Breathe in......and smile.

Ever have one of those days where you aren't overly happy but you're not sad either? You're just content? I'm totally having that kind of day.

The kind of day where I could listen to Ray Lamontagne, Damien Rice, and Iron and Wine on repeat for hours. I'm okay with it being cloudy right now, I'm okay with the fact that I probably won't finish the stack of files on my desk before tomorrow. I'm okay. :)

I have been updating my Twitter account for the past hour or so and I love it! I just wish I knew more people who were using it, or people who would follow me :) I'm hoping that it helps spread the word about Twig.

I have had my stuff up at Whitefish Antiques for about a month now, and unfortunately nothing has sold yet! I'm trying not to get discouraged, as we are moving locations at the end of May to a much more accessible place. And plus, I've sold more on Craigslist anyway haha. Speaking of, I might try and have a virtual garage sale on there at some point. I want to get rid of crap I don't use -- and I have a lot of crap I don't use. :)

Plus, its almost garage sale season so I absolutely need to make room for all my finds. Right now our guest room is serving as a "studio" for Twig and it is so full you can barely walk through it haha.

I will be posting more pictures here pretty soon, I have lost my camera. So until we can afford a new one, might be just posts of pretty pictures I find online :) Some inspirations or something.

Alright, I better get back to work now....just thought I'd check in and say hi.

Danny Boyle, thank you!!!!!

Well I'm starting to slack off on my blog posting...ugh. But I told myself...TODAY.

And here I am!!! :)

Tanner and I had a really relaxing weekend. And it felt really nice. He didn't have to build anything and I got the house clean. Woo-hoo! We have neglected this mountain-sized pile of laundry in our room for.......well, we'll just say way too long :) We had a meeting for the youth rally we're putting on in June and that was good, and we watched some awesome movies!

Friday night consisted of Hu Hot Mongolian Grill.......mmmm. I think I could eat there everyday! I ate all of my salad too, even though the leaves were HUGE. I don't get how people can eat salad with huge leaves. I feel like a horse trying to shovel it all in fast enough so someone doesn't see me. haha. This usually results in me making a bigger fool of myself though haha. We got home and decided to watch The Day The Earth Stood Still. Even though I had heard some pretty bad things about it, it wasn't terrible. Keanu Reeves though...really? They couldn't have found someone with just a little bit more personality???

Personally, I would have liked to see Kevin Spacey fill his shoes. He is so talented, and he was awesome in K-Pax!! But anyways, I didn't write the script! haha. I convinced Tanner that we should catch up on all the TV shows we missed last week and go through our DVR. The Office was HILARIOUS!! Oh man, that show cracks me up, and I think last week's episode was one of my favorites.

So then we went to bed. I woke up around 8 to get stuff ready for the youth rally meeting/bbq and just couldn't sleep any longer! Then I decided to see if I could hit some garage sales. I went to 6 and found ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!! It was so depressing. I just have to keep reminding myself that its not quite garage sale season here yet. Plus it snowed a ton last night...I still have snow on the hood of my car! UGH.

Well I think this post is getting pretty long so I'll attempt to briefly summarize the rest of our weekend. After lunch, Tanner and I went up to Whitefish, I got my hair colored to get the gray out of it, and then we took Gus to the park....he was so happy! AND, he's growing up....he lifted his leg to pee. :)

We had our youth rally meeting at some friends from church's house and it was actually really fun. I sort of got put in charge of the scavenger hunt, and I'm a little bit freaked out, seeing as how the YR is only a month away.....but it will all be ok. :)

Guess what we did that night??? We watched more movies! haha. We watched Slumdog Millionaire and I have to say....I didn't expect to fall in love with this movie like I did. It was so amazing!!! I would highly recommend. And the soundtrack is pretty darn good too.

So Sunday should have been church in the AM for us but I was feeling a bit under the weather and decided to stay home. Around lunchtime we decided to tackle that mountain of laundry and I still have about 4 or 5 loads to wash when I get home....that's how bad it was. We also cleaned the house pretty well and that made me feel so much better haha. I made lasagna for dinner so that we could eat on it for the whole week and we watched Seven Pounds. While it was good, it was so depressing! The whole movie long! But it was still pretty good. Now I'm typin this blog entry. Wow. I think I'm done now! I totally forgot to post pictures of our pantry remodel/recipe desk and shelves. Here goes! Until next time.......

Ok so this isn't the edition, but I just thought I'd post a picture of the hutch Tanner built for me while we were living in Washington. Isn't he great ;)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Well its official...the nicest day of the year so far is today. and Lady Gaga is stuck in my head right now....JUST DANCE!! ugh......

So my weekend was great!!! We went antiquing/thrifting and started a new project in the house! :)

But before that....last Thursday, Tanner and I were sitting in the kitchen at about 9:00 PM and decided to rip our pantry apart :) I came across theletteredcottage.blogspot.com not too long ago, and LOVED her kitchen cabinet idea with the open spaces for baskets and shelving for plates. (As well as everything else on her site! Its so amazing!) Tanner had an idea to make a recipe desk...so we combined the 2 ideas and got to work. The nice thing about it is that we used the shelving from the old pantry to make the cabinets, and some leftover beadboard for the backdrop. I also had a desk I bought at Salvation Army a while ago that fit perfectly for the recipe desk!



The only problem was that we were getting rid of our pantry space...so Tanner decided to put in a broom closet and we use that plus our big lazy suzan for all our canned goods and what not. Very nice! I'll make sure and snap some pictures tonight.

Anways, so this weekend, we ended up going to all the thrift stores here in Kalispell and didn't really have any luck...so we decided to go to Polson! Nothing there....and ok, can we just talk about thrift stores that charge WAY too much?? Really?! haha

One lady told us about a big thrift store in Ronan which is about 10 miles up the road...so off we went. The Vintage Rose is what we found. I...love...that....STORE!!! I could have bought so many things but....oh well :)


I ended up getting this really cute white pitcher, and a retro nut cruncher! (sorry guys haha) but its so cute! I'll snap a picture of it tonight as well. That was such a cute store....tons of little booths, the kind of store you have to go through a few times to see everything :)

Easter was good...low key and good food. :) Well....No pictures on this blog, sorrry. I seem to have misplaced my camera...:S

Talk to ya soon!

Lost, flaggers on Craigslist, and some other stuff.

Goooood morning.

First, lets start this off with a big "REALLY??!"

Really, guy who has nothing better to do than flag my posts on Craigslist? Really?! Ugh. I dont know if you've ever posted to craigslist before, but it takes about 3 years to get your post on there. Add another year if you have to post any pictures!

I finally decided to post an ad on craigslist to sell some of the furniture we make, and about 10 minutes later, I got a "flagged and removed" email. How annoying! It's not like I'm a scammer, I'm not a nigerian prince asking for your address and social security number....

Anyways, its not that big of a deal, but I had to rant. Ok, obviously its affecting me quite more adversely than previously thought :) Lets move on to a different topic, shall we?

Ok....LOST! A topic that will instantly cheer me up! Last nights episode was amazing beyond measure. One of my favorites so far. So I don't run the risk of spoiling anything, I'll just say this. Bravo, Michael Emerson, bravo. Great performance.

So I've been really into owls lately. I'm on a mission to find a really cute clutch/tote/checkbook cover/ipod case that has an owl on it. Here are a few I like so far. Which one do you guys like?

OH! I almost forgot! Last night, guess what Tanner brought home??? Well, wait, lets start this a little differently. Tanner works for a place called Servicemaster, where he works in fire/water/disaster restoration in homes. One perk of this job is that if the homeowner doesn't want something -- even if it works perfectly -- he can choose to take it home! So anyways, last night, he showed up with a brand new stainless steel gas range/oven and a stainless steel refridgerator!!! It had some minor fire damage so we tried to clean it up.

We used:

- Vinegar and salt on a rag. (we were both gagging and decided to NOT use this anymore)
- Comet and some hot water and sponges (this worked really well, although I think my skin is a
little burned......hmmm).

We also bought some stainless steel cleaner at Home Depot last night too to try. Hopefully it works....

We actually got it moved into the house, mostly all Tanner -- poor guy...before we decided to go buy a dolly. HOLY MOLY THEY ARE EXPENSIVE! So we got it into place, took all our food out of the old one, plugged in the new one only to find out that there is an incessant beeping noise. It won't quit!

Tanner looked online and found out that it is the door alarm that tells if a door isn't shut properly...but they are...so tonight Tanner is going to go all Oceans 11 on it and see if he can disable the alarm. woohoo! I love my husband.

Anyways, I'll leave you to digest all this now. I'm going to eat my turkey sandwich and scheme about what to blog next.

Our Anthropologie-inspired tables

Good morning everyone!! This post might be a little sporadic, as I suspect that the lady at the coffee stand gave me 2 shots of espresso instead of 1. This is why I don't normally drink coffee. Ugh.

On the bright side, I am probably typing 10 WPM faster than I normally do! haha. Well, I thought I'd post our latest tables that we made for Twig today. I want them sooo badly to go in my bedroom but we'll see....they are quite a challenge actually. I think Tanner was ready to kill me after he got done with them! :)

They are inspired by 2 different places actually. I first saw these tables on the Anthropologie website, but I didn't really like the dark patina or the shape (they're also $695.00....)...and then I did a search for DIY tables like that..and lo and behold, it led me to design*sponge. A great little blog with lots of inspiration and easy DIY projects! My husband took a look at them (after I had convinced him they were the best things ever) and we got to work the next day!

The cost of making these tables was quite a bit more than I had expected, but they are sooo worth it. So much character!! I added a little fleur de lys stencil inside each drawer, and in retrospect, I probably wouldn't have done the blue color....Oh well...

We delivered them to a customer in Missoula this past weekend, and she loved them! I'm so grateful for that as well, and I'm hoping she'll send me some pictures when she gets them all set up. She's going to use them as nightstands...so cute!! It feels AMAZING to be able to produce a product that someone instantly falls in love with. I am so happy and it has totally energized me for the projects to come! Poor Tanner..... :)

Anyways, without further ado, here are our "All The Trimmings" tables. :) Enjoy...and if you'd like to know about prices and ordering information, please email twigdecor@yahoo.com.

Our Kitchen Remodel....

Wow 2 posts in one day...I'm starting to impress myself! :)


We have been slowly remodeling parts of the house...but this one has turned into my absolute favorite so far.

We did this on a budget of about $300 dollars, and actually ended up spending less! Tanner knocked out the original panels and replaced them with beadboard...and then added the crown molding to the top and bottom of the cabinets..as well as the small wainscoating on the top near the ceiling. He did an excellent job and this was such a fun weekend project!

The original wood was so dark and gloomy. It made the kitchen feel dirty even when it was clean! I love the openness of the white!

The pendant lighting is quite "jimmy-rigged" if you will. The lighting I wanted from Pottery Barn was unfortunately way too expensive....

We ended up just purchasing some bathroom vanity globes at lowes (3.99) and the pendant lighting kits (12.99 or so) and my husband siliconed them to where they would stay. It works for now! We'll have to see if it lasts....also, if you plan on doing this, you might want to consider very low wattage bulbs as it get very very bright if you dont!! :)

The pendant lighting added some much needed character! I have 2 cabinets that will be glass fronted that I need to do something with...any ideas???

Anyways, its far from being decorated, but here's a picture just to get an idea!

BEFORE

AFTER!
(Sorry about the "warm glow" on the camera..its currently broken
and desperately in need of help...:) )

Eventually, I'll be getting new appliances. The dishwasher doesn't work.....(unless you want to count me, who actually does work..full time...and hates coming home to wash dishes! :) )

We are decided on a countertop as well, we do want tile, I just have a problem with textures, so I want something I can touch! (I HATE sandpaper...with a burning passion).

Spring is here! I think....

Good morning! (ITS SO EARLY)....Welcome to my first blog post for Twig. For as long as I can remember, I've had high ambitions regarding diary entries, journal entries, and now blog posts. Usually it is years between each one, but this time.....I'm resolving to update regularly!! Call it a late New Year's resolution brought about by sunshine. :)



Speaking of sunshine....it's been here for 2 days! I'm wearing gauchos!! This is so needed! So here I am listening to Iron and Wine, and dreaming about how my blog is going to be updated on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I love it!



So now for the premise of this blog. Twig. This is our new dream, our business adventure we've decided to embark on. I love all things vintage, reclaimed, restored, distressed, time-worn....lived in. My husband, bless his soul, is a top-notch carpenter. Therefore, he can make my ideas and visions come to life! Ally Williams is great at finding home decor and unique pieces to complement ANY design/decor theme. At this time, we sell custom furniture, refinished old pieces, and various items of home decor that I find here and there. Our website address is http://www.twigdecor.com/. Please visit!!



I'm also wanting to post pictures of the remodel of our house over time. We just redid our kitchen, and still going on it as well......it looks so good so far though!!!



I feel a little overwhelmed but for once in my life, I have so many doors opening for this opportunity. I know that God has big things in store for me, and whether or not Twig is the starting point for something else, I'm so excited to follow Him into it.



Anyways, I'll leave you with this for now...Take care!!!!

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely"

- 1 Corinthians 13:12