A Hole in the Basket Primitives

Easy Pot Holders

2012-01-25T16:27:00.000-05:00

Do you follow Jodi at Pleasant Home blog? She is an amazing quilter and spends many hours blogging and finding inspirational quilt photos online to share. There is no way I could ever become the prolific quilter that she is! Recently she shared a great tutorial for a mug rug. You can find it HERE

This method has got to be the easiest way to quilt EVER! I cut all my blocks to 2" square. I used 5 across and 5 down. You will need lightweight fusible interfacing cut into a 10" square. Iron the 2" squares to the interfacing following the manufacturer's directions. Only now do you need to go to the sewing machine. I'll let you check out Jodi's tutorial to figure this out.

This next photo is one pot holder ready to be sewn and the one on the right is completed/quilted/backed.

You can see how much it "shrinks" after sewing. I used fusible batting inside.

I've got 2 sick kids home today, 1 with strep throat and the other one is throwing up - yeah! Unfortunately I can't get any weaving done since I'm being called upon every 5 minutes, but I was able to make 6 potholders.

These 2 "kids" seem to like it when someone is home with them....

Both of them are hanging out with us in the living room.

~Ann

Charm Pack Win

2012-01-18T16:38:00.000-05:00

My winning streak has continued! I recently won the Charm Pack giveaway from Jacque at The Doodles of My Mind blog found HERE. The charm pack is a mixture of muted oranges, yellows, aquas, browns and blacks. There are dogs and cats as well as paw prints and dog bones.

I added 6 fat quarters from the quilt shop and a black paw print fabric that I already had in my stash.

The Stacked coin quilt is my plan. I cut all the blocks in half last night, which results in rectangles that are 2 1/2" x 5 ". I'm going to use 35 in each column and I will use 5 total columns. After cutting last night, I was planning the layout and had WAY too much help from Shadow. He rearranged the strips many times. What would I ever do without his help?

Example of the stacked coin - compliments of Nina at September Pixie.

I hope to sew the strips together this weekend. I'll keep you all updated. Thank you Jacque.

~Ann

A day of finishes

2012-01-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

Here it is the second day of school after Christmas break and my youngest is home sick. In between "Mom, can you get me a Sprite,crackers, the TV remote, etc....I sat at my sewing machine and finished up some cross stitch pieces that need my attention.

Merry New Year is a pattern by The Stitcherhood and can be found HERE

I gathered unfinished items and I must say I'm just a little embarrassed by the number of projects I've left undone. They still are not all done, but the pile is reduced by 75%! These next finishes are all for next Christmas, I'm ahead for this coming year (as opposed to being behind for this past year and that's the story I'm sticking to!)

This first project is from a free pattern by Marly at Samplers and Santas blog found HERE. Please note the green pillow cover in the background. I bought this several years ago for the pillow form inside. I'm still not sure as to why I saved the cover, but I now am very glad I did as it made the perfect backing for the pear.

And, I still haven't finished it! Needs a stem, a leaf and a coffee stain.

The Merry Primitive Christmas is also a free chart, this one from The Primitive Hare blog found HERE. I changed the date to 1803, my favorite historical year!

Can I switch subjects for just a minute? 2 posts ago I shared that I won some faux fruit from Marly of Samplers and Santas - I was wrong - it's real dried whole fruit. My day started out with the great idea of drying my own grapefruit and oranges today.

I bought this food dehydrator a year ago at an auction, it was never used and still hasn't been. I thought I could just place the fruit inside - WRONG - there are trays stacked up, it's not open inside. So much for drying my own whole fruit that way. I've put some in the basement refrigerator and I'm hoping that eventually they look like the 3 in the above photo.

Back to cross stitch....

The Christmas tuck and mini santa are patterns by Country Rustic Primitives found HERE

The Prairie School Santa was a free chart from way back when there was a cross stitch store in our town. It's been sitting in my to do pile for years. I really didn't like it. That is until I saw how nice Marly's look on her blog. Mixed in with other Christmas pieces it will be a good addition.

I used the envelope method of putting the backing on the 2 santa pieces in the above photo. I do like how it makes the piece look

The next 2 are pillows from Pineberry Lane that you can find on patternmart

A pillow I made from a Create & Decorate pattern years ago

again, the envelope back..

My last finish of the day... I stitched these peacocks awhile back, with no thought of any project - just because. For me that's a bad idea! They sat in my basket for over a year. I ripped a piece of homespun, hemmed the edges and used a running stitch to hold the stitchery to the towel.

Found the perfect spot on my Folk Art corner cupboard. I see no one dusted last week while Mom was gone!

I hope I've provided you with correct links that all work. If something doesn't work, leave me a comment and I'll get back with you.

Thank you Marly for all your cross stitch work that inspired me to finish up some projects.

~Ann

Belated New Year's wishes

2012-01-03T13:04:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a Happy start to 2012.

I've been just a little busy - the day after Christmas, my sister, my mom, my daughter and I drove to my Mom's house in Upstate NY to pack up her house and put it up for sale. We had a couple of deadlines that loomed over our heads. On Thursday of last week, we needed to be ready for the auctioneer and on Friday the movers were scheduled for 9:30am. That gave us 3 days to sort/pack/throw over 50 years of my parent's household. Not only did we have my mom's collections, my grandmother's collections were intact too! My mom is moving into an assisted living facility in Wisconsin near my sister. Her new apartment has 3 rooms - bedroom, living/kitchen and bathroom. Needless to say, Mom had to part with several pieces of furniture. We joked she is going to have to have antiques in the bathroom!

My sister and I are dividing up the family antiques that will not fit into my Mom's new apartment. I wanted this antique blanket chest that now sits in my living room. It's a great old piece with square nails and is made from wide single boards. Just like I like things - old and primitive.

Above the blanket chest, an antique oil painting now graces our living room. This painting is of my great - great uncle who died when he was 11 in 1858. No one else likes this picture of Great Uncle Willy - creepy eyes that follow you! My sister and I used to scare ourselves silly stealing glances at him when we were growing up. He was never hung in a main room in our house, I don't know why, guess my Mom didn't like the picture either. I just LOVE this painting now and my sister couldn't get it into my van fast enough!

We contracted with ABF freight to drive the remaining parts of my Mom's household to Wisconsin. They are arriving sometime this week, so we'll be driving to Wisconsin this weekend to set up my Mom's apartment. I have some other treasures on the truck that I will show you as soon as I bring them home with me! Now, I'm off to catch up with all of you - I've missed my blogging friends the past week and a half.

~Ann

Thank you to Joanne, Marly & Linda AND the Winner!

2011-12-20T17:35:00.000-05:00

I know that this is the season to give rather than to receive, but I have to tell you I've been doing a lot of receiving lately!

Marly from Samplers and Santas had a giveaway last week - I won! Marly gave me a choice of 2 different band boxes - I chose this one with a house and trees.

Inside the box were goodies! I knew she was enclosing the clove studded pear but she surprised me with 2 Yankee Candle wax melts, a mini tin cookie cutter and 4 pieces of faux fruit.

I have a collection of mini tin cookie cutters that I usually put on my kitchen tree - I didn't get to it this year, so next year this tree cookie cutter will be a new addition. For now I'm tucking it into some greenery on a shelf.

The pear has found the nest of my resident partridge. (I think it's a peahen, but we'll pretend partridge)

Marly, Thank you so much for all the wonderful goodies, I will treasure them.

Joanne from Snippets and Scraps of my Mind recently had a giveaway - I won!

Joanne was giving away several items, I was so lucky to receive one of her feather tree kits. If you follow Joanne, you will know that she is always teaching this feather tree as a class.

I would love to take a class from Joanne - and meet her too - but we live about 8 hours apart. Joanne included everything I needed in the kit - including the glue! Her instructions were wonderful and after a couple of hours I now have a wool feather tree.

I should really thank Joanne's new kitten, Quentin for picking my name - Thank you Quentin! Anytime your older brothers are being mean to you, come on over. But you know that you'd have 2 older brothers here too! Thank you too Joanne for a wonderful kit!

My next Thank you goes out to that sneaky Linda from Parker's Paradise. Linda sent me a package that included this cute little pillow that she stitched and a pot holder/hot pad.

Linda is obviously Santa's helper and knows that my pot holders are in terrible condition! I need new ones desperately, but I can never find ones that I really like. I'm baring all in showing these horrible looking pot holders to you all!

These are going in the garbage. Thank you Linda for sprucing up my kitchen!

Finally, on to the winner of my Pass it Along Giveaway -

Pam, From Antique or Not you are the winner! The random number generator picked your number. Look for an email from me!

Thank you all again for my wonderful winnings.

~Ann

Pass It on....

2011-12-18T09:04:00.001-05:00

Last week, I won a giveaway from Diane at Lavender Dreams Too blog. Diane gave me 2 stocking ornaments that she made and included inside an Organic Lip Balm in Peppermint from www.econaturalsoap.com. Her intent with her giveaway was that the winner pass along the second stocking. I am more than happy to pass it along!

I've tried to come up with some absolutely ingenious way to pass this along and I'm not coming up with anything great, so.....I'm adding to the giveaway! I purchased this adorable little wax tart snowman face from Brandy at The Lil' Prim Cabin on Etsy. His eyes and mouth are coffee beans! You will receive the stocking with lip balm and the snowman wax tart.

In order to win,

1. you need to live in the USA(not sure about shipping the beans outside the country)

2. be a Follower of my blog

This is going to be a quick giveaway - I'll draw a winner on Tuesday night - make sure I can contact you!

~Ann

The Naughty List

2011-12-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

I finally got our main tree up over the weekend. Between having 2 of our 3 kids sick, 5th grade basketball games/practices, 7 & 8th grade basketball games/practices, attending the high school games and a TON of basket orders I'm WAY behind.

I found these great beeswax cones on etsy from Bethany of Natures Flame. I purchased the empty cones and Bethany surprised me by filling one of them with sweet annie and rose hips. LOVE how it looks on our tree.

The idea for these cinnamon stick stars came from Pinterest. I used hemp cord and wrapped the 3 sticks tightly together. Behind this ornament to the left you can see some handmade tin icicles that I bought from my tinsmith friend at Sauder Village.

The only other ornaments are dried orange slices, muslin stars and a paper chain.

Are you wondering yet why I titled this post "The Naughty List"? Would you believe that this adorable little ball of fluff is a holy terror?

He's knocked over the tree in my last post twice, he's unplugged the tree in this post twice and he's taken baby Jesus hostage from under the tree, I'm still looking for baby Jesus. (This manger scene is fabric and Baby Jesus is a flat stuffed oval). When our kids were younger, I never added the baby Jesus to the manager scene until Christmas day to reinforce to them the meaning of the day. Maybe Shadow knows that Baby Jesus shouldn't be in the manger yet.

~Ann

One Down - How many more to go?

2011-11-28T09:53:00.002-05:00

One tree is up and decorated. I'm really cutting back this year as far as the decorations go. I want a simple primitive look to all my trees.

Only three different things on this tree - small grapevine wreaths, red berries and ripped flannel homespun ties. I did add the Gone Sledding cross stitch piece for a little interest.(pattern by The Sampler Girl - link directly to the pattern - http://www.thesamplergirl.com/catalog.php?item=259) I put the tree in a wire egg basket and wrapped the base with burlap.

Have you been in to Dollar Tree? They have some great wrapping paper. Both of these are brown craft paper - one is a burgundy gingham check and the other is a gold star. Love them - $1.00 each and they are made in the USA! I bought them in Wisconsin in a Dollar Tree, my Dollar Tree here in Ohio doesn't have any. If they did, I am sure my friend Melissa (Farm Field Primitives) and her mom bought all the rolls!

Did you go out Black Friday Shopping? We did - we're crazy I know - but we were home by 1:30. We got what we needed and headed home. My sister and our boys were playing rock paper scissors to pass the time. My husband and our daughter were looking on.

Later on Black Friday we had to celebrate a birthday. Our daughter turned 17. Wow - how did she get to be this old? My nieces loved helping with the candles....

My Mom and her youngest 6 grandkids. Mine are the 3 oldest ones in this photo. Mamie (as she is known to these 6) is going to use this as her Christmas Card. Wish the other 2 grandkids could have been with us so all 8 were in the photo.

I am offering a Cyber Monday discount in my etsy store. Use the code Cybermonday for 15% off baskets that are currently in my store. You can get to me by clicking the link on the right side bar.

~Ann

Pinterest - I think I'm addicted

2011-11-21T17:16:00.000-05:00

Have you been on Pinterest and used a Pin yet? If you haven't, let me tell you, there's a whole world out there just waiting for you! If you are limited on time - DO NOT get involved with this!LOL. And if you do, don't come blaming me - I warned you!

One of the first things I found was a Pin for a wool throw. Having lots of felted wool (wool skirts that I felted just a bit too much for rug hooking) I needed a project to use up some of this wool.

I actually used 2 different projects from www.purlbee.com to create my own version. I cut my pieces to 6" x 7", as specified in http://www.purlbee.com/felted-wool-patchwork-throw/ and stitched them together by hand using the directions found here:http://www.purlbee.com/trip-around-the-wool-blanket/

The edges butt against each other - there is no overlap. I can't believe how quickly this has gone together. I have 10 rows with 7 rectangles in each row. All told my cost is right around $30.00, all wool from the thrift store and the DMC #5, ecru embroidery floss I used was from the thrift store too.

A great $$ saver tip I stumbled across was this one.....

Do you have candles like this - wax left in the bottom, but the wick will not burn anymore?

Does anyone use ice cube trays anymore? I had 3 in my kitchen storage area in the basement and have not used them. ( I don't like the "taste" of homemade icecubes, we buy bagged ice in this house) I would not suggest using these for making ice any longer, not after this project!

Place each candle on a candle warmer until the wax is melted completely

carefully pour into the ice cube tray.

Pop them out when cool and you now have wax tarts to use in your tart warmer.

Not only does this save $, but it also helped me clean out my cupboard!

Have fun on Pinterest and Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

~Ann

And the Winner is........

2011-11-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all of you who entered my Birthday giveaway and Welcome to all my new followers - I'm glad you are here.

The giveaway....one of my handwoven baskets and a snowman I made....

I was planning on using a random number generator to determine the winner, but I had several email entries, so I wrote everyone's name on a slip of paper and put in them in the giveaway basket.

I had to interrupt a heated game of Lord of the Rings Monopoly, Matthew mixed up all the entries and Daniel drew out......

Jessica at Blessings in the Country, Congratulations Jessica! Please look for an email from me.

~Ann

My Swap with Linda - You all know Linda!

2011-11-17T16:53:00.000-05:00

Like many of you, Linda of Parker's Paradise and I are blogging buddies. Linda suggested a swap with me a while back, let me share with you what she sent me.....

A box full of goodies

I mentioned that I love the "let it snow" small framed stitchery on the far right. She send me four framed pieces and a terrific pillow. The pillow's quote really hit home for me when I opened the box - love it!

"Our family is a circle of Strength and Love"

Linda, I really hope your package has arrived, last time I checked the delivery confirmation # it was still showing as sitting in our town post office - so much for Priority Mail!

For my birthday my family surprised me with tickets to see Trans Siberian Orchestra last night. All I can say is WOW! What a fantastic show and great music.

All three of our kids are in orchestra at our school. (Yes we are very lucky to have a wonderful orchestra program in our school system - and we are a little town!) We have 2 violins and 1 bass in the house. All three were enthralled with the performances.

If you are a fan of TSO and have never been - GO! You will never regret it. I'm ready to drive to Dayton Ohio to see them again tonight!

Don't forget to leave me a comment on the previous blog post for your chance to win one of my baskets and a snowman I made.

~Ann

My Birthday Giveaway

2011-11-15T06:19:00.002-05:00

Today's my birthday and you get the gift! For my birthday giveaway: an antique clothespin basket and a snowman that I made.

Entry is simple - just leave a comment on this post. I will draw a name on Sunday and contact you. Please make sure to leave your email address if you don't have a blog.

There's just a couple of rules -

1. you must live in the US to enter due to the postage on this.

2. you must be a follower of this blog.

Want another chance to win one of my baskets?

This basket is in the PAFA giveaway going on now through the end of November. If you'd like a chance to win this and other great items, check out our PAFA blog, HERE.

Winter Wonderland Giveaway

2011-11-10T06:29:00.000-05:00

The Etsy group that I belong to is having a Winter Wonderland Giveaway.

My donation to the giveaway is this basket...

For information on how to enter this giveaway click HERE which will take you to our PAFA Blog.

Like the basket but don't want to wait and see if you win? I have a twin to it listed in my Etsy shop now, HERE

Good Luck! ~Ann

Halloween's a Lucky Day!

2011-10-31T18:00:00.000-04:00

This morning before leaving for school, I mixed up a batch of roll out cookies so they could chill all day in the fridge.

After school, I quickly got to work and rolled out pumpkins. We have a High School Cross Country Awards Banquet tonight and it's always "Bring a dessert".

2 C sugar

1 C white Crisco

2 eggs

1 C Milk & 1T white vinegar or 1 C buttermilk

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

5-6 C flour

1 t salt

4 t almond extract

Beat sugar and Crisco, add eggs and soured milk. Mix well then add baking soda, baking powder, salt and extract. Add 1 cup of flour at a time, mixing well. Chill for 1-2 hours. Roll out to 1/4" thick, cut with favorite cookie cutter. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Do not let the edges brown, you want them to be soft to the touch.

Frosting - 1/2 stick butter melted, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1/8 t almond extract and drizzle of milk until desired consistency.

We are celebrating "your lucky day" at our house today. 5 years ago today we adopted a little orange kitty who has turned into one fat, lazy orange baby.

Happy Lucky Day, Frito!

Hope you are all having a good week. ~Ann

Finished Rugs

2011-10-26T17:39:00.000-04:00

Over a month ago, I shared my latest rug hooking project with you. I actually finished the hooking shortly thereafter, but didn't get the binding done until this last weekend. Why do I always do that? Finish a project - or almost finish a project and then leave it sit for several weeks. ARGH!

I am happy with how my saltbox house rug turned out. Now to find a place to display it....

Over a year ago, I found this lid from a basket or crate in a primitive store in Upstate NY. I was drawn to the patina and the crack in the middle stave. What to do with this? I wasn't sure, but knew that eventually a project would come up that I could use it in.

I simply drew my lettering on the backing and started hooking. The brown is from a pair of pants that I found at GW. I love the texture of this wool - it has a very subtle variation in it - no need to overdye. Unfortunately, I have used all this wool now :(

The lid now forms the perfect mat for my hooking. I still need to attach the hooking to the wood - I'm stumped if you have any ideas you can share with me......

Can you believe next week is November? Where is our fall going?

Hope you are having a good week.

~Ann

Me A to Z and They Scare Me!

2011-10-22T21:16:00.002-04:00

A - age - 44 for a few more days

B - bed size - Queen

C - Chore you hate - putting away clean clothes, I really don't mind the actual laundry!

D - Dog - NO! Your dog is fine but I do not want a dog.

E - essential to start your day - coffee in my favorite mug

F - Favorite color - hmm....that's hard, Cranberry & Navy

G - gold or silver - gold wedding rings, don't wear much other jewelry, I wash my hands too many times during the day at school.

H - height - 5'4"

I - instruments I play, since elementary school I've played in a church bell choir, several years of piano and French Horn in High school

J - job Mom, wife, basketweaver, crafter and aide for multiple handicapped children

K - kids - 17 year old daughter

14 & 11 year old boys

2 crazy cats

L - I Live in Ohio

M - make of car - Chevy Uplander Van

N - nickname - don't have any. I'm really not into nicknames. My boys are Matthew and Daniel - not Matt & Dan - and everyone knows their names.

O - overnight in hospital - yes 3 times for kids and in jr. high I was in for several days for severe dehydration

P - pet peeves - hypocritical people.

Q - favorite movie quote "If you had behaved in a more gentlemen like manner" Elizabeth Bennett to Mr. Darcy/Pride and Prejudice

R - Right or Left handed - 100% Right

S - siblings - 2 older brothers, 1 younger sister I could not live without

T- favorite TV shows:

NCIS

White Collar

Brisco County (early 1990's)

early X-Files

U - underwear - Yep -everyday! The only thongs in this house are worn on feet.

V- Veggies I hate:

Brussel sprouts

radishes

beets
lima beans
asparagus
turnips
squash
I'm sure there are others!

W - what makes you late - nothing! I can't stand lateness.

X - x-rays, once a year at the dentist & the dreaded mammogram

Y - yummy food you make:

hot ham & salami sandwiches

homemade pizza

mashed potatoes

Z - zoo animal - giraffe

Something that scares me - spiders. I hate them. When we lived in our first house, it was built on a slab. The spiders would come in the house at night when my husband was at work and our kids were little.(no one available to kill them!) He would come home to find over turned glasses or bowls in the living room trapping a spider that he needed to kill. I also used to lift the edges and spray Windex on them!

Did you learn anything about me?
~Ann

I love Etsy!

2011-10-16T08:43:00.000-04:00

Since opening my own Etsy shop in January, I've sold many baskets, but more importantly I've found some new friends on Etsy. These friends are fellow Etsy artisans who create wonderful items that I just can't seem to live without.

This adorable little pumpkin head box is my latest acquisition. I purchased him from Susan at

http://www.etsy.com/shop/oldethreads

I had admired him for a couple of days, saw that he had a few other admirers and decided I just couldn't wait any longer to purchase him.

I ordered him mid week and he arrived yesterday. Too bad for me since I was gone from about 6:30 am until 7:30 pm last night. I knew he was sitting in the box just begging to get out!

He arrived all wrapped up in tissue paper - it made me feel like I was getting a present.

Surprise!

Inside the box is a cute little pumpkin nest! Susan didn't mention this part in her Etsy listing. There are 2 little cinnamon pumpkins and a cute Halloween tag all snug in an excelsior nest.

Susan's attention to detail is perfectly prim. My photos don't do justice to how perfect this little set is. The box is grained over 2 coats of contrasting paint. The inside of the box is painted as well. The pumpkin is so cute - antique buttons for eyes, a twig stem and the little leaf that is whip-stitched on.

Graby knew that the tissue paper was really for him, he's already made off with the ribbon Susan tied it with.

I can't wait to see what other wonderful creations Susan makes for Thanksgiving? Christmas? Winter? Susan.......?

Thank you Susan!

Have you tried these new M & M's? YUM!!! White chocolate candy corn flavor. Our daughter came home with 2 bags of these and they are nearly gone.

We have 2 orchestra concerts - the high school is this afternoon - our daughter, and tomorrow night the boy's have theirs for junior high. Can't wait to hear them - our youngest is just starting and of course has to be different than his siblings - no violin for him. He chose to play the bass. There's always one in the crowd isn't there? He had to pick the largest instrument possible - the bass hardly fits in my van!

Have a great week. ~Ann

A Little Fall

2011-10-13T07:48:00.000-04:00

Only a few of my Halloween and Fall items have made their way from basement storage out to display. One the end of the dry sink I set up this little trio of items, soon to be knocked over and off - thanks to a little grey beast.

One of my favorite baskets that I've made for myself is hanging above our back sliding doors. Normally there is nothing in this basket and this year I thought it might look neat to add a touch of fall on one end. I think the simple pumpkin and bittersweet add a nice primitive touch to this long basket.

Full length of the basket....

I just love this little owl that I got in trade (I know another great barter!) he looks perfect in my grain sifter.

I hate to admit, but I'm sure this next item was made in China. Picked up this ghost at my favorite store in Findlay, Ohio - Early American Home. My husband made me the candle box which normally houses a battery operated candle in a tall stick, changed out for Halloween, the ghost fits great.

I added a couple of items to the living room shelf, a cross stitch piece I made last year and a pumpkin from my blogging friend Tammy of A Primitive Place

That's about all I've got out -why you might ask? It seems I'm never home to do more than laundry and meal prep. Let me show you where we've been...

High School Cross Country races...

Junior High Cross Country races....

and fall baseball leagues....

We LOVE baseball at our house. Both boys are playing fall ball. Matthew is playing on 2 different teams in addition to his cross country schedule. Daniel is on one team - that's ok - he's only in 5th grade! I'm spending Saturdays and Sundays sitting at double headers somewhere. Last Saturday the weather was so nice here in NW Ohio I even got a little sunburn and had to move my chair to the shade.

I hope you are all having a good week. ~Ann

Barter.....It's a Good Thing

2011-10-09T13:10:00.000-04:00

Recently I've bartered with 3 other artisans. All three trades have been great and I love being the owner of their wonderful handcrafted items.

This great candle sleeve was made by my Wisconsin friend, Karen of My Colonial Home. Karen wanted a blanket crane like the one my husband made for me. Karen gave me several items and I've waited almost a whole year to put out my new candle sleeve. Karen's work is so precise and her attention to detail is superb.

Susan is new friend I've met only through emails. She has purchased several baskets from me and recently proposed doing a swap. Susan sent me this great Santa and gingerbread man. The Santa is her own design and he is spectacular! The gingerbread man smells good enough to eat.

I'm encouraging Susan to open an Etsy shop to share her items with all of us. Unfortunately she doesn't have a blog either, but if you want her email address, leave me a comment and I'll put you in contact with her.

My last item to show off is a great oil painting by the art teacher in my building. Peg didn't know that I was a basketweaver and once she found out wanted to trade. I was happy to trade - she's had all three of my kids in class so I will always treasure this piece.

I don't have a spot for this yet, but have an idea in mind. I'll be sure to show you when it finds a home.

Have a great week. ~Ann

For Teresa

2011-09-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

Teresa (you know who you are!) this box is coming your way. Please don't be surprised if you find an extra ~~little~~ big addition in your box of baskets.

This next picture might make you a little dizzy - sorry - but both of them wanted in! I think they've been reading your blog and see that your fur babies get to go outside.

Thanks again! ~Ann

A very hungry cat!

2011-09-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

First, let me share that Laura from Appleberry Cottage won my rug hooking pattern that I'm passing along. Congratulations Laura, I hope you like hooking the design as much as I have.

On to the hungry beast! Shadow has figured out that the cat food is stored in this metal can. I love the can, picked it up at an auction - it has a cool bail handle. I did apply the label to the front - it's all about the prices of molasses.

My husband is the first one downstairs in the morning and often he finds the food dish in this sad, sad state....oops someone forgot to feed them before we went to bed! You'd think with 5 people in this house someone could remember them!

My husband says if Shadow doesn't get his attention with this trick the crazy cat will hop down and get in the way making sure to "steer" Dad over to the dish!

We have a weekend with 2 cross country races and 2 baseball games. Hope you all have a great weekend.

~Ann

I'm becoming a Hooker, are you?

2011-08-28T10:13:00.000-04:00

Every year after the Rug Hooking event held at Sauder Village, I am bit by the rug hooking bug. Each year it gets a little "worse"! At first when I tried this traditional American craft, I really didn't think it was for me. Then August rolls around and the wonderful wool vendors and hookers descend on Sauder Village and I am sucked in again. There are mounds and mounds of gorgeous wool just waiting to be touched and purchased.

In the past I've only purchased kits with the strips cut and colors chosen for me. I stepped out of my comfort zone this year and purchased a pattern online prior to the show. With this pattern in hand I entered the show floor. I purchased the background taupe and the house red brick. I did pick up a few other colors for other rugs I have in mind. My Grandmother was a prolific rug hooker and to honor her work done in the early 1900's, I have tried to include reclaimed wool in the few pieces I have hooked. The crow, roof, border and outer petals of the flower are all recycled clothing. I'm wishing I had several yards of the brown - it has subtle flecks of color in it that is very interesting close up.

I'd like to pass on this pattern to someone who would like to hook the design. It is a Buttermilk Basin pattern - "Red Saltbox" 14.5" x 12".

If you leave me a comment on this post saying that you'd like the pattern, I will enter your name into the drawing. Friday night I will draw a name from the entries and contact the winner. Make sure you leave me an email address if you do not have a blog. The only "rule" is you must be a follower of my blog. I've had some people tell me they have a problem posting a comment on my blog. If this is the case, send me an email (annfrank17@yahoo.com) with Rug Hooking as the title and I'll enter you in too!

We started school on Tuesday, and so far all 4 of us have survived our first week. Love this picture and I'm sure it will be the last one where our daughter is the tallest! My husband tells me he does miss us when he comes home at lunch time - I think it's because he has to make his own lunch!

Have a great week. ~Ann

Update to Halloween Stitchin'

2011-08-23T16:22:00.000-04:00

I've updated my last post to include the colors of floss that I used for this freebie from Primitive Betty.

~ALSO~

Betty was kind enough to republish one of the charts for us all and that link as well as the link to the "BOO" freebie are now on my blog. (Thank you Shirley for your help!)

Halloween Stitchin'

2011-08-22T10:47:00.008-04:00

Like so many of you, my Prim Friends, Fall is my favorite season. I thought it time that I put backings on my stitchings and get them grunged up ready to decorate my Halloween Tree.

"I'm Wicked" a freebie from: http://www.stitchesnstones.com/freepatterns.html I finished mine with large orange Ric Rac in the seams.

"Hallow's Eve" is a freebie from a while back. The Chart is compliments of Primitive Betty and she was kind enough to republish the chart for us all: http://primitivebettys.blogspot.com/2011/08/recap-redo-and-olde-freebie.html

"Crows" - a freebie from Primitive Bettys:http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/18669910 Betty has lots of free patterns on her picture trail - Thanks again Betty!

I used DMC 422 - Yellow

DMC 310 - Black

DMC 433 - Light Brown

DMC 838 - Dark Brown

DMC 937 - Green

"October 31 Pincushion" from Stacy Nash Primitives - this isn't a freebie - sorry!

"Halloween" can be found in the September/October 2009 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine

"Boo" is also a freebie from Sandra at http://plainfancymerchant.blogspot.com/2010/08/corrected-freebie.html which is her blog for Homespun Elegance.

Let me share a couple of new decorations that I've picked up...

At Bath and Body I saw this Frankenstein tea light holder and while he isn't primitive at all, I will find a place for him somewhere in our house. Why did I buy him you ask? Our last name is Frank. No I do not have a collection of Frankenstein items, but one mixed in with our decorations will be tolerable.

Have a good week. ~Ann

Winner - Primitive Stocking

2011-08-21T18:29:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Denise! My daughter just drew your name out of a hat for the pattern for this Primitive Stocking. I've sent you an email - please be on the lookout for it.

Thank you to all of you who entered my little "mystery" giveaway - it's interesting to see who reads my posts if I don't advertise a giveaway!

I will be having another giveaway like this soon - I'm working on a smaller rug hooking project and when I'm done - I'll be giving away that pattern too.

School starts here on Tuesday. BooHoo my summer is over - back to work.

Have a great week ~Ann

A Primitive Stocking

2011-08-18T20:21:00.000-04:00

I just finished stitching "A Primitive Stocking" by Carriage House Samplings.

I thought it might take me a while to finish the stitching on this but it was a fast stitch! Everynight when I sat down to work on this I would say "one more letter and I'll go to bed, ok one more and I'll go to bed!"

There are only 5 colors of floss used and mine is a little shorter than the pattern - about 2 inches. The fabric I used wasn't as long as what the directions called for.

Since I'm done with the pattern, I'd like to pass it along to someone else who would like to stitch this design. If you leave me a comment on this post, I'll draw a name for the pattern on Sunday night.

Last weekend we took a road trip to SE Wisconsin to visit my sister & her family. While we were there we took a tour of The University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. At the moment it's at the top of the list of potential colleges for our daughter.

My husband and I both went to a small private liberal arts college - 1,000 students. UWW is slightly different - 11,000 students. We both were very impressed.

Had to buy everyone a t-shirt - our 10 year old is very happy with his - on the back it says "U-DUB DUB". He thought that was quite funny!

My sister and I took her 3 and 2 of my 3 for a bike ride in a Waukesha park. This bike is NOT as easy as it looks....

There were 4 of us pedaling, but it was a work-out - especially when we were going up hill. We were laughing so hard we weren't sure we could keep going. I had the "baby" - she's 1 1/2years old on my lap while I was trying to pedal. I had to keep on my 10 year old - telling him he was a slacker and he needed to work a little harder!

Hope you are having a good week. ~Ann

The Hooker's are coming.....

2011-08-09T19:12:00.000-04:00

I've been busy weaving, weaving, weaving. For the last few days, I've even put my stitching aside and only worked on baskets.

This first group of baskets are special orders, 2 of them are going to be used in a wedding shower. Hopefully I'll see photos of them being used.

Next week, the living history museum where I work is hosting a gathering of rug hookers. This is an annual event at Sauder Village (www.saudervillage.org) that brings hundreds of rug hookers in for the week to take classes, hook and shop. Rug Hookers like their baskets and I'm happy to oblige....

I made 5 tote baskets with Shaker tape handles, a few large storage baskets and a few smaller baskets featuring prim wool labels.

With all this weaving, I have added only 1 new basket to my Etsy shop...

Tonight I am going to sit and cross stitch until I go to bed - no more weaving today!

We are enjoying a wave of cooler weather - I hope you are too.

~Ann

Take the Quiz....

2011-08-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

If you took a trip to Shipshewana Indiana, home of the large Shipshewana Flea market, which group would you buy.......

3 bouncy balls

1 squishy ball with annoying blinking light

1 pair of knock off sunglasses

1 very cool squirt gun (orange tube)

same as choice A without any sunglasses and

this squishy ball's blinky light is defective

2 pairs of Fiskars scissors

2 packs of saw tooth picture frame holders

3 packs of eye hooks

8 tea cup hooks

Dremel sanding pads

2 shims for hammers

Hacksaw blades

4 pieces of Pfaltzgraff Folk Art dishes

2 rusty jar lids

1 roll rusty wire

2 knock off Switch Flops straps

If you said A, B or C you can go with me to the Flea Market anytime you want! If you said D I will have to fight you for the Folk Art!

Our boys had never been to the Flea Market before so for about 3 hours today we walked the aisles of socks, tee-shirts, garden art, more socks, knock off purses, knock off sunglasses, Avon and more socks.

Of course we had to let Dad shop at the vendors that had hardware store type stuff. I do have to admit that I will benefit from most of what he bought - the picture frame holders and eye hooks for sure.

Shadow was glad that he didn't have to go....

Have a good week! ~Ann

P.S. One of annoying blinky squishy balls just had the "handle" break off - good thing that's not what I bought!

Lots of new Prim Goodies

2011-07-25T13:33:00.000-04:00

I follow the blog http://gatheringsiowa.blogspot.com/Gatherings - and Wanda has the coolest, best prim stuff!

I purchased this brown twiggy fall tree from her, looks perfect on my dry sink with an antique basket.

This pumpkin was the main purchase. I LOVE it. It's made from an old feed sack and a real pumpkin stem. One more thing I need to add to my list of collections - feedsacks! Actually I think I already have quite the collection. I debated about putting the pumpkin away until I pull out all my Fall items, but just couldn't pack it away, I'm enjoying it now.

Last Friday my friend Melissa fromhttp://www.farmfieldprimitives.blogspot.com/ and I made what is becoming our single annual primitive outing. We haven't been on a trip since last summer. The sad thing is we only live about 8 miles apart, but we each have 3 kids and all 6 of them are in various activities that keep us pretty busy. Maybe if the kids went to the same school district we'd be more on the same schedule...

Melissa gave me my birthday presents, I LOVE these

If you need help in knowing who they are....

Frito outside the basket and Shadow (Graby) inside.

Melissa knows my love of black faced sheep, this cute little redware plate found a new home in my bowl rack.

She also knows my love of baskets - she found this adorable mini crock at a Thrift Store and picked it up for me.

Melissa as been cooking up a storm lately with her blackened beeswax items. She made me these 2. I just love the tombstone angel alphabet plaque. I hung it on a peg in our downstairs 1/2 bath. They smell WONDERFUL. She has several different blackened beeswax items on her selling blog. If you click the link above to her regular blog, you can get to her selling blog. She's just made some really neat corn nuggets.

On our shopping trip, we stopped first at our favorite Prim shop - Early American Home in Findlay Ohio. Barb the owner is super nice. I found this cute little handmade pillow. Looks great in my new make-do chair. My unexciting purchases were some Olde Century paints and wool for a rug hooking project I have going.

After a quick stop at Panera Bread for lunch, we headed to the antique gallery. Last year on our trip we really scored big on Pfaltzgraff Folk Art that we both use as everyday dishes. This year we saw only ONE piece - the creamer, which we both already have. Darn.

I picked up these neat items...

Someone had been there and cleaned the place out of whisk brooms. This was the only one we found. I think I'll stitch a band for it to cover the red plastic stitching.

I found this men's hat for $5.00 and thought it would look good on a hook on our dining room shelf.

Hope you are staying cool inside this week. ~Ann

Civil War Heroes

2011-07-21T17:52:00.000-04:00

This year as we celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War I thought I would introduce you to 2 of my ancestors who fought for the Union Forces. Neither one of my Great-Great Grandfathers did anything newsworthy during their time in the Civil War. They were common men, fighting for something they both believed in, but to our family they were heroes.

My Great Great Grandfather, Russell Alcott was born in Upstate NY in 1825. He was quite the traveler. In 1849 he went off to California to seek his fortune in the Gold Rush, we're pretty sure he didn't find it!

He also fought in the Mexican war where he collected sea shells on the beach. (I now realize that keeping everything is genetic - I have those shells in an old box. They were passed on from generation to generation. Too bad they weren't gold nuggets!)

At the beginning of the Civil War he was teaching in Michigan. Evidently he appointed himself captain, enlisted his students and went off to war. They became part of the 1st Michigan Regiment.

In the late June 1862 he was injured during a battle and sent home to NY to recuperate. By the middle of August 1862 he was back with his regiment in Washington D.C. In a letter dated August 17, 1862 he writes to his wife letting her know he had arrived safely. He goes on to say, speaking of his fellow soldiers who had died: " they fought for freedom and though dead, I cannot believe they have fallen in vain. It needed a bloody sacrifice to rouse the freemen of the North to the contest. It needed a blood sacrifice to expiate the deepest, darkest sin of the nation. The sacrifice has been made. What a terrible sacrifice it has been. "

The next letter he wrote home on August 24 he talks about spilling his ink bottle on his new boots. This was to be his last letter home. On August 30, 1862 he was killed in the second battle of Bull Run.

His wife, Cordelia, received a letter informing her of her husbands death " This line is to communicate to you the sad intelligence of the death of your dear husband who fell in the battle of last Saturday...When his body was found, it was discovered that a minnie ball had penetrated through his left side below his heart." In another letter to her "Your husband was severely wounded and after being captured by the enemy was shot dead on the field in a cowardly and murderous manner by one of the Rebel Ruffians." The new boots he wrote of were not found with his body.

I don't have very much information on my other Great-Great Grandfather, John Wright. He was born in Western NY on October 7, 1828 . About all I know is the regiment he fought with out of western NY. As you can tell by this photo, he survived the Civil War. Unfortunately we do not have any of the letters that he may have written home.

John is my ancestor on my Father's side and I see glimpses of my Dad when I look at this picture. Especially the high wrinkled forehead!

Take a minute to pause and reflect on the tremendous sacrifices that of all of our ancestors made during the horrible years of the Civil War.

Hope you are all staying cool! ~Ann

Make Do Chair - DONE!

2011-07-18T09:03:00.000-04:00

I have admitted several times to all of you that I have a procrastination problem.

I started this chair last summer and just finished it this weekend. I knew just how I wanted it to look, but I couldn't get there!

My husband made me the frame back and arms. I then covered the frame with quilt batting. Then I ran into trouble.

I had originally thought I would cover the chair in osnaburg. After finding a cache of feed sacks at the thrift store the plan changed.

I like to sew, but creating a pattern out of thin air just isn't in my resume of sewing skills. This weekend while my sister was here, I showed her the chair and she dove right in. She pieced together the feed sacks to create exactly what I had envisioned.

When she turned one feed sack right side out we discovered this wonderful advertising symbol that we knew would be perfect as the center back of the chair.

My sister's decorating taste is completely different than mine, so she had to "go with the flow" and be OK that the feed sacks are not all the same color of ecru. I kept telling her that it is OK, that's the point of this being a make-do chair. The chair, in my humble primitive style is PERFECT! Thank you Aunt Val.

Not only do I think it is perfect, but there has been fighting going on over who gets to use the chair.....

Frito decided to test it out and discovered that it's perfect for sleeping no matter which way he sleeps...

Also makes a great spot for soaking in the morning sun

Poor Shadow only had one turn....and that was in the middle of sewing the cover so he promptly got booted.

I did tell my sister that she didn't realize that the chair was simply her audition for making the new slip covers for my couch!

Have a great week ~Ann

Sign Up to win!

2011-07-01T13:26:00.000-04:00

The Etsy Group that I belong to is having a Christmas in July celebration. I made this stitchery as one of the giveaway prizes. I know, I know it's not a basket! I do have other loves besides basket weaving and decided to make a stitchery instead.

To find out how to win this and other prizes, click here to head over to our Primitive and Folk Artists Blog. You will find details on how to enter (easy - just become a follower and leave a comment) and when the giveaway end.

My new Christmas/Winter baskets can be found by visiting my Esty Shop here.

My Buttery

2011-06-27T08:20:00.007-04:00

I subscribe to A Simple Life, A Primitive Place and Mercantile Gatherings. It seems in each issue some wonderful prim home has this great buttery and I'm jealous! If you read my last post you know that my home is not one of those great prim log cabins - it is your typical 1976 2 story home. There is no addition out back that is or can even become a buttery.

My solution - I can make-do with one created from the pantry off my kitchen.

This pantry is in a wall at the end of the counter in the kitchen. As you walk past this area you are headed to the 1/2 bath at the end of the house or the garage. Originally the pantry had a bi-fold door, which when we redid the kitchen I painted the same cranberry as the trim. I eventually got really tired of that bi-fold door and put up a homespun curtain. The curtain hung from a tension rod at the top and made it much easier to grab something quickly out of the pantry.

I realize that I need to paint the inside of my new buttery - but I was just so excited to gather all my "stuff" and test out how it looked.

The 2 flour sack towels hide the shelf that holds cereal and other boxes that won't fit in the cupboard where I had to move the can goods to.

Looking at this shelf, my friend Melissa, from Farm Field Primitives, made me the sugar cone and I stitched the "1803" pinkeep.

This next photo shows an apron that I made from an old feed sack. I wear this with one of my work costumes. I thought it was very "make-do". I'm sure that in the past many women used these feed sacks as aprons.

I hit the jack pot one day in the consignment store - this handmade broom was there and had the tag with it that said it was made at Pleasant Hill KY, Shaker Settlement! WOW was I happy. The round wood container I found at an auction (I was with my friend Melissa) for $4.00. It stores all our athletic type water bottles.

So many of these items were stored in cupboards behind closed doors, as I don't like a lot of "stuff" sitting out. Now it's great all gathered here on display.

The bowl on the top shelf is one of the few antiques that I have in the buttery. It is a sponged piece by Red Wing Pottery. My maternal Grandmother was from Wisconsin. I believe that the bowl came with her when she married my Grandfather and moved to NY state in 1912.

One of my favorite prim stores had the screen with hard-tack biscuits that I just had to have. Looking at the shelf, I will not need to distress this one much! Lot's of wear and tear already.

Another antique piece from my maternal Grandmother - the tin mold. I've used this mold to make a pantry cake, has a neat pineapple motif on the top.

I do have a few things from my paternal grandparents. I do not know the history behind this firkin, other than it was theirs. This grandmother was a rug hooker and used quite a bit of reclaimed, recycled wool in her hooking. The firkin was FULL of buttons from clothing that she had hooked into rugs.

When I was little, I loved digging through this firkin, sorting buttons and stringing them on a needle and thread. My sister and I still use the buttons for various projects. When she visits, she always asks me if she can look at the buttons and of course take a few home with her!

I hope you've enjoyed my new Buttery. I'm crossing my fingers that I will be able to get it painted this coming weekend - there's no baseball on the schedule.

Have a great week ~Ann

My new Curtains

2011-05-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

I know that most of us make do with what we have, I am no exception. Our home is a 1976 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, nothing special house. We have made many changes in the 10 years we've lived here - it still screamed 1976 in 2000.

The living room windows are a challenge for me. The three large windows take up almost the whole wall, which IS nice because it lets in lots of light, which is also NOT nice because it lets in lots of light! The windows certainly aren't country/prim at all. If you look closely at the right hand side, you can see that the windows are recessed back into a jut-out (is that a word?) which is kind of interesting.

These dark brown curtains are my second attempt to figure something out for these windows. I made them a few years ago and have never really been happy with them. Previous to these, I had made valances I copied out of Country Curtains. Those went bye-bye to be replaced with these dark brown ones.

In an effort to go simple, I bought a bolt of osnaburg and tore pieces for these curtains. I stitched a rod pocket at the top and tied them back with string. While I would like to string these across my windows on jute, instead of having the rod, that isn't possible.

The new curtains......

These windows face South and I have to have the roman shades on the windows for blocking the sun in the summer - just to cool down our living room. Because of the shades I can't hang the curtains on jute - like I would like to, but I will make do!

Oh, and by the way, I didn't throw out the cats with the dark brown curtains - I have no idea where they disappeared to for the final picture!

~Ann

A blogging Win

2011-05-17T16:39:00.000-04:00

I recently won a giveaway from Becky at Primitives n Stitchin. My goodies arrived wrapped up so nicely.

The 2 items where a doll needle case and doll quilt.

Becky's work is wonderful and her stitching is just perfect. The needle case is hidden under the dolls dress. Becky included a thread on the side that wraps around the top button to close the case when not in use.

For now, the doll quilt is hanging on the front of this cupboard. I'm not sure that I'm going to keep it in this spot, but for now it looks great on the front.

The doll needle case found a home on my bathroom shelf - No I don't stitch in there, but I needed something new on this shelf and she's the perfect size. I need to make a stitching area in our basement family room and include her in my display on my side table.

I also have to share "The Prom Dress". Our daughter ended up picking out a pink dress - very funny as this is the color she said she was NOT going to get!

I've missed a lot of blogging lately and missed all of you, but believe me I haven't been missing any action - both our boys are playing on travel baseball teams (different ones of course!) and our older son ran track this spring and is also playing on a basketball team on the weekends. I've been trying my best just to keep up with all my laundry! Track is now over and only one more weekend of basketball so I hope to be around more. Plus I only have 15 more days of school! YEAH! I love summer break.

Have a great week. ~Ann

Congratulations to Sandi!

2011-04-14T21:33:00.000-04:00

Tonight my random number generator - named Daniel - chose a number and Sandi, you were the lucky number that he chose.

I have sent you an email and I will need your mailing address to send out this redo to you.

Thanks to all that commented on the post for a chance at winning this sampler/cutting board combo.

Have a great weekend. I'll be sitting outside for a minimum of 7 baseball games - if you are warm, think of me - I'll be freezing! ~Ann

My Swap From Misi

2011-04-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

This is the post for my Swap that I did with Tammy from A Primitive Place - the swap was "So you/So me" My swap partner was Misi from 1890 Gable House Musings.

My mail lady arrived on Saturday just as we were leaving for a baseball game and she was delivering my swap package from Misi. No fair! I put the package in the garage and went on about my Mom duties. Good thing our son's team won the game! Otherwise I might have been a little upset.

As you can see Shadow a.k.a. Graby was very interested in the box as well. You can't smell the package, but oh, wow! Just the smell of the box was tantalizing.

I unloaded the box and found these wonderful fabric covered boxes, a neat feather, prim envelopes and hang tags.

Inside the boxes were some perfect prim treasures. Misi's wax fruit was the source of the spicy smells. They are simply beautiful. Each one is so detailed. The strawberry has green burlap as the hull and the skin is full of indentations to represent the seeds. All the pieces of fruit are dusted with spices. The colors on these are just perfect. If you are looking for a gift for someone (or yourself!) I would highly recommend these. WOW!

I love these little basketweave frames. Misi combined the So you/So me theme of this swap, using my love of basket weaving with her love of portraits, she hand cut these profiles and made these little magnets. They have a new home on my fridge. ( I need a black fridge to go with these rather than a white one......)

The bird nest with moss and a gourd egg found a home on my bread box. I just finished this breadbox redo - paint and briwax. It holds all of our coffee making supplies.

The fabric covered box with George's picture is in my corner cupboard in the dining room. I think I will use it as a storage box for my prim/silicone light bulbs.

The wax fruit fits perfectly in a wooden bowl that I have and looks well with my Easter Bunny.

Misi made a cute little ditty bag from blue reproduction fabric. I knew right away it would go on the peg rack in my bedroom.

The 2 other fabric covered boxes are sitting on the end of the church pew in our bedroom. I have a lot of blue in this room and these boxes fit in perfectly.

I used the twine that Misi wrapped my goodies in to wrap the grungy/prim envelopes and I placed them with the feather pen on my Great-Grandfather's writing desk. They look super with the tin candle holder I have.

A couple of other items Misi included were 2 blackened beeswax ornies and some gorgeous felted wool to use in rug hooking. You can see these items in the photos above in the grouping. I can't wait to cut the wool and use it in a project. I'm thinking of a flower mat of some sort.

I have to share with you all what a small world it really is. I live in NW Ohio, but grew up in a little town in rural upstate NY. Misi lives in Western NY. I shared with Misi that I grew up in NY. Her Dad owned a business in the town that I grew up in! Misi and her family lived in a different town and our paths never crossed, not til now.

Misi, I'm so thrilled with all my swap items. Thank you so much for the thought and effort you put into the box you sent me.

~Ann

One for me, One for you and a WooHoo!

2011-04-06T17:07:00.000-04:00

One for Me

I spotted this framed cross stitch sampler at a local Goodwill awhile back. I really liked the houses and alphabet. The stacked up animals just weren't all that appealing to me so here's what I did...

I took the piece out of the frame, cut it apart, coffee stained it and nailed it to the front of this cutting board. The cutting board was another GW find. I painted it maroon, sanded it and applied a coat of Briwax prior to nailing the stitchery on the front.

Haven't found the perfect spot for it yet, it's been hanging here and there around the house until I find a place that it can call home.

One for You

After I finished up my sampler - cutting board piece I decided to make one for you! I took another sampler that I found at GW and created this redo that I'm going to give away.

To have a chance at winning this

1. leave a comment on this post

2. You need to live in the US

3. be a follower of my blog

4. leave some way for me to contact you - either have a blog or leave me your email address. I will draw out a name next Thursday night, April 14th.

WhooHoo

I found this large Pfaltzgraff Folk Art bowl in an antique shop last week. It does have a small chip under the lip on the left, but I can live with it for the $20.00 I paid for it. A great addition to my Folk Art collection.

Have a great week. ~Ann

Spring Celebration by PAFA team on Etsy

2011-04-01T07:23:00.004-04:00

The PAFA Team at Etsy has been busy, busy, busy preparing new primitive Spring items! It's easy to find the items, simply type in STPAFA in the search field and all the new spring items will pop up, or click HERE to take you there directly.

One of the 5 new baskets that I listed this morning for the celebration. You can see the others at Etsy or follow the link on my right side bar to head over to my selling blog, 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets.

Have a Great Weekend

~Ann

I made a wallet!

2011-03-31T10:59:00.001-04:00

I've wanted a new wallet for some time. Searching online through blogs, I found a tutorial at Bluebird's Wing that looked like I could do it.

I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I broke one of Cyndi's first rules right off - don't use directional fabrics. My plaids did end up matching so it turned out ok.

I used 3 different fabrics, one for the outside, one for the lining and one for the zipper pocket/credit card slots. I think they blended together well.

This bottom pocket is for either cash or receipts.

I do not like to put zippers in anything, but this zipper was WAY easy to do. No need to be scared of this zipper.

Cyndi's directions were A+, super easy to follow. Overall it only took me a little over an hour to make this and there was NO hand sewing. I even bragged to my Mom that I didn't have to rip at all! That's got to be a first in my 36 years of sewing.

~Ann

Tuesday's Display Chain -Stripes

2011-03-29T09:16:00.000-04:00

This week's Misi's Tuesday's Display Chain is stripes. Didn't think I'd have enough to even interest anyone, until I started taking the pictures!

Tammy from a Primitive Place made me this cute little bunny from an antique coverlet and his weed bag is from a navy ticking material. I love having him out and he stays out long past Easter. Thanks again Tammy for him.

My favorite stripes.....

We are on Spring Break - YEAH! Now if the weather would just warm up a little as we are staying here in NW Ohio. And I hear that snow is in the forecast for later in the week...

~Ann

Blackened Beeswax Chick

2011-03-23T17:55:00.000-04:00

I had several of you comment yesterday on my posting, asking where I found this little chick on Etsy. You can find him here http://www.etsy.com/shop/crowaboutprimitives

She had super fast shipping and combined shipping on the 3 items I bought. Very easy to deal with!

~Ann

Tuesday's Display Chain - Recently Acquired

2011-03-22T20:15:00.002-04:00

I've never joined in Misi's Display Chain before today, but have a couple of cute things that I've just acquired. This little beeswax chick is perfect for my latest addiction - blackened beeswax. I bought him from a gal on Etsy. His little collar and rusty bell are perfect.

From the same crafter, I bought this winged angel. She used more rusty jingle bells on this. I haven't found the perfect home for her yet, just hung her on the wall to take the picture.

Lately when I've been primitive shopping, I've bypassed the "flashy" things and have been purchasing greenery to use. I really like the plain, plain, plain look with a little greenery mixed in. This little wreath is perfect for my very limited spring decorating. I need to find something to put inside it - yeah an excuse to go shopping again!

The last thing that I recently bought - on Saturday - I can't show you and it's not prim at all! We finally found a prom dress. After May 7th, you can come back and see a photo. Shopping for that dress has occupied several of our weekends. If you haven't been in the market for a prom dress lately, I can tell you that there are lots of them out there that are not modest in any way. For the girls (and their parents) who don't want tummy skin showing it can be a challenge.

Have a great week. ~Ann

Black Bunny and Black beeswax

2011-03-13T19:15:00.000-04:00

First off, let me congratulate Donnie for winning my vanilla bean giveaway from last Sunday. Donnie, I've emailed you, please send me your mailing address so I can get them out to you. .

Had to share with you all this cute little bunny that I bought last weekend. He is made from fabric, painted and stained with coffee/cinnamon mixture. He has personality plus!

His tail is very attractive to one little gray kitty - who'd better leave the bunny alone!

While I had my beeswax out a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to cover this 3 wick candle that I bought after Christmas 2009! I drilled out the holes for the tea lights and rolled the candle in warm blackened beeswax.

After it cooled down, I rolled it in cinnamon. It's sitting in a bowl filled dried black walnuts. I really am happy with how it turned out - all for about $8.00.

I apologize for this picture. I've tried several times to rotate it. It shows up as straight, but when it posts to the blog it reverts to sideways. (The bunny picture worked - why won't this one?!)

I bought this little pineapple from a gal selling them on Facebook. The stem is sweet-annie. I love it and it smells wonderful. I think I may have a problem with blackened beeswax - I've ordered a few other things from Etsy - I'll show them off when I get them.

Have a great week. ~Ann

Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe

2011-03-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

I've been reading on blogs how to make homemade vanilla extract. I always end up buying the imitation at the store because I just can't bring myself to pay for the real. Today I finally made my own and want to share with you how easy and simple it was.

All you need is a bottle of vodka, dried vanilla beans and a glass mason jar (or some type of glass jar)

The vodka that I used was the cheap stuff, from what I've read, you don't need to use the expensive brands.

The recipe is very simple 1 cup vodka + 3 beans + 2 months = Vanilla Extract

Before placing the beans into your glass jar, you need to split the beans lengthwise, leaving the ends intact. I found it was easiest to split along the side rather than on top.

Place the jar in a cool dark spot for 2 months and your vanilla should be ready to be used. You do not need to remove the beans when the 2 months are up.

I purchased my beans from www.vanillaproductsusa.com on EBay. I bought a pound of beans - you don't need that many - I only used 24 beans making the 8 cups of extract. After my reading, I chose to use Tahitian beans, just a matter of personal preference.

I received this bonus pack of 10 extract Grade B Tahitian Vanilla beans with my order. I have not opened the package. If you leave a comment on this post, I will send this packet to one reader next week. I will draw a name on Sunday 3/14/11. Please make sure that I can reach you through your blog, or leave you email address on your post.

Have a great week. ~Ann

School Girl Pocket Finished!

2011-03-02T19:10:00.000-05:00

I purchased this cross stitch pattern designed by Primitive Betty's at a Prim shop last fall. I didn't start it until Christmas vacation. Last week, I finished up the last rows of stitching and then finished it into the pocket.

I haven't stained it yet and I'm not sure I'm going to. I have it hanging in our bedroom on this peg rack.

I used a reproduction fabric for the lining, strap

and backing

Be sure to check out the Spring Giveaway that the PAFA team is having on Etsy. The button to take you to the PAFA blog is located in the upper right corner of my blog. I'm giving away an Easter Basket - you can see it on the PAFA blog or on my blog, 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets - the link for this is also on the right hand sidebar. There are 21 prizes for 1st place! There are several gift certificates to be given out also.

Hope you are having a good week.

~Ann

A few signs of Spring

2011-02-26T15:39:00.000-05:00

What a week! We didn't have school on Monday due to President's day. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we were cancelled due to bad weather and Wednesday our youngest missed due to illness. He was actually sick all week, so maybe it's a good thing that school was closed - he didn't miss much in the way of school work. I must have cabin fever because I'm ready for Spring.

I had to put out a few of my Spring things and create some new ones while we were home.

I found the greenery in the above crock last weekend and wish I would have purchased more. I'll have to see if I can get some online.

The cute little rabbit is from an online tutorial from my friend Cathy of Tolentreasures. You can find the directions for this rabbit here. Cathy's directions are superb and very easy to follow. The whole creation time was minimal. If you don't want to make one, Cathy has them for sale as well.

I purchased this standing blackened beeswax rabbit at an online yard sale on Face book. Kim Nein made this and it's way too cute. Unfortunately she doesn't have any more left - I wanted more after I received this one.

Since Kim didn't have any more, I thought I'd try my hand at creating my own. I've used beeswax to cover pillars and tapers, but never molded it. Because I never throw anything away, I had Easter candy molds from when I was in high school. Never used them since way back when, so now they are dedicated to wax. I made some 3 dimensional eggs - I had to "glue" the sides together with warm wax and a standing bunny. He's not 3D, just a flat back.

I'll be giving away an Easter Basket in March. Check back with me on March 1st to see how you can win.

Have a great weekend ~Ann

Would you like a little Graby with your Fruitcake?

2011-02-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

I haven't done anything prim related for a couple of weeks. I've been shoveling snow and taking care of sick kids. I'm ready for Spring.

I haven't posted and I don't want you all to forget about me so here's a post for you - **warning ** if you don't like cats stop reading right now!

Yes, you read my post title correctly - it will make sense soon.

Our orange cat, Frito, has been spoiled rotten since his first day in our house - October 31, 2006. If he wants to sleep in a backpack, our son will do his homework later (can't you hear Matthew objecting to that?!)

If he wants to sit in a basket that I'm working on, go right ahead...

If he wants to take a nap amongst my rug hooking supplies, I'll work on something else until he moves.

Now enter my niece Emileigh, age 2 1/2, who wants to play with the doll baby bed we got out of the attic for her to play with while she was here visiting. Can you see where I'm going with this? If you guessed Frito taking a nap on the doll bed you guessed correctly. Needless to say Miss Em and Mr. Cat had a little disagreement. She wanted him to move and he looked at her like she was crazy. In her frustration Miss Em got confused and said "No Fruity" we think she combined Frito +Kitty = Fruity. The nickname stuck and now Frito goes by Fruity, Fruito and my all time favorite Fruitcake.

Fast forward to August 2010 with the addition of the gray kitten Shadow. Yes, this one is strange, he likes the water. When the kids take their showers, he gets in with them.

Shadow is falling into the same bad habits as Fruitcake - thinking he owns this house....

Not to be outdone by his older brother, Shadow needed a nickname. Without Emileigh's help we've come up with Gray + Baby = Graby. We can't wait to see what Miss Em thinks of Graby and if the nickname meets with her approval.

Yes, I had to sit on the floor because the couch was taken.

A little Graby with my Fruitcake please.

Have a great week ~Ann

Is my Disorder Genetic?

2011-02-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

My Great Grandmother died in 1937 - 74 years ago. She was an avid quilter, spending her winter months in South Dakota with her brother in law and sister in law. The women would quilt away the cold winter months finishing tops that they worked on during the other months of the year.

When my Great Grandmother Carrie died in August 1937, my Grandmother Eunice(what a horrible name!) became the owner of this unfinished quilt top. My Grandmother died in 1966 leaving the unfinished quilt top to my Mom.

A few years ago my Mother broke the cycle - well, almost broke the cycle I should say! While still very much alive, Mom decided that I should have the quilt top - still unfinished. Mom told me that her own mother never finished it because she felt that her stitches were "big enough to throw the cat through"! My Mom told me she felt the same about her hand quilting abilities.

So now I own this beautiful antique coverlet and have my own daughter named appropriately - no NOT Eunice, but Carrie. Can I do this - the hand quilting? Will it be up to par with what Carrie #1 started? Can I do this and give it to Carrie #2?

Let me share with you my genetic disorder...

I've stitched these cross-stitched pieces within the last few months and here they sit, 2 need framed and 2 need to be made into ornies to hang on my Halloween tree.

These stitcheries have all been backed with homespun and stuffed with either sawdust or fiberfill, but need to be stitched closed and coffee stained...

I haven't done anything with this Christmas wall hanging that I showed you back a couple of months ago - needs to be machine quilted....

Are you getting the idea about my genetic disorder? No, let me show you a few more pictures....

I'm working on the hand embroidery on this wall hanging.....

This one that I showed on my last blog post is still sitting waiting for the machine quilting....

Need I go on or are you getting the idea that the women in my family have a faulty DNA strand? Is there a cure for this? If there is, I need to find it desperately as Carrie #2 is not the crafty type and there is no hope that she will ever pick up a needle. She takes after Eunice and would rather sit and read Shakespeare - maybe we should have named her Eunice!

Have a wonderful (and productive)weekend ~Ann

Bonus Days!

2011-01-19T21:25:00.000-05:00

We've missed 2 days of school this week PLUS Monday was a scheduled holiday. That equates to a five day weekend - YEAH. (Our 13 year old compared it to Thanksgiving - "just no turkey!") Yesterday was a LAZY day at our house - all I did was one load of laundry and fixed supper. I feel guilty, no not really!

Today I worked on the above stitchery - I applied the borders. I finished the applique and stitching several years ago. I recently bought a new foot for my sewing machine to allow me to do machine quilting. I've got to finish some projects so I can quilt them!

Don't forget to sign up for my basket giveaway on my selling blog - click the link on the right side bar to go to 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets and become a follower. The drawing will be Sunday - so you better hurry.

Have a good week - I'll be enjoying our short week! ~Ann

Basket Giveaway

2011-01-16T12:03:00.000-05:00

After browsing Etsy many times, I decided to open my own little Etsy shop. In celebration of my new 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets Etsy shop, I've decided to have a giveaway for all my followers. I'm going to give away this swing handled, homespun lined basket.

How do you win this basket? Click HERE to head over to my other blog.

To visit my Etsy shop, click HERE

The Valentine Tree

2011-01-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

My Valentine Tree is looking a little better this year. I decided to add faux berries left over from Christmas decorating which really perked up the look of the tree.

The stocking/hearts is a Tennessee Ridge pattern.

This first cross stitch piece is from The Stitcherhood - it was a freebie design last year.

This next one is compliments of Primitive Betty - You can find the pattern HERE

I made hearts using a cutter quilt and placed them randomly around the tree

I'm working on another cross stitch freebie from Tonya at The Sampler Girl

You can find the link to the chart HERE she has another Valentine Chart HERE I'll show these 2 off when I have them finished.

Have a great week ~Ann

Christmas Morning Fiasco

2010-12-28T08:45:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We did, other than one "little" issue!

No, the new kitten didn't climb the tree and knock it over, whew - that actually was a concern we had!

Our kids were surprised with their gifts - they liked everything.

My Mom made it here from Upstate NY to spend the holiday with us.

I actually remembered everything I needed at the grocery store.

Hmm....so for the perfect Christmas day.

This innocent looking appliance was just waiting...

waiting for me to put in my Orange - Cranberry bread for breakfast, the first of several foods that needed to baked on Christmas day: homemade cinnamon rolls were going in second, dinner rolls and the ham for Christmas dinner.

For 15 years this WONDERFUL oven has done it's job perfectly - why did it have to pick Christmas day to go on strike?

Here's a quick recap of the morning - I had just closed the oven door after checking on the orange cranberry bread - it had maybe 5 more minutes to bake. No sooner than I close the door, there is a very bright light (like a welder's torch) snapping noises and sparks flying inside the oven. In my state of panic I open the oven door (If I had read the manual I would have known this was NOT the appropriate course of action!) I'm now screaming for my husband and trying to remember which side of the sink my fire extinguisher is on. Thank goodness my husband is a little calmer than I am, he walked over, closed the oven door and waited for the show to be over. (he did admit later that he knew I needed him immediately by my scream - it wasn't my "big spider" scream!)

Can you tell from this picture that the element is fried? It is completely bent out of shape and detached from the plug in. The whole fireworks took only about 6 seconds and was contained to the oven, thank goodness, but my heart was racing for another 30 minutes!

The dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls went into the garbage. The ham, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes went into crock pots instead of the oven. A new element was ordered within minutes and I'm expecting it today.

I've told all the other appliances that New Years Eve is going to pass by unnoticed.

Simple Decorations

2010-12-13T13:15:00.000-05:00

If you read my last post, you'll remember this photo. I put all (or almost all!) of my Christmas decorations on my dining room table and decided to use only what I truly LOVE. So I've gone from this...

to this....

Everything I didn't want ended up in a LARGE Dell computer box, ready for a garage sale or a Thrift Store.

I decided on a simple gathering for the dining room table. One of my handwoven baskets, layered with a large snowman candle holder, filled with a grubby candle and potpourri and a sprig of faux greenery.

I pretty much left the corner cupboards alone, just added a few holiday items to the baskets and books...

A new bottle brush tree on the left and an antique one on the right - from the Fuller Brush Company.

Small cross stitch pillow and a Santa...

another small cross stitch cupboard tuck...

I hung my wall pocket from Karen at My Colonial Home in my grain sifter

I made a couple of these pea hens and this one found a home in an antique wooden bowl on my stove, nestled in a faux greenery wreath with red berries.

We finally purchased our Christmas Tree yesterday, hopefully tonight I'll get that decorated. School was cancelled here today due to snow and icy road, I love bonus days at home with the kids.

I have enjoyed looking at all of your homes decorated for the holidays. Thanks so much for sharing.

Have a great day. ~Ann

Simple Decorations Christmas 2010

2010-12-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

Saturday I pulled out all my Christmas/Winter Decorations and filled the dining room table. Carmen (Primcats Farmhouse) inspired me to do this. Last year I just pulled from boxes and left lots in those boxes that never appeared in the decorating. This is the year to clean out and put things into a garage sale box.

I am really drawn to simple decorating - less is more. So with that in mind here a few of my arrangements so far....

My friend Melissa from Farm Field Primitives made me this angel several years ago and I've loved her for all those years - I usually keep her up with the snowmen into February. She's sitting in a bowl of dried black walnuts.

I purchased this little tree back in the spring for a great price of 75% off! The tin bucket was a Christmas present from Sauder Village to all of us employees a few years ago, handmade by our tinsmith.

The little snowmen have a very mysterious way of jumping off the tree, hmm.....

And here I was going to blame Frito for this mischief! I see now that Frito is just sitting, but Shadow is batting!

All I did was walk away and came back to this....

bad cat!

Our old dining room is now the piano room. I've added a few pieces of furniture here and am really liking the look of this room. The spinning wheel was a gift from my Mom, the 3 drawer dresser belonged to my Dad's parents and the desk in the corner was my great-grandfather's.

I'm in the process of creating a make-do chair. I'm planning on covering it in feedsacks. I'm stumped as to how to cover the arms without having a seam run down the front. Good Christmas project when my Mom is here over Christmas break.

Just a few touches of Decorations. I'm excited as there is snow on the ground here in Ohio (finally!). I'll share some more simple decorations later in the week. ~Ann

Prim Poinsettia Tutuorial

2010-12-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

I bought a neat felt Poinsettia at a craft show and wanted to make some more to put on one of my Christmas Trees this year. Once I figured out how to replicate the one I bought, I thought I'd share with you. You will need:

Maroon felt or wool (ofcourse you could use white or pink!)

3 Rusty Jingle Bells

Black embroidery thread

Wire coat hanger - approx. 8"

First you will need to make your template. I used a 3" long by 1" wide rectangle. Round off one end with your scissors and gradually point the other end so you have a raindrop shape.

Cut 12 petals.

Using a 2' long piece of embroidery thread, take 2 large basting stitches through the large end of one petal. Keep adding petals until you have all on. Pull up your stitches to bring the petals together in a circular shape.

Don't cut your thread! Bring thread to front and add 3 rusty jingle bells. I anchored each bell separately, I didn't add them all on the thread and then attach. I felt they would hold better anchored separately.

You can add a section of wire coat hanger at this point. Simply slip it through and anchor it under the bells in the front. Leave the long end hanging down the back - maybe 8". This way you can tie or wrap to your tree or wreath if you want.

Last step - spray with Walnut Ink. Make sure to lay your flower on wax paper to protect your counters!

My first flower is drying on the counter overnight. I suppose you could put this in the oven at the lowest temperature - just watch to make sure it doesn't burn.

Have fun and let me know if these directions work (or don't work!) for you.

Have a good week. ~Ann

New Baskets

2010-11-30T21:52:00.000-05:00

I've updated my Lemon Poppy Seed Shop for December 1st with a couple of new baskets. Click my link on the sidebar - upper righthand side to see these two new baskets. Both have Free Shipping!

Thanks for checking them out. ~Ann

A long distance swap

2010-11-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! We traveled from our little corner of NW Ohio to the Milwaukee area for Thanksgiving with my sister & her husband, their 3 little ones and our Mom.

A few posts ago, I highlighted the new blanket crane that my husband made me. Karen (My Colonial Home blog) commented that she would love to have a blanket crane one day.

I just happened to have 2 extra ones - my husband went a little overboard making them! (Yes Melissa, I have one left if you want it, but like Karen you have to finish it!) Knowing that we would be in WI for Thanksgiving, Karen and I worked out a swap.

I just love the goodies that she made me. If you don't have any of Karen's stitching, all I can say is - You Should! Her stitching is perfect and the detail is amazing - something that really can't be captured to show up in photos and online.

After our swap, Karen and her husband Doug and my husband and I went out to breakfast and then attended a local craft show. The venue was very cool - it was a Y camp that had cabins situated in the woods and each cabin had one or two crafters set up in it. They had fires burning outside among the cabins and the cabins were connected by boardwalks so the walking was easy. Unfortunately for us, the craft part of the craft show wasn't as cool! Lots of polar fleece people and cutesy painted things. Not really my taste or Karen's either. We did have a good time walking and chatting and I think our husbands had a good time getting to know each other too.

After leaving Karen and Doug, we stopped at a consignment shop in Mukwonago WI and LOOK what I found! The Folk Art lamp. Happy Day.

I will have a Cyber Monday special on my other blog - 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets. You can visit that blog by clicking the link in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Have a great week. ~Ann

Free Primitive Quilt Patterns

2010-11-19T18:11:00.000-05:00

While I was out "blog hopping" about a month ago, I found Quilts by Cheri. Cheri has been designing quilt patterns for some time, but only recently started a blog. She has offered 2 free quilt patterns on her blog, found here.

This first one is a small holiday pattern. The small blocks are only cut at 1", I was a little hesitant, but I'm glad I tried my hand at this small piecing. I Love how it turned out. I need to add a halo to my angel and quilt it yet, but all the other wool applique is on. Have I ever told you I LOVE to blanket stitch? I'm serious, I could sit and blanket stitch all day long, it's so relaxing, so the applique part of this quilt (and the next one) is my favorite part.

This second pattern is actually the first free pattern Cheri offered, it's called Soots and Ashes. Cheri did hers in blacks and grays. I chose a brown/taupe/burgundy combination. I do not have all my wool cut to applique onto this one. You REALLY need to visit Cheri's blog to see this one finished up. Mine doesn't do the finished one justice, I just had to show off what I've done so far.

I think Cheri started posting directions for this quilt back in August, and every few days she would add directions for a new block. They are easy blocks and go together quickly.

I hope you all have a good weekend. ~Ann

Auction Find

2010-11-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

On a cold, windy Saturday in March, we stopped at our first auction for the year. I wasn't really sure I wanted to stop, the house was a DUMP but my husband persuaded me and this is one of 2 pieces of furniture that I picked up that day.

The marbled doors are actually contact paper - didn't realize that until I got home. Started thinking about having punched tin panels custom made for the doors...

The drawer fronts had a lovely art deco design routered into them and beautiful handles! (sorry I'm just kidding - UGLY!)

For some reason, the shelf inside was cut in half, so the left side didn't have a shelf. Lots of extra contact paper and something wrapped in tin foil under the right side shelf.

A very nice surprise when I unwrapped the foil package. It was the door panels! Not crazy about them yet - the tin punched panels still sound really good!

We spent the better part of today finishing this piece so it was house ready. Over the summer when we had time, we worked on preparing it in the garage, so today it was just the finishing to tackle.

Close up of the piece. I REALLY like it now - even the doors have grown on me - I'm keeping them. Punched tin will have to be in some other piece, later on down the road.

My husband planed down the drawer fronts until they were smooth, which led to another problem. The exposed wood wasn't worn like the rest of the piece. He made up a custom color of stain and brushed on. It's perfect!

We painted the inside with left over paint from some project or another, can't even remember! Good use of left overs. Our 10 year old even did some painting in there - he loves to paint.

We moved several pieces of furniture today, making room for our new piece. This small wall is between the sliding doors in the kitchen and the dining room. I just love the simplicity of the piece.

The mirror is an antique my Mom gave me, the primitive broom was a GW find and I made the candle sconces over the summer from items I found at the TS. The sconces started out their lives as a vertical welcome sign and a note pad holder! I didn't make them to be hung together, so one is longer than the other - we'll have to fix that over the Christmas holidays.

Have a good week ~Ann

Weaving Weekend

2010-11-07T17:03:00.000-05:00

Thursday afternoon I drove to Shipshewana, Indiana (1 1/2 hour west of my house) to join with 18 other basket weavers for a weekend of weaving, shopping and fun. Jody came the farthest - over 4 hours away in Illinois and several gals from the Heritage Weaving Guild in the Dayton area joined us as well.

When I drove into town this great big basket welcomed me! I knew it had to be a good omen for the weekend.

While I didn't make any baskets this big, I did accomplish quite a bit. Thursday afternoon and evening I made the following:

The three small baskets in the front will go on my basket themed Christmas tree.

Friday I finished the large magazine basket with the decorative accents in the back and wove the other small to medium baskets in this photo. 2 of the small baskets will go on my basket themed Christmas tree. The other small basket is a "gift" to a friend. She gave me the kit for it, because she doesn't like making small baskets - I made it and it will be returned to her tomorrow.

This is all I got done on Saturday! I look like a slacker. LOL. I did make 2 trips into town on Saturday ( I never left the retreat center on Friday - I guess it shows)

If you've never heard of Shipshewana Indiana, it's home to a huge flea market in summer time, antiques and crafts all year long. It has a very large settlement of Amish in the area, lots of buggies and bicycles on the roads.

The combined total for my 3 days of weaving. Now I just need to stain and paint these to finish them up. 17 total baskets! Yeah. Not only did I weave all these baskets, I taught my friend Barb how to text! Barb is now a texting queen!

Have a great week. ~Ann

Blanket Crane

2010-11-01T20:25:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting a blanket crane for awhile now, after seeing several of them in homes that I admire. I printed the directions from Kris's Blog, Simply Prim. You can find the tutorial for the blanket crane here. Thanks Kris for the directions. I did have my husband change the plans just a little. I wanted the crane part to actually swing, so he made it that way, rather than stationary.

I painted it black with a coat of taupe and then finished with a coat of dark brown Briwax. I found the coverlet at the Thrift Store. It was a silent auction item that I was lucky enough to win. I love the colors, antique white, mustard and brown.

My living room is so boring and this helped bring it some character. I'm working on that room, but just can't get it like my kitchen/eating area. I'm thinking that I need a mantle/fireplace like this one.

This is in my brother & sister-in-laws house.

My brother put in an actual fireplace. When we were growing up in this house, there was a door to the outside where the fireplace is. He built a brick chimney and the hearth surround. I love the simplicity of the whole thing. I also think it screams primitive. Unfortunately for me, my husband isn't willing to build a chimney! I'll have to settle for a fake fire, but I'm sure working on selling the idea of a mantle - wish me luck! ~Ann

A new Shower Curtain

2010-10-18T17:12:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year, when we were remodeling our kids' bathroom, I was grumbling about the cost of the shower curtain that I wanted. (Orginal post can be found HERE) I decided to take matters into my own hands and make one. Of course, I had lots of help measuring!

Thank you Frito! Shadow isn't in these pictures because I made this prior to his arrival at our house, whew...I might have had too much help!

I had seen a curtain similar to this one in Country Sampler, but just couldn't bring myself to pay the $88.00 for it. If I couldn't sew, maybe... My friend Melissa (Farm Field Primitives blogspot) and I took a shopping trip early in the summer and I found the perfect material for the curtain.

I used three different fabrics; a navy windowpane homespun, a solid navy and a solid butter colored cotton. The butter colored fabric is actually folded over and it hangs over the navy. I used grommets for the top - never used those before, but they were fun and easy to do. Sorry I can't get a large picture of the curtain, but the bathroom is so small I can't get far enough away to get a better picture - you'll just have to imagine it - or come over and I'll give you a tour of the bathroom!

I mentioned on the last bathroom post that I needed to make a basket to fit between the mirrors, which I did. I made a large sized weed pouch, tied it with the leftovers from the curtain and attached a cream colored star to the front of the basket.

Check this out! I have new tallow berries thanks to my follower Sherri (no blog). Sherri read my last post about my purchasing tallow berries on eBay and she sent me a whole box of them. THANK YOU Sherri! I love them and have them all over in different baskets.

To thank Sherri for her kindness, I made her this tote basket that she can carry to work. Sherri it should be to you by Saturday.

I have to leave you with an update on Shadow. He's home from his surgeries, he's now an "it" and has no front claws. He is feeling much better this week and is tearing around the house causing havoc. Frito missed him terribly while he was gone for 2 nights/3 days (sounds like a vacation - don't you think? Shadow will tell you it was NOT a vacation!) Now that he doesn't have those daggers he's not nearly as terrifying!

Hope you are all having a good week. ~Ann

The winner is......

2010-10-08T18:27:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Evelyn at Lee Hill Primitives - you've won my fall giveaway!

Thank you to all that read my previous post and entered to win the above grouping. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. ~Ann

I FOUND It!!!

2010-10-01T19:01:00.000-04:00

When I started this blog almost 2 years ago, I shared the inspiration for the name of my blog. Here's an excerpt from that post

One summer day Dad and I attended an auction "downtown". The auction was the accumulation of a lifetime of household "junk". Dad and I were having a good old chuckle over all the items being sold and commented several times "that should have been thrown out - who's going to buy that?" Up for auction comes a very large chore/utility basket with the entire bottom corner missing. At that point in my life (maybe I was 12 or 13) I certainly didn't want an old basket with a HUGE hole in it! I think about that day often, wishing I had that basket today in my home. It would fit perfectly and I could imagine all the work that the wife accomplished during her lifetime using that basket; carrying laundry to the line, picking apples, digging potatoes, hauling feed to the animals. Someday I will find a similar basket at an auction or antique store and it will grace my home. Dad isn't here anymore, but hopefully he'll be looking down from above laughing and saying "Why didn't someone throw that out?"

I found the basket with a hole in it! It's not the same basket, not the same style or even size, but it's a basket with a hole in it! I know my Dad IS saying "why did you buy that?"

It's a great antique basket that was used and used. I have a thing about handles and this one is no exception It's been worn smooth with handling.

Even the god's eye on this side is beat up. I know most people would throw this away and there are LOTS of people who don't understand my love and appreciation of this wonderful old basket - but I am happy!

In celebration of finding the "Hole in the Basket" basket, I'm having a little giveaway! I will include this little wooden tray with orange putka pods and candy corn salt dough ornaments. Sitting in the middle of this tray is a small pillar candle that I've blackened with beeswax and grunged up with spices. The tea light is battery operated. The glass bottle in the back has a label reading "1771 Magic Spell Remover"

I would like to add just a couple of "rules" to this giveaway -

1. Sign up on this post only.

2. You must be a follower of my blog - if you don't have your own blog that's ok, but you must follow mine!

3. PLEASE DO NOT post this on your own blog, I want this giveaway to be for my followers only.

I will draw a name out next Friday night and ship out the winnings right away so you have time to enjoy before October is over!

Have a great weekend. ~Ann

Tallow Berries Anyone?

2010-09-21T15:40:00.000-04:00

I just love Tallow Berries. I thought I'd buy some on eBay, here's a photo of the auction

This is what I got

I'm fuming just a little bit! Why on earth do they show a picture of several stems all held together and then I only get one? The description does say that the auction is for a bundle of over 30+ stems. My bad, live and learn with some eBay sellers. I will not leave negative feedback - I'm just not going to leave any feedback. If I was selling one of something, I'd only show one of that item!!

Does anyone have a source where I can purchase some? (That come from a home that is non-smoking - another item that I neglected to pay attention to - the berries, box and packaging were all pickled in smoke) I always just assume since we don't smoke and are honest that everyone is - am I naive or what?

Off to a Cross Country meet! ~Ann

I've been Stitchin'

2010-09-09T19:30:00.002-04:00

I've been in a stitching mood lately - let me share with you what I've made...

From a pattern from The Stitcherhood - Salem Semetary #8 found here. I thought this was just too cute - I love going to cemeteries and looking at old tombstones. There are only 3 colors used in this design, I think it really makes the pumpkins and vines stand out.

This next one - Autumn is a freebie design from The Stitcherhood, found here I made a mistake in reading the floss colors on this one - the word Autumn is supposed to be stitched in 3012 and I stitched in 3021! I like the mistake - 3021 is actually a darker green.

I have LOTS of little frames that need filling so I took design elements from the above chart and stitched only portions to come up with these two little pieces. I absolutely LOVE the frame on the left.

This next little pinkeep is a Stacy Nash pattern - Jack Treat Bag and Pinkeep. This was a quick stitchery and I made 2 other ones to send in swaps I've joined this fall.

This next one is another freebie from Lizzie Kate - Spooky Time and can be found here I did not have the spider charm that was called for in the pattern so I substituted a stitched pumpkin in it's place. In 25 years of cross stitching I've never stitched on black cloth - it is a challenge and I had to sit right under the lamp! Maybe my eyes are getting old...

This last one is a needle punch that I made from a book I checked out of the library last year - I don't remember who the designer was - I am sorry - I didn't make a note of it. I glued the edges of the punching fabric and cut close to the design. I then glued it to a plaid homespun that my friend, Melissa from Farm Field Primitives gave me. Thanks Melissa.

Got to get back to my stitching - actually I have a couple of basket orders that need to be completed so my needle will have to wait. Have a great weekend ~Ann

Meet our new baby

2010-09-07T22:08:00.000-04:00

Meet Shadow! He's our newest family member. We adopted him from our county humane society the second week in August.

We had been a 2 cat home for 15 years, when 4 years ago both our cats died within 4 months of each other. (Teppe and Riley were our babies before we had babies!) We purchased Frito 4 years ago on Halloween and thought we could live with just one cat. Frito also thought it was a good idea to have just one cat!

Do you see the size of those paws in the above picture - we are thinking he might turn out to be a panther!

Shadow has good prim taste - sleeping in a wooden bowl.

Frito did not think much of having to share his bed in the dry sink or his pink princess blankie! There was a lot of hissing, swatting and growling at first.

Now it's a different story, they seem to be the best of friends. Frito has even been giving Shadow baths.

We really think that Frito only tolerates him because now there is an extra food dish in the house! Talk about spoiled cats, they have one dish on the main level of the house and one in the kids' upstairs bathroom.

Shadow has been a great new helper - he thinks basket reed is a perfect bed. He also thinks it's lots of fun to get all tangled up in the reed and run around the house dragging it all with him.

He loves to drink condensation from any bottle left out!

You quickly forget how active a kitten can be - when all you have is a lazy, fat orange cat. Shadow was the perfect name - he is so hard to see and likes to hide and ambush us when we are least expecting it.

Secret Fall Swap

2010-08-31T22:05:00.002-04:00

I signed up to participate in the Secret Fall Swap hosted by Jenn at Yankee Ridge Primitives.

When I got home from school today I had a package waiting for me. My secret partner was Denise from Florida and check out what she sent to me:

Denise, you were far to kind! I LOVE everything.

First she made this adorable autumn pillow. I put it in a chair in our living room with the pumpkin guy that my friend Melissa made for me. They are the perfect compliment for this antique chair my Mom gave me earlier this month.

I absolutely LOVE this Autumn pin keep. The colors are perfect:

This little gingham pumpkin is done in maroon (my favorite color) - check out the tiny mouse on the top - how cute is that?

I put both the pinkeep and pumpkin in my bowl rack - perfect!

Denise made me ANOTHER pinkeep - this one says "A haunting we will go". I took it's picture in the bowl rack, but I have to find a perfect home for it on a shelf -maybe it will be in the dining room.

Cinnamon dough ornaments painted, 3 pumpkins and 3 black cats (with green eyes) are a great fall accent for my bowl of dried black walnuts...

A Prim stitchery - this one might go in the downstairs half bath...

To round out this generous gift, she sent along wax tarts in Pumpkin spice, 2 grungy pumpkins, a little bag of rosehips and a great Indian corn made from a neat fall plaid.

Denise, THANK YOU so much for the wonderful Secret Fall Swap box.

My partner ( I can't tell you who it is - it's a secret!) is still waiting on her package - I have something in it that might melt and won't mail it out until Friday or Saturday when the weather cools off just a little.