more and less for 2014

I want to see more:

chic deco

{white walls} I used to feel like white walls meant a naked boring undone space (or even worse, I felt like whoever lived there was too lazy to bother), but now the idea of clean white walls has really grown on me. They offer the perfect backdrop for any colour of furniture, textile, or artwork imaginable and allow you to change the look of your space instantly just by changing out throw pillows (for example). For the first time in my life, I'm actually rather pleased to be living in an all white apartment with an all white kitchen (especially since the white walls really reflect what little light we get!).

and then we saved

{geometrics} Obviously, I'm still in love with anything faceted or geometric. They're so clean and natural looking and they really fit into any space or type of decor.

odessamay society

{grey-based pink} This is a personal choice since I know Pantone's colour of the year was decidedly... bolder. I'm just overwhelmingly in love with this colour. I want it to be in the textiles in our apartment in large and small doses (with grey, white, and black mixed in, of course).

livet hemma blog

{copper} I like how copper isn't brass (this is still too old fashioned looking for me) and it isn't clinical stainless steel. The warm pinky hue works with pretty much everything.

design*sponge sneak peek

{furniture transformations} Before and afters, hacks of IKEA stuff, or thrift store junk that goes from blah to stunning will always be a welcome sight. You may not do it exactly as you see in inspirational or diy tutorials (which is sort of the point, I think), but every example gives you a new way of looking at a piece you may not have seen otherwise. I also love when transformations are easy on the pocketbook.

I want to see less:

{art collage walls} Along the lines of clean white walls, I want to see less diys and inspirational posts about collaging stuff (and I'm talking about massive hoards of art taking up half or all of a wall). Having a clutter of artwork on the wall has been done to death and it's starting to look very tired and dated. This year, pick one or two special pieces to showcase (at the very least, keep your collage to 3-5 pieces) and spend less time meticulously arranging oodles of artwork on the floor.

{piñatas} I swear if I have to see one more piñata tutorial I will scream. Don't get me wrong, most of these piñatas are really pretty and amazingly well done, but the whole concept of "I spent three days making this amazingly perfect and pretty piñata just for you to whack" really kills me. (Ditto for piñata food items, too.)

{photo booth backdrops} I don't know who's having all the parties to necessitate the photo booth backdrop tutorial a week, but it's certainly not me. I don't really need to see another example of how polka dots (or anything else for that matter) were added to a canvas or backboard, and I extra don't need to see examples of the photos that were taken (person in front of polka dots. That completely matched my expectations).

{instagram anything outside of instagram: photo walls, magnets, marshmallows, etc.} I know, we all love Instagram (me included), but they're really just tiny squared pictures. There's nothing super special or new about them. And who really wants to eat their photos, anyway? So let's just keep Instagramming to the online world and leave everything else alone.

{garlands} I liked these, too, the first couple times I saw them, but last year (and probably halfway out of the year before), I just kept hoping the posts on these would end. We really don't need another tutorial on how to string things in a straight line. Pick a thing, put it on a string. There. I diy'd all the garland tutorials for you this year. So next time you think, "Hey, how do I make a garland out of these pompoms?" You should just remind yourself that you CAN do it without reading a thousand blog posts on it. You are capable and smart enough to thread things on a string without detailed instructions, despite what the crafting community continues to tell you.

{inspirational quotes} Please please no more quotes! I liked the few well-done ones when they first came out but now they're everywhere. I can't go anywhere on the internet without stumbling on another inspirational quote poster or picture or wall sticker or suggestion to follow the wise words of such and such inspirational quote. Now my eyes just glaze over when I see them, and I don't even read them anymore. The inspiration is gone and in its place is apathy.

Those have been my likes and gripes for the last year (and beyond). Do you have anything you'd like to add? Is there any particular craft or diy that you'd like to see more or less of in 2014?

2013 recap and updates

Here're the top five posts of 2013:

{diy: bath bombs} I had been wanting to make myself some bath bombs for quite some time but I just couldn't find a recipe that was easy enough or had ingredients that I could easily source. Apparently, everyone felt the same way, because this was the most popular post on Idle Wife this year (and of all time). That easy and cheap recipe combined with the sweet pastel pictures was definitely a winner. Now I'm going to be hunting for something nice for the shower as having a bath tub is pretty rare here in Helsinki (and we definitely won't have one, anyway).

{friday fixation: coloured marshmallows} Who knew that one simple idea would turn into something so popular? Probably my most read comment about these marshmallows was, "Why?! What is the point?!" And since I didn't really explain why I was experimenting with this technique, I will now. I wanted something cute to put in a treat bag for Idle Husband on Valentine's Day, and I was sick of all the typical Valentine stuff cuz it's never updated or different or modern looking. And that's all there was to it. I was honestly quite surprised the idea even worked since water plus sugar usually ends in disaster. So to everyone who has ever asked WHY?! That's why I made them and you can do whatever you want with them. But if you really need more ideas, here are a couple; they'd be nice as a cake topper on a simply iced white cake or you could jam them on sticks for quickie, easier cake-pop-like treats for a bridal or baby shower.

{diy: heart headphone cord wrap} I still really like this diy and I use it quite frequently. It probably looks pretty simple, but it took many attempts to get it just right. I think I threw out more hearts than I ended up keeping. The biggest tip I can give you if you plan on making this one is to get the thickness right. Too thin and it'll break under the pressure of wrapping your cords (or just from putting it in your bag) and too thick and it won't dry properly and it'll look too clumsy.

{diy: painted bamboo cutting boards} Oh the cutting boards. I can honestly say I was not sorry to see these head to the goodwill when we were sorting and packing everything up for our big move. I initially painted the edges just to give them more interest in the kitchen, plus I saw some cutting boards with a painted edge that looked exactly like these in a magazine and I thought that would be the easiest diy ever. And it was. The problem for me was the cutting boards themselves. While that may have jazzed them up a bit, I still hated using them. So my next board is going to be non-slip (I'm so tired of boards sliding around on the counter while I'm chopping. It's so dangerous!), it won't need constant oiling, and I want to be able to use it for both meats and vegetables and then throw it in the dishwasher for cleaning (I have definitely changed my opinion on wooden chopping boards).

{diy: beaded necklace} I still have this and I've worn it on occasion. I just realized I'm not a big necklace wearer (even though I have quite a lot of necklace choices!). This design actually does go with a lot of outfits despite being more in, what I would consider, the "busy" category. Though, I think I'm drawn to simpler designs these days, so in 2014, I hope I can find some good quality jewelry materials (new country, and all), and then I can start making some new jewelry tutorials. Possibly more earrings and bracelets this time around.

I'm looking forward to coming up with more useful home diy tutorials in the new year. I want to have unique yet inexpensive things in our new space and two issues I already have to address is lighting and furniture, so expect more design ideas for small spaces. Moving to Helsinki with only our clothes has provided the opportunity for me to start fresh with a completely blank slate (I think it's pretty rare that someone gets that chance), so I'm pretty excited about coming up with new ideas for our home!

helsinki, finland

As promised, here are a few photos from our (short) trip to Finland. I must have been enjoying myself a lot because I honestly didn't get THAT many pictures. I'm starting to feel more and more like picture taking gets in the way of the experience and Finland was definitely an experience.

The first thing of note was the water. There're so many islands. This was taken from a bridge to an island that we walked to from our hotel. I know it's just water and lots of people see this type of view every day, but for me, a prairie girl, this was really enjoyable.

This is kind of an odd picture, but the amount of pedestrians and bicyclists was pretty astonishing. I think I saw more of both just in the cab ride from the airport to our hotel on the first day we arrived than I've seen in all my six years of living in Edmonton. This part (the clearly marked pedestrian and bicycle lanes) was my favourite. As a bicycler in Edmonton, one of my pet peeves is that people don't follow the rules of the road when they're walking. So you're constantly weaving back and forth trying to avoid pedestrians (and don't even get me started if you encounter two groups going separate ways). It seemed to us that a large portion of Helsinki was really bicycle accessible and the few people we met didn't even own a car, they just biked everywhere. Roads didn't have a bicycle lane, either, they had a smaller side street (so to say) separate again from car traffic. Much much safer than some of the lanes here. Our hotel also offered bikes for guests to borrow which is something I've never seen in any other hotel.

This was outside a pretty big shopping centre and another example of the number of people using bikes as a primary source of transit. At the time, we thought that some of the bikes weren't even locked up, but I guess they have this little lock device that attaches to the back wheel, so you don't have to look for a pole or a rack to latch up to. I feel like if this lock were available here, thieves would just pick up your bike and carry it away (or throw it in their truck), but it seemed to be working out pretty well for people in Helsinki. There's also a lot of public transit like the little tram you can see in the background plus buses and a subway system.

The overall city feeling is completely different from Athens (since that's the only other European city I can compare to). There are a lot of buildings and apartments and offices, but for some reason, it didn't feel as overwhelming and smothering as it does in Athens. It felt a lot less congested and (dare I say) prettier. There're parks almost on every street and trees almost everywhere. We also loved that historical buildings were nestled in with modern architecture (as seen here in these two examples).

If the parks weren't enough, there was always some sculpture or statue around to look at (this is just one of a few -- probably the most interesting).

We have to talk Angry Birds for a moment. It's their home country so you're definitely going to find an overwhelming amount of Angry Birds stuff. Here's some Angry Birds pop, but you could also find cakes, ice cream, lotion, cups, rugs, juice, even coffee! There's even an Angry Birds amusement park somewhere, but we didn't have time to visit (and I don't think we would have anyway since I'm probably the only one in the world who's not a fan of the game).

Speaking of food, I really wanted to try local cuisine, but it was insanely easy to find hamburgers and Italian restaurants versus the reindeer and mushrooms I'd read about before we went. We did have the amazing opportunity to visit Luomo which describes itself as a restaurant that specializes in "innovative and modern cuisine with a foundation on classic gastronomy." It's pretty fair to say that I've never in my life eaten at a fancier restaurant or had better food. If anyone knows of a similar restaurant in Edmonton, please let me know! After that meal, we kinda felt like if you're going out to a restaurant, you should go somewhere amazing that specializes in things you'd never cook or replicate at home. It should be an experience instead of just a place to stuff your face. If such a restaurant existed here, we'd definitely save up the whole year just to enjoy their menu on our anniversary or other special occasion.

So I have to share the pictures, they're a little hard to see because it was getting all moody in there in the evening. We went all out with the seven course meal since we didn't really know what anything was. Unfortunately, we failed to take pictures of the amuse bouche and the few palate cleansers that were offered in between these dishes so really, the seven course meal was actually eleven. Each dish was cleared and a new dish presented and explained once everyone at the table was ready. It was a four hour meal, understandably.

From left to right, top to bottom: fried fish with a pistachio soup (or cream); beets in various forms with goats milk (the gelatinous goats milk was the one thing I absolutely did not like. It was like not-quite-cooked egg white. I couldn't get around the texture); lobster and dill with horseradish ice cream (I believe); foie gras with honey and other assorted elements I can't remember (and even at the time, we were all like, what did she say this was?! It's delicious!); fish and scallop soup; wild boar with apple along with an apple and vegetable soup with a thyme foam; mushroom ice cream with chocolate fudge (this was THE best. Who knew mushroom went so well with chocolate?! And yes the ice cream REALLY tasted like mushroom). Also enjoyed, but not pictured, were a raspberry and blueberry napoleon, mushroom toasts, a little jar of panna cotta (I loved the presentation of this so I'm super bummed we forgot to take a picture), and a sorbet (of which neither of us can remember the exact flavour. Something tangy and refreshing. I just remember the feeling it invoked). This is the menu we were presented with, so you can see why we just went with everything instead of trying to figure stuff out on our own.

I did some shopping, too. I didn't get much since we packed extremely light. It was fun to see Marimekko patterns in grocery stores for a really good price (I picked up some cute napkins). I also found a store that was equivalent to our Home Depot and all of the fixtures and wallpapers and such were so much more modern than here. Let's put it this way, there was not a single antiqued or brassed item to be found. There was also another store that was sort of styled after IKEA with a lot of neat modern fixtures, furniture, and housewares. And one of my favourite stores was Tiger which was kind of an everything store. It had super cute stationery, gifts, bath stuff, food items, and more. I'd probably be in that store at least once a month if we had something similar here.

And that was Finland for us. I really wish we had had more time. I feel like there was so much more to see and do, and I definitely would have liked to sit on the docks with an ice cream and lazily stare at the sea for a whole day.

best posts of 2012

I'm just stopping in to wish you happy holidays and to say thanks for reading Idle Wife this year!

{top five 2012 posts}

You sure wanted to learn how to crochet your own rag rug! All of the steps were top of my blog charts this year, so I'm going to count them as one. part 1 part 2 part 3 and part 4

You loved s'more d'oeuvres as much as I did! Next time I make them, I'm going to add some peanut butter or nutella between the marshmallow and graham cracker.

You also wanted to make your own shower curtain from a thrifted sheet, too. I'm still really proud of myself for learning how to sew button holes for this one!

Thanks for reminding me to make more crockpot applesauce! I really should use it for some gingerbread men before the year is over.

I hate to say it so soon, but Valentine's day is coming up. Give your loved one some chocolate bars wrapped with unique paper sleeves. Easy and pretty!

{my favourite 2012 posts}

My diy spring seed packets were such a pretty and easy gift, but they also lead to this.

I kind of got to realize my dream decorating project in Greece this year! I rearranged the apartment but I used what was already there. The floor plans are now as I imagined them, just with the old furniture (except the bed -- we were blessed with a double bed as a gift this year). I can't tell you how much more comfortable the apartment was when we stayed there. There is still too much stuff for the space, though, and I couldn't believe how badly it needs painting. These things are going to be addressed if anyone expects me to go to Greece ever again. ;)

I think it's the depressing fact that we just passed the first day of winter (what?! But we've had snow and cold since forever!) or the fact that I was spoiled by going to Greece halfway through, but I'm already dreaming of my garden and my peonies (and these photos are still some of my favourites). I'm planning on building some vegetable beds this year (and stealing some found cactus to plant for the cats in the front yard)!

The snow globe postcard was (and is) one of my favourite ideas. I love it because it's not Christmas-y at all and can be sent, well, as soon as it starts snowing or it would be fun to send to someone in a warmer climate where there isn't any snow. I used simple hole punches and wax paper, but you could definitely take it to the next level using a snowflake hole punch and some vellum to seal it all in.

I love my dinosaur ornaments so much! They look really neat on the tree when the lights are on. I'm definitely going to have a mini tree dedicated to them next year!

update

Sorry I've been a MIA this week! Things have been a little busy and hectic around here and I haven't really had the chance to work on anything creative.

But I did get the opportunity to help mom clean out her garage, so we finally went through boxes we packed (not kidding) about 10 years ago. It was like discovering treasure! Here're some of the things I came home with:

A couple antique pictures. My favourite is the one with the dogs. I find it so interesting that they used this "new" technology just to take a picture of their dogs.

Personal pics of our cows -- I miss them so much sometimes! They all had their own unique personalities -- and one of my gram on a motorcycle. I need to get that one framed.

Brass hand clip

Chicken salt and pepper shakers

The flying dutchman! Another weird and wonderful lamp

I realized that I had accumulated more chicken bones and stock in my freezer than actual meat, so I've taken to having soup for breakfast every other day (which works out pretty well since it's still snowing and it's almost May), so I was pretty happy to find this cute soup cup. Cups are my preferred soup container.

This is 6 feet of crocheted shelf edging. I was SO excited to find this! I've been lamenting about how we used to have it and wouldn't it be nice to find it again so I could put it here:

See that middle board? It was accidentally nailed in wrong.

But now with crocheted shelf edging, no one knows and it looks extra pretty!

This is a brass wall sculpture... brass art piece?... brass thing you hang on the wall. I think I should spray paint it. Or should I? Maybe gold or silver? I haven't decided yet.

I've also purchased this year's tomato plants. I'm kind of excited about them because Walmart had purple tomatoes available so I can't wait to see how they turn out. And I bought a ton of seeds! As soon as the weather straightens out, we're going to be designing our backyard garden and planting like crazy people.

And I'm babysitting these huge goldfish. They're in my garage and I'm freaking out about how they're doing! I would be so sick if anything happened to them. The water's cold and it's cold out there so they've just been laying on the bottom of the tank since they got here which is pretty typical for the temperature. Still, I worry-check them three times a day.

How's your week been?

recap and resolutions

most popular posts of the year

{how to idly clean jewelry} This is one of those tips/tricks that's handy at any time of year so it's no wonder people visited it the most often.

{diy wrapped feather gel pens} Initially, I didn't think this was a really awesome DIY, but then I noticed it getting a lot of exposure on a number of different platforms, so its popularity really surprised me in the end. I did enjoy putting together a bird-themed package (which these were a part of) for my cousin, but (sadly) I think the whole thing has since been lost in the mail.

{peanut butter s'mores bars} This is kind of a no brainer. Chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallows, graham cracker -- I mean, who can argue with that? (I could really go for a piece of the original butterscotch type, though.)

{blog update} Wow. I had no clue this managed to sneak into the top five most popular posts. I thank you all for your support regarding my endeavors and I'm (really!) planning on doing more in-real-life stuff regarding this in the new year.

{earring storage ideas} This post was popular because of the title, I think. Those are strong google search terms. BUT I did have those little jewelry frames hanging up for a whole year so it was definitely a popular post for me, too.

my favourite posts

{blog update} Obviously, this one's pretty important to me. I was so nervous? scared? anxious? about the reaction to this, but I was pleasantly pleased with the overall result. It made (makes) me feel like I could do it for real.

{tzatziki} Getting the parent's proper recipe was the best thing that ever happened. I am literally making this at least once a week as we can't sit down to a single meal without it and I always bring a tub when visiting mom (she says she'd like to "take a bath in it"). I've since revised the process to be super fast. I use the food processor for the grating and found this amazing technique for peeling multiple cloves of garlic (and yes, it really does work! I use two smaller bowls -- easier clean-up -- and you must shake for longer than 2 seconds).

{alberta aviation museum vs weed bouquets} Speaking of Greek stuff, these two posts remind me of Idle Husband's parents' visit, so they're both really important to me. I miss having little weed arrangements in the house a lot and the pictures I got from the aviation museum are some of my favourites from this year.

{early morning storm} I can't believe how lucky I was to wake up to this storm. It was so exciting and looking back at all my photographs, it still blows my mind that they're real.

{abraham lake} I loved this trip. It's a place I frequented growing up, so it holds a lot of meaning for me. It was really great sharing it with Idle Husband and I hope we go back again this summer.

resolutions

I don't like to make a big deal out of resolutions only because they can end up making you feel worse than you did before if you realize you haven't accomplished a single goal. That being said, there are a few things I'd like to try to work on:

{take more pictures} Since moving, I haven't felt the desire to take my camera out. Actually, since getting my new camera, I haven't felt the desire to take pictures outside of the house. Why? Well, it's more expensive, has a larger LCD screen, and it's bigger and heavier than my old one. I guess I just didn't want to risk it getting hurt and I felt self-conscious about what other people would think if I were to pull out such a camera to photograph seemingly random things. But that's a terrible way to live, right? Cameras should be used and I shouldn't let what I think other people think determine my actions. Besides, since getting two photographs blown up into posters, I've had a real desire to see more of my art in our house.

{step outside my comfort zone at least once a month} I really love habit. Like, really really love habit. I get so comfortable in routine that the minute it's thrown off even if just for a week, I get really frazzled and stressed out (like, crying into a burger in public stressed out). But the only way to grow and evolve as a person is to try new things. Take different steps. Go in the opposite direction as normal. When I think back to how I got to where I am now, everything that lead me on this path was from a direct and deliberate change in pattern and routine. Those changes didn't kill me, they made my life better, and it's time to start doing more of that now.

{eat in season} Sometimes, I have this dumb thought that even if it's January and I want a tomato in my salad, I should be able to have a damn tomato in my salad, it's 2012. I never really stop to think about how tomatoes are even available in January (because they shouldn't be sitting in our grocery stores at all at this time of year). So while this past year I made a conscious effort to purchase more Canadian produce (I'm so glad they've started putting the origin of food items on the tags), I think I could do even more by eating what's in season. I love to have my salads with every meal, but that doesn't meant they can't be made with shaved brussel sprouts or cabbage and carrots instead of (small but expensive) lettuce and (not-so-tasty/rotting in two days and expensive) tomatoes. This sort of thing is a little tougher in a winter climate (i.e. everything is out of season after October), but I found this chart that'll at least help me find the cheaper, better tasting produce throughout the year (also: canned stuff).

{rethink eating habits} While we're on the subject, I need to stop worrying so much about feeding us. Isn't that a weird thing to say? I've just been in wife mode for so long that the desire to feed has turned into more of an emotional thing than a sustenance thing. In other words, I don't feel like I'm pulling my weight around here if I'm not baking or cooking something at every meal juncture. So if I can't decide what to make or I don't feel like making anything one day, I feel very much like a failure and I get really frustrated, annoyed, and upset about it. I think it would help if I concentrated more on feeding us when we're actually hungry. The benefit to being just the two of us is that we don't need to have a set schedule for when to eat. What we really should be doing is eating when we're actually hungry not just because, "oh hey! it's 5 I have to make dinner" when we're not at all hungry in the slightest and would be just fine with a light snack closer to 7. This is an issue that's plagued me my whole life (I'm a giver and this is one of the best ways I know how to give) so it's definitely something I have to work hard at.

I feel like 2012 is going to be an exciting year full of good changes! What about you? Do you make resolutions?

november recap

{idle husband's name day cake was really basic this year. a banana bread baked in round cake pans with leftover chocolate ganache from my macaron baking days. simple but crazy good}

I'm so happy with November! I have all of my gifts done and wrapped! I just need to work on cards now and I'm set for the holidays.

{noticed the pomegranate seeds on the cake? I wish I had tried my new technique for opening those crazy things properly cuz I would have made a pomegranate cake instead. here's what worked for me. they're really yummy with chocolate}

Oh. I still have to decorate the house. That's on this weekend's agenda. Have you decorated yet?

{I received my first ornament in the swap. it came with a chocolate kiss}

And here's a little desktop photo for you for December. I hope you like it!

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iphone and ipod

ipad

october recap

It was really hard scraping together a recap this month. I guess I'm not taking as many photos "just for fun" as I used to. I have to fix that.

Here are some instagram photos from October that you may not have seen:

tar bunny!

the white fox was part of a thrift store collection that was not for sale :(

once you paint one room, it makes you want to paint every room (aka be gone, beige!)

there was a huge fire on my street. I wish we had heard what caused it.

Finally, a little desktop calendar for you:

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1920/1200 & 1680/1050

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iPod/iPhone