Watchya Been Working on Wednesday

I see that you all enjoyed looking at my Mom’s prim home in yesterday’s post, but I thought I would take a short break from it today.  I wanted to share some things that I have been working on with all of you.  More pics of my Mom’s home will be posted tomorrow so don’t forget to come back and check those out.  We will be looking into her dining area, kitchen and laundry room and maybe even down into the lower level of her condo.  You will love tomorrow’s photos probably even more then yesterdays.

Well, here is what I have been working on.  Do you all remember this ugly royal blue light that I purchased at the thrift store?  I bought it for $6.99.  Here is the BEFORE picture.

Well, I decided to paint it black and add a new shade.  The shade was just in awful shape plus I wanted something much more prim.  Isn’t it funny that when you buy something, you sit there and wonder what the previous owner was thinking?!?  The previous owner to this light must have loved blue.  Anyway, here is my AFTER picture.  WOW, what a huge improvement.  I am so pleased with the way it turned out.  What do you think?  Big improvement – huh?

I also have been doing a little more Fall decorating outside on my front porch and thought I would share that with you.  I still need to get a few more pumpkins, but this is what I have so far.  Do you have all of your Fall decorating done?  When I went to visit my Mom this past weekend I picked up some bittersweet, the hayride sign and the gourds.  Now I just need to get some larger pumpkins to complete the look that I am going for.  I will share more pictures once it is totally complete.

Don’t you just love real bittersweet?

 

My Mom gave me these two dried gourds.  I just love them, but can’t seem to find anymore.

 

I also picked up some Indian corn.

 

I found this sign at Country Gatherings, but it wasn’t grubby enough for me.  The colors were just too bright so I brought it home and applied some dark walnut stain to it.  Much better in my opinion.  I tried putting it in my flowerbed, but the wood wasn’t sturdy enough for our hard dirt so I just placed it in a large flower pot and put it on my porch.

I also put up my wreath on my front door.  Don’t you just love the Fall colors in this wreath?  I loved it when I saw it at my Mom’s home and she was kind enough to give it to me.  Love it!

So, what have you been working on?  I hope you will share as well.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of my Mom’s prim home pictures.  They will be posted “hopefully” tomorrow morning.

Until Next Time….. Happy Fall.

Introducing ~ My Mom’s Prim Home ~ Part 1

So many of my blogland friends have requested to see more of my Mom’s prim home.  You have left me so many comments stating that you love the slideshow of her home on my sidebar so I thought it would be the perfect time to share some pictures of her home.  Without any further delay….. let’s take a look at her home and her Fall decorations.  Hope you enjoy it and be sure to Stay Tuned for Part 2 and possibly Part 3.  Are you ready for picture overload?  Here is my beautiful Mom to take you on the tour!!

 

Let’s start at the front door.  Gotta love her Fall decorations that she has outside!!  Don’t forget that you can click on each individual picture to look at it in a larger view.

Are you ready to step inside?  You are definitely in for a treat.  I was unable to get pictures of the bedrooms and part of the family room, but the rest of the home will definitely be shown either in this post or the following posts.  Enjoy!  Let’s take a look at the entry way area first.

Now we will make our way into part of the family room area and into the kitchen.  Do you need a refill on your coffee?  I will wait if you do.  Ok, I guess you don’t…. you all must be too excited to see her prim home so let’s continue to move on.

So, have you enjoyed your tour so far?  Well, be sure to come back tomorrow or the next day for more prim eye candy.  By the time you are done….. you will be in prim eye candy overload.  Hope you enjoyed yourself!!

Until Next Time My Prim Friends…..

Missing Mom Monday

If you all have been following me for awhile now then you know that my Mom and I are great friends.  Not only do we have an unbelievable bond that we share, but we are absolutely great friends.  Trust me… I have other friends that I hang out with that are more my age (sorry Mom), but my Mom never really acts her age (lol).  She is 64 years young and you would think that she is the same age as me.  We have so much in common that it is actually pretty neat.  We are just like two peas in a pod and I can’t help myself when I blog about her, the wonderful job that she did in raising me and the love and support that she has always shown me.  What is more amazing is that she trusts me enough to share some of her belongings that once belonged to her parents and their parents.  I know that I have shared alot of the items that she has given me in the past, but I have just a few more that I would love to share with you.  Thank you Mom for giving me these wonderful family heirlooms.  I will treasure them just as I have the rest of the gifts you have given me.

So, shall we take a look at all the items that she gave me this past trip?  Are you ready?   I displayed them on the old trunk that she gave me a couple weeks back.  Don’t you just love that trunk?

Let’s take a closer look – ok?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These bronzed baby shoes belonged to my grandmother.  Aren’t they just too neat?

These dolls belonged to my great grandmother.  My grandpa’s Mom, but the doll with the red belly was my Grandpa’s little doll when he was little.  So, that doll alone would be 92 years old.  Pretty neat – huh?  Sorry that the one doll doesn’t have any clothes and the other doesn’t have any hair, but they are old antiques and they can’t help the way they look (lol).

The brush and mirror set belonged to my great great grandmother on my grandma’s side.  Isn’t the detail beautiful?

The jewelry box belonged to my great grandmother and the picture was of my great great grandmother (her Mom).

I loved looking at the picture and thought you would want to see a close-up.  Wasn’t she a beautiful woman?  The box included my grandma’s class ring and a few other things that belonged to her Mom such as a watch and her bracelet.  The bracelet had an “M” engraved on it for her name which was Mae Etta Bell Dean.  I recv’d my middle name from my grandma and evidentially from her Mom as well.  Gotta love all of this family history.

I also received this beautiful antique light.  It belonged to my grandma.  I remember going to her home and right on her corner stand at the bottom of their steps was this light.  I always thought it was so pretty!  It use to be an old oil lamp, but my grandparents had it switched so it would take a bulb.  Isn’t it pretty?  Let’s take a closer look.

Isn’t the detail amazing?  I thought it was so pretty.  I am in the process of setting it up in my bedroom.  It will be perfect there!!

Well, tomorrow is the big day.  I will be sharing pictures of my Mom’s prim home with all of you minus a couple rooms.  Trust me it will be picture overload so make sure you eat a hearty breakfast and have lots of coffee or tea to get ready for the big reveal.  You won’t be disappointed!! 

Stay Tuned my Prim Friends…..

A Rainy Weekend Spent in Amish Country

Well, you all are in for a treat this coming week.  I just got home about 4 hours ago from visiting my parents for the weekend.  It was a dreary and rainy weekend, but the time we spent with my parents made it seem like it was sunny all day long minus the rain of course.  We have been going to visit alot lately and this will probably be the last visit for about 4 weeks so we made it a good one.  We celebrated my Dad’s 64th Birthday on Friday, we went to Amish Country on Saturday and today we came home.  It was a great couple days!!  My DH made chicken fajitas on Saturday and I made my famous strawberry cake for my Dad’s birthday.  They absolutely loved the cake and both Mom and Dad were just so anxious to try the cookies that I made.  Yep, we left there leaving them with happy bellies (lol).

I have so many wonderful pictures to share with you and some very exciting news for all of you.  Ok, I won’t delay it anymore…. the exciting news is that I am going to share with you pictures of my Mom and Dad’s home over the next couple of days.  Alot of you have said that my Mom does a wonderful job decorating and you love the pictures that I have shown you before so I thought I would share alot more of their home with you.  So, be keeping an eye out for a post of my Mom’s home over the next couple days.  I will be sharing the pictures in probably 2 or 3 posts so there will be plenty to look at and trust me….. it is great prim eye candy!!

Without further delay here are some pictures that were taken over the last couple days.  Oh- you even get to see my Dad.  So, who do you think I look like most?  Mom or Dad?

Told you I had lots of pictures and that isn’t even close to 3/4 of the pictures (lol).  Are you ready to see some of the goodies that I found in Amish Country?  I also wanted to show you some more stuff that my Mom gave me, but I will just show you my Amish finds first.  Ok, let’s take a look – are you with me?

I loved the old Remington box that I found.  I thought it would look neat with a tree in it at Christmas time and the old crock just caught my eye immediately.  I love both of these finds!  ~Thanks Mom ~

I also got another spoon holder since I am out of room on my other one.  I will be re-finishing it when time permits.  Don’t you love my old sifter?  Mom gave me the little towel and well I simply love it.  That is pretty much it for today, but keep your eyes out for tomorrow’s post.  I have so much more to share and show you, but I have run out of time for today.

Until Next Time my Prim Friends!!

Thrift Store Shopping

I go to the local thrift store on a weekly basis, but I must say that it has been slim pickens lately!  I found a few things a couple weeks ago and I thought I would share those with you today.  Yep, I totally forgot to share them when I bought them.  This mind of mine just ain’t like it use to be (lol).  Well, let’s take a look at my recent thrift store finds.

I found these candle holders and thought they would look great re-finished.  I plan on putting them on my farm table when they are complete.  So, stay tuned to pictures of them once they are painted and re-finished.  I am thinking barn red…..

I also found this light and thought that it would look great in my family room.  Of course I WON’T be keeping it royal blue, but I thought it would look great painted a nice prim color such as black and then stencil something on it such as an old date.  I grabbed it thinking that it looked like an old milk can, but when I got it home….. I realized that it wasn’t. (lol) So, I will just go with my original plans and paint it and stencil it like it was an old milk can.  What do you think?  Do you think it would look nice re-finished that way or do you think I should stencil a star on it instead?  Go ahead and give me your honest opinion.  I am also planning on getting a new lamp shade so don’t think for a minute that I will be keeping it or trying to salvage it.  I am positive that there is no hope for that shade.

Hmmm, isn’t this a pretty picture?  Ah, yes I love old barn wood and I was lucky enough to get some from my FIL.  I plan on making an old coop if I can ever get the wood cut.  My FIL cut some of his wood, but he burnt up his blades so I am outta luck with someone trying to cut my wood.  Anyway, I thought I would share a picture of the wood that I am going to be using.  Neat – huh?  I can hardly wait to get it made, but I just need to wait on my FIL to get a new blade.  Gotta love oak.  Stay Tuned for pictures of the coop.

Until Next Time……..

A Very Old Family Recipe

I am sure you all remember all of the goodies that my Mom gave to me.  Well, in one of those plastic totes there was a couple old cookbooks and also a bag full of old recipes that my grandmother had saved.  After going through that bag full of recipes, I found lots of old recipes that were from my great great grandmother.  I was excited to find some of those old recipes and today I decided to try one out.  After doing a little research on some old terms that were used back then when cooking/baking, I was able to proceed in baking some Pineapple Cookies.  If you all like pineapple then you will indeed love this recipe!!  So, grab yourself an index card/recipe card and write down this very simple yet delicious recipe that was a family favorite from my Mom’s side.  Oh – you won’t be disappointed in these…..they are delicious!!

Pineapple Cookies

-1/2 cup of Crisco, butter or oleo (I   used butter flavored Crisco)

- 1 cup of packed brown sugar

-1 egg

- 1 small can of crushed pineapple drained

- 2 cups of flour

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp vanilla

- 1/2 cup of nuts

Cream together:  Crisco, brown sugar, and egg.  Drain your small can of crushed pineapple and set the juice aside.  Add the crushed pineapple to the mixture first.  Sift 2 cups of flour…. 1/4 tsp salt… 1/2 tsp baking soda… 1 tsp baking powder….1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 cup of nuts of your choice.  Mix well and spoon on to baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Cool and then we will make the icing!

Icing:  1 cup of powdered sugar, lump of butter which equals 1 stick of butter and pineapple juice to make the right consistency.

Mix all ingredients together and add just a little bit of pineapple juice to help make the icing the right consistency that you like.  Ice the cookies and enjoy!!

Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I did.  I told my Mom I was making these cookies today and she said that she can recall her grandma making them.  She said that her grandma would make them frequently and she would always enjoy a couple cookies with a glass of milk.  Mmmm, sounds like the perfect snack to me.  Yep, I think this is a new favorite of mine too!

Until Next Time…….

A Gorgeous Fall Day

Today’s weather felt great!  I don’t think I could have asked for a better day to work outside on re-finishing my MIL’s dresser that I have had since June.  Yep, it has been collecting dust in the garage since then and I finally got around to re-finishing it.  Shame on me – huh?  Do you remember this dresser?

Well, my MIL asked me if I would re-finish it for her and I said sure.  Well, there have been so many things that I have wanted to do before that and unfortunately my stuff came first (lol).  I guess it is better late then never – right?  She didn’t really care how it was finished so I decided to do something neutral that would match everything in her bedroom.  I had my husband sand it for me since it belonged to his mother and then I finished it up.  I painted it white chocolate, sanded it a bit and then stained it with my dark walnut stain.  Let’s take a look.  Here is a picture of it shortly after I sanded it a little bit.  Too stark white for me.

Here it is after the stain was applied.  Much better!!  What a difference!

I am also happy to report that I got my rings back today.  I had to go get them re-sized and when they were cleaning them before sending them off, they noticed that one of my diamonds in my wedding band had been chipped.  So, they had to send it off to the diamond bondsman.  Good thing we have the extended lifetime warranty because the diamond was replaced free of charge.  I am just happy to have them back on my finger.  I felt so naked (lol).

Oh, I also thought I would share just a few more goodies that I received from my Mom when I was there last time.  I still have so much to share, but some of it is Christmas stuff so I will just wait to share that stuff later.  This old scoop belonged to my grandpa.  I thought it would look cute somewhere with a candle in it.  I just still have yet to find that perfect place for it.

My Mom gave me these old crocks which I love.  She gave me two others that are Christmas/Winter related, but I am going to keep those to myself for right now.  I will probably end up giving one away at a later date so be keeping an eye out for that.

 

My Mom cross stitched this awhile back and she offered it to me.  Isn’t it cute?

 

Who doesn’t love treenware?  Yep, feast your eyes on those beauties?  She offered those to me and I snatched them up like they were gold (lol).

 

I also thought I would share this pretty little thing with you.  It popped up in my flowerbed not too long ago and I have no clue what kind of flower it is or where it came from.  Heck it could be a weed, but whatever it is and wherever it came from…. I thought it was pretty enough to share.  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.

 

Until Next Time……