Old House Update

A little here. A little there. That's what we've been up to. There’s nothing "visually exciting" about window stops and baseboards, just more painting and spackling. Since the last house update we've installed our closet doors (which still need to be painted). Installed baseboards; installed window stops; looked for parts to finish the faucets for our sinks. Installed the rope lights in the master bedroom; and worked on facets of the Custom Medicine Cabinets.

There were two, old, built in medicine cabinets in the house when we bought it. One was removed and saved when we began the west side remolding project. The other was in our functioning bathroom, but was only useful as a mirror. We decided to take the old mirrors and hinges from these two medicine cabinets and use them in the new custom cabinets. Here are a few photos of the old cabinet, its hinges, and knobs.

While dismantling the old cabinets we discovered a date stamp on the back of each mirror. The cabinets were apparently manufactured by Binswanger & Co., Houston, Texas. One on May 12, 1927 and the other on May 13, 1927. What an exciting discovery and one that’s quite useful in “guestimating” the age of our home.

We removed the hinges, soaked them in ammonia to remove the paint, and cleaned them with steel wool and emery cloth. It was tedious work but gratifying. Below are before and after pictures of the hinge pins.

And here are photos of the new cabinets. An Escapees RV Club member Leon Culbertson built the cabinets for us from poplar wood. Steven and I have sanded them and hope to stain them soon. After many staining tests, I THINK Steven has settled on a stain mixture we are both happy with. Hope to share pictures of the final product soon.

Sweet Scoop Number Two {Baby Shower}

The shower for Dan and Darci was a success! The colors were red and turquoise to match the invitations. We used a beach patio umbrella inside to give the atmosphere of a hot summer day. I made the polka dot garland by stitching the paper circles together with my sewing machine. Simple and cute!

Darci's sister Annie made this adorable diaper cake. It was a big hit. Cute and useful.

Since the invitations said that the "Grimes Family Cone is Growing" I thought it would be fun to create an actual family cone. So, I took the name and birth month and year of every member of their immediate families and created a cone. The scoops of ice cream were Jami and Mikayla. It really turned out cute and could be applied to any family. A unique take on the "family tree."

The local ice cream parlor was accommodating and everyone enjoyed the flavorful ice cream. Each shower guest was given "two scoops" of any flavor to match the "Sweet Scoop Number Two" theme.

As a shower activity, guests were given blank thought bubbles and asked to write a "thought" to Mikayla. Everyone had fun with the idea. Below are a few from the evening.

Sweet Scoop Number Two {Mikayla Rae Grimes is Due!}

I'm hosting a baby shower for my friend Darci this weekend. If there was a "top ten list of people who love sweets" Darci would be on it! From sweet tea to sweet and sour candy, you can count on Darci to have a favorite place or brand. That said, I think there is one thing that she loves more than sweets and that's having babies. That's how the theme "Sweet Scoop Number Two" originated. When Jami was born it brought such sweetness to Darci's world. You could see it in her face and hear it in her voice. Sweet, tiny fingers and toes. Sweet tiny smiles. Sweet baby smells. Precious and sweet snuggle time. I think the soon arrival of Mikayla will bring that same sweetness.

So Sunday's shower is about enjoying the sweetness of a cool dish of ice cream on a hot summer evening, AND celebrating the sweetness babies bring to your life. Especially the sweetness of little Miss Mikayla Rae Grimes.

Crepe Paper Party Streamers

While on vacation in June I spent most of my time nursing a newborn baby and reading old issues of Country Home and Better Homes And Gardens. It was relaxing AND educational. One little gem was this lovely party decoration. Crepe paper meets windsock.

At the time my sister-n-law was planning a rainbow inspired birthday party for her daughter and I envisioned these in rainbow colors. She took on the challenge and created six of these. Below is a picture of their final creation. They were BEAUTIFUL swaying in the early summer breeze and added a whimsical feel to the party.

This simple, inexpensive project might be just the thing for your next event!

Directions seem simple: Drape roughly 8-foot lengths of crepe paper over the inner side of an 8-inch diameter embroidery hoop. Fit the outer ring around the inner one and tighten. Hang with fishing line. I think my sister-n-law draped the crepe paper over the outer ring so that the hoop didn’t show.

Photo by Tiffany Shelton.

Custom Medicine Cabinets

My favorite resource for vintage hardware and lighting is Rejuvination. If you know about my secret desire to make a living restoring old light fixtures, you understand why I love their catalogs so much. So, when it came time to buy light fixtures for our bathroom, I immediately when to their website. We purchased the Rufus fixture in white porcelain.

Steven was reluctant to have medicine cabinets above our sinks, but after much discussion about storage we agreed, they would be useful. Having come to this decision later in the game, we couldn’t accommodate recessed medicine cabinets so ours have to be wall mounted. We decided this would work well with our shelf back sinks, but were worried that if we mounted our new wall mounted Rufus fixtures above the wall mounted medicine cabinets, there would be an awful shadow; thus the Custom Medicine Cabinet concept. Steven came up with the idea of mounting the light ON the cabinet.

Using an old medicine cabinet that we removed from the old bathroom, and the new cabinets we purchased from Pottery Barn as inspiration we came up with this design.

We’ve visited with a carpenter about building them for us and are in the process of choosing the type of wood and mixing just the right wood stain concoction. We’ll be using the beveled glass from the old cabinets as well as the hinges and knobs.

Save the Date {Western Meets Sophisticated}

My Brother is marrying the most wonderful girl. I love her. She is perfect for him…I knew it the first time I read their posts to each other on MySpace. She’s adventurous, funny, brave, loving and beautiful. He needs her and he absolutely adores her. I’m super excited about their wedding and had loads of fun trying to design a “Save the Date” for their wedding that was “western AND sophisticated.” The photo is from their engagement photo session. Their rings have very significant meaning to their relationship. I’m really glad Sarah chose this photo and that she chose Joshua. The count-down to September 18 begins!

Refurbished Shelf Back Faucets

We are getting closer and closer everyday! Last time I mentioned plumbing was when we had the sinks and tub refinished. At that time we were still in limbo about what to do for faucets, and finally settled on the idea of refurbishing the old shelf back faucets. There were small details about the old faucets that we didn't want to sacrifice buy purchasing new ones.

Steven removed the old sets and dismantled each one carefully. We sent pictures of the faucets out for bids and finally settled on a company in Houston called Atlas Plating. They re-chromed one piece to make sure the metal would re-chrome well, sent us a picture to approve and then began the work on all the pieces. It took three weeks and we finally received the final product on Friday. They did a beautiful job. Next step: replacing the rubber washers and seats. Then the installation!

Reworking and restoring something old into something fresh and new makes me giddy!

Sources for shelf back plumbing options:

Plumbing Parts Depot

The Chicago Faucet Shoppe

Faucet Direct

Do It Yourself Plumbing and Heating (Antique Plumbing)