So during a recent visit to Scotland I had the privilege of attending a traditional Scottish wedding.  A few weeks before we left, my sister in law posted on my wall asking if I wanted her to make me a hat or fascinator to wear to the wedding.  My stomach kind of dropped as I have never been one to enjoy wearing hats....I just can't seem to pull them off.  Knowing how super-cool my sister in law was I knew that whatever she sorted out for me would be awesome so I decided I would live life on the wild side and wear whatever she made for me.  Funny how hats are so common place in Britain but I have never really seen anyone wear a hat to a wedding in Canada. 

Anyway, as we were getting all prettied up for the wedding, my sis in-law said she was going to bring out the hats and fascinators that she had made for all of us girls to wear.  Well.....my jaw just about hit the ground when I saw what she had made.  They were so amazing and creative and just beautiful.  Here are a few of the ones she made for our other family members..........
Even my baby girl rocked a fascinator (not for very long though!)
Honestly, I had no idea that people wore such cool creations to weddings.  It's almost as if the hat or fascinator is more important than your outfit.  My sister in-law said that some people will even pay just as much for them as they do for their actual dress.  So here is the super awesome one she made for me......
So needless to say, when we got to the wedding I was so interested in what everyone was wearing in their hair that I became somewhat of a paparazzi snapping sneaky shots of everyone's hair accessories.  Excuse the camera work.....it's not easy to take sneaky shots....lol.

So here are some shots of some of the guests and their fabulous fascinators...............
Now......let's start a FASCINATOR MOVEMENT in Canada............it's just so fun to rock a fascinator!!  Here are a few random pics.....just because......everyone loves a wedding!
Look at this cute little guy in his kilt!!
My hubby and his bro.  Love the kilts!
Nice hats ladies!
My handsome hubby and I.
Alan and his fabulous brother and sisters.  They are just too cool.....and yes, incase you were wondering, they ARE as fun as they look!
My sweet little family..............
The reason we are all there......the beautiful bride and handsome groom.........
 
So here's another 'oldie but goodie' from before my blogging days.  Just before Christmas I hosted a Tutu Making night at my place.  I joined a local group for moms called "Momstown" and the ladies rock!  I was pretty new to Momstown at the time and since I love to have people over, I decided that hosting a craft night would be a great way to get to know all the members better.  The plan was to make little tutus to give our princesses for Christmas.  It was soooo much fun!  Everyone brought a yummy appetizer and well let's just say that what was supposed to be a two hour event turned into four hours.  What can I say.....yummy food, yards of tulle, silk flowers, rhinestone embellishments and a bunch of chatty mamas made for a great night of entertainment!  So here are some of the highlights..........................

First we chose our tulle colours and built a flower for our tutu.
We set up a flower station so everyone could build their own flower.  To be honest, I just laid out ready made flowers but my super creative sister in-law (who was luckily visiting from Scotland at the time) came up with the fab idea to take them all apart so we could build multi-coloured flowers.  Amazing way to spruce up flowers you get at the Dollar Store.
Once our mamas chose their tulle and built their flower, they picked up a co-ordinating ribbon and chose from tons of rhinestone embellishments.  I thought glittery butterflies would be a nice addition to the tutus.....turns out nobody thought so because those glittery wings didn't make an appearance on any of the finished tutus :)
So.... two colours of tulle, a pretty flower and fun ribbon.....let the tutu making begin!!!
We started by rolling our tulle and cutting it into strips.
I got the instructions from a great Tutu Making tutorial on You Tube.  It was so easy!! 
If you want to give it a try here is the link.

Here are some of the finished Tutus!!

It was such a fun night and big hugs go out to my sister in-law Karen who got all of our creative juices flowing!
 
Dear Isla,

I want you to know how much I love our mornings.  Every morning I get you all to myself and it's the nicest part of my day.  I savour every moment of it.  This morning I loved opening your door and seeing your sweet little eyes peering over the top of your crib; and watching that infectious smile take over your baby face when you realized that mommy was there to take you into "the big bed" for your morning bottle.

I was never a morning lover but now I look so forward to the first half hour of every day with you; it's filled with lazy cuddles and tired smiles.  I love the way you stare at me when you are having your morning bottle and the way your little hands can barely hold it because you are still so sleepy.  I am grateful that when I help you with that bottle you are still so little that you want every bit of help I have to offer.  I love that you are getting independent enough to meet some of your own needs but you still love when your mommy helps.

I can't resist nibbling on your baby toes and love the way you put your other little foot in front of my face because you don't want it to be left out of the fun.  I giggle every time you tiredly flop over and bury your face in the duvet like a little ostrich, until you can't breathe and need to shoot up quickly for air.  I love the way your eyes are so wide in the morning, almost like you are discovering everything for the first time; and how every so often, you catch a glimpse of your hand and it is so fascinating that you study it intently.  I love the way you just throw yourself on my chest and then cuddle in.  I love the way you call out "TOBE!" when you realize that you haven't seen our little dog Toby yet and the smile that comes over your face when his little dog tags jingle on his way over to our bed.  He's not too sure about you yet but he still comes every morning when you call him.

I think my favourite part of our morning is when you start to feel more awake and the beautiful sound of your baby babble fills the room.  I don't know what you are trying to say but it doesn't matter.....I get you.  The pitch of your tiny voice melts my heart and I get glimpses of what your little voice will sound like when you learn to say "I love you".

I love that for a half hour in the morning there is nowhere either of us would rather be than in our little cocoon doing absolutely nothing together.  It's a little bit of bliss to start,what is usually, a very busy and tiring day.  Thank you for being so sweet, so awesome, so funny and so perfect for our family.  You are my little angel (in the morning anyway....lol).  Mommy loves you!
 
A few months ago I hosted a Pinterest Brunch at my place and I thought it would be nice to share the idea with you.  I had some help organizing from a couple of my mama friends, Pam and Kelsey.  We set up a Pinterest Board and pinned brunch recipes for guests to choose from and everybody brought something.  It was such a nice time and soooo yummy!
We used paper napkins unfolded as placemats (pretty resourceful right?) and Pam made pretty Tissue Paper Flowers which we used in the very centre of our tables!
We set the table with my China (which collects dust all year and was happy to see the light of day).  We used these pretty butterflies as napkin rings.  They came in a pack of 16 for $1!!!  Can't beat that.
There's those pretty tissue paper flowers again!!  They really tied our pink and yellow colour theme together.  We served yummy Italian Soda and Pink Lemonade....and of course lots and lots of wine ;)
Our Tea Station! 
Chocolate Covered Tuxedo strawberries and mini parfaits in shot glasses...so cute!
Mini Pancake Stacks in our colour theme!!  This was the recipe I chose.  I just couldn't resist these cute little stacks of goodness.
Mmmm....Mini Pink Lemonade Cheesecakes, Mini Cinnamon Buns and Carrot Cake Muffins stuffed with Cream Cheese Frosting!
Antipasto Skewers and Caprese Salad Bites.  The skewers have tortellini on them, which I thought was such a unique idea.
Pancake Stacks, Mini Quiche and Ham and Egg Tartlets!! Yummy!
Heart Shaped Bacon, Sausages, Parmesan Hasbrown Bites and French Toast!
Bite Sized Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches.......they were good.
Thanks for the inspiration PINTEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

I am so excited!!!!!  We officially have a blog!  I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while and decided that today was the day.  “Life With The Elliots” is going to be a mix of projects around our house, life with our beautiful Baby Isla, recipe ideas and the everyday goings on in our crazy home.  I will blog when it feels right and hope you will enjoy it.  Welcome to our life……….come on in!

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