bye, bye brass knobs

 cheap, brass, builders-grade knobs are gross.

lowe's 

i have despised these ever since we moved in, & finally found some lovely replacements
for the doors in our bedroom.

a few months ago we were at a habitat for humanity restore, and i found the knobs of my dreams...

but they were attached to old doors. 

each door was only $15.00, but i didn't want the doors. so i asked if I could just buy the knobs. 

the manager was super friendly, and agreed to it. he even took the knobs off for us! 

i walked out with two sets of antique glass knobs for $5/ ea!

 truth is, i would have bought the whole door, removed the knobs, 

and then re-donated the doors if he had said "no"...

but i'm sure glad that he saved me from going to all of that trouble time!

so it's time to say "buh-bye" to the brass, and hello to the glass!

but not before encountering a slight bump in the road...
the brass knob plates covered a larger area than the glass ones do,

so instead of using the door plates from the antique knobs,
we spray painted the brass ones white.

this wasn't my first choice, but i think it turned out great!
a lot better than nail holes on either side of the knobs.

love laying in bed and looking at them...

 

by them i mean my pic of hubby and the glass knobs ;)


linking up at twice owned tuesdays, domestically speaking popp, show and tell

cork it

we've been collecting wine corks for the last few years.

we try & remember to write the occasion, date, and have everyone present sign each one.

whether its 4 or 14 people, it's a fun way to remember special times with the ones we love.

we had been collecting them here

but began running out of room...what can i say, we like wine!

so i'd had my eye out for another cork collection container,

and the other night at home goods i found something just right...

 i had been looking for a clear glass lamp, but i love the details on this one!

  

it's obviously not quite full, but it's fun to have an ongoing "project" of filling up the lamp! 

we even kept some special corks from our trip to Napa last spring.
we had just finished touring the Schramsberg wine caves, which was extra romantic because
we celebrated with their sparkling wine at our engagement party & our wedding...

and i snatched up a handful corks and stashed them in my purse.

they weren't going to use them for anything, especially nothing as cool as filling up my lamp!

it's all in the details

last week i showed you the ::how to:: of transforming my corner hutch

but i didn't show you one of my favorite parts...

i love how our M knob subtly personalizes the piece!

and next week i'll show you the completed transformation of the decor in our breakfast room...

have a great weekend! 

halloween festivities

we had such a great time tonight with our sweet friends & neighbors!

we passed out candy to lots of cute little trick-or-treaters,

and then moved the party out back to roast marshmallows at the fire pit.

here are some pics to re-cap our halloween evening...

our little one was a pirate....ARRRRR

we snapped this shot on his pirate ship in the backyard!

he loved keeping an eye out for the little witches, animals, superheros, & princesses

our cute little neighbors were a robot and an army general!

and we all had a fabulous time hanging out & making s'mores at the great fire pit that hubby built!

 the guys got into the costume theme..kinda...a viking, a sailor, and a baylor bear!

my favorite part of the night was the surprises that we stuck on the trick-or-treaters candy. 

i wanted to make sure that each one knew that Jesus loved them. 

so that's exactly what the note said. they were super easy to make...

we just typed out the phrase and a coinciding Bible verse,

cut them out with cute scissors,

 and taped them onto the candy bars

one little boy said" o, wow, she gives stickers, too!"

the greatest joy in the world is knowing the love of Jesus,

so i decided to take this chance to share it with all the kiddos who stopped by.

hope all of you had a blessed time with your family and friends, too! 

cali antique market treasures!

a couple of weeks ago the fam flew out to cali to visit our siblings & we had a fabulous time!

the weather was a tad cloudy, but it was cool, and when the sun popped out it was just beautiful!

kisses in malibu

dada and little one playing in the sand

and before we headed home on sunday, we shopped for local treasures at the long beach antique market!
if i lived anywhere close, i would have rented the largest u-haul possible and filled it to the brim!

long beach antique market 

the entire back lot is full of furniture!

 
long beach antique market
 check out that aerial view!

long beach antique market 
antiques of all kinds!

oh. my. goodness.
hub's had to reign me in & remind me that what we bought had to fit in a suitcase,
along with everything we'd packed going out there, and still be under 50lbs.
i love a challenge :)
we bought three pillow shams and a gorgeous rug! yes, a 5x8 rug!
hubby rolled the rug tighter than tight and packed it in his carry on bag.
wow. a man after my own heart!
it definitely wouldn't have fit in my bag...

here are my treasures...

  initial burlap & linen pillow
$15.00
from the tarnished crown...she's super sweet and sells precious things!

light brown trellis-ish pillows. so lovely.

 the brown really anchors the colors on that side of the room
both for only $30!

and my favorite find of all...

this amazing cream and brown rug! pictures don't do it justice.
it was truly a steal at only $40.

i think it ties the whole space together beautifully!

next time we go to cali, we're driving a u-haul!

and if you live there
{1} i'm seriously jealous.
{2} you should go every chance you get!

**linking up at Shabby Nest Frugal Friday**

busy as the bees ... literally

yes, that is the bee man sucking a colony of bees out of our oak tree.

those bees were swarming and buzzing around like crazy - nonstop.

mr. bee man told us they were congregating in our tree to determine a spot for their new hive. 

yikes! 

i didn't want that spot to be anywhere near our house...
they were sucked up and gone in no time!

our last few months have been as busy as those bees.

we've done lots of traveling & hubby has also been adjusting to his new, fantastic job
...but it comes with a commute now.

sooo we've been schedule juggling and adjusting to it all as a family.

we also were busy, busy around the house with new projects.

i just haven't had time to sit down and blog about them...until now!

many, many, many more posts to come with home updates.

so glad to be back!

my white plates, in a magazine

i'm not even kidding.

so it's not actually a picture of my wall of white plates,

but it's the same exact plates!

home decorators collection 

my breakfast room wall

in the home decorator's collection catalog, a set of 9 white plates is $139!
this is don't understand, considering that i purchased mine last month for $2/ea at a thrift store!
whatever the reason, i was pumped to see a similar display in a magazine!
i loved that they hung them with ribbon, too.

they use two of these in their arrangement

and a large and small of this star design, too!


have you ever seen something you found at a thrift store in a magazine?!

ketch-up

eek!

o how i have missed blogger world this past week.

i discovered a new pet peeve this week...waiting on service men who never show up!

our internet went out last thursday...just in time to mess up my 10 tasks::10 days post

we were going out of town for the 4th, and didn't have a chance to get it fixed before we left...

but i scheduled an appointment with our internet provider for tuesday

wouldn't you know that i sat around ALL day tuesday and they never showed up.

that's all it took to send me over the edge.

we cancelled our service with them, and hubby found a fabulous new provider

i'm smiling again :) 

i promise that a week of no posts is not, i repeat not, normal. 

i'll have a new post up and at 'em tomorrow.

here is what we've been up to the past week...

hope you all had a happy 4th!

we spent the long holiday weekend in tyler, tx with some of our besties!

little one is the first baby in the group, 

but from what i hear there are a couple more ready-to-be parents...

we played in the pool, rode jet skis at the lake, 

wakeboarded, ate watermelon, and loved hanging out with our friends.

little one loved chillaxin in the pool

those eyes make my heart melt

little one's first bite of watermelon.

now, he's a watermelon fanatic!

july 5

happy two year anniversary, baby!

it's been the best two years of my life.