Front Porch Primitives Giveaway~ First Ever!!!

I am so excited (and nervous) to announce that I am having my first ever Giveaway.  I have entered so many of other people's and have seen how much fun they are that I wanted to try my own. I know that it is very close to start decorating for Halloween so it will be a fast one. So here it goes. 

Meet Tula.  She is dear to me because she is the first doll I have ever attempted.  I will make another "Tula" for the lucky winner.  She is made of coffee and cinnamon stained muslin and her hair is a soft batting material.  

She comes with her own broom and possibly some other goodies I may throw in.

I will draw a winner on October 8th.

Here's how to play

1. Follow me please

2. Make a comment on this post only

~ If you like, mention my giveaway on your blog or face book page~

~Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you~

Thanks so much for joining my give away.  This is going to be so much fun.

Tuesday Display Chain- "Framed In"

Gable House Musings is having a wonderful display chain going.  This weeks is titled "Framed In".
This is what I came up with.  I bought a bunch of gourds yesterday and wondered what I could do with them.  I really like it.

Thanks Misi for giving me a challenge to rise to.

Finally, Some Fun Finds

Boy, what a great vacation, but it is good to be back.  I need to sleep in my own bed:)  Upon arriving at the beach house, I was very surprised to find this in the dining room.

It was an odd place for such an item, but I really appreciated it.  

We drove into a small town, Pacific City, which is just a couple of miles down the beach.  It's a great place to find little galleries or shops full of wonderful gifts.  I was very excited about the Thrift Shop/Library.  Does that tell you something about me?  I found this 

wonderful dish and carried it all the way home wrapped carefully in a Pacific City newspaper.

You can't keep me away from GW for long.  I made a stop today and found some neat items.  I don't usually find much there so I was happy with what I came home with.  The only thing wrong with this candle stick is that there weren't two of them.

I am going to stain the red one and then sand it.  The black one I will paint a mustard color and then sand it.

I think a little sanding is all these babies need.

Somehow, I will turn this into a peg rack.  I have wanted one for a long time and this will be perfect when it's done.

Take care and thanks for letting me share my finds.  It's fun to share with others who can understand my excitement for such items.

Sentimental Pumpkin and a Vacation

When my husband and I were first married, thirteen years this coming October, we were very poor college students.  Being a new homemaker of a small apartment was exciting for me.  I had always loved decorating my bedroom during my years at home, but now I had a whole place of my own.  I tried my hardest to be creative with my decor because there was no budget for it.  Somehow, maybe birthday money, I had a little extra for something fun.  There was a Rite Aid next to the grocery store where we shopped and sometimes I would go in to look around.  I saw this pumpkin and fell in love with it.  It became my first official fall decoration.  It's old and becoming tattered, but now it fits in with my primitive look.  I love it. 

I will always look back on the years we were putting ourselves through college with fondness. We rented places like this to save money.  It used to be a log cabin.  The years of scrimping made me thankful for things like carpet or a bedroom door or a bathtub.  I am thankful now to have a beautiful home to raise my children in and to decorate.  I don't think I would appreciate it as much if I didn't have the simpler times as a newlywed.

We are now off this afternoon to a much needed vacation on the coast of Oregon.

This is our rental.

 We always stay on Tierra Del Mar,  a beach near Pacific City.  I can't wait for the smell and the roar of the ocean.  To relax with my family and enjoy the splendid fall atmosphere of beautiful Oregon.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I will be back next Monday. Take care now.

Thankful for you and for inspiration

I really just have to say that I am so thankful that I can blog.  Staying at home all day with my children is exactly the way I want to raise them.  It is fulfilling but, sometimes I need something else to occupy my mind and time.  I have been able to meet so many neat people and talk with other women who share my interests.  It's fun to see all the wonderful things you create and to get inspiration from you.  My house is smelling better :), the chores are done a little faster (so I can have time to blog), my children get tended to more promptly (so I don't feel guilty about blogging),  and I am finding a ton of new ways to have a creative outlet.  So, thank you for reading my blog and commenting and being a part of my primitive life.  It means so much to me.

I have been working very hard on some things this week.  These are the acorn bowl fillers that I have wanted to get done for so long.  I got the idea for the dried sunflowers from Dru with a Fine Farmhouse.  I ran outside to the garden last night, during the halftime show, with a flashlight, scissors, and a grocery bag to cut some off.  

Before I applied the stems and grunge mixture, my two year old picked each one up and said "ice cream" and licked the tops.  She is so funny. 

I felt so sore that I didn't win the spell book from Eve with Lee Hill Primitives:(  I really loved that book and I still do.  She was nice enough to post instructions so I could make one myself.  Now, I still like hers better, but mine will do.

I found these things, whatever you call them, at good will.  I wanted to make a witch broom out of them.   So, yesterday I was cutting sticks from my raspberries and thought they could be a broom handle.  The inside of raspberry branches have a soft pulp so I just shoved that pointed end right in and wala, a broom.  Somedays I feel like I need a witch broom and hat of my own:{

 Christine with preferably prim posted a tutorial on these cute crows.  How many crows is too many?  A flock is building up here.  They are addicting to make and sooo easy to make.  My six year old thought I was making stuffed animals and wanted me to make her some to play with!!

Batches of hearth corn are coming from my oven and it smells like a cinnamon factory around here.  I couldn't find any whole corn at my feed store in bulk so I had to dry my own.  

Thanks for letting me share.  

Now I have to go help three little girls with their dress up costumes.  They are having a pretend dance party. 

Have a happy weekend.

Harvest Season

Rise Sun~ Rise.

Grow pumpkins~ Grow.

Sweeten up apples~ Sweeten up.

Soften pears~ Soften.

Ripen up plums~ Ripen up.

Harvest time is here~ Harvest time is here.

Fall's Natural Touches

Every year on September 1st the boxes come out from underneath my bed.  For the last four years we have made decorating our house for Fall a family affair.  The girls get so excited as they watch me lay the pieces on the couch. Then they get to decorate the main floor themselves.  They run around trying out different spots for things until they get it just right.  I sit back and try not to manage.  Things get put in the most ridiculous spots but I let them do it.  Then, after they go to bed, I rearrange things the way that would be picture worthy.  I like to focus my fall decor around the things you might find in nature.  Leaves, berries, pumpkins, gourds, etc.  

Free Fall Patterns and Recipes

In the spirit of Fall I went in search for some primitive fall *free* patterns.   It took a lot of searching but I found quite a few.  These are my favorites.  Then all that searching made me hungry.  I am so happy for some cooler weather. Now I can cook up some hearty fillers.  I went in search again- this time for new yummy recipes.  These are the ones my family will be "blessed" with.  So check out the links below and have some fun.

 1- Old Crow and Pumpkins

2- Prim Acorn Bowl Fillers

3- Bird Nodders

4- Primitive Turkey

5- Frost on the Pumpkin

 6- Halloween Spell Book

7- Primitive Witch

8- Halloween Ornies

9- Cat N' Crow

10- Halloween Kitty

 11- Spoon Cornbread 

12- One Bowl Chocolate Cake

13- Tortellini & Vegetable Soup

14- Baked Eggs In Bread Bowls

15- Strawberry Apple Crisp

16- Melt-In-Your-Mouth Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

17- Zucchini Pizza Bites

18- Pumpkin Whoopee Pies

Hunting for Huckleberries and Antiques

This Labor Day weekend was a fruitful one.  Ha ha!!  No really it was.  We spent the time in beautiful Bear Lake visiting family, picking huckleberries, and I went to a local antique shop and thrift store while there.  I love visiting antique shops.  They are like a museum to me.  I have to go around each corner and each shelf and look at everything.  I have to touch just as much too:)  I try not to pass out as I look at the prices but I did find some brushes that wouldn't break the bank.  I love the paint on the handles.  At the thrift store  I found some old books that date to the 40's and some fabric that will make a cute prairie doll (eventually). 

Antique Tins See The Light Of Day

Yesterday a miracle happened!!  The cupboard was opened and dusted. I have to keep it locked or my two year old will play "kitchen" with my antiques.  My small collection of tins and boxes got to see the light of day.  I decided to snap a couple of pictures before they got put away again.  The whole thing got me wondering if other people have similar items.  It was hard to find other's displays among all the antique shop pictures but I managed to find a few.  I don't know if there are many who collect these things.  There are some really neat antique containers out there.  A couple of mine date to the mid 1930's.  I think I will have to add a few more to my mere collection.

These pieces came from my Grandmother.

 A Primitive Place

 Vintage Sweets

 A Stroll Thru Life

Gathering Dust

 Rosemary's Sampler

Olde Time Gal

Have a happy and safe Labor Day!!!