Yard Sale Finds This Morning- Lots of Goodies

Today was the first real day it was nice enough to go hit the yard sales around here.  There was quite a few listed in our local paper so off hubby and I went.  I spent a total of 18.50 and here is what I got.  2 french shabby chic signs on wood. The original tags were on them at 12.00.  I paid 3.00 for both.  An unfinished pegboard shelf for 2.00. A sisal rope planter box for 1.00. A hanging metal planter with a coco liner for a 1.00. ( I almost bought one of these at Lowes for over 10.00 the other day)  A wooden bucket that I will paint and use as a container for plants outside. A shabby decoupage flower picture for my daughter for 1.00.  A shabby shadow box picture of a little cafe.  A homespun tablecloth in brown and white. A man at one of the sales saw me looking at the window inserts he had out.  He said he never got around to putting them on his new Anderson windows.  I said I was thinking of them for a craft project and he said how many do you want?  So he gave me 4 for FREE and then another 2 that I will use as trellises for free too!  My favorite buys today were the 2 vintage leather suitcases. I plan on decoupaging some old travel stickers on them and using them as a display in my bedroom. I also got 3 little porcelain boxes. One is a rooster, a pile of suitcases and one is a little dresser.  50 cents each! All in all it was a great day!

Changing the Kitchen Table this Morning

Today has dawned a gorgeous, sunny and warm Spring day here in the northeast.  My heart and prayers go out to those who have been hit with these horrible tornados the past few days.  I can only imagine the feelings of helplessness and fear that a tornado would bring.  This morning I changed my kitchen table display.  I am a collector of vintage tablecloths.  I love them!  I love the patterns on them and the feel of crisp cotton. I put a different one on my table every few days.  I look for different patterns, the more unusual the better. I love to think of the 1950's or 60's housewife choosing the tablecloth at the store for her kitchen, and wonder why she chose the eg. orange tulips with the purple leaves, or the cloth with the vintage stoves all over it.   The one I chose today is not unusual, but features one of my favorite flowers the peony.  I paired it up with a old tin basin of vintage veggies (1960's), an old oil lamp, a pewter creamer and sugar, vintage rooster salt and pepper and a vintage art pottery pear pitcher that I found at the Salvation Army store for 1.99 a few months ago.
On another note, hubby came home with another great find yesterday.  A vintage queen anne style drop leaf table.  He found it out for the trash, asked the owner if he could take it and he said sure.  It is in my garage at the moment awaiting some magic.  I am not sure what to do with it..lol but who can pass up something like that?
Have a great weekend!

 

Easter Blessings To You and Yours

This Life on Earth

Easter means that this life on earth

is not all there is.

Jesus went "to prepare a place for us"

in His Father’s heavenly mansions

for all eternity.

Jesus died for our sins,

paying our penalty,

so that we could be forgiven.

He was resurrected, to prove

that death has no hold

on those who repent

and accept Him as Savior.

This life on earth is a prelude

to eternal joy with our Lord.

Easter is a celebration

of our eternal destiny.

By Joanna Fuchs

Spring Has Been Slow in Coming This Year...but Finally Some Signs are Showing

A few signs of Spring are finally showing themselves in my backyard here in New England.  We have had a long, cold, snowy winter and Spring so far has been slow to come with most days still in the 40's and a lot of gray skies and rain.  My Weeping Cherry bloomed today, despite the drizzle and gray skies so I had to grab a picture of it!  The blossoms do not last very long and with more rain predicted for the next few days, I am sure I will not get another chance.  I love the way it looks in front of the old outhouse in my backyard. We use it as a shed, but the old worn seats are still there. The lobster trap has held up through another harsh New England Winter. Soon I will be taking out the old fishing buoys too. There is so much work that needs to be done with the lawn and gardening.  I hope the weather co-operates soon!

Over the back fence the river is showing signs of Spring!  A Great Blue Heron has been sitting on an old fallen tree each morning and I think she might have a nest there.  I need to wander down and see if I can get a bit closer.  The Canadian geese are pairing up as well as a Mallard duck couple and I can hear them honking as they fly down the river and land behind the house.

These sweet little blue flowers are carpeting one corner of the backyard.  I am not sure what they are called but they are a sure sign of Spring also!

Primitive Wall Box Make Over

Last week I posted about my Salvation Army Store finds for that week and mentioned a couple of wall boxes I found for 99 cents each.  I finished one and I am pleased with how it came out. It had quite a high shine shellac on it when I bought it, so I sanded it down a bit, did a few chops and dings to the wood and then got to painting in the matte black.  After it dried I did some light sanding in the areas I felt would show wear over time. Then I rubbed it down with Old English Scratch Cover liquid for dark wood which gives in a mellow look as if it is 150 years old.  I hung it in my front entry hallway.  I think I am addicted to the black paint. I just love it.  Maybe the other wall box I will do in red or green.  I think tomorrow DH and I will head back to the thrift store since it is half price Wednesday again !
Before: It is hard to tell it has a very high gloss shellac on it.

After:

Prim Pets- They Give Our Homes Patina

Oh how I would love to live in one of the houses I see in the magazines, spotless, not a speck of dust in sight. Everything arranged perfectly in an almost museum quality setting.  I love looking at picture trails of other peoples homes decorated in the primitive style.  I feel like I am walking back in time and wonder why, while my house is nice and we are happy here, it just doesn't look like those houses in the pictures.  Is it my camera?  Am I just not into all the things I should be like constant housework, decorating and crafting?  I think I know the answer to my question.  They are called Pets.  We have a lot of them.  7 cats to be exact and one spoiled Pit Bull.  At any one time you may find 4 cats sprawled out on the bed on my 19th century overshot coverlet. Or, I catch the dog running down the hallway with a prim doll hanging out of his mouth. He has chewed more dollies than I care to mention. Or the new scratch on the bay window sill.  Baskets make lovely scratching posts and great  "make-do" cat beds too ! How many coats of stain do you have to put on hardwood floors in a year?  I have lost count.
This is one of the prim cats named Misty.  Oh how she wishes that nest was real!  I had to snap this picture of her which is totally un-staged and came upon when I walked in the kitchen and saw her here.  I will skip posting a picture part II of this scene as is wasn't a pretty site.  Nest on floor, a bit of spanish moss missing  and kitty throw up all around it   But that is the way it goes in this house. Husband says it's all patina for future generations~I love my prim pets.

Salvation Army Store Finds for this Week!

On Wednesday our local Salvation Army Store has half price day on most items.  These are a few things I picked up in the last couple of weeks.  The two wall boxes were 99 cents a piece.  I plan to paint them and prim them up and add some prim things to them.  The standing thin small cupboard type thing has 3 shelves inside. I already worked on this one and am pretty happy with the results except I am not finished with the latch for the front. DH needs to make me a turning latch type thing.   It was a pea green color with a colonial paper picture of an angel on the front when I got it. I gouged it up a bit and painted it black. I sanded it to make it look worn and then put Old English Scratch Remover for Dark Wood over the whole thing which gave it a nice mellow prim feel.  I paid 2.99 for that.  The molding type shelf in the light color I bought for 3.99. It was new in the box with the hardware even.  I am going to paint that a chippy ivory and attach it to an old window that is has been in the garage waiting for me. lol.  I think it will look nice with some grapevines and maybe a small wreath on the window.  The plant pot I got 10 of them all the same for 49 cents each!  The are more a shabby chic type look but I plan to use them outdoors for planting this year on a shelf I found on the side of the road!  The little half basket will go on my pegboard.  I paid 99 cents for that. I also got 2 vintage cotton tablecloths for my table in fruit patterns.  All in all I did pretty well at the thrift store lately and will show my results for these items when completed!

Seriously 5 Dollars??

My husband came home the other day with this basket that he got for 5 dollars!!  It has a little break in the corner, but I thought he got it for a great price.  He said I could use it for laundry...whatta a guy :)  I put it in my hallway with another field basket inside it instead and will fill it with something.  I hope everyone is enjoying some Spring weather finally.  It poured rain yesterday, but today is dawning with sunshine and I hope warmer temps.  I will be posting some pictures of my latest Salvation Army Store finds and what I plan on doing with them later.

Kitchen Gatherings

I am blessed to have a large kitchen with a lot of room for prim delights :)  Here are a few areas of my kitchen.
The entry: Includes pieces of our stoneware collection and some woodenware.

Stove Area:  The brickwork in my stove area is brick salvaged from an early home we were told. The stove itself is pretty much an antique lol ( 50 years old) and came with the house but works like a dream still so I leave it be. Here you will find a lot of my tinware collection, some early lighting, and some of hubby's stoneware and bottles.

Saturday Drive and Some Prim Shopping

Dh and I had a nice day today.  We took a leisurely drive down Rte 28, through Middleboro, Lakeville, Marion and Rochester. I love that road because there is a lot of historical areas with 18th century homes and I enjoy looking at them and imagining what they are like inside.  We stopped at a couple of nice gift shops on our trip.  One was the Gingham Goose in Rochester which I love!  The owner has such lovely prim gifts and reproductions and the set up of her store is so gorgeous.  I bought a long iron hook to hang a period betty lamp that I have on, and a few placemats to make pillows out of.  Yes, I make pillows out of placemats. lol  I will show you a picture when I am done with these. I always have a huge wishlist when I leave her shop!  The next stop was the Ansel Gurney house in Marion. It is a nice shop in an 18th century home.  It has 11 rooms of this and that.  I didn't buy anything there, but it was fun to look around. On the way back home we saw another shop in Middleboro that has primitives and there was a sign in the window that said 40% off.  We are going back tomorrow I think because Dh was tired by the time we passed this one and a tired Dh doesn't make for a good shopping experience..lol.  I hope everyone had a great day today.
Gurney House:

 

Gingham Goose

Prim Window Gathering with Carrots I Made Today

 Today was cold and raw after a night of snow and rain, so I decided to stay in and work on an Easter display for my bay window.  I made the carrots from crepe paper streamers wrapped around a paper plate formed into a cone and then  painted them with coffee tinted mod podge to give them the grubbied look. I wished I had a different shade of green crepe paper for the carrot tops, but I was too lazy to go out of the house to find some. All in all I think they came out pretty well. The bunny is a lawn ornament that hasn't found his way outside yet this year. Pip berries, spanish moss, and faux forsythia flowers round out the display along with a few speckled eggs.