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