Man Monday...Humor!

My father-in-law, Joe, the chief operation officer of our little Co., has a great sense of humor, especially in his writing. So, today's "Man Monday" installment includes a little satire from him! His specialty is the family newsletter, so its written as an article. 

White House Table Maker Doubles Efficiency

Invents Double-Palm Sanding

Midland:  A local table maker has discovered a time saving sanding technique that is sure to revolutionize the industry.  Coined “Double-Palm Sanding” by its inventor, the system not only speeds up the table sanding process but also offers other benefits.  Joe Whitehead, Director of Sanding Operations at The White House Table Company of Midland, explained that he invented the system while sanding a ten-foot dining table one day.  “I was thinking about how to speed up the sanding process when it occurred to me that I had two palm sanders and two palms,” he explained, holding up his hands.  “When I realized that the numbers matched, I knew I was on to something.”

Whitehead went on to explain that not only does the system reduce project-sanding time, it challenges his mental faculties as well.  “Having to keep track of both sanders at the same time has improved my mental dexterity and they say it is good to challenge your mind as you get older so you won’t get that disease where you can’t remember things,” he said as he obviously struggled to recall the word ‘Alzheimer’s’.  “I can’t think of the word right now, but you know what I’m talking about.”  Whitehead applied for a patent from the US Patent Office but was informed by them that patents are not available for techniques such as this.  “They seemed to think that anyone with two hands and two sanders should have the right to use them all together at the same time,” Whitehead concluded.

Sanding is about the most awful part of table making, in my opinion! So, its nice to have a funny spin put on it. We will be back on Wednesday with more White House Wednesday inspiration! 

be blessed,

leslie and joe 

Round Top, Texas

Good morning, friends! I hope y'all had a great first weekend of October! I took a little getaway with some girlfriends to Central Texas, and had the BEST time! Our first adventure started at the Bi-annual Round Top Antiques Fair. We had heard great things about the event, so we had to check it out for ourselves. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! We barely scratched the surface of treasure hunting, and we all walked away with great finds! 

The White House Table Co.

This guy was my first purchase. I'm a sucker for colored glass vases. I own several from the Target Threshold line, but I have been searching for an emerald green like this! I of course wish I had bought more, so I could do a grouping. But, I ran away with this guy, and here he is in our home...

We moved on to another "field" and found this stand FULL of rusted metal letters. Just my style! 

The White House Table Co.

I have been searching for the word "hi" for our entryway, and I found it here! I also scored a small "W."

The White House Table Co.

Perhaps the BEST find for me was an antique coffee crate with "White House Coffee" labeled on it. I mean, destiny or what? I haggled a little for it, but I new I would leave with it, no matter if he came down on price or not! 

The White House Table Co.

I'm not sure if this is where it will stay, but I like this grouping for now. This corner of our dining room was sad and empty before. At least it fills the space...for now. 

The White House Table Co.

This table was a display only, but don't you love it? I am brain storming a way to recreate this one. It would be a perfect entry or console table! 

After Round Top, we went to the Premium Outlets in San Marcos. I found a few things at the Pottery Barn/ West Elm outlet. I drooled over several things at the Restoration Hardware outlet that were still far too expensive, but fun to look at! 

West Elm hexagon vase

West Elm planked map sign 

They were out of this map other than the display, but I would LOVE to try to DIY this one :).

I hope you enjoyed my finds from the weekend of junking! I love the search, and finding unique pieces is usually worth the effort. If you are in the West Texas area, Petticoats on the Prairie is coming up in a few weekends! I have never been, but it looks like it has potential! 

have a great wednesday!

be blessed,

leslie 

Fall Front Porch

Good morning friends! Sharing a few pictures of our fall front porch! It will be a brief post. I'm headed out of town with some girlfriends today to go to Round Top and San Marcos outlets! Make sure to follow us on Instagram to get a peek at all of our great finds! 

I kept it pretty simple. The whisky barrels are a find from Canton. I have used and loved them SO much! I want to add some more color with mums, but haven't gotten around to that just yet! Our porch gets NO sun, so full sun plants don't do very well there, sadly. 

My in-laws built the planters for my birthday. They turned out perfectly! If you love them, we can make YOU one, too :) 

Sorry for the brief post, but off on vacation! I'll be back on Monday!

be blessed,

leslie 

Fall Tablescapes

October 1st. Finally. I feel like it is officially the Fall season (we'll ignore the fact that the high today is 92). One of my favorite ways to decorate for the seasons is "tablescapes." I have a Pinterest Board dedicated to the topic. Being that we are a table company, its fitting that I show you how I decorate ours! 

I had to throw in a detail shot of our table legs, just for grins :).

I continued the mercury glass theme from the mantle with more pumpkins from HomeGoods and some taper/votive holders I got at Target last Christmas. The gold pumpkin-on-a-stick is also from HomeGoods. The table runners are from World Market. I saw them layered like this in the store and LOVED the idea! Think of how versatile the extra wide burlap runner will be for many seasons! The cotton garland is ParkHill, and one of my obsessions. The placemats are Dillard's from years ago, the plates are Souther Living at Home (now Willow House, but this pattern is discontinued). The goldware was my sisters and I "inherited" or stole it...it depends on who you ask :).  I absolutely LOVE the goldware right now! 

I also put together a fun "miniscpae" on our breakfast table. We eat there most everyday, so anything elaborate is out of the questions. In Clay's opinion, anything more than a table top and paper plates is over top, though :).

The cute tea towel with the pumpkin pie recipe is Threshold by Target. The napkin picks are from Hobby Lobby. Chargers are Southern Living at Home, and the silver chargers are thrifted. 

I used to be so appalled by carnations, but lately I have loved them grouped together in a tight bouquet. Our local grocery store has had some really great Fall colors of them for cheap! 

Hope you enjoyed the tables! Come back by Thursday for our front porch ideas! 

Linking up here for a more tablescapes!

be blessed,

leslie 

Man Monday

When Leslie started this blog, I was fully supportive of it.  I thought it would be a great outlet for all the energy she spends researching, and accumulating, all things home fashion.  When she mentioned the idea of having a Man Monday segment, I thought it sounded like a great idea and said I’d do it.  So that was in the summer.  Now it’s September, so it should come as no surprise that I was vetoed when I wanted to write my first installment about how bad an idea it is to write anything on a Sunday more than a text to a friend making sure he saw the catch Megatron made in the 3^rd quarter.  If you don’t know who Megatron is, then I’ll assume you have no sympathy for me.

As you have probably gathered by now, we do lots of projects around the house.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned through all of it, it’s to build a house, furnished, exactly how you want it and never change it.  Ever.  Not really, the truth is every project has proven to me that there’s a tool out there that I don’t have that can do the job better.  The first of these epiphanies was early in our marriage and re-model lifestyle.  I had done a couple of projects with a handheld circular saw and a miter box.  These tools worked great, but it wasn’t long before I learned of something called a 10in Sliding Compound Miter saw.  I’m generally a DeWalt tool man, but they are very proud of their equipment, and so for this one I went with the Kobalt from Lowes.  It has been nothing short of life-altering.  Now I’m sure the DeWalt is better, but the base model is about twice the price of the top Kobalt model.

source

This is by far the most useful and versatile tool in my arsenal.  It turns jobs that can take 10s of minutes into 2 minutes saving you hours over the course of a big project.  You can cut anything from standard 2x4s to wide sheets up to 18 inches or so.  (TIP:  Cut as much of the sheet as you can, then flip it and cut the other side.  It’s a perfect cut, cleaner and easier than a circular.)  The tables we build would be nearly impossible for us without a compound sliding miter.  The cuts we use are mostly simple 45 degree cuts but would take forever with a box.

The White House Table Co.

So the moral of this story is, if you plan to work on things around the house, aside from mowing the lawn and changing light bulbs, it is probably worth investing in one of these babies, it won’t take long to realize its value.  

Clay 

PS- Tune in tomorrow for a post on our Fall Tablescapes and vignettes, and a link party!!