Where have I been all this time?

I can not believe it has been 5 months since my last post! SO much has happened over the summer!
Over the summer, I changed the color of the shutters and front door on the house. It was tan siding with burgundy shutters and doors but it looked too stark for me. Way too much of a contrast so this time I went with a olive green and I really am pleased with the way it turned out. I actually just painted the garden shed with the same olive green so it would look nice beside the house. I will have to get some good pics to show you.

My kids also had their big birthdays this summer. My daughter, Miranda, turned the big 16. Planning a girls Sweet 16 party literally took me months for it all to come together. This is Miranda with a group of her friends. The place was so big I couldn't get them all together at one time!Miranda is the one is the front (with the Zebra print top) and that is me back there in the brown shirt (yeah, the oldest one in the picture). We are doing a line dance just goofing off. The DJ played it so we danced to it!

My son also had his 13th birthday this summer. His was a little easier. Invite a bunch of teenage boys, take them to a skate park, load them up on Gatorade and Water. Pick them up a few hours later, feed them hot dogs, they go home, SIMPLE!

I went to the beach a few times over the summer, twice with family and once was a well needed girls only trip. Needless to say, plenty of fun was had that weekend!

I am so lucky to have such amazing friends! We only went down for the weekend but I don't think we could have lasted much longer anyway!

Well, that explains why I left blogland for a few months! But I think I am back! Hopefully it won't me another 5 months until my next post!

Nicole

A morning full of yard sales!

I finally made myself get out of the bed early this morning to hit some yard sales around the area. The paper was full of them so I had to go check them out! I feel like I hit the jackpot!

I usually only take $20 with me to yard sales. That is my limit. Only once have I found something that I had to have and went to the ATM for more money. That was an old antique quilt made from feed sacks - and he was only asking $30! I had to have it of course!

Well, today started off like most yard sale days. They are hit and miss. For the first hour I found yard sales that had nothing but clothes. UGGH! I hate shopping for clothes anyway so I just bypass them.

Then I hit the jackpot! I found a neighborhood having a Community Yard Sale. The first place I stopped I found this cute wooden sewing box. It is stamped "Made by Singer" on the inside. I loved it! It is going to be great beside my recliner to store my stitching goodies! The next one I came to I found this lamp - it looked pratically brand new! I think it is going to look great in the dining room on the piano! The lady gave me those adorable grapevine hearts too! I am going to find something to do with them!I also picked up a bunch of cute tart burners and candle holders! I found this really neat bench - It was covered with clothes but I seen it hiding under there - waiting for me to come along!

Is this not a great wall hanging? It has a place for pictures on it too! What a neat idea! Can't wait to hang this in my new bedroom (once it is finished!)

Finally I came to every prim lovers dream . . . a yard sale held by another prim lover! She had so many wonderful prim things I bought them all! I cleared the whole table!Love these great pillows! One is made from muslin and homespun and the other is an American Flag tapestry pillow. They look great on the sofa now!

She had a table full of candle holders, wax warmers, and this cute birdhouse night light. How could I resist right?

And finally, this was my FIND OF THE DAY! This is a floor lamp made from wood with these great saltbox houses on the arm. It has wooden pegs which let it slide up and down to adjust it to different heights. I couldn't believe it was sitting there all alone when I got to it. It really wouldn't fit in my car but I hung it out the window! (The things we do when we find a great item right?)

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Finally back from vacation!

I can't believe it has been so long so I last posted! There has been so much going on!

During Spring Break, my son had plans to go with his best friend, Payton, and his family to Atlanta. Both boys are big into skateboarding so while in Atlanta, they were going to take them to Woodward Skate Park. Apparently it is the largest skatepark on the east coast. Who knew? He had been counting down the days since he was asked to go. Excited does not describe what he was feeling. With all of his Spring Break anticipation, it had me and my daughter a little sad that we weren't going anywhere and were just going to be at home. Then the thought hit us, A GIRLS VACATION!!!

We decided to take a trip to Myrtle Beach for a few days. Now we were counting down the days! It was me, my daughter, her best friend, and my mom. It had been about 5 years since my mother had been on any type of vacation so we made sure she had a good time.

I couldn't wait to share some of our pics with you all! What a beautiful view huh? I could have stayed out there all day!

This was the resort we stayed at.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was so much fun but so LOUD!
This is a cute picture of the girls in front of the Giant Crab Seafood Restaurant.

We all came back a little sunburnt but it was well worth it. We are already planning another trip! Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

What a busy week!

Things have been so hectic for the past week that I haven't even had time to post anything! That is very rare because I look so forward to sitting at my computer and catching up on my friends out in Blogland! I am in the process of adding an addition to our home. We desperately need another bedroom so it has been in the works for a while. Now that it is warming up, I think we may have it finished soon! Every day it seems I am working more on home improvement than crafting and blogging.

I had a plumbing issue and the plumber told me that he would have to bring out his Bobcat and dig up the pipe (which is an additional cost of $300!). I quickly told him to give me a day and I would dig it up with my shovel and save me $300. So, I spent a whole day digging in the yard to get to the pipe that he needed. It was a lot of work but with every dig I knew what I was saving.

I had also been trying to come up with another color for my shutters and front door. The house is a tan color and they were already painted a barn red color but it was just too much of a contrast for me. It had been that way for 3 years and I had enough of it. Yesterday I went to Lowes and stayed in the paint section for over an hour looking at paint samples. I finally decided on an Olive Green color. I immediately came home and started painting and I LOVE the new color! I think it looks more like a little cottage now! So homey looking!

I have been working on a few projects lately though . . .

I made these Spring Birds for my booth at Curious Cat. They started as a Robins Egg Blue color and then grubbied. I love how they turned out!

I have also been working on some large prim pears that still need a little finishing touch. I still have to put on their stems and leaves and prim them up!

I found this vintage table cloth at the Waxhaw Antique Mart over the weekend. I just angled it across my table and put this old wooden bowl in the middle. It really lightened up my dark table!

Well, guess I am off to deal with more Home Improvement issues! UGGGHH! Wish me luck!
Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Weekend Thrifting!

We have had such a rainy weekend! I did not even attempt to find any yard sales. I know there were a couple that were advertised as Rain or Shine but I guess I just wasted dedicated enough to go out and find them! I did, however, go to a few Thrift Stores and the local Goodwill. I found a few things that I couldn't wait to blog about!
The first item was this great wooden slat ladder. It came with a strand of grapevine tied to it.

I think I am going to use this to display some vintage towels and linens that were my grandmothers. I just have to find the perfect place to hang it!

My next find was this big green chippy basket. I put it on a side table and filled it with pinecones for now. I have to find the perfect filler for this because it is so big!

I am going to leave it as it is too - I love the paint chipping off!
I also picked up some great prim fabrics but the batteries died before I could get a picture of it to share.
This week I have been working on a few Robins Egg Blue fabric birds and a few prim pears. I am trying to wait until Wednesday to share. (As long as I don't get washed away with all of this rain!)
Have a great week!
Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

So great to meet some blogging buddies and a walk around town!

On Friday, I had decided to take a few finished projects down to my booth at Curious Cat. I stopped by the computer to check my emails on the way out and I had one from Pam at Antique or Not. She told me that she was closing her store so that she and her hubby could make the big move out of state! I always love going to her store to pick up Pip Berries and Swags! She told me that she was having a big sale - everything was at 30% off!

I quickly decided to stop by her shop before going to my booth. Pam and I chatted for a bit - she always takes the time to make you feel so welcome when you come in. I picked up several pip berry picks for Spring and a few burgundy ones for year 'round. I also found a few primitive blocks and a great basket hanger that holds about 8 baskets!

Of course, I found a lot of other things that I wanted but I am going to have to come back for! I hope that I can make it back to her store before she closes. I love all of her things and she promises to keep her website and blog going after she moves. Good luck Pam!

I worked in my booth all day Friday but had a few larger pieces that needed to be moved in. My friend, Sandy, helped me on Saturday bring in an old prim farm table and 2 old rockers that I had in storage. I still have more work to do on the booth to fill it up but it is coming along nicely I think.

A lady came in to the market while I was there and asked me did I bring my rabbits. I thought to myself "they are in the car but how does she know I had rabbits made?" That is when she told me she saw them on my blog when I had listed my Spring goodies and she thought they were so cute! I sold 2 rabbits before they ever got to my booth!

While at the booth on Saturday, I got the chance to meet Susan from Primitive Preachers Wife. Her family stopped into Curious Cat to do a little shopping and we had talked a bit before we realized who we both were! It is funny that we are on each others blog all of the time but we didn't know we were talking to each other at all! Her family is so wonderful! Her husband, Jimmy, was as excited about the yard sale finds as she was! (Not my husband, he just grunts!)

I have met the greatest folks since I started blogging - I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

The weather was so beautiful today! It was over 70 degrees here! The kids and I decided to take a walk around town so that we could enjoy the weather (and I wanted a little exercise!) We walked along the main highway so that I could get a few pics of some remodeled Victorian homes in our area.

I remember playing along the sidewalk in front of this house when I was little. I was just remodeled and looks great!

This house is now the location for a Photography Studio in town. I love it!

I couldn't resist taking a few of the kids while on our walk. The sidewalk wraps around this old tree so it just seemed to be a perfect backdrop!

By this point they were getting annoyed with my picture taking! But I love this old porch!
I had the best time just walking around town with the kids. They talked about things that happened at school, I talked about things in my day, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. Of course now, they want to make it a daily walk around town. As long as my legs and big butt will allow me to go, I am definitely up for it!

Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

A day at the DMV

My daughter finally finished Drivers Ed at school and could not wait to go for her Learners Permit. We had snow on Monday so school was closed. She was so upset! Tuesday she went to the Guidance office to get her driving certification and . . . the Guidance Counselor was out that day! Now she is even more upset!

Finally, she gets everything she needs from school. I show up around 1 pm to pick her up to take her to the DMV. I decided to go ahead and pick my son up early too because I wasn't sure what time we would make it home. We make it to the DMV and we don't have the right forms - the birth certificate I have is the "Mothers Copy" and is not the "Certified Copy". Upset is not the word for what she is at this point.

We run to the courthouse to get the Birth Certificate and . . . you guessed it, I forgot my ID. I had to call my mom who lives nearby and ask her to come to the courthouse and bring her ID.

At this moment, my daughter is freaking out! "I'm not going to get my permit . . . It's going to be another day!"

We get the Certificate, race to the DMV, (they don't take anyone after 4 pm) and get in line. She gets called back to take her test and they tell her she can not miss more than 5 on the test. She is so nervous! My son and I are waiting in the lobby for her and then finally she pokes her head out of the testing door. SHE PASSED!

Thank goodness too because she would have wrecked my nerves if she hadn't!

So was so excited to get to drive us home from the DMV. Not me, I was a bundle of nerves! She kept this smile on her face for hours after we left. I can't believe my daughter is driving me around town! I think I have aged 10 years in the past 2 days!

We went by Lowe's tonight and I picked up a gallon of paint. I love the color - it is by Olympic and it is named "Green Tea Leaf". I think it is a great prim green! I am going to paint some shutters that I have at Curious Cat this new color. They are now a barn red and I want to change things up for Spring.

I have a few pieces around the house I want to paint too! It's like I have a new box of crayons - everything is going to get a new color!

Have a great weekend!


Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Thrift Store Makeovers

The weather in my neck of the woods has been yucky for the past few days. It has rained so much that my yard looks like a pond! Then to top it off, today, we have started with more winter weather. As of now, it is snowing and sleeting!

My daughter is so upset because she finished her last drivers ed class on Saturday. She has to get a paper from the Guidance Office and then she is off to the DMV for her permit! Problem is, now there isn't school tomorrow so she can't get the paper! I have never seen a kid more unhappy about snow and a school closing in my life!

I have been cooped up indoors trying to be productive with my thrift store treasures. The first item I have finished was the wooden tray. This was the before shot: I painted it a tan color and then added some stain to it for a prim look. I then covered the middle of the tray with a piece of Spring fabric. I think it is going to look great filled with bunnies or eggs!

The other item I finished is the candle box.

I painted it black and added a rusty star!
I can't wait to add my grubby pillar candle to it and hang a homespun napkin from the drawer!

I have a few more pieces in the works but nothing completed yet.

I hope to get those finished and posted this week.

I was in such a Spring mood and now I have the blahs! I hope to get over them soon and get back to work on my goodies!
Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

I have been busy trying to get a few things completed this week. This is the first time I have gotten to participate in Leslie's Whatcha Workin on Wednesday for two weeks in a row! Shocker huh?

Well, as I have been mentioning, I have been bitten by the Spring bug! Last week I started making some prim rabbits. That of course led me to making prim carrots and eggs too!

I still have to draw some little faces on the bunnies. I am going to tie some homespun around their necks once I get it coffee-stained. The eggs turned out cuter than I could have imagined! I have them in great Spring colors too (but of course, had to "dirty" them up!"

I just have to put the green "tops" on these carrots and they will be finished. They are actually a lot more "grubbier" in person but they came out looking bright in this photo.
I am also working on a few before and after projects that I will post about later in the week. I have also been busy painting some of my thrift store finds that I posted yesterday. I can't believe the difference a little paint can make on some things! I bet if folks knew their goodies could look like they do after us gals make them over, they would have never parted with them in the first place! Lucky for us, they don't - so shhhhh!

Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Thrifting Tuesday

I had to run into town today to take my son to the doctor. He seems to have a rattle in his chest and a terrible cough. He has had lung issues since he was born so he goes from fine to pneumonia in no time flat! The doctor said he had Bronchitis and Pharyngitis. He now has in inhaler, some cough syrup, and an antibiotic. He went to bed earlier than usual because he was so tired from being up all night coughing.

Also, today was my daughters first day of actual driving in Drivers Ed. It was weird because while we were in town we actually drove right past her! I couldn't believe that my "little girl" was behind the wheel and without me! (Seems I am having a little trouble with them growing up!)

Since we had time to kill while waiting for the meds to get filled, my son and I popped into a thrift store to see what we could find. I didn't have a lot of time to spend so I just picked up a few things..

I love this wooden candle box. I will probably paint it black. The other is a sign that was painted with a Noah's Ark design. I think it is cute put I will probably paint over it. I am sure it will be something with stars on it!
I got 2 wooden candle holders on the left - need to be painted but look very prim already. The tray in the middle is alright but I am going to paint and put some fabric in the middle to cover up the carving. In front of the tray is a little ducky sign with ribbon that I will completely redo - it was only $ .49 - who could resist! The last item is an iron hand towel holder. This is going to look great in my updated bathroom just as it is! It was only $ .99!
I will try to get some things in the works for Whatcha Workin on Wednesday but I have been a busy gal and already have a few things up my sleeve this week!
Can't wait to share them with you all!
Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

My Fortune Cookie Inspiration and Booth News!

What a crazy weekend! My daughter and I spent time with my mother on Saturday. We took a trip up to Charlotte to pick up her winnings from the Marvelous Mom's contest that I blogged about earlier. After that we hit up a few home decor stores. My mom wants to redecorate her home so we were out getting ideas. I immediately headed to the clearance isles and found some amazing deals.

My mom found a quilt marked down to $15! I also picked up a few quilted pillow shams for $1 each! My favorite find of the day were 2 HUGE barn stars for $8 each!

Today the family decided that they wanted to eat Chinese so we just called in an order. I picked my fortune cookie and guess what it said . . . "It's a good time to finish up old tasks"! Do you think that this fortune cookie writer has been to my backyard and looked in my building full of unfinished projects? Is this God's way of letting me know that I have started a fire hazard with all of the things piled in that building? Either way, I figured I better listen.

I bundled up and went outside to the building - what a bunch of junk! (That is what the dear hubby thinks!) Not me, I see potential in each and every piece. You know, we have learned to "think outside of the box" but I think sometimes my husband would like to throw me into a box! He goes junkin with me but when it comes time to find a place for it in the building, we have issues.

Needless to say, here are a few of my makeovers.

I had a bag of wooden stars that I found in my craft room clean up. I decided to make a small arrangement using the stars instead of flowers.

I wanted to put them in an old milk glass but I didn't have one so for now I am using an old Clorox bottle that I had on a shelf in my kitchen. I may just tie a piece of homespun around the neck and call it finished.

This is a tall cheese box that I have had for 2 years or more. . . BEFORE . . .

AFTER . . .

I love the stars - I am a sucker for stars! This would be great for umbrellas and things!

I had a childs desk that was a bland red color. It had those "lovely" hearts cutout in the legs and some scroll work at the bottom. Of course, the hearts HAD to go so we decided to amputate . . .

A fresh white washing and amputation of the heart legs made this piece into a great lap desk! I was too excited that I forgot to get a before picture!
I also am in the process of painting an old shelf but I figured that was kind of boring so I didn't get a picture of that either!

After careful consideration, I have decided to expand my booth at Curious Cat. Starting March 1st I will occupy all of booth #20 inside the Market. As I mentioned earlier, I have a lot of things in my building and they are doing me no good in there. So I might as well get busy cleaning these goodies up and filling up my new space! After I made my decision on Saturday, I couldn't sleep for redecorating the whole booth in my head! That is also what led to the makeover session between me and my building today.
I am very excited and can't wait to get back to the Market. I will be filling our truck up with all sorts of goodies and piling everything into my newly expanded space. As always, I will have my camera on hand to share with all of you the finished project.

Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

In honor of Leslie over at My Country Home, I am happily getting to participate in Whatcha Working on Wednesday! I have been showing my Spring makeovers throughout the house in my last post so I don't have too many changes today.

I have recently finished this cute little basket of eggs.

I found this bird nest basket at a yard sale a few years ago and just pulled it out of the storage building. It is now part of my table centerpiece.

I heard my hubby and son in his bedroom banging and pounding, so I had to go check it out. My son is big into skateboarding and has been wanting to hang some of his old skateboard decks on his wall. Of course, the bottoms have to show. This is where the graphics once were but have been scraped and scratched off with the "grinding" of rails and stairs. (Didn't I sound like I knew what I was talking about there?)
Apparently, the hubby is still in a home improvement mood so tonight the two of them finally hung the boards in my son's room.

Doesn't look much like art work to me but, hey, my son likes it and is proud of the condition of these boards! He usually gets a new one for his birthday and Christmas so he has been holding on to these for a while so that he could display them.

My daughter has been waiting for this day for a while now! Her class ring finally came in and she picked it up at school today. The picture isn't that great but she was so proud to show it off!

She picked a silver ring with some sort of purple stone. She had me write her name in cursive on the form so that my handwriting was on the inside of her ring. I thought that was so sweet! It is hard to believe how fast they are growing up! She is currently in Drivers Ed and has recently been getting letters from Colleges and Universities! I can't believe it! We are in the process of planning her Sweet 16 party already. Her birthday isn't until June but we are trying to do a little each week so that we are not crazed at the last minute - although I am sure we will be!

Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

Tuesday Tweaking!

What a great day! The hubby had the day off so we decided to go out for breakfast this morning! This is rare for us! We aren't exactly what you would call "morning people!" We usually wake up, mumble a few words to each other, (I just usually grunt - it takes a lot less effort!) and go on about our day. Usually around lunch time we phone each other to see how the day is coming along. Not today! We woke up and decided to head into town for a bite to eat. After breakfast, we stopped at a small grocery store in town that we had heard ran pretty decent deals. We've never been to that particular grocery store so we just stopped in and shopped around. There were a few things that I found cheaper, so I picked them up, but not much of a savings overall.

Once we got home, I guess we had been bitten by the home improvement bug. We were going to work out in the yard but it was a little too chilly and my hubby is still recovering from Bronchitis so we didn't want to take any chances! He looked around the house and said "Honey, get my drill!" Boy, what great words! You know what that means ladies - a few things are getting scratched off the honey-do list! YEAH!

He hung my new towel holder in the bathroom, put in a new door stop behind the bathroom door, fixed a cabinet door in the kitchen that was loose, worked on a drawer that was sticking, changed out the ceiling fan in the living room, changed out the light switches to white ones (some of the rooms still had the ivory ones), and worked on the back door that seemed to have a little drag to it. WOW! That was a lot of one afternoon!

Of course, since he was busy, I started working on my own to-do list. I pulled everything out under the kitchen sink and organized it, organized the computer desk area, cleaned curtains, and then it started . . . I began tweaking. I started moving this thing to that wall and that thing to the other shelf. Before I knew it, I started bringing out Spring items from the attic!

So here are a few pics of my Tuesday Tweaks!

This is the top of my entertainment center. The old yellow jug was my grandmothers. It sat in the hallway for as long as I can remember!
This is my new little hand towel for my updated bathroom! I love it! I found it at K-Mart over the weekend. It matches my bathroom colors perfectly!

I just love these bright yellow flowers in my grandmother's old pitcher!

Now I can sit back and enjoy my Spring-filled home! Even though it is still cold outside, the heater runs constantly, and I am always wrapped in a blanket . . . at least it LOOKS like Spring!

I may start my own tradition . . . Tuesday Tweaking! I am constantly changing things around but maybe I can keep it to once a week! The husband would be so happy if I would just leave things alone - but, that is probably not going to happen! *wink wink**

Prim Hugs ~ Nicole

My thrift store makeovers and my updated booth!

I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day! The family went out to eat with my mom. Every restaurant in town was packed so we had a bit of a wait. So much for the "romantic evening" huh?

A few posts back, I showed you my thrist store finds. I was needing a cabinet or shelf to show some of my goodies in my booth at Curious Cat. I messed with it all week - trying to get it to prim perfection! It was the standard glossy stain color - nothing fancy. I painted it white and then brushed dark stain over the paint once it dried. I then came along with a tan paint and brushed it on - then took a sponge to wipe some of the paint off. After all was dry, I sanded and scuffed for the worn look. What do you think . . .

Before:

After:

I love the way it turned out! The stain and paint really brought out the detail in the molding.I also had picked up a wood medicine cabinet. I gave it the same treatment as the shelf.
Before:

After:

I wanted to put it in our newly updated bathroom but it was too big! So, my daughter and I took it to my booth at Curious Cat.
You know how when you move one thing around, it triggers an entire makeover? That is what happened yesterday. We spent a few hours rearranging the booth so I wanted to show you all how it looked when we were finished.

I just finished the star pillow sitting in the blue basket. I forgot to take a picture of it! I have to put some more goodies on my new shelf. I had run out of "tweak" time by the time we had moved things around. You know, you really never have enough "tweak" time anyway!
Have a great day!
Nicole