I’ve been very excited to visit our favorite vintage and antique shops here in our area (Willis, New Waverly, Conroe, TX). Our first stop was at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis. I follow them on Facebook and have been seeing some of their posts showing new Fall home decor items, so, come on Willie, let’s go!
Our friend Kelly with Sweet Magnolia Emporium has several booths here, and we did actually run into her during our visit, so that was definitely a fun surprise. Ms. Shirley and Stan were there as well, so it was great to get caught up with everyone.
Upon entering the store, we were immediately greeted with cozy Fall ambiance.
It smelled really good in here too, definitely adding to the feels.
I took a few snapshots of some of my favorite new finds, including some of the goodies I brought back with me to Royalview.
These beautiful blingy pumpkins are what caught my eye right away.
I brought home the rhinestone covered pumpkin in the back, and the white and gold pumpkin in the front. These are from Kelly’s booth.
Kelly also just upcycled some old fans, and turned them in to gorgeous home decor items. She texted me about these about a week ago, and I thought her idea was so brilliant. Here’s one that is currently in her booth at Yesterday’s Treasures:
Here are some peeks at what you can find this Fall at Yesterday’s Treasures:
Now, these beauties also came home with me. There is another set still there that is similar. So beautiful!
I hope you get a chance to visit the fine folks at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX sometime soon, and enjoy shopping all the unique vintage and antique offerings from many wonderful vendors.
Till next time, enjoy getting ready for Fall! God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
Vintage and Antique Shopping, Willis, Texas, Fall Home Decor, Unique Finds, Glass Pumpkins, Rhinestone Pumpkins, Blingy Pumpkins
She’s here, and all set up to go! Woo Hoo! Willie and I were both very excited to visit our friend Kelly’s new booth at Rosey Opals Collective Market yesterday. She always has the most beautiful collection of vintage and bling. I honestly do not know where in the world she finds all this gorgeousness, but I’m so glad she does!
Hey Kelly!
She is the sweetest! We actually scared her when we arrived yesterday, hollering out hello to her when we turned the corner. Sorry, Kelly….
Kelly and her husband Bill also make and upcycle goods for sale. Here’s a little wooden heart that Bill made, and Kelly blinged out. This one came home with me. I love knowing that this was made by them both in a joint effort.
There is another handmade heart in her booth that’s waiting for you to take it home.
So pretty! And these are solid.
Here’s another beauty that came home with me from Kelly’s booth. Well, actually, both items are from her booth (vintage mannequin and metal crown).
These are so beautiful, and the mannequin is a perfect example of Kelly upcycling something and making it even more fabulous. She covered this really cute mannequin/dress form in vintage articles from The Ladies Home Journal. I looks like the articles are from Christmas 1894. I love this so much. She also added the beaded skirt to the bottom. This is going in my office, for sure.
Kelly loves old mannequins/dress forms, so you are more than likely to find at least one in each of her booths. There were three here yesterday, so still two more for you to take home.
I may have to go back and snag this little cutie.
There’s just so much goodness to see in every little nook.
I think I went back and looked through her booth at least 3 times while I was visiting yesterday. And her prices are always fantastic.
Here’s a picture of my complete haul. A couple of items are from other vendor booths at Rosey Opals. This place is filled with so many beautiful items for your home, plus there are fashion boutique booths, handmade candle booths, just a lot of goodness.
I’m so happy with all my goodies! I always find unique items for Royalview at Rosey Opals, and now that our friend Kelly is a permanent fixture there, it’s going to be extra fun to visit.
And don’t forget. They have an ice cream parlor! The Red Bird Creamery also resides at Rosey Opals. They hand craft creamy ice creams and Italian ices. You can take a seat and have a nice ice cream break.
Ok gang! Till our next adventure, we hope you are doing very well and following your joy. God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
antique shopping, vintage shopping, vintage bling, vintage home decor, fashion boutique, New Waverly, Willis, Conroe, Huntsville, TX, vintage haul, vintage finds, upcycled home decor
It’s been a lot of fun shopping and deciding what items to put on and in our antique curio cabinet handmade by Willie’s Father. I definitely knew that we needed bright items to contrast the dark mahogany wood. I also wanted to go with fun and whimsical items.
A few of the recently added items are the cute little bicycle clock, the miniature table and chair set, and the wicker basket.
Each of these items needed a little TLC to get them ready for display.
The first to get their makeover was the little bicycle clock. We found this at Hobby Lobby on the Clearance aisle. It’s so awesome. I told Willie that I really wanted a white bicycle to go in our cabinet, so when I spotted this bicycle, I was overjoyed.
As you can see, it was originally black metal, and the clock had no hands. I saw this as a fun project for us, and I love that it is an old fashioned style bicycle. This was a happy surprise find.
With just a quick touch-up of white paint on the metal and wooden parts, the only thing left to do was to replace the clock-works. We found clock workings sets at Michaels for both this bicycle clock and a little house clock project. I’ll show you the little house on a later post.
Willie made quick and easy work of replacing the clock works, and there she is, so pretty and now also working. I cannot remember exactly what we paid for this clock, but I think it was less than $5.00, because it didn’t work, so yay!
Next up are the miniature dining room table and chairs and wicker basket, ready for their makeovers.
We got the miniature wooden table and chairs set at New Waverly Antiques and Collectibles, and the wicker basket was brought with us from our former home.
I dreamt about the wicker basket painted white with lavender flowers inside, like someone had been out picking them. So, that’s what I set out to accomplish.
Again, very easy to transform. I used a water based paint and did not put a lot on my brush. Just a light white washing.
I did not paint the inside, since I plan to fill it with faux lavender, which I picked up at Rosey Opals, in New Waverly, TX.
I love the color and texture of these ribbons. So beautiful.
And our finished basket with lavender project:
I’m very happy with the way it turned out.
And now we get to the little miniature table and chairs. I found these at New Waverly Antiques and Collectibles. I posted about our fun antique shopping day in New Waverly in an earlier post. You can find it here.
My new phrase currently seems to be, “I can paint it white.”, when I find something I love that isn’t quite the right aesthetic for Royalview’s decor. I like being able to find things that we both love, and transforming them. It’s so much fun, and makes for great memory making.
For this set, I added a touch of blue paint to give the pieces a little farmhouse charm.
Isn’t that little vase with flowers the sweetest? But…. I also found a miniature tea set while shopping at the Conroe Woodlands Antique Mall, and I couldn’t resist. It was a difficult choice, but I decided to go with the tea set on the table.
And here it is in it’s new spot in the curio cabinet.
I completed the look with a little doily that I found at New Waverly Antiques and Collectibles.
The basket found it’s new home on the very bottom of the curio cabinet.
We’re making great progress!
We just need to find some goodies for the very top. I’m thinking remote controlled candles, to bring in some light, and a couple more items for the side (angled) shelves on the bottom.
It’s all coming together a lot quicker than I thought it may, and I’m really loving the juxtaposition of the formalness and darkness of the cabinet, with the playfulness and lightness of the curated items.
Till next time, stay safe and follow your joy. God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
DIY Home Decor Projects, Miniature Furniture Makeover, Whitewashing Projects, Paint Projects, French Country House Inspired Decorations, Whimsical Decor, Lakehouse Decor, Conroe, Texas
Boy, did we have a great time yesterday! The weather was BEAUTIFUL! I cannot recall another May when we’ve experienced temperatures in the 70’s after a cool front moving through, here in Texas. It was the perfect day to travel up to New Waverly and walk around that charming little town, visiting all the spots that were taking part in their special Mother’s Day Event.
We began our day with breakfast at Honey’s Coffee and Biscuits.
We’ve actually been wanting to try Honey’s ever since we saw their menu being printed at our local UPS Store. I knew I wanted to try their Spinach, Egg, and Feta Biscuit Panini, for sure. I ordered it in one of their Brunch Boxes. They are so cute, and it comes with House Potatoes and fresh fruit. Great way to start our adventure!
After our brunch, we walked across the street to New Waverly Antiques and Collectibles. We have been here before, and really enjoy visiting.
There is so much history to browse through here.
Check out their milk glass collection in white. We have a few pieces at Royalview from their stash.
And look what I found for our antique cabinet in the dining room. I was thrilled to find this miniature wooden table and chairs dining room set. I thought it would be fun to paint these white and have a little vase of flowers on top. Christine and Mary both helped me look for a vase, and Mary was the winner with this little cutie, and she even put some little flowers in it. Such a fun time here for sure.
Our next stop was next door at the New Waverly Feed Store. They had a Farmer’s Market going on with vender’s tents all set up in the parking lot.
We looked around here for a bit and then took a stroll across the Railroad Tracks to another favorite spot, Rosey Opals.
Rosey Opals was hosting a Mother’s Day Market and had vendors outside, as well as special sales going on inside, plus the Red Bird Ice Cream Parlor was open. That’s such a fun feature in this antique mall.
The very first booth upon entering is one of my favorites. The aesthetic is definitely my vibe. How gorgeous is this Mora Clock?
Do you spy the little white bird just to the left of the clock? I’ve been eyeballing this beautiful wooden hand carved bird on several of our visits. He was 50% off during their event, so he came home with us.
The real highlight of our entire day came when we decided to venture outside to the vendor’s tents. I spied some cute little birdhouses, so I went directly there and we met two of the most wonderful ladies ever. Mary from The Rusted Crow, and Gloria, from Good Vibrations Furniture.
This is Mary’s Booth (The Rusted Crow). She has a lot of wonderful home and garden pieces that she makes with love and whimsy. She and I talked for quite a while, as did Willie and Gloria. I feel like we became instant friends. These two ladies are what make this type of adventure so worth while. Willie and I love going out and about in our new hometown and nearby surroundings, meeting people, supporting all the local artists and vendors that we can, and hopefully beginning some very valued new friendships.
Gloria specializes in restoring vintage furniture and giving them a new groove. She’s pretty groovy herself!
Check out the paint colors on those table legs. So beautiful. And a gorgeous bumble bee decoupage table top.
After such an exciting day, we were very hungry, so we headed to another new family owned fave in Willis, Pizza Shack.
After living in this area almost 5 months now, I am beginning to feel like a local, as we’re starting to get recognized here and there. This has been a dream of mine and Willie’s for quite some time. Small town life.
The food at Pizza Shack is pretty, and yummy too.
I got the Classic Margherita Flat Bread. Mwah!
The perfect ending to a perfect day.
And here’s our little stash of goodies from our antiquing adventure.
We got the hand carved wooden bird plus that cute little “Queenie” bird, as I’m calling her, with her golden crown. The little miniature wooden dining room table and chairs set with the miniature vase (flowers included, thanks to Mary) and a couple of lace doilies.
I also spied some faux lavender bush stems at Rosey Opals that are perfect for a project I actually dreamed of while I slept the other night. I woke up with the idea to paint a basket that we brought with us from our former home (it’s in our back room with the rest of our stuff to be unpacked), and to lay some lavender in the basket as if someone had been out in a field picking it and putting it in the basket.
You can imagine when I saw these lavender bushes, I knew it was meant to be. Plus these little beauties sparked our conversations with Mary and Gloria outside. Double blessing!
I know I say it on every post. And it’s because it is really true. God is truly good!
Till next time, and new adventures, be safe and please always follow your joy!
Antique Shopping, New Waverly, Texas, Willis, TX, Antique Finds, New Hometown, Craft Vendors, Farmer’s Market, Antique Mall, Antique Shops, Making New Friends, Small Town Life
Let’s get this dining room decorating party started!
This all began with bringing home items from Willie’s family’s woodturning shop. Sadly, everything is being shut down and closed, including his parents’ former residence and the family business.
But from this big life-changing event, we hope to keep and restore items and let them carry on memories with us and our branch of the family.
Willie recruited our Son, Brennen, and his Nephew, Roger to help bring home a couple of antique items that he had requested from the family estate. First is a wooden cabinet that his Dad made when he (his Dad) was in his twenties. Second, an antique RCA Victrola.
Roger (left), Brennen (right)
I really admire the craftmanship of this cabinet. Truly a one of a kind with hand turned wooden detailed accents. I love the fact that he (Willie’s Dad, Clyde) put red Christmas lights in the cabinet for illumination. This was probably made in the early 1960’s.
Then, this beautiful Victrola.
Isn’t that something?
It still has a record on the turn-table, and there are very old records in the cabinet below.
Very thankful to have these 2 family heirlooms here at Royalview.
Willie and I recently took a drive into Houston to visit the shop, as we’re attempting to get things cleared away, and I happened upon an old picture that was hanging in his Dad’s former office, and asked if I could bring it home. Willie said I could, and the thing that caught my eye about the picture, is the very ornate frame. I thought this would be a great salvage project, and a way to give this beautiful frame a new life in our home.
This frame is so beautifully detailed. You can see why it caught my eye.
I knew immediately upon seeing the frame, that I wanted to give it a white-wash paint effect.
Willie and I visited our local Ace Hardware and picked out a lovely shade of white and a few paint brushes for this project, as well as some other projects that I worked on at the same time. I’ll show you those as well in an upcoming post.
This process is really easy, and it doesn’t have to be perfect, by any means. I just had a lady ask me how I did this, or what type of mixture I used. I only use a water based paint. I keep my paintbrush pretty “dry” and do not load too much paint at one time. With this being a water based paint, it’s very easy to remove any excess with a damp paper towel or cloth. It’s just a matter of lightly adding almost a dry coat of paint, especially to the raised areas, which, on some of the higher point details, I did go heavier on the paint so they would really stand out.
I eye-balled it basically, and decided as I went along, how much I wanted the old paint to show through and how much white I wanted. At first, I thought I would do almost a full coverage of white, but since there is so much detail on this frame, I wanted some of the brown undertone to show through to really enhance the details. Plus, with there being white and brown tones in our dining room, this will be a great piece to bring it all together.
I did not put a top coat on, so that it would have a very old, rustic look.
And even though it has an old, rustic look, I believe it also has a very elegant look.
Once it was dry, I couldn’t wait to see how it looked hanging in our dining room, over the antique cabinet. We had to be very careful. This frame is very heavy.
Willie did a great job getting everything measured and put some heavy screws in the wall to hold it up safely.
The tall lamp you see in the above photo was designed by Willie’s Dad, and made by Willie. A lot of family history and craftmanship in this one room. Which, we also brought home a white lamp that looks just like this one, and put it in a corner in our bedroom. I just need to find a new lampshade.
I love the look of an empty frame on the wall, but for this, I wanted to add a little detail. While we were shopping at Hobby Lobby one day, I saw this wooden leaf cutout and knew it would be the perfect touch, since I also wanted to place a floral arrangement (that I had just put together) on top of the wooden cabinet, and since the arrangement is in a stemmed bowl, I knew the florals would look like they were in the frame.
So what are you thinking…? I’m loving it! But wait, there’s more… Stay with me…
And the full dining room wall view with our new arrivals:
It’s really beginning to look and feel cozy to me. I love how everything is coming together to feel more like home. I am such a nester by nature.
With the look of the antique cabinet, I wanted to bring in some playful elements to lighten the mood. One thing that came to mind was that I would love a white bicycle to put in the cabinet. When Willie and I were at Hobby Lobby, I went to the clearance section, and almost hidden from view, was that cute little bicycle clock you now see sitting on the cabinet. It was broken and the metal was black. We brought it home to fix it up. I was so tickled that I found a little bicycle. I’ll show you it’s story in an upcoming post with the other paint projects.
You just never know what you can find to elevate. I love finding items that I can salvage and bring back to life, that then bring fun new memories and loveliness to our home.
Till next time, I hope you always follow your joy. God is truly good!
Project Decorate Royalview has been in full swing around here lately. We’ve had several fun decor shopping sprees this past week, which included a fun birthday shopping spree with my Aunt Bunny at Mimi’s on Main, in Conroe, TX, and a spree at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX.
On Bunny’s birthday we traveled to downtown Conroe to visit Mimi’s on Main. Mimi’s is a very charming antique mall with so many beautiful things to see.
Aunt Bunny at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX
This booth up front caught my eye right away with that fire engine and Flapper fashion. So fun!
Fun Antique Finds at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX
Easter decor was in full display.
Easter Decor at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX
So many beautiful things to shop.
Farmhouse Decor at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX
We enjoyed visiting all the different vendor booths at Mimi’s. Bunny really liked the old books, and we came across a little child’s tea set just like the one we used to play with together when we were children (Bunny and I are only 6 years apart in age). There were a lot of things there that reminded us of our childhood. Perhaps we’re antiques too!
Tea for Two Poem, Antique Books at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX
We had such a great time browsing, and I did find several pieces to bring home with me. Yay!
I found these 2 cuties together so I purchased them together. They are now residing on our entertainment center in the living room. I love their distressed white washed look, and I’m collecting quite a few bird figurines, so perfect! I do not know what the other figurine is exactly. It reminds me of a chess piece. But it’s really pretty and ornate.
Cute Ceramic Pieces from Mimi’s
I love this next piece. Willie picked this out for me to hang my jewelry from. I almost didn’t get it, but now I’m glad I did. It’s so pretty, and makes my necklaces so easy to store and choose from. There are smaller little hooks on the inside portion where I’m hanging my bracelets. White wash distressed look – bingo!
Antiqued Jewelry Holder from Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX
Willie and I had another antiquing spree the next day. We invited Bunny to join us, but she had another engagement. Hopefully we can meet up with her sometime soon at Yesterday’s Treasures. This antique mall is in Willis, Texas.
This was our second visit. I found a lot that I loved on our first time around, so we went back again to spend more time there looking at everything.
Yesterday’s Treasures Antique Mall, Willis, TX
I absolutely love all the blue and white kitchenware and dishes residing in one of the booths.
Beautiful Blue and White Kitchenware and Dishes from Yesterday’s Treasures, Willis, TX
I picked up this vase and brought it home with me. I saw it previously and left it behind, but this time I got it. The big incentive was a marked down price from $20.00 to $12.00. It is huge. 18 inches in height.
I know the paint is kind of gaudy, and that’s why I didn’t pick it up the first time, but I’m thinking paint project… I have another piece (woodwork) that I brought with me to Royalview that I’ll be painting soon as well, so we’ll see what we can do with this one too.
Here are some other finds from Yesterday’s Treasures that are now residing at Royalview:
Fun Antique Finds from Yesterday’s Treasures, Willis, TX
This setting is on the top of our entertainment center in the living room. Everything pictured is from Yesterday’s Treasures except for the wood riser (Amazonaffiliate link), and the worded metal plaque.
Check out these cuties we picked out for our coffee table.
That little horse caught my eye, it’s so ornate and the pattern on it’s body compliments the table runner and our living room rug so well. I’ll share our Amazon rug finds in a future post. They’re really pretty. But the table runner is from Amazon as well. This is a Blue and White Peacock print. Here is our Amazon affiliate link to that. I ordered two of these. This one’s size is 13×60. I also purchased a 13×90.
Also in the coffee table setting is an antiqued white lantern in which I placed a cute little blue bird that has rocking chair legs. The lantern was a fun surprise. There was a couple (vendors) who were packing up things in their booth, and I stopped by to ask them a question, and they asked if I would like the lantern. I said yes, and they gave me a $20.00 discount. It was priced at $35.00, and they sold it to me for $15.00.
Rounding out the Yesterday’s Treasure coffee table setting is a really pretty glass bowl. This one caught my eye as it was casting the most beautiful blue hue at the antique mall. I need to find the right lighting to get it to glow the same here. The top portion has a milky hue in which you can see the iridescence.
I just really love how I am able to find pieces that go together to create a unique look and feel in every setting. I call the setting on our entertainment center our Alice in Wonderland Setting. All the items came from different booths and I wasn’t really going for any theme, they just all ended up going very well together and had the Alice vibe to me after I arranged and set them all together.
This last Yesterday’s Treasure setting is on an end table that we brought with us. I first purchased a blue and white lamp on a previous visit to replace a lamp that we brought with us that no longer matched our decor, then on our next visit, I found some more goodies to complete the setting.
The faux books were an Amazon purchase since I knew that was something specific I needed to add some height. The ones I picked out are so beautiful and they are actually storage boxes as well as lovely decor. The larger blue book says Oscar Claude Monet, and the beige book on top says Rembrandt Paintings and Portraits. So classy. The wooden butterfly is from Hobby Lobby (yeah, those are other hauls). So I had already purchased those 2 items to go with the lamp, but it needed something else, so I had that in mind while shopping at Yesterday’s Treasures, and found the 2 bird plaques and the wooden bead garland to pull it all together. I’m really loving it now.
So, as you can tell from this post, we have been shopping decor in local small business shops, local big box stores, as well as our favorite go-to, Amazon. It has brought about a very eclectic mix of items, and I’m having so much fun curating different but complimenting looks for all the areas around our new home.
We have also purchased wall decor, but have not hung any of that as of yet. We’ll get to that next hopefully. Willie is also working on putting together patio furniture we purchased from Amazon. Looking forward to that getting all set up. We have an electrician coming out to install a new ceiling fan under our patio, so there’s a lot of things going on over here, as usual, and we are loving it!
Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
P.S. I’ll leave you with some more fun moments from Bunny’s birthday outing!
She’s such a ham!
Birthday brunch at First Watch
They brought out Bacon Cornbread for her Birthday Cake
Thank you to the very friendly Manager for Bunny’s impromptu birthday cake!
Emma from First Watch. She’s a blast!
Thank you First Watch Willis, TX for a very fun and delicious birthday brunch!
Antique shopping Conroe, Willis, Texas, Decor Haul, Home Decor, Lake House, French Country Home Decor
Across the Lake 