Updates...

Well, here it is 9:00pm here at the Homestead on Memorial Day and this is the first chance I've been able to sit down and post. I have been working a ton so I haven't been able to work on anything by the way of crafting. Heck, I didn't even get my flowers until today. They aren't planted, but I have them. We hosted the Memorial Day gathering today for my family and even Steve's sister and husband came after he invited them. We had a ton of food and conversation. It was too hot to do anything outside so we stayed in the air conditioning and watched Pawn Stars. I made potato salad for the first time that was more mashed potato salad than anything. LOL. No one got sick so I guess it wasn't too bad. We now have a ton of left overs for the week too.

After today I work the next 4 days and then off Saturday and Sunday. I plan on going through some more totes this weekend to clear out the clutter. Don't worry I'll let you know. LOL. It feels good to get things cleaned out.

Other than that I thought I'd show you what I have been working on. While at work in my down time most of you know I take a cross stitch with me. I started this one awhile ago and have been making a lot of progress. I hate stitching the letters so I'm leaving that for last. LOL. This is gonna look awesome on my wall when I'm done.



I promised pictures of my redecorated living room and I attempted to take some tonight, but they turned out awful. I will have to wait until daytime to take them. I should do it soon since I had to clean up the house for the get together today. LOL. I will see what I can do in the next few days. My kids are done with school in 2 days so the house will be a wreck soon enough. Speaking of school my daughter passed all of her Ohio Graduation Tests except Math. This is a HUGE feat for her due to her learning disabilities. I am so proud of her. She has until the end of her senior year to pass this part. So she has 2 more years. She is even voluntarily taking a free Math class this summer to be able to take the test again this summer to pass. Even if she doesn't pass she will still get to graduate due to her disability. But with her determination she will pass it.

My son, well, he's a boy and is not too concerned with school. LOL. Grrrr...he tells me he has all A's and B's except one C I think. At least that is what it was last week. To him school isn't important. He is more into his friends and making money. He's been mowing my parents yard to earn money. I am making him save part of it and giving him part of it to spend. This wasn't until he paid me back for some Christmas CDs he forgot to return to the library. Grrrr... nothing like getting a letter in May about some CDs he borrowed in December. REALLY???? $40.00 for fees. So I told him to keep the CDs.

So friends I will try to post before the weekend, but I'm not guaranteeing it. I would LOVE to start working on something new. Have a great week!

Memorial Day Weekend Sale

As promised I am listing many items that I will not be using in my decorating anymore. There are more totes to go through so this is just the beginning.

Please note on my selling blog how shipping will be figured for the sale post only.

The Gettysburg Mercantile click to be taken directly to our selling blog.

What's New in the Workshop

I am so excited about some of the new things that will be coming out of the workshop soon. First, I'll show you a finished item.

This stove top dough board turned out awesome. We made it per request of a possible customer sale. The color is just so warm. Steve even beat it up a little. LOL. Like I said my buttr'y or buttery counter tops will look just like this. While at the booth I not only sold this one, but got an order for another one. woohoo!!!!



We also have a few of these to paint or stain... I think they are going to turn out great.



Last but not least I wanted to show you the zinc top we found. It has some paint spots on it, but that's OK I still LOVE it. I think I'm going to have Steve build me a cabinet and use it for the top. UPDATE: The paint spots came off with a handy little razor blade.



I have been cleaning out my basement and have cleared out 3 totes of things I won't be decorating with. I am hoping to either list some things on my selling blog or have a yard sale and get rid of it. I just need to get to my garage next. I know there is a ton in there I need to clean out too.

I think I am finished decorating the living room and started the kitchen due to putting one of my cabinets in the booth to sell. So hopefully I will have pictures soon.

Change is a Comin...

No worries not my decorating taste. LOL. I am rearranging my living room since I am selling the cabinet in my last post and because I'm pulling out some Americana for the summer. I am proud to say I am not moving anymore furniture in my tiny living room. What is in here is in here!!!! LOL. I am only decorating with the things I LOVE. I am pulling out the things I don't and putting them in bags. I am probably going to have to have a yard sale along with my booth to get rid of everything. SHEESH!!! LOL. You know it's funny. I started decorating yesterday and as I simplified things I began to feel calmer. Maybe I had just way too much and it was overloading my senses. As I sit here this morning looking around I don't have the urge to move a thing ok maybe the top of of the TV. We'll see. LOL.

First off I'm gonna show you my newest $4.00 find. I didn't say I wasn't going to buy more!!! I just said I'm getting rid of things I don't want. LOL. I have been looking at books and magazines and decided I needed more wood tones in my living room. I basically have painted furniture in this room. So the other day Steve and I went to the antique store and I found this dresser drawer. I though it would make a great shelf cubby. As you can see I'm still decorating it.



Do you want to see what I put in the old cabinet's space?



Seeing that candle light reminds me I was taught a very hard lesson yesterday. Did you know if you leave your accent lights on all the time like I do that when you turn them off to move them the lightbulb burns out? Yep every single one burned out. GRRRRRR.... Then I had another one that the candle sleeve is too big and I couldn't screw the bulb in far enough so I thought the light was busted. Dummy me took the sleeve off and started messing with the wiring. OH did I forget to tell you it was still plugged in? LOL Yep I gave myself a little shock. Can we say stupid??!!?? I told you long ago I would never hide anything from you so that you could learn from MY mistakes. LOL.

OK one last picture of the living room until it's done. I hate using a flash!!! Today is very overcast and the pictures weren't turning out very good.



The day I found that dresser drawer I also found something else I wanted, but resisted the urge to buy. Actually there were a bunch of things BUT all we got was the drawer and a zinc top to a Hooser cabinet I think. I had been eyeing that for almost a year. I could picture Steve using it on a cabinet for me. So any way we finally bought it for $24. I may use it in my new buttery. I will show you that later because I have the heating and cooling guys here putting in my AC and I am not gonna go back downstairs. I am really embarrassed because they are having to work around all my crap in the garage and basement. LOL. Buy I digress... anyway I also saw some wood bowls. You all know I have a fetish for bowls. LOL. I have been thinking about that bowl since I left the shop. So yesterday I went back since it is in the same building as my booth. Here she is. I just LOVE it cracks and all. Though you can't see the crack in the picture since it's blurry. I think I'm going to slowly replace my repros with real ones as I find them.



I also found all these great quilt scraps. I got all of them for $5.00. I'm not sure if I'm going to make pillows or frame them and hang them going up my steps. I know the one is very light and you can't see it, but it is a basket just like the one beside it. I just LOVE the red one...





I will take more pictures later after the AC guys leave. I want to show you the stove top dough board Steve made. It is really awesome! the stain he used is what I'm gonna use on my buttery counter tops when we do it.

Alright I need to get back to decorating. I need to get this done today! LOL. I will also be dog sitting for my sister til tomorrow. She and my brother in law are going away for their anniversary. Til next time my friends...

I Forgot...

Alright so this is a little earlier post than planned, but I happened to remember I never showed you my dining room since I changed it again. Like my last post said I am really trying to simplify. I see pottery, baskets, quilts, bowls, samplers,and dry goods in my decorating scheme. Actually this morning I am still thinking about my buttery. I think I can do sort of what I want with items I already have on hand. This will include moving some of my big furniture around. Not sure it'll work or get done today because I have appointments and the flea market to tend to. I can at least plan it on paper. Keeping this in mind this is the dining room as of today. :) I will tell you it's not going to stay this way. LOL





All the crap on the bottom is actually hidden behind the table when you first look into the dining room. LOL It's all my sewing stuff.



I know this one is a little fuzzy...



Yes, I moved my fabric again. LOL... This is going to be one of the pieces I move to the kitchen.



You like my cardboard in the corner. LOL. I just noticed it. This one may be moving too. I would also like to take out the panels on the doors and put punched tin in them and repaint the whole thing and maybe put some higher legs on it.



Just a quick little note... Steve has been in the workshop and has cut out some cutting boards. He also put together a new designed dough board for on top of the stove. We still need to finish them, but stay tuned they will be awesome.

Uncle Sam

At the request of one of my customers at the booth I made an Uncle Sam. I swear this one was the death of me. I used to like making dolls, but now I'm not so sure. Oh making the body and clothes was no big deal. But come time for the hat I was totally stumped. Luckily a new friend on Facebook Dawn helped me out. I'm still not happy with it, but hey I tried. I also think he needs to be holding something. I thought a flag, but that is way to much Americana stars and stripes for me. I also tried a new method I've never done before. I know you all are going to roll your eyes at me, but I needle felted the beard, eyebrows, and hair. I know it's been around for a long time, but I thought it was too complicated. Today I bought a needle to try it. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself AND it was very easy. I'm not sure my pictures are close enough for you to see though.

So here is my first ever Uncle Sam made without a pattern... I like my prims a lot darker and I kinda wish he was, but it's too late now to re-stain him. So once I figure out what he's missing into the booth he goes so the customer can see him.



Speaking of the booth... I've had an amazing week. I had a lady call the flea market last week about my make do chair. Of course the woman who runs it called me right away with the phone number of the lady. We finally were able to make connection the next day. I tell you what those of us who like prim are like kindred spirits. I talked with my new friend for close to an hour. It was like we knew each other for years. Did I mention she was from Pennsylvania? Long story short she is coming down this weekend to pick up my make do chair, hopefully. Then I get a call from the flea market yesterday telling me my booth was a mess because they sold my dough box and didn't know what to do with my stuff I had displayed on it. OK first of all I am a type A personality. I went into panic mode and actually had an anxiety attack because I was at work and couldn't get to the booth to fix it. So I let my fingers do the talking. I texted Steve who said he'd try to make it out there. WHAT??? NO!!! that's not the right answer. So next I texted my bestie Rose, who said she wasn't busy and she'd go out and fix it and let me know what we needed to add. SHEW I took a breath. Then I text my other bestie Michele that she might want to get some more things out there too. She told me she had planned on going out yesterday also. SWEET!!!!! I'm a little more calm now. Well, little did I know Steve, Rose, and Michele would all be there together. I just KNOW they were laughing at how I sounded like a lunatic. LOL. They swear they weren't BUT.... anyway Steve found out that the lady who bought the dough box was also from PA. I have a sneaking suspicion the lady was the daughter of the lady I spoke to on the phone. During our conversation she mentioned her daughter was in a town nearby camping. So I think it was a covert operation. She was scoping out the booth for her Mom. LOL. I think I'll ask her when I see her this weekend.

Other than Uncle Sam I haven't done much crafting. I even cleaned up my craft area/ dining room. Steve said it looked weird being cleaned up. That must mean it's been a mess way too long. LOL. On Tuesday we will be going to the booth and taking another piece of furniture. I will be taking my chippy paint cabinet in my living room. It's time to clear out and simplify. So it too will be up for sale.

This is an old picture, but you can see it better.



I know I just said I wanted to simplify, but I had a hair brain idea that I want a buttery in my kitchen. So I am in the middle of trying to communicate what I want to Steve. So he is trying his best to draw what I see in my head. LOL. I know I want it to have counter space. I want to use wood boards for the counter top. The issue is it will need to wrap around a corner. I said he could make a corner cabinet then add two side cabinets. I still don't think he's quite on board yet. LOL. I would like the top to be just open shelving for my plates, bowls, and such. The bottom I will have storage for my unruly Tupperware that I have a ton of. I'm tired of putting stuff in the cabinet and slowly pulling out my hand and slamming the door so nothing falls out. Admit it you've done this stunt before. LOL. I think I'll just make curtains to cover the bottom part. UGHHH if I could only get Steve on board. LOL.

I will try to be back Tuesday/tomorrow for a post because I go to the ortho again for my foot. I will also try to take pics of the booth for ya to see what my besties have been up to.

Bowl Redos...

I hope all of you Mother's out there had a great Mother's Day. My kids and Steve made breakfast for me and gave me a beautiful card. Other than that I did laundry all day and did some crafting. More on that later in this post. So on with my bowl redos.

Remember these bowls? Well, I finally got around to primming then up. I had two different kinds in my stash. I would say this was the hardest redo because I LOVE how each set turned out and want to keep them all. But I must simplify and sell. First, I had to sand off the ugly shellac finish off the outside. Have I ever told you how much I sanding... Well, I hate it so much I decided I wasn't going to sand the inside of the bowls. Steve told me that I should sand them anyway especially if I was going to paint them. Despite his warning I decided what do I have to lose if I don't. So in the beginning I left them as is. However, after I painted the outsides I thought the insides were a little to light. So, I took sand paper and lightly sanded the inside. Then while I was darkening up the outside I took my stain and just stained the insides instead of painting them. They turned out gorgeous!!! A nice warm stain color.


Before...



After...

First set... these are for sale in my booth... the blue and mustard have already sold...





Second set... not for sale yet. But if the first set sells I may have to put these up... :( lol





So this is where MY I mean the other set is at the moment. lol... I think they look right at home on my new table Steve built.



I know I haven't been around, but Steve and I have been very busy making some new items for the booth. We have begun to switch the booth over to Americana for the summer.





Well, my friends today is my only day off and I have a ton of things to get done. I probably won't be back until next week due to working Thursday through Sunday. But who knows I may get something done today to be able to show you before then. So have a great day today!

New Thrift Store Items...

Last week Steve and I decided to journey out a little further from the regular thrift stores we go to. We went a little further into Amish Country in Millersburg and Berlin. I am so glad we did! Though the Goodwill in Millersburg is NOT very good. I am just letting you know now if you plan to go there. However, the thrift store right across the street is AWESOME! The name escapes me at this moment. Darn oldtimers LOL.

So let's begin shall we?

LOVE this huge basket for $1.50. I'm gonna use it in the booth for my Americana pillows I'm making.



We got these tin looking cones for $.20 a piece. I have no idea what they are, but I'm gonna make flower holders out of them. That little bench I thought about painting, but I think I like it the way it is. Of course fabric... lol Got me some nice red and white striped fabric for the Uncle Sam I'm gonna come up with for a customer I met at the booth the other day.



I'm up to my eyeballs in bowls!!! lol This book has awesome fraktur patterns in it. I told Steve he was gonna do these on boards. I am going to attempt rag balls with the Styrofoam balls. Believe it or not I have never made them. Let's hope my analness doesn't get in the way and I try to do them perfectly.



These next two aren't thrift store goodies, but stuff I found at the quilt shop that's going out of business. I figure I can quilt this baby for $10.00.



I also bought this huge bag of repro print scraps for $2.25 and lo and behold I find this amazing quilt square inside. That alone is worth the money to me.



Now for the really good part...

Steve rescued this great pineapple bowl. LOVE it!!!



We found both of these in last two items in Berlin (Amish Country). Both will be used in my booth.

The inside is a little gross, but for what we want it for we can fix that. A steal at $25.00.




LOVE this kettle thingy. I can put ice in it and pop for my summer picnics. The lady at thrift store says some of the Amish use it for cooking. Ummmm... not so much for me that's a lot of food that could fit in there. lol.



Well, I don't hear the hum of the chainsaw outside. The city came this morning to cut down the tree in front of my home due to my landlord complaining that the roots were growing into the drainage pipe. The guys blocked me in my driveway. They don't realize I have places to go and people to see. LOL. OK Steve and I are going to the Habitat Restore in Akron. LOL. So until next time. Steve has been at it again making some one of a kind signs. I'll get pictures later.

Signs are Up For Sale

We now have our signs up for sale on our selling blog. Please take a moment to look. These signs would make awesome Mother's Day gifts!!!

The Gettysburg Mercantile







Janie- You commented on the last post about the birdhouse. Please email me because I don't have an email for you. :)

Steve's Been Busy

Steve is the only one who has been busy this week it seems. I have started my new 12 hour shifts at work and have already decided I hate it. I don't like working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday every other weekend. Granted I work 7a to 7p, but it seems as though we never get off on time. Then by the time I get home it's time to get ready for bed. Basically, it means Steve and I will not have any alone time. The weekends I work the kids are at their Dad's. So the weekends I am off the kids are home. I guess it's a small sacrifice for now. OK that's all out of my system now. No more shop talk :) LOL.

Oh wait the phone saga is fixed.... for now. Let's just say Verizon is not at the top of my list. I was to get my new phone last Wednesday. Well, today is Monday and it was shipped yesterday. WHAT? SERIOUSLY?!?! So on or about Wednesday I decided to literally beat my phone and push on the keys really hard. What did I have to lose right? Needless to say whatever I did fixed it. It is working perfectly. I called them yesterday and told them they could keep their phone. I was not paying for it nor would I be paying my early upgrade fee. I was then told to refuse the delivery of the phone and would not be charged. Yeah we'll see about that. Get this... while my phone was broke they were trying to call me and send text messages... HELLO... what part of my phone is broke I can't get or place calls or retrieve texts or emails!!!! SHEESH!!!!!

Alright like I said Steve has been busy with new signs and a couple other projects. These will all be for sale...

How about this one with the recent turn of events? (which by the way I am still very skeptical about.) We made a few signs similar last year that sold very well. The other America signs he made we only have one left.



LOVE this stencil... Steve did a great job on this one. Next one he makes is for me and it will have pegs at the bottom so I can hang some quilts from them.



I think Steve ate the rest of the watermelon...lol







Doesn't Steve make a great Vanna??? LOL





Along with the signs he painted up this barn red and black birdhouse...



Candle stick holders that I am in the middle of making candles for.



We also did a little more thrift shopping in some new stores. I found some great pieces that I'm going to use in the booth for display items. And of course a few more things to redo to sell too! I will try hard to get pictures and post them yet this week. We will be working on the booth tomorrow and then I work another day then off for 4.

Oh and just so you don't think I've been sitting around eating Bon Bons I have been working on my quilt top. LOL I know it's hard to see. I am still deciding on a border and binding. I had to get this far to get the quilt off the table so Steve could paint and I could try to create some more Americana goodies. So for now she will wait to be finished.