Primitive Oranges For Christmas

I have been MIA and hadn't realized that my last post was so long ago.  It certainly has been a quick summer and fall, though I suppose during times of trial the days fly by without one realizing it.  And yes, this past summer and fall have certainly been trying for not only myself but my husband as well.  We were so excited and hopeful at the beginning of summer for the chance to start our family and as the process has gone on, it is now apparent that our options are going to be quite costly and extremely emotional.  I won't go into length about the details, but if you would like, please feel free to check out my other blog and read my last post. 

It tells about our emotional journey these past few months and the reason why my heart has been aching.  So, in confession, I honestly haven't been much into my decorating like I should have been.  Thankfully with the inspiration of a truly amazing magazine, A Primitive Place, a wonderful craft show, Simple Goods, and the holidays coming, I can get back to my old self and my passion for prims and decorating. 

A little over a week ago I was talking with Lisa from Primitives From Above on the phone and she told me that her newest prim craft was dehydrating oranges for ornaments and bowl fillers.  She sent me some pictures of the dehydrator that she had purchased at Walmart and the oranges that she had dried, and well... I just have to tell ya that I was totally hooked!  Hooked, line and sinker was more like it!  I just had to have one of my own so that I could make those beautiful prim ornaments for our Christmas trees and decorations.  So, with my grocery list in hand, I jotted down a dehydrator and oranges.  On Wednesday, my weekly trip to the store, I too purchased an Oster dehydrator and totally fell in love with it.  Yep, it is totally one of my new favorite prim toys!  lol  I am so excited because I now can have those beautiful looking ornaments that were in A Primitive Place magazine.  Yeah!!!!  If I haven't told you yet, I absolutely love, love, love this magazine.  And... if you haven't subscribed yet, DO IT!!!!  You will enjoy it so much, I promise! 



All right, what do you say we get on with some of the pictures of how I dried my oranges yesterday. 

Step 1:  Slice them into 1/4 inch slices and throw away the ends

Step 2:  Soak them in either lemon, orange or pineapple juice for 2 minutes to prevent the oranges from turning brown during the drying process.  I chose lemon juice and set my timer on the stove as I sliced each orange.

Step 3:  Pat them dry with a paper towel 

 

Step 4:  Place them on the trays

Step 5:  Stack the trays onto the dehydrator, put the lid on and finally turn it on   

The book says that it takes 12 to 16 hours to totally dry.  I put mine in at 9 last night and took them out at noon today.

I think they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!  lol  I am very excited about getting strings on them and being able to hang them on our Christmas tree next week.  When it comes to putting string on them, I plan on just using a needle to poke some thick thread through.  Hmmmm... hopefully that works.  If any of you have done this before, I'd love to know what you used as your string. 

Well, with the pictures that I sent my mom, sister and cousins, it looks like I will need to make a run for the store and buy some more oranges because I've got some orders to fill and I want to be able to take them down to my family on Thanksgiving so they will have the dried oranges to use for their Christmas trees and decorations. 

Have a very blessed day! 

Hugs,

Stacey

* ~ Unexpected Garage Sale Finds ~ *

Happy Wednesday Prim Pals!

My parents were coming up for the weekend and I was supposed to be getting things done for their arrival and instead I spent the morning searching out some local garage sales!  Well this past Friday I had some errands that needed to be taken care of, so I headed into town early that morning.  After looking at our local newspaper on Thursday night, I had decided that I would stop at one sale that was advertising primitives and antiques.  Sometimes they are great sales and sometimes they are not what you might have expected.  This sale proved for me to be one that I was able to find and purchase some inexpensive items at.  :)  As I was finishing my errands that morning, I came across two other garage sales with antiques and spent several minutes looking at them and ultimately buying a couple of things at.  Most of the time I only go to a garage sale once, but this morning I actually went back to the first one that I had stopped at and also to one other that I was deciding on getting or not getting two prim/antique benches at.  Hmmmm ~ decisions, decisions... I know.  And, as you can guess, I did purchase the two great benches for what I think was a really good deal.  Alright, now on to the pictures!!!  :) 

This small crock light and lamp shade cost me only $10, which I thought was worth it because the crock or shade itself would normally cost you about that. 

The next 3 pictures are of the same light during the early evening hours and at night.  I absolutely love lights and the glow that they give off.  This one has made a nice addition to my kitchen.

 

Also at this sale, I purchased a tin punched lamp shade that looks brand new!  This beauty only cost me $5!  I currently have a red one and love this black one too!  It will look great in my upstairs bedroom when I get it finished.

 

Here is a little box that I couldn't pass up either... only $1!  There are so many things that I could use this for and I have not decided yet.  It could be used for earrings, paper clips, etc..

Now... onto the prim/antique benches that I found and couldn't decide if I wanted them or not.  Yep, I got down the road and turned around and had to go back to get them.  I couldn't pass up both for only $25!  What do you think?

Don't these benches have great patina!  I thought so.  They won't fit in the spot that I had bought them for, so I guess I will just have to be a bit more creative in finding their home. 

I hope you enjoyed your picture tour of my garage sale finds.  It is so much fun to go out and find great items to add to our prim homes, don't ya think?  Garage sales is one of my favorite activities to do during the spring and summer!  Until next time ...

Hugs and Blessings,

Stacey

A New Bed Quilt and Some Outside Pictures!

Greetings Prim Pals!

I am finally on summer vacation and very excited!  There are lots of things on my to do list, including getting lots of pictures of my primitives for my blog and facebook pages.  :) 

Before I get started with the pictures of my new bed quilt and my outside prims, I really could use some help!!!  I can't seem to get my header to show the whole picture!!!  If you can help, I would greatly appreciate it.  Didn't know if any of you were experiencing the same difficulty I have been.  It is sooooo frustrating. 

Alright, on to the pictures...

My new bed quilt came from Wal-mart, it is Better Homes and Garden.  I thought it was a great match to my new wall color.  For a while now I have been looking at trying to get a prim one, but have found that they are really expensive!  So... I was very excited to come across this one, and even though it is not a true prim quilt, it matches my prim decor quite well.  So what do you think?  :)

Here are some pictures of the primitives that I have outside this summer.  It seems like it is always changing from year to year, especially as I go and find more goodies at the local auctions and garage sales!  One of my newest items is a hand cultivator, which I have been hunting for several years to find.  And wouldn't you know it, I found one at an antique shop that has been closed for 3 years!  The dear owner just happened to be outside mowing and let me in and asked if I was looking for anything in particular.  When I mentioned the hand cultivator, he said he had one and had actually knocked it off the wall in the barn a couple of days before.  This antique is in great condition!  For some reason hand cultivators are getting harder and harder to find and when you do, they are not always in the best condition with their handles and cultivators broken and or missing.  So, as you can imagine my excitement to find the one I did!!! 

Here is my hand cultivator...

The next picture is of something I found in our basement (cellar) a year ago and my dear hubby fixed for me a few weeks ago.  I was really excited to come across this because the farmhouse that we live in is the one that my husband's paternal grandmother was born and raised in.  This is part of the family heirlooms!  Neat huh!!!  Grandma is 91 years young, which makes our house well over 100 years old!  How amazing!!!

Here is a cute lil' wagon that I found at a garage sale this year.  I have often thought of wanting one and this was a little different than what I had in mind.  The wagon here has the wooden sides that remove, the kind that we had when I was child.  What I was thinking about was a metal wagon, but this one caught my eye because it is different.  When I first saw it, I could imagine putting a planter of flowers in it.  :)  How cute is that!!!  I just love it...

A picture of my new garden flag that is on a hook outside the back entrance to our farmhouse.  I love it, don't you.  What is so nice about this flag is the fact that it is not supposed to fade in the sun, which is really nice because I certainly have had many fade in the past.  Got this one at our local Pat Catan's store. 

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of my favorite planter that I had made this year.  Verbena flowers are my absolute favorite and if you know anything about me, red is my favorite color!  I just love this planter that my dearest friend Debbie made for me.  :)  Debbie owns a greenhouse and boy oh boy do I ever spend hours and hours there looking at all of her goodies! 

It looks like one of our barn cats has made its way up to the back door and found a nice spot to nap!  I certainly was keeping my fingers crossed to be able to get a picture.  Luckily this one didn't wake up.  LOL 

Have a beautiful day! 

Hugs and blessings,

Stacey

"A Simple LIfe" Prim Magazine

~*Happy Spring!*~ to all of my prim friends. So far the weather has been beautiful during these first few weeks of the new season. We have had quite a few above normal temperature days, which has been nice. I have waited all wynter long for the warmer and sunnier days of spring to come. Wynter is not my favorite season, but I do realize that we must have the snow and colder temperatures to be able to enjoy the renewal that spring brings to us.

As I have been getting into more of the technology age; which even at 33, can still be somewhat intimidating, I have become a new facebook user and now have a blackberry to keep up with all of the happenings. Who would have thought that back when I was a child we would be sharing our lives in such wonderful ways like we do today and be able to connect with so many wonderful friends. It certainly is exciting!

Just a couple of days ago, I found a web site through facebook that showcases a primitive magazine. This magazine is a new find for me; had never heard of it. It is called "A Simple Life". It looks simply fantastic and a new must have for my magazine collection! Go check out this site...especially if you love reading about history!

I know how we all love pictures of our prims, so today I will leave you with a picture of a new prim that I bought a few weeks ago at my local craft store, The Picket Fence. This beauty will end up in my laundry room someday soon. When I laid my eyes on it, I just couldn't take them off. So... it came home with me! Don't you just love it, I do!

Until next time... have a great day and may many blessings come to each of you today and always.

Blessings and perfect prims,

Stacey