TUESDAY DISPLAY CHAIN–SOUVENIRS

I am participating in Tuesday’s Display Chain with Misi at 1890 Gable House Musings.  This week’s challenge was to share a souvenir.  A souvenir (French, for memory), memento or keepsake is an object a traveler brings home for the memories associated with it. 

A few years ago our daughter’s family lived in England for three years while our son-in-law, who was in the Air Force, was stationed there.  We were privileged to visit them there and experience a part of our world that we never would have seen otherwise.  I had begun collecting black and white plates to display on our dining room wall and I was hoping to add a plate to the collection from England.  Well, I was blessed to find two Spode plates at a little shop near their home.  They are my favorite plates in the display.

Here is a photo of the display.

Here are my souvenir Spode plates from England.

Every time I look at my plates I am reminded of the wonderful time we had with our family in the incredible country of England.

Be sure to visit 1890 Gable House Musings and check out Misi’s display, along with the others who are participating in this week’s Tuesday Display Chain.

Autumn Blessings,
Sue

A Perfect Day for an Antique Street Fair

Today was a beautiful day – mid 80s with a slight breeze.  A perfect day for an Antique Street Fair.  My DH and I picked up my friend, Connie, at 8:00 am and headed to Arcadia, FL.  After about 30 minutes on the road we did a McDonald’s drive through for a biscuit and diet coke (I don’t drink coffee), then headed on our way.  This was Connie’s first time going with us and it was so much fun to watch her reaction as we turned onto Oak Street and she saw all of the venders set up on the sidewalks and in the bank parking lot and the city park.  This is a small town with 24 Antique Shops in a four block area, and on the fourth Saturday of each month additional vendors set up in the outside areas.

A new Prim Shop has opened since the last time we were there and it is a delightful shop full of all the prim needfuls that we just can’t do without.  I found candles, a small peg basket, and a pip berry spray to complete a project I had in my head.  Do y’all do that – have an idea of an area that you want to decorate, and items you need, and then go Antique/Prim shopping with those specific things in mind?   Well I did today and I found what I was looking for - I will post pictures and tell you about it when the project is complete.  Oh, I also got some dried bowl fixins – can’t ever have too much of that.

I took a picture of my goodies in the back of our SUV when we got home – some crocks and stoneware, some pewter, a couple of wooden bowls, a pantry box, some faux pumpkins, a wooden shelf (that needs a little makeover) and the items I got at the Prim Shop.  I will post more pictures when I find a home for everything.

 

Before I close I must take a moment and brag on my husband, my very best friend – he escorted us all over town, carried packages for us, took things to the car, and treated us to lunch.  He is so much fun to be with and is so good to me.  I think I’ll keep him!

Now I am going to say goodnight because my A Primitive Place magazine was waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home, and I can’t think of a better ending to an already perfect day than to peruse this awesome magazine.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Autumn Blessings,
Sue

TUESDAY IS ALMOST OVER

It’s Tuesday – the day for Tuesday’s Display Chain, hosted by Misi at 1890 Gable House Musings.  I was not able to participate this week, but don’t want you to miss out.  Be sure to visit Misi’s blog and check out all of the other Display Chain participants.

Tuesday is a very busy day for me.  I am a Mentor for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and we meet on Tuesday mornings.  I have various commitments on Tuesday afternoons. And on Tuesday evenings my DH and I participate in a Prayer Group that meets in members homes.  Tonight was our turn to host the Prayer Group – which also includes providing a light meal – so I had no extra time today to participate in the Display Chain.  I am not complaining, just explaining.  I love being involved in these groups and I enjoy participating in the Display Chain – there will just be times when I will not be able to do it all.

This past Saturday DH took me to a Fallfest at a local college.  There were a couple of prim booths there, but I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without – I can’t believe I didn’t buy anything, but it was still a nice outing.  After leaving the Fallfest we had lunch at our favorite barbeque restaurant and then came home for a restful afternoon.

Next Saturday we are planning to go to a Street Fair at our favorite antiquing town about an hours drive from here.  We haven’t been for a few months because of the heat, but since it has cooled down a bit it should be a nice day for it.  I am really looking forward to going – I usually find some great goodies.

I hope you are all having a great week.

Autumn Blessings, 
Sue

Tuesday Display Chain – Two Colors

Misi at 1890 Gable House Musings is hosting a Display Chain each Tuesday.  This week’s topic is “Two Colors”.  I chose Black & White – two colors you will find in our Dining Room and Living/Great Room.

Black and white toile wallpaper in Dining room.


Black wooden bowl of white berries, with black candlesticks and white candles– displayed on dining table.


Black swan, with black candlesticks and white candles on black and white table runner – displayed on dining table.


Sheep and white berries in old trencher – displayed on dining table.


Black pillows appliqued with white pumpkins on black and white checked loveseat.


White display on black truck used as our coffee table.


I hope you enjoyed my “Two Colors” displays. 
Sue

Be sure to visit 1890 Gable House Musings and check out Misi’s display, along with the others who are participating in this week’s Tuesday Display Chain.

I Made Pumpkin Muffins

I made Pumpkin Muffins this morning.  The house smells wonderful.

I set a place for you.  Will you join me?



Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup craisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin & oil until smooth.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Fold in craisins and walnuts.  Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake 15-18 minutes at 400 degrees.  Makes 24-30 muffins.

I hope you enjoyed yours.  Mine was delicious!
Sue

The Pewter Plates Are Finally Displayed

My decorating tastes have changed over the years - from “cutesy” Country - to a more Traditional Country - to Primitive.  I have loved Primitive antiques for many years, but cost and availability in our area have made decorating our home with Prim decor a slow process.  Thanks to makeovers, reproductions and my husband’s willingness to make things for me the transition is becoming a reality.

What does this have to do with the pewter plates?

Well, I have been wanting to change the display on our entertainment cabinet (made several years ago by my DH) to a more Prim look and the pewter plates just seemed to make the display come together.

Here is a before photo – not a very good picture, but you get the idea.


I’ve asked my DH to make doors for the TV area – we’ll see if that becomes a reality.

The new look.  
Shelves on the left.       
Shelves on the right.       

What do you think?  Is it looking more Prim?  I will continue to change things out as I am able to find more Prim goodies, but for now I am happy with the look.

I hope y’all are having a restful Sunday afternoon,
Sue

ANTIQUE FAIR FINDS

A neighboring town has an Antique Fair, on the sidewalks along Main Street, the second Saturday of each month.  It was a little cooler today so we thought we would go and see what we might find.

There weren’t a lot of primitive goodies, but I did find a few things – a cheese box, some wooden spoons, and a CROCK!



The spoons aren’t very old, but there are some unique shapes – hopefully I can figure out how to age them some.  Anyway, I thought they would look good in a crock on the Kitchen counter.

Just couldn’t pass up the CROCK – the price was good and I didn’t have one like it – so I needed this one, right?  My DH said there has to be a stopping point sometime - meaning I didn’t need any more crocks – what was he thinking?  I told him I didn’t think that it would happen any time soon.

It was a nice outing and it is always fun when I get to bring home goodies.  Did anyone else have any good finds today – antique, thrift store, yard sale?  Please share – I love to hear from you.

Hope y’all are having a wonderful weekend,
Sue

THE WINNER IS…?

Today is the day to choose a winner for my first blog giveaway.

First I would like to say “Thank You” to all of my Followers/Friends who decided to join in my giveaway.  If you are a new Follower welcome – I am looking forward to getting to know you.  And to those of you who have been Followers I appreciate your friendship, your comments and your patience as I am learning my way around blogland.

There were 28 comments/entries.  I numbered and wrote each name on a slip of paper, which I folded and put in a crock for drawing.  I enlisted the help of Caleb, our 2 year old grandson.  He was so proud to be my helper!  (I tried to get a better photo of the paper with the name, but Caleb began to get antsy when I kept trying to take it over again – after all he is only two and I had already taken six photos.)

 
 

So, without prolonging this any longer.  The winner is…

BRENDA @ PINE TREE PRIMS

CONGRATULATIONS, Brenda!  I sent you an email and will get the package out to you as soon I receive your return email with your address.  I hope you enjoy your winnings.

To all of my other Followers - I wish I could send something to each of you, but since I can’t, I am sending hugs and many thanks for your support and encouragement.

Oh, remember the pewter plates?  Well my DH got the plate grooves cut in the shelf boards this morning, and I have been working on some displays.  I will post photos when I finish tweaking.

I hope y’all have a great weekend,
Sue

More Pewter Plates!!!

As I posted on Saturday, I bought a couple of pewter plates at Goodwill.  They had more, but I only bought two.  Well I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about them and the fact that I only bought two – so yesterday I went back to GW and bought the rest (6).  I also found one small pewter plate and bought that one too.  So I got 6 of the larger plates and the one small plate for less than $20 - (all totaled for 8 plates and 1 small plate I spent about $25 – pretty good deal, don’t you think?)

These are the plates I got yesterday.  The other two are displayed on a shelf and I want to wait until they are all displayed to show those pictures.



You know how it goes – when you get new stuff you have to do some tweaking and rearranging to make room for it.  And sometimes you have to wait for DH to help with part of the project.  Well, that is where I find myself today.  I want to display the pewter plates on the shelves beside my TV cabinet (which DH made many years ago and I still love).  Fortunately the shelves are adjustable, because right now some of the shelves are too close to display the plates.  I need DH’s help to reconfigure the shelves and I have also asked him to cut plate grooves in them.  That means everything has to come off the shelves – and some of it will not return and I will have to find a place for it.  So I have to wait – and I am not very patient when I have a display idea and I want to give it a try.

The reason I have to wait is because my sweet husband is doing some repairs on my parents’ screened porch – I guess their need is greater than mine, so that is a priority.  He has been working on this off and on for a few days, so hopefully he will finish today.  Then maybe tomorrow he can help me with my shelves.

Anyway, I will post pictures of the TV cabinet display when it is finished.  But I just couldn’t wait to share about the pewter plates.  I’m so glad they were still there when I returned.


I hope you are all having a blessed week!
Sue

(To participate in my Giveaway check out this post and leave a comment.)

Tuesday’s Display Chain

Misi at 1890 Gable House Musings is hosting a Display Chain each Tuesday.  This week’s topic is “Think ‘Only You’ Could Love”.

(We were asked to share a display based on an item that “you feel ‘only you’ could love”. Something you might have just recently acquired or something you have had forever.  A  piece that makes you smile amongst your primitives.  ANYTHING you wish to show your appreciation for, but feel that perhaps nobody else would understand that appreciation.)
 
As my children were growing up they often made gifts for me that maybe did not fit into my decor, but I displayed them proudly because I cherished the gift and the giver.  Now, as a grandmother, I find from time to time I have the privilege of displaying a gift made by a grandchild that may not fit into my Primitive decor – but again I display it proudly because I cherish the gift and the giver.

So this week my display contains a gift my nine year old granddaughter made for me at summer camp.  It is a lovely flower arrangement, in a flower pot that she painted just for me.  It may not be Primitive but it “makes me smile when displayed amongst my Primitives”.


I hope you have something that you display just because you cherish it - just because it makes you smile.

Blessings,
Sue

Be sure to visit 1890 Gable House Musings and check out Misi’s display, along with the others who are participating in this week’s Tuesday Display Chain.

(Also, be sure to read my Giveaway post and participate if you would like to.)

Craft Fair and Goodwill Finds

My BF, Connie, and I went to a local Craft Fair this afternoon, but were very disappointed.  There were a few booths with cutesy country crafts, but no prims.  I bought two battery powered candles and that was it.


We decided to go to GW and see if we could find any goodies there.  I’ve had better shopping days at GW too, but I did find a couple of things.  I bought two pewter looking plates for $3 each – I’m not sure where I will display them yet.  I also bought two candle sconces for $2 each.  A few months ago I bought a stitchery of the Lord’s Prayer and framed it and hung it above a bookcase – I thought it needed something else to go along with it and had been looking for some sconces.

Here are my GW goodies for today.

 
 
Here are my sconces with the Lord’s Prayer stitchery.

  
 
I’m pleased with how they look and the price was surely right!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Autumn Blessings,
Sue

(Don’t miss out on my Thank You Giveaway see previous post.)

A Giveaway to Thank My Followers

Today is my One Month Blogiversary.  I can hardly believe that the month has passed by so quickly.  I never expected to have 10 posts in the first month and I certainly did not expect to have 48 Followers – I truly am blessed!  So, I would like to do my first Giveaway to thank all of you who have become followers.

I will be giving away: 3 small Pantry Cakes wrapped in cheesecloth and tied up with a sprig of Sweet Annie – a candle holder made by my husband (the battery candle is included) - a makeover bowl with fixins – and a Fall table mat, appliqued with pumpkins and backed with homespun.


 

All you need to do to enter is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment under this post.  I will pick a winner on Friday, October 8th.

Autumn Blessings,
Sue