Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage

We visited Aurora, Oregon a couple weeks back. It's not that far from Oregon City and if you take Highway 99 from here it is quicker than the freeway, plus it's a pretty drive.

They had rearranged the upstairs of the Mill since we'd last been there and that's where the majority of these photos were taken.

Either they have someone creating lighting from salvage parts for them or they have branched out into this field, too.

This place is a combination of eye candy and salvage lust.

I have always wondered if this carving had any meaning...? you see it quite often on older wood pieces.

I don't know where I'd use these, but I am sure I could give them a new home!

I do wonder just where this originated.  What kind of sick room did this door open to and did this sight frighten children or adults or both?

Recognize the top of a tank here?

 If you are ever close to Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage, you won't be sorry you stopped!

If you "Yelp", be sure and do a check-in and you will get a percentage off your purchase, too.

xoxo

gretchen

Valentine Key

The key to your heart.

Did you give it away or did someone take it?

I am so very lucky to be with the man that has mine.

xoxo~
gretchen

Fly, Flew....Flu

This was taken just before landing at SeaTac.

We weren't gone long....

but it was off to Hawaii with warm sun... warm. sun. I know it hasn't rained much here this winter in western Oregon, but it's still been cold-ish. not warm. I missed warm. I miss it now.

I didn't bring my 'big' camera. I have wonky back issues and at times caring anything will bother me for days and was on the verge of that before we left.

So I just used the one on my phone and then played with apps.

Do you use any of them? There's Photo Toaster, Instagram and ScratchCam used on some of the shots here. The fun part is you can use more than one effect, just save them to your pictures and go for it. Some of the apps will let you just move them from one to another.

ColorBlast! was used on this photo, it will take out color and put it back where you want. The real color of this building is PINK!

This was taken out the window on the way home....the whole cabin was suddenly bathed in soft pink light. I was fighting the first stages of flu and the color even rallied me enough to grab my phone and shoot this. The four hours this flight took were painful and this flu bug is only just out the door. I kept thinking I was over it and then it would slam me back into bed. Not the most fun thing to bring home from a trip...trust me. I think I'm over it...even though there is still a long list of food I like that sound just AWFUL. Fortunately, ice cream taste good!

I hope everyone is well at your house!

xoxo

gretchen

Number Three - Earrings From the Hardware Store Tutorial

This is about as basic as hardware gets. Machine screws with matching nuts. $.98
Small, just an inch long, but oh, the possibilities...right?

Little baby washers, I mean how cute are these little guys? $.47

More little washers, a size or two up from the tiny guys and because there are more in this package, these were $2.33

Here you go! The only hard part was finding a bead with a larger hole. I had to dig for these. They have been hauled around for more than a couple moves. I think they are some I got for my younger daughter when she wanted to try her hand at a craft or two. That's why they are PINK.

You can see the construction a little better in this shot. First I slid on the larger washer, then a smaller one. Next came the pink bead, small and then large washer and the nut. How to attach the ear wire was the kicker. There wasn't enough depth on the screw threads to get a good hold with the wire, so I used a little E-6000 glue along with the wire to keep it in place. I like it better than super glue, because I don't end up gluing my fingers together with it...or at least not as quickly.

So, there you go. Three different earrings using three different hardware bits in three days. Hope you enjoyed this, I know I did!

xoxo

gretchen

More From The Hardware Store ~ Tutorial of Sorts

Retaining rings R us...or at least once more here.

These are a smaller size than the pair I used in the last post. Smaller and cost less. They were all of $ .52, so $1.04 for both - we have no sales tax in Oregon. Yet another good reason to come shop here! That and there are dozens of antique shops and malls within 20 miles of the Portland area... and rivers, mountains, hiking and biking trails and more outdoor fun when it isn't raining cats, dogs and elephants. (what? it doesn't rain elephants where you live? right now we are in the middle of epic rain and the comparison seemed right - and we do actually have a pretty awesome zoo!)

I wire wrapped chain to the top of the retaining rings through the holes in it. Did the same with the ear wire.

Instead of using a headpin, I rolled wire into a tight circle and threaded on the tiny pink hearts and attached them to the bottom of the retaining ring. Cute, huh? I'm trying to just use what I have on hand and these little heart beads have been waiting to come out and play.

I do have one other set of earrings that aren't retaining rings (!) I'll try and share those tomorrow. Blogger has been acting weird for me...or maybe it's just my computer. I know I need to either have it worked on or bite the bullet and get a new one. A big ol' bullet.

I hope there's some sunshine in your day tomorrow. We will be watching the rivers rise here with flood warnings going on up and down the state.

xoxo

gretchen

Jewelry From The Hardware Store Tutorial

I happen to love hardware stores. Really. There are all these cool bits and shinny things, most I have no idea what they might be for. The other day we were in Home Depot, which is all of 5 minutes from our house, when I decided to see what I could make with them.

These are Retaining Rings. Cool, huh? nice shape, great flat black color, what's not to love? Apparently they retain something. No idea here, maybe you know? I think they were retaining ideas and waiting for me. They cost $.98 each. Which makes the base for the earrings I could see in them all of $1.96. Not a big risk.

I wire wrapped eight semi-precious Hematite faceted stone beads around the bottom of each loop. Love those little beads.

Then added a tiny piece of chain, also wire wrapped through the hole in the top of the ring (no drilling involved!) One side first, then I slid on the ear wire and attached it to the other side, so they float on the wire.

There you go! The first pair of Hardware earrings.

Tomorrow I'll show you another pair.
(please forgive the bad lighting, it's winter in the PNW and the sun doesn't visit us often enough)

xoxo

gretchen

A Car of Nations

This was taken a while back....really. It wasn't from this week or the last.

I can even remember the day. Not the date or year (sometime in the 60's), but how could you forget your cousin driving up in a car like this? Sitting outside my Grandma Nation's house in the driver's seat is my pretty cousin, Linda. She not only drove the car, she raced it. Of course, I was SO jealous...but shoot, I couldn't even drive then. Seated next to her is one of her girlfriends. The other two pretty ladies are also my cousins and sister to the driver. The brunette is JoAnn and the blond is Wanda, all Nation girls, too.

That's me sitting on the back closest to the camera. My sister, Jody is next to me and my other sister, Cathy is sitting next to her. Don't you love our Tony home perms???

When I shared this with Jody she noticed I had my Brownie Camera around my neck. I may still have that in a box somewhere....how could you get rid of your first camera? It was such a wonderful gift. My mom would occasionally get me a roll of Black&White film, color was too expensive and cost more to develop. I was so careful not to waste the film - it was special. Just like this photo.

Did you have a camera when you were young? was it a very special gift, too?

(we're pretty sure the car is a 61 Triumph, if you wondered...)
xoxo

gretchen

A Give Away ~

Krys Kirkpatrick is having a give-a-way on her blog...she's giving one of the prints on her etsy site to a few lucky people on Sunday the 15th.

In case you don't know, she is one of the very talented bunny sisters that created Bunnies By The Bay.

Go LOOK!

These are two of her sweet drawings.

http://www.kryskirkpatrickdesign.blogspot.com

(the give away is on her blog)

http://www.kryskirkpatrickdesign.com/

good luck!

xoxo gretchen

The Insects' Christmas

This German stop motion film was made in 1913

Now you know what happens to the ornaments on your tree while you sleep....

have a wonderful holiday ~

xoxo

gretchen

Decking the Halls?

Well, maybe not the halls. This year. But I did throw a little tinsel on the mantle in front of a tiny bisque chorus line. Let's pretend they are singing....maybe the happy song at the end of this post.

Call it lazy, but I just didn't want to get out too many decorations. I know there are some tucked in the Baileysburg (a very tiny town in Washington state) cabinet (quite a story there for another time), but they haven't found their way out....yet. There are some lovely Chalkware Santas and folk art pieces I still may set out. There are also a few boxes (or more, way more who am I kidding?) hiding in the basement (hiding, that's the word! not lost in unmarked boxes or plastic tubs). But it's late and you know the cats are probably always sleeping down there and I wouldn't want to wake them. Considerate of the fuzzy beings, aren't I?

So far we have kept it simple. Here we have one (yes, there are two and no it's not the beginning of a taxidermied Ark...but that is an idea) of our Chevy Chase Christmas former real squirrels in the white (not quite a feather, but old and I still like it anyway) tree in the living room front window. I added the birds to keep him company. I picked them up this summer in a Montana antique/thrift shop, thinking I was going to paint them black and use them at Halloween...you can see how far that project made it. Maybe next year, but I'm kind of enjoying the white on white here, so they may have been saved from the spray can. After all, they most likely survived a wedding or shower and then being packed away for who knows how long and seem to be happy with Nutmeg. That's the squirrel's name. When Brian got him a few years ago and showed his boys, the first remark made was 'Can we name him, Nutmeg?' and so it is.

Or as the Captain would say, 'make it so.'

It's all tucked into a silver ice bucket that came home with me from Value Village earlier this year. It will probably never see a wine bottle in this house and I knew that when I bought it. I guess it was just silver and shiny and that was enough one afternoon to catch my eye. Shiny is good- especially silver, but I like tarnish better. Go figure. Maybe it's an odd way to appreciate age. I have days when I feel a little tarnished myself.

Anywho, here's a little song that the girls on top of the mantel would sing to you, if they could sing and I'm sure Nutmeg would help, too. Written by one of my favorite authors, Shel Silverstein and sung by Marisa Berenson and assorted Muppets. Enjoy!



xoxo

gretchen~