My new Prairie Curtains!

I MADE THESE!  Sorry, I don't mean to shout, but I am so excited that I made these myself!  I love them!  I just made them out of muslin, because thats the fabric I had most of today.  When I decide I want to do something, I don't usually want to wait, and a trip to the fabric store would have taken to long. LOL  They only took me two hours to make, with no mistakes.  I hope you like them as much as I do.  I was so excited to show you, I didn't even take time to straighten the towel on the rack.  Here is a link to the tutorial I used to make them. Powellton Hollow Primitives

Ditty Bag

Definition:
ditty bag

n.

A bag used to carry small items such as sewing implements.

I started getting the creative itch again.  I made a ditty bag with a drawstring and absolutely LOVE the way it turned out!  I'm going to go through my fabric and make up some more.  

Next up is a sugar cone.  I used brown sugar with some cinnamon and cloves mixed in.  Then I added just enough water to it so that it dripped off the spoon.  I cooked it on the stove for 5 min. or so then poured it into a mold and let it cool down and harden up.  I just used a plastic drinking glass for the mold but want to find something a little taller.  It was not the easiest thing to get out either.  I had to set the glass in boiling water so it would loosen up.  Next time I might try spraying it with nonstick spray first.

Turning Over a New Leaf

Up until now, the only holiday I have decorated for is Christmas.  I do some seasonal decorating, mainly fall, but I've never decorated for Easter.  Now that I'm getting friendly with my sewing machine,  I've made up a few ornies and bowl fillers for Easter.

A 'chocolate' Easter bunny.  This one doesn't call my name like the real chocolate ones do.  I'm pretty proud of this guy because I drew the template myself, by hand! I plan on making more carrots, so I have a bunch of them that I can tie together.  I just wanted to make one to see how it turned out.  After I painted it orange and stained it, I sprinkled it with ground cloves to give it that "fresh from the garden" dirty look.

I also made up some fabric eggs (pattern hand draw by me!).  Some of them were made with vintage scraps and I made two with blue ticking I picked up on our road trip.  I stained these as well, to give them a little age.

My favorite purchases and an apology.

First, I have to give an apology.  For all these months, I didn't think anyone was commenting on my posts.  I must admit, I was a little disappointed, but it really wasn't a biggie.  However, as I was going to create this new post, I stumbled on the fact that I had 42 comments waiting for 'moderation'.  I didn't even realize I had that setting set up.  Now I get to go back and read through them all!!!  It's like Christmas all over again.  And I have the blog set up so that the comments show up automatically now.

I don't have any new crafts on the go, because I have to finish the refinishing of the pieces I am doing for my mom.  Just priming them up a bit, but it seems to be taking me a lot longer than it really should.  Hopefully by next week mom! (I know she's reading. LOL)  So I thought I'd share a few pictures of some goodies I've purchased in the last few months.

I bought this rake at an antique store, for much less than I was really willing to pay.  I'm torn on whether to hang anything(s) from the pegs.  Would you?  I'm open to suggestions.

This is an orchard ladder that I bought at an antique barn is Shipshewana, IN. on our road trip in November.  During the holidays, I used it to display my Christmas Cards.  It worked perfectly.

Now that the Christmas decorations are put away, although I'm still running across things I've forgotten to pack up, I'm redecorating the mantel.  When we moved into this house, the previous owners left behind a dozen or so, old ball canning jars!  The gourd is from my Mother In-laws farm.  I've got 12 more drying in the garage! I've got this set up on one end of the mantel.  The rest is empty. It's a work in progress.

I bought a big bunch of Sweet Annie on our road trip as well.  It smells so good!  I'm looking into growing some this year.

And last, but not least, the bin I had posted here.  I cleaned it up and left it as is.  I do believe it is a feed bin.  I am not using it as a blanket box.  I was unsuccessful at getting all the newspaper removed from inside and I got tired of trying.  The lantern on top was a gift from my mother for Christmas and the pantry cake I made myself.

A show I look forward to watching every week.

I just wanted to pass along this tidbit of info.  If you happen to get the History Channel, there is a show called American Pickers (you can click on the name to see their website).  Two guys travel around the US, searching through peoples barns and sheds(with their permission of course) to find a lot of antiques and collectibles.  What a dream job!  Some things they find, and pass up, are gems!  I often look in the background and see things I would scoop up in a second.  In the US, the show is on Monday nights, and here in Canada, it's on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. eastern.

A new blogger

I had a fun morning.  I spent it with my cousin, Heather, in her very prim home, setting up her blog.  She's just learning the ropes and I am more than happy to help her.  I know she will get hooked on this and she has a lot to share.  Here is the link to her blog.  BitterSweetAndPrim

I will be back to posting soon.  With everything going on through the holidays, I seem to have misplaced my 'get up and go'.