I have one of those old metal hurricane lamps with the handle to hang...and it has a glass middle. Do you know what I am talking about? anyway I put a string of white lights in it and hung it from a beam between the living and dinning area. It works as a night or mood light. Then on the porch I have a large "pickle" jar with two or three sets of light and some silk ivy stuck inside of it. It makes a wonderful outdoor light for evening without drawing too many bugs... I usually change the ivy to items for the holidays. flags for the 4th, fall leaves in the fall ...and such... patti

what a wonderful find! i have silverplate that I bought when still single - never used in all of these yrs!!! I'll be using them once I get moved. I also have my MIL (and her MILs) silver. I've used some of that. we used to eat pizza using linen napkins and silver forks (while watching tv). the forks were for what might fall off of the pizza on the way to our mouths -lol! . figured I might as well use it since I have it. I still have my original stainless too. I seem to have lost a number of pieces of that since I moved here. Maybe the mice carried 'em off. use it and rotate using it. see if you can find some archival quality bags. you also might find some 'silver cloth' at a fabric store or online to use to line those boxes. my MIL (probably from her MIL) had some in silver cloth 'bags' with a drawstring closing on them.

Thanks so much,ya'll! You should've heard him telling his Mama all about it when she got home. I should mention he is only 5 years old,lol. He says Mama, MeMe had blood going and going and going :D We told him how good and brave he was..I'm just fine, I'll have to make another appointment, since my next one isn't for 3 months. And I totally forgot about the aspirin I take every day.... About the crafts, all the links are on my blog, but I will add them here. The hat box was easy, I had HossFly measure the side so I could cut it out just the right size. I used my rotary cutter and mat that I used to use for making quilts,lol. For the lid and the bottom round parts, I just traced it and cut it out about half an inch bigger all around. I cut little snips in it like you would if you were sewing curves, and I used cheap white school glue mixed with enough water to make it smooth like paint.Glue on the top and bottom circles, then the side of the box, and the side of the lid. I didn't have to worry about the fit, because these boxes are made for covering in crafting. You can buy these papier mache hatboxes at places like Hobby Lobby and Michaels for about $5..that's the original price on the bottom of mine, but she paid .50.Try to smooth out all the air pockets, but I wouldn't worry about it too much, it all flattens out once it starts drying, it just might have a few wrinkles, which would be perfectly okay if you want an antique look. Then I used the water/glue mixture to paint it, like you would use Mod-Podge. I only used two coats on the hat boxes, it was plenty. Brown age spots showed up, but they pretty much go away once it dries. Also I sprayed it with a clear spray you can find by regular spray paint, about a dollar a can at WalMart. Two coats of that. The star pattern link is on my blog,too,but I'll add it here :D I cut out two stars, and one piece of white posterboard. I scored the posterboard according to the directions, then glued the map on one side, trimmed it, and glued the other side and trimmed it, then folded it along the scored lines. I happen to have a metal star just like it, so I took it off the wall and laid my paper star over it to dry. You could put something under the center of your star to hold it up a little while it dries. The roses........now those are just GORGEOUS! I've never seen any more realistic in my life! I saw this on Martha Stewart, and the nice lady Cassie has the pattern there with directions. Of course you could buy the kits, or buy them ready made,too,from her site. I still don't have my green floral tape, so I haven't really made any yet, just that practice one with no tape on it. star pattern http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.homehints.com.au/images/steps/noimage/step/step4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.homehints.com.au/Calendar/966/how%2Bto/make%2Byour%2Bown%2Bornate%2Bchristmas%2Bstar&usg=__W7290yH-1cZakLHg-QJUgj2sbc8=&h=156&w=208&sz=5&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=JRrgywH9FAnRJM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhow%2Bto%2Bfold%2B3d%2Bstars%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN I made mine bigger, that's why I needed Hoss' math skills :D Check links on my blog for more! Here is a link that might be useful: cone coffee filter roses

elizawhyza, you ask an important question about working with a contractor in putting in a largely recycled kitchen. Many people who artfully incorporate old things into their homes are seasoned DIY'ers, but I needed grown ups to get things in properly. My contractor is not a firm. He is a recovering economist who has an affinity for old houses and likes to see them respected. His own skills are excellent, and he puts together work crews for each job he undertakes, whether it's a bathroom or a whole house. I cannot imagine taking on this house with a different kind of contracting firm. Indeed, he looked at all the houses I was considering and outline what work would be entailed in for each of them. I have worked with him on several less extensive projects over the years, and I consider the trade-offs -- basically I had to start with a very rough ballpark estimate of what his work would cost and I was responsible for contracting with the electrical, HVAC, window, and floor people, but I knew that I would get careful work on the house -- more than reasonable. By the time we got to the kitchen, he and his crew has turned this into this which entailed jacking up the roof, replicating a lost corbel, and patching the original cypress clapboards with newly milled ones. In that context, shimming the kitchen cabinets vertically as well as laterally was not a big deal. On your other question, I bought the cabinets from my local craigslist, after checking out what was available almost daily for several months. I talked to the owner, drove out to look at the cabinets, paid him for them, and then hired three guys and a truck to pick them up and bring them into the city. The distance was about 15 miles and the moving cost a couple hundred dollars. There are also a couple of local non-profit house part recycling places that occasionally have nice cabinets, but that works best if you are in a position to check them daily, which I am not. The non-local sources for good used cabinets are ebay (which tends to have kitchen center displays that are listed for "local pick-up") and and Green Demolitions. The latter carries some very up-market used kitchen from the NYC area. They will email you all kinds of pictures to show the condition of what you might be buying, and they can help customers arrange shipping. I have never actually purchased from them, but I would certainly consider it. I look forward to seeing your cabinets. Best of luck with the whole project. hbk Here is a link that might be useful: Green Demolitions.