Briarpatchprim's Weblog

Primitive Christmas Home Show

briarpatchprim — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:44:04 +0000

I want to send out a quick post to tell you all about my dear Friend Teresa. She is an amazing primitive crafter and well she is having her first ever Christmas Home Show.

Here is a copy of her ad.

If your in the Newburg, PA area or just passing through please stop by. She has really beautiful wood pieces as well as stitcheries and wool handmade items. You can also go to her etsy store to get an idea of what she has to offer.

I hope to see you there.

Getting Into the Fall Spirit.

briarpatchprim — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:08:16 +0000

Thought I would just take a moment and share a few of my fall displays. Yes they are simple and basic but thought I’d share just the same. You know sometimes its the simple things that make life sweet.

Set of pumpkins I made a few years ago.

A few ornies on my seasonal ornie tree.

This is what you see walking up my walkway.

Weekly Scavenger Hunt #1

briarpatchprim — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:51:24 +0000

My friends over at A Primitive Journey Community have started a weekly scavenger hunt, and I’ve decided to join in. This week we are to look for old bottles and jars. Well this should be fairly easy for any primitive decorator, so I’m definitely up for this challenge. Here are a few of the items I’ve found this week.

Old bottle made and given to be from Memaw

I use old candle jars for storage in my bathroom.

This is a jar made into a candle. Used in same bathroom.

Okay, that’s all my finds for this week. I hope you enjoy them. If you want to check out a great forum head on over to A Primitive Journey. There are many great and friendly crafters there. You will also find many ideas for decorating, lots of eye candy for sure.

I’d love for you to join me in this scavenger hunt so please feel free to join in the comments section.

Made In America

briarpatchprim — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:28:04 +0000

Here is the first item in my home that is made in America. Its my kitchen table. I hope you enjoy taking a peek.

Made In America

briarpatchprim — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:19:41 +0000

There is alot of talk on TV and online about the new series Made In America. Have you seen or heard about this? Well, I watched an interview the other day with a couple who took the challenge to furnish their home with everything Made in America. It really made me thinkg about my responsibility as an American. I really do think its important to buy things that are made right here in the good ole USA. Crafters have complained for years about the competition at craft shows with vendors who clearly are trying to pawn off imports as hadmade crafts, and how difficult it is to compete with their pricing. Now I believe that not everyone wants an import. Some people really do value the true handiwork of an artist, no matter if its a painting or a handsewn quilt or our cherished primitive make do’s. I think each person has to decide what is important to them and purchase accordingly. If funds are tight and you just want to decorate that new hutch then you are most likely going to buy an import. If you want to decorate a family heirloom you are most likely going to want to decorate it with items that have meaning. Somehing that someone put their soul into creating. So it all depends on the person whether this post will be relevent to you or not.

Well anyway, all this talk about being made in America got me thinking of how many items I have in my home that really are made in this country I love. So I’ve decided to start a blog series on this very subject. Heck I may even add in a video or two, I said “may” because I haven’t decided if I’m camera shy or not. So week after week I am going to show you items in my home that I know were made here in America. Now I’m going to make a disclaimer here just to cover myself. While I know these items are American made I can’t really vouch for where the materials are from. For example I may post a handmade doll, of whom I know the creater/designer but given the fact that there just aren’t many fabric manufacturers left in America its unlikely that the materials used are all 100% made here. I’m ok with that, though. You see it still helps out the small town manufacturers and crafters by buying from them.

So what do you think? How much of your home is made in America? Keep checking back every week to see what I share from my own home.

Decluttered Grapevine Tree

briarpatchprim — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:00:55 +0000

Grapevine Tree brightening my porch

Here is a grapevine tree that I got at a yard sale for 50 cents. I was so excited to find this. And let me tell you I haven’t seen another one since, because you can bet that if I do I will snag it up. This poor little fella was decorated for a reception of some sort. Probably a wedding, well I’m sure the idea was nice but it definitely left much to be desired not to mention it was really dusty. But I saw the potential especially since it still had the christmas lights in it and guess what? The lights still work. I’m so excited.

Outdated is an understatement, poor thing.

Off to work I went. I yanked all the glued on pearls and rossettes. Luckily they weren’t on there too well. And it took all of like a minute. Left the lights alone since they still work. And viola a cute little grapevine tree to sit next to my front door and light the night.

Here it is again the after.

The finished product

Goose Makeover

briarpatchprim — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:14:30 +0000

I’ve had these pictures in my file for a while now and what better time to share than now. I bought this goose at a sale for literal pocket change. And yes people did look at me strange, very strangely, but I don’t care. I had a vision for this little guy. I wanted to give him a new coat and set him on my porch for some great primitive decor. Since this makover I’ve been hooked on finding more geese. And I certainly didn’t have any trouble doing so. Once I get my porch ready for this summer I’ll show you more pictures of geese that I’ve painted and made over, one is absolutely huge, just wait til you see it.

Sorry about the before picture becoming a during picture. I get all excited about starting a new project that I forget to take the befores sometimes. Just look at that mauve and country blue fabric. Now stop laughing, you know you decorated your home in these very colors. And after seeing the after your gonna wish you still had some of those geese you got rid of when the trends so happily changed. I actually didn’t decorate with geese (I’m too young) but I did the cow/amish thing. lol. Well it was cool at the time.

Poor little bird looks like he got stuck in an oil spill.

And here he is all cleaned up and wearing some berries.

Yard sale season is quickly approaching. What items are you on the look out for? Do you have any makeovers in mind?

Pantry Box Make Over

briarpatchprim — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:08:24 +0000

Gosh, it seems like you can get these type of paper mache boxes for practically nothing at yard sales. And that is exactly where this set of boxes came from and have been gracing my home as a decoration for far too long. My home is no longer cute country. I love the more farmhouse colonial style, I like clean lines and way less clutter. I really like the old look of fabric covered boxes, but the price is more than I am willing to pay right now. So I decided to make do with what I have. Reduce the amount of money going out of my pocket, Reuse what I already had, and Recycle it into something noteworthy and useable. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle I guess you could say I’m going “green”, except I used blue fabrics. Oh well. I hope you enjoy the before and afters of these pantry boxes.

"Before" I use to have Country Garden Angels in my bathroom

: “After” fits into my decor much, much better now.

Do you have any pantry boxes that you’ve made over? I’d love to see.

Side Table Makeover

briarpatchprim — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:04:29 +0000

Primitive Side Table Makeover

I have had this little table for a long time now. Since it no longer fit in with my current decor it was banned to my “tornado” room (tornado because it usually looks like one hit) and has been a nice little catch all. Well its time to give it a little makeover. I cleared it off, gave it a nice little sanding, and painted it black. Black is pretty much the basic base color for just about every primitive style piece of furniture, but I didn’t need to tell you that, you’ve most likely already been primified. Now I chose a nice cream color. I chose this color because I’m wanting to paint my kitchen cabinets this color and I wanted to give it a test run, I didn’t want to do an entire kitchen and absolutely hate it, so I’m using this table as my tester. So after the top color was applied and had time to dry I gave it a nice sanding, really giving it some great distressed character. Then the grand finale is the Briwax coating on the top. That really is the secret to getting a geat look. Well I have to say I am very happy with the way the table came out. I love the look and I’m convinced that my kitchen cabinets need to be this color despite my hubbs hesitation. What do you all think? Yay or Nay? Let me know in the comments.

Before Picture of Sidetable

: Here is a close up of the primitive detail of this table

And the After Picture Once More

Getting my blogging mojo back

briarpatchprim — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:32:08 +0000

Wow I totally didn’t realize it has been so long since my last post. I guess those pantry cakes really did me in. Well I have some really fun and creative things planned for my blog for the year. I’m currently working on some before and afters and can’t wait to show you the finished projects. I have some home makeover plans and I plan on welcoming you into my home for a visit as I transform some minor and major displays. Hmmm wonder what I’ll come up with? I could tell you but I always change my mind mid way. OCD obsessive crafting disorder, Its something I’ve dealt with all my life. So come along for the ride spring is almost here and my creative mojo is back. Yahoo.