Primitive Apron & Bonnet Pattern

I have finally made my apron and bonnet patterns into printable patterns for all of you. You will need basic sewing knowledge to complete them. I am sometimes horrible at explaining things so if you purchase this pattern and get stuck you can always email me to get help. :)

Soooo.... here it is... please email me to purchase. A printable PDF format is $8.00 while a printed pattern is $10.00 includes shipping. I prefer payment by Paypal. :)



In between making this pattern I have finally been able to decorate for Christmas. I will be trying to take pictures over the next week and get them posted. :) I apologize for not being around, but you know how crazy it can get around the holidays.

The best news is I will be paying off my 2nd to last bill heading towards being debt free. The money I am using has been from online sales. So thank you all who have made purchases from me. You are helping me along to be debt free!!! I have one more bill and no more debt!!!! :) Dave Ramsey's steps have helped me so much. They even taught some of his course in my son's Personal Finance class. So if you want to know more I have a link on the right side of my blog to his website. :)

Primitive Stocking Pattern...

LOVE the look of primitive stockings and don't want to pay a high price for them? Well, I now have MY Primitive Stocking Pattern available for purchase. If you want to be able to download it instantly then my PDF version is just for you at $8.00. Would you rather have a printed paper pattern? I offer that too for only $10.00 shipped. I prefer payment by Paypal. Please email me to order your pattern today. You can find my email address on the left hand side of my blog in the margin :) Please include the email address that I need to use to invoice you through Paypal.

My Booth...

Since I haven't posted pictures for awhile I thought I'd show you what my booth looks like today. Come this weekend it will be getting a makeover. I can't wait for Steve to finish some projects that will be going out there.

















I am starting to put away fall decor and redecorating for Christmas. I have Thursday through Sunday off and I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished then. Otherwise I haven't been up to much other than working. I'd like to work on some Christmas stuff, but I have the dining table heaping full of stuff to redecorate my dining room with. I am making a change with the shelving units dedicated to one of my collections. I hope I can pull it off.

Well, I better get to work on decorating. I'm way behind :)

Christmas Offerings

I am pleased to offer a few Christmas items starting today. I will slowly add more items as time permits. Please visit my selling blog The Gettysburg Mercantile to view our humble offerings.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to say thank you to all of you who visit my blog and picturetrail. I am inspired by all of you and am glad I can inspire some of you also. We all have so many things to be thankful for and today is a day of reflection and thankfulness. It has been 3 years this month that the life I once knew came to an abrupt end, but a wonderful life of happiness, peace, and love has started since then that I am so thankful for. My children are healthy, happy and adjusted to our new life also. Of course for my family who helped me tremendously through these last 3 years. I couldn't have picked up and started a new life on my own with the kids without them.

Just an early hint... I will have a few humble Christmas offerings tomorrow at 8am sharp eastern time.

Motivated to the Max...

I don't know whether this mega dose of Vitamin D I'm on or what happened but I was totally motivated this weekend. I stayed home and worked in my dining room. My table was even clear for a few short minutes until I dragged new projects out to work on. lol. I brought the CD player and all my Christmas CD's in with me and I worked. I found quite a few UFOs (unfinished objects) that I swore I was going to do this year as a New Year's resolution. Oh well, guess some of them may wait til next year because they've waited this long. LOL. I put away my fabric and everything. I am so proud of myself. So... wanna see what I was doing????

First, I decided I liked the look of the rolled up Christmas fabric, so I pulled out my basket (thrift store find of course) and rolled up the other Christmas fabric I already had and threw them in the basket.



While I was at it I rolled up my plain fabric and threw them in another basket. Truth is I don't have room on my shelves for it so I had to find another way to store it. I know what you are going to say... and I don't want to hear it ;-) lol



I also found these squares I bought a few years back at the thrift store. I believe they are a wool blend. I got them because I thought for sure I could make something out of them. I think I know what I'm going to with them finally. I'd like to incorporate them in a quilt. It'll be a very prim, early style, with mismatched fabrics and hand stitching. This for sure is a New Year's resolution for next year.

Before.... 8X8 inches



After... 7X7 inches... whoever cut them initially left the selvage edge on the sides of some of the squares so I had to cut them down. There is brown, black, cream, gray, and tan in the blocks.



Then while I was at JoAnn's last week I saw these really cute kids' gloves... I coffee stained them, added hangers, and rusty bells. Now the most adorable ornies :) Then I hung a few little candy cane ornies I made on there too. Don't worry this tree is not done yet...



So then I got the wax pouring bug... This candle, which was a Pottery Barn candle, of course found at the Goodwill was my next project. It's shaped like a house and was unscented. So I threw it in my crock pot to melt...



And got all of this from it... hint hint you may see some of this for sale on Friday!!! mini pineapples, toy soldiers, and the 12 days of Christmas. These obviously aren't done yet. They need more cinnamon rubbed on them and a few will get hangers...





Didn't these turn out gorgeous ?!?!? I LOVE them. Steve even commented on how cool they came out. They will make great peg rack hangers!!!



While I was waiting for my wax to melt I finished up this pillow sham. Another UFO I have had. I bought the dresden plate middle part a few years back at a prim store thinking I could make something from them. I say them because I have quite a few more left to use and I already have many of them pinned and ready to stitch on another new project. Anyway, it is made from old fleece that was hand stitched together by someone. None of them are identically stitched of course. I already had made the black wool sham last year, but couldn't decide what I wanted to put on it. So, I put them together and hand stitched the middle with a feather stitch and the outside with a blanket stitch. I tell you that fleece is not easy to work with since it sort of stretches when you stitch. grrrr.... oh well prim doesn't have to be perfect :)



Last, but not least, these are the newest pewter and non-pewter items I've added to my collection. I finally got them all together and displayed until next week when I move them to their new home in my living room. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook know which ones are fake, but if you aren't bet you can't tell the difference... like I say decorate on the cheap with repros when you can.



Well, my friends I need to get moving since I have a few more hours til bedtime. I need to see what I can get into while I still have the energy. Talk to you soon :)

More Thrifting

You all know I have the thrift store bug. As I told you in my last post I took a little detour of some more thrift stores on Tuesday. I made a haul!!! My hauls are much different than most unless you are a fabric hoarder like me. I will be honest I am actually using up some of my fabric. YES!!! I am actually cutting it believe it or not. The things I am making from it are not even staying here at the homestead. They are going on to better homes where others can admire their beauty. Which then leaves empty spots to refill. AND when I can refill them for less than half of their original prices per yard why not? Yes that is the hoarder talking lol. It's called justification of spending money on fabric. This truly is my weakness. (sigh)

Anyway, I'll show you some other things I got too. The 4 napkins will be great for Spring and Fall decorating. The towel I can leave out year round. I like using textiles instead of doilies in my decorating.



The top thing is a repro tin cup. Again another mold for wax pouring. I think it is awesome!



Bead garland. The red ones may be for sale. I think I already have some in my Christmas stuff, but I'll let you know for sure. The top are "pearl" beads and the bottom are silver. I'm thinking I need a Christmas tree in my bedroom to use these.



Now you will not believe how much fabric I got. These are not just pieces. They are at least a yard if not more. This is all from Goodwill.

These reds are much darker than they appear.



I'm thinking I need some doves made out of the grey/white on the right.



All of this fabric I got at a different thrift store. They are different sizes. Some less than a yard and some more.







Not sure you can see it, but 3 1/2 yards for $7.00!!!! What a steal!!!!!



I bought some Christmas tree lights and a couple ornaments. I will show you some of them another day. I need to repaint them first. I will tell you they look very folk arty. I know arty isn't a word, but you know what I mean :) lol. I also got some more pewter and fake pewter that I will show you another day too. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to display all of it first. I like it in the red corner cabinet, but I now have way too much for that. I'm actually in a bit of a quandary because I'm trying to decide if pewter belongs in the living room. When I see pics of other homes normally it's in the dining room. I like it there BUT I have another collection that is growing redware and yellow ware. Right now I have those in the living room, but am thinking they belong in the dining room too. I don't have space for both in the dining room and sometimes I don't like seeing them both together in the same room either.... (sigh). What to do... what to do???

Well, my friends I need to get all this stuff put away before everyone comes home. That way I can say I've had it all along. LOL. I also need to pick up my daughter from the food pantry where she is volunteering. This is part of her class at the career center. So, stay tunes I'll be back with a few more things after the weekend is over.