Happy Birthday Lovely Leah!

It's Leah's birthday this weekend!! Hurray!

We are so grateful for her and thought we would share our top five favourite Leah qualities!

1. Leah is kind. She has one of those big hearts that are just naturally kind. Whether it is with teaching kids swimming, cutting client's hair, interacting with seniors, helping her family, when you spend time with Leah, you just realize how loving she is and want to be JUST like her.  : )

2. Leah is so talented creatively!! She has such a fabulous eye and talent for creative the best updos and hairstyles. It amazes us daily, as Charlotte and I can only do braids and sock buns. Leah makes it look so easy! She also plays violin, is an incredible knitter and skilled baker.

3. Leah has a heart of service. For my wedding she was so willing to go above and beyond, even when I told her to say no,  she insisted. She did our hair, flowers, played violin, knitted and was always there to give a hand. Leah also did all this without complaining or making it look hard.

4. Leah is an optimist. She is positive and always looks on the bright side, even at a huge flea market sale that she clearly doesn't like, Leah will still be positive and not complain. She will leave the event with one or two books and say: "Well that was fun!"

5. Last but not least, Leah is a witness of faith. She has a quiet love for the Lord that you can just feel when around her. Leah doesn't preach, she lives it out.

Happy Birthday lovely! We love you!

"To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confidant..it is to have  a soulmate for life." Victoria Secunda

A Truly Charlotte Update

This weekend is the Etsy Made In Canada show! In Ottawa it's a two day event and we just can't wait. Every vendor that's part of the show has an online Etsy shop. It's such a treat to be able to actually see the art in person rather than on-line. Check out the site here to find a pop up Etsy Made in Canada show in your area.































In other news, Truly Charlotte has some new friends!
Check out the lovely new creations and if you are interested go to her online shop here or better yet show up at Etsy show this weekend! We will be there Saturday and Sunday. For more info check out the site here

P.S. as an added incentive to come visit us the Ottawa Show: SWAG BAGS!  They are giving out amazing swag bags for the first 100 people in line. Every vendor has been asked to contribute something, whether it be an item or a coupon. The bags are different for each day : ) : )

See you in line!

A few of our favourite things..

Happy Tuesday!

We thought today we would share a few things that we are loving right now..what about you? Anything amazing that you are loving? Share with us in the comments, we always loving hearing from you.

1. This incredible version of  Cinderella. Leah bought it for us on the weekend, and we've watched it already a few times, it's just SO good! We love the costumes, the acting, but most importantly the message: "Have courage and be kind" it's one we can all practice right? Thank you Disney for reliving our childhood in such a beautiful live version! Here's hoping the Beauty and the Beast film is as good...

2. Etsy artists and this incredible show here in Ottawa this weekend: Etsy Made in Canada
This weekend Etsy Canada shows are popping up everywhere! Check out and see if there is one in your city. The Ottawa show received such a positive response that there are now two days! The best part: Truly Charlotte will be there both days! If you are in the city, come and say hi to us, we would love to see you.

3. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cupcakes,  homemade soup, yummy beef stew: hurray for comfort food! ..yay fall!! Can you believe it's Autumn already? While it is sad to see summer go, it's exciting to have the cooler weather for cooking.

4. I (Renee) have been having trouble sleeping lately, and the meditation trick 4, 7, 8 really does work!!! Basically you inhale, count to 4, hold your breath, count to 7, exhale count to 8. Check it out here

5. Our brother John has been training hard and ran the Army Race this past weekend. We are so proud of him to have participated in such a great event! Way to go John! We can't wait to cheer you on at the May Race Weekend!

A Five Layer Birthday Cake

This summer Charlotte turned 21! In our home, the tradition is the birthday girl/boy has the privilege of requesting their favourite meal and dessert. Charlotte is the one in our family with the high taste buds and eclectic food loves. When her five year old birthday rolled around, she requested smoked oysters. Haha isn't that what every five year old wants?
Our mama managed to convince her to have pizza or hot dogs, something more "kid friendly" for her friends, and then of course smoked oysters just for her, later on in the day.

As we've gotten older, this birthday tradition still holds, but instead of it just being our mama or dad make all the food, we do too. This year all of us waited to see what birthday girl Charlotte dreamed of for dinner & dessert. Her heart was set on on a five layer cake, and not just any five layer cake, one that was chocolate, vanilla, with frosting, jam, cookies and oh of course iced in some sort of 'ombre' fashion.

Do you know how much a cake like this costs? We googled it and a five layer custom cake birthday cake, can be anywhere between $60-$100! While it did require a bit of fussy work, our cake probably came in close to $30 in ingredient cost.

Leah and John baked the following two different kinds of cakes in 8 inch round cake pans..

Three layers of our favourite chocolate cake which you can find the recipe here

and

Two layers of our very delicious vanilla cake which you can find the recipe here
( just omit the funfetti)

The cake was iced with white icing which you can find here (just omit nutmeg)
and chocolate icing, which is the same recipe but with 1/2 cup of cocoa or more if desired.

and together with our Mama they assembled the following layers:

First: chocolate cake, iced with white icing and crumbled cookies, we love these ones
Second: white cake, layered with strawberry jam and then white icing
Third: chocolate cake iced with white icing and crumbled cookies
Fourth: white cake, layered with blueberry jam and then white icing
Fifth: chocolate cake topped with icing, cookies and fresh raspberries

After the cake was put together, the entire tower of goodness was iced with white icing, mixed in with chocolate to give it that ombre looked. We crumbled the rest of the cookies on top and voila!
A Five Layer Cake, entirely dairy and wheat free!

What about you? Any birthday traditions? Share with us!

Surprise Surprise!

Hello Friends!

We are back!!!!!

Did you miss us? : )

We missed this space and after a HUGE eventful year, decided to start up again.
It has been one of those big whirlwind years, so we thought we would give you a blurb about each of us and go from there. Sound ok?


Queen Charlotte of the Land of Fashion:

Charlotte spent the last year creating and selling her stuffies in countless successful shows, online and through her Etsy. She also lovingly made our cute little wedding cake toppers,

yes they were bridal felted birdies.  Her line Truly Charlotte has really taken off! After a splurge of creative energy, along with Leah and my Mom she designed and created vintage bathing suits. This passion for creating clothing sparked her into contemplating design school, which led her to becoming accepted in Richard Robinson's Fashion Design school! She is in her first year in the program, and we cannot wait until she is creating her own clothing line.

Princess Leah of the Coiffed Hair

After a very full year of classes, Leah is now apprenticing as a hairstylist in a local salon called Westboro Spa. She has been practising on family members (yayyy!!!) and has really done a fantastic job at perfecting the trade.

She now has her own chair at the salon and is accepting clients, which is a very big accomplishment in the world of hair! We are so proud! On top of all her busy learning and working,  Leah accomplished a massive feat this year, one I will be eternally grateful.  As a gift for my wedding she did all the hair of bridesmaids, flower girls and MINE, was a supportive bridesmaid and played her violin through the ceremony. Oh and she did all this with complete ease!

Mrs. Renee of the Newly Married

I was married January 3, 2015 on a very wintery day.  It was an absolutely fun, joy filled day, full of so much love.

With great help from our families and friends, we pulled off a wedding for 150 people ( plus lots of dance guests)  and kept it all within our budget at $10,000. Happy dance! : ) It was the biggest DIY project we have ever done, and we learned so much. I plan on sharing what worked and what didn't on the blog, so stay tuned.


We have a lot of hair ideas, fashion, DIY projects, books, and so much more to share with you all. Thank you especially to all of you dear friends who took the time to encourage us and share how much you loved this little blog. We are grateful. x

"The waves splash against my face, carrying a message: Welcome, you belong here" Doug Cooper

Until we meet again...

"Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do." J.R.R Tolkien

Hello Friends!
It's been a few weeks since any action here on the blog, and we are sorry to have left you hanging without any explanation. A lot has happened in the last month in our lives and we owe you a little update.

What's New with Miss Charlotte:  It's Softie Season!

Truly Charlotte has taken off for the summer season with the New Art Festival this past weekend. Her softies are all one of a kind and take hours of work to finish. This summer she has a few new friends to add to her growing collection: A woodsman, an owl, a cute pink pig, and a bulldog. If you are looking for a handmade gift check out her etsy shop: here
Truly Charlotte is going to be at a few more festivals in the fall and winter, so be sure to like her facebook page:  here to keep up with all the dates!

What's new with Mademoiselle Leah: She's almost a hair stylist!




























Leah has been working all year to get her certification for hair styling. She has one more semester to go, plus a placement and then she's finished!  Way to go Leah!! We are so excited for you!!

What's new with almost Mrs Renee: Engaged!: )




























After helping with my brother's wedding, being Maid of Honour for my sister, I can now look forward to being a bride. My heart is so full with all the love that went into the proposal and with the gorgeous sparkly new ring bling on my left hand. God is so good. We are planning a winter woolly wedding just after Christmas and are going to make it the biggest DIY project we have ever done.

With all that being said, we are going to take a mini break from the blog and re evaluate in the fall. We want to live these special moments with our friends and families, not living behind a lens or computer screen. Thank you dear friends for all the supportive words, ideas and of course all the love.
Until we meet again!






























"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends." Richard Bach

A Friday Ritual

One photo without explanation. A moment captured- a time to be still, to breathe and remember.

Happy Friday! :)