i.love.my.job.

I'm thankful for it everyday.  

Taking our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products,

 and my repurposed assemblage jewelry,

to markets and shows is something that still seems like a dream.

(a dream where I work very hard... but a dream nonetheless.) 

If you have followed me up to this point, 

THANK YOU!

I know that I have come and gone, and come and gone again,

so I appreciate each and every one of you that still stop by 

when you see me come up in your sidebar. 

...and if you have followed for awhile, then you know that I have loved reclaiming 

forgotten treasures for forever. 

 I get caught up in the process of turning a phrase into a wearable reminder.

Repurposing the forgotten little pieces of someone's long ago story

into jewelry for someones new story...

 something as simple as a beloved dog's tag,

a reclaimed memory of someone's best friend...

into a necklace for a special dog lover.

Each small piece of our history inspires me 

to create a sparkly something special for you to wear.

I draw inspiration from the rusty, crusty, sparkly, shiny, 

 the natural, earth formed gems, and our past.

...and then there's this -

our incredibly fresh scented, hard working

natural lavender goodness.

like I said in the beginning...

i.love.my.job.

Thanks for stopping by!

Please make sure to check my social media pages

The Old White House on FB

and 

Instagram

and even

Twitter

for the latest updates on what I'm up to,

and where you can find us!

love,

t.xoxo

fall is in the air...

 I love this photo of Hannah working the booth. xoxo

As in the last few years, when we attend the year's last Farmers Market at the Capitol,

 (where I pick up some of the coolest pumpkins and gourds for our booth and home,)

then you know that summer is officially over.

Good-bye Summer,

Hello Autumn!

I hope that you enjoy all the best offerings of the season!

love, 

t.xoxo

I wrote a novel of a post, grab your favorite beverage and settle in...

...that's what happens when you don't blog for months. oh, the shame.

My goodness it's been a long time since I've posted.

Let's see, where to begin...

Well, I am still here, just keeping incredibly busy with 

the business of going to markets and shows, that it's all I can

do to get a quick picture and post on instagram and facebook!

(thankfully they link together)

It takes a full week to get ready to go to the Detroit Eastern Market most every Saturday.

We went 41 out of 52 Saturdays last year, and aim to do the same this year, as well

as going to the Grand Rapids Fulton St. Market, 

including the FSAM on Sunday's from June - Sept. when I can!

Plus there are of course a few summer shows coming up that I love to do, 

so we will be bumping up production even more!

I'm so honored and excited to be invited by one of the shops that carries TOWH products

to do a Trunk Show with my jewelry in July.

Little Luxuries of Mackinac Island

will be hosting the  trunk show on July 9th, so of course I will be adding to the 

jewelry line between now and then.

I still have to tell myself that I'm not dreaming this up!

I love making and selling our lavender home products, 

and that fuels a passion for creating and using natural products that 

are good for us and the earth.  

                   

...and then there is the artist in me, that NEEDS to be creating with my head, heart and hands.  

That's where making repurposed art jewelry comes in,
and I have been exploring new techniques to keep my creativity fresh.

I still play with my soldering iron, and have big plans for new designs coming up soon!

                    

                  

I've added repurposed belt, hand stamped cuffs to the mix.

        

I'm also working semiprecious stones into many of my pieces.

This mix of crystals, stamped soldered charms, lots of bling and vintage goodness is now hanging around the neck of a sweet lady that purchased it the first time I took it to the market.

                

                 

One of the larger undertakings we did this year was move out of the old white house.  We found a great place in the country that we quickly settled in to.

                

            my little jewelry studio ❤️

There is still painting to be done in a few rooms, 

but it has to be done between making products, going to markets, and life in general.

I brought my "wood chip patio" making skills with me to convert the large wood square in the middle of the yard into a cozy place to relax together.

We have already used it quite a bit, and love it!

Another wonderful milestone has also taken place in our family... 

Cameron graduated from MSU last month!

Oh, I love that boy. His degree is Fisheries and Wildlife, which is so perfect for him, with his love of animals, the outdoors, and him being a talented photographer.

Here's a family pic of his big day, minus Danielle because she was in London for school.

Him and Audrey almost immediately moved to Denver to start a new chapter

in their lives.  She started grad school, and Cam is researching markets right now to sell TOWH in Denver while he looks for a job in his field.  We are so excited for them both, and incredibly proud of the two of them and all that they have accomplished already.  

I love to see these two pictures together.  It shows just how far that they have come together 

already with so much more still ahead of them.

Before Cameron graduated, him and I got to work on a very exciting project for 

The Old White House.  I can hardly contain myself when I tell you what it is...

We were featured in the Grand Rapids Magazine, and Cameron took all of the photos

for the article!  How cool is that?!!!

   

You can read it on Issuu as soon as it's posted. I checked and the June issue isn't posted yet.

 It was so awesome working with him as he took shot after shot of our products, my jewelry and myself.  I think he did a fantastic job, and so did the Grand Rapids Magazine editor. 

In February we were also featured in the magazine Planted!  

you can read it here on Issuu!

I am beyond excited to have been featured in both of these wonderful magazines, and seriously still need to pinch myself that it's happened.  

So that about sums up what's been going on with me...now you know that you can either find me behind a sewing machine making these...

or down in our work shop with the kids making the rest of our products...

or in my studio working on new designs...

or here...

or here...

and hopefully at the end of the day, here...

   

I'm going to be honest with you, this post has taken a couple of weeks for me to finish!  I hope you will follow me on Instagram and Face Book under The Old White House so that you can see all of my news and updates as they happen!

If you've made it to the end of this crazy long post, then you have a longer attention span than I do... 

thank you for seeing it through!

love,

t.xoxo

newest creations...

Happy Monday!

I've had the soldering iron going a lot lately,

and thought I would show how I finished the large (knocker) crazy quilt scrap pendants.

this is the same one, I left the stitching on the backside, the side that the 

quilter usually keeps hidden as the flipside because I think her work 

deserves the spotlight on both sides!

I then hung the pendants with a stack of the sweetest vintage 

cream and milkglass buttons.

The MIlove charms that I showed in the last post I have now added to rings as well.  

This was my instagram and FB page post letting

our customers know we were on the way to Detroit.  :)

When I find a stamp that I think will add a little fun to the sachets

I get a little giddy.... this one definitely did the trick!

So not only do they smell beautiful, but they are just as pretty

when you pull them out of your dryer.

Here's a group photo of the knockers and a few other pieces before I added the buttons and chains. 

See how much bigger they are than the quarter?  

I LOVE THAT!  

They have a great weight to them, and make a gorgeous necklace for layering.

I wore mind with a winter scarf at the market and I loved how it peaked out 

from the bottom of my infinity scarf.

I don't create my soldered pendants with vintage photos like I used to these days,

(unless I have a commissioned order)

but this boy has a hold on me and when I found the print on fabric that 

I made of him a couple of years ago he immediately was preserved under glass. 

 I will most likely be sporting him around my neck.

I just love his look of determination.

It's Monday and that usually puts me in a funk with less focus than usual, 

but today the iron will once again be hot with a few orders to get done.

So there you have it, a little update on what's on the worktable.

I cleared off the dining room table so that we could once again have meals together,

and have set up shop in the workroom where I belong.  

let's see how long this will last ;)

I want to add that if you ever see anything on my instagram page

the old white house

or my facebook page

the old white house

and have any questions or would like to purchase a special bauble please msg. me

and I will put up a reserve listing for you.

My etsy and website have all of our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products,

 but I haven't listed any of my jewelry in some time because by the time 

I get everything made I am packing up to go to a show or market.  

I of course would love to have my friends that do not live close by be able 

to wear a little somethin somethin that I've made also.

So please don't hesitate to contact me!

I hope you have a week full of grand adventures, love, and laughter! 

love, t.xoxo