Fall Magazines and Catalogs

Good morning, I'm kicking back and enjoying the Fall like weather. It's supposed to be a high of 72 today. I have been giddy with this wonderful weather. I am enjoying my coffee with my favorite seasonal creamer, pumpkin spice. Why wait?? My favorite drink in the Fall is cider I enjoy it so much I have a gallon in the fridge already made up with the spices so I can just heat and enjoy. So let's go shopping my new favorite way! This should put you in the mood for all your Fall decorating. Grab your favorite drink and sit back and relax.

Won't these be perfect for Christmas in my windows? I can picture them in my head now. My other ones have gone bad and I love them year round.

a great little set of towels for the Fall

1st lady of Pie, too cute!

a little Fall scene

fall candle holder

a little fall sampler

These were all from Through the Country Door.

Here's some links of things from the country house too. I couldn't show pictures of these.

a little sampler for my kitchen. I love what it says, it spoke to my heart.

another sampler, a little something patriotic that would go good with my T. Jefferson picture

This big fat orange pumpkin, and this one too!

Have a wonderful day,

Carey

Retail Therapy

Good morning yesterday I stated that I was heading out to go shopping so I had to share some pictures of my goodies. Now I know you're probably scratching your head. What is this woman doing she's getting ready to move why is she buying more stuff to move?? Well, I don't really have an answer for you except that this is my outlet. I love to shop. I like to shop for my home the most. Having a warm and inviting home has always been important to me. I like to shop for candles, kitchen goods, clothes, jewelry, shoes. You name it I've always been a shopper. I like to get a good deal too. I don't go all that often anymore so I really don't feel that guilty when I do shop.

I regret not taking my camera because it was such a pretty day. I went to one of my favorite primitive stores again Homestead Primitives which you may remember from a previous post. It was already decked out for Fall and it was hard to resist all the goodies. I also checked out a little store on a farm with the sweetest couple I've met. It was so cute ladies. They have a pumpkin patch in the Fall and it's called Pumpkin Blossom Hill. She had her own workshop attached where she could paint and make her goodies. This is where I found the red/white bucket and baking soda tins. Then I headed off to Red Bud, IL such a neat little town to Wickes N Country. It's a very nice place too. I picked up the little bowl 4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie. It fits in with my pie theme so well.

I got the 3 little crows and pumpkin from Homestead Primitives and the Hillbilly Homebrew candle too. The smell is spicy mulled cider and it's wonderful, I got a tart first to try and had to have a jar of it. The company is the Black Crow candle company. They should start paying me to advertise for them. LOL! The little cherry pie in front is for my vintage toy stove.

Then the cottage cocoa tin, fall signs,clabber girl tin and enamel ware is from D & D country. store. The bowl is from Wicks N' Country.

Enjoy your weekend, it's supposed to be really cool here.

Carey

Pineapple makeover and a little bit of Fall

Good morning, blogging friends! I didn't quite get this up for Whatcha working on Wednesday but I did have it done finally. I'm not very patient when it comes to waiting for things to dry. Remember this pineapple, I found it for 50 cents at a GW store.

Before

After


These little pumpkins are actually candles that I just used a little spray adhesive on and added some spices. Some of it didn't get an even coat so the orange shows through a little bit which I thought added something to it. I have had these for awhile and I saw similar ones last Fall but never did anything with it.

Have a great day, I'm off to go shopping (retail therapy)

Carey

Yummy Snack!

Smores

Good morning! My two little guys love it when I give them something yummy afterschool. I decided to make something inspired from a new cookbook that my DD purchased for my birthday. It's called Silly Snacks. What a fun little book, it's all about fun snacks for kids. It's mostly geared toward recipes you can make with you kids. I love that they are interested in making stuff with me. My DD doesn't like anything too complicated which I admit sometimes I try to do that with her and she totally gets upset with me. We don't always see eye to eye in the kitchen. I'm trying to be a little more patient with her and make sure I'm well organized, this seems to help a lot. My son is pretty happy most of the time and he's willing to do anything as long as my kitchen aide or food processor or blender is involved, see a pattern here?? LOL!

I didn't follow the recipe in the book but instead used what I had on hand, I think chilling it will yield more positive results but my kiddos couldn't wait for that.

My version of Smores minus- the stick

Box of graham crackers (you only need a few)

marshmellow fluff

1/2 cup of mini choc. chips

1 tsp of oil optional

sprinkles to decorate

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or use a double boiler. Spread onto 2 crackers evenly leaving a little bit of an edge to allow for overflow. Then spread on marshmellow fluff. Put another cracker on top and smoosh together. Then spread more chocolate on top. Decorate with sprinkes as desired. Here's the big tip, refrigerate and let them get hard at this point. I used the marshmellow fluff instead of the mini marshmellows. I also omitted the stick. If you decide to use a popsicle stick then place it inside before you refrigerate.

These were quite messy but my guys gave 2 thumbs up, as you can see here!

Have a great day,

Carey

Textures

Hello! I had to jump in and show you some textures too. Everyone else seems to be doing this lately. So I thought why not. I'm always amazed at what comes out of the camera lense. One of the pictures is my fat cat see if you can find him. Hee hee...

Have a great day ladies, I'll be back soon with an afterschool snack, my pineapple redo.

Carey

Make-Over Monday

Here's the before

Good afternoon ladies, I've been a bad blogger lately. Between getting ready for the move and my kids starting school I just haven't been doing a lot of blogging lately. Naturally, I'm still checking our your blogs! LOL! I've gotten super excited about the move. We went to Lowes this weekend and checked out some paint samples and I came home with a crazy number of them. Decisions are hard to make. My mums are blooming and Fall is in the air. I can hardly wait to get moved and unpacked so I can decorate. I think my first spot will be on my mantles and above my kitchen cabinets. I know some people are going to think I'm crazy but decorating for this season is my absolute favorite so unpacking other things probably won't be as high a priority. LOL!

When I laid them out they covered my entire table.




I actually finished a sign that I wanted to put in my new kitchen but I wasn't happy with how it came out. I think I need to get some stencils. I'm going to try sanding it a bit and maybe putting some chalkboard paint on it. We'll see.





I finished my bread box and I like how it turned out. I painted it Vintage White and used a light stain over top of it.





Here's how it looks on my counter.

I'll be back with a few more things to share soon. I need to put one more coat of paint on my pineapple and I'll show you what I did with my paper towel holder too.

Have a great day ladies!

Carey

Back to School

My kids going back to school

My daugher Christina going into 4th grade

my son Robert going into 2nd grade

Good morning, I'm not up to my eyeballs yet in boxes but it won't be long. I started packing yesterday in my living room. I asked my husband what to start with and you can probably guess what he suggested. Well, here's the deal while I'm anxious to move into my new place I hate moving. I hate boxes. I'm the person who unpacks everything within a few days and have everything in it's place. I guess you could say I've had 19 years of practice. It's just something I do. We close on our place the 11th of Sept. so we have a few weeks. I really don't want to live without my prim goodies and decor until well after that date. I guess it's a selfish thing. I have decided to start on my candle stash and unused kitchen items next. I detest packing up the yellow ware but what's a girl to do. So after my pity party and mini fit I started in packing. I put on the big girl pants and just told myself it has to be done. LOL!

Here's a few pics of the kids on the 2nd day of school. I also pride myself on taking pictures and not missing anything but the bus showed up a full 20 minutes early. Luckily, I had built in time for hair and pics for my DD. I had just finished spraying her hair and my son yelled, "Mom, the bus is here" I promptly yelled back, "No, it's not!" LOL! It was. They have changed the morning route. Good news is their afternoon ride is much shorter. Thank goodness we were ready to go or it would have been disasterous.

Also, my DH painted this milk can for me that we bought at an auction about 2 years ago. I used a textured black. It's actually very matte in person. The pictures came out shiny. He's trying to talk me into outlining the words in white or cream. I'm thinking about it. I should have a bread box finished to show you hopefully by the next few days. I know I've promised GW and freebie finds. Getting back to our school schedule has really made us busy this week.

a close up of the lid



the milk can

Take care,

Carey

I've been tagged

First thing I would like to share with all of you is my user name change. Formerly, I had been Girliegirl and now I'm just American Girl Primitives. I just figured it would be easier to associate me with my blog name when I'm leaving comments on other blogs. I was inspired by Linda From Behind the Red Door. Simple is best.

I've been tagged to share things about myself. I decided to share 10 things. Amy from Keep'n the Sunnyside tagged me and now I'm passing this along to others listed below. If you haven't seen her blog she is a wonderful lady. Her pictures are just gorgeous. I love her sense of humor and her zest for life comes through on her blog.

Colleen at and baby makes five

Lisa at Black Sheep primitives

Tandra at Prim and Proper

Robby at Primitive Journey

Dani at Old Homestead Peddler

Sherri at Here Goes my Life

Here's a few things about me:

1. My Dad was a Methodist minister. I love God. I grew up in the church and am happy to say my faith continues today stronger than ever before.

2. I lost my Dad to a battle of cancer when I was only 7. I lost my mom just 2 years ago to cancer.

3. Despite my losses I still feel blessed to have my family. I am happy to be moving closer to extended family members and my husbands parents.

4. I love blogging and have found comfort in sharing my hobbies with others like me.

5. I am and probably always will be a girlie girl hence my other name. I love jewelry, dressing up, wearing make-up and handbags.

6. I recently started wearing my aprons more and have embraced my stay at home status. Thanks Aunt Ruthie and Sugar Pie Sistas!

7. With that said I anticipate going back to work very soon due to the purchase of my new home, LOL!

8. I love chocolate and popcorn. I can't live without it.

9. With number 8 being said, I'm a pilates instructor. Gotta work it off, LOL!

10. My favorite drink is coffee. I love Starbuck's but save it for a treat every once in awhile.

Hope you enjoyed getting to know me better. I have chosen some followers that I would like to know more about. I have been working on my GW finds and freebies so I will be back soon to share with you.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Carey

Painting choices...who knew?

Hello bloggers, hope you are enjoying your last few weeks of summer. I have already begun to turn my attention to my new place. I need your help though. I know some of you may think to yourselves really girl, you want to paint your place beige, cream or off white when you can choose anything?? Are you crazy? Well, yep that's what I'm looking for. Honestly, it's the perfect backdrop to my primitive goodies. Not too mention I have red, blue checked furniture, lots of woods and color all over my house. My colors are primarily dark barn red, dark navy and black, mustard. I'm trying to let my things stand out rather than the walls. I have orange, browns, yellows and whites in the Fall. Christmas brings out the red/green classic colors. With all the constant changing I need a color that will go with everything. So with that said I read a magazine which I can't find for the life of me that had the perfect neutral color. The owner described it as candlelight for your walls. I have turned my magazine stash upside down looking for it. If you have painted you probably know that Ralph Lauren, Eddie Bauer and Shermin Williams are somewhat pricey. I am on a budget so I'm trying to go with (Behr, Valspar, Olympic) Lowes and Home Depot brands. I would love to hear from someone about what they've used on their walls. I had know idea they had that many off white, tan, beige colors to choose from. I'm leaning more toward lighter than darker. I would eventually like to stencil a few of the rooms too. Any suggestions would really be appreciated. I'm painting the kitchen, dining room, kids game room, and kids rooms for sure. Probably the guest room and bathrooms eventually. We figure it's best to do this when there's nothing in the house.

Have a good weekend,

Carey

Home Sweet Home

Hello bloggers,

I have the best news to share with you all! We finally have a house!!! It's been a long journey but it's over. I think this has been one of the hardest decisions to make in my life. I told you earlier in the week that we had decided against the last house. Much to my surprise the first house we made an offer on decided to go much lower on their price. It was the butterfly house too (see my earlier post here). Both sellers lowered their price on Monday. I was in complete shock. Since we had decided against the 2nd house we looked at last weekend it really was a no brainer. This house is two times the size of the other one. We will have plenty of room to grow. Although it has a farmhouse feel outside the inside doesn't quite reflect the style that you ladies know I love. I decided that this was something I could compromise on. I can hardly wait to start decorating and making it prim pretty!

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that in just over a month we will finaly settle in to our new place and put down roots. My husbands parents live 1.8 miles from us, my kids will go to the same school we attended growing up. Also, my sisters live in this area too. My military friends and family can all relate to this but here's a summary of how I feel.

After living in rentals and military housing for 19 years I can paint this house any color I want, yeah!

I can put up some stenciling and not worry about where to put all of this furniture I keep acquiring, hee, hee!

It will be nice not worry about old icky carpeting, outdated wallpaper and bad remodel jobs. I am happy to put these things behind me. I just won't miss fixing someone elses mistakes and bad work.

I can plant a garden in my yard, put as many holes in the walls as I want and it won't matter because it belongs to us.

Over the next few weeks I will be asking for some input about this house. We need to paint almost every room. Some of them are a light green color. I'm thinking of a warm candlelight color or light tan. I want it to be my blank slate for all my prim decorations. The cabinets aren't something I would have picked out. They are a dark cherry. However, they are good quality. I will also eventually be changing out the fireplace mantles. They are just a little too modern looking. I have 3 to decorate! Yippee! I'll be back with more pictures soon. I promise.

Thanks for all your prayers and comments, it means so much.

Carey

Online Goodies and a Give Away!

Farmhouse Country Style Give Away

Good morning, it's a hot muggy day here but as you can see I'm looking forward to Fall. I know cooler weather is just around the corner. I couldn't resist these cute little pumpkins on the cover of Country Sampler. I ordered them from Homespun Productions. It's a great deal going on right now and I got all 4 for 9.99. If you ordered $30 or more than you got a 5 dollars off. I had trouble with the site but I was still able to call them and get the discount. I received all of my stuff in just a few days too. In the clearance section I found these black candle holders and I can see them holding some pumpkins in the Fall.

a set of 4 battery flicker light pumpkins




black grubby candle holders



Also, my good blogging friend Dee at Farmhouse Country Style is having a giveaway over at her blog so check it out and leave a comment. I purchased my pie sign from her and I really like the Harvest one. I have to give kudos to her because I found Aunt Ruthie's site because of the link on her blog.

the pie sign from Farmhouse country style

Have a wonderful day!

Carey

Our dream home, not quite yet

Good morning ladies, I have a very exhausting weekend and I'm looking forward to a normal routine. My kids start school next week. I can't believe it's that time already. I'm excited about this they are starting to get a little bit bored. Even though my son just got back from visiting his grandparents he is ready for structure. I can tell. My DD is a little nervous about her glasses but I keep telling her it will be just fine.

To make a long story short we decided against the house that we went to look at Saturday. Upon entering this house I fell in love with it. She decorated like many of us ladies. It was their custom built dream house. The owners were there at the house, a little awkward for us. She had them make outlets above the soffits over the kitchen cabinets and under every window for candles/lights. I could see all my prim stuff in this house and haven't felt this way about any other house. The scenery was beautiful. The back had a screened in porch etc. etc. My DH had his pole barn/shop. However, we tend to think differently. We bounce ideas off of each other and by the time we came home over the 5 hour drive we had changed our minds. He has always wanted to build our home. We're not like most people. I guess that sounds strange but my military friends who read this can relate best. We have spent the past 19 years living with other peoples choices of paint color trim, appliances, icky wall paper etc. I know which cabinets, flooring and appliances I like/hate. So we just don't feel like we want to settle just yet. Bottom line is he didn't have that ah.. I'm home feeling. The school district was our # 2 pick of schools. It's actually the rival to our old school. You know that team you love to hate that does such a wonderful job at beating you when you come to town. My DH asked me several times if I could live with that. I just laughed. On the positive side its was only 9.8 miles from family compared to 5 hours.

Before leaving for our trip we found out that we would be eligible for a conventional loan of 5% down. We had always thought we would go VA loan. However, the VA has a lot of rules. This just opens up more options for us and enables us to wait for the right house. So we're pretty much back to 3 options.

1. Continue to look for the right house

2. Find some land to build our home

3. Find a temporary house with land to build on and build another one while we live in the first one.

We have had this plan in our filing cabinet drawer for over 10 years and we're thinking we may take it in to someone and ask how much it would cost to build. Our best guess for having everything done is more than we can afford but my DH thinks that maybe we can save some $ by doing almost all the inside stuff himself. While we're dreaming I'll give you this link to browse through.

Here it is our dream house plan.

Ok, followers tell me what's your dream home look like describe it for me? I'll be back with some freebies I picked up and my country sampler order to tell you about later.

Carey

New Finds and House Woes

Hello ladies, I promised you a few pictures of what I bought yesterday. I couldn't decide on this cute little pumpkin candle holder and the star one so I bought both. LOL! I just love fall. The glass candle holder they had these in at the store looked like some I had at home but when I came home it didn't work inside my tall skinny holder. It just wouldn't slide down far enough. After looking around I found my large cylinder one that worked perfect. I tried to busy myself today but it wasn't easy. I had a few household things to do and my DD had friend over to play today. She was pretty quiet and busy most of the day. I could have used some distractions.

the pumpkin holder

I bought two of the little crows. They hang up and look so cute.

the new little star holder in my own glass cylinder candle holder

I originally had the black one then I saw this red one and knew it had to be mine.

My other news isn't real great. We decided to make an offer on the house and I think I already told you about how hard it was to make that decision. Well, the owners had until noon today and I was on pins and needles all day. However, we heard nothing. Their realtor was on vacation and almost unreachable. When our realtor finally got a hold of him he stated he had not heard from the owners about the offer. Say what?? They've had 2 days. My DH and I are not very happy right now. Meanwhile, I'm thinking that maybe this means we shouldn't even try to get this house. I found another one to go look at in the meantime. We had overlooked it before due to the price but I had a second look at it and I really like the kitchen. It's less money so if it's something we like we're thinking we may put in an offer. Because the other people didn't comply with our time limit we aren't obligated to continue with the offer. I think we're going to get up early and try to drive the 4 1/2 hours there and back Saturday so say another little prayer. I'm exhausted from my day so I am off to bed.

Have a good weekend ladies, I'll keep you posted.

Carey