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 Summertime! We’ve put out the flags for the fourth!
Hey everybody!
This blog post has been about a month in the making. We’ve had a new landscaping team working with us to get Royalview’s landscaping all refreshed and looking her best again. All of our gardens looked fabulous, and bloomed all through Springtime, but some plants got a little crazy, and grew over the other plants, or died out, so we really needed some professional help.
Willie and I had been in search for a company who has a great lawn maintenance team, as well as a gardener. We decided to head to our local gardening center and inquire about any known possibilities. We were given a card for Green X Scape, located in Huntsville, TX.
We were very happy to meet Albert Tsai, owner of Green X Scape. He is a very nice young gentleman who went to school at Sam Houston State University. He began his business while he was still in college, and now hires college students.
Upon their first visit, Green X Scape got to work on our back yard garden, clearing out all the under, and overgrowth.
They even cleared out our ivy plants and transplanted those along the back fence.
You can see how overgrown it got back there. They did a fabulous job!
There were a few plants that needed to be replaced, so Willie and took a trip to Growers Outlet, and picked out some new ones that would stay in their spots and not spread.
We love visiting here. Our landscape design team got a lot of Royalview’s original plants from here as well.
We chose some Silver Star Sage, and Southern Star Blue Ruellias.
These are so pretty! I love the purple flowers.
On their next visit, the Green X Scape team planted all the new plants for us. And, we did end up getting 2 more of the Texas Sage to plant along with the others, to balance everything out.
It’s looking so much better. We do have a gardenia that doesn’t look like it’s going to make it, so Albert said he would bring another to replace it, or perhaps we’ll put some more Liriope in back here. I love Liriope, as you’ll see in the front garden pics.
Today, Green X Scape visited again. They visit every 2 weeks. This time around Albert worked on our two front gardens, getting them all cleaned out and rid of dead plants.
Both of the front gardens look much better now.
Royalview’s Front Southern Garden
Royalview’s Front Northern Garden
We are so thankful to team Green X Scape for all they’ve done for us here at Royalview. Beyond the fabulous work in all our gardens, the lawns are looking great as well.
I’ve had fun putting out American Flags along our front walkway, and some festive ribbon on our Northern bridge today.
And our Liriope are blooming! I love it!
And we certainly love Royalview. We are so grateful that God led us here.
Till next time, be kind, and follow your joy! God is truly good!
Well, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to begin with the before, or the after photo. I’m opting for the after photo first. I’m so pleased with the outcome of this vintage mirror upcycle. I can’t believe I was able to achieve such a makeover all by myself. Well, with a little help from Willie, I suppose (winks!).
I found this old mirror in a building at Willie’s family business. Everything is being cleared out, so this would have most likely been thrown out if I had not salvaged it, especially in the shape I found it in.
Now, who wouldn’t want to bring this beauty home? I mean, it’s gorgeous home decor!
But yeah, I had been on the hunt for a large mirror for Royalview, and I found 2, perhaps not in the best condition, but I thought they had good potential.
Willie was very kind to get this all cleaned up for me before we brought it indoors for it’s makeover. It looked a lot better after a good cleaning.
I knew I wanted to add some beautiful decorative embellishment to this mirror. I was inspired by a Vlogger I follow, called Walk With Me Tim. He and his wife stayed in a beautiful hotel in Venice where they had these gorgeous old mirrors that were very ornate, and yet the mirrors themselves were aged. This mirror had the same feels for me with the aging of the mirror, so let’s turn it into a vintage Venice inspired mirror!
I found a very lovely set of wooden appliques, or onlays, from Amazon. This set is offered in a small or large size, and in sets of 5 or 10. I opted for size large, in a set of 10. This is enough for 2 projects, should I desire. (The rose appliques are for another project up the line, and not included in the set of 10 I used for this project.)
The detail on these appliques is very intricate, and they are a good heft, as well. They are lightweight, but not so thin that they are too fragile to work with. Just perfect!
Now, as I was sorting through my appliques and getting ready to paint them, Willie went to work attaching the French Cleat Picture Hanger wall bracket set that I found on Amazon as well. This gadget was a life-saver when it came to figuring out how to hang this very heavy mirror. The mirror was originally attached to a dresser, so there was no original wall hanging hardware.
It seemed very easy for him to attach two of the brackets on the back of the frame, and then the other two to the wall, and they just slip one inside the other to hang. Fabulous!
I had a lot of fun painting the wooden appliques. I first painted them white, and then I went over them later (after they had dried), with a gold metallic paint, just sweeping it across the raised details.
After I had painted the appliques, I got to work painting the mirror frame. I first taped off the mirror using painter’s tape so that I would not get paint on the mirror itself. This is very easily removed after the paint dries, and it makes a big difference in getting a sharp edge on your paint, next to the mirror.
When I began painting the mirror, I wasn’t sure how I wanted it to look. White-washed? Fully painted? No… this has to look like it’s been around for centuries. The paint has begun to chip. That’s the ticket!
I began with a top coat, then I went back over it (in sections) with another coat. I let that second coat dry just a bit, till it was almost dry, then I rubbed across it with a slightly damp paper towel. Since I left the original varnish on the mirror, it was a little “slick” underneath my new paint, so I was able to get my (almost, but still not dry) second coat of paint to literally peel off on some of the raised areas, allowing the original brown color to come through. Since I wanted it to look like the paint has organically chipped off over time, I did not want any white-wash smudge, so I took another damp(er) paper towel and wiped the brown areas to bring back the original sheen.
Here is the type of paint I used by Benjamin Moore (not sponsored). I’ve been using this same paint for all my recent projects. It has been wonderful to work with for all my paint effects. It is an Interior Acrylic Paint and Primer, in a Satin/Pearl finish. It’s not shiny or iridescent, as the name would make one think.
I completed the entire mirror, using this method, one side at a time. It really doesn’t take that long to do, and is quite fun!
If I “messed up” I would just paint back over the area and wait for it to get almost dry, and rub away again. Only one area, right here in the above corner, gave me any trouble. I just couldn’t seem to get it the way I wanted, but it came out fine in the end. Probably no one but me would even notice. It’s supposed to be old and organically chipped, right?
Now jumping ahead, I used FolkArt Acrylic Paint in Pure Gold (from Amazon) to highlight the inside and outside edges of the mirror, as well as highlight all the raised areas of the wooden appliques.
I then glued on all the wooden appliques. Hot glue works best, in my opinion. I first used super glue, but one corner came off after hanging, so hot glue to the rescue!
I just love it. This is my favorite decor makeover that I’ve done thus far, and I love it now hanging over my makeup table in my office.
I hope my salvaged project inspires you to create something fabulous for your space.
Till next time, be kind, and always follow your joy! God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
DIY Home Decor Paint Project, Venetian, Venice Inspired Mirror Makeover, Salvaged, From Trash to Treasure Home Decoration, Vintage Mirror Upcycle, Conroe, Texas, Lakehouse
I am very thankful to now be setting up my office/makeup room. This has been a little while in the making, but we wanted to first get settled in our main living spaces, of course.
I found this charming White Farmhouse Desk on Amazon, one of my very favorite shopping spots. I instantly knew this was the one for me. It’s called the Whalefall 55″ Farmhouse Desk with File Cabinet and Charging Station in White (It comes in 3 other color options as well; White Grey Wash, Light Walnut, and Cherry Brown.)
I’ve also been on the look-out for decor that may bring me joy in my office, and I’ve curated a few vintage pieces on our antiquing trips, that make me smile.
The bicycle picture was spotted by Willie at Mimi’s on Main, in Conroe, TX, and the two Southern Belle ladies are also from Mimi’s. I found those a while back and did not initially pick them up, but went back to find them. Thankfully they were still there, waiting for me. The vintage shadowbox ladies came from the Conroe Woodlands Antique Mall.
My office decor is taking on it’s own hues in blue and teal. I may add some peacock blue and purple in here as well. I’m having fun perusing the area rugs on Amazon for ideas.
But back to my lovely desk. It arrived from Amazon unassembled, in a large box. Willie took the reins of this project. I’m so glad he knows what he’s doing. The desk arrived in parts. Everything was labeled very well, and had assembly instructions.
Willie got to work , and made good progress very swiftly. He brought it inside in sections and assembled as he went. The desk is a nice quality, thus heavy.
Great job Willie! I’ve always loved watching him work. This was a fun project for him, and made the desk even more special to me, with it being put together by my sweet Willie.
Can’t wait to get everything out of boxes and organized in my new desk. I’m really excited to get my makeup table set up and organized as well. I’ve felt a little lost since we moved from Wintergreen without my makeup table, but I’ve been managing just fine.
I have 2 vintage mirrors that I found while rummaging through a storage building that I’ll be redoing for my office/makeup room as well, so more adventure awaits!
Till next time, be kind, and follow your joy! God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
White Farmhouse Desk Assembly, Amazon Associate, Amazon Finds, Amazon Home, Setting up a Home Office, Home Office Decor, Vintage Decor
We’re so excited, and so happy how our new business cards turned out. We’ve been waiting to have cards made till Royalview was at her best. She’s come a long way, as I’m sure you know if you’ve been following us from the beginning of our journey here.
We have found that we are really going to appreciate having these cards as we meet new people/vendors here in our area, and chat with them about our story. It will be so much easier to hand them a card rather than reciting the blog address.
We’re all official now, well, at least Royalview is! Thank you VistaPrint. Not a sponsor, but satisfied customers for years.
Well gang… The time is here. No more avoiding the boxes in the back rooms…
We’ve been having so much fun getting the front part of our home all set up, that we put the 2 back bedrooms on the bottom of our to-do list. But not any longer.
One of the back rooms has been serving as an office, and it will continue to be an office.
Isn’t she lovely? Well, she will be, hopefully! This has been my point of operations for blogging, bill paying, etc., and I’m really looking forward to getting everything all set up and beautified.
Willie is in the beginning stages of putting my new desk together.
Can’t wait to show you the reveal. It’s a really cute farmhouse desk design.
While Willie was working in the garage getting the desk pieces sorted, I went to work on all those boxes in the second back room. I had to make some tough decisions. I had already gone through everything before moving from Wintergreen (our former home), but since we’ve been living here almost 6 months now (move in date was December 18, 2024), and I’ve not used items that are in the boxes waiting to be unpacked, I figure I must be able to live without them. The exception being, seasonal and holiday decor, and must-keep pictures and keepsake items. So here we go. If an item does not fit in the keepsake or holiday category, and I’ve not needed it, nor do I feel like I will need it in the near future, it either gets donated, or thrown out.
Looks like I am able to live without a lot of the stuff we brought.
We headed for town and donated to our favorite college student, our local vintage store, and Goodwill.
This Goodwill Donation Center is located in Willis, Texas. It’s very nice, and really easy to pull right up to the door. The gentleman working here opened the door and helped us unload.
Now we are clutter free! (Almost!) But we’ve gone through pretty much of our belongings, and we are learning that less is definitely more, especially if you’re just storing it, thinking you may use it down the road. We’re learning to just let it go. It’s very freeing.
We headed back to Royalview, and got busy moving furniture and the remaining boxes, whose contents will be used in some capacity.
We moved this love seat from the office to the second room that was once filled with boxes. We brought this love seat and area rug with us from Wintergreen. It doesn’t go with the rest of our decor here at Royalview, but we’re going to keep it for now, till we decided exactly how we want to use this room. But for now, we’re going to use it as a resting area for Willie when he comes in for a break after working outside or in the garage. We kept the TV that we used in the living room before our new TV purchase, so we’ll get that set up for him in here and get it decorated a bit more. But it already looks better, and he can take a break in here now. There is a window in here that overlooks the back yard as well, so it is pleasant.
For the office, we moved my current desk (table) over to the wall where we once had the love seat.
This makes room for my new desk to be in front of the window.
This is my gorgeous view.
God is so good! What a joy to be able to work indoors and still get to see this beautiful view. I’m still pinching myself everyday, and giving God praise everyday for guiding us to Royalview.
I’ll keep you updated on our progress. Willie’s installing blinds in the two back rooms today, as I’m blogging. He is so awesome, and doing a great job.
Till next time, be kind, and always follow your joy! God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
Moving Into Our New Home, Unpacking, Unboxing, Decorating, Moving Furniture, Putting Furniture Together, Hanging Blinds, Setting up Office, Lake House with a View, Conroe, Willis, Texas
I actually saw it just a little while back while visiting Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX. I first saw a historical church that this little birdhouse resembles, in New Waverly, TX. It is so beautiful. It’s named St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
Soon after that I saw another historic church like this in Willis, Texas. I really love the style of architecture, so when I spied this little church birdhouse, I was immediately intrigued.
I came across a similar church birdhouse elsewhere, but the price was quite a bit, and when I saw the one I eventually purchased, the price was very good, but I wasn’t sure where I could use it in my decor.
Well, I woke up Saturday morning with the little church birdhouse on my mind, and we were headed out on a shopping adventure with Aunt Bunny that day anyway, so I decided to see if it was even still available, and, thankfully, it was.
When we went to pick it up, I didn’t realize the actual condition that the house was in, as I hadn’t fully examined it the first time. I decided to go ahead and purchase it as the price was good, and I knew I would have fun fixing it up.
This picture is after Willie cleaned it up a bit outside and removed the dirt dobber nest that was on the front facade. This birdhouse was evidently used outdoors as an actual birdhouse, and not for home decor, so it is the real deal. But this real deal needed a little TLC to get it to where we would want to display it indoors at Royalview. I do like the rustic, whitewashed look, but this was a little intense, even for me.
So, after giving it a good wiping down with damp paper towels, I got my water based white paint out once again to see if I could improve on the looks.
The paint went on easily, and while it still has a worn look, it is much fresher now.
I added a little faux floral to give it even more charm.
I’m very happy with the outcome. It’s amazing what a little bit of paint can do.
After completing the little birdhouse’s transformation, I thought it would be perfect as the focal point of our entertainment center’s vignette. So, yet another swap-out of decor! But that’s the fun of it!
So cute! And adds so much charm. I’m really loving it. It still has a rustic look, but not quite as shabby as before. Now I suppose it is shabby chic!
I hope you’ll stay tuned for our next blog post. We enjoyed another fun dining and shopping adventure with Aunt Bunny.
Till next time, and I usually say stay safe, and I always will hope so for you, but this time I am going to sign off with a message that a little kindness can go a lot further than you can even imagine. God is truly good.
Johanna and Willie,
acrossthelake.blog
Vintage Church Birdhouse, Bird House, White Church, Shabby Chic Home Decor, DIY Decor Transformation
I was very privileged to meet a very special lady this week. Cinthia Alegria, of Lopez Alegria Enterprise, LLC.
Cynthia was referred to us by our Realtor, Kristin, before we moved here to Royalview. At the time, we were unable to connect our schedules, but I recently decided to reach out to her again to inquire about her services.
We have had housecleaning/maid service since we moved to Royalview. I have not been 100 percent happy with the services that Royalview has been receiving, and we have switched companies several times as a result.
But to the awesome part, and sometimes we all must go through some not so awesome parts first, but I’m so glad that I reached out to Cinthia. She has such a lovely and bubbly personality, and she really cares about what she does, and if things are cleaned to her liking, and/or satisfaction. So refreshing!
One thing that no one else has done, except Cinthia, is come by and visit our home and discuss our needs before our first housecleaning. She gave us a quote upon her visit. I was very impressed with just this gesture alone. I felt more at ease immediately from this experience, as well as knowing that she is the owner/CEO of her own company, and that she would be present on cleaning day.
Cinthia began in our kitchen (which is always my preference), and her companion, Maria, began in our bedroom.
Cinthia started in cleaning the tops of our cabinets. This is a service I have requested from other companies, since before we moved in.
Cinthia asked me if we have had a deep cleaning before, to which I replied, yes, a couple. She then took a picture of the top of the cabinets and texted it to me.
I could not believe what I saw. I shall not say anything offensive about anyone or any company here, but rather be very thankful for Cinthia.
I will say that after hiring companies, and yes, plural, companies to deep clean our new home before moving in, and also paying for deep cleaning after we moved in, and then also bi-weekly cleaning (including requesting cabinet tops be cleaned), this is how Cinthia found them.
Disappointing to say the least, but we are trying to focus on the good here, right? Right!
So, drum roll please…. Ta-da!
Sweet! So much better, and I feel much better knowing that they are now, finally, clean…
Cinthia also cleaned out our oven very well, taking the racks out and cleaning those too. She really went the extra mile. I enjoyed chatting with her and getting to know her better during her visit. She told me that she tells her employees that they need to love what they do, and to do their very best.
This is Maria, one of her employees. She is also a very nice lady, and greeted me with her beautiful smile.
These two ladies did a fantastic job. I feel so much better now about cleaning day here at Royalview. I will not have anxiety over who is coming over, or how will they do. I now feel very secure in who will be coming over, and I can relax and know that Royalview is in very good, kind-hearted, caring hands.
Lopez Alegria Enterprise is located in Spring, Texas. I very, very, highly recommend Maria and her team.
You can find Cinthia on Facebook, Lopez Alegria Enterprise on Facebook (Cinthia’s husband specializes in home improvement), and Lopez Alegria Enterprise LLC on Instagram.
This is not a sponsored post. We love to spread good news about companies that have helped us in our journey and deserve a shout-out, as well as help others like us looking for wonderful people to work with.
Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!
Johanna and Willie
acrossthelake.blog
Best House Cleaning Company Review, Maid Service, Spring, Texas, Housecleaning of your Dreams, Best Recommended House Cleaning Service, Conroe, Willis, Woodlands, Texas, Woman Owned Business, Support Small Business
Willie and I are very honored that Royalview received the recognition of Yard of the Month for May, 2025. We share this honor and good news with the team at Eagle A. Improvements (Houston,TX), who worked with us to design her gardens and landscaping, as well as performed the installation.
Across the Lake 