It’s an healthier option, but also a more convinient one. It takes less then 10 minutes to make and last for weeks, plus it cheaper. There’s no reason you will ever want to purchase some more.

You can even make an activity with the kids and they will be so happy to help you and pick their favorite color.

I posted a cute picture of the kids playing with their new playdough on valentine’s day morning and got so many questions about my recipe. I started my day wanted to do something special with Mason and Victoria. My first to go , look at the post that looked the most and impress my kids with how a qualified mom. As I should know it was a perfect fail and had to try many more after that to finally the one that was simple enough and had the perfect texture. My kids were impressed and it was a happy I figure should share it with everyone I know to spare them the trouble of trying them all.

I also wanted to mention that I used one recipe for one color and it was the perfect amount. It’s been 3 weeks now and the play dough is still impacable.

Here’s a few things you should know before you start.

First of all, I would recommend getting enough ingredient for 4 to 6 batches because once you start and

Colour

I used the icing chart on Pinterest to help get pastel playdough. Here’s the link if you want some inspiration.

Storage

I’m really interested in using eco-friendly items around the house. Since a non toxic recipe was one of the reason why I made this recipe, I figured I should find a glass storage containte . I linked my favorite container. They are so cute and perfectly fit the quantity made with the recipe.

Also…

Get all the ingredient ready to go before starting because the steps are pretty quick once you start warming it up.

Print

HOMEMADE PLAY DOUGH RECIPE

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 cup water
• natural food coloring

Instructions

• 1.     Add the food colorant to the water 

  2.     Warm the oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat.

  3.     Add all the ingredients.

  4.     Cook until it thickens and there is no moisture left. 

  5.     Remove from the heat and place the play dough on a parchment paper to cool.

  6.     After cooling knead playdough for a few minutes 
  

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If you are like me, you just woke up this morning thinking mother’s day is in 12 days and you still haven’t planned a gift for your mother. Actually, I woke up yesterday night so the good thing for you is that I started shopping and made a list of the last-minute ideas I could find.

My daughter Victoria was born on mother’s day and since then, it holds a special place in my heart. It was very unique and I remember saying nothing will ever compare as this gift. It was also the first time I experienced a natural birth. I did so much preparation and felt so connected with my baby and my body. The moment she was born was the best experience of my whole life. I was so proud of myself for pushing through the pain and giving birth by myself to a baby. Just to think about it feels unreal to me. I know that it is not given to everyone and that makes me sad, but if you have the chance, give yourself the privilege of living that special moment.

That being said, Mother’s to me is the day we get to celebrate the privilege of being a mom but also it is a moment when we can show our appreciation to the moms that are surrounding us to make them feel special and make a day about them, not everyone around. So here I found a few gift ideas. The first one is probably something I will get for myself, I’ve seen it for a while and I think it would be cute in my laundry room. Mom’s duty you know!

Hope this day feel special for all the moms out there. We work hard every day to manage it all and Mother’s day should feel special for you.

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This is my book review on “girl, Stop apologizing” Hope you guys like it and give you a good reason to read it.

What is this book about?

First and foremost it is a self-development book. It is a basic wake up call for you take the steps and be the person you always wanted to be and couldn’t achieve for whatever reasons. She brings us in her life with examples and gives you a plan to stop taking yourself out of your dreams. First, she gives all the commons excuses women use to do so and explain why they should not stop you then she tells you the behaviors to adopt and some skill that will actually help you along the way.

I walked pass this book a thousand time at target (mom escape) and every time I decided to purchase it, a voice inside me said “you’re at target don’t make an emotional purchase you know you don’t have time to read it” So I did what every mom secretly do… I decided to listen to it on Audible. Same thing, right?

Review & Thoughts

This is a book you should read. That’s it, straight to the point!

I’m thinking that if you are reading this post it’s probably because you are aware that it is a self-development book and that you have an open mind about the concept. Starting from there it’s one of my favorite book about the subject and highly recommends it.

First of all, I listened to it. Since I can never prioritise reading a book with my young children, I decided to use the time I would normally take to call anyone of my tribe (even knowing they were busy on their own) to just make it a time for myself. Turns out the time spent in the car is something I looked forward, but it also set up the mood of the day.

I’m having strong emotions about the book. First of all, I’m nostalgic that it’s over. I think one of the reasons I loved it so much is that it touched me personally. On top of that, I just decided to start a blog I have worked on for the last year, needless to say, I needed some reassuring because I was doubting myself. I was feeling very insecure and had second thoughts all the time. Second of all, I’m thrilled and feel like I will probably listen to it again. If for some reason you are trying to build a business or career, this book is for you and even more if you are simply dreaming of it.

There is nothing new in the book. Basically, trust yourself and take measures to ensure you are mentally and physically healthy to take up the challenge, but the way she talks to you as if she was your best friend coming to give you a big wake up call is uplifting. I would take mental note all the time and the book sound as if there was an inspirational quote on every line. Loved it!

I have a little bonus for you here! Some of my favorite inspirational quotes from the book. To be honest there could be so many more but I think this will keep you motivated for a while.

10 Inspirational quotes about growth

Hope you guys feel inspired and will let you know as soon as I’m done with the first book “Girl, wash your face”

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One of the hardest decision you will have to make when designing a room is the rug. I know it sounds simple, but, to find a large vintage styled rug the options are limited and even more, if you are looking for a neutral and natural shades of the rug. Since I did some research on the subject I though I could share my favorites with you.

TIPS

Before you start looking around here are some tips to facilitate your researches.

• DIMENSIONS, most of the time there are some standard shapes and sizes, look which one applies bests in your room. If you need help visit my Pinterest post on rug sizes.
• STYLE, there are so many options when shopping online for a rug, you should have a good idea of the colors you like, bold or neutral. Do you like lots of details or you like it more subtle? What is your flooring color? Do you want the rug to stand out or to soften the room? Sit in the room and look at what you see and Pinterest your ideal decor.

• MATERIALS, depending on how long you want your rug to last you and also depending on your budget, you will have different options. Hand-made is more expensive, but will last longer than the machine made.
• CARE AND MAINTENANCE, Also, natural fiber will necessitate specific care. The best way to decide is to analyze where you want the rug in your house and how much traffic there will be. In my house, I have more expensive rugs in the main floor living room and in the bedrooms, but for the kitchen and entry, I knew my kids would make a mess of it so I chose to go with a cheaper option. It all depends on your situation.

Personal experience

Sometimes we have the best intentions but accident happens, especially when you have kids and a bad rug decision turn into a disaster, is for instance:

I bought an expensive rug for my daughter’s bedroom, one day my kids were playing around and spill a little bit of water on it. No big deal… I used my carpet cleaner machine to clean it. You can imagine my surprise when I realized that I ruined it because it was viscose and cotton made, it needed special care.

This is the rug. Seriously the most beautiful rug and I’m still debating if I should purchase it again, I know it’s bad!

Let’s get back to the vintage rugs. I listed my top 10 favorite vintage rugs here and obviously the price range varies a lot but hopefully, there’s on that would fit you and help your future decor. Hope to see some nice pictures in your decor Ladies!!!

TOP 10 VINTAGE RUGS

Vintage rugs are popular right now since you can mix them with modern decor to warm up the room or even use them in a bathroom. The possibilities are infinite but one sure thing is that it adds style and should be your go-to if you don’t know what kind of rug you want. You just cant go wrong.

Here are my top 10 favorites. They are the one I presented to my clients recently and got really good feedback too.

1. Pompeii, McGee & Co.

2. Lourdes, McGee & co.

3. Rhapsody Modern, Perigold

4. Persian Kerman Rug, One Kings Lane

5. Safavieh Patrice hand-loomed rug, Horchow,

6. Overdyed Naima Rug, Antropologie

7. Distressed Persian Rug, One kings Lane

8. Brandt, Wayfair

9. Lolani power-loomed, Wayfair

10. Youati, Wayfair

Hope you guys feel inspired and ready to incorporate vintage rugs to your decor. Enjoy !

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It’s spring sale everywhere and to help your research I made a list of my top picks in some of the boutiques that I really like for special items. I could do a post on Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware sales, but I love pretty much everything so here are some new ideas for your home. Anthropologie, Serena & Lily, Lulu & Georgia and Horchow

ANTROPOLOGIE

20% off + free shipping over 150$ for members (free registration)*

SERENA & LILY

20% off with code INSPO*

LULU AND GEORGIA

25% off with code XOXO*

HORCHOW

25% off bedroom and bathroom, free shipping order over 50$ with promo cade MARCH*

I hope this post have help you save a few hours of researches and give you ideas if you were stuck in some room decoration.

More details on Spring Sales…

• Pottery Barn: 25% off 1 item + free shipping on your order code BLOOM*
• West Elm: 40 % on selected items*

Happy Spring!

*Sales details on the website of the item. This post is for reference only and the items suggested in the post link to affiliate programs.

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Hello Ladies!! Spring is just around the corner and I know some of you are in the process of home building this summer or just want to stay updated on interior designer trends so I wrote this post to share with you my love for the oak kitchen cabinets.

Do you have a Pinterest KITCHEN board? Chances are that the first inspiration board you started to pin about for your project, is the Kitchen. If you haven’t started yet I have plenty of idea on mine if you need it. So let’s talk about the kitchen oak cabinet. Don’t worry, I’m not talking here about your 90’s styled cabinet, even tho it’s still Oak, the process makes it look totally different, also the use of white Oak wood.

Without getting too much in the technical details, it’s called Rift sawn and basically, it is how the lumber is cut from the logs. This process eliminate the typical cathedral pattern and gives a softer linear grain that looks more modern. 

CERUSING WOOD

To really jump into this oak everything trend, let’s get more specific and add a Cerusing finish. Using white or light paint will add contrast and highlight the wood grain. If you have ever stepped foot in a Restoration hardware store you will know exactly what do I refer to. The photo below is my actual kitchen table and you can see that the white wax set in only in the grooves of the wood and doesn’t alter the color of it like a stain would do.

Here are some kitchen inspirations for your next project. You will find more on my Pinterest as you can imagine it would be impossible for me to display them all here.

I Hope this post helped you guys for your future projects and I will share more of those design insights soon.

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If you plan on visiting maui soon. Here’s the highlight of my week there. From restaurants, to hotel and activities, My best spots and all recommandations for a luxurious family trip

Top 3 Hotels

Four Seasons Hotel, Le Montage Hotel, and Andaz Hotel… We looked for different options while researching for a Hotel. These are on a strip of the beach so it’s really easy to access. We decided to take my sister with us for reinforcement with the kids. We only had 5 days in Maui and much needed rest, so instead of a couple vacations, we decided that everyone would enjoy. Also, we had friends from Las Vegas that were joining us with their 4 kids. Needless to say, space was our number one priority, kids friendly was also important, but we wanted to make sure we would enjoy our time there. Our experience at Andaz was perfect. It’s a new hotel and it’s smaller than the other one so it felt more private. There were many pools, but one specially made for the kids and most of the time it was just us. You could also order food and eat at the little restaurant right there while watching the kids in the pool. Honestly, I would recommend it to anyone and if we ever return I will probably try Le Montage Hotel, just because Rach Parcell was there at the same time and I since I follow her on Instagram, I got to see some sneak peek that I really loved.

What to do

I listed here a few activities that we either did or got strong recommendations for. The list could go on and on but these are MUST DO kind of things. Time in Hawaii goes by so fast so better be prepared.

Snorkelling & Whale watching

There are many good spots and if you ask around depending on the weather, chances are that you will swim with turtles and that is a must do for me. I had such an incredible experience. It’s the number one thing I could not stop talking about. We used Maui Yacht Charter with the Satisfaction boat. I can say that everyone had a blast. We saw many, many whales, baby whale even…and the staff was so knowledgeable about it, really interesting. We swam with turtles, we saw 3 of them and many fishes. We also had breakfast waiting for us and they served us some fish taco from their last catch. Wow! If you want to make a statement out of it, bring a bottle of champagne and Tada! One of the best day of my life. Not kidding! I also got a recommendation for Makena Landing snorkeling spot if you want to make it more about the actual snorkeling then the overall experience.

Turtles Watching

The best spot is Hookipa Beach, in Paia. And I would say it’s more like a hundred turtles watch. Honestly, if never seen anything like that. At first, I thought these were rock… Nope, all turtles. So we went there the same night we ate at Mama’s fish house. It’s 0.7 miles from there. Walking in between is not ideal but, we had our uber driver dropping us at the beach and he waited for us and drove us back to the restaurant. Actually, he told us he was a photographer too so we asked him to come to the beach and take pictures of us, which he gladly did. That gives you an idea of how much fun people are in Hawaii. So plan your reservation just after the sunset and you will get the best of both. A funny thing around there is the guard that supervises the area all day long. It’s illegal to touch a turtle in Hawaii and you could get in big trouble if so. I love the way they respect their land over there it’s inspiring.

Helicopter tour

Last minute we decided to do a helicopter tour with the kids. And both slept the whole time. I would still recommend it for the experience, I’m a firm believer or life experiences with children so for me it was a win. It was a cloudy day so the option of the volcano watch was impossible but still, it was worth it. We wanted to make sure we could see everything around Maui if ever we decide to visit another island on our next trip here (because it won’t be the last one, hopefully ) We saw the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony, it takes months to be approved for a permit to travel on the island and it’s a process, so it was not an option. But it is still nice to get a little history fix. We saw whales again and also visited the site where they filmed Jurassic Park Movie opening scene. The list goes on and on so just book a tour, it’s worth it.

The Road to Hana

If your feeling adventurer for a day, Travel the Road to Hana. We did not do it but heard it’s a must. You have to plan a whole day for it. Some of our friends did it with a driver and had a good time. You will see pretty much all of Maui ecosystems (10 out of the world’s 13 ecosystems, including rain forest and desert) Tip number one that I got was to leave very early in the morning. So bring your camera and enjoy the ride.

Where to eat…

Morimoto, Andaze

If you like sushi, this is a must try. It is supposed to be the best on the island. It’s the only one we tried so I can’t compare but had a great time. If you plan on going, you should also grab a drink and watch the sunset.

Mama’s fish House

My favorite restaurant EVER. Make a reservation ASAP. Depending on the time of the day ask to sit by the window to see the beach and the surfers, we were there after the sunset since we stopped to watch the turtles but still enjoyed it. The menu changes with the catch of the day, but I had Mama’s stuffed fish and a nice Maui Banana Macadamia nut crisp. Make it a Cheat day, it’s worth it.

Cafe O’Lei

This is a more casual recommendation, but if you want a real Hawaiian vibe that’s your spot. The food is good, the atmosphere is chill and your wallet will love it after mama’s fish house.

Hope you liked the recommendations. Traveling to Hawaii was always a dream for me but, to be able to enjoy it you have to make sure of the time of the year and the number of days you have there, so for us it was tough to plan. I would go back anytime. It’s been our best family vacations and my son still talk about it as his third favorite place in the world just after our St. Louis home and our Magog home just to give you an idea.

Enjoy your Vacations!

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Inspiration comes from everywhere to me. Especyally when traveling because I really enjoy opening my mind to new design and try to see how I could incorporate it in my design to add a special touch.

As the playoffs just started and I am welcoming my family in law, I decided to enjoy some alone time at the Vintage Market. I randomly walked into it and it was … Perfect.

I’m always looking for treasures. Something you’re not looking for it and it appears in front of you and you’re in love. I like the idea of something unique, something that can add depth to a beautiful design.

With the hockey season a little different this year, we decided to rent a condo and get the minimum furniture and decor until we figure out the long term situation. So walking in the market was a different then usual as I could not buy anything even if I would fall in love. I grabbed a lot of business cards tho and still uses them some times.

Basically, there was vintage and handmaid stuff. From a lamp made out of a vintage camera to a bench made of an old blanket. It’s interesting when visiting a new city to look for events like that, grab a coffee and enjoy nice weather. Good for the soul and the eyes. Here are a few photos of my field trip.

Enjoy!

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