i spy

I spy with my little eye someone who should be asleep. Can you see my little night owl?

tutu love

As mentioned in a previous post, my daughters were lucky enough to receive tutus from The Girly Place for Christmas, and today we decided to do a little impromptu photo shoot of Alison in hers.

















Alison has been taking ballet for about a year and a half now, and as you can see in some of the photos, she looks every bit the prima ballerina. But I have to admit, I love how the pics of her turned out with her stripey legs and chunky boots :) We had so much fun taking these photos! The tutu is wonderful!

If you haven't had a chance to check out The Girly Place, then what are you waiting for? Mom, wife and crafter, Joanie is the mastermind behind this wonderful shop. Her tutus are excellent quality and boast tons of 'fluff'. They come in different lengths and a variety of colours. She even has one that is a dress, very cute! And while you're there, be sure to take a look at the assortment of hair bows and flowers as well as all of the adorable felt foods. I'm especially fond of the fortune cookies (I think I may have to purchase some for Valentine's Day). Oh, did I forget to mention she also has the sweetest baby shoes too!






















images courtesy of The Girly Place

We are absolutely in love with our tutus, I'm pretty sure you can see how much A loves hers :) AND as an added bonus the lovely Joanie used the pics of A in one of her listings in her shop. You can imagine the squealing that's been going on here ;) !

my blue bird

© 2009 Jo-An Yu

With the completion of the master bedroom/nursery drawing to a close (I will be posting pics soon), my eldest has been asking for an 'upgrade' on her room. While I am very fond of A's room, it may be time for a bit of a renovation. Considering that her room is currently pink and green, and her favourite colour is blue does weigh heavily into the equation.






















image courtesy of decorpad

So the search begins for the perfect blue decor for my blue bird tween, shifting gears from yellow and grey goodies and adornments to blue and brown with a hit of citrus green...no rhyming intended ;)

hello 2010

Happy New Year Everyone! We had a wonderful 2009, topped off with the birth of our youngest daughter in October. We look back at a year filled with joy and laughter, and a few bumps along the way, but we're eager to start fresh and see what 2010 has in store for us. I send a heartfelt 'Thank You' to all of you who have joined us and stopped by to see what we've been up to here at Little Papercuts. I can't wait to see what kind of fun and mayhem lie ahead! Wishing you all a fabulous and properous new year!! XOXOXO

lazy and unimpaired

Yesterday my sister and I, along with my 3 kiddos were in search of an elevator at the mall, only to find it occupied by 6 females, none of which seemed unable to walk or too little to navigate some stairs on their own. Now considering that there was a flight of stairs, not steep and not many, less than 8 feet away, directly across from the elevators you would think that common sense would have told them to keep the elevator free for those who really needed it.

To make a long story short, one woman did hold the elevator for me, but as I attempted to navigate my way in with my brood in tow, not one of those women even stepped aside to allow me to push my overflowing stroller into the elevator. Out of the corner of my eye I could see another family quickly approaching with their small children and a stroller, and as they tried to enter one of the women behind me called to them, "There's not enough room for 2 strollers in here!". Now I've been to this mall enough times in my life to know that at LEAST 3 strollers can fit in this elevator, plus all the parents and siblings. I felt completely outraged that because these 6 women were too lazy to walk down a flight of stairs, or walk a little further to the escalators, a family who could ONLY use the elevators not only had to wait to use it, but were being told by someone who didn't need to use it that they couldn't!

As a parent with a stroller, I know what a pain it is to have to wait in line because there are a sea full of strollers also waiting for the 1 elevator in the entire mall. Yes, there have been times when I've maneuvered my stroller up the escalator (I do not recommend this to anyone), with my two older children ahead of me because I don't want to wait forever to go up or down. What makes me angriest about this whole situation is the attitude that they were doing me a favour by ALLOWING me to get in with them. The woman behind me, the same one who had told the other family there wasn't enough space, actually had the nerve to say to her friend that I hadn't even thanked them for holding the elevator for me. Uh, excuse me? Should I be thankful for the fact that the woman who had uttered this remark had not been the one to hold the doors open, and had it been up to her she would have let them shut in our face? Or should I be thankful that it's because of people like her that other families or those utilizing wheelchairs or walkers would be forced to wait because of her laziness? Perhaps, in my haste, I did not thank the woman who held open the elevator doors for us, and to her I apologize and offer a brief 'Thank You', but to those other women I say: GET OUT OF THE ELEVATOR AND LET THOSE WHO NEED TO USE IT, USE IT!!!! STOP BEING SO LAZY AND HAVE A LITTLE COMMON COURTESY!!!

I'm done my rant, carry on.

handmade christmas

My kids received tons of wonderful presents this year. Lots of toys, lots of clothes, lots of gift cards. But the presents that I loved the best were the ones that couldn't be found in a big box brick and mortar store, but special treasures found on Etsy.

My sister went mostly handmade this year and while she did have to cave in and purchase a few items from Toys R Us (boys can be very particular), she was able to get almost all of her Christmas shopping done online from the comfort of her own home. This is just a small sampling of the fabulous items she gifted us with:
















Wonderful sweet pea soap that smells heavenly from Indulgent Creations, a beautiful cedar soap dish from Andrew's Reclaimed, a funky wristlet key chain from Tracy Designs and cocoa mint lip balm from Sparta Soap...all for me!
















For the mini papercut, a couple of adorable pink diaper shirts from Not Your Mom's Vinyl...yes daddy is a Star Wars fan, and Z is a bit of a spitter.























Fluffy and fanciful tutus for both the girls from The Girly Place. As well as a pink and black taggy minky blanket(not pictured) for the little one. My eldest promptly put her tutu on and twirled around the room:)























And last but definitely not least, the sweetest little doll ever, named Lydia, from Sugar and Spice! She's my favourite gift, hands down :) I've already custom ordered one for the mini papercut!

I love every single gift we received, but there's just something about presents that feel like they were made just for us. I know that with the amount of kids we have to buy for (roughly 20 in total, yes you read that right) going completely handmade is not all that practical. Plus not everyone appreciates it. But I'm thinking about doing a mostly handmade Christmas next year, or at the very least attempting to do it. How about you?

something sweet

My daughter received a Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery kit for Christmas. It was on her wish list from Santa, and it definitely did not disappoint.
















It comes with pretty much everything you need to make a couple of mini cakes, including all the bake ware and a little decorating station complete with an icing tool and sprinkles.























The only suggestion I'd make is to have some icing sugar on hand just in case you add too much water to the fondant mixture, yes that is speaking from experience.
















We originally tried it out on Boxing Day with one of her friends, with very little adult input. Needless to say, the cake did not quite turn out the way it was supposed to, and neither did the fondant/icing, but it provided at least 30 minutes of amusement for both the girls and the dads that were supervising.





















So we took another stab at it today, my hubby and I both helping out, and I'm happy to report that the finished product was much closer to what it was supposed to look like! Now it didn't taste like grandma's cakes, but it was definitely edible and super sugary, and I have to admit, a lot of fun to make.
















It may not be perfect, but not too shabby either.
















As you can see, A is very happy with her little cake, and in the end she had a tiny treat that she made herself! Cute and sweet, just like the girl who made it:)