My Monday Blues

My Monday Blues for this week is one of my most prized possessions.  My great grandmother's wedding dress was blue!  Being married in the late 1800's didn't always mean a white dress.  She must have liked the color blue because this isn't the only thing I have of hers that was blue.  I'm not going to tell you what one of them is, I'll save that to share another Blue Monday. 

The dress fits our DD almost perfectly.  She's a size 0/1 so that tells you how small my Great Grandmother was when she married.  DD would only model if I promised not to show her face!  "I don't have on any makeup and my hair's in a pony tail". 

Close up of the bodice,  the inserts are mesh with embroidery on them. 

Close up of the neck insert...

and the insert above the waist line.  The waist is pleated horizontally.   

The sleeves are also edged in the embroidered mesh and accented with hanging beads. The beads are also an accent on the sides of the bodice, they are stitched on in graduated lengths. 

Side view of bodice

The bottom front of the dress has two rows of buttons, in between each row is a pleat.  A very subtle added interest. 

One of the most special things about our DD posing in this dress is the fact that she is named for this maternal ancestor.  Carrie was married in this dress on January 23, 1884.  Our DD is named Carrie in honor of her Great-Great Grandmother Carrie. 

Growing up I used to go into my Mother's closet and admire this dress.  I always dreamed of being married in it as well.  That didn't happen, a more modern  white dress was chosen, as you saw a few posts back. 

Poor DD Carrie was complaining about not being able to breath in this dress, I told her to look on the bright side, I didn't lace her into a corset before I "made" her put on the dress! 

Have a great week.  ~Ann

Prim Market Baskets

I've been working on some new basket designs and have posted them both on my 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets blog.  Click on the link to the right to see these baskets. 

Have a great weekend.  We had 2 basketball games tonight, 3 tomorrow night and 3 Saturday.   Whew! I must say I am looking forward to the end of basketball season.  ~Ann 

More Monday Blues

Two weeks ago, I was spurred on by Char to post pictures of blue items around my home.  I featured some of my crocks last time.  This time I'm going to share some of my blue painted items.  The first two items were made by our DS#1 for 4H projects.  The first item I know you've seen before, but it's been a while so it's worth posting again. 

The project book said flower box, but I thought it would be better on the counter with a portion of my masher collection in it. 

His second year in woodworking, the project book had them making something that he designed himself.  We brainstormed and came up with this matchstick holder.  Good thing DH can draw out plans!  It hangs in the small area between the kitchen cupboards and our sliding glass doors.    You will notice that neither of these items are roughed up or stained,  we didn't think the 4H judges would appreciate a prim look!  I love both these items. 

This shelf has been my header picture before and if you've been my follower for awhile now, you've seen this before too.  But again, it's a blue piece in my home. 

.  The last item that I have to show on this Blue Monday is the staircase from the basement family room to the kitchen.  When we bought this house the lower level was unfinished.  The stairs were scary with 2 little ones and a baby - we locked the kitchen door so no one could fall down the stairs - there weren't any banisters or hand rails, just open sides.  DH reconstructed the entire stairway, to my specifications of course!  The treads are stained and the risers are painted blue. 

Now I just wish that our stairs going to the 2nd floor were as good looking - a project for another year. 

All 4 of these projects were painted with Olde Century Paints - Navy.  I will warn you that I don't think it's a very dark navy, but the color has grown on me since we've used it so much around the house.  As I've mentioned before, I LOVE Olde Century paints, they are pricey but for items that you are making to treasure forever it's worth the extra $$. 

Have a great week.  ~Ann

Spools, spools, spools

I can't show you all anything that I've been up to! Why you ask?   I have 2 February Birthdays that I'm working on - both birthday gals read my blog so I can't ruin the surprises.  Plus I've been working on my Trashy Swap goodies and I don't want to let my partner know what I'm up to so she has a surprise when her package arrives!  Thought I'd share one of my collections today. 

This is an inherited collection of spools from both of my grandmothers.  I just love to look at these old wooden spools and read the labels and prices!  If thread were that inexpensive today it would be great. 

I have some tucked into this little round basket in a corner cupboard

and a few in this Mason jar in the corner of the downstairs bathroom

Think of all the stitching that was done with these yards and yards of thread! 

My favorite spools are the ones like this one

If you look carefully you will see my maternal grandmother's initials on this one EGL.  My mother was an only daughter, but my grandmother labeled all "her" spools so my mother wouldn't walk off with any!  My Grandmother was quite the unique person!  She taught school - Latin, loved to read Shakespeare and to do crossword puzzles.  She was a farmer's wife and had all the responsibilities that came along with that position in the early 1900's.    Of course she left teaching for a number of years while raising her family of 3 children, my Mom being the youngest. 

My Mom recalls after being married and setting up her own house, that when my Grandmother would visit, she always counted my Mother's silver!  (I can't imagine my Mother being that nosey in my house - she's never counted my silver, all she cares about is whether I take care of it, which I do.)  I can't believe that my Mother didn't hide a few pieces to see what my Grandmother would say.  Mom said it never occurred to her to do that. 

Have a wonderful weekend.  We have basketball tonight and  tomorrow morning at 8 and 10.  Then on Sunday night our oldest DS starts indoor baseball in Ft. Wayne.  We've never played indoor baseball before so this should be fun.  ~Ann

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Twenty one years ago today (January 21, 1989) my DH and I got married.  Happy Anniversary to Us.  I can't believe that it's been that long, it sure doesn't seem that long as I can't be more than 32! 

DH looks so young in our wedding photos.  He was young, we both were - I was a senior in college and he had graduated from the same college the previous year.  My parents just couldn't understand my "rush" to get married.  Mind you my mother was only 22 when she got married - the same age I was, although she had graduated from college already.  My Dad was older, he was 28 and a veteran of WWII going to college on the GI bill. 

How times and styles change - would I pick everything today as I did then?  Doubtful, but a marriage is not about the wedding it's about the marriage that comes after the wedding.   I loved my dress then and still do, it was a straight dress with a detachable train.  After the wedding I removed the train so I didn't have to deal with the bustle at the reception.  

 

My cake topper and unity candle.  Unity candles were all the rage in the 80's when we got married.  I know lots of people still use them, but EVERYONE that got married in the '80's had one.  Ours had our wedding invitation on it embellished with sparklies and pearls.  I had dreams of displaying my cake topper in my home to commemorate the day. Where is it now - in the hat box with my veil on the top shelf in my closet!  Can't say that it really mixes in with the primitive decor that I so love. 

Have a wonderful weekend - ours will be filled with basketball.  ~Ann

Let's Save some $$$$$

Have you noticed my new box on the right hand side of  my blog?  I've called it  "How much can I save?"  I'm keeping track of what I save in 2010 with coupons and comparison shopping.  Let me show you what I'm doing.

  In our small town here in NW Ohio we only have a Walmart and a local grocery store.  The local store is great for produce and meats, but too expensive for me to buy all my groceries at.  I'm left to shop at Walmart, unless I want to drive 1/2 hour in one direction to get to a Meijer or Kroger store or 20 minutes in another direction to get to another local store that has some great buys.  With our busy life I need to stay in town. 

 Did you know that Walmart honors competitor's advertised prices?  Each weekend I scan the sale ads for items that I need, search through my coupons and make a list.  I'm always armed with 3 fliers from competitor's and hit Walmart. 

Here is an example from my last shopping trip -

The Walmart price on a 6 pack of Danimals yogurt was $2.58.  Kroger had them advertised for $1.88, just show the clerk at Walmart the flier and they will charge you the $1.88 price.  On top of the price adjustment I had a coupon for $1.00 off so I got this item for $.88 cents!  This is an item that I do buy when it's on sale, but wouldn't purchase it at regular price.  My kids like these and at 88 cents I'm happy to purchase them. 

To figure my savings, I added the comparison price savings of 70 cents to my total savings and the $1.00 coupon to the coupon savings.  Since I purchased 2 of these, I just doubled my savings as I had 2 coupons.

Just a note about Walmart shopping - I'm sure there are some of my readers that wouldn't shop at Walmart, I dont' mean to offend you, it's just that my budget requires me to find the best possible prices on items that we buy.  With a family of 5 and 2 of those being hungry boys I need to stretch my grocery money as far as I can and Walmart allows me to do that. I do not work at Walmart and I am not advertising for them, just letting you know what they offer.   

I'd love for you to join me in my savings journey this year.  Feel free to post on your blog too and let me know what you are saving or ways to save more money. I am really surprised by how much I've saved and we're only half way through January.   ~Ann

I'm Feeling Blue!

Char at the Pickled Pepper Patch does a Monday post about the Monday Blues.  Today one of the items she highlights is her love of crocks.  I too love crocks, my favorite are the ones decorated with blue designs. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite from around my home. 

 This first one is one of my most prized possessions.  It was made in my hometown of Sherburne New York by Hart Brothers Pottery.  I do not have the lid for this, but I do believe that it was a churn.  When my parents gave it to me I was ecstatic!   For all of my growing up years it sat out in the garage on a shelf overhead.  Now you need to understand that our garage was really the old horse barn, 2 1/2 stories tall and big enough for a tractor, a car or 2 and my Dad's woodworking shop.   

I remember this crock sitting at a very precarious angle on that shelf, I'm really surprised that it didn't fall off and break.  I can imagine how it ended up on the shelf, I'm sure my Grandmother didn't want a butter churn sitting in her house once she began using a glass table top churn.  I'm sure that lots of items where discarded that we would all drool over.  As new "technology" was developed our ancestors said "out with old and in with the new".  Thank goodness I come from a long line of packrats!   

 My family knows to steer clear from this crock - I'm not sure I could find a replacement and I KNOW I couldn't afford one!  Whenever my friend Melissa - Farm Field Primitives is over I have to make sure that the crock is still sitting in my home and hasn't found it's way out into her vehicle! 

This next crock is just a crock, another one that my parents gave me from the garage!  The kids love to hid things in this one when Mom says "clean up"! 

A new item in my collection.  My college roommate knows of my love of blue crockery and gave me this bowl and pitcher set several years ago. 

A little of my past and my present.  The crock on the left was given to me by my parents - no this one didn't come from the garage, it's new!  It has my hometown imprinted in it - Sherburne NY.  The crock on the right is in celebration of Ohio's bicentennial in 2003. 

This next crock I found at a church rummage sale.  It's a little beat up but that's what I like about it. 

I hope you've enjoyed a peek into my collection of blue pottery.  Have a wonderful Blue Monday.  ~Ann