BM Gossamer Blue made a huge difference.

I love this colour for a few reasons – it reminds me of the sky and water. It changes throughout the day from lighter blue to almost turquoise, depending on the time of day and the sunlight. And it actually is a great neutral backdrop for all the colours that I’ve brought into the room.

Here’s what the bedroom looks like now, complete with wrinkled bedding from Walmart ;-) Sorry, I don’t have an iron! Each piece is sold separately, so I decided to mix up the colours a bit with the pink pillow cases and blue sheets. I don’t love the duvet cover, but I can’t really buy a new one when we have this one plus another two back in Ottawa. I mean, I COULD, but then Brian would have a conniption fit ;-)

I decided to go with the boat cleats for drawer pulls on the night tables. Thanks for the feedback on that dilemma :-)

I picked up the lamps at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago. I love the bases, but I’m not sure about the burlap shades. I’m thinking of either covering them with fabric or painting them.

The box spring and mattress are still on the floor, but it all looks more like a real bed now with the headboard.

I covered the box spring with an old fitted sheet so it looks a bit less dorm-like ;-)

I LOVE the fabric I got from Minted a couple of months ago. I used it to recover a stool, and there was enough left to make a throw cushion. I went to The Lunenburg Makery last week to take a sewing class and use one of their machines, and I made my first-ever cushion cover :-) I need to get a bigger insert though – I forgot about the trick of using an insert that’s one size bigger than the cover to get a really plump cushion. This one is  little baggy :-)

I picked up this frame at a garage sale for $1.00. I spray painted it navy and put in a note card from The Maritime Painted Saltbox. I found the piece of driftwood on the beach.

I wanted a round mirror to hang above the dresser (which I picked up from Kijiji for $45). I found this one at HomeSense for $12.00. My original plan was to paint it white or silver, but I like how it repeats the black frames that are on the opposite wall. The artwork is by three Lunenburg artists. I didn’t intend to hang them together, but I kind of like how they look as a threesome. I don’t really know why I hung the mirror offset from the dresser – I just thought it looked better that way :-)

I haven’t quite decided where the basket will go or what I’ll put into it. But I love the bright colours :-)

I’ve developed this thing for buoys. This one came from a cool little shop in Blue Rocks. The paddle is from an antique shop in Mahone Bay, and I picked up the stump from the beach.


 

I asked the guy who owns our rental house if he would be open to changing all the light fixtures, and he said sure. Wooohooo! So down came the boob light and up went this sparkly chandelier. A great deal at Costco for $100 :-) I love the pattern of light on the ceiling.

So that’s where the bedroom is at now. It won’t make the cover of any magazines, but I think it’s a big improvement from before :-)

   

What’s you favourite way to spruce up a room on a budget?

Linking to…

       

A Stroll Thru Life – Inspire Me Tuesday