Lemon Thistle

Aug 16

Modern Black Fixtures and Hardware for the Exterior

Aug 16

I have used affiliate links where possible in this post. You can check out all my policies here

As we’re working our way through our kitchen remodel and planning for the rest of the house, one of the things we’ve fallen in love with is black hardware. It is such a modern detail and grounds all the white and light that we have going on. When we were sourcing fixtures for our bathroom remodel in the last house just last year, we had a hard time finding beautiful towel bars that weren’t crazy expensive but were still beautiful. I thought I’d put together a post sourcing some of my faves. I’ve been so surprised with how much more selection there is this year! So I’ve rounded up more than I’d planned. I was going to put it all in one post but there was really TOO MANY. I’ve got modern black hardware and fixtures for your exterior, interior, kitchen and bath. Today, I’m talking all about the EXTERIOR. Ready!? Let’s do this!

Let’s start with the exterior! We have big plans for our exterior and are definitely planning to carry the black hardware and fixtures through out there. When we took on our last exterior remodel (which I still need to share with you!) I didn’t think about these little things until we were needing them and just bought at our local hardware store. The fixtures and hardware I chose were nice- but planning ahead, I’m excited to be more intentional about these choices. I have included mostly matte black but also a few rubbed oil bronze- they are pretty close most of the time! Here’s some of my favourites so far!Continue Reading…

Aug 13

Fiesta! New Fresh Cut SVG Bundle

Aug 13

Affiliate links used where possible – check out all my policies here!

It’s that time again! The new Fresh Cut SVG Bundle is here and it’s a total Fiesta. I’m loving all the files from this month’s bundle, you guys! Those banners! The cacti! And those pinatas?! So darn cute. Every time this bundle comes out, I’m always so impressed with all these ladies mad design skills. You can check out the whole bundle right here!Continue Reading…

Aug 06

Chap House – The Before Photos!

Aug 06

So it’s no secret that we bought a new house and today I’m excited to share all of the before photos with you guys! We sold our first family home (we’d had an apartment before that) and bought this 80s rancher pretty much the minute we finished renovations on our first home- which was a total fixer upper. This new one definitely wouldn’t be called a fixer upper but there’s a ton of room for making it our own style and updating it. I mean, the ensuite has some wicked forest green faux marble tile that’s begging for a makeover.

We have SO many plans for this home that I couldn’t cover all in one post, but I did want to get all the before photos out there before we got too far ahead. You’ll see in these dining room before photos- we already removed the trim to measure for new windows and there’s some plastic tarping up because I didn’t snap photos of the entry before we started kitchen demolition. And if you follow along on Instagram and saw my mini house tour the day we got possession, you might notice that the orange carpet from the laundry room is also gone. We made quick work of that one ;)Continue Reading…

Aug 04

In The Midst of Every Difficulty Lies Opportunity – August Tech Wallpapers

Aug 04

This summer is flying by, friends! Between moving and renovating and vacationing… there’s hardly been a spare minute. But it’s all been so good, even when it is so full. But you can thank all that for this tech wallpaper. The move for the photo (this was taken off my deck! I still can’t get over getting to see this each evening) and the vacationing for this being so late ;) I actually had this done before the end of the month and because we were headed on vacation, we were hustling on the kitchen renovation before we left. I brought along my laptop to the camping trip (hurray for wifi!) and thought it would be the perfect thing to work on while I was sitting with the kids as they fell asleep each night. Buuuuut… wifi was a bit of a joke, you guys. It didn’t work at all. So I wish I would have brought a good book instead- ha!

But we’re home and I’m kicking back with my favourite trash TV to catch up on some emails and get this baby out to you! The quote I chose for this month is from Albert Einstein, “In the midst of every difficulty lies opportunity”. I just love looking at difficulty this way. For example- right now I’m having a difficult time juggling everything. I know we’re biting off a lot right now, but it’s all things we love. But that difficulty is an opportunity for me to re-examine where my YESes are and an opportunity to delegate or to take some things off my plate. It’s also an opportunity for me to set some new routines and try something a little different. Or maybe it’s an opportunity for me to cut down on the amount of trash TV I’m watching #ihopenot But either way, don’t you love looking at difficulty that way?

If you’re new to Lemon Thistle, every month, I create free handlettered backgrounds for you to download. I make each a quote version, a calendar version, and a monthly script version in each desktop, phone, and tablet sizes. You can take your pick! I also create a free printable 8×10 version of the quote for my e-mail friends. If you’re not yet signed up for my list, you can get in on the updates and freebies right here!

Enough with the chatter, am I right? JUST GIVE ME THE GOODS! Just click the linked words below to download them!Continue Reading…

Jul 30

Modern Address Sign | How to Drill into Rock

Jul 30

This is one of this projects I’ve always wanted to try, but the thought of pulling it together just seemed like a lot of work. And I’m going to be honest… it shouldn’t have been as much work as it was! If I would have found a tutorial… or done more research, I think it would have been pretty straight forward. So hopefully if you’re reading this, you’ll have a super easy time… because it’s darn pretty now that it’s done! Ha!

I really love the modern look of this address sign on the rock. I love that it’s out in front of the house so you don’t have to try see past all the cars in the driveway to see the house numbers and I really like that it becomes part of the landscape. Not that we have much for landscape. These plants you see here are pretty much it. That’s our plan to tackle next summer ;)

SO want to make your own? If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking… but where do we get a giant rock? Do you just go take one from the wilderness? My husband laughed at me. Like, he actually laughed out loud. I have since learned that there are no moving big rocks like this without a machine. So we have one scheduled to come and move this address sign to a more appropriate spot in our yard. Why? Well, that’s a story in itself. So lemme go ahead and break this post down into three parts, shall we? First- where to get big rocks. Second, my story about rock delivery *sigh*. And Third… HOW to drill into rock to mount the address sign.

But before we get to any of that… this post is part of our monthly Modern Handmade Home Series! Each month, 4 rad Canadian bloggers and myself share modern DIY or decor posts in partnership with some of our favourite brands. This month was in partnership with Ryobi… which if you’ve seen any of my DIY posts, you’ll notice the Ryobi One+ tools are our go-to tools. So this partnership was such a natural fit for us.Continue Reading…

Jul 27

DIY Gold Foil Wood Sign

Jul 27

Today I’m excited to share a little wood sign DIY with you! It’s got rustic wood, rose gold foil and handlettering… all things that I totally love! This quote is one I’ve been wanting to put on a sign for a while, I love how simple it is and reminds me to make those things you love a priority and when your’e doing them, to remember that you love them. Like… renovations. We totally love them, that’s why we do them. But there are moments that get stressful and days where I’m not sure I love them as much as I thought I did. So this is a sweet little reminder for us in our home. I should just hang it in the kitchen as we’re drywalling ;)

But taking a break from the renovation talk (because that is ALL that I’ve been talking about lately), let’s talk about this sweet craft. It’s actually kind of a 2.0 project. I love the look of gold foil and have used Deco Foil to apply foil to pretty much every surface by now with a liquid adhesive. But as with any paint on… there’s so much room for error. I used the liquid with a stencil on a wood sign a while back and while I loved how it turned out, when I spotted that they came out with a Hot Melt Adhesive that could be cut with Cricut… I knew I needed to give it a shot!

So today I’m sharing not only how I made this sign (so shiny!), but some tips and tricks on working with the Hot Melt Adhesive and Deco Foil on wood. And the free printable file, of course. And a video tutorial. Ready? Let’s go!

To make this gold foil wood sign, you’ll need:

Lemon Thistle Shop

2018 Handlettered Calendars

Modern Easter Tablescape with Printable Place Cards

Dining Room Reveal