some highlands inspiration

Hi everyone!

I've been absent ~ I'm sorry.  Life has been super busy lately, but in a very good way.  Thank you to those of you who have inquired about where I've been :)

I did post two things in the last few weeks ~ and they both got shuffled back to October by Blogger.  No idea why, and no idea how to fix it.  Hmmmm… Not worth worrying about!  As my husband likes to say, if that is the biggest problem we have right now, we are in good shape!

 I hosted a huge event at my children's school on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  If you don't know me in real life, I am a full-time stay-at-home-mom… but that is kind of misleading.  I spend an enormous amount of time volunteering at the children's school, our church and for local animal rescue organizations.  It is SUCH a blessing to me to be available to do these things.  Aside from painting furniture & spending time with my friends & family, it is my volunteer time that really makes my heart sing.  I've heard the phrase "blessed to be a blessing" and that is so true for me.

Anyhow, the event that I hosted with two other fabulous women/friends took over my life for the last few months.  We worked extremely hard on it & all of our efforts paid off when our guests spent their time on campus full of smiles :)  

Then we left town to celebrate Thanksgiving with both my family & doug's family in Highlands NC.   It was the most relaxing time I have spent in a long time and I was so grateful for it!!

My boys are growing up… almost 8 & 9, which is hard to believe.  Here are a few photos from our amazing trip.

We got to spend awesome time with our cousins…

We are so blessed to have families that get along & love each other.  We spent three nights at my inlaw's mountain home with not only them but also my parents.  I'm very grateful for that!

On our way home, we stopped to see Doug's brother & his family.  They were unable to join us due to the biggest blessing of all… a brand new baby boy!

Baby Nolan...

The four boy cousins:

My nephew… could you not just eat him up?  Look at those blue eyes!  And he is every bit as sweet as he looks.

Of course, when in Highlands, there is shopping!  I took a few pictures of the things that inspired me so I could share them with you.  I have been lazy lately, and only using my iphone… the laziness is a bit addictive, I'll admit :)

Here goes…

Love these mason jars hanging

lots of fun christmas inspiration

my very favorite piece we saw all day… isn't this fabulous??  not just the design but also the shape!

look at these fun button wreaths & garlands.

love the pom-pom garland and spool ornaments

this lamp… yum

how fabulous is this union jack piece??  and the lamps on top!

this whole tree was covered in decorative plates… such a fun idea for a collection

so true...

lake & mountain themed ornaments

my very favorite coffee shop in all of the world:  buck's coffee in highlands.

I don't mind waiting for my coffee since I get to stare at this fabulous bar!

Some outdoor shots:

speaking of favorite things… this is my very favorite house in all the world.  I love everything about it :)

this is the lake in my inlaw's neighborhood.  the swans are a fixture ~ but don't get too close, they'll hiss at you!

Thats all for now ~ I've got lots more coming soon!  Lots to catch up on.  

I am SO thankful to all of you, my readers.  Thank you for being a part of A Few Good Pieces!

kathie

the bird pillow!

Who remembers the hunt for a mate to this bird pillow??

Well, an extremely generous blog reader & my new BFF Kim in Florida found the 'needle in a haystack'!!

Its not exactly the same, but I almost prefer it that way… its fun that the other bird is yellow.

Look here:

Happiness!!!

thank you kim!!!

kathie

her daddy's desk

A friend of mine brought me this desk to be painted.  She had found it in her mother's things in storage ~ it originally belonged to her father, who is sadly no longer with us.  So not only was this a great piece, but it was very special to this friend & her mother.

This was a while back, when it was still 300 degrees outside, so I painted this piece in my kitchen.  I don't know if you know this, but if you ever want to ruin your husband's day, let him come home to find you in the kitchen, covered in furniture & paint, and blocking the fridge.  Good times.

Once the piece was painted, I sent her a number of options for hardware.  Here are a few:

She chose the sleeker, oil-rubbed bronze option, as seen here:

This piece is special also because it is finished on the back ~ you can't find many like this anymore.

I love it when people send me pictures of their pieces in their new homes ~ so I have fun pictures like this to show you!

have a great day!
kathie

a room for 3 boys

Towards the end of this past summer, Doug & I were chatting on a random Sunday morning as we drove home from church.  Out of nowhere, I mentioned to him that I needed to call some friends of ours… I knew they were in the process of moving, and also in the process of another adoption.  I told Doug surely they would need some furniture & perhaps I could do something for them.

That afternoon, the phone rang.  And it was… you guessed it… the friend I had been thinking about.  And what she had to say blew me away (a total God thing).  She said when they moved, her three boys would be sharing a room (leaving room for their daughter and the new family member, hopefully coming home soon).  Might I be able to find 3 matching twin headboards for her boys?

Wow… I almost didn't tell her about the conversation Doug & I had had that morning.  It was just too wild!  But I did tell her and we had a good laugh about it.

I was pretty sure we couldn't find 3 matching twin headboards.  But I was also pretty sure that Doug could build them :)  So we used this plan from Ana White and he whipped them right up!

He started with lumber from Home Depot and by that afternoon we had 3 of these:

I put a good coat of Dark Walnut stain on them next.  I love how rustic they look.

Then I started working on a dresser for the room.  This dresser had been sitting for ages and it was just perfect because it had (wouldn't you know it??) three sections of drawers.  Perfect for 3 little boys!

Before:

During:

I stripped & sanded the top of the dresser, and stained it in Dark Walnut to match the beds.

And, drumroll please… the room all put together for three very special little boys…

We worked on these side tables/ night stands to match while we were together one day ~ sort of a painting party that I enjoyed so much I'd love to do it again with more friends!

I am so tickled with how it all turned out & so honored to have been a part of this room!

Thanks for stopping by!
kathie