Using antiques for pampering purposes, property happenings, to my finally operating an excavator

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:02]From selecting old stones for the barn entrance to using antiques and vintage finds for pampering purposes and making bath products to playing with dirt and rocks.

[00:00:22]This is my version of New England fine living.

[00:00:28]The stones have arrived.

[00:00:38]I think just yesterday I was walking on these selecting them and I forgot to mention two of the stones are going to be used in the front of the driveway as two posts.

[00:00:51]Good morning.

[00:00:55]So, as you can see, one of these is a lot higher than the other. I first selected this one. Loved this one. Look at the moss and everything on there. So, one of them will be placed and then the other will be, of course, sunken a little bit deeper. I was hoping to get one that went, you know, all along the front of the all the windows, but it's just a little shorter. I'm going to do some plantings, though, on either side, so this will be great.

[00:01:24]Aren't those beautiful? If rocks can be beautiful, these are beautiful. And then these are the two stones Ben selected that are going to go at the end of the barn's driveway.

[00:01:35]And then at one point he might put some eyebolts so that he can chain it off.

[00:01:45]It's going to be nice to see all the little details coming together with the stones around the the property and then it will start getting a little bit more personalized.

[00:02:01]I will share more on these stones once they're installed. But what I love about these is that we are repurposing them.

[00:02:07]They used to belong to a house from the 1700s. This was part of the foundation.

[00:02:12]The home is no longer there. The owner of the property wanted them dug up and taken away, and we got to benefit from that removal of the stones.

[00:02:22]I hear some activity going on out here.

[00:02:25]It looks like the big piles of tree stumps that we have from when the driver was made is being picked up.

[00:02:41]So, somebody made a mistake and had a lot of fall box items delivered to the house in error. And that somebody is me.

[00:02:53]So, Ben and I are taking the old girl out for a ride. And I don't mean me when I say old girl. And we're going to bring all of these boxes to the office.

[00:03:41]It's another day and a bit more is happening with some cleanup. They have been removing a lot of roots that have been left over from some of the work.

[00:03:52]They've cleared up piles of old tree stumps and just a lot of debris. We have some soil here for the yard. There's a big pile of keystone over there that's going to go around the barn.

[00:04:09]And what a beautiful day for them to get some things done. We do have rain coming, so it's nice that they can get this part, messy stuff done, but we need the rain. We need it. We're already in a drought situation here in this part, and it's so strange. I didn't even notice that these two stones were taken off the truck, which means the other two stones must already be near the front of the driveway. And I don't even know if he installed them yet. I think he was waiting for Ben just to get an idea of what where he'd like them.

[00:04:46]But I love these acorn cap and all.

[00:04:59]I had a request and I thought this would be a really fun project and it kind of ties in with today's video of using antiques and vintage finds for pampering purposes. So, I just started prepping some things and I figured I might as well put the camera on and also going to put on my apron cuz a little messy here.

[00:05:24]So, I was recently asked if we sold shower steamers on the store, and we don't. It's something I have looked at, but it's just something we've never put on there to carry. And I figured why don't I show you how to make shower steamers. And I've already, like I said, started here and I got a little mess going. And then I thought I would share some other pampering bath products that I love to use and how I use some of my vintage containers. And I thought it would just be fun. So that's what we're going to do today. So right now I am starting a recipe to make a shower steamers. I have my mold here that I have used for so so many things. I put some candle melts in here. Sometimes I've used it to make some of the bird seed ornaments, the smaller ones. What else have I used these for? Little tiny tiny cupcakes. Uh, so many things. And these you can get online in all different shapes. So, I'm going to use this for today's mold. And then you're going to need some citric acid. Now, this sometimes you can find at grocery stores. I passed up buying a container of it one day saying I will go back and get it. couldn't remember the store I saw it at, so I just ordered a bag online. But sometimes it's in little like round canisters almost like a baking soda might be. Speaking of baking soda, that's another one of the products that's going to be in the shower steamer. And also cornstarch. I don't know if I have enough corn starch. And it also can use arrowroot. I think I only need I'm looking here. I only need a half a cup. So this is going to be really close. I don't think I have more in the cabinet.

[00:07:11]So, and I thought I had arrowroot, but what I have is orus root. Orus root is the powdered root of an iris plant, and it's used for sometimes a fixitive when I make popies, but not today. So, I'm just going to add a little bit more here. We're going to start with a cup of baking soda.

[00:07:32]And I really hope I have enough of cup of baking soda. I'm just going to put this aside right now so I don't forget one of the ingredients. I do all the time.

[00:07:46]Okay, so I'm going to put this aside.

[00:07:48]And now we're going to do a half a cup of citric acid.

[00:07:56]Let's see.

[00:07:58]Just going to pull everything out at time.

[00:08:18]bit more here. Just want to be careful with this. You don't want to get it anywhere near your eyes. Okay. Half a cup of citric acid.

[00:08:29]I'll probably put this in a glass jar and mark it really well what it is because it almost looks like sugar and it's not sugar. So, let's hope I have this half a cup of corn starch.

[00:08:47]Let's see here. Let me just take this out and do this a little bit easier.

[00:08:51]Yes.

[00:09:01]I think we're going to be good. We're going to make it. Just make it.

[00:09:12]Okay, now that's good.

[00:09:17]Okay, put this aside. This aside. this little bit.

[00:09:24]So, what I'm going to do right now is whisk these together so they're incorporated.

[00:09:39]I'm just going to mix these all together. So once again, it's one cup of baking soda, half a cup of citric acid, half a cup of corn starch or arrowroot.

[00:09:58]Mix this together. I think I might even just use a spatula first just to get some of the bottom stuff to the top. Use my little spatula.

[00:10:11]I really enjoy using shower steamers. I have peppermint, eucalyptus, and I find them really nice and energizing. Today, I'm going to make a lilac one just so that I can start getting ready for lilac season. We have the trees are just starting to get their leaves on them.

[00:10:34]So, it's not quite lilac season yet, but it will happen soon enough. So, I'm going to make that with some essential oil I have here. First, I'm going to add my oil, my fragrance oil, and then I'm going to just use a little bit of water, a dropper at a time, just enough so it pulls together, holds together when I squeeze it, cuz I'm going to press it then into here. If you've ever made sugar molds for like tea, it's this pretty much the same texture or consistency.

[00:11:09]I can't wait to show you some of these other things that I'm working on, too.

[00:11:14]All right, so let's do I'm going to do about 20 drops of the lilac here.

[00:11:33]It smells so good.

[00:11:39]Now, this is one of those recipes.

[00:11:43]It does not have to be exact with your mixture.

[00:11:48]And if you want it to have a little more scent, you can. because this is not something that you'll actually be bathing in. It's just when the hot water hits this and releases everything. So, I'm just going to mix this really well together.

[00:12:04]It's almost hard to tell when it's good enough. Just keep mixing a long time.

[00:12:13]I was just going to go in and take a sniff. Not too good. Just don't do that because you can see the little powderyness pop up and that would just make me sneeze and wouldn't be good. Oh, it does smell so good though. But I think I'm going to add some extra fragrance. This is a really light fragrance and this will be probably one that I use probably in the evening just to make a nice cozy pre summer late spring scent in the shower.

[00:13:01]I can tell when I don't have some of the oil done. I got these t little tiny balls of oil I just want to get.

[00:13:09]And once I squeeze squeeze it together also that will be good. But I think just for my own skin, I'm going to put on some little gloves when I do that part.

[00:13:26]I do keep a box of these at the ready under the sink when I'm working with raw chicken and things like that. I don't like touching chicken. I've used them for all kinds of things and they're just nice to have on hand. And you can get these out and about at stores or online.

[00:13:48]So now I'm going to add a little bit of water. I just have to grab that. And then I'll use my dropper again. And once again, this is just a little bit at a time until it comes to a consistency almost like wet sand, but not the type that you can drop through your hand to make those really cool castles. You want it just to be enough to hold together.

[00:14:07]So I'm just going to get about a tablespoon or two here. just to start dropping in. You can also mist this if I didn't mention that already.

[00:14:19]And you don't want to do too much water at once because this will fizz up. You don't want to lose all that fizz yet.

[00:14:26]Just a little at a time. Oh, and that smell. It just released the smell that this is going to be wonderful. Do not pour it in all at once because that will ruin the magic when it's in the shower.

[00:14:37]But I can feel it just that little bit.

[00:14:39]It's already getting a little heavier.

[00:14:41]which is exactly what I want.

[00:14:57]All right. So, now that I have this wet sand consistency, I am pressing it into my molds nice and tight. And I'm going to let it cure for 24 to 48 hours.

[00:15:11]And then I'm going to wrap mine in tin foil and put it in a glass container.

[00:15:17]Could wrap them in paper. All right. So, I could go on and try to make them really pretty, but these are just for me. I'm just going to let these cure, like I said, for 24 to 48 hours. Wrap them and then enjoy them. All right. And let that cure. So, let me clear this up and I'm going to come back and I'm going to go through some of these pretties that I have to share with you, including one of my latest antique finds.

[00:15:45]So, this is the fun part for me. I love elevating the everyday. That's a lot of what New England Fine Living is all about, sharing how I like to just add that little extra touch. And the other day when I was out antique shopping, I found something. I was looking for. And I can't believe that happened so quickly because it doesn't usually. Usually I look and look and it could go for a year. So I'm going to take a step back.

[00:16:14]And back in Groten House when we remodeled the bathroom, I purchased this dish as a soap holder. And then soon after I did buy one of these. I don't if it's a cellulose product. I think it's actually made here in New England. I'm going to have to look cuz I've purchased a couple since then. But I ended up getting that for the bottom of the dish cuz the soap kept sticking. And I've had this in that bathroom and the current one right at the tub. And I love having this vintage piece at the bathtub. And I just, you know, love to see and I just love to wonder who used this before and what was it used for. And this soap, I have been using this soap, I can say since 2012.

[00:17:04]I know that date because we bought our house in Littleton and I found this soap in a local shop and I have been searching since then. I kid you not, I have been searching for this soap, especially when I started the store for 12 years now. Here's going back 6 years. And I was wrong because this photo shows that I had no soap dish, but I did have the holder. And then in 20121, my antique soap dish or my vintage soap dish is here with the soap holder under it. And notice the soap in this photo.

[00:17:46]It's a scent that I use, Ben uses. I have it in the guest bathroom. It is so light and fresh. It just smells I can't say it's like the soap Irish spring even though it's that color, but it is light like that. It's almost very grass-like without being too grass-like.

[00:18:07]And I absolutely love this. And I did finally find the person who makes this.

[00:18:14]I bought a bunch of this. I'm going to list it on the store. I'm just now loading it up. it hasn't got to me yet.

[00:18:20]So, if you hit that notify me link, even though it says sold out, that doesn't obligate anybody to buy something, but it will get you an email that says, "Hey, it's in stock if you want to take a look at consider buying it." This soap, I tell you, it's I love it. I love it. And it is unisex and it's just soft and fresh and it does stay on the skin.

[00:18:43]The scent just really stays with you.

[00:18:46]And oh, I'm just very excited. But that was a long segue. So, this is one of my antiques and I'm going to try to link these below. I bought this years ago and I bought another a year ago and that's in the shower. But this this is my pride and joy. I went out looking for this.

[00:19:07]This is an antique toothbrush holder or razor holder. And I was looking for something to hold the ugly razors by the bathtub because, you know, I have all my pretties there on a shelf. And I'm going to show you a little bit later how I set it up just to enjoy visually and have everything at the ready. And I had this ugly razor next to me. I first thought, okay, well, if I don't find this, maybe I could find a pretty butter dish. They should be long enough for that. But I did find this when I was out antique shopping. This was $45 and I was just like, do I want to spend that much?

[00:19:46]Well, I don't see them all the time. And if you look online, they're around 75, 100 or more, depending on the maker and the age. Now, this doesn't have a maker mark that I can see. Actually, very lightly. There is I'm going to say maybe it's so hard to see. maybe two M's with a little something in between.

[00:20:13]It could even just be lines from when it was made, but it has a just a really pretty look. And so this is a pretty brown transfer wear. And the find the fact that I found it in brown was even more exciting. So I have my two transfer wear pieces in the bathroom when I'm enjoying a soak and I can see those pretties. So, other things I like to do, and I pulled all this together in the bathroom, and I've shared this before. A lot of these I've shared before in the past, especially at Graten when I was redoing that bathroom. I have my vintage little glass and cup holder here. You can use it for bedside, of course, for your water and for a guest.

[00:20:55]I like to put mine in the bathroom with my mouthwash, and it's right there at the ready, and it's really pretty. So you could use this for mouthwash, a little pampering in the pretty glass.

[00:21:07]Also have these little containers. I just love these little glass stoppers that they have. How cute are these for bath oils and all you would do is you can purchase bath oil out and about. You might have your own favorite line or you can make your own bath oils. And I'm going to link a um a recipe below. It has hoba oil in it, coconut oil. It has uh your fragrances. Uh what else? Sweet almond oil. So, you can make your own oils and I love that. So, can use these for bath salts. I have some of these glass top containers in the bathroom right now. I have some sugar scrubs that are made like with a thick coconut oil and some other shea butter and sugars.

[00:21:59]Those I bought, but also I might share with you how to make those. I did find the recipe. And I have those in a jar just like this. And I like to pour one out. And you can just use it scrubbing your arms, your legs, your feet. It really is nice. But in a jar like this, it's extra pretty. And just be careful with the glass, of course, in the bathroom. That's a given because your hands could be a little slippery depending on the product. Now, speaking of scrubs, another thing that I'm going to do right now that I have not done, I have these bath scrubs. I have several.

[00:22:36]I've got more of these coming in. This is made by a local company. This particular one that I've been using has, let me see, this is coconut, cardamom, and vanilla. I don't smell the cardamom that much, but it is so relaxing. And if you're not somebody who takes baths, it's also really really nice for foot scrub and you just want to make sure that when you're taking a bath, you know, make sure it's a little when you it could be a little slippery when you get out. But what I have here, this is a face cream jar or maybe a perfume jar of my grandmother's. It has an H on the top for her name, Hattie. And it has a little plastic insert. So, I'm not sure of the age of this. 60s7s maybe. But I'm going to put my scrub inside here. So, that I'm looking at this pretty container. I had it in our bedroom on a shelf in my in my cabinet where I could see it, but I'm like, why not have it next to me in the bathroom? So, I'm just going to scoop out some of this delicious smelling scrub. Let me tell you, knowing that this has some coconut and vanilla in here with sugar, it's it's almost it's almost edible. It's not edible, but it smells like it should be.

[00:24:01]And I'm just going to pack this in here.

[00:24:04]And then I'm going to keep this little wooden spoon close by. I might even put it inside my little toothbrush razor holder there.

[00:24:16]Now, once again, I have more of these coming in. This is uh a company I do like to work with. We've used a lot of their products in the past in some of our our boxes, but um they're not in yet. But once again, there'll be a notify me button.

[00:24:45]After I do this, I will show all of this set up in the bathroom.

[00:24:51]And it's just makes that whole little moment a little extra special. So there I have some bath scrub in a pretty container.

[00:25:05]And like I said, I will just keep that spoon handy. You could use your fingers or you could have a little spoon close by. Might even want to use like a little sterling spoon.

[00:25:16]Another thing is I think I'm going to need a funnel here.

[00:25:21]Another really pampering thing is bath salts. Bath salts are very easy to make.

[00:25:28]I have shared this also in Groten when I was using Epsom salts and some essential oils and you can add some other things like this has quite a few other products. This is the same local company. This one is honey. And I don't know what other scents are in there. It smells like there's something else. But, um, I'm going to put this into Is this got a large enough opening?

[00:25:53]It does. I'm going to put this bath salt into this container. Or maybe do I want to put it in one of H.

[00:26:03]See, this is the fun. You can do whatever you want. But I think I'm going to put it in this container here.

[00:26:11]Just use a little funnel.

[00:26:23]This container is a little bit big, but the thing is if you make your own, you can make as much as you need.

[00:26:31]Since I've already had this in the bathroom, there's a little bit of moisture got in.

[00:26:38]So, and you can make this with some Himalayan salt. You can make this with Epsom salts added in. Oh, see that's such a small amount. Do I have a smaller container? I don't know. Well, that's okay. We're going to we're going to go with this. And what I'll do is add some more Epsom salts and a little more scent. I can add maybe some coconut oil to that. Some fragrant coconut oil. So, this also is going to go in the bathroom on my little shelf that I have, and I'm looking for a different shelf, but what I'm using right now works out great.

[00:27:19]So, this item here I have had since childhood, and this came from the dump at my childhood home. I've been digging my whole life, and that's why I love digging so much here at Sugarwood, the things that we're finding. But this was a beautiful find. It is a cut crystal jar with a silver cap and it has holes in it. So I envision this was used for some pretty powders for a woman. And this also Oh, there is a marking here I have never seen before. I'm going to have to look at that with a magnifying glass. I have I don't think I've ever seen that before. Maybe in an old video it will that I'll say that I did, but I'm going to have to look. I think it says actually sterling. So, going back.

[00:28:09]So, this could be used. I could put some powder in here or something. And I've had this, like I said, since childhood.

[00:28:15]And it just looks really pretty with some of the other bath products, but I have not filled that with powder. This is a find that I got a long time ago once again at Groten. And I could put in here just even some air fragrance if I wanted to. I could create my own perfume. And you can buy perfume alcohol on Amazon and add your own essential oils to it. And if you find an atomizer, you can use it on yourself or you can even use it as just like an air center.

[00:28:48]So, I love having this little pretty item. And I have had perfume in that before that I've made. Right now, it's completely empty. And that has a little cut crystal in there also. So, I don't know the age of that.

[00:29:03]This is something I had fun with. Now, I have read diffusers, as many of you know, on the store, and I started thinking, what can I do with some of my antique inkwells? And I ended up making a reed diffuser out of one of the ink wells. My sticks are too short because because they are. And this is a scent that I've been working on and I absolutely love it. It's more for fall, but I ended up finding these larger new bottles that look very much like an ink wheel. And I'm going to be creating some red diffusers to sell, but I thought I would create one with the lilac. So, I have that in the bathroom as well. So, when I go into the bathroom, I'll smell the lilac from here. And when I'm taking the shower, I can use one of my shower steamers and it will be my way of saying thank you. Spring is finally here. And the lilac trees I mentioned are just with their green leaves. So, we're going to do that. But I love that. I just love how it looks like an inkwell. So, that's something that I'm working on. I'm going to test out the lilac. I just need some time for the the fragrance to go up through the sticks and that takes a couple days to get saturated, but we'll see. That's something I'm working on.

[00:30:26]And then another find, I've shared this in the past that I found out and about.

[00:30:31]Same thing with soaps. You could always get something to put there, maybe a little wood trivet or something or this particular item, and then you could have some soap on that just for a little shine.

[00:30:46]So, I realized something recently about myself is I try to morph my likes and dislikes with the property that I'm in. And I have tried to do some things here at Sugarwood that it didn't like and then I tried to do some things that I thought I would like that did look good here at the house. Such as my look for say teapot. I love it. I've only had it for about a year, but I realized something. I like my stainless steel. So, I ended up I'm gonna be right back.

[00:31:27]I ended up just buying this on Amazon.

[00:31:30]It has a little detail here. I miss my stainless. I love all the little shinies with the iron stone and just a little bit of crystal. I'm not big on a lot of glass, but just enough. And that's one of the things I was missing here in this house. I had a lot of it in Groten. I had my stainless, I had my ironstone, I had my glass, and it made me happy. And I realized here I was trying to be more rustic and colonial. And it just wasn't me. So needless to say, I'm going to be cleaning up this Lacrosse teapot kettle, and I will probably put that on the New England Stock Exchange. And I'm loading up a lot of antiques right now that I have from my own collection and things that my daughter and I have been finding out and about. And I've got another thing I'm going to show you just a moment.

[00:32:26]Like so I have to finish buffing this.

[00:32:29]But this will be one of those items on the shop. I'm going to be putting up some of my iron stone because I love collecting iron stone. I have a lot.

[00:32:39]Some is true vintage and antique irinstone, some is just vintage stone wear or some new stone wear. And we're going to be loading things up here and there. Peter items and just a little bit of this and that things that are reminiscent to what you might find in an old New England home.

[00:33:02]So, this is going to need a good buffing, but it really is coming out beautiful. Once again, there's some areas that I left the patina.

[00:33:11]So, this is one of those things, a little fine living. If you're having the ladies over and you want to serve some lemonade, let me grab a glass. Let me just show you. Let's see here.

[00:33:25]So, this piece takes a a smaller base.

[00:33:28]This is too small. But can you imagine having your friends over and wanting to serve a tea or a coffee or even just a bit of lemonade and pouring it out? So, I just I just love that piece. I saw it and I just got goosebumps pouring it.

[00:33:44]How many people have poured this?

[00:33:47]I love that. Goosebumps.

[00:33:57]So, this was my little fun project for the day. Um, putting some things together for pampering and in the bathroom. And I'm going to mention some of the recipes below. I while I was filming, I forgot to show this as well.

[00:34:12]Now, I used to have this in near the bathtub. it would have clippers and things like that in it. But now I keep it by the sink and I put rings in there once um cleaning something or just tucking them in there. It could go for a good polish, but I kind of like the patina.

[00:34:37]Well, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I am inside the excavator.

[00:34:43]My contractor just left. He gave me a quick overrun of how to use it and my job for the weekend is moving this pile of dirt into this trench and then I will start to play moving rocks. Now, the point of this is to see if I want a smaller one to rent. We're looking at some sort of tractor for the house, but I grew up on a tractor and this is so fun for me. But oh my gosh, there's levers and levers and a lot to learn.

[00:35:19]All right, so I have to go back and forth with two different hands to learn this or to do this. So let's see if I get this. We're going to open it up and that's closed. All right, so open it up and then I'm going to come down. I have to change my hands. Now I'm going to come down.

[00:35:41]Aha. Now I got to change my hands again.

[00:35:44]and scoop.

[00:35:52]And then let's see here.

[00:35:57]And then lift.

[00:36:08]This is so cool, guys.

[00:36:11]I'm going to go way over here and drop it.

[00:36:19]And oh, the power I feel right now.

[00:36:32]And I'm going to go back to my pile.

[00:36:46]So, a guy comes home from work one day and this is what he finds. Contractor's gone for the day.

[00:36:57]Linda figured out how to work the excavator.

[00:37:02]God knows what's going to change over the weekend.

[00:37:09]I give her two hours and she'll be amazing at this.

[00:37:44]Why do I think I'm buying another toy?

[00:37:55]Some guys buy their wife a piece of jewelry.

[00:38:00]Nope, not Linda.

[00:38:04]She's going to want an excavator.

[00:38:08]So, I got home 2 hours ago.

[00:38:14]I think I may never see her again.

[00:38:33]I wanted to show you this picture. I actually had a design intern when she worked for me at one of my offices use this as inspiration for school. And I've held on to this for I don't know how many years. But I had a bottle that was very similar that I used here in the bathroom. I have to fill it again with some more bath salts. But I thought I would show you all the pieces in the bathroom now.

[00:39:14]Well, I technically just picked up my very first rock to start building the stone wall over. A little by little, I'm learning.

[00:39:25]And this one was hard. There was a tree right behind it, but I maneuvered it.

[00:40:02]Well, I hope you enjoyed today's video.

[00:40:04]And if you are the kindred spirit who mentioned if we sold shower steamers, thank you for that little spark of inspiration. That's why I started this video today. So, you sent that email maybe last month. This is something that I've been wanting to do since then. And I love the fact that we can make our own shower steamers, our own bath oils, our own bath salts, our own sugar scrubs.

[00:40:31]And even if you don't want to make them, you can get them out and about. You can get them through our online store for some of the items. And then you might have some of these beautiful vessels in your own home. Or if you love thrifting and going out antique shopping like I do, you can have something in mind of what you're looking for. And instead of looking at this as a possible oil or vinegar or couette, you can say that would be beautiful with some bath oil in it. Well, that's it for today. Thank you for joining me and I will see you next week. Bye now.