Winners at Homesense!

Did you get that little title joke there?  Because they are both owned by the same company?  haha...okay...

I've been slowly plugging along working on my bedroom (really so far all that's done is the painting).  I have lots of inspiration pinned on Pinterest, and one thing I know for sure I want to do is get a bigger nightstand.  I currently have the same one that I used when I was a child and all it holds is a lamp and my alarm clock.  If I'm reading a book, it does not get a nice place on the nightstand, it has to go on the floor.  I wanted to update the nightstand (a project I'm currently working on!) and get a new, fancy lamp.  For Christmas, one of my tutoring students gave me a gift card to Winners. I went on a little shopping trip with my mom to see what we could find.

Let's just say it was one of those shopping days where you hit every deal and sale possible.  Don't you just love those days when they are unplanned?

I found a super, cool linen-covered box, with a lid and handles for $9.00 at Homesense.  I have been looking for a new box for AGES to replace a dirty, old white one I have from IKEA.  I love its faux wood look too, and at nine bucks I couldn't pass it up!

Then I found this awesome lamp in the lighting section.  But the shade had a dirty mark on it.  I considered trying to get a discount on the price (but it was already on clearance, probably because of the stain) and then cleaning it when I got home, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble.  There's a Winners store near my house, so we made a trip there to see if they had anything else, or even possibly the same lamp, since I really did love it.  By now I had decided I was going to use my giftcard for a new lamp.  Well, wouldn't you know Winners had the exact same lamp!  I was so excited!  But the shade was all dented in...boooo...nooooo.  I was bummed. The store manager happened to be within earshot and heard me lamenting the state of the shade and offered to let me swap lamp shades with any other lamp in the store.  After hemming and hawing, and walking away twice, I found one that I think works better than the original.  And that's how I walked home with this beauty! After my gift card, it only cost me $15.00!

Since my new lamp was going on my nightstand, my current bedside lamp was going to be moved to my dresser, since I have no overhead lighting in my bedroom.  So we made a quick dash into Bouclair to see if they had a lampshade I had seen on their website.  They didn't (bummer) but I did find another patterned one that was on sale.  What I didn't realize was that the store was closing (I'm so sad about this, and as I'm writing this now the store has officially closed) so I got 70% off the price.  I got the lampshade for $8.00. Can't beat that!  So my old lamp got a little eight dollar makeover.

I can't wait for the whole room to come together!  It's slow going, but maybe by the summer the reveal will be ready.  If summer EVER gets here! #sotiredofwinter

A Trip to the Third World Bazaar

Last weekend I made our annual trip to the Third World Bazaar with my mom and sister.  Third World Bazaar is a family owned business in the Ottawa area that purchases products from around the world and then sells them directly to consumers.  They believe in fair trade and buy the majority of their products from the artisans and craftsmen in the source country.  They are only open 8 weekends a year, in October and November, so you have to be quick, otherwise you miss it!

I took some quick phone photos while I was there to show you all.  The bazaar takes place in a barn.  Combine that with the TONS of people in attendance and it made for some very quick photography in very tight spaces!

The section outdoors features some amazing root wood furniture, sculptures, and ceramics.

In the furniture room (which is actually an addition to the main barn), there are tables made from bicycle parts, hand-crafted wooden furniture and mirrors, an amazing hand-carved Moroccan archway, and I'd like to introduce you to O'Reilly...he sells for $675.

And if you're going to have giant busts, you must also have giant animals!

Here's Eddy the Elephant who weighs a whopping 363kg!

We can't forget my favourite, Freddy, the 3.35-meter high giraffe from Kenya.  He's the most expensive piece in the bazaar at $4500.

  

There are smaller animals that are more affordable :), as well as dishes, trays, cutlery, vases.  You name it, they probably have it!

There are also decorative lighting, wall art, pillows and textiles, and wall carvings.

We can't forget the Christmas corner or the clothing!

I came away with only 1 purchase that day.  I'd like you all to meet Stevie the VII.  He came with that name and I liked it so it stuck!  You can all call him Stevie.  He is made of tin and hails from Bali.  He greets me every time I come in my front door.  If you lift up his wings he's actually a candle holder.  He's fun, quirky, and a nice addition to the entry.

If you're in the Ottawa area, Third World Bazaar runs every weekend until the end of November.  Guaranteed you'll find LOTS of amazing things you won't find anywhere else!

Target Adventure!

The beginning of May, when I was visiting my friend Sarah, one of the things we HAD to do was go to Target. That may sound silly to some of my United States readers, but we have never had Target in Canada.  Stores are starting to pop up around the country, but they have yet to arrive in Ottawa.  A bunch are in Toronto, so I knew we had to visit.  I wanted to see what all the hype was about and I wasn't disappointed!

Love Nate Berkus!  And if that tortoise shell had been in a different colour I would have been all over it.  (I totally thought it was ceramic...but it was plastic!)

How cute is this little green footstool?  And Sarah was smitten by these necklace holders.

And because I'm a super nerd, and had never seen it before, THEY HAVE A SEPARATE  ESCALATOR FOR YOUR SHOPPING CART!

I did make some purchases while I was there.  I got my mom some earrings for her birthday, a new t-shirt, and this cute glass bell jar from the clearance section.  It has a little glass dragon fly on top.  When I got it home, I made a fake terrarium to put inside it (thanks for the idea Sarah!).  I'll be doing a post on how to make your own terrarium in the next few days.  I love it up on my ladder shelf.

Such a fun little trip and I can't wait until Target is in Ottawa.  They have just enough different merchandise than other large box stores to make them stand out.  And their Dollar Section had some pretty good stuff in it too! One is opening up about 15 minutes away from me so it could be dangerous!