my living room redo

Hello,

I finally got a new look in my living room. I had a gigantic entertainment center that I had lvoed and adored when we purchased it. It was oak. We bought it at a church that gets rejects from the Levin Furniture Dept. Store. We knew we couldn't afford the $1700.00 price, but the church had it for $200.00. The bridge needed stained and a piece of one of the towers needed reglued, but to save that much money was worth any work. It was huge. It covered the entire wall.Well, as the years went on I got tired of the center, but didn't want to buy something simply because of boredom.

Well, our big tv finally died and most of the newer models need to sit on a stand, so hallelujah I could finally justify getting something new.

Go to my older post to see the other entertainment center.

Here is my new stand, tv and yes, I do have a wall (hee hee). I actually had to get out the paint and paint where the center covered the walls. Oh what fun! Don't mind the glare on the tv.

Penny rug runner

Hi guys,

Well it has been a few months since I posted that huge pile of wool clothing that I got from Salvation Army. What a pain to wash, dry and rip it apart, but it is nice to have all that wool at my fingertips.

So I made the sheep mat that hangs on the little rocking chair (it was in an earlier post). I made a candle mat for my trashy swap partner (Sew Many Girls blog). Now I took on a larger job. I saw a runner similar to this one on Taylor's Farmhouse blog. I really liked it, so I tried to make something like it, but not an exact copy. I used colors that can be changed from room to room. It is a pretty good size and that bottom layer of brown wool is very thick. It was a large coat. I am pleased with the end result. Let me know what you think. Thanks and have a good day, Kim

My wonderful Trashy Swap Goodies

Hi Folks,

I know, I know it has been forever. I have been so busy with work, kids, training for the marathon, blah blah blah....

Well, on to the goodies. My "trashy swap" partner was Allison from Sew Many Girls blog. She is incredibly talented and I was thrilled with my package.

My favorite item is this rag-quilted table runner. It is great colors for any of my rooms and it fits my coffee table perfectly. Don't you love the prim stars???

She made this adorable Annie doll.

She made this Spring wool framed sign. It looks great on my hutch and I love this thin wooden shelf. She even sent all of the little prim fixins for it.

If you haven't yet done a swap through Char at The Pickled Pepper Patch, you don't know what you are missing. I highly encourage you to join in the next one she sponsors. It is fun and rewarding!! Thanks again Allison. I love everything!!

Have a great day, Kim

Look at what I won!! Fantastic!!

I am sooo excited because I won a wonderful giveaway from Sherri at Here Goes my Life blog. I won 2 Country Sampler magazines. They came on Monday. She had them wrapped so adorable too. As you know, here in PA we have received a whopping 32 inches of snow. Let me tell you I could have cried when I walked out to the mailbox and saw them. What a treat at such a lousy time of the year! We have been out of school all week due to the snow, so the magazines have greatly helped with the extreme boredom. Thank you so much Sherri!!

The one issue features Karen (My Colonial Home). Wow! What a gorgeous place!

Have a great day girlies, Kim

Wool, wool and more wool

Hi everyone,

My mom, my aunt and my grandmother try to go to Salvation Army every Wednesday. It is half price day. So, last Tuesday night I called my mom and told her she was going on a mission for wool for me. I told her to look for blazers, skirts and coats made from 100% wool. I told her the colors I would like to have too. This is the stack of goodies she found for me. Would you believe I got all of this for $11.00? Since I have not been teaching all week due to the 32 inches of snow that we received and half of the district still doesn't have power, I washed, dried and tore apart everything. Some of this is really nice and thick.

I thought I would show the first wool rug that I made. I got the sheep pattern from Primitive Blessings, Twigs and Sprigs free stitching patterns. I ironed freezer paper onto my wool and traced the patterns on them. I cut them out and blanket stitched them on. I have it resting on the little rocking chair that I just painted (see my previous post). I really like it! I am getting the penny rug bug for sure. I am almost done with another one. I will post it when I finish. Have a great day and stay warm, Kim

my rocking chair redo

Hi folks,

Home from school again. Haven't had any school this week yet and got the call off for tomorrow too. I haven't seen this much snow since 1993. We were cleaned up and then last night we got about 8 more inches. That brings my total to about 32 inches since Friday night. This is absurd!!!

Well now that I have been home all week, I have been busy. Our big screen tv died a few weeks ago. We sold it and the giant entertainment center on Craiglist. Now I have have a smaller tv stand and that gives me more floor and wall space. I have had this little rocking chair since I was 2 years old. I painted, sanded and stained it the other day. I have it next to the new tv stand. It looks cute there.

Hope everyone is snug and warm and has power. Can't wait until Spring!! Love, Kim

a few hearts and tons of snow

I can't believe how much snow we got here in PA. When I woke up yesterday morning I couldn't believe the sight. We got about 22 inches. I went downstairs and looked out of my dining room window and could not believe what had happened. One of our flowering pear trees split apart and landed right on our pool deck. I ran upstairs woke up my hubby and quickly started checking out our other windows (nervously). There was another pear tree that split and broke off in 2 places- unbelievable. My hubby, my dad and my brother in law cleaned the tree off of the deck with a chainsaw. We were truly blessed because the tree stopped before hitting the pool. The railing held it and there was no damage (even the glass table it fell on didn't break). WOW! Thank you Lord.

The day seemed so long. I got a lot of cleaning and crafting done. I read some stories to my younger son and made some soup. My older son was outside from 9am until 6pm (he was exhausted, but had a wonderful time in the snow). I got most of my Trashy Swap stuff made and a few things for myself too. I made these salt dough hearts. I only painted them so far. I am still going to sand and I think even put some stain on them. I also sewed a few of these heart bowl fillers for my table bench in the dining room. That's all I have been doing lately. Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. Can't wait until Spring!! Love, Kim

wooden box wall hanging

Hi guys,

Good day to ya! Over break I decided to make the wooden box hanging that Char had the tutorial on a few Wednesdays ago. I have a few old, cookie cutters hanging from the peg nails. I placed a winter prairie doll, some pine and berries into the box. It was very easy to make. I had to make it smaller than the plans called for, but I wanted to use wood that I had laying around.

I also changed around my bowl rack. I put all of the bowls on the top shelf and added my sheep from Char on the bottom shelf.

I got the candle board at an inside garage sale last week for 50 cents. I haven't decided if I will paint it or not. It sits nicely on my stovetop board.

Have a great day and talk later, Kim

My first 2 penny candle mats

Hello all,

What a crazy "weather" week! Our schools were cancelled on Monday and Friday. That gave me 2 extra days to play. I decided to make a plain circle mat with 3 stack pennies and I made a heart mat for Valentine's Day. I am pretty proud of the results. Of course the stitching could be neater and more organized, but for my first attempt, I am happy. I went to so many different tutorials on the web and got great tips. I put the round mat on my table bench and the Valentine mat is on my short kitchen counter. I have heart salt dough ornies in the oven right now. I am going to paint them and put them in the bowl, on the mat. I usually don't do much decorating for Valentine's Day. If you have any cool, prim suggestions for easy to make stuff, please leave me a comment. Thanks a bunch and try to stay warm!!!! Lya, Kim

Can you tell what I am attempting to make????

Hey people- how's it going?

Well, I have loved the penny rug for a long time now and over the break I did a lot of Youtube and blog research on how to make one. This is my absolute first attempt, so be nice.

I bought 2 wool blazers and a wool skirt from Sal Army. I washed them in hot water and dried them. I ironed them (with a towel on top to prevent the shine.) I ironed on freezer paper and traced my 3 different circles. My smallest is 1 inch then 2 inches then 2 1/2 inches. I got a lot better at sewing them with practice. I am hoping to be done by the weekend. If so, I will post the finished product.

Hi, I am Kim and I'm a Goodwill-aholic!!! :)

Okay, I surrender!! I am addicted to Goodwill stores. I stop every chance I can get to check out the "junk" racks. There are awesome treasures out there and I have reaped a "bounty". I was not even 5 minutes from one that is 15 minutes from home. I kept going back and forth in my mind- stop or not, stop or not. I figured I would stop and look for just 10 minutes because I left the boys at home while I went to Walmart to get the oil changed in the car.

Okay, so I am in the store and quickly doing my left to right scan of every piece of junk in there and then I saw it. It was on top of a shelf at the end of an aisle. I was hoping to find a wooden bowl, but this takes the cake. Do you believe the size of this beauty? It is such a beautiful color and very smooth too. I paid a whopping $1.99 for it- "suckers"!!!! I came home and made the snowman head bowl fillers out of the queen size Warm and Natural my in-laws bought for me for Christmas.

So, when your mind is playing tricks on you (go home or shop, go home or shop)- you should go shop!!! Have a great day, Kim

My table bench

Look at what my dad made for me!!!! I love this table bench.

Let me tell ya, I gave him the wood and dimensions about 5 months ago. He had already joined the 2 pieces of wood together to make the large board about 5 months ago. I was just waiting on getting some legs on her. She was worth the wait!!

I painted it black, then barn red. I then sanded it well to distress it. I stained the whole thing with Minwax Dark Walnut and wiped it down.

As I was taking the plain wooden piece from my parents house, my mom asks, "I don't get it. What is it for?" I need to show her some blogs- hee hee.

Well, it made me happy. I have this really big dining room table that we inherited when my husband's mom past away 13 years ago. We had to refinish it (it was in dreadful shape, even had silver duct tape around the edges-yuk). Well, it has a drawer that contains the leaves of the table and on that drawer door is a label: this is table number 252 out of 300 and the date is March 1, 1896. WOW!

I love this table and its new addition of the bench. have a great day!! Kim

BTW: the black candle holder with the greenery and oranges was part of a WONDERFUL gift from my buddy Char (thanks again girlie)!!!

My first big project with NO HELP!!!!

Okay, so my hubby bought me a nail gun for Christmas (no not for fingernails or anything girlie like that LOL, but a brad nailer). So I had been thinking about making the bench that Kris had the tutorial on way back in April (http://simplyprim.blogspot.com/2009/04/bench-tutorial.html).

I love those benches and thought I could do it, only because Char and I both made Kris's blanket crane this summer at my house and her directions and pattern were very easy to follow. So I got up the morning after Christmas day and while everyone was still asleep, I went to work in my "shop" aka, the basement. I pulled up Kris's tutorial on my laptop and started sawing and sanding and nailing and painting and sanding and staining and VOILA- I love it!!! I put it at the foot of my bed. I plan on making one a little smaller to place on top of this one, but for now I have some cute decor on it. The picture frame was a tutorial Char had on her site earlier this year too. What goodies you gals put out there for us! If you fancy this type of bench, then definitely check out her tutorial and definitely become a follower of Simply Prim. Enjoy, Kim