Berry Homespun Primitives

Sweet Goodies

2012-02-07T01:15:00.000-06:00

Precious... you are!! Your kind, sweet words and encouragement have meant more to me than I could ever tell you! Thank you from the very depths of my heart!

While I'm thanking you... I also want to thank our sweet friend Linda over at Parker's Paradise for this wonderful package that arrived in my mailbox a few weeks back! I adored these sheep that she made and blogged about, but I knew there was no way that I could make them as good as our Linda and boy was I ever surprised and thankful to receive one!! He is so sweet on my year round tree!

Linda's little tucks are SO adorable too!

Thank you dearly, my sweet friend for your big heart and generosity!

Another wonderful package that arrived just today was an order that I placed from Lois over at Huckleberry Lady. Lois recently had a giveaway for her adorable X's and O's. I acquired if she had any left because I had to have them to put under my Valentine's tree. One set left, YAY for me! Aren't these just so sweet?

They are perfect sitting in an old metal strainer (that is sitting in an old wooden Carnation crate) under my year round tree covered in hearts. The X's and O's really add a touch of sweetness!

Oh... there was also a nice little surprise of a Twix candy bar that was quickly stashed in my purse to enjoy at the basketball game tonight. I pulled it out at the game and started munching away. Rich looked at me and said "Where did that come from??" I just smiled. =] So thank you Lois for the extra little treat, I did enjoy it!

Gonna spend the week cleaning, purging, and organizing my son's room and prepping it for paint. Hope to sneak in some crafting somewhere along the way. I have a few quilt block sawdust pillows ready to list on Etsy. I love the old look and feel of them, definitely reminds me of days past.

I'm so thankful that God's mercies are new everyday. I'm thankful for the valleys He has us walk through to strengthen us and build our character. I'm thankful for the precious friends and family that he puts along our path through the valley to lift us up and encourage us on our journey. My family has truly felt your prayers concerning our son and his school. I'm not completely happy with the outcome of our situation but I know that this is the best route for all. Things could have been much worse so I'm thankful that Rich and I stood up to the school officials and administration to let them know that we will not sit back and watch injustice. We fought and won some, but not all. Short term, it is a small victory but I know long term that they will remember that we are very involved in our children's lives and we do watch out for their well-being.

Again, I can not thank you enough for being there for me and being such a strong supporter and prayer warrior for us! I truly love you each and every one! =]

Situation Re-Cap and His Word

2012-02-01T01:02:00.000-06:00

My dear friends, I can not even begin to express to you how much you have touched my heart these past five days! Within just a few minutes of my last post, you were right there offering me support, encouragement, and best of all your prayers. As I read through each comment that you all made, the outpouring of love was so strong, so deep, and so sincere that I just sat there and bawled like a baby! You have never even met me, yet you care enough about me and my family to let me know that you are there for us, lifting us up in intercessory prayer. I appreciate and love each and every one of you that have thought of us or prayed for us these past days. I can tell you that your prayers have given me the strength and the courage to be strong. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

We are still in the thick of this situation. I talked to a lawyer today. I also wrote up a written appeal to the school and we have our committee hearing on Thursday morning. Right now I take one day at a time, one phone call at a time, one conversation at a time.

One neat thing that I want to share with you is how God is showing me so much of Himself throughout this whole ordeal... Monday morning was the day that my son and I went to visit with the high school principal so I spent Sunday evening in prayer and reading His Word. I told you already how I am extremely emotional and very non-confrontational to the extent that I break out in hives and redness on my neck and face, throbbing temples, and have even experienced dizzy spells, all within minutes of being confronted. I just don't like to debate issues (which explains why I failed Speech & Debate in high school, ha). I went to His Word and was reading Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God". So I shut my Bible right there and just poured out my heart to God. He already knew my issues, He created me. I ~~asked~~ begged him to guard my heart, my emotions, to speak through me and not let my mind worry or fear. After praying for some time, I opened my Bible back up and went on to read Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"! I was SOOO excited!! He confirmed right then and there that He was indeed in control of the whole situation. I have read this passage many times in my lifetime but in this one certain situation, this verse had a whole new meaning to me! Such sweetness! =]

Our meeting with the principal was very direct and swift. We weren't getting anywhere so I informed him that our only option was to obtain a lawyer. Within 20 minutes of leaving our meeting, he left me a phone message that said Ryan could come back to school but he would be placed in In-House Suspension. I called him back and thanked him for that option, but declined in that it would still present my son as guilty. So now we sit and wait until our committee meeting on Thursday. In the meantime, Ryan is allowed back to school as a regular student. Which I don't understand but who understands school politics? I give God ALL the glory for getting me through these past few days, for restraining my tongue, and speaking wisdom through me (Rich can attest that is definitely from God, haha)

So there you have it. I thank you all that continue to send emails and messages that you are still praying and will continue until this situation is resolved. Again, I can't express how much that touches my heart. Please pray for our meeting on Thursday. All we want is justice.

Now... on to some fun stuff! I am so very excited, I am attending a crafter's retreat this weekend, YAY!! All day Friday and Saturday, and almost all of Sunday. This time away from home could not have come at a better time... another way that God is showing me His Grace! We will be at Camp Egan, which is surrounded by the beautiful Ozark Mountains. If only we could get snowed in there, lol! Old friends and new friends, such a great time! Oddly enough, I plan to scrapbook Ryan's school years and catch up to present year. I'm also taking my recipe scrapbook and some stitching to work on. It's gonna be a superb time, I can tell already! =] This is a present for my mom that is almost finished. I need to complete the border and then add each grandchild's name under the hearts. I plan to finish this at the retreat.

I thank you if you lasted until the end of this post, lol. I know lots of words and not many pictures is not fun. It's been quite a few months of heartache and tribulation. Definitely not much fun happening at the Berry Homespun Primitive blog. But... my God is a loving God and a gracious God who wants to give us the desires of our hearts.

I plan to be back to creating and crafting as soon as I get back from the retreat. I have lots of projects that are patiently waiting for me.

Thank you one more time, my dear, sweet friends. You mean so much to me and I thank God for our friendship. Have a delightful week~

Prayer Warrior Friends... I Need You!!

2012-01-27T12:34:00.000-06:00

My prayer warrior friends, I really need you right now. I have never posted anything negative or personal on my blog, but I have an issue that I need prayers for. I KNOW that my God has this under control and I KNOW that His will for this situation will be done. I need prayers for strength, for courage, for wisdom.

Without going into details, there was a situation yesterday at my oldest son's high school where he was involved. The school never contacted us about it, he told me about it when I picked him up from school. We did not think it was a serious issue. But this morning, it became serious and legal. We are contacting a lawyer and I'm going to bat for my son. Rich asked me to what extent do we want to fight this? I told him that I don't want to lose my home over it but there is an injustice to my child going on and I refuse to sit by and let it happen.

I will be back next week with more details and hopefully a resolve on this situation. I think the school thinks that we are going to accept it and move on, but this Momma bear will make sure her child is vindicated.

I am a very emotional person that too many times, lets my emotions get in the way and I'm also very NON-confrontational. So please pray that I can be firm, have the courage to say what needs to be said and not let my emotions interfere.

Thank you dearly, friends! I appreciate you and your prayers so much! Sorry I don't have anything fun or prim, or pictures today, just a heavy heart.

Yesterday Once More's Anniversary Giveaway!

2012-01-17T00:29:00.002-06:00

Be sure to hop on over to the blog of our senior writer for A Primitive Place magazine for a wonderful giveaway! Dan Weaver of ~Yesterday Once More~ is hosting an awesome giveaway of a year subscription to our beloved A Primitive Place magazine!!

The deadline to enter is Monday, January 23, 2012 so get on over there and enter! Or not... and give me a better chance of winning. LOL! Just kidding!! I want everyone to know about this wonderful magazine... primitive goodness abounds!! I so look forward to every issue and still pour over past issues. The crew has done an outstanding job and I thank them all for giving us an exceptional quality primitive magazine!

Oh, and one more thing. I just love following the blogs of Dan, Linda, Kimberlee, Kris, and others. I think of them as friends and with every issue that comes out, I enjoy seeing what my "friends" have been up to. The great writing, beautiful styling and pictures, awesome project tutorials... I appreciate the time and energy they put into each page.

So if you haven't heard about this amazing magazine yet, what are you waiting on?! Get on over to Dan's blog and try to win a subscription. If you don't, then you must buy one. Dan has the details on his blog sidebar.

Enjoy your week~

Blessings to you from Berry Homespun Primitives~

Antiquing in Wagoner

2012-01-12T12:03:00.000-06:00

Chilly here today, our coldest day of the winter so far. We even have an inch of snow on the ground from last night, our first of the season. A fire is steadily going in the fireplace, heating up the home. I set up a little table by the fire with my sewing machine so I can spend the week making some more of these...

I appreciate all the advice and tips I received from so many of you. I think my little sawdust quilt pillow turned out cute. I still need to hand stitch the opening where I stuffed it with a sawdust pillow, you can see it on the left in the picture above. I found a way to make it work and it truly is something that the pioneers would do... I'll be back later with details on how I did it.

My friend Katie and I went to an antique mall in Wagoner, a town where we had not been antiquing yet. I found this mini strainer for $2. It's only about 3" and so darn cute! I have never seen one so small.

What would one use such a little piece for? To strain into a mason jar? It really looks tiny with the rest of my strainer/sifter collection.

I was so excited to find this awesome slaw cutter at a great price! I have been looking at them all year long but the prices have been more than I want to pay. I haven't found any that are hinged like this. We found 3 hinged slaw cutters in that one little mall!

It had a $20 price tag, marked down to $10!! So I grabbed it! I just LOVE old wood patina.

This lovely (not!) sewing basket was marked down to $2.50. I'm not into dragons, especially ones that are falling apart...

But... the inside of this sewing basket is a beautiful worn blue velour fabric and looks much better displayed like this...

The jar of antique buttons was part of a Christmas gift from my niece (we draw names). I love the little size of it, so cute!

I'll be back soon with a post about RAK's: Random Acts of Kindness. =]

Time for me to get hopping. My middle school daughter has a basketball game in a town 1 hour away!! =/ That's not even round trip. It's gonna take us a good solid hour driving on the interstate with a speed limit of 75 to get there. Yuck!! That's all I have to say about that. But I will do anything for my baby girl so it's time to get the cupcakes baking. I bake treats for the team for them to have after every game. Just a little something to show that we love them and support them.

I hope you all are staying warm and cozy inside your homes during this winter storm blast we had last night. I noticed on the radar that it started way down in Oklahoma with us and went straight north all the way to Canada, it was a huge stretch as it swept across the US. My first thought was of you, all my blogging friends... hoping you were safe and warm in your homes. Bundle up girls~

Quilt squares

2012-01-04T18:35:00.001-06:00

Hi friends! I'm glad to be back amongst you all again! Rich had his Christmas break planned out with some things he wanted to get done. That was fine and dandy with me because I told him I had a plan too... catch up on my blog reading. So I spent the past two weeks reading about 500 posts and catching up with you all. I have never, ever seen my Google Reader so bare! Now I enjoy blogging again. =]

Before I get into what this post is about, I just want to say that you all have turned into some of my most treasured and loyal friends. I appreciate you and love you all! I'm thankful that I can come here happy and you are happy with me, sad and you are sad for me, asking for prayer and you are there. THANK YOU for being that kind of friend to me these past couple of years. What a joy and a blessing it is to share life with you all!

Now that the sappy stuff is outta the way, let's get down to quilting, hehe. I am not a quilter. But my friend Katie over at Willow Creek Homestead and I went to an outside sale that her dad was having. Katie's dad holds these sales for charity. All the money is donated to wildfire victims in his area. We had an outburst of wildfires last year and many lost their homes. Jim was blessed to not lose anything although the fires came up to his place and burned most of his land. Now he is helping his neighbors that lost everything. One of the things that we picked up was a huge box of quilt pieces and squares. We sat down and went through it piece by piece, splitting the whole box. Here is my stash:

Even splitting it up, I ended up with almost 70 squares of various sizes plus 2 full quilt tops!

My favorite are these smaller 7.5" squares that are going to make some adorable little pillows. One of Rich's buddy at work is bringing him a bag of sawdust for me tonight, yippee!

Just look at this stack!

There were about 4 different sizes of squares, lots of blues.

These are the 2 full quilt tops. Not sure what I am going to do with these yet. I have a friend that has a long arm quilting machine so I'll probably be visiting her. =]

I'm not sure of the age but the squares are definitely hand stitched and made out of old clothes. You can tell that most of them were made from men's shirts.

Oh, and I forgot to count how many diamonds there were because I already had them in the sink getting a bath.

Now I'm asking advice from you. I probably did this wrong so PLEASE correct me if I did. I'll take all the critique and advice you want to give. =] To clean these pieces, I put them a sink of hot water with Dawn dish soap. I stirred it occasionally, soaking for an hour. Then I soaked them in hot water to rinse. That's what the above picture is from (you can even see the steam in some areas). They were very, very dingy. Then I'm going to put them in the dryer on delicate for a bit. I'm wondering if maybe they should be washed and rinsed in cold water? What do you all do? Please help! =/

Thanks for stopping in for a visit. I appreciate you coming by.

Have a delightful week~

Homemade Teacher Gifts

2011-12-21T17:21:00.000-06:00

I'll admit that it's been a rough time getting in the Christmas spirit and getting everything done. I always start in November so that I have plenty of time to enjoy and not stress. But the three family funerals that I attended last month put me way behind. I appreciate your prayers so very much! I know they helped me and my families cope with losing our loved ones.

The decorating is finally done as of today, four days before Christmas. I really don't like that because we don't have much time to enjoy. I was going to minimize this year but Rich said that he really likes to see the home decked out in holiday cheer... so it happened.

I have really enjoyed looking at your beautiful homes full of Christmas. It has honestly gotten me in the spirit and I thank each of you dearly for that, I needed it! =]

I thought I would share some homemade gifts that the kids and I worked on this past week. I made some Cinnamon Apple Jelly a couple weeks back. It is so delicious and so easy to make. I am not a jelly maker, but I can make this so anyone can do it! Here is the recipe link if you care to try it: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cinnamon-Apple-Jelly

A lovely idea that I gleaned from Pinterest: wrap a freshly baked loaf of bread in a coffee filter and tie it off. Of course I had to use baker's twine because I'm addicted to that stuff, haha. Quick, cheap, and cute!

The kid's five Sunday School teachers received a jar of Cinnamon Apple Jelly and 2 mini loaves of Brown Sugar-Oatmeal Bread that came from Gooseberry Patch's Gifts For Giving cookbook. They turned out to be cute little gifts.

Amariah has always had a giving heart. She wanted to gift each of her 7 school teachers, even the ones that she really doesn't care too much for, lol. So we made up some hot cocoa packets with candy canes, another Pinterest idea. I buy the big boxes of hot cocoa packets from Sam's so we already had that on hand.

Our teacher gift to the little guy's Kindergarten teacher was also a Pinterest idea. I like to give practical gifts. I know... no fun, right? But this is practical and FUN! I've had the paint can for awhile because I just had to have it, but haven't even used it so this was perfect. I wrapped it in some cute school scrapbook paper and added some matching stickers.

Of course Mrs. Baker's treat can had to have some fun treats! So we used a cute idea from yep... Pinterest. So quick and easy. I used the mini Creative Memories circle punch which was the perfect size for the bottom of the kiss. The gingerbread/heart theme will carry over to Valentine's Day so that worked out great.

Robbie signing his Christmas card to Mrs. Baker, with a back view of the treat can.

This was just a cute little idea that I saw on Pinterest. I bought a Jenga knock-off game at Dollar General for $3.50. We picked out some colorful scrapbook paper and some school theme paper then mod podged them on to one side of the blocks. Now the kids can build things with them or use them as a matching game because we made 2 of each design. Robbie really enjoyed this and played with it all weekend so I know that his classmates will enjoy it. Another practical gift...

Amongst the hustle and bustle that society has created around the birth of our Savior, my kids and I were able to have some fun creating and crafting gifts to present to their teachers. 13 gifts later and I am so thankful for the quality time we spent together, memories that were made, and all the $$ that I saved.

Now on to some cookie baking and candy making for 17 of Rich's co-workers... Chocolate Crackles, Snickerdoodles, and our favorite to make... Chocolate Stars!

I wish for you all to have a most delightful Christmas surrounded by loved ones with many wonderful memories being made! May you find time this joyous season to remember and celebrate Jesus Christ's birth. Hold on to His promises of a full life, an abundant life that only He can give you.

Merry Christmas~

Prayers Please

2011-11-25T10:20:00.000-06:00

I know some of you already have a home decked out for Christmas, but this fall loving girl...

My original plan was to take down the fall and put up the Christmas next week, the last week of November. But I'm not too sure that is going to happen now.

I'm asking you, my prayer warrior friends to please add my families to your prayers. Last Sunday, November 13, we traveled to Missouri for the funeral of my great-uncle Glen Johns. In my large family, we are a close knit group. Although this was my dad's uncle, we always called him Uncle Glen. As well with the other 10 siblings. Us kids never used the word "great", we just felt blessed to have so many aunts and uncles. Uncle Glen was so soft-spoken, such a kind man, and loved God with all his heart. He was my favorite out of the whole clan and I miss him so much.

My husband and the kids came on home that day while I stayed with my parents. The next morning, we headed up to Princeville, IL for the visitation and memorial service of my mom's brother, my Uncle Jim Smith. He ran off the road, rolled his truck, and it caught on fire. His body was 90% burned but thankfully he was gone before he even ran off the road, there were no tire marks whatsoever. He was a 22 year Navy veteran and was extremely active in all the veteran halls in the surrounding areas. I was amazed at the very long line at the visitation. My Aunt Marian said there were people there that she never even knew. For 2 1/2 hours, over 565 people came through to pay their last respects to our family. What an honor that was (and very emotional as well) to see the many veterans come through in their dress. It was so neat to see yet so hard at the same time.

Then I got the call last night that my great-aunt Susie Johns, my dad's aunt that has been in the hospital for several months, wasn't expected to make it through the night. I received the call this morning that Aunt Susie passed away last night. She was so full of laughter and spirit all the way up until her entrance to the hospital. A very loving soul who will be missed.

That's three deaths in our close knit family in two weeks. Please pray for the Goins', Smith's, and Johns' families for comfort. Our family has been known for its legacy of faith, love, and family. For that, I am extremely grateful and I know that God will help us through this time. Thank you for your prayers, dear friends!

At this thankful time of the year, I have been reminded this month that there is nothing more important than relationships. First and foremost, our relationship with our Heavenly Father. If you don't have this or don't understand, please contact me, I would love to share how my Savior is always there for me and loves me unconditionally. Second, is our relationships with our family members. Yes, there are some members that occasionally drive us crazy (or more often than that!) but be thankful for them, try to mend those broken ties because you never know when the last minute will come. Lastly, thank you my dear blog friends that have been with me these past few years for many laughs, and cries. I may never meet any of you in person, but you are all dear to my heart and mean so much to me. Thank you for being a part of my life!! Love to you all~

Fall Decorating

2011-11-09T11:57:00.000-06:00

I just realized I never came back with a picture of my $15 steal of a deal in this old sewing machine. All I did was sweep it down real well to get all the dirt and webs off of it. I have decided that since I still have a young one at home that likes to play with interesting things, that I would display it with the machine down in the cabinet. I really want to show off the machine but I know my little guy won't be able to keep his hands off of it... me either for that fact, lol! It's fun to turn the handle and watch it work.

The top of this sewing cabinet is the perfect place for some family Bibles, along with some old family books. Doesn't the sweet stitchery from our dear friend Linda over at Parker's Paradise look wonderful just above the sewing cabinet?? It's like Linda knew exactly what would look great in my home, I still love it so much Linda! Thank you again, sweet friend!

The old glasses on top of the family Bibles belonged to my great-uncle Oscar. I bought a box lot at a garage sale for super cheap and there were two itty bitty extremely dusty oil lamps inside. They cleaned up quite nicely, I was honestly surprised.

I bought these little squirrels a few years back when I was working at Hobby Lobby. I do miss working there this time of year when all the fall is out. I brought fall decor home each week, hehe!

This little display is on top of the entertainment center in the family room. The ceramic bear is the very first holiday piece I ever bought for my home back in the late 80's and I just can't seem to part with him. He's such a jolly little guy. House of Lloyd, the home party... anyone remember them? My family loved them and had lots of parties. Back then, we had these potpourri pots instead of tart warmers. You put a tea light in his belly (which is why he has a heart hole). Inside his head is where you put potpourri with a little water, then his hat had air holes in the top. Thankfully sometime shortly after that, people started using wax tarts instead of the potpourri because it would get pretty nasty if you let it set a couple of days. My grandma and granddad's wedding picture is in the background. Oh, and yes... I realize that one candle is way too tall. I have a replacement patiently waiting to be waxed. Should have done that before I took this picture, haha.

I have lots of teddies in my family room because I use to collect them years ago. They still mean warmth and comfort to me. This sweet teddy bear is sitting on a little stool with the state outline of Oklahoma carved in the top that my husband made many years ago in scouts. So we know it's an antique, hehe!

A quick shot of part of the mantel. My main project this winter is to organize all photo frames and family pictures.

Just a little pot with berries in the Living Room in the Amish corner.

In the main bath, I keep a sewing drawer that belonged to my great-grandma. I have fun changing it out with the holidays.

Isn't this little blue vase just precious? My dear friend Katie over at Willow Creek Homestead brought this back to me from a family vacation they took to San Antonio, TX. It came from The Guenther House. From the website, it looks like a really neat place.

Maybe I can get it together soon and get pictures of the rest of my fall decorating. You all will be showing your Christmas and I'll still be in fall, lol! Oh well, I would leave my fall up all year long if my family would let me... dang family anyway.

Don't you just love receiving packages in the mail, especially when they are a total surprise?!? My dear Facebook friend Micki Groom Creamer sent me a message that she was sending me something only I didn't see the message! When I opened my mailbox and there was this huge package crammed inside, I was shocked. Micki knows I love old sewing notions and has sent me some in the past that are displayed in my vintage sewing bathroom and laundry room (which is right beside the bathroom). What a sweet, sweet thing for her to do, look at all this fun stuff!!

There is old bias tape for 10 and 25 cents, love that! The old DMC and Coats labels on the floss, some say 12 cents. Those will definitely be used in decorating, love those old labels! A couple of cute patterns, a Christmas potholder & oven mitt panel, a beautiful quilt block that was started and never finished. I was wondering what I could do with the adorable Americana fabric and Micki sent me pictures of pillow tucks she made out of it... CUTE!

Just in time for Christmas giving, there was a 'Cookies to Give in a Jar' kit complete with twine, jar toppers, and labels. Perfect! But my most favorite thing of all has to be the 1938 Singer instruction book!! What a real sweetheart my friend Micki is! She has a fun and wonderful open group Christmas page on Facebook that you really should join: MAKE MINE A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS.

I gotta end this post with a picture of my little guy. I was out taking fall foliage pictures again and he wanted me to take a picture of him as he was dancing and singing in the leaves... so sweet.

I suppose that's enough rambling for one post. I appreciate you all giving my friend Katie from Willow Creek Homestead a wonderfully prim welcome. She was overwhelmed at the response and I was too! You all are so dear and precious to me! Thank you for your friendship! =]

Have a wonderfully blessed week~

New Blog Friend!

2011-11-01T14:41:00.001-05:00

Hey, all my good prim friends... I want to introduce you to one of my bestest friends that lives here in the state of Oklahoma with me, right down the road. Katie Harris started her new blog Willow Creek Homestead today!! Katie and I have spent a lot of time together this year antiquing and crafting. We have picked up some awesome deals together. I've been bugging her all year long about getting a blog so she can be addicted right along with me, hehe! Katie started a primitive transformation on her home this year and it looks awesome! We'll have to get her to post some pictures for us. =]

I'll be honest... I was always envious of you that have a prim blog friend to hang out with all the time and so wished I had one, well now I do and I am SUPER excited!! So please go on over and give Katie a wonderfully warm prim welcome. I know she will fall in love with all your wonderful, creative blogs and be touched by your sweetness like I have been the past few years. Thanks friends!

I also want to thank each and every one of you that gave me such wonderful advice on my waxed icicles! I have finally decided how to tie 'em up and package 'em. I'll share that in a future post when they are ready. I was hoping to have them ready by now but family first... October was full of football! Three games a week! Not to mention football practices 4 days a week after school.. basketball practices 5 days a week before school.. cheerleading practice 2 days a week after school.. both my boy's birthdays.. plus 3 birthday parties we attended.. trip to the pumpkin patch of course.. overnight guests of my parents (twice in a month to watch the kids' games), friends in a Christian band, my sister and her friend.. checking account was compromised with someone writing fake checks so we had to close out our acct and start a new one, still dealing with that yucky mess.. four concerts that my husband's Christian rock band played in.. ending in Halloween.. Oh, and the total 64.5 doz homemade cookies I made for the month for the JV and Varsity football players to have at every single game, and 48 cupcakes for the middle school cheerleaders (I decided this late in the season so the girls didn't get as many as the boys)..... all of this in the month of October! Whew! No wonder I'm so tired! I was beginning to think that I needed a trip to the dr because my vitamins weren't cutting it but I can see I've just been on the run all month. Anyway, hope to be back with you soon. I have some great steals that I acquired at some sales that I want to share.

Can't have a post without pictures but all I have for now is a little fall foliage around my home. I'm blessed to live close enough to town for when I need something, yet far enough out to feel like I'm in the country.

Looking down our driveway... we still have lots of green!

Coming out of our driveway, going down the little country road that I love to see in every season...

A real beauty in our backyard

Our pond can even be pretty at times

Our family friendly Oak tree in the backyard that houses the treehouse and the horse tire swing as it gives shade to the playset and swimming pool. I adore this massive Oak and marvel at it continually no matter how long I've lived here and see it daily.

Some pretty color in our front yard

To end this post, a couple of views of my next door neighbors

I am so blessed to be living in such a beautiful place. Sadly, I have to see pictures like this to remind me because I see it every day and sometimes take it for granted. So thankful for God's blessings on this homeplace! Also so thankful for the friendships I've made with you, you are a big part of my life and I treasure you all!!

Don't forget to stop in and welcome Katie at Willow Creek Homestead!

Have a delightful first week of November ~

Waxing Icicles

2011-09-29T12:41:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon prim friends! If you've been following me this past year then you know that I have an addiction with wax. I just can't help it! It's so messy and so much fun to take something and transform it into a new look. It honestly reminds me of back in the day when I would play in the mud and make mud pies, lol. I think that's why I love it so.

Anyway, I could hardly wait to get the kids dropped off at school this morning so I could get home and wax some plastic icicle ornaments I bought after Christmas this past year. They come in a box of 24 with a gold string. I cut off the gold string and dipped them in the wax. You can see the before pile in this picture, then the after with a wax dip and rolled in cinnamon.

If you want details on my waxing process, you can visit a past post I did here on grunging candles. So after they are dipped in wax, rolled in cinnamon... I dip them in wax one more time and then give them a little cinnamon rub to look like this...

To keep the hanging hole clear of wax, I use this antique ice pick that I got from my great-uncle and aunt's home in Morton, IL. You know it's old when the phone number is only 5 digits! Around here, we have to use the area code even when we are calling someone down the street, the 10 digit number. Funny how times change, huh?

Now is where I need your advice...

If you were to buy some icicles, how many would you want in a bundle? 3, 5, 6, or 7?

And then, what would you want your hanger to look like?

Do you like the red baker's twine?

Or maybe the brown baker's twine?

How about just plain twine?

Or maybe even red and green homespun?

I know we all have opinions, it's just that some of us are more vocal with them than others, lol. But I would really love to have your honest opinion on what you think.

I like for my wax to cure for a few days, even up to a week. I love the patina after a waxed piece has set up. It's always a rich, beautiful deep brown color. I'll be adding them to my Etsy next week.

Thanks so much in advance for your thoughts. I trust you and treasure your advice which is why this post is here. =]

Thanks truly dear friends. Wishing you a grand weekend ahead~

What a crock!

2011-09-23T01:06:00.004-05:00

One morning my friend Katie and I decided to go antiquing or garage saling, I'm really not sure what we were doing, lol. But we came across an antique mall that was closing its doors and EVERYTHING in the store was on sale. Yikes! So I found this beauty at 40% off costing me only $16.00!!!

I quickly scoped the whole place when I first got there, then back through a second time slower. I went straight to this piece first and took it to the counter right away. Oh, I was so very excited to get it home! It is in excellent shape with no cracks, chips, or hairlines anywhere.

Yes, it is my first big crock! Even though I have been into antiques since I was in high school (a few years ago, haha), crocks have never been cheap around here. I walk by it every single day and always have to glance its way. I love it so.

I just wanted to show a full shot of my tall vintage ladder that I bought this summer. It is about an inch short of being 8 feet. I didn't know if it would fit in my home, but I didn't care it was coming home anyway! I love how it has hooks at the top so I can hang a couple of aprons and potholder from it. It's so tall that it's hard to get a picture of the whole thing, lol.

Sorry about the dark pictures. I've changed it since I took this picture but here are a couple of my vintage linens. I love the red & white piece in the middle which shows 3 men in the kitchen with aprons on, cooking up a storm... too funny.

Haven't taken my fall decorating pictures yet. Oh my, how I have enjoyed looking at all of yours! So much inspiration and pieces to drool over, lol. Thank you all so much for sharing, I love this time of year the most... even more than Christmas!

I do have a picture of a little wreath that I bought last year after the holidays. I don't ever buy wreaths, picks, swags, candle rings, or garland that have really fake leaves or pieces. I strive for a more natural look. Being a "berry" person, I couldn't pass up this little berry wreath but those leaves were just screaming at me.

Much better now... don't you think?

Football Homecoming tonight! My son plays on the JV team but gets to suit up for Varsity. They cancelled our bonfire that we always have the night before the big game because we received (some very much needed) rain (thank you Lord!). But the parade is still on. We received our Homecoming shirts yesterday so we are ready! YAY! Go Catoosa Indians! Saturday is a day filled with scrapbooking with one of my best friends. Gonna be a great weekend. Hope yours is grand~

Happy 1st day of fall!! My very favorite time of the year! I love this day more than my own birthday and Christmas! If we weren't running around with Homecoming activities, we would be out apple pickin'. Enjoy it to the fullest~

Jars and Twine

2011-09-14T15:03:00.001-05:00

With our record setting 100+ degrees days this summer, we hardly had any yard sales going on. I finally found one and bought 21 quart Ball jars w/lids (lids are in a box), wooden clothespins, and some nice smooth rocks... which my daughter took to look at and I haven't seen em since. =]

The nice lady bundled it all up and quoted me $10. Well I forgot that some kiddos had been in my wallet earlier and I only had $9.76 to give her, lol. Thankfully, she took it. I will use these mainly for craft supplies and for Christmas gifts.

I am fascinated with jars of all sizes, shapes, and colors! Found these fun scrabble pieces at a yard sale for 25 cents.

I won a wonderful giveaway from my friend Linda at Parker's Paradise. You all know sweet Linda... the giver of her heart to all people. It seems like daily when I'm reading blogs she is blessing someone again with wonderful goodies! She's been on a roll with her stitching and wanted to share. Thankfully for me and some others, she did share! I love everything about this piece! She did such a great job picking out pieces for all the winners.

I also received this wonderful "Home Grown" towel. It looks beautiful on my linen ladder that's in my Dining Room. See the very pretty appliqued piece right under it... another precious piece from precious Linda at a different time. I get SO many compliments on this piece Linda!

Thank you sweet Linda for your generosity. You truly are one of a kind girl and we all love you so!!

If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet... DON'T!! Lol, just kidding. It can get very addicting once you get going and start using it. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out the red box with a P on my sidebar. Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board where you can pin almost anything you see on the internet. Anyway, I came across this nifty idea for a twine holder and pinned it to a board.

One of my best friends is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator so I'm always ordering from her. I recently bought their baker's twine and I love it! You get 25 yards for $2.95.

So of course, I had to have a nifty little holder for it once I had it tea dyed. Dollar Tree has these awesome, heavy glass sugar shaker jars for one buck! Perfect!

Cherry Cobbler...

Early Espresso...

I've been on a tag making kick for some reason. Just listed a few more in my Etsy shop. This baker's twine is gonna look great with some tags I'm in the process of making that are more prim.

If you are on Pinterest and I'm not following you yet, give me a shout... I would love to see what all you are pinning. =]

Wishing you a grand week~

Cheeseboxes, strainers & sifters, and google reader

2011-09-06T14:04:00.001-05:00

I've been told by my dear friend Linda over at Parker's Paradise that over 3 is a collection. Well not really meaning to start a new collection, I bought the top 2 cheese boxes this summer. They are newer but I couldn't pass 'em up at the great price they were going for, $2 and $1... especially the little one, isn't it so cute? The bottom box I've had for a long time, it came from my great-aunt and uncle's home in Toulon, IL. So my cheese boxes are not a collection yet until I buy one more, lol! I bought the little child's apron for 25 cents at an antique store that was going out of business. It was dirty white with stains. A tea bath sure made it look a lot better. This little display is sitting under my linen ladder in the dining room.

My strainers and sifters... another collection that was not intended to be but I just love old kitchen primitives and utensils. When I am antiquing or thrifting, I am always drawn to kitchenware more than anything else (well besides my first love of jars, hehe).

Funny story on this particular sifter... We were at an antique mall in our little Amish community. I had this sifter in our shopping cart. A lady that works the mall (and also has booths there) comes by and tells us that we were looking in her booths and everything is at least half off or more. She picked the sifter up out of the shopping cart and says "Like this.... it has a $6 price, I'll go $3 on it". My friends and I look at each other and had a good laugh after she walked away. I was willing to pay $6 since it was already in the cart, but hey if you wanna give it to me for $3, I'll take it. Lol!

Also at this wonderful antique mall, I found this beautiful piece...

We were at the checkout waiting to be rung up so I walked around a bit more. As I was walking back to the counter, I spotted something by this bowl that caught my eye so I stopped to look. I put it back down and just leaned over to look inside this bowl. My eyes could not even believe what the price was for this huge, heavy crock bowl... $5.00!!! I was shocked! I honestly have quit looking at the prices of these crock bowls because they are $28 and higher around here... never $5! So I took it up to the front and asked her if maybe they forgot to put a number on the price because they are never 5 bucks. She assured me that yes, it was the right price because it had a couple of cracks in it. Yes, 2 small hairline cracks that are inside and can't even be seen from the outside. Woo Hoo! It gladly became mine that day! For now it holds my collecion of strainers and sifters. Sorry for the blurriness (glad I'm not the only one with this picture-taking problem, haha)

The smallest sifter in the front that you can really only see the handle belonged to my grandma. I thought the handmade linen on metal paddle strainer was a neat find for 2 bucks. The strainer in the back I was going to make into a shoo-fly screen but I kept it intact. I just adore the thriftiness that the owner of this piece showed by adding a little square of the mesh wire over a hole that had been made in the strainer. That kind of thinking is just what my family does. They throw nothing away and nothing new is bought until the piece can no longer be patched up. Another good find for 2 bucks.

The nut grinder beside the bowl belonged to my step-FIL's mother. When I took it from her home, there were still traces of nuts in the jar. I just adore this little family heirloom.

It is finally fall-like weather here for us being down in the 70's and 80's... thanking God for this beautiful weather!

Friends, I'm so very excited! I finally gave the Google Reader another chance and took some time to actually learn it. I LOVE IT! I knew my old way of reading and keeping up with blogs was not working out whatsoever and had to change! Would you believe that I read and commented on every single post on every single blog that I followed? Not really that I made myself, I'm just a talkative person when it comes to primitives and I always have lots to say, lol. I would start at the end of my blogroll on my blog page and work my way up to the top. Those of you that posted often stayed at the top so I never knew what you were up to because I was always so far down on my list. So after basically taking the summer off I decided that just can't happen anymore because it put me months behind and became a chore to try and catch up. That's just not right... blogging needs to be fun! Now that I follow Google Reader, I can get a better picture of what's going on and it's so much easier to catch up! Whew, who knew that it could be this easy?! Hahaha! Yeah, I know I'm a dork but glad you all love me any way. =]

Have a blessed week dear friends~

A few spring and summer acquisitions

2011-08-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

Hey girls! Been missing you all! We are 2.5 weeks into school now so it's catch-up time for me. Yay! Finally...

I bought this awesome hand-painted prim pear trio from Jody over at Primgal's Primitive Palette. Jody does amazing work and I am so thrilled to finally own some of her pieces. I bought these back in the spring and I love looking at them every single day in my dining room. Thank you Jody!! If you don't know Jody or haven't visited her yet, go see her... she is a real sweetheart and you will see all her talent in her blog posts. I love them, thank you Jody!! Aren't they lovely?

My dear, sweet friend Katie and I spent a lot of time antiquing this spring and summer. She has been switching her home over to primitive this year and has down quite well, it is primtastic! =] I've been trying to get her to start blogging but not quite there yet. Anyway, I had been eyeing this sweet little Amish family for a few weeks and my dear friend Katie bought them for me for my birthday! I love them and love her too! They look great sitting on my antique school desk.

Being an old cookie cutter lover, I was beyond thrilled when I came across this cutter in the shape of our great state of Oklahoma for only 80 cents!!

I had to put some fabric behind it for the picture so you could see its shape because here it is in my bowl of cutters... it kinda gets lost in there.

You know how sometimes you start a collection not really meaning to? It just kinda happens?? Well that happened to me a lot this year, hehe! A lot of collections got started. I see graters every single time I go junking but I look for the ones that just jump out at me. I picked up this one on top to buy it and two others came with it. They each had a $2 price sticker on them but all three were wrapped with a price tag of $2 for all! So they all had to come home with me.

Kinda dark, but here is my little collection of graters.

One of my favorite things I bought this summer came from Julie at Polka Dot Pig Primitives. This link is to her blog which she hasn't updated in a few months... shame, shame girl! Lol. But she has been busy cranking out the dolls and all kinds of homemade goodness so you should check out her Facebook page instead: Polka Dot Pig Primitives. Julie was at "An Affair of the Heart" in Tulsa in July so I finally got to meet her!! It is in July and November every year at our fairgrounds. I have been trying for the past year to get there and buy one of her precious Annie's! I was so thrilled to make it this year and when I came around the corner, I knew immediately it was Julie's booth and I had never met her before. There were more than just Annie's in the booth and I had such a very hard time deciding what to buy! Julie is a very kind and beautiful person inside and out and how wonderful to finally meet a fellow blogger! Especially an extremely talented one! Annie is so adorable Julie, I love her so much! Thank you!

I plan to go see her again in November. Maybe a new tradition can be born... a new Annie from Julie every visit to AAOTH? Hmm...

Okay, it's been fun to finally catch up a little but I have lots of totes in the attic of fall goodness that I can hear calling my name so I gots to get busy! Thanks for coming by for a visit. I sure do appreciate you and your sweet comments! Now that all my kids are in school for full days, I will have time to finally catch up on blog reading and hopefully stay caught up this time. There is just so much awesomeness out there in the prim blog community that I wish I had nothing else to do but sit and soak it all up, hahaha!

Have a delightful week my dear friends~

Wooden tote makeover

2011-07-18T20:10:00.000-05:00

I miss you all!! Three and half more weeks till school starts up again... gonna spend a couple of weeks just catching up on y'alls blogs then! =] Thank you so much for still coming by and visiting me although I have been too busy this summer to stop in and see you the past couple of months!

I spent last week at Falls Creek. Copied from their website... "Nestled in the heart of the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma, Falls Creek has become the largest religious youth encampment in the world. More than 45,000 young people will attend its seven weeks of encampment every summer". I just love being a sponsor for our church youth group, it is an awesome time!

I wanted to share with you another makeover I squeezed in earlier this month. I bought this unfinished wood tote many years ago at Hobby Lobby. It was painted green from when I went through my hunter green/burgundy stage in the early 90's. Anyone else go through those colors, hehe?

I sanded it down just a tad bit, leaving most of the green. Then I painted it mustard with a black overcoat. From there, I just applied ebony Bri-wax with steel wool and as usual... the combo sanded it down for me while applying a beautiful patina! In a few spots you can actually see the green and I really like that.

Here is the finished tote sitting on my kitchen counter. It's filled with a hodge podge of treasures I found while out antiquing this spring and summer... except for the Lord's Prayer plaque which I've had for years.

I believe the round metal piece with holes in front to be a toaster. If I'm wrong, please let me know! I passed on that piece all spring and summer long until I finally decided one day to bring it home with me. For only $3, how could I go wrong? The little wooden/metal cutter behind it was only $4.95. It's like a miniature slaw cutter and so cute! The cutting board was only $2.

My newest obsession... butter paddles!! I don't know why, but I saw these and just had to have them. Don't you love when something jumps out at you and you immediately become addicted?? Lol! I found the four butter paddles in the same day at different places for a total of $16 for all. The grooved ones are so neat but I really like the one in front that has a faint impression of words.

To add a little pop against my dark red walls, I added a black tin at the end of the kitchen counter. I had been eyeing this type of metal ware at Hobby Lobby for the past year and they finally marked them down 66% so this large container was only $6.80.

So here is what my kitchen counter looked like on this day that I took pictures. Of course it's been tweaked since this day...

The six drawer cubby is perfect for batteries. With four tech junkies living in this home we seem to go through lots of batteries and they are even the re-chargeable kind. The charger fits perfectly in one of the drawers.

Then on the other side of the sink is this

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, school will be starting in three and half more weeks. Summer is flying by! As much as I cherish fall, I really want these last days of summer to be full of family time so I shall be back with you all soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit and taking the time to comment. I love knowing that you took time out of your busy day to let me know you were here.

Enjoy your lazy days of summer! We sure are! =]

Creatin' Space

2011-07-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

Because a friend blessed me with this awesome cabinet for helping her clean and organize her scrapbook/stamping room... (and let me tell you girls, grab a friend when you do this... the work load is much lighter and there are lots more laughs).

I decided now is a great time to start organizing my Creatin' Space. When school starts up in August, I am going to become a full time crafter. I'm pretty excited about it! =]

This cabinet was first in the dining room but being a black, red, and mustard girl... the beautiful chippy white paint was just out of place. So I brought it upstairs to the library where I have a little space carved out for me to create. I love using these wire baskets for my ribbon. I also have one more really tall basket on top of another cabinet.

Just gonna share with you a few things I use for littles. Let me tell you, everything I use... I bought for cheap, cheap! Mainly at Hobby Lobby when they run their 66% and 80% off sales. Sometimes I might even find something left in the 90% off sale but that doesn't happen too often... not often enough, haha!

I bought these cute metal buckets last week. Regularly $13.99 for set/5, I got them at 66% off for $4.76 for all 5... less than a buck for each one. 3 candy canes made... I better get in gear so they will be ready in time for Christmas, lol!

The wire baskets I bought last year were regularly $5.99 for set/3. I got them at 80% off at $1.20 for set/3... 40 cents for each one. Perfect for holding littles. I only paid a few dollars for the ceramic urn last year at 80% off. Perfect for tall things.

Of course, you just can't beat good ol' yard sale prices. Muffin tins and bread tins make perfect storage for small amounts of littles.

Lastly, the classic mason jar... my favorite of all favorites is the best for storing all kinds of crafting supplies.

I delight in these awesome lids with the holes. I also have zinc lids for my other mason jars that hold cookie cutters, little wooden hearts and stars... all kinds of littles!

Wasn't really planning on this post. I brought my cabinet upstairs to my creatin' space and before you know it, I'm an organizing fool, hehe. Not a good thing to be doing when I'm getting ready to leave in the morning for a weekend trip to Branson, MO to spend Independence Day with my family.

Please have a safe but wonderfully fun 4th of July weekend~

A couple of makeovers

2011-06-29T13:30:00.006-05:00

Summer is here... yay! We are just that much closer to my very favorite time of all... FALL! YAY! Hehe...

Just a quick post to show a couple of makeovers that I've been working on lately.

I've been wanting some glass containers for tea bags and kool-aid packets. Found these at an antique mall for regularly $9 for both. They were on sale for $4.50 for both so I grabbed them up!

I sanded the lids down a bit and painted them with a barn red acrylic paint. Then I topped it with a couple coats of black. When it was dry, I used ebony Bri-Wax to finish it off. One of my favorite features about using the Bri-Wax with steel wool is that it automatically sands the piece for you. So I sanded, antiqued, and sealed it all in one step! Gotta love that!

Perfect! Just what I wanted...

Another little project I finished...

I didn't get a before picture of my unfinished, hand-carved wooden bowl I brought home from Mexico last year but here it is in a picture with some other goodies that came home with me.

It was very porous so I sealed it with a spray sealer. I use and love Rust-oleum's American Accents clear top coat in matte. It's $4.99 at Hobby Lobby but I always wait for the 40% off coupon they have every other week and it's a little bit nicer price.

All I did was paint this with black acrylic paint because I wanted the wood and not a color to show through. Again, finished it off the ebony Bri-wax and steel wool to sand, antique, and seal it.

Not only do I love the way this turned out... but I really LOVE the way it looks with Sarah from All Roads Lead Home's fantastic salt dough bowl fillers!

Isn't that a lovely display? Let me tell you, it looks wonderful in my patriotic living room! Go visit Sarah at All Roads Lead Home and see the rest of her fabulous salt dough bowl fillers... much talent that girl has!

Thanks for stopping in to see what I've been up to. I delight in your visits and comments!

Have a wonderfully beautiful and blessed week my friends~

Joplin, Missouri

2011-06-06T15:53:00.001-05:00

As I was coming home yesterday from visiting my family in Branson, MO, I was trying to decide if I should take a drive through Joplin to see the tornado damage from exactly two weeks ago. I was by myself and very curious to see if my favorite antique shop survived but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle what I was about to see.

I have no family and no close friends that live in Joplin, just acquaintances. Since living in Oklahoma the past 15 years, I have made many, many stops in Joplin on the way to Ozark, MO to visit my family. Joplin is the half-way mark between my parents home and my home; where I sometimes meet my parents to drop my kids off in their care or pick up my kids, or we will stop there to stretch our legs and get a snack. I meet family and friends from my old home town to shop and eat.

For the past two weeks I have seen numerous photos and news accounts from this devastation and heard numerous stories from family and friends that have been to Joplin the past two weeks to help out. Everyone that has been says you can't prepare yourself enough for what you are about to see. You can't even get a picture that shows what this devastation is all about. You can't grasp it until you experience it. Truth!

I'm at mile marker 15, the main Joplin exit is mile marker 8. I start crying... wanting desperately to see the damage but wanting not to see it because I am and always have been an emotional girl. On the outskirts of Joplin, you see a touch of where the tornado came across the interstate. Although it destroyed a home & many trees and damaged a few around it... it still doesn't even prepare you for what you are about to see.

I drive up that exit ramp praying, crying, breathing deeply. I look around and I'm relieved to see so many recognizable places. I make the right turn off of Range Line Road and travel down to my antique shop "Antique Gallery". I breath a sigh of relief as I see the little white building peeking out of the hill only to pull in and see a closing down sign. I wonder why? Did he lose his home? His family? Was he one of the 141 confirmed dead so far?

I get back on Range Line Road and travel further down the road. I can't stop the tears from flowing. I don't even know which fast food restaurant this is from... there is nothing left to identify it.

These pictures look small. Please take the time to click on them, pull them up to get a better look at the destruction and pray for these people and the workers that are trying to restore this town.

The Hobby Lobby store that I helped get ready to open many years ago was still standing. Then I drove down a side street and another and came across this picture that was so eerie to me. The playground was still standing but the subdivision it belonged to was completely destroyed with not a thing left standing.

This is the subdivision that the playground belonged to

Two weeks after the tornado struck, you can see where much work has been done already. The streets are cleared and the piles are being made. I just stood in awe in the middle of the street. Every direction you look, there is piles of rubble that used to be a home.

Major clean-up started immediately after the shock of the tornado wore off and people realized there was much work to be done.

I can't even emphasize enough the feeling of eeriness this was for me. I traveled through at 8:00 pm on Sunday evening after all the workers were gone for the day. No one was out sifting through the remains of their home, it had already been done. There were a few drifters like me out assessing and taking pictures. The loneliness just consumed me and I couldn't quit sobbing. I imagine this is what a ghost town must be like. Or maybe even the rapture when Christ returns?

Amazing how the stop signs are still standing in all of the pictures that I took. What normally seems so nondescript, now stands tall amongst the piles of wreckage all around it.

Yes, Thank You America!

Although I could not stop crying throughout this journey, it was somewhat comforting to see signs like this and the ones that said "God Bless You", "God Bless Joplin". The American flags amongst the ruins were a welcoming sight as well.

How can there not be more than 141 deaths in this catastrophe?

After driving down street after street you realize they are all the same.

Eeriness... you can see the dishtowel still hanging on the rod under the sink.

Eeriness... you can see a box fan dangling by its cord hanging off the side from what was at one time the second floor. Also hanging off the side is bedsheets and clothes.

I stuck my camera out the window and took this picture as I was driving down the road. It was the weirdest feeling to be surrounded by so much devastation for miles. Oddly enough, the water tower still stands although their water was not safe to use for the first week.

Ironic... Yes, Alabama knows, don't they Cora?

I saw this as I was slowly driving down the street. I had to turn around and go back by it again for it immediately caught my eye. It was on the main street so I couldn't stop and take a picture. Although it is blurry, it was a drive by shooting and I didn't think it would turn out but I'm glad it did. In the pink and purple bedroom of a little girl, there is a little pink dress and a little purple dress still hanging in the closet. So very eerie to me...

There is hope. They will survive. They will rebuild.

Please pray for them.

I had sensory overload in this short hour which seemed like it lasted for weeks.

the smell... rot, decay, death
the sound... deathly quiet
the touch... of my broken heart for these poor people
the sight... of nothing like I've ever seen in my entire life

The only word I can describe this experience with is Eerie. To see so many things that I use every day in my home that I don't think a second thought to and seeing these same things laying around in the rubble of what used to be another's home... really brought this tornado destruction to light for me. Now it's not just pictures I see or stories I hear... it is another person, like me that is now without a home, their belongings, their family heirlooms, their memories in pictures or photo albums, or worst yet possibly without their loved ones.

I cried the rest of the hour and half drive I had left. I prayed for these people. I prayed for the workers as the past week and week ahead have been 90+ temps that they have been and will be working in. I thanked God for my family and my friends. I praised Him for all that He is and He has blessed me with.

My family will be heading that way sometime to help. I'm not sure how soon I can go back but I know that I must. As heart wrenching as this situation was for me, I am so very grateful that God allowed me to experience it. I was fully reminded that God's grace is receiving what we do not deserve and His mercy is not receiving what we do deserve.

Yippeeeee!! My awesome garage sale find for today!

2011-05-06T16:50:00.000-05:00

Oh my word prims! I am so very excited!! I have been wanting one of these for over 20 years but they are so expensive. At the last garage sale I hit today it was there with no price. The man was really talking it up so I finally said "Well, I know you want more for it than what I can handle, how much?". He said "Oh... $15". Me: "WHAT?!?!?! Only $15? Are you sure??". I heard the "fif" sound come out of his mouth so I thought he was gonna say $50, lol! Isn't she a beauty?? The treadle is broke. I know my dad can fix that but not sure that I want it fixed... might leave it as it is. Sorry for the background, I couldn't wait to show you so I took pics of it in the garage as soon as I pulled it out of the truck, hehe.

Then when you open it up, here's what's inside...

It even has a needle! The little bit that I've looked up on the internet so far about "Ruby" says they aren't worth much but I don't care about that... it's worth a lot to me! Everything still turns with no trouble or squeaking!

I'm so glad nothing is going on this weekend so I can get it cleaned up and moved into the house! Happy Mother's Day to me!! =]

I bought this sweet little Raggedy Andy at an antique mall a couple of weeks ago for $6. I collect Raggedy's and this handmade one I love because it's little heart says I heart Jodi. That is my sister's name and the way it's spelled too. How sweet!

Another find at the antique mall for $3. I didn't even have to do anything to it but wipe it down really good. We are a family that eats all of our meals at the table together so having a wonderfully prim centerpiece for my table just hasn't worked because it's constantly getting moved out of the way and then the hassle of finding somewhere for it to sit. So this lazy susan is perfect for us.

I've bought lots of pieces this past month that I was going to re-do this weekend but now they will have to wait till I get the machine cleaned up first. Any ideas on what to use on the actual machine to clean it up? I'm afraid to touch it. Guess I'll have to do some googling on the internet to find out.

Well that is it for this post. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I always appreciate your time spent with me. Have a beautiful weekend and wonderful Mother's Day!

Old sewing notions and bobbins

2011-05-03T15:39:00.001-05:00

I was so excited to receive a package in the mail recently from my good blog friend Dale from over at A Country Shop. If you are ever in the Rochester, NH area... you simply must make time for Dale's shop. I have never been, but every time she posts on her blog about her shop, I wish I could be there! Dale is a real sweetheart and LOVES what she does... you can just tell from her blog posts. She has so much fun playing with her prims! She saw my recent post about my laundry room and decided (Thank you for deciding this Dale!!) I needed to add a few pieces to my printer's tray. So she sent me the Anacin tin that still contains aspirin and also the little green metal Tums tin!! Thank you so much Dale!! You are a real sweetheart! I have been looking for pieces to add to this box but everything I come across is to big so it was fun to add these little pieces.

I bought the tiny green bottle on the bottom shelf for 50 cents. It says "Sample, 3 in one oil" on it and is so cute. I also bought the amber bottle at the same antique mall for 1.00.

Dale also gifted me with this awesome ointment tin which still contains ointment!

As if that wasn't enough, Dale saw these adorable spools and thought of my old sewing notions bathroom. As she says in her note... "Found these and loved them... thought of you and your bath. SO got 2! 1 for you, 1 for me." Lol!! Thank you so much Dale! These are so cute and I can't wait to make some! They are wrapped with tea stained fabrics and the little muslin tag says "Bobbin". I have lots of old plain wooden spools... now I know what I can do with them! The Caldwells Syrup Pepsin bottle was a recent acquisition at the same antique mall. Thank you for thinking of me Dale! I appreciate your gifts and will think of you every single time I see them! As always... prim blog friends are the bestest!! =]

I got a little bobbin happy when I went antiquing recently, hehe! I just kept finding them and they were great prices. I am so drawn to those old sewing notions. I need you all to tell me why some of these are red and blue. I have never, ever seen colored ones. I suppose they are reproductions but yet the tops of them look really worn.

I couldn't pass up on the tall bobbin (11") for only $4! I also found this awesome box of thread from The American Thread Company that is in perfect condition for only $2! Even the re-order form is intact in the bottom.

Thanks to those of you that took the time to comment on my last post. I appreciate all the help and advice you gave me. I'm gonna be adding another cabinet in that room soon... which is a good thing because at the rate that I am buying, I'm running out of room!

I wish for you a blessed week~

Needing some laundry room advice please!

2011-04-27T01:15:00.003-05:00

I worked in my laundry room yesterday and I need to know what you think. I'm thinking about moving the Apothecary sign up a little. I'm still working on it. I have a couple more things to put on the shelf and I also have a jar full of my waxed clothespins to add. A few of the old sewing notions that I recently got at a garage sale will make their appearance here too.

I have been on the lookout for some old ironing boards. I want a big one to lean against this cabinet and a smaller one to set on top. I found a few of the big ones at my favorite antique mall, I just couldn't decide which one to bring home with me.

I am so blessed to own two of my mom's dresses that she wore when she was a baby. They are at least 75 years old and still in great shape! I treasure them so very much!!

Along with my mom's treasured dresses, I am so honored to display some precious handmades by some of my sweetest blog friends!

Adorable little cupcake pinkeep that I won last spring from Lucy over at The Farmer's Attic.
Neat wooden spool with antiqued tape measure ribbon and waxed clothespins (that started my wax obsession!) that I won last year from Darla over at The Prim Patch. Thank you Darla for getting me hooked on wax, lol!
Darling little baby shoe pinkeep that I won last year from Linda over at Parker's Paradise. Sweet Linda also recently gifted me with the wonderful ditty bag hanging on the peg.

Don't you just love surrounding your home with wonderful handmades by dear friends? I see these things on a daily basis and my friends immediately come to mind... even over a year later. Thank you dear friends!

Okay, now that I took a walk down memory lane... please be brutally honest with me and tell me what you think I need to do. I am going to soften it up a little with some greenery and of course I have to add some berries in there somewhere to stick with my Berry theme.

Looking forward to antiquing with some friends all day Friday and then scrapbooking with them all night!

Thanks in advance for your visit and help. I wish you a blessed week~

Fabric and sewing goodies

2011-04-25T00:55:00.001-05:00

Goodness girls, I have received and bought lots of things this month. I can't even post it all in one post! First I want to share some goodies that two of my dearest, sweetest friends that I have never even met have blessed me with!

First off, I'm sure lots of you know our sweet blogger friend Linda from over at Parker's Paradise. She is always blessing someone with goodies that she makes, finds, or makes over! I received a "just because" package from her. When I saw who it was from, I knew it was going to be jam-packed with good stuff and she didn't disappoint! Oh my word Linda, you are so awesome!! Thank you for all these wonderful goodies! It was like Christmas... the ditty bags all had something in them, so much fun to unpack! =]

There are wonderful ditty bags, adorable heart bowl fillers, fabric covered eggs in a cute little wooden bowl, a sweet little pip berry wreath and best of all is the piece that it is all laying on. I used this as a runner for my table... perfect for spring!

As if that wasn't enough, Linda also added these cute note cards that I had to hide from my daughter, haha!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart Linda for your friendship! I am constantly amazed at the prim friends that I have made since I first started blogging. Even though I have never met a single one of you, I consider you to be some of my dearest and bestest friends!!

Another dear, sweet friend that blessed me this month is my facebook buddy Micki Groom Creamer. She is a doll! Some of you may know that I have a great fondness for old sewing notions. Micki had some wonderful pieces that I fell in love with last year. I found myself going back to her pictures often to get another glimpse. One day she contacted me and asked for my address because she was getting rid of her needle books and wanted to share them with me. I was so excited when I received them in the mail! I search for these every time I go treasure hunting! Be still my heart!! Thank you so much Micki!

What sweet friendships I am so honored to have! Thank you dear ladies!

Yay for garage sale time! I was so excited to find this aida cloth for cross stitching for 50 cents a roll and some vintage fabric.

I felt like I hit the jack pot when I stumbled upon this lot of "craft supplies" for $3.00.

There were even some vintage sewing notions and patterns from the 70's, yay!

This large box was a great find at 50 cents!

Well that's it for this time. I have much more to share and my newest obsession, lol! This week I am going to work on my sewing half-bath and laundry room because that is where most of this will be going. Can't wait to finish that area.

Thanks for always stopping by for a visit! I appreciate you dear friends more than I can ever show you!

Have a blessed week~

Painting and cleaning

2011-04-16T23:35:00.000-05:00

Prim friends, I have been so busy... too busy to keep up with blogging. I miss posting and I really miss seeing what all you are up to!

This is what I am in the middle of right now... painting.

Here is one of my dining room walls before.

Here it is after one coat of dark red paint, and still wet too. Only one coat! I couldn't believe how well it covered, I was seriously amazed!

So far the second coat has been applied and I could really stop there, it looks so good. But I haven't used near the paint that I thought I would so I am going to put on a third coat tomorrow. Can't wait to tear off that blue tape and see that dark red against the wood. When I'm done, I'll be back with some more before and after pictures.

This is what else I've been doing... spring cleaning in my kitchen! I was debating on whether I should share these pictures with you or not because I don't want you to see my messy kitchen haha, but I am going against my will and hoping that this will spur some motivation in someone. I opened every single drawer and cabinet in my kitchen.

I spent two full days taking every single thing out, wiping out each drawer and shelf. Then re-organizing every single small appliance, dish, and utensil. As I finished that drawer or cabinet, I closed the door. That was a wise thing to do because although it was a very tedious job, it was so nice to see that I was making progress!

I'm actually amazed it only took 2 days but once I got going, it was so fulfilling to finally get things organized! I am a Pampered Chef junkie (also a Scentsy junkie, lol) and have bought a lot since we moved into our home 4.5 years ago so it was very nice to get everything together now instead of all over the kitchen wherever I could find room.

I'm so excited that I now have sections for: baking, entertaining, and holiday items.

Other than these home improvement projects, I have been extremely busy with my kids and their many school projects. I will only bore you with one of the projects. My daughter and her friend took 1st place at their school with their Rubber-band Vehicle in Science. The top three advanced to the Tulsa Engineering Challenge that is put on by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. They went up against many, many boys and they were the only all girl team and guess what? Those girls got 1st place in their division and won $100 (to share)! We were so very proud of them because they built it, my husband was just there to supervise. Amariah is the one on the right.

Oh, I've also been antiquing on a weekly basis and have so many things to share... as soon as I can get to it all and get it unpacked!

Have a delightful week my friends~

For Sale

2011-03-17T23:59:00.014-05:00

Please send me an email at berryhomespunprimitives@gmail.com if you are interested in buying. I accept Paypal and money orders. I do combine shipping.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I always appreciate you!

These primitive Ditty Bags would be perfect hanging on a peg hook, an old chair, or from an old cupboard door. You can also display them in old wooden bowls or on your primitive shelves. Just add grubby candles, lavender, sweet annie, or hang it as it is.

Reproduction 19th Century blue and tan floral print fabric with a muslin hand embroidered patch that says "1842". This piece is heavily tea stained with vanilla and cinnamon also. Ditty Bag itself measures 5 3/4 x 7 1/4", not including the twine hanger. All handmade by me. $4.00. Shipping in the US is $1.25.

Reproduction 19th Century blue and tan floral print fabric with a muslin hand embroidered patch that says "1847". This piece is heavily tea stained with vanilla and cinnamon also.

Ditty Bag itself measures 5 3/4 x 7 1/4", not including the twine hanger. All handmade by me. $4.00. Shipping in the US is $1.25.

Reproduction 19th Century barn red, black, and tan floral print fabric with a muslin hand embroidered patch that says "1847". This piece is heavily tea stained with vanilla and cinnamon also. Ditty Bag itself measures 5 1/4 x 6 1/2", not including the twine hanger. All handmade by me. $4.00. Shipping in the US is $1.25.

Reproduction 19th Century barn red, black, and tan floral print fabric with a muslin hand embroidered patch that says "1842". This piece is heavily tea stained with vanilla and cinnamon also. Ditty Bag itself measures 5 1/4 x 6 1/2", not including the twine hanger. All handmade by me. $4.00. Shipping in the US is $1.25.

Homespun barn red and tan with a muslin hand embroidered patch that says "1842". This piece is heavily tea stained with vanilla and cinnamon also. Ditty Bag itself measures 5 1/4 x 7 1/4", not including the twine hanger. All handmade by me. $4.00. Shipping in the US is $1.25.

Homespun barn red and tan with a muslin hand embroidered patch that says "1847". This piece is heavily tea stained with vanilla and cinnamon also. Ditty Bag itself measures 5 1/4 x 7 1/4", not including the twine hanger. All handmade by me. $4.00. Shipping in the US is $1.25.

So far this month...

2011-03-08T21:35:00.001-06:00

My dear friend Katie and I went shopping in a little Amish community down the road from here. Our first stop was The Amish Cheese House for some chicken base, jelly, and yummy snacks. Lunch was delicious at The Dutch Pantry. It is homemade buffet only and those noodles are oh, so yummy! Then we hit Cherry's Antique Mall. We have yet to make it all the way through the mall, lol! I adore this vintage white bowl that I found for $4. It has some characteristic cracks in it and stamped Ohio on the bottom. We bought a bag of molds, cutters, and scoops for $6 and split it so this is my $3 worth. It's so much more fun shopping with a friend! =] Oh, I just realized my cutters aren't in this picture-- they are in my cutter bowl.

The only other thing I bought were these beautiful vintage graphic valentines, I delight greatly in them! They were so super cheap! I bought all 10 of these (in both pictures) for $4!

One has a ripped head, hehe, but they are so neat. They are for "Odelia" and have the years 1926, 1929, and 1930 written on them! I am AMAZED that they are up to 85 years old and still in near perfect condition! I can't wait to decorate with them next Valentine's Day.

Speaking of old... this is a Leisure Arts leaflet I bought in 1993, 18 years ago and still haven't completed! Could I be the queen of good intentions, lol? Well, I finally picked it up again and decided to work on it while "sitting in line" to pick up my three car rider kids from school. Yes Brenda, this is "the big one" that I've been working on for years and can't seem to complete, haha!

It says Country Kitchen Sampler, but mine will be a Primitive Kitchen Sampler. =]

I'm still deep cleaning (yes... bleh!), going to some scrapbooking crops (finally started my 15 year old son's baby book... yah!), and finally trying to decorate for Spring.

I hope you all are enjoying your March so far. Have a delightful week my sweet friends~

Show-off Time

2011-02-23T17:46:00.001-06:00

I finally got around to taking a few pictures of some recent goodies. Well, in all honesty... I guess I should say I finally got around to doing some dusting before I could take these pictures, hehe!

Don't you just love this adorable bonnet that I bought from Lecia over at Farmhouse Prims?

I was so shocked to learn that she has only been creating and crafting this past year! Her bonnets are wonderfully made and primmed! Lecia was so sweet to let me pick out what color I wanted and how primmed I wanted it to be! I love it and I knew exactly where I wanted it to go... on one of my favorite family heirlooms. This awesome highchair has a lever on the back that can lower it to become a carriage!

I will share more of the highchair later, that will be a post for another day. I love the beautiful mustard color of my bonnet! Thank you so much Lecia, I love it!!

My sweet and beautiful friend Katie gave these adorable little vases to me "just because". Love them and love her! I am going to get some single spring flowers to put in each one.

Katie is my one and only friend that lives near me that is getting into prims, YAY! Finally someone to share prims with!! She doesn't know it yet, but she will be starting a blog hopefully soon, hehe! We are going to the Amish community down the road from me tomorrow. I can't wait to eat at The Dutch Pantry, shop at The Amish Cheese House and hit the antique malls there!

I also received a wonderful box of goodies from winning the giveaway that Tricia over at Hillcrest Home Prims was hosting. This adorable little shirt is going in my laundry room as soon as I get a peg hook board made for it but for now it looks right at home with my little Amish collection. It's so sweet with its little cinnamon stick and homespun hanger and it is primmed perfectly with little holes and stains, love it!

I really love this beautiful throw but I'm not sure where to put it.

My daughter got the bright idea to put it on the school desk and since I'm too lazy right now to move everything off of it, this is where it will stay for awhile. I will probably end up draping it over the desk instead of laying it across it. Thank you Tricia, I love them both so much!!

Lots of deep cleaning going on here at the Berry Homestead. Trying to get as much done as I possibly can so I'm not stuck inside when we reach that 70 and 80 degree beautiful, sunshiny weather!

I hope you all are having a blessed and delightful week so far! Spring will be here in a few weeks...

*Smile*

Winter Blues giveaway winner!

2011-01-31T15:39:00.000-06:00

Oh goodness, I was so nervous and so anxious to see who was going to win my Winter Blues giveaway!! I couldn't hardly get all those pieces of paper folded and in the bowl fast enough! But I had to play Santa... checking my list twice. Well okay, I guess I am more OCD than Santa... I checked my list four times, lol!

I was overwhelmed with all the entries! I want to thank each and every one of you that entered. It warms my heart so to know that you would like to own something made by my hands. Are you ready for the winner now?? Yeah, I know... I dislike when people ramble on and on before announcing the winner. I usually cheat though and go to the end of the post to see who the winner is, then I go back and read the post, haha! I know I'm not the only one that does that, am I? It's like going to the last chapter of the book and reading it first to see how it ends, then going back and reading the book.

Okay, okay... The winner is...

My new friend, Kady of Stoney Hill Cabin!! Thank you Kady! I hope you like it! Please send me your address at: berryhomespunprimitives@gmail.com.

Thanks girls! This was lots of fun and lots of new blog friends to meet! I really appreciate your visits to my humble little blog!

On another note: Hobby Lobby has their realistic fruit on sale this week for 50% off! Now is the time to get over there and buy some to try out the dipped wax on them. It was fun and the end result was worth the mess I had. Or if you would rather not make the mess... I will be listing them for sell here on my blog and on my facebook page soon. =]

Have a blessed week my prim friends! Stay warm and cozy inside your home and create away~

Waxed Fruit

2011-01-29T02:58:00.000-06:00

Well I waxed some plastic fruit for the first time. Not what I envisioned, but I think they turned out okay. I'm happy with them. I use the same method that I use when grunging my candles (the tut link is on my sidebar).

First, I started off with the bags of plastic fruit from Hobby Lobby. $5.99, on sale half price for $2.99. A bag of 16 pears and a bag of 16 apples equals out to 19 cents for each piece of fruit so if it doesn't work out, I'm not out much money. I also bought 3 pineapples at the Dollar Tree but they are still a work in progress.

I didn't have coffee grounds so I added some coarse pepper to the wax pot. Yep, pepper. Honestly, it worked out great. I used old Scentsy wax. It was so strong that you couldn't even smell the pepper, haha! See the texture forming?

I was impatient and just threw them on the mat as they came out of the wax like I do my candles. But guess what... you have this when you do that...

So, after scraping that off, I threw them in the wax again for a second coat. I tried just throwing them in the wax like they are, but the bump was still there. They were still warm so it was easy to scrape it off. Then they went for a cinnamon/nutmeg mix bath.

Side note: I bought this 6.5 oz jar of cinnamon at the Dollar Tree! That was exciting, now I don't have to dip into my cooking stash.

Look at the pears, aren't they so cute? The fruit covers well and the texture looks great on them!

Two wax dips.

Spice dip.

Another wax dip.

Another spice dip.

One last wax dip.

Once they slightly cooled, I didn't dip them but lightly rubbed the spice mixture on them.

Here's how the pears turned out.

The flash made the apples look so much more red than they are. They are actually more brown than that.

See the cute little rusty star on the one apple? Well, the whole inspiration for waxed fruit came from the Early Spring '11 issue of The Country House. I borrowed this picture from their website, aren't these just the cutest?

Yours for only $15.99 for a set of 4. Not a bad price, but my Dave Ramsey budget doesn't allow it. So I dug out these sets of rusty star and heart garland that I bought at Hobby Lobby after Christmas at 80% off. For 40 cents a package, I got quite a few little stars and hearts once I used my wire cutters and snipped the wire off each one.

I had a tough time getting my stars to bend just perfectly around the apples. Then I pulled up their picture on the website to get a closer look and their stars aren't on tight. I really like the brown colors of my fruit but the rusty star just blends in too much so I painted it black. I think I am going to just put black stars on the larger fruits and leave the smaller ones alone. What would you do if you were making them?

As always, thanks for your visit! Don't forget my giveaway ends in a couple of days.

My purchases

2011-01-26T15:41:00.000-06:00

Girls, don't you just adore my new Valentine's pillow? I just LOVE it! I bought this from Shari at Homespun and Primitives. That link is for her website to purchase her wonderful handmades and that girl is always throwing things on sale to give you a great deal!

You can also go to Shari's delightful blog: Homespun and Primitives. She is always showing her beautiful creations and telling you when she is having a sale. I also bought this lovely star candle holder that will look awesome in my patriotic living room!

I can't remember what I paid for these items but I do remember thinking that I was stealing them from Shari!! When I opened my box and saw how wonderful these items were, I wanted to send her more money because I felt like I was ripping her off!

Not only did Shari have a variety of colors for me to choose from for the pillow and star, she also surprised me with a little brown bag. Don't you just love surprises! This sweet little homespun heart with a rusty bell was in the bag!

Thank you so very much Shari! You are a real sweetheart and very talented! I love my handmades and will treasure them for years to come! Please go visit her, I promise you won't be disappointed!

I don't get to purchase very many prims from you all because we have been following Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I'm happy to report that we paid off a loan today!! YAY!! Now we have two loans that total $5,000 and a student loan from when my husband went to school for Avionics... that one is a big one but we are tackling it one month at a time. Sorry, I'm just so excited about it that I haven't slept for two nights, haha! So I had to share with you.

My sweet little baby girl turned 12 this past Saturday. I love you with all my heart Amariah Jade and I'm glad God blessed our family with your precious life! She is the one on the right.

Well that's it for today. I've been cleaning and organizing my kitchen. Whew, what a job! Gotta get it nice and clean so I can get in there tomorrow and make a big mess, lol. I am going to be waxing some fake fruit, clothespins, and icicles. I'll share with you all soon.

For those of you still laden with snow, I wish we could take it from you. We've only had a couple of inches all winter and we are wanting more! It's been getting in the 50's here, the birds are coming back and singing to us, and the sun is setting later and later.

Have a delightful week my friends~

Winter Blues giveaway

2011-01-20T16:02:00.000-06:00

Happy 1 year Berry Homespun Primitives Blog Anniversary to me!

My first post on my personal blog, Ramblings from a grateful heart was on Tuesday, April 04, 2006. I can't believe that it has been almost 5 years since I entered the blog world. I wish I had found you wonderfully, sweet, prim blog friends back then but I am very thankful for the friendships that I have formed over the past year. Although I've never met a single one of you, I think of you daily. You are always in my prayers. I miss you when it's been a day or two since I've been able to visit. I delight greatly in this wonderful prim community that I have been welcomed to with open arms, you all are the greatest!!

Okay, enough mushy stuff... on with the Winter Blues giveaway.

The tray measures 13 1/4" across, 19" long and is almost 2" deep. It is pretty heavy. You can see a couple close-ups on this past post. I will show close-ups and give you details of the rest then I will give you the rules.

The pillow tuck is handmade by me. It is a homespun fabric that has a simple cross stitch crock pattern on it. Both pieces have been tea stained with vanilla, then rubbed with cinnamon and nutmeg. It is filled with fabric scraps that has been rubbed with cinnamon and nutmeg also.

The ditty bag is 7" tall and handmade by me. The bag and the small muslin patch that I stitched 1842 on, have been tea stained with vanilla, then rubbed with cinnamon and nutmeg. I stuck some boxwood from my bushes and two candles that I grubbied, down inside the bag. The wooden candleholder is a makeover by me with a gray finish, stained cheesecloth, and one of my grubby candles. It looks like the candle is falling over in the picture for some reason, but it stands straight up.

11 rag balls in four different blue homespun prints, measuring 1 1/2" to 3 1/2". The homespun has been tea stained with vanilla, then rubbed with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Two homespun towels made by me that measure 14 x 25 1/2" and have been tea stained with vanilla. These are brown and more like a turquoise blue which would be perfect to add to those pretty Spring/Easter displays. They have a zig zag edging that I hope you can see in the close up picture.

Lastly is a picture of the pewter piece. It is 2" tall and 3 1/2" inches wide. It is marked RWP. So it has the historic look of pewter but made by the Wilton Company of Pennsylvania.

Now for the rules. There are only two rules to this giveaway. 1. You MUST comment on this post only. Anywhere else won't count. 2. You MUST have a blog that I can come visit. If you don't have an open blog for all to see, then I will delete your comment. That's it.

This giveaway is open to all, everywhere. You can post it on the sidebar of your blog if you want, but sorry... no extra entries will be given. I will draw the winner on January 31. By then, there will be an extra goodie or two thrown in.

Thank you for your sweet friendship over the past year. I am very thankful for it and I hope this giveaway shows that as there is lots of love put in to each piece. =]

A sneak peek

2011-01-14T15:30:00.001-06:00

Well girls, after that last post I thought I would move on to something more cheery. I'm sorry but I just can't sit and do nothing about such sick injustice when I do have a voice.

Anyway, I bought this sturdy, wooden tray at a yard sale this past summer. Do any of you ever have a hard time sanding down and painting over something that someone so lovingly created years ago? It's so hard for me to do. Even though I grew up with blue ducks all over the dining room and kitchen, I'm still not particularly fond of them. My mom would probably like this though, hehe.

So I sanded it down and painted a base coat of Blue Mist. Then I topped it with two coats of Battleship Gray.

After some sanding and ebony Briwax, this is what I ended up with...

Do you like it? I hope so because it's part of my one year blog anniversary giveaway.

So if you don't like it, then don't come back next week hopefully on Monday when I announce my giveaway. =]

No, my Amish dolls are NOT included (or the other things pictured), hehe. But here is a sneak peek of some things that will be included...

Do you see a theme yet? I thought it would be fun to have a Winter Blues giveaway since so many people are ready for spring to show up. I am enjoying winter. But if you have the winter blues or grays, then this giveaway might be for you.

I wish for you a fantastic weekend. Whether it be sunshine or snow, enjoy it while you can. Stay safe and warm my friends~

How very sad

2011-01-12T00:21:00.005-06:00

I came across this from another blogger last night and I'll be honest, I was outraged, shocked, so angry. An Etsy artist who goes by the name of "You Stupid B%#@&" is causing quite a stir. The following text is from the petition for Etsy that I signed, along with adding it to both of my facebook accounts and twitter. Please scroll down to the link, click on it, and add your name to the petition. It takes less than a minute. There have already been over 1,000 people sign it since I did last night.

"Congratulations. You Got Bad Touched."

That's the message printed on cards currently for sale on your website by the user "youstupidbitch." That card is offensive, demeaning, and potentially traumatizing to survivors of sexual assault. The same user also sells cards that mock breast cancer patients and mothers of special needs children. All must be removed from your website immediately.

The first card in question feautres a drawing of a naked sexual assault victim curled up on the floor of a shower stall, "printed on heavy duty white cardstock" complete with "red accents and matching envelope." Can you imagine if someone sent that to an actual rape victim? The cards for breast cancer and Down Syndrome are no better.

Your official Terms of Use state that you "has no control over the quality, safety, morality or legality of any aspect of the items listed." However, in the list of prohibited items, Etsy says that it does not allow items that harass others or that are deemed obscene. I think a strong case can be made that this card fits both categories.

Etsy may not have a legal obligation to remove the cards in question from its site, but it does have, in my opinion, a moral imperative. Does your company really want to be known as the go-to website for cards that harass, offend, and traumatize survivors of sexual assault, breast cancer patients, and parents of children with Down Syndrome? Do you want to open the doors for sellers like youstupidbitch to peddle the wares unimpeded? I hope not.

Please remove this card from their website and send a message that this type of product is unwelcome on your website.

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_etsy_to_remove_rape_congratulations_cards_from_website

It even made it to CNN. Here is the link to the video: http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/01/07/jvm.greeting.cards.hln

Yes, I was outraged, so angry but now that I've had time to settle down, think about this, and pray... I have decided to leave you with the information and let you do as you please.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Our first snow... finally!

2011-01-09T17:40:00.005-06:00

My favorite thing in my home is not an antique or an heirloom or even a piece of furniture, it is this...

Although, it is flanked by family pieces. The fireplace tool set belongs to my husband's 97 year old grandma and she has had it as long as he's been alive so it is at least 44 years old. When I was visiting my parents on Christmas Eve, my mom was showing me some new decorating she had done in the basement... this is the large family room where we have all family gatherings and it is a wonderful and homey place! Back in one of the corners I spotted the old coal bucket that we used in our old house when I was growing up. Since she wasn't using it, she let me have it. =] Funny sidenote: after the little shopping trip that day with my mom, my husband was putting something in the suburban and was asking where all we had been, he thought we were antiquing and I bought that. I said "Shh! Be quiet! It came from the basement and don't let my sisters know!" There are four of us girls and mom won't let us have any family heirlooms because she's afraid to make one of us mad. So I had to sneak it out of there before one of my sisters saw it. Hehe!

I adore my fireplace and use it every single day of the winter. I feel that I am very blessed to be living in the Central US in Oklahoma where we have the privilege of experiencing all four seasons. You won't hear me complaining about the weather at any time because I am thankful God gives us such a variety and I'm grateful for it all.

The kids are super excited about the snow finally coming! I know some of you are tired of it already because you've had several feet of it for several months but this is our first snowfall this winter which is really odd for us. We always have a white Christmas and didn't this year. Five year old Robbie thinks it's Christmas now because it's snowing. Don't you just love their innocence? It is so adorable. He's a little upset that it's not Christmas after all. Okay, it's barely snowing but you can see the gazebo roof is covered.

As I'm sitting inside where it's nice and warm, I'm enjoying looking beyond my red door at the beauty of the snowfall.

I hope you all are able to enjoy the beauty as well. Please be safe and stay warm wherever you are! We are patiently waiting (well, some of us are) for the brownies to come out of the oven. My boys and I like to add butter to our brownies as soon as they come out of the oven. Mmmm so delicious when it melts down into the chocolate! Now I know, I didn't say anything about healthy but you should splurge every once in awhile. =]

Have a delightful week~

Christmas packages in the mail!

2010-12-27T19:27:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to share a couple of packages I received in the mail this week. I put them under the tree and opened them on Christmas day, hehe.

Debbie over at Goat Creek made this adorable salt dough crow. What's even neater is that her dear sister friend Holli from Where the Rooster Crows donated from her own pocket $1.00 for every crow bought, to MS research. Well I couldn't pass up such a cute crow and for a wonderful cause! He is so cute, thank you Debbie, you did a wonderful job on him! Thank you also to Holli for having such a sweet and loving heart!

I was beyond thrilled when I learned that I had won Kerri from The Calico Rabbit's Christmas giveaway! Here is a picture from Kerri's blog of all the wonderful goodies that I won:

It's always so fun to decorate with giveaway winnings, isn't it? I thought the little pillow fit perfectly in this black wooden tray sitting next to a homemade rolling pin that my Dad made years ago (I treasure this piece!).

These peppermint sticks are the cutest! I love the vintage tag and homespun that Kerri used on the bag. They look right at home in this vintage bowl I bought last week at Hobby Lobby for only $3!

This bowl of pine cones, greens, and apples really needed something but I just didn't know what to put with it. Kerri's gorgeous pillow completes the look! Kerri, the stitching is perfect and I love the variegated look of the words. It is truly beautiful!!

I'm so glad this wonderful greenery garland with berries was part of the giveaway. I never made it outside this year to collect some pine boughs from my pine trees down by the pond. Our country roads are overflowing with winterberry and I never had time to collect the beautiful berries either so it was wonderful to have some greens in the home!

Also part of Kerri's giveaway was a beautiful red wooden bead garland. I have been on the lookout for wooden garland and all I can ever find is the plastic stuff so I was glad to get that too!

Thank you girls for your generosity! Go check out these wonderful girls' blogs, you won't be disappointed.

Well, I've been laid up since Christmas evening. As I put on my facebook status just a few minutes back "I'm sitting here by the fireplace surrounded by pillows, blanket, toilet paper (to blow my nose, haha, thought I better clear that up), Mentholatum, Mucinex DM, and my laptop. Even though it really stinks to get sick Christmas evening, I am blessed to be feeling somewhat better already and so very thankful for my wonderful family that cleaned up all the Christmas aftermath for me."

I am truly blessed and had such a wonderful Christmas surrounded by loving family and friends. I hope you did too. Looking forward to what the new year holds for the Berry homestead. Much love to you all~

My snowman tree

2010-12-21T16:53:00.000-06:00

Well girls, my snowman tree isn't prim but I love it just the same. See the painted Amish cheese box under the tree? That was my Christmas present from my sister last year. She works at an Amish cheese house and I had been bugging her about a cheese box but she kept ignoring me. I was getting perturbed with her... then when I opened my present I realized why she was ignoring me. Her talented daughter-in-law painted the snowman scene on it and I just love it!

I only use blue and rusty ornaments for this tree. It has snowballs, snowflakes, mittens, and snowmen.

I had a great-uncle that was a big man with a big nose (well, really he did and he would admit it) who always had a deep, jolly laugh that made you laugh when you heard it. He rightfully earned the nickname "Frosty" and that's what we always called him. See my "I love Frosty" ornament?

The snowman tree started out as a 4' tree about 8 years ago. Then it graduated to a 5' tree. Now it has become a 7' tree. I'm gonna have to stop buying for it because I don't want to go any bigger, haha!

It's one of my favorite trees and the most fun to decorate. It's my little tribute to Uncle Frosty who has passed on.

I wish for you and your family a warm and wonderful, Christ filled Christmas~

The Barely There Primitive Bear's Christmas giveaway!

2010-12-07T00:07:00.001-06:00

Make your way over to my sweet friend Karen's The Barely There Primitive Bear's blog for a chance to win this wonderful Christmas arrangement in a sifter, it's just so cute!

But hurry! The giveaway ends Dec. 8th! This is how sweet my friend Karen is: She has 216 followers and if she reaches 225, she will draw a second name to win something! Tell her Angie from Berry Homespun Primitives sent you. =]

Have a delightful week my prim friends~

Cardinal Tree

2010-12-04T21:15:00.002-06:00

Well, it's December 4th and I'm not too far behind, am I? This fall lovin' girl puts her fall decor out mid to late August and puts it away the beginning of December. So out came the Christmas totes last night and the cardinal tree got decorated today. See the little cardinals peeking out?

Cardinals are so beautiful against the stark white snow. I got the idea for a cardinal tree a few years ago. During the '08 Christmas season working at Hobby Lobby, someone returned a $393.00 7.5 ft. mixed pine tree with red berries, snowy branches, and pine cones because the lights didn't work. It was a beautiful tree but I just couldn't afford it. This tree sat in the box in the stockroom throughout the season and I admired it every single time I walked by it.

My manager let me have it for 80% off, plus my 15% employee discount! I was so excited! But the excitement wore off when I got it home and realized I had to use wire cutters on the 1,266 branches to cut off the lights. Yep, each branch had lights clipped to it. Whew! That literally took me over a week! So last year, the cardinal tree made its debut with new sets of clear lights, shiny glass red balls, matte glass red balls, and cardinal ornaments. I even found a metal cardinal tree topper.

I won the Thomas Kincade Christmas book from Micki's Make Mine A Country Christmas facebook group. It's perfect under the tree. We can cuddle on the floor by the fireplace and read it.

I realized, a little too late... that I didn't share any of my fall decor with you. It is my very favorite season of all and the most fun for me to play with. Everything seems to fall into place. Not so with Christmas, haha! So here's tree #1. Four more to go.

I hope you are making delightful memories this time of year with your loved ones~

A couple of last weekends junking finds

2010-11-15T13:55:00.000-06:00

I went out junking last weekend with two of my kids in tow. I prefer not taking them so I can take my time and look for me. They always have something to show me or something they want. But it was either take them or not go. I only have a couple of pictures for right now.

I picked up these rolling pins. The big one was $1, the other one was only 25 cents! I love it because it's different than any I have. Can anyone tell me why it is made that way? The guy I bought it off didn't know. This is when I really miss my grandmas! I would call them up and ask them about anything on this earth and they would give me an answer, especially about old pieces and home remedies. Anyway, I was excited to add a couple of rolling pins to my small collection.

The old Cain's spice tin was only 75 cents and it is going on top of one of my spice cabinets in the kitchen. I love this old broom! There was a $6 price on it so I picked it up. As I was looking at the stuff on the table, the lady said that everything on the table was a quarter. I showed her the $6 price tag and she said it's still a quarter. Woo Hoo! =]

The broom is in great shape except for at the top. I didn't want to cover any of the pretty bristles, so I just cut off the scraggly strands and glued a little homespun at the top. It's going in my laundry room but right now, it's all decorated for fall so I will have to wait till I change out with the seasons.

I have a few more awesome deals that I picked up but I will show them with the makeovers I do on them. I so love before & after pics, they are fun!

I know so many have already decorated for Christmas. I love all the holidays and enjoy decorating for all of them. But my first love is fall so I will join in at the end of November. Thanks for stopping by for a visit, I appreciate hearing from you all! I let my blog reading get three weeks behind... YIKES! But I'm glad to say that now I'm only one week behind. =]

Halloween Amish doll??

2010-10-28T02:19:00.000-05:00

This is a fun, little post that is good for Halloween...

Remember my Amish doll that I bought for $4 at the antique mall in Amish land a couple months back?

Well, her apron was just too white. After I took it off to tea dye it, I realized her body was too white. So I decided to give her a bath in tea and look what I found! The name, town, and date of the maker! How cool is that! She is celebrating her 21st birthday this month. Lol!

I had to hang her up to drain all the tea out and well, this is the only thing I could come up with...

I have to say, it was quite comical being in the kitchen to watch the faces of each family member as they came through and laid eyes on it. My husband was obviously speechless because all he did was shake his head and walk away without a word.

My two older kids came in the kitchen at different times just talking away and both stopped dead in their tracks and said "What are you doing? What has happened to you? Why would you do that??". They too shook their heads and got out of there as quick as they could.

Then the youngest, the just-turned-5 came in chattering on about something. He stopped. His eyes were so huge I thought they were gonna bust right out of their sockets! He started backing up, then slowly made his way over to me and got behind me peeking through and stuttering he said "M-o-m, what is that?". Poor thing had to sleep with me that night. For a few days afterwards, he would look around the kitchen before he came in. "Mom, where is that thing that was hanging up?". He just didn't want to believe it was a doll. Not until she was put back together did he hold her and laugh about it. =]

I told them all that we were making our own haunted house decorations this year. They got so excited about it that I had to tell them I was just kidding and was only tea dyeing.

Poor things, they just don't ever know what to do or say about my primitive exploits. =]

Portable fabric samples

2010-10-07T09:49:00.003-05:00

Okay girls... since you have so much wonderful advice to give, here is my next question... Do you take fabric samples with you when you go shopping and if you do, how do you store them? Sometimes when I'm out supply shopping, I find myself wishing I could see my fabrics to match some things. I'm trying to find a way to take all my fabric with me without carrying the whole stash around.

There is a nifty little app for the iPhone that is for fabric. You take pictures of your fabrics and you can even store them in special folders. Kinda neat, but I like seeing the real thing in real color. So I thought about putting snippets of fabric in a composition book.

I cut a few pieces out but I haven't stapled them to the page yet. I'm holding out for a bit... hoping to get some great advice from YOU on if this works or if there is something better out there. So I will wait for your ideas. =]

Have fun creating and crafting! Till next time~

Rusting jingle bells

2010-09-23T10:51:00.000-05:00

You girls are truly wonderful! Thank you so much for all your words of support, advice, and encouragement on my last post! I really love and appreciate each one of you!

I have managed to set some jingle bells outside to rust. I loaded up when Hobby Lobby had their bags 50% off! That included the ones in the Christmas section that were in big tubes. It always excites me to get my supplies so cheap. I had such a huge grin when I was walking out of the store. Is anyone else as cheesy as me? Lol!

My thoughtful husband saw my platter of bells and said "It's going to rain, those bells are gonna rust, you better get them inside". Haha! When I told him that was my plan, he just looked at me like I was crazy then went on about his business without saying a word. He's just used to it by now.

That was on September 8th. Here it is two weeks later and they are doing pretty good:

The bigger ones are going pretty slow. I will have to move them to a deeper dish so they will be completely covered.

So you girls that rust bells the natural way... how long does it usually take? I check my water level every few days to fill it up and give them a shake. My itty, bitty ones are probably done. They are so tiny, so cute! You can't even see them, they are covered in the water. I can't wait to use them!

Have fun crafting and creating! Till next time~

WHERE'S MY CREATING, CRAFTING, SCRAPBOOKING TIME?!?!

2010-09-15T23:19:00.003-05:00

Wow girls! This is really not going as I envisioned it would. =[

Today marks the 5th week that my kids have been in school. I was not pushing for school to start, I enjoy spending the summer with my kids especially since I was able to quit work this summer and spend even more time with them. But I will say that I would get excited when I thought about the alone time I would have to create, craft, and scrapbook! WRONG!

My little guy started half-day Pre K this year.

My baby girl started middle school this year.

My big guy started high school this year.

Let me just run through what my typical day has consisted of these past five weeks.

Get the kids up at 6:40am
Leave the house at 7:20am
Drop off daughter at middle school at 7:30am
Drop off oldest son at high school at 7:35am
Go home and spend the morning with youngest son
Leave the house at 12:10pm
Drop off youngest son at elementary school at 12:20pm
Go home and do dishes, laundry, pick up the house
Leave the house at 2:20pm
Pick up daughter from school at 2:30pm
Pick up youngest son from school at 2:50pm
Go home and help with homework, check the computer
Leave the house at 4:45pm
Pick up oldest son from football practice at 5:00pm
Go home and cook dinner
Leave the house at 6:20pm on Tue and Thur
Drop off daughter at cheer practice at 6:30pm on Tue and Thur
Go home and relax!
Leave the house at 8:15pm
Pick up daughter from cheer practice at 8:30pm
Go home and get school bags and clothes ready for the next day
Daughter in bed at 9pm
Youngest son in bathtub at 9:15pm
Oldest son in bed at 10pm
Read books to youngest son in bed at 10pm
10:30pm till I crash-- computer time

Daughter's games are every Saturday. Son's games are on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

WHERE'S MY CREATING, CRAFTING, SCRAPBOOKING TIME?!?!

I know, I know!! I've heard it thousands of times and that's no exaggeration... enjoy this time with them while you can for they will soon be gone. I'm trying my hardest!

In-between these "times", I did manage to get things gathered, priced, and set up for a garage sale that we had. We did really good... sold lots and lots of stuff... not much left. Yah for that! I was also able to get almost all my fall decorations out. Yah for that too! Now to find the time to take some pictures of it so I can get that header picture changed, haha!

So if you don't see me for awhile, I'm still here... trying to catch up on my blog reading (only one week behind now instead of two) and taking care of the duties of one blessed momma and wife! I will add this... yes, my husband is very involved with the kids, helping out with them and the chores of the home but he works between 48-60 hours a week on the midnight shift. He's always willing to lead a helping hand after he gets a good day's sleep. =]

Looking forward to seeing all of your fall decorations~

Grunging candles

2010-08-20T12:48:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to share with you my grunging process. I started out with a white pillar candle I got at a garage sale for 50 cents. I put it in my makeshift double boiler that is a gallon food tin and a stock pot I bought at a garage sale to use this way and also for when I tea dye.

Then I took all the little tea lights out of their metal casings and took out the wicks. I bought a bunch of boxes at Dollar Tree in the half price bin. I didn't care too much about the scent because the cinnamon and spices are so strong, it covers it anyway.

I also had a bright red half pillar candle that the wick was messed up on, so I put that in the pot too. As it melted down, I pulled the wick right out of it. In my experience, the color of the candle doesn't matter so much because the wax is a transparent color when you melt it down, it is not opaque like the candle. I don't use paraffin wax or store bought candle making wax. I am always on the lookout for cheap, broken, clearance candles. After the holiday sales are the best time to get candles when color and size doesn't matter. I put them all in a box to store them, then pull them out to grunge or melt when I have a good supply. Next time I grunge, I'm going to add vanilla to the pot, I forgot to do that this time.

I bought 6 boxes of these 6-count of 5" emergency candles at the Dollar Tree. They are the perfect size for most candle holders. I cut the wicks off because I don't want sparks from the spices. I know some people don't do this but I just want to be careful. So mine are just for looks instead of burning. It's easier to cut the wick after they've been dipped a few times.

Then the real fun (and mess) begins!

I mix cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. I immerse the candle in the wax for about 10 seconds then pull it out with metal tongs. Then I roll the candle in the bowl. I'm always stocking up on those latex household gloves when Walgreen's has a coupon 3/1.00 or 2/1.00. I use those and throw them away when I'm done. The tongs leave marks in the candle, but after I roll the candle in the mixture, I rub it between my gloved hands lightly so it pushes the cinnamon onto the candle and evens out the tong marks. I do 3-4 at a time, let them cool after each dip then repeat this over and over again until I get the thickness I want and the candle is completely covered. Some people end with a dip in the wax. I end with a dip in the mixture because I think it's more grungy that way. But the best thing about that is you can see it both ways and decide which way you like better.

The bigger (pillar) candles I actually had to use my gloved hand to roll it around in the hot wax. It was warm and the glove was covered in wax but it wasn't hot enough to burn me. I just use my scraper on the glove and scrape it back into the hot wax. Same thing with the wax build up on the metal tongs.

The hardest for me was the battery operated tea lights because I had never grungied those before. I finally learned that I just had to cake it on with the spreader. A little wasn't cutting it and it can't be thrown in the pot. I'm glad I saved these for last because what I finally did was let the wax cool slightly and then spread it on like icing. After a roll in the mixture, they turned out pretty good I thought.

Quite messy, yes indeed! Rich asked me if I realized what a mess I was making. Hehe! I wish I had an after clean-up picture. I had to scrape a little wax off the counter top and the stove top but it all worked out great. I was afraid I was going to scratch the ceramic stove top, but I didn't. Can't even tell that big mess was once there!

I'll have to post some pictures of what I did with some of my grungy goodies. I hope you give it a shot sometime, it was so much fun to see the progress! And just like anything else that you create, the finished product makes you smile and realize it was all worth it!

Edit 02/11: I just wanted to add that I put my burner on med-high to melt the wax. When it melts down, I put the burner on as low as it will possibly go for two reasons. This keeps the spices from melting off. The candle also dries quicker which keeps it from having too many drips hanging off of it. It is then not too hot for me to rub in the drips.

Also, if you'll read through the comments, you will get lots more great suggestions! Lots of women use crock pots for their waxing because it's less of a mess they say. I say, whatever works best for you and the easiest is the way to go.

Don't be afraid to jump in and give it a try. I was... I waited a few years before I finally just did it then I was mad at myself for waiting SO long! Just like any other craft... you learn as you go. Wax is so forgiving... if you mess up, just stick it in the melted wax again and give it another shot.

Please email me if you have any questions! I'm happy to help out in any way that I can.

Prim friend goodies

2010-08-12T09:57:00.001-05:00

What a crazy, busy time it has been lately! I just wanted to pop in here and show you some goodies that I was blessed with this past month from some wonderful prim friends!

I won Linda's giveaway! She is such a generous soul! She drew 7 names and sent out 7 packages!! I couldn't believe how big the box was when I received it because I thought I won a baby shoe pinkeep. Well, here is what all she sent me.

Wow! It was SO much fun unwrapping everything. I love it all, thank you Linda! You are a true sweetheart!! I'm so glad we have become good friends over the past months because it makes your gifts all the more sweeter! Go on over to Linda's blog at Parker's Paradise and pay her a visit. She is always up to something... menu planning, traveling, getting great deals at auctions and giving them makeovers and much more.

I also received this wonderful apron from a new facebook friend that I just met in June. Oops! Sorry, don't look to closely at the dust. I am finally taking all of my Americana down this week then I will dust before I drag all the fall totes out! YAH! Can't wait for that! Isn't it beautiful? I love it! Thanks Sandie!

Sandie Maldonado and her husband Henry are wonderful people! He had just made her a beautiful dry sink and she was trying to decide what to put inside it. I remembered a white porcelain bowl that I gobbled up at a garage sale along with a whole big box full of other goodies for only $7! (I love when men are running the sales... they always want to get rid of their wife's junk, haha!). I shot her a message asking her if she would like it. She sent me the money for shipping and I sent it to her. I hope she doesn't mind, but I borrowed this picture from her facebook. Isn't it so wonderful that two girls from different countries can come together like this? I love how the bowl looks in her dry sink. Perfect combination Sandie girl!

Sandie is another true sweetheart! They have a wonderful website that you should check out: http://www.thehollowcupboard.com/.

I know I repeat myself over and over again... but I truly mean this when I say there is no sweeter or greater friend than that of a prim girl!!

A trip to the Amish

2010-07-28T19:20:00.004-05:00

My boys are visiting Grandma this week and my daughter is cleaning and decorating for a Luau swim party that she is hosting here tomorrow night. So I took off all by myself and went down the road about 20 miles to a very small Amish community. First stop was at Ropp's bakery where I bought some more chicken base, ice cold Coca-cola in a bottle and these...

I just love their homemade buttermilk brownies! My sister used to make these all the time when we were growing up. I remember begging Mom to buy the "good brownies" at the store... you know... the good ones in the box that my friends were always so fortunate to have. Hahaha! I'm still trying to locate our recipe. I know it's just as good as the Amish. Could even be the same recipe. Yep, ice cold Coca-cola and buttermilk brownies for breakfast! Best breakfast I've had in a long time. =]

I didn't get any pictures of Amish. I was too busy watching an older Amish woman cradling a few dozen eggs under her arm as she hiked her leg, dress and all, flung herself up on the tractor and take off down the road. I could just picture myself trying that... I would land flat on my rear with a few dozen eggs in my face.

I then went on down the road and came across a flea market. I have been looking for another printer's box for awhile now. I came across this one for $2.99! I was pretty excited about that! The last Amish doll I bought was probably over 10 years ago. You just don't see them for sale around here anymore so when I set out this morning, I was determined to find an Amish doll. And I came across this one for $4.99! This "pigeon hole" box was also $4.99.

I was telling the owner how I was going to tea dye the apron, clean her up a little. She said "Honey, I can tell you like primitives just like me, you aren't gonna clean her up, you are gonna dirty her up!". I drove around the small community for awhile and found a couple more flea markets to visit the next trip over. My car really, really wanted to pull into the parking lot of the Amish buffet restaurant where they have the most delicious homemade noodles. But I knew I was fixing a big dinner for the family and they would wonder why I wasn't hungry. After a stop at the hand crafted furniture shop, which had the most beautiful furniture I have ever seen in my entire life, I headed on home. It was a nice time. I was wishing I had a friend along with me to enjoy the day but it was still nice to get away by myself... which NEVER happens with three kids at home!

One more thing I wanted to share. I bought this paint rack at a garage sale a few weeks back for one dollar!! Talk about excitement!! I almost bought one at Hobby Lobby a few years back for $19 and that was on sale AND with my employee discount!

Since my 4.5 yr old is gone for the week, I told Rich that I was turning the dining room table into a painting table. It's covered with projects, along with the kitchen counter. I have been having a great week!

Well that's all for this time. As always, thanks for coming by to visit! You prim girls are the best and I really enjoy blogging with you. I just wish I could have about 3 days straight of nothing but blogging... just maybe I could get caught up on my blog reading. =]

You all have a delightful week!

Blessings~

What I've been doing the past month

2010-07-17T13:31:00.002-05:00

Goodness I've been gone for awhile haven't I? I received this from a friend for my birthday. She took her son to Wyoming for college and did a little shopping. She said the store was filled with this kind of stuff. Laughingly, I said "Yes! It's a prim store!". She was amazed because we don't have prim stores anywhere in this danged state! Do you girls realize how fortunate you are?!

I got this 4' x 6' flag at a garage sale for 50 cents!! I snatched it up in a hurry. The first thing Rich says is "You're not gonna tea dye that, are you?". Haha! Why yes I am! I showed him the stains on it and he was okay with it. I think it will look great draped over my old school desk or a chair. Good deals... batting for 50 cents, beautiful white and blue bowl for $1.

Speaking of tea dying... got these cute little towels at Dollar Tree that took a dunk.

I added cinnamon to the pot and I'm not sure I like it on the towels. It looks like they are moldy. Ha! The white towels look great but for some reason the red, white, and blues one didn't turn out so great. I'm guessing it's the fabric?

I gained over 40 new followers when I had my giveaway. The past few weeks I've been going through and adding them to my blogroll, following them. Doing that has put me far behind on my blog reading and posting. But I'm not complaining! It's been lots of fun making new prim friends, I am really enjoying it! Besides that, this is what's been keeping me busy too...

I've been pulling rocks out of this bed by hand and taking bucket fulls to a friend's home down the street. We are pulling up the smaller bushes in front of the boxwood and transplanting them to the back yard. I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but I had quite aways to go still. I am now down to about a 2 foot square left!!

This fall the house will get painted and hopefully next year will be a new roof. Then the following year or two we are going to pull out all the boxwood, tear out the concrete steps and build a whole new front area. There is always something that I want to do. Hehe! It's lots of work but the rewards in the end are worth it. I will say though... this seems to help cool things down a bit after working up quite a sweat.

Thanks for visiting me and checking on me. I have the most wonderful prim friends there is! You all have a delightful weekend~

We have a winner!

2010-06-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

Well I could ramble on about this forever.... but I won't! Instead I will just say how much I enjoyed my first giveaway! Thank you all so much for your kind words and sweet blog love! I've heard it said over and over again how the one that is giving away says she wishes she could give something to each and every one that entered. I always think "Yeah right, then share the love." Haha! But now I understand!! I truly wish I could send each of you something. Since I can't send something to all your mailboxes, I will send you best wishes for my next giveaway! I've been working on it and I'm really excited about it too! So be on the lookout in a few weeks for my next color giveaway. I think you might like it... I hope anyway!

I used http://www.random.org/ to select the winner. That was quick! I was hoping to see it fumble through some numbers then slowly come up with the winning number. Nothing like anticipation, you know what I mean? But no, it was boring and popped it right up there. No fun at all.

...And the winner is #45!! YAH Lara over at Colonial Homestead!!! Go show Lara some love! She is a relatively new blogger with only being around since March. Lara also has a selling blog called Colonial Homestead Creations that she just opened. Congratulations Lara!

Thanks so much girls! I appreciate all the new followers I gained! What fun this is! I'm so behind on reading my friends' blogs... I'll be over to meet each of you new girls soon. Thanks and have a delightful weekend! =]

Lara, on my blog page under the About Me section is "View my complete profile". Click on it. On the left side under Contact, click on email. Send me an email with your address and I'll get this mailed out to you on Monday. I can't wait for you to get it. I hope you like it!