Did I Say Tomorrow?

Yea I said I'd be back tomorrow on Monday forgetting I had to work the next three days. Let's see I've put 42 hours in in three days and still have to work tomorrow for another 14. So my apologies. Anyway, I promised I'd show you what I was working on. Well, despite my dining room looks like a disaster zone... no not all by me. LOL My son has discovered the joys of model cars. SOOOOOO... since Mom spreads her stuff on the dining room table so does my son. It's funny as a little girl I actually put model cars together too. Yep all tomboy here. LOL. I can just see his creativity oozing from him and of course Steve had close to 10 billion models that he brought over to the house for my son to finish too. OK Steve has been working on them too. Anyway, I bet you are wondering how I get anything done with my table looking like this.

This is mild compared to today LOL.



Ok my last towel ended up like this. I don't know why I've been in an Americana mode lately. The flag is made from left over material I had. I have also decided I am OCD because I find it very difficult to not try to get all my stitches the same as I stitched the black thread to hold the flag on. LOL.





Speaking of Americana... Since I sold my last Welcome sign to a fellow blogger I had to come up with a new sign for my porch. Well, since the Americana theme is just everywhere then I figured I better follow through.





Next I had this little pencil and pen tote I bought at a thrift store for $.35.



A little brown paint...



And a little help from Steve and his Dremel tool... It is not done yet! I need to sand and stain.



Now last but not least.... I hit the JACKPOT!!!!! I went to the Goodwill last night with my family. I was working at one of my jobs and they came for dinner and then stayed for a bit and since I'm allowed to leave work just stay in town we went to a Goodwill. I am just SO excited. Just look what I got... There is at least a yard (most of it is more than that) to every piece. The most expensive was $5.00 and the least was $.25. Steve made me buy some of it. He would look at it and say I can see you making this or that. LOL.



The star fabric in the back is probably 5 to six yards and cost $5.00. Steve says I need to get blue fabric and make an Americana quilt.







All I kept thinking was bonnet or quilt. So you girls may reap the benefits of this fabric. LOL.

I am going to try to update my selling blog tonight or Sunday. I'm suppose to go out today to a flea market, but my son just informed me he is staying home since his allergies are acting up. We shall see about that. LOL.

2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad...

I finally had some time last week to work on my towels that I coffee stained a week ago. I have two of them done and can't decide how to do the third. Oh wait!!!!!! Just had an idea as I type this. WOOHOO!!!!! I already have one project going and now I have a second that will be underway after I'm finished typing. Yea Yea I know I need to be cleaning, but when I get the ideas I gotta act on them or they'll be gone.

I really like this one... It is just hand stitched in brown...



Close up...




The next one I stenciled on then sanded a little. It looks like it's pink but it's not on the flowers. I used barn red.



Hmmmm... maybe these towels should be on the selling blog?

Next I promised at the beginning of the year that I would use up my fabric stash. Sooo... Saturday I went down and looked through and decided I was going to try my hand at a tie quilt. I am not all prim JUST mostly. LOL. The stupid fabric was printed crooked on the firefighter side so the bottom was off after I squared it up. Grrrr... I made my son a rag quilt out of firefighter fabric awhile back and had extra. Ummmm ALOT of extra. I used some red flannel that I had in my stash to make Christmas stockings that I never got to. So between Saturday and Sunday I finished it. Tying it was so much easier than hand quilting!!!! BUT the string/yarn I used is driving me crazy I already had one tie come loose. I used the surgeons knot to tie it. It ended up being like 44"X72". My son wanted to know who it was for. Steve piped up and said he was claiming it. LOL. My son got this look of devastation on his face. I'm sure my son will end up with another quilt. LOL.


No laughing at the binding... remember this is my second quilt attempt. LOL



I hate to cut this short but the creative juices are calling. I will show ya tomorrow what I've been working on.

For Sale...

I have decided to jump on the band wagon and start a selling blog. I need to sell some things so that I have more room to create new things. Many of the things I will be selling are one of a kinds if they are created by me. So if you see something you like you might not want to wait. As of now these are things I have either bought or made and used or bought and not used for my home. I will be adding things frequently hopefully as I have a lot of goods to sell.

So please jump on over and check out what I've added today. Please click on the link below...

The Gettysburg Mercantile

My Prim Americana Jar Tutorial...

I have so many Mason and Ball jars around here I thought I'd better do something with them and soon. I have covered them in fabric and brown paper and now decided to try my hand at painting.

I know you have all seen the tutorials for painting jars. If not check out Char's from The Pickled Pepper Patch. This is a really good tutorial. I took hers just a step further with mine... The basics are the same, but I finished it a bit different.

I used Kilz spray primer (I had it on hand)... I sprayed the jar entirely twice. Set it aside to dry completely. Oh yea it's a good idea to wear gloves if possible that primer likes to stick to your hands. Yep learned that the hard way. I then took a fine grit sand paper and lightly sanded the primer so the paint had something to stick to.



Next I used Barn Red paint... 3 coats to be exact to paint the sides and bottom of jar.. Sorry didn't take a pic of that.

Next I used Burnt Sienna and lightly dry brushed it on over the red paint. Do not coat your brush heavily. This is just a little bit of paint lightly brushed on. I still wanted the red to show and for the jar to looked aged. You will need to work in small sections because as I painted I used a paper towel to wipe and blend the paint.



Next I happened to already have a tea stained flag in my decor stash so I brought it out and cut it off the stick. You could buy one from the store and coffee stain it yourself first. Or if you have the fabric make a flag yourself and then coffee stain it. Anyway, I Modge Podged it to my jar. The corners wanted to flip up so I laid the jar on one side to hold the edge and laid something heavy on the other to hold it until it dried. I put the glue on the backside first positioned it on the jar then glued the front too.



After it was all dry I took a piece of muslin coffee stained it and tied around it with a piece of jute. I am using mine inside so I didn't seal it. I probably will though in the next few days so the paint doesn't scrape or chip off.

Progress...

I am hoping all of you had a wonderful Easter. I had a wonderful dinner at my sister's house, which I fell asleep right after at the dinner table. Let me explain... remember on Friday I told you my doctor gave me some pain pills for my shoulder? Well, I only took one Friday night, and two Saturday night ( a
few hours apart) due to the pain. Well, I woke up Sunday morning in a rash from head to toe. Yep you guessed it an allergic reaction to the medicine. So to treat it I took Benadryl on an empty stomach about an hour before I went to my sisters. Normally Benadryl doesn't knock me out, but oh man I could barely stay awake to finish dinner. So I went into the living room on her couch and took a nap. LOL. I am such a party animal.

My daughter left Sunday night for Tennessee to hike for the week since it's Spring Break around here. I have only gotten one call from her to say she was there and she had a good day yesterday. Fingers crossed the home sickness will not set in. Though her friends that went seemed a bit nervous too so maybe they will comfort each other.

Steve also finished my flower boxes and attached my buntings... Now all I need to do is wait for the weather stay warm at night so I can buy flowers. I need to find some that will grow in complete shade. The Easter lilies are just propped in there because the wind today keeps blowing them over on my porch. I have another flower box just like this on my other window, which I will take a pic of later.



Other than that I've been working and trying to get laundry done and craft in between. I was hoping to get more done today, but my son and I had a day out. We went to a craft and hobby shop in town today that we had never been to. He wanted a model car to paint and put together. We will see if he finishes it. Then we went to Pat Catan's for some paint and other stuff. Of course then Wal-mart is across the street so we went over there and looked around and bought a few items. Then we decided to go out to lunch just the two of us. He picked Cici's pizza. Ummm well, not the best but it was quick and he could eat his fill. I didn't work on my towels yet because of these... LOL.

The first four... after these are done I know of few of you have asked if I'm taking any more orders and I will make a few more. It'll just take me until the weekend to get more wood. I am hoping to get these finished up tomorrow.



I did finish my next sign. I couldn't decided checkerboard or sign... Then I couldn't decided which stencils to use. This sign ended up taking a little longer because I'm so indecisive. LOL. So I decided on this... Want it??? How about $15.00 includes shipping it's 14" X 11 1/4".



I have my jar painted, but not finished. Once I again I have a few ideas for it and can't decide. LOL. I shoulda just painted two and been done with it. Then I could've done both ideas.

Good Friday, Goodwill, and Other Stuff...

Today is Good Friday. Let's not forget the reason we celebrate Easter. It is not about candy and the Easter Bunny, but about Jesus dying on the cross for each and everyone of our sins.

Day number two off in a row with beautiful weather. We slept with the windows open and I even went out this morning on the stoop to drink my coffee in my robe and pajamas. I watched as the robins were fighting in the front yard and tweeting happily in the morning sun. Oh wait did I tell you the muscle relaxers didn't work and again I was up at 3:30am in pain. I did call the doctor this morning and he called in some pain pills to the pharmacy and an order for a bone scan since all my x-rays came back fine. That always happens everything less expensive comes back normal so that I have to go for more expensive tests. And of course my deductible just went up to $2000. Grrrr....

Yesterday like I said I went to two different Goodwills. I came home spending $1.50.
The pewter mug on the left was $.50. It has a dent but I'll just turn it the other way. The vase? in the front is a blue grey with yes grapes on it. I liked the coloring and it too was $.50. Lastly, the tin cup which I already have plans for making something with it was yep you guessed it $.50.



Thought I would show you some other projects we are in the middle of here at the homestead.

My TV cabinet for the living room... guess I won't be parking in the garage for awhile. LOL. Oh yeah for the ladies who contacted me about the America signs... the board is down on the left side. Steve is picking up more paint today. Thanks so much for the orders. (Aren't ya excited!!!!!) LOL P.S. The board is cut ready to paint.



Next is random projects I am working on... don't you just love when I show the the projects before I get them done and it leaves you wondering what I'm going to do with them?

Coffee stained towels... my stupid drying rack blew over and broke today. Grrr...



A pewter grey board... hmmmmmm?????? (Left over from the America boards.) I wonder what this will turn into.



And a primed glass jar...



I will leave with this... Have a wonderful Easter Weekend... and I'll meet up with you next week hopefully Tuesday.

For Sale and a Beautiful Day

FOR SALE:

SOLD Painted and aged by yours truly ( Darker than what it appears). Will come with a hanger on the back. The sign is approx. 11 inches wide by 25 3/4 inches long. I am willing to part with this awesome sign for $20.00 includes shipping. Please email GettysburgHomestead@yahoo.com me if interested.



Oh everyone it has just been gorgeous here at the homestead the past few days!!! I am loving the weather. Right now at 11:30am it is about 64 degrees. I have been out running around. I gave in and went to the doctor today about my back and shoulder. The verdict is still out... he had pity on me since I haven't slept all the way through the night in over a month and gave me muscle relaxers and an order for xrays. If I don't get better I have to go back. DUH!!!!! LOL.

While I was out I went to two Goodwills. I'll show that stuff tomorrow. I thought today I would show you a few things I'm working on outside. Steve and my son dug up the flower beds to get ready for mulch tomorrow... I think. Then Steve's Mom separated some of her daffodils and other Spring flowers and gave them to Steve who gave them to me. I told Steve thanks, but that I didn't have a shovel to put them in the ground. LOL. I left that at the ex husbands house. So those got planted too. Geez I don't know what got into Steve but he also brought over my TV stand to finish too. Last night he then told me his Dad agreed to sell him two of his rentals and really good prices. Steve already owns one. His parents have a ton of rentals and eventually Steve will either buy or inherit all of them. I guess at least if I get need to move I know who to see for a place to live. LOL.

Anyway, here's a few of my outside pics... I will update them as I get mulch and spruce up.

My NEW flower boxes coming to life...



You can't see it well but the ladder back chair was free, the sign painted by me on a scrap piece of wood, the fern was a Goodwill find, and the bucket holding the fern was a trash can, the star was in my garage. No money spent recently on this display. LOL.





Sorry I LOVE you all but it's too beautiful to be sitting in my basement on the computer. LOL. A beautiful flower needs sunlight to tan (ummmm grow).