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

Primitive RUSTY STAR MAGNETS Tutorial

Easy Primitive Rusty Star Refrigerator Magnets!

 I love primitives in every room.  And here is an easy craft that you can make to spruce up your kitchen a tad bit.
Here they are out of the pack with a bit of bakers twine

 Super strong round magnet on back.

Super easy too!

First, get you some metal, rusty stars like this:

These measure approximately 2 1/4" each.

If you can't find them at a craft store, I have a few auctions on ebay with these plain, metal, rusty stars available here for a lot of 5 for only $5.99 with free shipping.
 (I hate to plug in my auctions, but

if you would like a set of 5 already finished with magnets, you can find them here.)

My set of 5 all packaged up and ready to go.

Okay, now on to making these cuties!

Next you will need some good strong magnets because we all know we tend to pile the papers and photos on our refrigerators! I choose these magnetic buttons from Walmart.

They are about 3/4" in diameter and come in packs of 52 for around $4 or $5.  And best of all, they are very strong! 

Next you will need some super strong glue that will hold these magnets to the metal and can withstand much use.

As always I turn to the good ole E6000 glue, also from Walmart for about $3 or $4 for a large tube.

It is great on just about any surface you could imagine needing to glue.

And next all you need to do is add about a dime size amount of glue to the backs of each star.  

My stars are the 3D type, so the glue needs to be enough that it will reach the entire surface of the magnet for a strong hold.

And after that, just let them sit and dry for about 24 hours to get a good strong hold.  

And they are then ready for use. 

These stars I chose have a tiny hole at the top and I may go back and add a little strip of homespun to a few in a fabric that will match my kitchen. A rusty red.

Very simple and super cute~!

And then I just put them in a slide, seal top plastic baggie.  And add a cute topper to it.

I hope you liked this easy, how to for Primitive Rusty Star Magnets!!!

-Lisa

Country Fences in KY #4

Love this beautiful tree.

 Today is Good Fences Day courtesy of  

 Run*A*Round Ranch Report

And here is a cute old stretch of country fence that I snapped while driving down through lower KY.

 

Thanks again to Good Fences for the linkup!

Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

Fried Green Tomatoes 

That time of year again ya'll!
Raid your garden or go out and buy ya some fresh green tomatoes and lets get started. 

Don't worry,this is a super easy recipe for fried green tomatoes with an extra dash of country.  I call that butter!

You just mix up your batter mix, cut up your green tomatoes, coat them with a thin layer of the batter and then fry them up in your ole' favorite iron skillet.

Let's get started because I'm getting hungry!

You will need: 

• about 5 or 6 green tomatoes for a meal or just 1 or 2 for trying it out
• about a cup of cornmeal
• 1 egg
• a dash of flour (about a teaspoon, not much more or the coating will be fluffy looking)
• butter (for adding to the skillet not the batter)
• salt and pepper
• bowl
• milk (just add it until thick, not too runny)
• iron skillet (my favorite way to cook about anything including cakes. Especially pineapple upside down cakes!
• cooking oil (I use vegetable oil) You want enough in your pan to cover the tops of the tomatoes too. Kinda like deep frying them in a skillet.

Okay now on to the cooking so we can get closer to eating'em!

1. Wash your tomatoes and set aside.
2.  Mix up your batter mix:

•  Add your cornmeal, egg, a dash of flour, salt and pepper and milk until you get a kinda thick consistency.

Don't mix it too runny. You want it kinda thick so that it will stay on your tomato slices.

Notice my batter is kinda thick. You don't want it too runny or it will drip off your tomatoes while trying to cook.

2.  Now go ahead and get your cooking oil and butter ready in your iron skillet. You want it to be on about medium so you can hear the sizzling as soon as you drop them in.

I add more butter and oil after cooking each batch.  The more butter, the better brown I get them to turn out.

3.  And while your oil and butter is heating up, go ahead and slick up your tomatoes.

I like medium slices. If they are too thin seems you really can't taste the tomato that great after frying.

4.  Now after your oil and butter is hot enough in the iron skillet, go ahead and dip your slices down in the batter mix (with a long fork) to coat both sides good and put them in the skillet.  Carefully, that oil is hot enough to burn! And it does pop a lot due to the butter being in there!

If your oil is not making tiny bubbles and a sizzle noise when you put them in, then chances are your oil is not hot enough.  You want the fried green tomatoes to start sizzling as soon as you put them in.

5.  Give them about 3 minutes to cook on that side and then use a long fork and flip them over.  A fork is so much easier than a spatula for me.  Cause you can grab it good.

Look at those bubbles, now that is the heat I was waiting on.  Don't worry if some of your batter does cook off, it will happen now and then.  But they are still great.

6.  Continue to cook them on this side for about 3 or 4 more minutes.  Just until good and golden brown and then they are done.

7.  Take them out of the hot oil when they are browned good on both sides and lay them on some paper towels to get off the excess oil.

I can never wait long until I chomp right into one... OMGOSH... sooo good!

And there you have it.  Just keep using your same batter mix and oil until you use up all the slices you have.  Just remember to keep adding a dash oil if you need more in the pan and always add more butter (usually a tablespoon) each time you put a new batch into the iron skillet.  I think the butter is the magic to these fried green tomatoes!

Yummy! And guess what goes great with these fried green tomatoes? 
Fried cabbage and cornbread of course.
Watch for my next post on those if you love country food!

KY Country Fences in Winchester #3

Today is Good Fences link up day! 

A courtesy of the  The Run*A*Round Ranch Report. 

Today I am sharing some good ole' Kentucky country fences found on a day drive through Winchester, KY.

Image from Wikipedia

 

 Hope ya'll enjoy'em!

Here's a shot from pretty far away, as I approached.
(Click on photos to enlarge)

And then here a bit closer you can start to see the cute, wooden, black plank fence.

 And then it gets prettier as I go down the bank and the sky begins to be the backdrop for only the fence.

Beautiful!

But then again, I always love anything to do with the country!

~*~

Hope you enjoyed my shots of country fences.
And thanks again to 

 for hosting the Thursday Good Fences Linkup!