jumping point: black trim

So last weekend, I was sitting around watching The Lucky One (I know I'm a total sap, but I'm also someone who will generally watch anything that's "new" on the Movie Channel) and I completely fell in love with Zac Efron -- psych! I fell in love with the black trim. Specifically, the black trim with teal-blue walls. I've already got paint chips stuck on the walls in my kitchen, and now the black trim thing is making me rethink everything.

Here're some stills of the room that captured my heart:

These are the colours I've been entertaining for the kitchen for a few weeks now. 

I've already got the manta grey in the living room and the bathroom (it's probably my all-time favourite grey). I'm thinking about restless sea for the main kitchen area, around the cabinets. Since I can't change the dark cabinets, I thought painting the wall behind them a dark colour would make them less noticeable. Then I'd use girls' night out on the opposite wall as kind of a feature wall and to add in some brightness.

And, considering the colours I've already chosen (pre-movie), the idea of black trim just works, you know? It really makes sense! But if I paint the trim in the kitchen, I'll have to paint the trim in the living room, and then I'll have to paint the whole main floor and then eventually, I'll have to paint all of it black. Is that crazy? I feel like that's crazy. But given the fact that my trim is a darker shade of mushroom already, I don't feel like it'd be a big stretch to go black. It's just a lot of work!

Maybe it's spring fever but I feel like a need a huge change and that might include overhauling everything in the house! Do you ever feel like that?

friday fixations

{year walk} I started this game by looking over Idle Husband's shoulder and then I sort of took over from there and then it turned into MY game but on his device (he kept telling me to install my own version but I didn't. I liked how it was kind of OUR game but really MY game, if that makes any sense). I think I'm kind of terrible at describing most games because I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that this is a spooky puzzle game and the game play is really unique. I definitely haven't seen it before on any app I've ever played (which is what initially intrigued me about it). As a friendly tip: you'll need a piece of paper to write stuff down (which makes me feel very Sherlock Holmes-ish). To be honest, I really hate puzzle games, but, after this game, we discovered I just hate crappy puzzle games.

{play with your food} I thought these Instagram pictures were so adorable, not to mention amazingly well done and so very artistic.

{typeRacer} Have I ever mentioned how much I love typing? I'm kind of obsessed with this.

{stove-top granola} Duh! Granola doesn't have to be such a big huge production! (This is my new favourite foodie blog, aka I've been unsubscribing from foodie blogs lately cuz they make me want to make and eat too many delicious things, but then I went against my rules and added this one anyway). (I also made her 100 calorie cupcakes for my birthday. I had problems with the icing, but the cakes were really good!)

{flock of segels} Hanksy just kills me.

{black and green olives} I used to hate olives unless they were black, sliced, and on a pizza or a sub. So imagine my surprise when I tried some of Lindsay naturals olives (cuz mom has given me half a dozen cans) and immediately loved them. Is it just canned olives or do I officially love all olives now?

{marcel christ} These photos are so gorgeous!

{dansons la capucine} Cats are better in french, non? (Poom!)

diys i didn't

Source: fabricpaperglue.com via i d l e on Pinterest

{gold trimmed geode coasters} I've had a set of geode coasters in my home for a number of years. Actually, they're not really a set. I just picked up four geode slices that were flat and a good size for a cup for next to nothing the last time I was in Drumheller and then I stuck some squares of felt on one side. So a few months ago, I thought I'd jazz them up by applying some gold leaf to the edges as I've been seeing a lot of gilded geode coasters popping up for sale all over the place this year (and last). And then, literally the week I decided to buy some gold leaf, I opened my reader to find this. The edges of these coasters are painted with gold paint which is so much easier than using gold leaf and also less expensive since I already own the paint.

Source: pineconecamp.blogspot.ca via i d l e on Pinterest

{pickled headboard} I guess this one isn't technically a diy that I can follow along with, but look at it. How easy is that to manufacture myself? I've been thinking and dreaming about doing this one for quite some time. Our bedroom is in the most horrible state of affairs. Well, I guess it's not horrible. Most people would probably think it's pretty nice. But I painted it blue a year ago and I've absolutely hated it since. Hated it. Hated it so much I didn't even put any pictures or art back up I was that convinced it had to be repainted. So I have a long list of things that need doing this year to make me happy and one of those is a headboard.

Source: blog.modcloth.com via i d l e on Pinterest

{matte nail polish} I was pretty obsessed with matte nail polish until I couldn't find the matte topcoat I wanted and then I thought this is probably another beauty product I'll have to wait 10 years before Canada gets a hold of, so I let my search die (I know, the internet, but shipping one bottle of nail polish here is crazy stupid expensive. FOR NAIL POLISH). This tutorial looks too good to be true and I haven't tried it yet, but I'm absolutely dying to. That'll be me on the weekend, either squealing with delight or cursing it out. It could really go either way on this one.

Source: grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com via i d l e on Pinterest

{washi tape bike} We just bought bikes! I mean, a couple months ago, serendipitously, I wandered past a sporting goods store that was having a closing out sale and before I knew it, I was wheeling out two bikes plus all the accessories (locks, helmets, gel seats, the works) for less than the price of one bike sold during peak biking season. Anyway, I keep being drawn to this idea. Not that I really care too much about the style of my bike (and mine is a minty-turquoise blue so I like it), but this is kind of a cute idea. Except that I don't have a hell of a lot of washi tape in my possession and I like to save these things for special... things (washi tape is so expensive to me. Is there some discount washi tape dealer everyone else is using that I don't know about? Cuz I gasp with a look of horror every time I see someone using washi tape to, oh, I don't know, mask off their fingernail for a paint effect or use on the underside of something to hold it down. Um, the point is that it's an artistic tape, isn't it? Am I mental?). So given those facts about me (the cheap facts, not the mental sanity ones), and since my bike's already a pretty colour, I'm thinking I could judiciously use my cute washi tape to cover up the bike's horrible logo and printed details and leave the rest as-is. I think I also should have bought a bell. As a walker, I really appreciate it when bikers give me a ring before they speed by (bells prevent heart attacks!). (Maybe you should consider the mental sanity facts after all.)

april desktop

I swear! This is the last desktop till May!

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bunny desktop and easter ideas

I know, I know. You're getting sick of desktop wallpapers, aren't you? Well, I can't help it. I've been feeling very uninspired this month and when I get even a hint of an idea, it turns into a complete flop.

Maybe it's because Easter was early this year and coincides with my birthday or maybe it's because I don't can't eat eggs (they make me so sick!), or maybe (just maybe!) I still haven't gotten over the parking lot bunnies eating a lot of my garden plants last summer. So really, everything that goes along with Easter elicits a big "why bother?" or a "what's the point?" ala Aunt Linda (facial expressions, eye rolls and all).

I might also just have the winter blues. It feels like everyone's talking about crocuses, while we're still trudging around through snow and ice (it literally felt like I was walking through a glacier after they finally plowed out all the huge snow drifts on the walking path yesterday. The snow is me-high in some places!).

Anyway! Enough of my poor-me story. I was in a thrift shop last week and found this super cute little ceramic bunny. There were other ones there, too, and I wanted to say that you should look in your local thrift shop for Easter stuff. If you find some bunnies but don't like how they're painted, just get the ones with the shape you like and spray paint them. Gold seems to be trending right now for eggs, why not spray paint a bunny gold?

I liked the look of this one, blue (like how I'm feeling) and modern looking (which is a lot to ask of thrift store merchandise). I also like that his face isn't too sweet.

So the best part about this guy? I think he was (or is) a cotton ball dispenser.

Behold:

There's a hole right where his little fluffy tail should be and it's the perfect size for a cotton ball.

I'm sure you know where to go to download the desktop wallpapers by now. They're all in my Flickr photostream. I like the iPhone and iPod ones. Bunny face for the lock page and bunny bum for the homescreen. Due to an error on my part, I'm without a Flickr page and all of my Flickr photos have been binned. You can now find the photos here:

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You'll give me extra points for this, though, right?

Oh yes. And I thought I would share some of my favourite Easter Pinterest pins with you in a post, but those amounted to a whole three of them (whoa!). There are lots of others that I like on my Spring and Easter board that might tickle your fancy, too. Especially if you needed some last minute ideas.

My top three (that I would probably do if I weren't so grumpy):

I would use the Paint Chip Carrots on cards instead of as a garland.

These bunny ear sachets are so cute! I just wish I had some use for them! I wish it so hard!

I love anything having to do with origami (cuz it's easy and cheap!). Actually, I should rephrase that. I'm more into origami shapes right now than I normally am because they're so graphic and geometric! I love these paper bunnies and these bunny treat holders. I mean, if you were doing an Easter supper, I can really see either of these sitting at every place setting. And I forgot about this origami bunny print which you could use as wrapping or on a card.

Also, I have to tell you. When I went to Greece, we did a lot of family visiting, and, well, obviously, for me there's this huge language barrier that pretty much leaves me just sitting and smiling quietly for hours on end. My one moment of grace came when there were children around and paper and I created the two origami figures I have memorized -- the paper crane and the paper balloon. And they were such. a. hit. Words cannot express how quickly I went from "that Canadian girl who knows nothing" to the superstar hero cool dude of the room. If you were to just learn how to fold a bunny (or anything, really), you'll be the friggin' star of any party you go to forever. And finally, don't forget to blow their minds when you make one out of a gum wrapper. Trust me. Parlor tricks. You should really have some up your sleeve.