Cruisin' France (Part 2)

After Italy, came France.  The southern part of France to be specific - along the famed Cote d'Azur.  If I was forced to choose a favourite part of the trip, I would say this day topped the list.  (Over Italy?!  It surprised me too!)  The truth is, when I saw the list of ports, I was most excited for the Italian stops - I had so many expectations on what we would get to see.  Some of the most famous places in the world!  In my mind, Cannes and Marseille were bonus cities, and I really didn't know what to expect.  But I fell in love with those coastal cities and would love to visit again.

First we stopped in Cannes, and from there we boarded a train along the coast.  We had planned to visit Nice, then return to Cannes.  But when we found out that Monaco/Monte Carlo were only an extra half hour away we thought, "why not!".  So yes, we packed 3 cities into 1 day.  And it was absolutely stunning, as you can see below.

Monaco/Monte Carlo:  Gorgeous buildings built into the cliffs, overlooking the bright blue sea.  Super clean, and full of VERY wealthy people vacationing.

We passed a hotel lined with Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Bentley (Mercedes were for the common folk).

This is probably where the celebrities were hiding - the casino.

Nice & Cannes after the jump!

Cruisin' Italia (Part 1)

Buongiorno!  Bryce and I recently returned from a 7 night Norwegian cruise on the Western Mediterranean.  Naples, Rome, Florence (Italy), Cannes & Marseille (France), and Barcelona (Spain).  It was an absolute whirlwind adventure, to say the least.  We were completely exhausted but very satisfied after each day, knowing we had managed to squeeze in all the major sites and still have some time to enjoy the culture food.  Lasagne, gelato, pizza...  We also learned some interesting facts: for example, did you know the difference between a "trattoria" and a "ristorante"?  Ristorante is a restaurant, with hired employees and kitchen staff.  A trattoria is a family owned eating place - family recipes served up by family members.  Good to know, right?  Also, apparently daVinci is not Leonardo's real last name.  He's from the town "Vinci, Italy" - Leonardo "of Vinci", get it?  Crazy!  Anyway, enough of the random facts - on to the photos!

Our Boat: Norwegian Epic

Naples: Mt. Vesuvius

In Naples, we climbed over the retaining wall and sunbathed on the rocks like the locals.  The sea wasn't very clean, but we swam anyway - a welcome relief from the 40C heat!  Overall, Napoli wasn't a very clean city, but pretty nonetheless, especially from a higher elevation (as you can see above).  And still with the beautiful Italian architecture (that's a shopping mall ceiling in the photo below!)

 Rome and Florence after the jump!

DIY Ottoman from coffee table.

So after staring at DIY ottomans and headboards on Pinterest (follow me here), and searching for the perfect coffee table to makeover, I finally snagged this one at Goodwill.

It had lots of potential and was good and sturdy.  Plus, for $15 you can't go wrong!  It had a glass insert, which I took out.  This is where I got a bit creative.  I combined these 2 tutorials, both from Jenny at Little Green Notebook:


Ottoman from Coffee Table
DIY Tufted Headboard


The first one outlines the basics for covering a coffee table, but the headboard one uses the pegboard idea (sheer brilliance), plus has deeper tufts.


I had a piece of pegboard cut at Home Depot to fit where the glass insert used to be, then got to work measuring the distance that I wanted the tufts to be.  So happy I didn't have to fuss with drilling my own holes!  Oh, and I should mention that I painted the legs first...

I marked the holes with chalk, then laid the buttons over top just to visualize what it might look like.  Took some math, but I finally narrowed it down.

Covered with some foam I had laying around (although it's not outrageously expensive at Len's Mill if you need to buy new).

Then, like in Jenny's tutorial, I laid the pegboard on top and marked the holes with a sharpie, so I knew where to dig out some foam.  This part is what allows you to get those nice deep tufts.

Covered everything with a layer or 2 of quilt batting.

This is the part that took FOREVER...covering the buttons.  Even though I had a button covering kit, the fabric was too thick for them.  After over an hour of pushing, I barely got them all squished in.  If you've covered buttons before and understand this process, you know how my thumbs were throbbing. In the end, I still had to crazy glue some tops back on the buttons, because they popped off in the tufting process.  Lesson learned - if your upholstery project requires button covering, make sure you don't pick a fabric too thick!


Here's the tufting process:  Put the pegboard back in place, lay the foam and batting on top.  Make sure the pegboard is facing out so you can see what holes you chose.  Take a thick needle, thread with twine, then go up through the proper hole in the pegboard, through the foam, batting and fabric.  Then through the button, and back down, being careful to line it up so you come out the hole again.  Then, grab and pull the pieces of twine as tight as you want (I made them nice and deep).  Pull across the hole and staple it in randomly so that it holds.

Repeat with each marked hole in the pegboard.  Make sure you start from the middle of the row and work your way out so that everything is pulled nice and tight.  If you work the fabric a bit, it's easy to get the diamond shape happening.

Then, put the pegboard on the table (you may have to drill it in to the table top to make sure it doesn't move around at all).  I should also mention that we cut the legs down 3 inches once the foam was on and we realized it was taller than the couch.  Make sure it's a comfy height!  Now, you're ready to pull the edges taut, and staple them underneath.  Voila!

So nice to put our feet up at the end of the day.  My plan is to finish the corners with a nail head trim and add a flat tray to the top so that at least a bit of it still functions as a coffee table.  


So there you have it!  Definitely check out those above tutorials for an even better step-by-step process. Happy DIY-ing!

a little DIY...

Time for a little update!  I've been very busy, and made lots of changes to our house which I'm excited to share in the near future.  First up though, a couple DIY projects I've completed recently, just for fun.


I found this idea on Pinterest (where else?) and had the perfect pair of shorts to transform.  

I know I've already worn them more times than I would have if they were plain!  So fun for summer :)


Then Bryce found this almost vintage garbage can at church - it was on it's way to the garbage but he wondered if we might be able to paint it?  I thought, why not?  So I grabbed a light blue spray can and went to town.  Love the colour it adds to our mostly grey living room.

Up next, the DIY Ottoman!

garden makeover.

This weekend was packed full!  I worked my final shift as a restaurant server - my longest running job to date (7 years!)  I'll miss everyone, but I'm excited to have my Saturdays free for more projects like this....


We decided to yank out the 4 huge bushes in our tiny front garden, and start over.  I was nervous/excited about the thought of a total overhaul, and in the end I'm so glad we went for it!


Here's the before:

And after!

I was covered in dirt, but totally satisfied!  I planted a boxwood, another shrub (the green one on the left...I can't remember the name), 3 hosts, 10 geraniums (coral & pink), and some petunias that were on sale and matched perfectly.  All in a (long) days work!

I love that it's so much more colourful, open, and inviting!  I also planted a couple of window boxes that I got on sale.  And I purchased a little cilantro plant!  I'm so excited about the delicious thai dishes I have lined up to use it in.  Any suggestions?