Inventing Snow

This weekend I finished building these kitchen shelves. We used pine and I will coat it with an Eco-friendly lacquer this next weekend to protect the wood and maintain its color. There is a sense of satisfaction from building something with your own two hands that money could never buy. I also didn’t realize how much fun a circular saw could be: the screeching noise, the sawdust flying around, the smell of heated metal and woodchips…I think I’m addicted! You can read more about it on Urban Bumpkin.

My sister wasn’t kidding about soldering – one piece and my head is pounding! I’m taking a break and grabbing my respirator, then it’s back to work. My lungs are taking a beating but my hands are absolutely loving this. I’ve never done any metal work with the exception of welding tractors so when I saw that first bead of silver run, I felt like an alchemist!  Thank you Taiwanese soldering iron, you are my magic wand.

I’m hoping to have my store set up by March.

“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.” ~ Isak Dinesen

After spending the past year gathering trinkets on the beach, I finally put them all together this morning. Every item has a its own significant story, including the sand: