Decorating Ideas from Primitive America

A simple ironstone cup, the red against the pale white, gives the "early" feel of Christmas.




The old blue of the metal .Pinecones with a touch of white paint and a bit of glitter. This is an inexpensive simple way to decorate.



Pinecones in old primitive containers,baskets,measures,wooden buckets.



Faux plum puddings with aged cheesecloth.



Candles inside old tin graters, in a box of greens.



Candle on a hogscraper.

Thoughts about Creating- Letting It Just Be

I listen to an acoustic guitar player, he plays the same instrument as the next guitar player, but why do I listen to him more than others? How can I paint an angel my way? 10 songs on an album, can I paint 10 angels and change them enough to be their own song? The guitar player writes his own songs, from his soul, but then maybe some are filler to get it finished, who knows? Why am I attracted to certain songs more than others? An energy .......a vibration ....higher vibrating, my level of vibration....? What is the attraction? Their energy being great when they create? My energy being joy , fun, enthusiasm. If I paint something and it comes out like I want, that definition being ,I can`t find anything else on the piece that looks like it needs something done to it, and something I would want if I could keep everything in the world? Many times I do want it and I don`t want to let it go. Maybe I`ll never be in a place to make that again, is my thinking , or is that my inner critic being sneaky, keeping me down, holding me back? Would that be me writing a song that only I get to hear and a few around me? What is my intention when I sit down to work? To listen, to be open to what comes, to get out of the way.......to accept what comes , and not judge or criticize , but let it be.

Blue Popcorn

I go to a farmer`s market every week, I like to support local farmer`s and as Bill Nye says on "Stuff Happens" on the the green channel, I want to keep down my "food miles". Last week I found this blue popcorn. I haven`t eaten it yet to say if it`s good, but I`m taking it off the husk now. I figured if it`s not edible, I`d see if the birds will eat it. Maybe you`ve seen it before, but this is a first for me. It`s a great muted blue color.


After many hours and very sore fingers , this is what I ended up with. A large jar of beautiful blue popcorn that should last me until next season and a huge bowl of corn husks. Now what to do with the husks..... dolls are what comes to mind 1st. Native Americans made them for their children. How about stuffing a pillow or hand made mattress? That would be the inner filling and something softer like cotton batting on the outside. A wreath? not sure what it will end up becoming. My compost pile as a last resort.

New Blog

I created a new blog about early Make-do`s and pincushions. If you have information I could use please send it along for my consideration. Thanks, Melanee

Primitive America Antiques in Pennsdale ,Pa.

Fall in Pa. is a wonderful time, with the leaves changing and summer flowers are replaced with mums and bittersweet vining down off of trees. It`s also a time when many shops bring out the things they`ve been saving for Fall open houses. A special weekend they go to great effort to redecorate their shops in my favorite colors of pale pumpkins,browns of many shades, grey greens, various shades of white.
Today I was able to go to an open house at a nearby town. A shop that is in one of the outbuildings of the owners home. An early stone farmhouse set by itself in the middle of fields. This shop is only open on Fridays 10-5 , but on the open house weekends she`s open Friday and Sat. 514 Quaker Church Rd.Pennsdale,Pa.17756 570-546-6220.

This is her house.....


This is her shop inside.....





































































Happy Autumn!! Thanks Christine for all the great displays and for letting me take photos! Melanee

Early Cloth Crows 4 Sale

I recently had large flocks of crows flying in and landing in my yard, reminding me of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds". They came by for just a short time, making their way across the yard pecking the ground for anything they could find. When they all flew away there was a whoosh sound with some bass . Crows are loved by some ,hated by others. I got the idea to have crows around my house after that. Sat down and designed these shown below. They are made from cotton fabric, stuffed and painted black with brown underneath. Wire claw feet so that they may pose however you want. Their eyes are onyx beads. Approx.7 1/2" tall x 11 1/2" from nose to tail.
Crows -$ 28. each + shipping

Antique Site

Carole Telfer Antiques is selling her collection. Wonderful things to see at this site.

Perfectionism in Art

I use to say I was a perfectionist, everything had to be just right. It`s a wonder I ever sold anything. Now as I think on this topic , I realize it was more of a control issue and went right along with the wanting to please others, wanted them to think highly of my skills. This is all an illusion because people don`t think alike. What may be perfect to me , is not acceptable to someone else, they would never do it that way! they might say. So the need to make it perfect was a need to control the situation in a way. If I make it perfect, I`ll be accepted, or I`ll make money from it and that gives me have value as a person. This was my thinking. I was chasing an illusion of how I thought it would turn out. If I do A B C perfectly, D will come along. But then I tried to put something out for sale that wasn`t perfect in my mind. Someone came along and loved it. I realized how limiting my thinking was to this "perfect" box I was in. The box is small ,not much space to move in there. A mistake isn`t always a mistake, it may just be in your mind, not someone elses. Doing your art and letting it come into being without giving it descriptive words, could be a way to stretch yourself and open up. I see perfectionism as constricting and critical. Who says what is perfect? How many things haven`t come into being because someones negative thoughts while creating?
Now when I make something, I just do it , enjoy the doing. I think of what the old me would be doing right now, but then I am aware that I`m not that way anymore, sometimes it`s hard to get use to a new way of being, even confusing sometimes, but I keep staying in the moment. Just some thoughts, may be helpful to someone. Melanee

New Berlin Museum and Antique Show My 1st video