Gifts Galore

We didn't want to spoil the fun for our family that didn't get our handmade Christmas gifts yet, but this might be too good to wait for.

Early in 2009 we were in Sonoma for the beautiful wedding of Sean and Hollis and saw really cool candle holders made from the sections of wine barrels. So a few months ago hubby bought two wine barrels from the Carlton Winemakers Studio in Oregon (thanks to Tom and France!)and he set out to making his own. Taking apart the barrels was tougher than expected. The rings are all that hold the staves together, but they are held into place by pretty tough tacks. Once he pulled the tacks and tapped all the rings off, the barrel just fell into pieces. It was pretty cool.

He bought a 2-inch drill bit and drilled a place holder for each of the candle holders. Then sanded and stained the top of the wood to make it shiny. The bottom is a beautiful red wine stain, all natural, of course!

We thought they were so cool that we've decided to try our hand at etsy. Take a look at the shop and tell us what you think. If you like, post a comment here.

The Best of 2009

I'm tired just thinking of all the things that went into this post. But so much has happened in 2009 - that a few of the highlights are definitely worth mentioning.
We bought a house. A real fixer-upper. It had everything we wanted. Old wires and plumbing, no insulation, a mostly unfinished basement, a bathroom that smelled funny, a kitchen that had no appliances and a broken sink, walls that needed several coats of paint, and a yard that might take us years to 'fix'. At the end of February we called everyone we knew and said, 'We're gonna need a little help'! And ten months later, I can honestly say that we couldn't have done any of this without the help of you all!

Cleaning.Painting.Plumbing.Drilling.Moving.We stopped to enjoy new additions (Max, Abbie, Henry, Sydney, Cooper, and Ella)We killed over 2 tons of Juniper and broke our friends' backs.We gave the kitchen a massive facelift.

We took some quiet time and hung out with family.We cleaned out the attic and added new insulation. (And I got a Super Hero!)

We got a new electrical panel and rewired the house.

We got our very first Christmas tree, hosted a few parties, and made all of our Christmas gifts - because the electricians took all of our money!

I'm pretty sure that 2010 will be as busy as 2009. But we plan on spending as much time as possible with our amazing friends and family that helped us get through this busy year! Cheers, Hugs, and LOVE!!

Newly Acquired Free Time

If you haven't heard - hubby has a little more free time these days. I think it's a good thing. Mostly because he'll have lots of time to work on house projects....(and look for a new job, of course!)

This past week (his first week 'working' from home) he was able to get a little help from buddy Adam and stripped an entire basement bedroom.

I know you must be thinking, "that the knotty pine is so pretty, why would you want to tear out?" It was a huge internal debate - but we have opted to clear out the entire basement and start from scratch. This means removing all of the knotty pine, reframing new rooms, and adding a bathroom!!

The picture above is a look through the basement to the massive pile of wood and rubble that was removed.

Eggshell On My Face

"Who paints the walls with semi-gloss paint?!!" That's what hubby asks me when he gets back from the paint store with flat paint to 'cover' the patches we have everywhere from all of our electrical work. He'd like to do an international survey - and chances are he'd probably get a 98% return on people who choose to paint with 'flat'. Apparently everyone HE knows (aka -normal people) would use flat paint to cover walls and only semi-gloss if you're painting window sills and doors. Who knew? Not me! So when he came home with the wrong paint I was annoyed. As the story goes, I wasn't very nice about the wrong paint. So he marched back to the paint store and asked for semi-gloss. "Mwha!?" says the sales clerk. She thinks I'm weird too apparently. Sigh.

We regroup at home with the right paint. I apologize (sort of) for getting so upset over paint and we continue with our projects. I'm painting and touching up kitchen cabinets and he's touching up all of the patched walls around the house with three different colors of semi-gloss. Then the paint dries. and....the newly painted spots are SHINY! More shiny than the rest of the walls!! I'm thinking, how is this possible?! Hubby does a dance and gloats and reminds me of how mean I was to him and states that he'll be nice as long as I PUBLICLY apologize. I agree. So he pops open the flat paint that the paint store wouldn't let him return and starts re-painting.

It isn't until the next morning when looking at the dry spots on our walls that we realize what was shiny the day before is now very flat and still doesn't match the paint on the walls.

It turns out that when I was buying the original paint - the person selling to me convinced me that semi-gloss was indeed weird to put on your walls and talked me into buying eggshell (somewhat of a cross between flat and semi-gloss). It took a lot of digging to find the original paint receipt to realize this. Now we both feel a little silly. But I've learned my lesson. Write down what color and finish of paint your putting on the walls - and don't assume everyone does it the same....or else you'll be apologizing to your husband in a public forum and EVERYONE you know will think it's weird that you like shiny walls. Hmph!