Saturday Crafting

My friend and I get together about every 2 weeks for some brunch and some crafts! It's become something that I really look forward to during the week, and I'm excited for the Summer when we can have more brunch dates. We take turns hosting and picking/preparing for the crafts. It works out pretty well for us! We've had a few craft fails and successes, but it's always fun trying new things. This past weekend, it was my friend's turn and she picked these watercolour tile coasters!

After some trial and error, we figured out the best way to make the colours stay, rather than just disappearing. We used 91% alcohol, food colouring, and matches. We had to use a lot of alcohol, dip the food colouring on it, mix the colours however we wanted using a q-tip or blowing on it, then adding more alcohol and lighting it on fire. We let it burn until the flames went out. They took forever to dry and it was tricky transporting mine home, but after a quick varnish spray they were good to go! 

As my luck goes, after I sprayed the clear varnish on my tiles and went back inside, it started sprinkling outside. I was upset at first but noticed it made them look even better! 

 These were so fun, and so easy, that I don't want you to be surprised if you get a coaster set for Christmas ;) It's my turn to host brunch on the 6th of July, and I'm still not sure what we'll do, or what we'll eat. Any ideas?

xo. Nicole

Father's Day Camping

For Father's Day, Rob and I went up north to Slave Lake for some camping with his dad, step mom, nephew, and uncle. It was a really great weekend of relaxing, fire watching, cherry eating, fish frying, tent napping, and visiting family. We're apparently going to make it an annual thing, to go up there for Father's Day. The weather was really nice when we got there and only rained for about an hour on Saturday evening. Rob's dad was well prepared for the rain, so it all worked out for us. 

xo. Nicole

Week's End || June 12

SNAPSHOTS:

1|| I had a subpar experience at a nail salon here in town that is also in every city. I used to like them a lot, but since that experience, I decided to try and go locally owned and operated. I found a lady who does gel nails out of her home and I'm still so in love with them! I'm super happy that I found such a wonderful lady in town, as I know I'm supporting her family rather than some CEO's yacht fund. #supportlocal

2|| I snagged this pink tumbler from Starbucks when I met an old friend for coffee last week, and I'm so glad I did. Drinking my water out of a straw seems to help me get more water in throughout the day...just me? I've been getting in 3 of these every day during my work week, and it's 709ml/24oz! In this picture, I put mint leaves and some frozen blueberries - my favourite!

3|| Despite attempting my fifth round of Whole30 and only making it to day 13, I still try to eat as clean as possible. I've found a lot of recipes for their mayo but I like mine the best! It's almost a ranch, but it's more like a garlic mayo. I've been obsessed for 2 weeks now with dipping my home made french fries in it. So. Good. Would you like me to share the recipe?

4|| I went into Michael's to grab some craft supplies...so like, 3 things. I ended up coming out with 10 things including this mug! I love the floral pattern and the message. It's my new go-to mug in the mornings.

WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:

1|| I blogged once this week...and here it is!

2|| Cara is back to blogging, and she's starting out with a giveaway - maybe I shouldn't share it so I'd have a better chance of winning ;)

It's been on my mind, like everyday. I want to jump back into blogging! I would love to make this Week's End a link up, but I'm not quite there yet. I only have 12 instructional days of work left, then it's Summer break and I'll definitely have more time, and hopefully more energy. My body basically shut down from a wicked sinus infection that traveled to my wisdom tooth, and I haven't run or exercised really in almost 4 weeks. My infections are gone (gosh, that sounds gross, haha!) and I really don't have an excuse anymore. I'm lacking motivation, I think.

Do you have your own blog? I'd love to read your latest post!
Would you be interested in doing a Week's End link up every Sunday/Monday?

xo. Nicole

A 50th Surprise

This past February, my dad turned 50. His work is always busy during the Winter months here in Alberta (so, like 10 months of the year) and he couldn't take any time off work for a party, so I planned it for the May long weekend. Many things didn't go as planned, including the shelter, some decorations, and some missing guests, but it all worked out in the end.

I feel that hosting and planning a "surprise" 50th party for my dad was a really good way to show him how much I appreciate everything he's done for me and helk, it's his 50th, it's basically asking for a giant party! It was supposed to be full surprise, where I'd even contact his employer and book his time off, except a few things went wary and the secret was out. It still worked out for the best, and my dad didn't know any details, but he had to book his own time off work ;)

My Grandma and I took a couple hours to prepare a '50' photo collage, the cupcake toppers, and a guest book of sorts. His party was a BBQ theme, as he does love his BBQ and it was supposed to be bright and sunny out. The weather had another idea, and decided to rain for the entire weekend...except for the hours of the party! The rain held off, but it was still cold and gloomy. The tarps didn't work out (one flat out broke and came crashing down an hour before people were supposed to show up!) so we rush cleaned out the garage and shoved everything in there. It has a little oven in there, so thankfully it kept the place pretty warm. 

I got a cake made for the occasion, too. It turned out so wonderful and was really good! Nothing but people complimenting how great it looked and how awesome it tasted. Of the 50+ people who said they were coming, 26 in total were there to celebrate! It was really great to finally meet family members that I've never met (or was too little to remember meeting). (Can you see my vibrant red hair? Love it!)

The help I received from everyone was beyond awesome and we really have an awesome family. My grandma let us use their acreage, everyone pitched in and brought some chips, salad, or dessert. My dad was so, so happy with it, and that's what really mattered! My younger sister drove all the way from BC for our dad's party, and my dad was so happy! We took advantage and got our first photo of the 3 of us in forever.

Everything was pretty budget friendly. The dollar store was my best friend for the decorations and it was all handmade. The cake and the poster were the only exceptions, as I went through Cake Affair for it (and will again!) and the Etsy shop, TalkInChalk.

Have you ever planned a 'surprise' party?

xo. Nicole