Primitive Lighting

When I found this tin chandelier at Irvin's on clearance I purchased it and it sat in the box in the basement for several months, then actually made it to hanging up for maybe a year before the electricity was run to it! (There wasn't a light in the ceiling of this room when we moved in, DH had to peel back carpet & padding, in the bedroom above it and cut a hole in the floor to run the electricty.) This room had been the previous owner's family room, it sits at the end of the kitchen - we decided to switch things up and make it part of the kitchen. Dining room sounds too formal for a prim lifestyle so we call it the eat in kitchen. Now that we had the chandelier that posed a problem for the other 3 lights that run in a straight line into the kitchen. Have you checked out the price of prim lighting? WOW!!! I'd love to have 3 light fixtures that cost $200.00 each, but that wasn't going to happen. We found these lights at Menard's for about $24.00 each. They came with a white ring that sits flush to the ceiling and a white "button" that screws in to hold the glass in place. I decided that I'd use a can of spray paint in a granite color over the white areas and this is how they turned out. I am very happy with the result. Sometimes a project turns out just how you imagined!

It's nice enough weather that our "pet" chipmunk is out sitting on the deck. Frito about comes out of his skin when "chip" is taunting him. One day this week we came home from school and Frito was sitting in the living room window with his head pushed against the glass looking straight down into the landscaping - guess who was out front??? CHIP. Poor Frito, if only he could figure out a way to get outside!

Lastly I thought I'd share a couple of baskets that also grace our kitchen/eat in area of the house. I'd seen a basket like this one in a magazine - I'm sure in a prim house! I scrounged around til I found a handle in my stash and took rough measurements of what I wanted and just wove this up. I really like it over the back sliding doors, it's very simple.

This next basket is from a pattern by Marlene Meyer, she's a great weaver/designer. Think of it as a round tray. The Wood fretwork disc is made from black walnut and if you look very closely you will see my initials - "A F" cut into the design. A basketweaver friend's husband cut this out for me and I treasure it. The basket is woven with cane and reed. The wall of the basket is about 2 1/2". I don't use this basket other than for decoration. I've learned the hard way that fretwork will break if little boys step on it! I'd made a purse with fretwork sides and my youngest stepped on it when he was little and a piece broke off and was never seen again.

Til next time ~Ann