Wednesday Whats & What Nots

Commercial Break...

First, a big 'ol shout-out to all of my new blogging friends!  I can't tell you how much I appreciate your encouragement, support, shout-outs for me on your blogs, help, YOU NAME IT!  You have made this fun for me!  I didn't think anyone would find me, but I have been blessed by you all in your friendliness.  In thinking about the generosity of your time with me, and the wonderful blog giveaways, I would like to do a giveaway when I reach 50 members.  Stay tuned...

Now, on with the show...

 What to do, what to do...
     Okay, so I found these copper cups in a drawer.  I originally intended them to be votives.  I bought a whole bunch.  Too many.  Ooops, hoarding alert!  SO, I am using them to make little pincushion thing-a-ma-jigs.  I have a couple different versions of the base.  Which ones do you like?  Which ones need a little somethin' somethin', or do you have other suggestions as to how to "primitivefy" (Yes.  I made up the word.  Shhh.  Don't let my students know!) them?

     Look at the votive I did!  I used the old trusty "Modgepodge and Coffee" technique.  I think I need to buy stock in Modgepodge.  Really. All set with coffee... It definitely will have a prim look sitting in the black iron votive holder behind it!  It has a new lease on life! Yea!


     Okay, and this box-thingy.  Gonna paint it black (shocking) and put some prim bowls in it.  What do you think?  I know, the stamping isn't very prim.  But!  It was from my cutesy country days.  You know, when I swore I would never be interested in the extreme prim.

Whatcha' doin'?

1. Entering Giveaways! How fun!  Check out my new tab on the left side of my blog.  I am listing sites that are having giveaways so that you can check them out!  Lots of talent out there!  If I missed yours, please send me a link, and I will add it! I have added Cindi's Country Corner,  The Rusty Thimble and Seasons of My Mind.The Rusty Thimble also has a Facebook giveaway. Don't forget about Salmon Falls Prims.
2. Thrift Shop scouring.  I have to wait until I wake up from the Benadryl a bit...
3. Going to our local craft warehouse to get make-up.  YES.  You heard me right.  The warehouse has a bath and body boutique.  Seriously!  They carry "Bare Minerals" make-up.  AND, I have a store rewards coupon for $10 off!  Another "Woooooohooooo!"
4. Crafts.  Don't know what.  Grunging is involved. 



My Pincushion

5. Taking something I sold on eBay to the post office.  Yea!  I made a little profit!  No, it wasn't the pin cushion. :(  You know, I must say.  My Post Lady is so nice!  She has been helping me to sort out the new world of "SHIPPING".

What I am   NOT doing...

1. Taking as much Benadryl.  Sheesh.  I did have some fun buying though... Wooohoo! 
2. Getting an early start on said activities because I am still here talking to y'all! It's ALL good, though!
3. Waking up from my coffee...*YAWN*

Have a great day, Friends!

Blessings!
Heather

Coffee Talk for Today:  Well, if you could recommend some solutions to my crafting issues, that would be great!  Otherwise, what would you like to chat about?

The Rusty Thimble Facebook Giveaway

Cindi's Country Corner Giveaway

The Rusty Thimble Giveaway

Seasons of My Mind Giveaway

Salmon Falls Prims Giveaway

Twinkle, Twinkle, Prim Little Star...

     So, here is a primitive stitchery I just finished.  It is a star (in case you can't tell). It was one of those "I need a tree topper, but I don't feel like driving to the store and wasting gas because I live in the boondocks" moments.  It is the origin of the modern day "make-do's".  'Gas prices are so high that I will make it myself and "make-do" '.  It is not about hitching up the horse anymore.

     The impetus for said star?  I redid one of my trees that I keep up year-round.  And by "redid", I mean I took everything off, stripped it bare, nothing on it, nada, zilch... Oh, wait.  Everything except the country garland. And the lights.  Okay, so semi-bare. I thought the tree looked busy and cluttered.  I had a bunch of little home-made stitcheries of mine on it.  The rest of the hodge-podge was a few sewn birds and those tree ornaments that look like old kitchen utensils (the tree is near my kitchen). There was no theme.  It was "put country cute stuff on the tree" kind-of look.  As I take pictures for this blog, the pictures help me to see areas of my decor that are too busy, don't fit in, aren't balanced- you name it.  I highly recommend taking pictures of different areas of your home from different angles to see how they may appear to others.  

     Anyway, back to the story.  My old Singer sewing machine needs repair (Disclaimer:  The following may or may not be considered a "squirrel" moment).  My mother gave it to me, and it is the old metal kind that would sit in a console.  You flip open the top of the console, bring up the sewing machine, and WALAH! You have your machine and a work table.  The problems are: it isn't portable, and it takes up room.  So, I removed the machine from the console.  Since it is metal, it weighs like a "bagillion" pounds.  Seriously, if a Mack truck ran over it, the truck should worry... But it is a classic pistachio green, it is well-made, and not made of plastic.  But right now, it needs a Singer repair person give it some TLC.  

     So, all of that to say- I do a lot of hand-stitching.  Which isn't bad.  It certainly is portable.  I sew on the porch, on the couch, in the house, with a mouse... Ooops, how did Dr, Seuss get in this discussion? Ugh.  ANYWHOOO, so I decided my tree needed a new topper. 

     I  had a medium-sized prim angel at the top. The angel, although cute, dwarfed the tree.  So, to the prim star: I used black and beige embroidery thread, two strands at a time, a piece of antique crochet-work that came from an old bedspread, osnasburg fabric, a piece of backing fabric for the inside, and instant coffee.  Lots of instant coffee.  

• After I had sewn the star (which is obviously not precisely sewn, as you can see), I put it into a bowl of dark instant coffee.  I let it sit there for hours (not too long or it will rot or look like a science experiment gone wrong).  
• Two things that I like to do to give it that really "grungy look" is to sprinkle some of the coffee crystals right on any pieces of the project that are close to the surface of the staining liquid or sprinkle it on the project while it is damp and sitting in my dish drain.  If the spots are too dark, I just rub the fabric together to blur the stain a bit.  
• After it has drained a while, I put it in my oven on low heat to dry. You need to really supervise this.  Starting a fire in your stove trying to "grunge" something and having to explain this to the fire department or a spouse may not be understood by non-primitive crafters and decorators.  It would be frowned upon. But, doing it this way gives it a hard, starchy feel and a darker color.  
• When it feels dry, I let it sit in the oven (after it has been turned off), and I crack the door a bit.  I just leave it that way for a while.  And then- tadaa! It is ready to put on the tree!  

     WELL, that was so much fun!  My next project is to use a similar technique and create some grungy pincushions. Do I need pincushions? No.  Do I want an excuse to coffee-dye things and put them in the oven. Yes.  If they turn out well, I may try to sell them on eBay.  We'll see.  Maybe ya'll can give me some feedback on them when I am done.  My stitching is primitive.  But it may appear to others as "Cool, this looks primitive.  It is like it was made in the good old days" or, how embarrassing, "Woah, this looks primitive.  Like a five-year old made it.  Yikes."  

Coffee Talk for Today: What are some grunging techniques that you use? What are some unique items that you use to create "make-do's"?

Break it and remake it... The Six Million Dollar Man Project

     You know the old adage " If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? That phrase doesn't belong in Prim decorating, does it?  Even if something isn't broken, we sand, stain, tear, and "grungify" it. I don't know how many times I look at something and say, "Oh, that  HAS to be tea stained!"  We put on fake patches and real patches.  We stitch clumsily even though we can stitch in a straight line (Well, maybe not me, but most people.).  We put dates from the past. We put nicks into wood. We do anything to simulate dirt, use, patina from ages past even though you just bought it new at Hobby Lobby a half of an hour ago! 

     Well, I did break something and fix it (A real shocker in my household).  Ok, so you know those hollow pillar candles with the grungy little battery tea light on the inside?  They are a must-have in any primitive home.  Well, I had two sconces that I had painted black (My favorite anchor color). I distressed them, painted the one with a combing technique. I was so excited to hang them and light them up.  I had one pillar candle and needed another.  So, off I traipsed to the local craft store that carried them.  I got it home and was unwrapping it.  AND, *GASP*, it slipped from my hand about an inch about the counter and broke into several pieces.  Before I continue, I thought they were made of resin, not thin wax.  So a caveat to myself, and everyone else, is even an inch drop can kill one.  Ok, so back to the story.  

     I looked with despair at my new purchase.  I started muttering to myself, "It's okay, it's okay.  I can fix this."  I looked upon my poor broken candle like Oscar Goldman looked at the potential of making the Six Million Dollar Man "Better...than he was before."  Out came the white glue.  I hovered above my "patient" trying to decide on my best approach to piecing it back together. It didn't help that the bottom was split in two.  I finally decided to build from the bottom up.  Um, white glue was not the best choice.  It was slimy, slow to dry, and I'd move one piece and another would pop out.  Finally, I got it together.  I let it dry (trying to avoid the temptation to touch it).  After it had dried, I surveyed my work.  It was awful.  I mean, Dr. Frankenstein's project looked better.  Errr.  Now what?  

     Well, what if I rolled it in spices and my faithful friend, instant coffee?  So with a lot of Modge Podge, brown, sticky fingers, and well, a big ol' mess, I had a grungy pillar candle.  Yea!  I cleaned up my mess and then looked at the pathetically unadorned candle that I already had.  Awwwww, well that's not going to work.  So I grunged and made a mess again.  This time I was smart.  I grunged some regular tapers that didn't match my other primitive-purchased tapers.  Then, I coffee stained a few things.  Before long, I had stuff drying EVERYWHERE.  It was one of those If You Give a Moose a Muffin days (Ok, that story is really my life story, but I digress).  So, you can see in my pictures the fruit of my grungy, sticky endevours- one repaired and grunged, one grunged.  Can you spot the broken one?

     Another repair achievement I had once was repairing a yellowware bowl I'd purchased from eBay that had broken in transit. That is a story for another day, my dear readers.

Coffee Talk for Today:  What is your best "Six Million Dollar Man" restoration project.  Try to think of something that was broken and please share how you fixed it.  

Also, feel free to guess which candle is the broken one. You won't hurt my feelings if you guess correctly.  Well, not much... ;)