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

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

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

Unique Handmade Pendants!

I have been a lover of all things handmade for many years. When I get the opportunity to meet a talented crafter or designer, I feel very blessed. I firmly believe in the "Buy Handmade" campaign because there are so many talented folks in this world who deserve to be successful!

I first met Janna, when I had my store here in town. She came in one Saturday and bought a few items. After a few minutes of chit-chat, we realized that we both love Primitives and the love of junking. We also shared a mutual friend who has a WONDERFUL prim store, Beth at Old Tyme Marketplace in Marshville, NC.
Janna had mentioned that she made jewelry. Now I am not what you call a jewelry buff - I usually only wear my wedding ring and my earrings so I didn't think too much about it. She actually was wearing one of her pendants and when she showed it to me, I fell in love with it! She uses old vintage buttons as the base for her pendants. This particular one had an old vintage key attached! I was hooked!

She has a booth at Curious Cat as well as one at the Waxhaw Antique Mart which is close by my house. I would stop in there often to see her newest designs. These pendants are gorgeous! They have a unique vintage look to them and I have not seen anything like them. On my last trip to Curious Cat, my daughter and I stopped by Janna's booth. Believe it or not, my daughter also fell in love with her pendants! Normally my daughter and I do not agree on jewelry so this was a first. It is very rare for the mother and teenager to agree on fashion. I couldn't believe it! She is now saving her money so she can buy more! She loves the fact that they are unique and they have been a hit at her school.

Janna's company, Artsy Fartsy, also accepts custom orders for her pendants.

Can you see the vintage keys on some of these pendants?

You can find her work by checking out her website, Artsy Fartsy Finds. She, also, has her items available at several retail locations throughout North Carolina. Be sure to check her out! I think I may get her to make something for my daughter's upcoming Sweet 16! When I get it, I will definitely post a pic and share it with all of you!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I know I have been missing in action lately! There has been A LOT going on around here! We hosted Thanksgiving at our house from my side of the family this year. We had a great day! My nephews came over and they are like little tornado's wherever they go! I realize how my house is not child friendly! I start moving things to higher shelves and hiding the breakables whenever it is time for them to come over. Problem is, I forget where I hid things after they have left! I spend a lot more time looking for things I hid than it took me to stash them in the first place!
I started doing a little Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving. I usually do it the day after but I was feeling pretty good so I thought I better take advantage of the opportunity. Every since the wreck, I have terrible neck and back pain so I am at Physical Therapy a few times a week getting things corrected. We got the tree up and the lights strung and the back pain really set in. It was another couple of days before I could finish the tree like I wanted.
This is the first year that I got the tree just like I wanted! I made all of the ornies on the tree and of course filled it with stars. I am not sure if I like the topper or not though. I had a small grapevine star on top but you couldn't even see it. I had this one at the shop so I stole it to see if it would work.
At the Christmas show this year I bought the cutest Mason jar light covers. They attach over the little light bulbs on the strands. I love them! I will buy more for next year. They are so easy to attach and I haven't had any problems getting them to stay on!
I also wanted to do a little something different for my mantle. I wanted to make some old fashioned stockings - you know the long, skinny, grubby ones. Since the accident, I haven't really been crafting so I never got around to it! I bought four Santa hats from Dollar General. I stained them in coffee and cinnamon and attached a hanger inside and am using them for our stockings. I really like how they turned out too! I haven't completely finished the mantle yet but wanted to show off the hats! We have to work "around" my hubby's prized deer, Bucky. I sure a lot of you know what I am going through on that one!
These are the candy canes that I was working on a few posts back. I grubbied them up and put them in an wicker sleigh that I have had for years. They look great sitting on my grandmothers piano!
Finally, I have a little bit of sad news too. I have decided to close my shop here in town. I can't be there most days because of my back, physical therapy, lawyers appointments, doctors appointments, . . . It really has just gotten to be too much.
I moved my goodies to a booth at a local indoor market - The Curious Cat. This is the same place I started out. What a great bunch of people that are there! They have been so great in finding room for me and helping me get my booth in order!
They are having their Christmas Open House this weekend so I wanted to get what I could to the booth for display. I am glad I did! I went by today and have already sold a lot of things!
I figured this way, I could still make a lot my prim goodies as I am able to and can take them by when I can. I think this is going to be the best situation for me so I am just thankful that I have a place to display my items and I didn't have to put everything in storage! I will try to get some pictures of my booth and share them in a future post!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Nicole