That price is about right--at least that is what the single crystals sold for in the antique/collectibles store where I worked. If they had smaller crystals attached, then they were higher. In the back of most decorating magazines, there's always an ad for a place called Spectrum (I think the name was different in my latest mag but I can't find it now) and they have different shapes and sizes and even colors from .30 cents and up. Of course, theirs are new ones. Their websit e is www.freedomcrystal.com if you want to look. Oddie, are your's the teardrop shape or the long icesikle shape? I just know you could use them in something really pretty. Luvs

Crusers, I know exactly what you are going through... this time last year we were just starting the plans for our pool and we agonized quite a bit over plaster. We ended up going with ocean blue PS and absolutely have no regrets. All of the blue colors are nice (tahoe, prism, etc) but once our sales rep showed us the OB in a completed pool, we were sold. In the shallow section, over our sun bench, it is a grey color. It has a shell mixed with it that really glistens in the sun. The only thing I could suggest (just personal color pref here) is maybe different lighting than what we used. We went with just one 500w incandescent light and the OB PS looks quite green at night with the light on. We like the color in the sunlight so much that if we did over again, we would still go with the same color PS, just different lighting choice. Now the surface... this is probably the biggest debate here, but to us, the PS is very smooth. Hard to describe really... but if you take your hand and run across traditional plaster you'll get a response similar to fine grit sandpaper. Nothing like that with PS... it is bumpy (about like the surface of a basketball) but smooth. There are a couple of sections on the edges of steps that are a bit more "jagged" than others, but even those sections feel about like regular plaster. We have spent a LOT of time at once in this pool and it is very easy on the feet. You won't be disappointed.

are you hanging new doors on old boxes? (maybe I am thinking of another poster) if so, I think conestoga's standard paint finish will be fine. I did exactly that in my kitchen, and am SO impressed with the finish on the doors. (though-- I haven't compared it to barker's, or to conestoga's prism finish. I'm just saying that conestoga's standard painted finish is excellent.) I had BM mix up a color-matched gallon of their Advance paint, and I used that on the boxes and frames. It's not an exact match to the conestoga doors, but it's very very close. And I figured that, if the paint wasn't good enough (either in match or in durability), I could always use conestoga's refacing supplies to get a perfect match. But the paint was acceptable, so I stuck with that. I can't speak to the difference in conestoga's whites (I was looking at their greys), but if I recall correctly, they offer two or three different white colors in that standard line. Surely one of those would work for you.

Thanks for checking in, Mtn.. the distance glasses are working out great. The near glasses are still a struggle. I think the physics of near vision are a challenge and I may need a stronger prism (or to put it all on one eye instead of splitting it across eyes). The biggest issue is really the reality of "near" and far glasses. The near glasses have a very small range. They barely work for my office computer and really only for one of my two monitors. I have moved them all over my desk and still can't get it to work with both without moving my chair when I want to use the second screen. Also, there's a pretty large range that isn't corrected between the two glasses-- from about 2 ft to 20 ft. I can see, but I can't really read in that range. It makes things like grocery shopping difficult... or looking at someone else's computer over their shoulder. These are small things you'd take for granted.. or, well, I did. I *am* seeing slow but steady improvement in my depth perception. This is huge. It's another thing we/I take for granted so when I lost it, it was shocking.. but now as it's returning, I am again taking it for granted (which I think is a good sign). I will do a something and then do a double-take and say to myself, "I'd have had problems with this 6 months ago". My hope now is to try to move to a moderate range progressive in the new year. I have a recommendation for a new dr who specializes in these kinds of problems. My current dr was great because he got me over the initial challenge of addressing my eye but he's not so good with finer challenge of tailoring my lenses to the way I live and work. All in all, it's still been a great experience-- I've seen huge improvements. I just didn't expect the challenges to get the right combination of prescriptions. It would have been a LOT easier had my eye gone bad before I reached the age where I needed reading glasses. Thanks for asking!