Before I get to my own projects in the next weeks, I have to share a trip we took this month to California which included a visit to my son and precious daughter-in-law. They just bought their first home and according to them, it needed a lot of refurbishing, though we couldn't tell it now. They have only been in the house a couple months and it is already GORGEOUS! They bought it on a short sale so they got a great deal on it and have been trying to do all their projects as frugally as they can. My son especially puts me to shame bargaining with salespeople. Here are the new happy homeowners:
Derek and Carrie were at the lumber yard looking for nice thick wood to make an entry shelf. Derek asked the salesman about this piece and the salesman said, oh that's scrap off something else, you can have it for FREE. It turned out to be the perfect dimension...Score! Derek put up a couple heavy nice looking hooks under the shelf for Carrie to hang her purse and shopping bags on. Cute!
Carrie and Derek went without cable and tv. while saving to buy a house so they were excited to join the real world again. This was just an empty space before they purchased stock base cabinets (which again fit perfectly, just needed trimmed out) and Derek built the upper shelves. Nice job Derek!
Carrie hasn't been sitting around watching Derek do all the work. She's always wanted a space for her crafts and finally has her own craft room. Sorry I missed getting a picture of it. She has a super-talented crafting mentor and friend, Denise who came over and the two of them turned out two headboards in a weekend! This is the master bedroom, isn't it beautiful?
I was so intimidated counting all those brads on that headboard and how straight she got them! But Carrie showed me her secret. They come connected in a string on a roll. She got hers at Joann's for about $6 a roll which did the entire headboard with some left over. Here's a picture of a portion of the string. About every 5th one has a hole in the center with spare brads that you punch in, so you aren't punching in most of the brads. Wow! What a cool product! Who knew?!! I wish Carrie and Denise would each start their own blog. There's so much I can learn from them.
Here's a picture of the headboard in the guestroom where we stayed. Its a padded white against the eggplant-painted wall. The picture doesn't really do it justice. Dreamy...
Derek and Carrie have one big project left. Good thing they left one room alone.
They had an ultrasound this week and found out that both babies are healthy and due in Nov. Yes, BOTH babies. :) Uh oh. Doesn't look good, craft room.
We couldn't be happier! This is the second set of twin grandchildren for Elvis and I. Twins run on both sides of Derek and Carrie's family. Plus we're having a very special little preview attraction in September when our other son and beautiful daughter-in-law in Texas have their second baby. We are very blessed that all three of our children have given us these 8 little bundles of love and they are all such good parents. We know they are all very well-taken care and loved when we're not there to squeeze and kiss on them. (See About Me for pictures of the 5 current munchkins)
After we left Derek and Carrie's, we ventured up the coast. It was the first time either of us visited Hearst Castle. Pretty remarkable but honestly, it made me kinda' sad. He used this huge extravagant house to entertain important friends but stayed upstairs on his floor even when they were there. He had several sons and a wife who lived on the east coast but what everyone thinks of when they think of William Hearst, is this castle. A castle, but not a home. A sad legacy.
After a few days in San Fransisco, we went to Napa/Sonoma which was a first for us too. Such a beautiful relaxing time. We did a few wine tours (Cakebread was our favorite - if you're near Napa, don't miss this one! Very entertaining and educational!), did some shopping (Food Network's Tyler Florence has a store in Napa. Tyler happens to be my husband's man-crush. Sorry, Elvis. The truth is out. He was in hog heaven when he saw that store. We walked in and I swear, he walked right up to the cashier and said "is Tyler here?" She just said, "no, I'm sorry." I stopped being embarrassed by things he does a long time ago. The man makes me laugh till I cry. I made a purchase at the store but I'm working on finishing up a little project before I show it to you.
We ended up passing through Yosemite and St George on the way home. Elvis visited the mountains and forest and I got to visit a DownEast Home and Clothing store. If you haven't heard about these yet, they are basically outlet stores for Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, etc as well as their own brand of clothing. Great deals on furniture and home decor which I am still coveting but didn't have the funds or means to get home. I picked up some floral stems and monogrammed kitchen towels. The stores are mostly in Utah with a few elsewhere in the western U.S. We'll definitely be stopping when we pass through St. George. All in all, it was a wonderful time visiting family and seeing some old favorite spots and new ones. We had a couple scares when we overslept and first and second breakfast collided then we were forced to push back first and second lunch, which threw our early dinner plans in a tizzy but we managed to fit in a boatload of good eating. We've been back a week and I'm still not hungry. Thank you California until we meet again!
Long post, so much to say. And so much more to show that you that I'm working on. Please stop in again soon.
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