A Gift for Us Both

Back when we were "dating" we would chat with Yahoo! Messenger and at the end of every chat we wrote "Huggies and Bussies (german slang for kisses) and never let you go"

It was our thing.

No I have been window shopping at One Kings Lane and keep seeing these canvases with phrases on it and it got me thinking

HEY! I can make that! and that's just what I did.

For the background I used an underwater photo and then just layered it. Hope Hubby likes it!

Aloha a Hui Hou~

My Christmas Gift

My husband and I met thru our passion - scuba. He was a scuba instructor for over 10 years and I thought he should have something to show for it, so I put together a book from the thousands of photos that we have from that time. This is the result (iPhoto also makes a slide show out of the photos - fun!).

I hope you like it, and I especially hope he likes it.

What did Santa put under your tree?

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours - Mele Kalikimaka

Photo Credit - my wonderful daughter

Aloha a hui hou!

Our Rooms Are Now Full

We never planned on a dining room.

Our table in the kitchen is enough for the two of us.

If, in the future, we entertain, it will be in the Summer months, were we can eat on the back lanai (your Hawaiian word for the day = porch).

So I was kind of surprised when hubby brought this listing on Craigslist to my attention

Real wood, chunky legs and unique wood work table top. We liked it and thought, for the time being we can put it in the wood room and at least have a place to invite our neighbors over for game night.

So it is now ours and standing in the wood room.

Phone pic - Thank you Peggy!

Don't you agree, it looks pretty good in there?

Can't wait to get my hands on it. Reupholstered the seats and see if there is anything else we might need to touch it up.

Oh and I did ask the lady that sold it if she has any info on the set. She told me it belonged to her aunt, who is in her 80's, and it was from the 30's or 40's. I'll be going over with a fine tooth comb to see if there are any stamps or labels that can tell us more.

There was a time when I wanted new, new, new....but now I am very happy to fill our home with history.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

My TV Hutch

As I mentioned, our carpenter flaked out on us and I have a few other tasks that I plan to/have to tackle. One of them is the hutch that we bought last year.

I wanted him to take the shelf out the top so we can put our TV and DVD player in there and then add folding doors so we can close it up when we aren't watching TV.

Just this week my blog friend Anne from DesignDreams by Anne posted bi-fold window coverings she made for her bathroom and it inspired me to tackle this project on my own. (I'm gonna be bugging you Anne!)

The last thing I wanted to do was to add a wood top to close up that ledge between the top and bottom parts of the hutch

Looks like I have a lot of projects in my future!

So our carpenter flaked out on us

I had big dreams for our wood room. We wanted a murphy bed for guests, a desk for my Hubby and a desk for me and lots of shelves for our every growing library of books. I was thinking of something like this.

I thought a bit more about the lay out.

 Finally I came to the conclusion that I would rather have the bed on the North facing wall.

When were were there, this past summer, the carpenter said he would make it for us. But somehow we  kept landing on the back burner. He kept mentioning that for the past couple of years his wife wanted a murphy bed for their office too and that if he built us one, he would have to make one for his wife too. I guess that's why he changed his mind on making ours.

It seems that all carpenters in the area are too busy to respond, so I've decided to tackle this myself. I'll make it bit by bit. I will finally buy the Kreg jig I've always wanted. I even found a plan for the murphy bed I want to make here. They also have a a bunch of other plans to make my drawings into reality.

Wish me luck, I'm on to a new hobby!

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Fun Finds at Savers!

Things are getting back to normal and we have had the chance to go to our favorite 2nd hand store and browse around a bit. Look at our cool finds:

First, we found a Guardian Service coffee pot. 

Back in the day, the brand was the best you could buy. A pot set in todays money could run you about $2000.

You pour boiling water in on top and t has a forever filter on the bottom.

We could keep it warm by putting it on the bun baker in the cold winter months. 

I found a bit of history of the Guardian Service company and the pot:

"THE HISTORY OF GUARDIAN SERVICE COOKWARE

Guardian Service cookware (GS), aka Guardian Ware, is a highly sought after collectible these days. There are a variety of reasons: the heavy-duty construction of this hammered aluminum waterless cookware makes it almost "bullet-proof; the excellent way that the cookware prepares the food; and the nostalgia of cooking with the same type of cookware that your parents or grandparents did. The fact is, many of the pieces from the 1940s and 50s are still around, and people love it!Century Metalcraft Corporation of Los Angeles, California manufactured Guardian Service cookware from the mid 1930s until 1956, when the plant burned down. Independent salesman sold GS cookware similar to the way that Tupperware was sold during the 1960s. A hostess would host a party at their house, and invite several of their friends over. At these dinner parties, the GS salesman would prepare a delicious meal for the guests, all in hopes of selling them some of the GS cookware.GS cookware was considered to be an expensive set of cookware during the 1940s and 50s. It would cost about a month's pay to buy the full set. In today's dollars, that would be about $2,500! In many cases, the dinner party guests would only buy one or two pieces.

GS cookware is constructed out of hammered aluminum, and is considered to be heavy-duty in contrast to today's cookware. During the pre-WWII years, this cookware had metal lids. But, because of the rationing during the War, the lids were then made from oven-proof glass. GS cookware has the trademark Knight's helmet (looking left) logo stamped on the bottom of the cookware. There were 3 different designs of the logo: One had the Knight's helmet and crossed swords, the next had the helmet and 2 stars on either side, and the last version had the helmet and 3 stars on either side. The glass lids also were etched with the Knight's helmet, but they also had crossed battle axes."

Then we found a set of these. for $1.40 a piece - Look out Chinet!

We thought it would be a fun alternative to paper plates for Summer grill parties

Lastly, for $1.99, we found this cute little pitcher that I can use for a vase

(spool of thread so you get an idea of the sixe)

With it's imperfections I'm pretty sure that it is at least partially hand made. But in the end, it doesn't matter, I love it!

I did find something special on eBay too. A set of 3 Bratӓpfeln!

These are used to make baked apples. I had pizza plates from this company and I loved them. Can't wait to put them to good use and fill the house with the delicious smell of baked apples.

So, Have you found anything special lately?

Aloha a Hui Hou!