COUNTRY HOME IDEAS

COUNTRY MAKES MY HOUSE A HOME

 (Taking a break from crafting posts today to share some pics.)

I have been re-arranging and already getting my house ready for fall.

Enough summer heat and bugs for me already. 

So while digging out my found treasures from auctions and flea markets, I thought I'd share a few pics of stuff that I love to collect.

All these items are what makes my house a Country Home.

Yes, I love canning jars.  

I am in the process of putting these in a cabinet. Photos later.

And no, not just the blue ones either.

But the aqua blue ones really are my absolute favorite.

 (Sorry about the darker pics, this Samsung Tablet doesn't have a flash)

But there is just something about having  a bunch of the clear ones sitting around that makes me feel at home. That good ole' country home feeling.

And since I can stain them, like I shared in a previous post, HOW TO STAIN MASON JARS, I love having plenty on hand to work with.

And then we have the wooden spoons and rolling pins that I absolutely love.

Here are a few shots from around my dinning room and kitchen.

Oh, and the crocks. I love them, but doesn't everyone?

And old pitchers for the patterns and because they can hold wooden spoons lol.

Even the old cracked and broken ones can find a place in my home.

What I love about country living and decorating is that there are no rules.

If I like it, I use it. If it fits, it stays there.

Oh, and I love the red and white enamelware! I am really just starting to collect the plates and such too.

Hum, I'm beginning to wander if I have enough pitchers full of wooden spoons? Now that I am snapping pics, I am realizing I have quite a few. Na, not enough yet!

 Here's an old coffee pot I also love.

And here's some more random shots. I just really cannot get enough wooden spoons tucked here and there!

And rolling pins. What country home doesn't have a few rolling pins here or there?

And here are some tiny, wooden rolling pins my aunt Marlene gave me:

Ain't they just cute? 

And I think that is pretty much enough indoor stuff for now.

I don't want to overload you with my love of the country decorating.

So before I go, here's one last thing. It's my favorite outside garden thing.

This use to be the entrance to my strawberry garden.

Sadly they didn't grow great here, so I moved as many as I could that were left.

When taking down the fenced in area, (lots of lattice) I had my husband to leave the entrance like so, with the gate.

And I love it.

Right now it has tons of morning glories trailing up it.

And one more last thing, lol.

Here's my country, barn wood fences out front.

And here is the backs. I've put some rose bushes behind them now so I can see them from my front porch.

Here is a link to how I made these barn wood fences, if you are interested.

Hope ya'll liked these pics of my country decorating ideas.

See ya'll next time!

~Lisa

DIY LIGHT UP TWIG TREE from Branches

After buying one of these LED trees for $14.99 at Burkes Outlet, 

I thought I could probably make some similar for a lot less.

And here's how it turned out:

 

I just wanted something for a dark corner 

and I thought a lighted twig tree would do the trick!

Here's how I made it.

All you need is some 

-twig branches

-white spray paint

-$1.00 strand of lights

-container or vase to hold them

I went out and looked around the edges of our property for some ole' limbs and branches.

I picked out a pretty straight one and just broke it off with my hand.

I wanted one that had the "growing tree" look to it.

And then I used a dollar can of white spray paint and sprayed down the front.

It was pretty dried out I did two coats.

Then just flip it over and paint the other side.

Once it was white, you can really start to see all the little twigs and such. 

And while it was drying, I went in to get a little strand of lights ready.

I got this little flower design strand from the Dollar Tree for only $1.00.

They run off of two double AA batteries.

I didn't want the little flowers to stay on, so I just pulled them right off.

It was easy.

 

And then I brought the white tree limb in and stuck it in an old brown glass bleach bottle.

It's pretty old and I've had it sitting around forever wandering what to do with it. 

To attach the lights to the limbs I just used some clear tape.

Here's a pic of the old bleach bottle. Isn't that cool?

I love the deep brown color. I have another size larger also that I'm going to make a matching tree like this to go in for the other side of the bed too.

And here it is with the lights off.

It's nothing super fancy but I really do like it. 

And I really like the fact that it all costed me about $1.00 to make. All I really had to buy was the little strand of lights.

For the larger one I'm making next, I'm going to add two strands of the lights.

PS.

I've been making kinda the same things for Halloween to put on both sides of our front door. 

But I use the tall, dried flowers of a big ole' needle and thread bush. If you've ever seen those, you know the stick like things I'm talking about.

If you need something for a drap corner, I  hope you give this cheap craft a try!

Until next time,

Ya'll have a good'n!

~Lisa

Good Ole Country Fences #6

It's that time of week again!

Time to share some good ole' country fence pics.

And here is a few good ole' country fences I have found right around here in KY.

Just look at those ole' weathered posts!

And then on down the road just a tad bit...

 

was this cute, curvy driveway with the little creak running under it.

And just look at that big ole' tree standing out there in the back alone.

 I bet the cattle (if there is any) love that shade tree to death in the summer.

Thanks for stopping in again for my country fences and barns posts.

And thanks a million to

for the weekly linkup!

See ya'll next time!

~Lisa

Halloween MARBLE MAGNETS

HALLOWEEN MARBLE MAGNETS

I am finally getting around to sharing how I made these

HALLOWEEN MARBLE MAGNETS.

I actually made them in 2012 and have yet to share them!

I bought 2 bags of those jewel looking marbles at the Dollar Mart for $1.00 each. 

I got a bag of both sizes, the large and small.

They are by the candles and such. They are great for these because they have a side that 

is flat but the other side is bubbly looking. They are like a cabochon (shaped, polished gemstone with a flat side basically,) but a super cheap version made of glass.

For the Halloween marble magnets, I went with the smaller sizes though.

For images to use, I went to Etsy and found a collage sheet by Kellymedinastudios , for only $2.99 available in the 1 inch size I needed.  They are adorable and she allows for personal and small business commercial use. So they were just what I needed.

For the exact images I purchased, click here.

Then I got all my stuff ready to go. Here is what I needed:

I have a round, 1" hole punch that I got from eBay to punch out the Halloween images easily.

Some E-6000 glue from Walmart

some round magnets, size .75" in a pack of 50 also from Walmart

(I didn't use any of the roll of magnet sheets over to the left)

After punching out the Halloween images with my hole punch, I just laid it all out on some wax paper.  Dabbed a bit of E-6000 glue onto each image, and then quickly pressed the glass marble down. Press hard enough that the image is fully covered with the E-6000 glue. The glue is great that it doesn't hurt the image colors at all!

And then after that all dries and cures for a few hours, I just went back and glued on the round magnets. 

It just takes a little bit of the E-6000 and these are pretty strong magnets. (Unlike the strips!)
In fact, I don't think I will every buy the strips of magnets again. Their hold sucks on almost everything.

And then there you have it.

Please ignore my "Body Jewelry" bags. They were all I had on hand at the moment. But I did go back and add a paper topper to cover up the saying.

These .75" magnets are the perfect size for these smaller glass marbles!

I put 4 each in a bag and just priced them for a $1.00 a bag.

I think that is a great grab and go item for passerbys looking for a cheap gift or keepsake.

If you look close, in the lower left handed corner, I also used some cute kitten images. I also bought them from ETSY from a great shop called  PrintMarksTheSpot.  I figured I may need a variety in case some people didn't want just Halloween marble magnets.

This was a really fun and cheap craft to make and sell.

It's about time to make some more!

Until next time ya'll, have a good'en!

~Lisa

Primitive Wooden Pumpkins Pumpkin Boards

Primitive Wooden Pumpkins

Here are some cute "Pumpkin Boards" as my Aunt Marlene calls them, that I made for decorations a few years back.  And I just ran across them on my pc and realized I've never shared them.

I made them out of some left over boards that we had from a remodel. 

The boards are not thick, maybe about a half inch or less and they are pine.

Pine is great for crafts because it is very lightweight.

I started with the long boards and just free handed some cuts to make kinda in the shape of notches.

And then at the top, shaped it off with a pumpkin type stem.  And then I cut out those marks with a jigsaw.

I painted the the boards a cinnamon orange in flat. I love this color.

It is an outdoor paint too, so it will be fine to sit beside a door in by the drive.

After I let the paint dry, I took some very rough grit sandpaper and sanded all the notches and sides to give the pumpkin a worn look.

  

And notice the little wooden star I attached with glue?

I just kinda freehanded a star shape onto some very thin plywood board we had. This is the type of board that is meant to go down on floors before linoleum. I think it's called lieu-on or something of the such.  It's very cheap and is available at Lowes.

And then on a few of them, I thought that maybe stenciling a star on would be way easier and faster.

And it was! Shew.

On a few of them, while I had my stencils out, I also used the checkerboard pattern to dress them up a bit.

And then on a few, by the stems, I took a piece of twine, the kind in the garden section, and tied a little bow.

 And then on a few of the others,  I took some sprigs of grapevine garland and kinda twirled it around it.

Oh, one more thing. To make the pumpkin stand up on it's own. I used a square piece of leftover board I had laying around for the large pumpkin. Because it needs the most support. I nailed it up from the bottom into the pumpkin.  And then I took a triangular piece of board I cut with a jigsaw and made a brace, on the back, from that bottom square piece to the back of the pumpkin.

It made it hold very good and stood strong.

On the smaller pumpkin I didn't put the square bottom, but instead just a triangle piece of wood as a stand.  And it worked great.

I wish I had more pics of the process, but I made these a few years ago and I'm just happy I found these.

Hope ya'll liked these wooden pumpkins.
Wouldn't they look cute with some tiny primitive lights strung on them too?

You may also like my related posts:

Snowman & Pumpkin Wooden Spoons
or
The Pumpkin Signs
or
Halloween Candles

See ya'll next time!

~Lisa

Country Fences in Kentucky #5

This Old Barn and Fence

Today I am taking a short break from posting crafts to link up with Run*A*Round Ranch Report.

It has became another great hobby of mine, to just go out riding around looking for old country fences (and barns.)  And then to share some shots of some of them here with ya'll.

 

Thanks for stopping in and taking a look! 

Hope ya'll liked this old barn and fence as much as I did.

See ya'll next time!

~Lisa