Easter Decorations : Bead Garlands and Hanging Ornaments

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/handmade-easter-garland-with-blowmold-eggs-and-beads.jpg" alt="handmade-easter-garland-with-blowmold-eggs-and-beads" width="640" height="640" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-27924 blk-brdr">Here are some Easter decorations that I made with the beads I mentioned buying in my previous post, here.I began by making a couple of garlands to hang on what has become our 'garland wall', over the kitchen table (see that spot dressed for spring, autumn, Christmas, a birthday and a themed dinner).I ended up with some beads and plastic eggs left over after making the garlands, so I added some vintage beads from a broken necklace to make some hanging ornaments, as well.To Make the Easter Garlands :

Shopping for Beads on Queen Street West

There's an area in Toronto, on Queen Street West just west of Spadina, that is a crafty person's dream come true. I've previously done a post about finding buttons (here), fabric (here) and ribbons (here), and today I will tell you about the bead shops. Oh, the wonderful bead shops!Anything you could possibly want to make jewellery can be found in the several stores, all located really close to one another. They're so close, that you can easily check them all out, in order to determine which ones has exactly what you're looking for. And if you don't know what you're looking for, surely you'll find something that you'll want. The choice is pretty well without limit.The prices in the area seem to be very good to me, although I might not be the best person to give an opinion on that, because I've only ever looked for beads in these stores. I've never really seen a need to look anywhere else.When I went last week to find beads for a project I'm working on I brought my camera along and asked permission to take some photos, to show you the goods. They're not listed in any particular order, based on preference because they're all good. I'd recommend checking them each out.Here's Bling Bling, located at 448 Queen Street West, on the north east side of Augusta.

Sending Love Across the Miles : Origami Rabbits

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/origami-rabbit-with-clothes-on.jpg" alt="origami-rabbit-with-clothes-on" width="640" height="427" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-27862 blk-brdr">Here's a little something that is going to be dropped into the mailbox this week, to arrive in time for Easter. They're being sent to these little munchkins, Owen and Delilah, who are the children of my cousin Lisa.I found the instructions for these Origami Rabbits here. To make some yourself, you can either follow the diagram (which is what I did) or the animated instructions.They are made from paper squares which are 6 by 6 inches (the standard size for origami paper). For this project you need paper that is printed or coloured on one side (for the clothes) and plain white or beige on the other side (for the face and ears).I'm fairly new to origami, so still find even relatively easy pieces to be a challenge. That said, I was able to make these without too much difficulty, so I'd say they are doable by beginner level paper folders.

Hot Times at Sneaky Dee’s

My friend Meghan and I had made plans to hang out recently, and tossed a few ideas around for what to do. We had a few good options : playing a game of pool at The Rivoli, checking out a local band in Kensington Market, seeing Jean-Michel Basquiat's art at the gallery or catching a stand up comedy variety show on Queen Street West. We emailed back and forth throughout the afternoon, trying to make a decision. Then I suggested going to Sneaky Dee's and hit the jackpot. To quote Meghan, "Sneaky Dee's sounds like HEAVEN!". An evening spent in that comfortable environment, eating tasty food and drinking good beer, combined with the promise of a nice long chat sounded just right to both of us.

Finding the Unexpected at Ireland Park

Last week I caught the tail-end of a newscast mentioning the existence of a place called “Ireland Park” in Toronto, so, without doing any research, I made a plan to go there and post about my visit today, St. Patrick's Day.All I knew about this park was its location, a strange one, at the foot of a quay along the waterfront. I couldn't quite envision where it was, even though I'd been to that part of the waterfront several times in recent years. I'd never seen a park around there, however the map said there was one and I was determined to find it, so I headed out to have a look yesterday.As I said, I knew nothing about it but I envisioned that I was would come upon a cheerful space by the water, where people had picnics in the summertime. Given the time of year, I thought that perhaps I'd find a place decorated for St. Patrick's Day. I'm embarrassed to admit that now, but that is the norm around town around March 17th, when so many shops, restaurants and bars are decorated with green garlands and cutouts of shamrocks.I couldn't have been more off with my imaginations of Ireland Park, though.But, before we get to the pictures of the park, I'll show you some that I took on the way over, so you get a good feel for how hidden it is.Toronto's waterfront is separated from the city by a wide swath of train-tracks, that you have to cross over to get there. I've previously shown you the neat old steel bridge (in this post) that I usually take to get down there, but this time I decided to try out the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge that opened a couple of years ago.This is the Puente de Luz, which is Chilean for Bridge of Light. It bears this name because it was designed by a sculptor from Chile, Francisco Gazitua. A quarter of the bridge, which spans 125 metres, was even built in Chile.