A Pinch of Prim

Lilac Love

2012-05-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

I have to share these lilacs with you. To me they are absolutely exquisite. My parents have about 5 or 6 beautiful mature lilac bushes on their property. Ranging from the lightest lavender to yummy dark purple.

So I helped myself to some of the prettiest I could find. Of course some of the biggest and best were way up high. You could let your mother climb on top of your car to reach them or play it safe and stick to what you can get on ground:) ~~I chose the former.~~ Thanks Mom!!

Look at these beauties.

I knew I should have taken pictures the very first day because a lot of the lighter ones started wilting pretty fast.

These however are the prettiest of the pretty.

I had them in a big bucket in the garage and the smell was AMAZING!

I still can’t get over how absolutely beautiful this double blossom lilac is. The colors are simply perfect.

Sigh……….

I found this cute willow vase at TJ Maxx for $6.99. Such a good deal.

Fresh flowers in the entryway is one of my favorite things. I love the look of the rustic willow vase and fresh garden flowers.

I was also able to rescue some more vintage bottles from my parents property. Now how pretty does this look in a vintage jar?

I will be showing some more vintage bottles in an upcoming post.

I hope you enjoyed these beautiful lilacs. I’ve seen so many gorgeous posts on lilacs in blogland, I just had to include these.

Take care all!

♥ Michelle

Uncle Sam and 4th of July

2012-05-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Is it too early to start making 4th of July and Uncle Sam dolls? If there’s anything that I’ve learned in the art business, it’s that: NO! it’s never too early to start making pieces for a holiday that is still a few months away.

I had a request some time ago to make an Uncle Sam doll and here he is.

I had a lot of fun making this guy, so I decided to make a little 4th of July girl too.

For the longest time I’ve wanted to make a girl with a paper hat and pinwheel, so here she is.

Uncle Sam is sold and my 4th of July Girl will be listed on Etsy.

Thank you for stopping by, have a wonderful week!

Sharing At:

http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/05/monday-marketplace-11.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/bCGJMl%20(Common%20Ground)

http://thecheckeredapple.blogspot.com/2012/05/patriotic-link-party.html

http://www.freeprettythingsforyou.com/2012/05/whatever-you-want-wednesday-75/

PRIMS Magazine Feature

2012-05-02T12:20:00.002-07:00

I’m so excited to share with you my latest PRIMS Magazine feature. The latest Spring/Summer 2012 issue of PRIMS Magazine by Stampington and Co. just came out on May 1st. This beautiful magazine is full of primitive, whimsical, folk art. It is so neat to be featured in this magazine with some of my favorite folk artists out there.

(I didn’t take a lot of pictures before I sent the pieces off to the magazine.)

I made these two with the magazine in mind.

Miss Giraffe & Sweet Elephant

I love making these sweet little elly’s. Complete with a little tutu and bow for her head.

This is the second giraffe that I’ve made, you can see the first one here.

I love this magazine and all the artists that they feature.

Thank you PRIMS!

and Thank You for stopping by!

SHARING AT:

http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/05/time-travel-thursday-95-talented-time.html

http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/2012/05/happy-thursday-everybody-we-had-great.html

http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/05/vintage-inspiration-86-serendipity.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/bCGJMl%20(Common%20Ground)

Birthday “Elly”

2012-04-15T12:10:00.010-07:00

Just a few pictures of my latest “Elly” that was a custom piece for a Birthday.

Hand sculpted from Paperclay.

I have to give my pieces a good dose of ♥SHABBY♥!

Don’t let those eyes fool you, she’s not sad, just a little shy;)

I love making these little Elephants “Elly’s”.

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week:)

Sharing at:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2012/04/beautiful-front-porch-renovation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BetweenNapsOnThePorch+%28BETWEEN+NAPS+ON+THE+PORCH%29

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2012/04/wow-us-wednesdays-62.html

http://www.the36thavenue.com/2012/04/party-time-51-and-tatertots-and-jello.html

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/2012/04/ive-got-blues.html

http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/04/time-travel-thursday-93-talented-time.html

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/04/feathered-nest-friday_19.html

http://www.atthepicketfence.com/2012/04/welcome-to-inspiration-friday-no-61.html

http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/2012/04/treasure-hunt-thursday-53-highlights.html

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2012/04/home-sweet-home-63.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20TheCharmOfHome%20(The%20Charm%20of%20Home)

Spring Prims

2012-04-06T12:49:00.014-07:00

I have a few more Springtime Prims that I just recently finished. I’m kind of loving French Country geese right now and sheep. So these are my interpretations of them.

This first piece is one of my favorites to date.

These next pieces are little mini collectibles and I really love them. All my pieces are handscuplted by me from Paperclay. The little sheep will be hard to let go. I will be making more of these and sculpting them into a different style as well later on.

I’ve been wanting to make a Primitive country goose with a worn pink bow for the longest time.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thank you so much for stopping by!

I appreciate each and every blog friend I have♥

My latest Prim

2012-03-23T09:28:00.002-07:00

This is one of my latest pieces made for a girls Sweet 16.

She loves horses.

Will have some more pieces to share soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I’ve been up to……

2012-03-11T13:23:00.005-07:00

Here’s a little of what I’ve been up to lately.

Happy Creating!

Sharing at:

http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/03/time-travel-thursday-88-talented-time.html

http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/2012/03/treasure-hunt-thursday-48-highlights.html

Heads up, I found a 7-Up……

2012-03-07T10:03:00.005-08:00

Crate.

I found a really neat soda crate not too long ago. I love the colors, rust, chips and grunge that becomes her.

I also found some really pretty dogwood branches and a sweet little nest to dress her up a bit.

I love that it is from Washington too.

She sits on my dining room table until I decorate for Easter.

Ahhh……the sun feels so good……

Abby thinks so too.

♥

Sharing at:
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/2012/03/twice-owned-tuesday.html
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/03/sat-nite-special-link-party-124-vintage.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/KCcu%20(Funky%20Junk%20Interiors)

St. Patrick’s Day Goodies

2012-03-03T13:08:00.016-08:00

Just a few goodies that I made for St. Patrick’s Day.

This guy’s little base reads “a hundred thousand welcomes to you”.

A good ol’ Irish greeting.

I had to make a couple floppy eared bunnies.

“lucky bunny”

and his friend……..

“can we be friends………”

of course we can!

♥Bunny tails♥

These little guy’s are available on my Etsy page.

I’m working on some things for Spring and Easter and having fun with Pinks and Pastels!

Thank you for stopping by,

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/03/sat-nite-special-link-party-124-vintage.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/KCcu%20(Funky%20Junk%20Interiors)
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/2012/03/white-wednesday-142.html
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2012/03/home-sweet-home-56.html
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/08/screen-in-your-deck-in-minutes-for-only.html
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/03/time-travel-thursday-87-talented-time.html

Happy Valentine’s Day

2012-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

I waited till the last possible moment to decorate for Valentine’s Day. (I want to fast forward and decorate for Spring and Easter)!

When I found these cute hydrangea puffs at Michaels I became inspired.

I thought they would look adorable hanging from branches.

Our curly willow tree lost some BIG branches due to the weight of the snow that we got last month. So I grabbed a little saw and cut off what I wanted.

I ordered this cute sampler from here.

I saw it in the February issue of Romantic Homes and loved it. I doubt it will ever get stitched but that’s ok:)

The frame that holds the sampler is a thrifting find. So are the sweet little crystal cups.

In my cloche now are two sweet, white, chippy birds.

The tray that they sit on is a thrifting find as well. You may remember I posted about it here. I use it to house my glitter shakers. I decided it needed some color for my craft room and I painted it a pretty pink. I like how it looks under my cloche.

I painted some X’s and O’s in the same pretty pink and glittered them generously with some tinsel glitter.

It came together nicely!

I couldn’t leave the dining room table out.

So take a right and a little more pink awaits.

My mom gave me this sweet cherub pot when I was 16, I think. I remember she had put some lilacs in it and it smelled sooooo good.

It’s kind of perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Some wood candle holders I bought a long time ago, got a dry coat of ASCP in old white, then a little sanding.

Simple yet sweet.

Btw, the curio in the corner of the dining room had a makeover with none other than Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I will do a post about that one another day.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

♥

sharing at: http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentines-link-party.html

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2012/02/decorating-for-valentines-day-welcome.html?utm_source=feedburner

Dancing “Gator” Queen

2012-02-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

“Sally”gator that is.

She can dance.

She can jive.

She’s having the time of her life.

See that Salligator? She’s the Dancing Queen……….

♥

What’s under the cloche?

2012-02-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

What is that under the cloche behind my new chair?

There’s some little vintage books.

There’s some Dog Hobble?

Is that the name of this flower?

Then there’s this little broken doll.

My mom found her in their fill dirt pile that I wrote about here.

Remember all those fabulous vintage bottles that they found?

Well, she was buried in there with them.

There’s something about the broken doll that I felt deserved to be displayed.

It’s the perfect spot for now.

♥

The Little Chair that Could…….

2012-02-02T13:01:00.001-08:00

So I attended a huge garage sale last August. The kind where you have to find a parking spot somewhere along the road and then walk from house to house to house looking for forgotten treasures……… I thought this garage sale would be the daddy of all garage sales because it’s located in a huge, great, historic neighborhood.

It wasn’t as great as I thought it would be.

I really didn’t find anything worth redoing or saving.

So sad:(

In the car a few hours later on the way out of the neighborhood something PINK caught my eye.

A pink channel back chair in really good condition.

$35

Where’s all the chairs that I hear people snagging for $5 – $10?

Anyway, I wanted the chair and the lady let me have it for $30.

Now, I love pink, and I like velvet, heck, I like pink velvet, but not so much this particular one. And to be completely honest, I don’t love the channels.

I thought this would be the perfect little project for me. My first chair redo. How hard could it be? Everyone’s doing it. Slipcovers out of drop cloth, recovering with burlap, distressing the wood.

Easy peasy.

NOT easy peasy.

This is as far as I got. Totally out of my league. Not the best first chair to try and tackle.

So she sat in the garage for almost 5 months.

My Sweet Savannah did a post on a chair that she had reupholstered by Angie from A & D Upholstery in Everett, WA. Her chair turned out gorgeous.

So, since hub and I thought the chair was worth saving, that is where we took her.

So glad we did.

I love how she turned out.

Not sure what the exact kind of material this is. My husband actually picked it out. Maybe some sort of twill? I really don’t know. We found it at Pacific Fabrics. It’s a light blue.

She added new foam to the seat and redid the webbing in the frame.

I love the double welting and buttons she added.

I painted the frame in ASCP Old White.

I have redone a few pieces in my house with this paint. Will hopefully show you soon.

See the glass cloche behind the chair? Can you guess what the light upright piece is? I know, it’s very hard to see.

I’ll show you in a post tomorrow, stay tuned……..

I’m so glad we stuck it out with this chair. What do you think? Better without the channels?

♥

Valentine Fun

2012-02-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

A few more Valentine creations…….

that I made.

Pinks, reds and whites……..ahhhh.

Happy colors.

Love those bunny tails:)♥

Thank you for stopping by,

Valentine Bunnies

2012-01-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

Two more little ♥Valentine♥ Bunnies for you....

Pink with red polka dots.....

and a little red bunny tail:)

White with red polka dots.

A red glitter heart......

and a cute little bunny tail:)

Will be listed on Etsy along with ....

these little ones.

Have a great weekend!

sharing at: http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentines-link-party.html

Valentines for my Etsy

2012-01-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

These two little LOVE bunnies will be available on Etsy tomorrow.

They are my first pieces of 2012.

Little crowns, long floppy ears,

glitter hearts,

red and pinks.

♥

They will be joined by two little Bunny Girls.

I will have their pictures for you tomorrow!

Bye for now,

Poor Abby.....

2012-01-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

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Look at what happens to my poor little Abby when she goes out in the snow.

She ends up wearing it!

She's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and has very soft feathery fur.

Leaves, branches, dirt, and yes

SNOW

get tangled and stuck to the feathery fur on her legs and it is

nearly impossible to get out.

See, here I just told her "Staaaaaay, I have to get my little cup of warm water to dip your paws into, to melt the snow" then I dry her off and she lays by the fire to get nice and warm again.

It's a snow day and probably a snow WEEK for the kids since we are supposed to be hit with a snowstorm tonight and into tomorrow in western Washington.

The kids have been out sledding all day. Here, my daughter was so kind as to help relieve the weight of the snow off the branches of my Japanese Maple.

Oops, good thing she had on her hood!

A little snow fort just for Abby!

I think she'd rather be by the fire:)

Hope everyone stays warm and dry!

Before & After

2012-01-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

♥Side Table Before & After♥

Before and Afters are one of my favorite things to look at on blogs. I love seeing how things can be transformed from drabulous to fabulous:)

My daughter wanted a bedside table and had found some that she really liked at Pottery Barn. While very pretty, they are also very expensive!

me: Well, dear daughter, this is the perfect excuse to hit some thrift stores and see what we can find!!

11 yr. old daughter: Noooooo!!!!! (moans, moans, and more moans)

Lets just say she hasn't been bit by the "thrifting" bug and I don't see it happening anytime soon:)

Oh well, off we went moans and all and ended up finding this table for $9.99.

Before:

Gorgeous right?! Well, I saw the potential!

I'm sure daughter agreed with me just so we could get out of the store and be done with it!

The finish on the table was peeling badly,

and there was some water stains on top.

But, overall a good piece, with beautiful lines.

This was also my first time using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

I did have to scrape off all the old yellow varnish that was peeling, but other than that, no other prep was needed with ASCP.

After:

I did two coats of chalk paint in Old White and finished with her clear wax.

I just lightly brushed over the handles with the same paint.

Love the curvy lines.

*Btw, the picture on the table was another thrift find that I will post about another day.

Daughter ♥'s her table!

Have a great day,

Between Naps on the Porch

Wow us Wednesdays

Surprise! Surprise!

2012-01-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

I was so surprised to receive the Winter 2012 edition of Prims magazine by Stampington and Co. in the mail saying that I had been published.

I had sent in some submissions just a few weeks back, but I knew those would not make it for this latest issue.

So I flipped through the magazine

which is so dang cute.....

and found little miss here inside.

This piece is called "Oh Easter Tree".

This is one of my first pieces that I ever made.

She was originally published in Prims magazine Spring 2011 issue.

Oh, what an exciting day that was!!

Since this latest issue is Spring related, I guess they pulled her out of their archives and featured her again.

Well, thank you Prims!

I am a HUGE fan of all their magazines, I could look at their beautiful pictures all day!

On another note:

I am working on a lot of projects around my house. Were updating bathrooms, I've painted a couple pieces of furniture, I've been thrifting a LOT lately.

So I will have much to show you soon!

Happy 2012

Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

I'm going to leave you with a youtube video if you have a chance. This is Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing "What are you doing New Years" I love Zooey's voice and Joseph's is equally great! They're soooo cute together.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

To end the year.........

2011-12-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

I have a few new pieces to show you.

Any Daschund lovers out there? Oh, I know there are quite a few!!!

Well, I had a blast making these little pups for my special friend Andrea from The Cottage Market.
She loves her Doxies and who can blame her!

Meet Pops.......

and Rusty.....

ahh, they are SWEET,

and aren't their little bluebird friends so cute?

They're on their way home and couldn't be happier!

Thank you Andrea!!

*********

My next little duo is a brother and sister from Sweden.

Oh my GOSH, they are CUTE!!!!!!

Seth......

and Junie!

They are perfect together.

I love that I have been able to meet so many wonderful people through blogging this year.

I can't wait to see what next year brings for everyone!

*********Best Wishes and Happy New Year*********

♥

A Pinch of Prim

Vintage Bottle Tutorial

2011-12-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

My parents are in the process of building a new house. They needed some fill dirt to help level out the ground. So my dad found a place that wanted to get rid of a lot of their dirt and they would dump it at my parents for free.

Good deal!

It wasn't just dirt that got dumped though, there was a ton of these mixed in.

And this is just a small sample of what they uncovered.

Some of these bottles are so old.

It's amazing that they are still in one piece.

Oh my GOSH! Don't throw them away, I want them!

So they saved them for me...Yay!

This was around Halloween and I thought they would be great for making little potion bottles.

I never got around to those, but I also thought they would be really cute for Christmas too!

Cleaning these gems was the hardest part.

I let them soak in soapy water and then washed the outside of them.

It was the inside that was HARD to clean! A toothbrush wouldn't fit, so I read that soaking them in Polydent or any denture cleaner would help loosen stubborn dirt and stains. So that and a bottle brush worked ok. They weren't perfect but that adds to their charm:)

~Tutorial for Vintage Christmas Bottles~

Gather your supplies:

*vintage bottle: (of course, any glass bottle would do)

*graphic: I picked out a cute piece of scrapbook paper at the craft store and cut out my image; you can find and print one online too

*mod podge
*paintbrush
*damp paper towel
*clear fine glitter
*silver glitter paint
*embellishments; ribbons, bells, Christmas balls, anything!

Here's my graphic. Sweet little reindeer.

Paint the back of the graphic with a good coating of mod podge.

Place the graphic where you want it on the bottle, then coat the top of the graphic with another layer of mod podge.

While it is still wet, do a light sprinkling of clear fine glitter over the graphic. You can leave it plain also.

Now is a good time to take a damp paper towel and wipe any excess mod podge and glitter off the bottle.

I then outline the graphic in a bolder color glitter, depending on your picture you may want to use red, gold, green, silvery blue or pink!

Then I decided to fill the inside of my bottle with some Vintage Mica Snow. I wanted a sparkly effect. I've used artificial snow before and sometimes I leave them empty too.

A funnel made this step very easy. If it gets clogged and it will, just poke it with the end of your paintbrush.

After the glitter dries, you can add some of your pretty little touches to the neck of your bottle.

I chose this silver and blue fiber yarn from Martha Stewart that I picked up at Joann's.

That's it!

They don't take long at all and they can dress up a little vignette for Christmas!

There are so many different options, just have fun!

Hope you enjoy!

♥

Mr. Red Nose

2011-12-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!

I have some cute and easy tutorials I want to share with you

in the coming days. One has to do with vintage bottles, another with a cute little nest and then finally some tinsel or sparkly pipe cleaners!
Should be fun:)

Now here is my newest little creation for this holiday season......

Mr. Red Nose

I apologize for the glare in the photos. It's hard to find good light these days.
Especially where I live we have been enveloped in a cloud of fog the last few days:(
I usually take my pictures outside on the front porch and when I realized how bad the glare was when looking back at the pictures, I said forget it! No way I'm dragging everything back out there, brrrrr!

He has a sparkly red nose and a collar with jingle bells.

He has a cute little white belly and little white spots on his back.

Decked out and ready for the Holidays!

He loves chocolate chip cookies and milk.

Can't you picture him with a little milk mustache?

♥

A winner and a giraffe!

2011-12-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

A great BIG Thank You to all who entered my Giveaway over at Fishtail Cottage. I was blown away by all the uplifting and kind comments that you all left!

So thank you, thank you, thank you Everyone!!!

Congratulations to all 19 winners who entered Tracie's One Year Blogiversary Celebration.

The winner of my Giveaway

is.....

Ginger Zuck!

Congratulations Ginger, send me your mailing address and I will have your gift in the mail!

Now I wanted to show you Little Miss Giraffe that I made especially for Susan. She loves giraffes and now I love making them:)

I made Little Miss Giraffe in the same style as Pink Elly.

A kind of simple, vintage style, with soft, muted colors.

The bow around her neck is a strip of fabric that I cut into strips to use as accessories for my dolls. It has a little stretch to it and it's one of my favorite things to use on my dolls.

No matter how many pretty and different ribbons that I collect, I'm always drawn back to this one.

Then I took a brass rose charm and gave it a light whitewash and attached it to the bow.

She was so sweet looking and fun to make that I've already started another!

Susan was happy, so I'm happy!

Up next, a darling little Reindeer:)

I'm very excited about this one and

can't wait to show you!

Thank you to all my new and previous followers alike, I appreciate you taking your time to stop by

and visit with me!

♥

Enter my Giveaway!!

2011-11-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

Hurry and head over to Fishtail Cottage to enter Tracie's One Year Blogiversary celebration!

She has rounded up 19 fantastic and talented ladies to participate in her Blog Celebration

and

I can't tell you how excited I am to be included!

I am going to be giving away this little handmade paperclay glitter bird on a sparkly nest and vintage style music box.....

so fly on over.....

if you would like a chance to win!!

Be sure to check out all 19 giveaway's at Tracie's

sweet, sweet blog, you won't be disappointed:)