Christmas bar cart

Christmas officially arrived in full swing this week in our household and I couldn't be happier. We prematurely decorated a couple of weeks ago for an exciting Christmas photo shoot {more on that soooon!}, but I knew if we kept the tree and decorations up that long, I'd end up getting tired of them. I love Christmas so much so I didn't want to overdo it. So my lovely assistant husband tidied the {fully decorated} tree into our spare bedroom for a couple of weeks, and out she came on Sunday for reals.

As part of the photo shoot I had the idea to fancy up a Christmas themed bar cart. I redecorated it this week to cater to our 3 main Christmas drinks - Irish coffee, hot chocolate and mulled wine. Yes and please. I dedicated one shelf of our cart to each drink and decorated accordingly ...

Husbands signature drink at Christmas is Irish coffee. He really hits the nail on the head. This year our household is rolling not one, but two Baileys deep. If you can, I would highly recommend the new Baileys Chocolat Luxe. I also included whiskey for old school Irish coffee, along with our favourite over-sized mugs ready to go. A perfect way to wind down at the end of a cold day.

The middle shelf is dedicated to hot chocolate. Mmmm. We splash out and go for Green & Black's organic hot chocolate, which is well lush. Want to be a extra naughty? In stead of adding milk or cream to your mug of hot stuff, try a scoop of ice cream. Husband came up with that one last year, and it is heaven in your face. You will never be the same.

And last but not least, mulled wine. Husband was first introduced to mulled wine at my cousins wedding reception and loved it so much that 5 years later when we got married, we had a mulled wine reception. Every year when we decorate our Christmas tree, our tradition is to crack out a bottle of red to accompany our decorating. We do cheat and use those mulled wine tea bags with a couple extras {orange peel, brandy etc} when it's just the two of us, but when we have guests, we go whole hog and make it from scratch. 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of our cork collection while I was down there. Whenever we visit a new country or have a special occasion we always keep the cork, write on it and add it to our collection. There are a lot of special ones in there - our engagement cork, new years corks, our honeymoon in St. Petersburg, Russia, and ones with cheeky stories ... 

So what are your favourite winter drinks? Are you old school like us, go for the usual beer or wine, or do you go for fancy cocktails? Eggnog is another one of my favourite Christmas drinks but a tier of eggs and cream wouldn't really have looked very Christmassy on our cart. xx A

Also featured - our bar cart - delicate decanters - gold tumblers - cork collection. 

Instagram roundup - November

Can someone please 'splain to me how it's already December?! I feel like an old record repeating myself almost every month recently, but srsly. The year is absolutely flying by and Christmas is fast approaching. Late last night whilst drinking mulled wine and watching Elf, I got an idea to do the 12 DIY's of Christmas, but after a brief conversation with husband, I came to the conclusion that it sounds awesome, but it would not be humanly possible as I only have 2 maybe 3 solid DIY projects in mind. But now that I'm writing about it, I kind of still want to do it. Oh, welp. 

What was this post about again? Oh yeah, my Instagram roundup. Not as exciting as my cat video from last month, but I'm planning to make a mini vid with some Christmas bell action going on. I do like a good jingle bell. Happy December of course! Keep your eyes peeled this week for the official beginning of Christmassy goodness ;) xx A

Localise youth room at Sophia House - reveal!

Yesterday was the grand opening of the Localise youth room in Sophia House, and to say it was an incredibly exciting day would have been an absolute understatement. 

To give you a bit of background on the project, at the beginning of October Emily approached me about doing a project with Derek O'Cleary, the director of the local charity Localise, for a youth room in Sophia House. Sophia House provide accommodation and opportunities for families who would otherwise be homeless. Sophia House had some unused office space on their premises which they wanted transformed into a safe, positive and warm environment for the residential teens. They currently had facilities for younger kids, so it was important that the teens also had somewhere to call their own at this crucial age, in the hopes of stopping them from turning to the surrounding rough streets.

>>> TO SEE THE BEFORE PICS OF THE ROOM BEFORE THE TRANSFORMATION, CLICK HERE <<<

We met with the teens and took note of what they wanted from the space. They wanted a homework area, somewhere to watch TV and movies, and a space to play games. With a timeline of 6 weeks to get the space from drab to fab {sorry}, it was a bit of a sprint as Derek and I drove around Dublin to get everything done and crossed off the list. Most of the assembly and painting went down on the 9th of October thanks to the incredible student volunteers from Notre Dame University who were here as part of their study abroad program. I would literally still be standing on a ladder painting if it wasn't for their help {again, HUGE thank you guys if you're reading this!}.

The teens wanted sports figures and logos to be included in the design but since there were arguments between the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal etc, we chose prominent Irish athletes Robbie Keane, Katie Taylor and Brian O'Driscoll in stead to keep it a bit closer to home {and thanks dad for helping me choose the athletes! :) I know zero about sports}. I sourced some high res images online, converted them to black and white and had them printed and mounted on canvases which I think it gives it a bit more of a polished feel than posters. 

I personally had the most fun when it came to the paint. There was the drip, the geometric and the street art walls. I bought sports drinks bottles {the ones where you can drink directly from the lid}, filled them with paint, got up on a ladder and dripped away. The geometric wall was simplified down a lot more from the original plan and became just triangles. I cut some templates from cereal boxes and Keri, Holly and I traced them onto the wall and 'exploded' them at the perimeter. Random colours were chosen and painted on by the Notre Dame students. 

And of course the graffiti wall. I've been a long time fan of Maser, one of Dublin's Ireland's top graffiti artists, so I sent him a little e-mail one day {as you do} asking if I could use one of his quotes as part of our project. He loved the project, gave me the go-ahead and 30 minutes later I was drawing it out and applying roughly 10lbs of masking tape to the wall and spraying away. I added some drippy bits to tie in with the drip wall and voila. My first piece of wall art and I'm pretty effing proud of it if I may be so bold. 

Yesterday after the big reveal I kicked everyone out of the room {in the nicest way possible} to take these pictures. While I was snapping away, the teens whose room it now is came in about 100 times asking if I was finished yet. I could hear them in the next room complaining I was taking too long, but I took it as the biggest seal of approval and compliment of the day - they wanted their room and they wanted it 10 minutes ago. A job well done I think. 

You can see the original mood and atmosphere boards I put together if you'd like. I think it turned out quite close to what was planned and we didn't stray too far. It was very surreal to see those boards come to life. 

At running the risk of sounding incredibly emo and sappy, my heart swelled with pride today every time I looked at these pictures and watched this video by {the painfully talented} Darcie while writing this post. And thank you again Derek for the opportunity to work alongside yourself and Localise. It was an incredible project to work on, and I'm so happy to have been part of it all. xx A

Design details
Vinyl flooring - Des Kelly Interiors 
Main navy paint - Atlantic surf 1 - Dulux
Detail paint - milk white, rich honey, summer pudding, scooter red, pea pod and chance - Crown Paints
Canvases - Reads Design & Print
Chairs, table, cushions, shelves, shelving unit, faux plants, rug and throw - IKEA
Couch, cube seating and grey triangle patterned pillow - Harvey Norman
Wooden bench - handmade by Paul 

My IKEA Family Live feature!

Heart palpitations at the ready. Back in July you may {or may not, I won't be offended} remember I shot and submitted pictures of our apartment to IKEA after receiving some rather exciting e-mails from them asking me if I'd like to be a featured IKEA member for their IKEA Family Live online magazine. UMM, yes please with a körsbär on top. 

After some trials and tribulations {which by the way, I received a camera stand for my birthday, ha!}, I submitted all the pictures safe and sound and met my deadline. Sigh of relief. Then the waiting game went down. It wouldn't be until November until I'd be featured {having submitted the photos in July}, but it was just enough time for the dust to settle and for me to get excited about it all over again!  

Me on the IKEA Family Live  homepage. No biggie. 

I know, slight overkill with the screenshots and whatnot, but how often do you see yourself on an IKEA website? Of course, to see the full feature, click on over here to read all about it and gawk at a couple more pictures of our apartment if you'd like :) 

And if you're a fellow IKEA fiend and would like to also be a featured member, just send an e-mail on over to homes@ikeafamilylive.com with a couple of pictures and details on your home! You know you wanna. xx A

Desk days

I've spent a lot of time at my desk recently. I've put a bit of extra effort in to make it somewhere I want to sit more than somewhere I need to sit, and for me that usually means mixing things up. I get bored if things stay in the same place too long so I rotate things around the apartment. Not so fun for husband though when he's trying to look for something. Bless him. 

I've become a smidge obsessed with matches recently. I think it's because we're well and truly into the winter months, and candles in our home get lit on a regular basis. I found these giant match sticks in Industry's new pop up shop on Drury Street, and they perfectly quenched my need. So this week I was on the lookout for a special match stick holder {as you do} and spotted this perfect little red shot glass in a charity shop on Saint Michan's Street {can't remember its name} for €0.50. SCORE.

Candles are also a great way for me to get through the depressing Irish winter {cold, no snow, grey, grey, grey, rain and grey}. If it's going to be dark and gross out, might as well make it fancy and cosy and light some candles. If I had a fireplace, that thing would be lit from October to March. 

And above, my most random impulse buy ever. I saw these Black is the New Black pencils from MadeByGirl, and I had to have them. They reminded me of what I almost always say when I'm out shopping - whether it's something for our apartment, or something for me to wear ... 

... that or dark purple / maroon / wine etc. The darker, the better. But that's not really reflected in these bright pictures. I feel I should say, if we owned our apartment, it would look very different. Speaking of darker, I was a bit bold and spray painted one of my faux hydrangeas yesterday. They're originally bright purple with pink, and because of that I noticed I didn't have them on display as much. I gave one one of them darker a light dusting of spray paint to see what it looked like, and I think it turned out not too bad if I may be so bold. Oh, and for those of you curious about my vase, I nabbed that cheap and cheerful DIY from Bethany from Dwellings by DeVore. A girl after my own heart. 

Also featured - lamp revamp - thrifted coral - faux hydrangeas

Curated collection for Hatch.co

A couple weeks ago I got a lovely e-mail from Anastasia Leng from Hatch.co {as she said "yup, without the m at the end"}, who said she liked my blog and my style and was hoping I'd put a collection together for their website. I checked it out, and was pretty quickly lured in ... 

Hatch is a website that features products and pieces that can be personalized and customized for the user, by the maker. The end result is something bespoke and personal to each person. My first thought - it's a great site to check out if you're stuck for a gift to get someone. You will for sure find something cute or quirky to customize on Hatch. Or if you're like me, you get sucked in and want ALL OF THE THINGS. Speaking of which, here is my collection which I lovingly called Geek Chic ... 

1 Metal accent table - this needs to happen in my life. Perfect side table in our living room.
2 Geeky cotton pillow covers - I love pillows and I love my geeky IT husband. As you can imagine, there are 3 pillows in this set. I want Alt of them. 

3 Origami paper lamp shade - really adore these delicate lamps. It's hard to believe they're made of paper.

4 Your photo turned into a cross stitch - oh I wish I had the cross stitch skills to do this kind of stuff, especially a pic of my childhood home back in Canada. 

5 Custom printed pet pillow - I think this is my favourite piece, hands down. Our apartment would be swimming in them. Crazy cat lady represent. 

6 Recycled vinyl LP record snack bowls - a serving bowl! It really appeals to my reduce-reuse mentality. 

7 Industrial modern table - I don't even know what to write. I just need that table.

8 Geeky gadget sleeve - a perfect nostalgic sleeping bag for our gadgets.

9 Personalised pet figurine - this is an amazing figurine. Especially made for people like me, who miss their pets 4 hours into vacation time. With these personalized pet figurines, you can take your pet wherever you go. I can see myself even talking to it ... Did I mention earlier I was a crazy cat lady? Yeah.

10 Custom monogram pillows - These are adorable, but I must point out these are me and hubby's initials so I had to include them. Pillows. I heart pillows. One can never have too many pillows.

Crafty Christmas tutorial link-up

As promised in my edible Christmas ornaments post, here is the list of all the projects involved in Lupin's Christmas Link-up! The perfect little projects to get you in the mood for the encroaching season ... 

ROW 1 - felt house gift tag holder by i ManuFatti, Christmas trinket mobile hoop by Carina's Craftblog, felt polar bear ornament by La Creature and You, and Christmas Hoop by Claire Payne.

ROW 2 - embroidered Christmas mug rug by Button Button, polymer clay star ornaments by Saraccino, and knitted Christmas stockings garland by Knit Me a Cake.

ROW 3 - DIY Christmas ribbon by Adventures & Tea Parties, embroidered mistletoe ornament by Bugs and Fishes, scented salt dough ornaments by Retro Delicious, and crochet Christmas tree decorations by Homemade@MyPlace. 

ROW 4 - Christmas cross stitch raccoon ornament by Hugs are Fun, polymer clay Christmas tree by Little Creatures, Christmas wish-list felt envelope by Jumbleberries, and felt Christmas tree toy by Pinwheels and Stories. 

ROW 5 - let it snow embroidery pattern by A Little Happy Place, festive wanderers embroidery pattern by Unexpected Kitty, festive felt and fabric coasters by Betz White, and holiday ribbon pillow by Mrs. Saint Nick.

ROW 6 - felt gingerbread man gift tag by Grace's Favours, crochet Christmas star jar covers by Dinki Dots, and edible Christmas ornaments by moi! 

ROW 7 - cross stitch Christmas trees by Made by Mrs M, secret love letter Christmas gift tag by Crafts of Texture, applique love Christmas card by Halcyon Threads, and Christmas mini mitts by The Crimson Rabbit. 

ROW 8 - felt reindeer ornament by Pickle-Lily, Christmas carousel by Aura Verde Crafts, embroidered Christmas stocking ornament by Cocojude, and stenciled Christmas embroidery hoop by Angharad. 

Enjoy! xx A :)