November Candle of the Month

I can't believe how fast this whole year, but specifically this Fall, has gone by. I am happy because we have not yet seen any snow, and the temperatures have been very mild considering we're wayyyy up here in Canada! We are used to often seeing our first snow fall around Halloween, sometimes it stays other times it melts within a day or two. But so far we are still enjoying fall.

For me November brings the excitement of pumpkin spice lattes and getting in my pre-holiday state of mind. I actually find November to be one of my favorite months because it has all the excitement before the holidays without the chaos of busy malls and last minute shopping. I am hoping to avoid the last minute shopping frenzy this year all together thanks to months of slowly collecting treasures that bring certain family members to mind. Plus I like the idea of giving small treasure chests of meaningful, thoughtful gifts that are one of a kind instead of mass produced items. To keep one step ahead this year Wren and I have been busy crafting special gift boxes that we will share next week~

One of the items that will be placed into more than a few of our treasure chests, despite the fact that it is mass produced, are these candles. You probably remember my rave about them in last months Candle of the Month post, and many of you had questions about where to purchase, so I thought I would dedicate another post to them so nobody misses the response hidden in the comments.

It is called Kitchen Clean and the candle is intended to purify the air after cooking, neutralizing any odors that come with garlic-y dinners! They come in a variety of scents but my favorites are Sea Salt Jasmine and this months scent: Green Tea and Honey. It is a really lovely Honey scent that has just a twist of Tea to it (as the name makes obvious LOL).

Sadly, I have NO IDEA where to tell anyone South of the border to find one. But if you are in Canada they are found at Real Canadian Superstore at the bargain basement price of $5!! If anyone in the US scouts one please share so we can let all our American friends in on the fun. And if I see them there again next week I think I will pick up a few and offer them to any American readers if they just want to pay for shipping costs in addition to the $5 price tag.

Do you usually have a candle burning in the kitchen too? If so, share your brands and scent so I can track down something new for next month!

Pumped Up!

A little pretty never hurt anyone! But when it came time to start washing dishes in a sink again (as opposed to in Wren's bathtub) I decided that store bought dish soap squeeze bottles just weren't up to the pretty standards in our new kitchen. And while a little pretty never hurt anyone, I realized it was going to hurt my wallet when I searched out some options at places like Anthro and Williams Sonoma. $20 for soap (even if I can reuse the dispenser) just didn't seem like a smart purchase while we are still paying for the kitchen. Economy is key!!

My next thought was "hey, didn't Martha make a cool version?" But when I searched it out I saw that she used olive oil dispenser thing-ys and I could picture the soap dripping all over the bottle every time I tipped the thing, much like how my dirty squeeze bottles always looked. Then it occurred to me that most hand lotion comes in pump dispensers, and I had just so happened to have used up the last of a $2 bin find from Bath and Body Works (LOVE those clearance sales of theirs!!!).

Soon as I found my dispenser I remembered that I had a giant jug of Soap in the basement with all my kitchen gadgets that have yet to migrate up to the new kitchen. When you have a Dad who owns restaurants you get loaded up with strange stuff like jugs of soap, 2000 cupcake liners, and the list goes on! A fun perk, I will admit. Whenever he renovates or takes over a restaurant my mom and I come home with trunks full of plates and cookware... and sometime giant jugs of soap.

So all that was left was to remove the old labels, clean out the lotion and fill'er up. Free, fast and so far absolutely no annoying soap drips! Of course, to be safe I avoid placing soap or anything wet directly on the new counters so an antique platter I scouted out for $1 is a perfect sink caddy.

Not a revolutionary idea, but it has made me very happy each evening as I scrub pots and pans!

Master Bedroom

It has been over a year and a half since I wall papered the wall behind our bed and I think I've only shared snippets of our master bedroom since then, in an oh so clever attempt to avoid cleaning up all the laundry bins and random tidbits during the kitchen overhaul.

For all those who are new to our 3 year journey, here is a trip back in time to where we started.

The first reincarnation was done on a SHOE STRING budget! Recycled furniture, homemade headboard and the addition of $26 in Ikea shelves to suffice as night stands.

Then we punched it up a little with an at home paint concoction I mixed up for the perfect charcoal grey.

And after adding an old dresser and desk as night stands, some new bedding and wall paper we have our latest version.

My side of the bed has a repurposed old school desk holding books, art and a few trinkets.

When you live with a man who is sooooo supportive of whitewashing the whole house you have to let a few of ideas slide through. Like a giant TV staring you dead in the face every morning! Ironically, I think I've used the thing more than he has and have caught numerous great old movies during my 2 am insomnia sessions.

I fell in love with our duvet cover on our holiday last year during a stop at PomPom interiors. It was quite a splurge so I wasn't able to convince Sean we needed the matching linen shams. Thankfully I scored a couple of these awesome linen euro shams at Ikea recently in the as is section for $10! Now I just need to buy another pillow insert~

Surprisingly, the duvet cover is by far the most expensive item in our room! Both of our nightstands were $15 finds I painted up and replaced hardware on and the mirror was a freebie, also painted up.

The other bed linens all come from Kohl's, they have a beautiful line of ruffled white shams, sheets and bed skirts that are almost always on sale!

I think this is one of the hardest rooms to photograph in our house. It always looks washed out and over exposed in photos, but in person the grey paisley wall paper pops off the wall and adds just enough personality for my taste. Wish I could remember the manufacturer of the paper because I want to do the powder room too!!

I'm sooooo happy that all our "down stairs" furniture and accessories are back down stairs and not crowding all our bedrooms, but of course my wheels are always turning and I am already working on tracking down a new and improved headboard/bedframe.... And the progress continues here!