A "SNOW CAKE" & BELATED HOLIDAY STUFF...

...so how would you like a "slice of snow cake???"   I got up this morning to find we had had a lot more snow than forcasted... remember I live in Minnesota and I gasped when I saw my patio table looking like the bottom layer of a wedding cake!  (Giggle!)

the funny thing was - it hadn't snowed enough to barely cover the grass in the front of the house!  

Who knew???

I lied...

Actually this picture. was taken the night before and you can see the snow flakes just starting to come down.  We ended up with about 6 inches, total...a tiny amount compared to last year!

Now let's check out some of my decorations

Here's my tiny front porch...

...with a close up of the red bench

and here's "the same old, same old" door decoration from California!

(I couldn't really find anything I liked better here!)  

Now let's go inside and see my four little Christmas Trees

Here's my Feather Tree I was fortunate enough to purchase from Linda Babb

a couple of years ago. This is the first year it really looked "right" to me.

I especially loved having it turned on at night with the window candles lit...

it felt so cozy!  (Smile!)

That topper is a Boyd's Bear Angel with a red checked dress on...love it!

This is my Living Room tree which has several ornaments that belonged to my Grandparents.

I remember them from my childhood.

The topper here is also a Boyd's Bear Angel with a white velvet and fur-trimmed outfit.

This cute little (30 inch tall) white tree in the bay window of my kitchen has clear lights, red ornaments and clear sparkly icicles. 

Around it there are four little "Putz" cardboard houses, some white trees and of course batting for snow.

The topper this time is another Boyd's Bear Angel with a plaid flannel dress to match the tablecloth I use for the holidays.

And last but not least I carried this one around the house about six times before I found a home for it...I placed it

on the built-in desk in the kitchen next to an old kerosene lamp, a wonderful wooden tray

(from Decor Steals) and a cute primitive doll with her pet cow!

(I will explain the "Pet Cow" in the next post...COMING SOON!)

I still want to show you some more of my Christmas decorations even if it is past the holidays...

hey, you will have more time to read blogs. (especially mine please!  HA)

Like everyone, time got away from me before the holiday and 

"posting on my blog" kept getting moved to the "next day" on my "to-do-list!"

I will also be showing "Home Tour #3" here in my MN Townhome

for those of you who have been curious about it!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and make your first resolution to

comment on blogs once in a while, my blog being the first!  

If you do that I will make my resolution to post MUCH MORE OFTEN than I have..

.see what a great team we could make!  (wink!)

I would LOVE IT if you leave a comment!

Thanks, and 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SEE YOU SOON!

A Cute Little "Detour" "Before House Tour #3

I know, this is supposed to be a blog about my so called "Primitive Design Life" But Please bear with me while I do a little "Great Grandma Bragging." You see, all the time my 5 grandchildren were growing up they lived on one side of the country and hubby and I lived on the other.    Visits were limited to about 3 a year so I feel I missed out on so much of their lives . So, if you will indulge me and allow me  "Great Grandma Bragging Rights..." Here we go... A few days ago my oldest granddaughter asked if I could make a VEST for their  TWO & a half year old son. You see, he want to be a "digger-man" or a "construction guy."
You didn't think I could turn her down do you??? I said: "Of course, Stephanie, it will only take me a couple of hours." And then the fun began... (scratch the part about "a couple of hours.!) How about 2 days and three, yes, three trips to the fabric store.!  LOL So here is how I spent the past two days  :-) I used one of his shirts for a pattern...bought orange fleece, lining, buttons, thread, ribbon, and since (I couldn't find "real reflective tape," got a spool of Iridescent Tape to use in a pinch. You'll notice his name on the front...by special request, of course

This is the lining...his favorite "John Deere" equipment!

Of course all the workers have to have their names on their backs

Now, let's take a couple of pictures...

"Well, yes, Gaboo,  I love my vest but hate to have my picture taken!"

(Gaboo is the name his mother, her sister and brother used to call both my

hubby and I before they had learned to say Grandma or Grandpa!

"Maybe if Mommy steps in it will be better!"

"Ah, now that is better...Gaboo is holding me."

"Please notice, I have a truck in each hand!"

"Now that's better; having your picture taken isn't all that bad!"

                                       

"Well we have to go home now, Gaboo.  

I have to show my vest to Daddy!

And to my Baby Sister, Juniper who is almost 5 months old."

So here is a HALLOWEEN Greeting to all of you from Colin and Juniper

and of course, GABOO!
Aren't my great grand babies cute!

Until next time, Halloween Greetings to you.

NO, IT'S NOT A CHRISTMAS TREE...

...in my kitchen window!  But it is a darling  "HALLOWEEN TREE" that was packed away for a couple of years.   It is a green tree with clear lights, fall colored fruits and  fall colored leaves.   Read further down to see it. While it still isn't time for HOME TOUR #3 (coming soon right on this blog!) I thought I would show you some of the (few) Halloween decorations that I decided to use this year.    So let's start right at the front porch...

Here is my teeny, tiny front porch but I manage to cram a bunch of stuff on it!  (Smile!)

The pumpkin, house and little ghosts light up!  (Fun!)

this poor Halloween Cat looks like he is really lonely on the Beige-y front door

which I can't paint!  8 - ( 

But he only needs to stay our here for a couple of weeks!(Wink)

So let's go in,,,it's starting to get "more than cool" here in MN.

this is my entry table set up for fall...pretty simple.

Let's go into the kitchen...

I was so excited to have an "ISLAND" in my kitchen!  

Wanted one all my life and had to wait till I got to my 16th house!

It gives me a wonderful "display" space so here you see my

"BYER'S CHOICE LITTLE WITCH" CAROLER. 

She is so cute and the faces on these guys are precious

You will soon see more of these cute little 

DOLLS

in the coming months!

"GIRLS AND THEIR DOLLS..."

Let's check out the kitchen china cabinet...

You've seen this piece before but it is missing it's doors.

"Almost S.I.L" has them at his house replacing the glass with Chicken Wire.

I can't wait to get them back!

This is on the kitchen table...I love black and white checks with 

white pumpkins!

Ta, Da!  Here is the little tree I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  

There is also a little wooden "witch" and a felt crow who happened by!

Sorry about the cord!  (giggle!)

At the side of the kitchen it is very simple...just 3 wooden pumpkins with twig stems.

So simple

Here's the dining room table set for Halloween dinner!

See the runner...it was made for me, as a gift, by the wonderful young lady that bought my Cherry Armoire from Craigslist!

She said: "Just for being so nice."

She made it overnight!

What a Gal!

Here is a close up shot of the dishes.  They are:

"Autumn Splendor" 

designed by David Harden 

and copyrighted in 2003.

They are retired now but I like them as they are good for both

Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Another cute witch with a great complexion (giggle)

I only like "cute" for Halloween...no ghouls, skeletons or spiders for me!

How about you?

This is another simple decoration on a wonderful prim. cabinet

You figured this out...the mantle.  I just got these lamps from Pier One.  Thought I would have to paint the bases but the Alabaster color works just fine.  (Good, one less thing to put on the "to-do" list!)

Here's  a close-up of one end of the mantle..

Thought you might want to see the Luncheon Plates to the dining room dishes.  I backed it with a 

solid colored Amber plate (from Pier One) to give it a little oomph!

One more thought...

I have had major problems with Blogger and Google and now I have discovered I am NOT able to THANK

those of you who are following me...

BUT

I want you to know how happy I am that you are.

I try to go to your blog or to find you otherwise but if GOOGLE has anything to do with it

 it just can't happen.

I love you all who comment (makes my day!)

and I hope you will continue

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL!

 

IT'S ALL IN THE "DETAILS"...

and I guess that is why you don't hear from me very often!  I don't mean for that to be an excuse but I really don't know where the time goes.  All I can say is that I am a "tweaker" and am always "fiddling" around with details. I can mess around with accessories, moving them an inch this way or a half inch the other, straighten pictures (a real bug-a-boo for me) and all of a sudden half the day is gone...
It is said that everyone has their own style of decorating and their own "tricks" to make it look attractive... well I like to "use duplicates" where ever I can... Check these pics out...

This is my table in the entry.  That is an original painting (done by a Senior in my last neighborhood in California).  I love the texture of the wicker pumpkin sitting on the grapevine wreath.

(FYI:  The little "witch" jar is from Karen Martinsen over at 

My Colonial Home.)  

I don't think you can see this vignette very well but there is a chicken with similar colors as the one in the print, a small galvanized pail of sunflowers and a huge crock/jug,

It has the same "feel" as the "feel" of the print

This picture was purchased at a craft fair and when I painted the china cabinet cranberry it just seemed natural to put this picture above it.  I bought the "goose" in New Jersey last fall in an amazing antique store.  He lost his grapevine "necklace" in the move. 

Here is the only corner of my counters and I love the little "Chicken Lamp" (on loan from one daughter) along with the "Chicken Plate,"  one of a set of 4 which used to hang on the wall in the last abode.

I don't know if I ever told you the story about this print.  In the California house we found this poster behind the china cabinet when we moved it to paint the wall.  I had bought it right after 9/11 and had forgotten about it.  I really like the look of it so decided that since the Eagle was so magnificent, I checked the Internet and found this beautiful one at Overstock.com  

It is beautifully sculpted and oh, so fragile!  I was a wreck when I took it out of the box but so happy when nothing was broken!

The frame holds a poem that one of my grand daughters wrote as an assignment the day of 9/11 when she was 10 years old and in 5th grade..she is now 24!

If I really been on the ball on the 11th of this month I would have shown it to you.

Her teacher liked it so much she sent it in to a publication where it was published in a book of "like" articles.

We were so proud of her.

  

I added this, in a hallway, to show you a feel I tried to create;

There is Pewter at the top and bottom, an old-looking flag and mustard-y color star and reproduction apothecary cabinet.

By adding it to the red cabinet (a "sale" find at T.J.Maxx)

it seems to create sort of a Revolutionary Period look.

Do you think so?

Here is another "hall" cabinet with a kitty cookie jar (also on loan from that same daughter) to go along with a darling antique picture I purchased a while ago from Linda Babb

This cross stitch was done by my the other daughter and given to me for a birthday several years ago.

I was fortunate enough to find the little rusty rabbit to make a nice little grouping in front of the T.V.

You'll notice they are facing away from the screen...

they, too must feel there is hardly anything worthwhile to

watch any more.

Do You Agree???

I hope you enjoyed my "Details"

and maybe it gave you a few ideas you can put in place in your homes.

Please leave me a comment & let me know!

Until the next time...

{{HUGS}}

    

HOME TOUR #2 AND A HUGE MAKEOVER...ALREADY

What! a Huge Makeover already??? I've only been here for  seven months and I am already changing things? Stay tuned and read further... A few weeks ago my Iowa daughter brought me home  (they won't let me drive from here to their home!!) and when she looked in the lower level and garage  didn't say anything. But when she got home she mentioned it to her family and they  decided to take some time to help me get finished. So they came up for 4 full days and boy did they (and I) work! Here is a look at the garage...remember I moved in  just 7 months  ago... and there are already were a ton of boxes already unpacked and gone!

Even a Cat Box for the cat I don't even have, yet!

A little spray painting as inspiration hit...

My Christmas Cow hiding among the junk!

But, HERE IT IS!

Have you ever seen such order in a garage???

Beautiful closed cabinets

and an old shelf for "current projects"

The back wall and stairs which are soon to be painted...

and see, a long time ago we took a trip to Yellowstone, The Badlands, and stopped at 

"WALL DRUG"

Excuse the tools, etc. under the table...couldn't wait to take pics!

The left side of the garage with "all" (ahem!) the bins with decorating stuff for during the year.

(Christmas stuff is downstairs...there is no way I could come out to the garage in the winter 

to pick through Christmas stuff IN THE WINTER!)

Remember, I am in MINNESOTA now!

And the first floor cloth I made ever made.

Here is my SIL Greg and a very happy me!

But it wasn't all work and no play...

here we are in Minneapolis at

MINNEHAHA FALLS

which is a beautiful park.

Tired, but happy!

Kathy, Greg, Gillian, and me.

And here are two of my wonderful Grand Dogs after working

hard at Grandma's...

ready for their ride home.

But enough of the greatly improved Garage

thanks to my wonderful family!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I would like you to see a little more of the inside of the house...

so enjoy the tiny little front porch

and come right in...

I will open the door for you...

Come right in and please close your eyes.  You have already seen the kitchen

(to the right) and I am not quite ready for you to see the "Entry" or the "Great Room".

Instead, I am going to share my new laundry/sewing room with you...

so, with your eyes shut tight, go straight ahead through the entry,

past the stairway and continue to the next place where you can turn left, go down the hall to the first door on the left and

here we are...or were for 7 months.

This is how it used to look...

Yikes, how did I ever live like that much less do a load of laundry???

HOARDER???

But never fear here is how it looks now.

I have to say some of these designs came from an idea I saw on Pinterest 

(but don't know where it came from originally.)

My new Sewing area...

Two Target bookcases with ticking covers on the fronts to hide all the sewing

and cleaning stuff... 

This cabinet has traveled from house to house and recently I had the new top made and painted the whole thing.

It worked well with "paint and primer" in one and only took 2 coats considering it was Laminate except for the new shelves on top.

Then it didn't look great where the top met the rest of it so I added some red & white checked ribbon with double-stick tape..

Then, for those of you who remember my old house with the chickens on the sewing room doors, I had a couple left over and added them.  Stenciled the chicken wire, too

I love polka dots and checks!

Finished it up with old brass knobs that I painted RED!

                                   

Here is the end wall...this room is good size...I think it is about 9 x 12; so room-y!

(The cute sign above the ironing board says: 

"WASH..DRY..PRESS..FOLD..REPEAT")

So true, eh?

This is the other end of the room...

Yes, that's a Beverage Dispenser for liquid soap!

A "close-up" of the lamp

another DIY project

This little rack is actually the side of a DOLL CRIB!

Here I covered pieces of Foam Core Board with fabric to "save the wall" from splatters.

Remember this Floor Cloth from my last kitchen...

works perfectly in here!

And here is a Sleepy Little Kitten snoozing on the dryer.

I think he's tired from reading this very long and hopefully "not too boring" post.

       ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I have a ton of pictures and there are still more rooms to show you...

Stay tuned as I have been telling friends,

"I am almost done."

But are we ever done with our homes???

To my Blogging Friends and every one else who arrives here

I would love for you to leave me a comment...

I promise I will answer all!