O.k. the time has arrived ....

O.k. the time has arrived for the unveiling of my offerings on Early Works Mercantile for the Sept. 1st update...

1st up is my "Sing a Song of Sixpence Memory Keep"

2nd is a Stunning Antique Tinware Cake Cutter from the late 1800's

3rd... is my "Rosie Whitesides' Memory Keep"

And 4th ...is an early Antique Wireware Whisk/Grapple from the late 1800's

All 4 of these items can be purchased in our Sweet Magnolias Farm Shop at Early Works Mercantile ..Just click HERE ..to be directed to our shop

Be Sure to pop over now if there's something you want ..as you know all of our items are One of A Kind..Custom Pieces ..as well as hard to find Antiques ..

Happy September Kindred Friends .....

P.s. I listed other goodies today as well so scroll down a few posts and see my other new offerings as well !!!!

Farmhouse Apron available on Etsy...

Rolling out the next available item ....

Our Farmhouse Apron ...

Abby made this wonderful farmhouse Apron from reproduction black and brown print civil war calico..and embellished it with a pocket made from an antique doily and vintage buttons ..along with an eyelet trim at the bottom...

It's perfect for wearing or displaying whichever you prefer ..it's been pre-washed and fits up to z size 16 ..so if you are on the smaller side it will wrap around the back and if you are nearer the 16 ..it will fall beautifully to the side of your hips and legs.

So if this Farmhouse Sweetheart needs to be yours ..Click HERE to visit the listing.

More to come ...

Just listed on Etsy ....

O.k. I'm starting my week off with a bang ...Remember the sneek peeks you were getting the last few weeks of items I have been working on ..well ..Here's the first item I'm making available today ..

"My Farmhouse Cookbook Holder and Kitchen Sign"

I just finished listing it on Etsy ..so if you need to make this little sweetie apart of your home ..better hop on over there now !!!

Made from an old Store display sign ..this lovely farmhouse piece ..Holds a stack of cookbooks and the chalkboard insert allows you to post your favorite recipe, quote, or saying ..

AND ...

added to the front you'll find two wonderful Solder Glass pieces with fabulous farmhouse graphics ...And don't miss the the Sweet little antique tin ice cream spoon ..that hangs from the "Pies" signage ..

Click HERE to be directed to the listing

Alrighty ..that's first up ..I'll post em as I list em !!!

blessings My Friends !!!

Coming Tuesday September 1st

Don't Forget to mark Your Calender ....!!!!

Coming This Tuesday Sept. 1st. is the ...1st of the month update at Early Works Mercantile.

We will be listing all new items in our EWM shop ..that you won't want to miss out on ...

So Be there or Be Square !

Sneek Peek at more works in progress ...

Well with all this HOT weather we have had ...I've been cooped up inside ..and what better to do than to create !!!

So Here's another sneek peek at a few items I have been working on this week.

1st ...is a wonderful 1800's transferware Memory Keep ... I can't wait to get this one listed this coming week.

And 2nd ...I have been working on an old display sign that I have turned into a Kitchen Cook Book Holder ..This is So awesome ..I have made Soldered Glass graphics and attatched them ...Next to come is the slate board that will slip in to add your favorite recipe ..Wait till this cutie is finished ..it's so Adorable !!! This one will come up for Sale this coming week too !!

So stay tuned ...Next week I have several new items and antique pieces coming to our Early Works Mercantile shop on the 1st ...then More items to come for Etsy and our Sweet Magnolias Farm website ..and on the 7th even more for our Whispered Secrets of a Primitive Past Shop ...

I'll Post here just as soon as they are ready for the plucking !

Have a Beautiful Sunday ..!!!

Your Kindred Friend ..Sara

It's HOT !!!!!!

It's Hot ! (sorry I'm screaming) But ...

It's HOT !!! Scorching HOT !!!

We reached a blazing 109 degrees today maybe more ..Yesterday it was 110 in the shade and tomorrow they are saying 105 ..but it will probably be more like 110 again ..

I think I have said it more than once but I'm not a gal that likes the heat ...So I've been cooped up for a week now in the house ..trying to stay cool .. with 2 window air conditioners and fans running ..nope we don't run the whole house AC ..it's an oldie and not a goodie so it costs an arm and a leg to run ..just a week of running it in past years and it pushes our bill into the triple digits ..and 1 week isn't worth that kind of money.

So the window AC's keep it liveable inside. I am so ready for winter ..I know all those of you who have those extreme winters are yelling "NO" right now ...Well I want winter just for my neck of the woods ..LOL ! ( Really I feel very blessed to have the window AC's and fans running ..I can only imagine those who can't afford to run anything or don't have it to run ..I'm sure they are just baking right now..so I know I am so fortunate)

With all this Heat I guess one good thing has come out of it and that's been work ..I've accomplished several projects and can't wait to get listing them next week.

I went to Lowe's today to pick up some knobs for a cupboard Abb and I are re-doing and took time to just walk the aisles ..wow ..I found some cool things to incorporate into my projects and I'm so excited about them ...I love home imrovement stores it's just a great playground for the creative mind.

Hope all of you are having a Beautiful week ...Oh and I went estate saling this week ..so I need to get picts of my finds to share with you all ..wait till you see this cute leather suitcase I got ..It's just to die for ! and The most Awesome Advertising plate from the 1800's that I'm going to be making into one of my memory keeps...Oh gosh ...Maybe I can get the picts of everything early in the morning when it's not so darn hot out !

Alrighty ..we are grilling some turkey burgers ..outside cooking in this heat so as to not heat up the house ...And I need to get hopping to help out.

Keep cool Y'all !!

Your Kindred Friend ..Sara

Sneek Peek of my works in Progress ...

Hey there all ...Hope your making it through the summer heat ...It's blazing hot here ...and I just looked at our week temps and we have heat warnings...We're showing a 102 degrees with single digit humidity over the next 5 days with possible records of heat ....Ugggg ....I am so not a heat gal ...!!! Patty of Toad Hollow Primitives keeps urging us to move to Maine ..where she wants to go and live ...But I'm not sure ..the cold temps may equal these hot temps ...?? Hmmmm

Well all this hot weather is obviously keeping this gal indoors ..so I have been working on some new offerings ..that I will be listing the first week of September ...At our Early Works Mercantile Store ..Our WSOAPP store ..our Etsy Story ..and of course Our Website ...!

Now remember these are sneek peeks ...so your just getting a tidbit ...of each one I have prepared ...plus I'm working on a few more ..so those are not even here yet.

So The first 1 is my Fall/Harvest Creation....

The Second one is ...our Seaside Creation ..which I'm giving you 2 peeks at ...

And 3rd ...is a fabulous Farmhouse keep ...with a deep barn red ..denim blue ..and accents of black ..that is exquisite...

Alrighty ...those are my sneek peeks ..hope you enjoyed stay tuned for their list dates...

Have a Beautiful week ..Friends ..

Sara

This Weeks Estate Sale Finds

Well ...we're at it once again ...I swore off buying anymore stuff ...but you know how that goes ..

So the toaster oven is on the brink and Abb and I would really like to have a food processor ...so I get this e-mail for an estate sale on Friday ..and on the table in the picture there sits a toaster oven and a food processor .....awesome ! Well this Estate sale worked a bit differently being that it was in a gated community ..they couldn't actually have a sale so they let people in by appt. Well of course I forgot to call the first day they made appts until the late afternoon ..yet I was still excited to know we were getting in at 10:00 a.m. I figured everyone else would be there for the antiques ...so I was pretty sure we were safe in getting these 2 little treasures we were after . I think I even said to Abb ..now we are going for the appliances and nothing else ..go there get the appliances and we come home !!! She Aha'd me ...Yep I know what that means ..it's a we'll see when we get there kind of answer . However I was quite sure of myself ..I had control ...and I was going to be in and out of this sale in no time flat ..get the goods and get out !

Ha ha ha ha on me !!! ..Well we got there headed for the garage where these jewels we came for were supposed to be and lo and behold they weren't there ...so we inquired and sure enough some other soul must have been in need of the same 2 things ..because they bought them at their earlier appt. So now that we had that squared away ..Wait where was Abb ...Gone to the wind ..blown to and fro from room to room "just looking" ..

So I go in search of her ..and my eye catches these two little baggies with some sorta linen inside them that's looking real cute ..and a sticker on each of them that reads $1- ...."Here is where my meltdown began" ...I hate $1- ...that's the price I just can't seem to pass up ...the thought " Only a $1-" plagued my mind ...so by this time ..I'm already digging into the packages and opening them to see what great treasure is inside ...and each held an old apron from the 1920's-30's ...that were just so darn sweet ...Now who could pass those up ...?? O.k. 2 bucks I'm thinking that's not bad at all ...I can handle that it's only a couple things ..

Well here comes Abb ...with the darn cutest cook book ...I'm a sucker for old cookbooks and this one ...well you'll see below it's way cute ..."SOLD" to the gal who wasn't buying anything ..LOL !!

O.k. Lets' just say ..we left the sale an hour and a half after arriving and and about $30- sucked from the grasp of my hands ...

We came home ..and all the way I was thinking how weak I am .....I collapsed under the pressure of a $1- sign ... (which I got over rather quickly) ...

So you're thinking well that's not bad ...so was I ...Until this morning ..I roll out of bed come down stairs to find Abb bright eyed and bushy tailed ...telling me she was achy ..and going for a walk just didn't help with these kind of aches ..maybe we could go out saleing and the getting up and down and in and out of the truck would loosen her joints up ...I know too funny Hah !!! Yep I'm a good daughter and I took her ...and once again I crashed and burned ..gave in... was taken hostage... and crumbled like a fluffy cupcake ...Today I came home with a collection of old glass bottles ..and an old potato basket ...( I am so way weak !)

I'm sure you're saying so what about the processor and the toaster ...Nope didn't find em again today ...it just wasn't our time ..it just wasn't in the cards.... but 2 vintage aprons ..an antique cook book ..a collection of antique bottles and an old potato basket were ...LOL !!!

I'm just a softy what can I say ...I'm a treasure tramp ..dumpster diving, estate saleing, flea marketing, junkie FOOL !!!

So Now for your enjoyment ..a preview of my finds ...and just so you know if you ever see something you want just let me know ..I'll let you know how much and you can say yeah or neah !!!

You're Kindred Friend ..Sara

(don't forget to click on the picts to enlarge)

From Trash To Treasure !!!

Hey all ...hope you are having a Great Weekend ...!!

Well remember last week when I posted about our great Dumpster Dive the Hoover Steam Cleaner ...Well what I have been saving up to tell you is that we got another great treasure that day out of the same dumpster...Take a gander at this wonderful garden bench ...

Of course you know us girls ..we couldn't pass up such a treasure ..well truth be known ..I was more for passing on this treasure than picking it up ..not because it isn't a great find ..I was just feeling a little overwhelmed at the time thinking about hauling it home and then having to do something with it ...Well that's what's great about having a partner in this business ..when you're down they are generally up ..Thanks to Abbey ..she insisted this was a must have ..so we loaded it up in the truck and brought it home ..she was brainstorming about how it could be transformed and her zealousness caught on ..and together we came up with a plan to transfor this into a Romantic Farmhouse Beauty ....

Sooooo .. the inspiration for this piece was some scrapbooking paper I had recently purchased ...you'll notice the strips of it on the back spindles ..which led us to the paint color ..one of our favorite colors ..Aqua ....Mmmm so refreshing ! Once Dad Painted it for us ..(He likes to get in on these projects too ..He doesn't necessarily have the creative side but he's good at painting ..) We started ...giving it some good old ageing ...for that perfect farmhouse look !





( here's a close up of the inspirations scrapbook paper..don't forget to click on the picts to enlarget them for a better view)





Then came the next step ...giving this chair the age and charm us Farm Gals just love ...We were loving it already at this point ..and couldn't wait to put on the extra custom accents ..

( a close-up of the aging )

And ...Here is how our vision came out....!!! Isn't it scrumptious !!!

Abb Made a soft cushion for the seat ...she used an antique embroidered white on white tablecloth for it ... Then she took the remnants of the tablecloth and made two large flouncy bows for each front leg ...it was really the perfect added touch ..at first we thought maybe not ..but once they were on it was really the added soft touch it needed ...

Then we added ..an antique lace skirt to the bottom which we also created from an Antique tablecloth ...it flows beautifully and slightly puddles on the ground for that perfect romantic touch ...

And lastly to the back top of the seat we added a gorgeous scroll style stencil ..which we altered in our own way to give it a wonderful aged and early look....and we trimmed the top back and each of the top rungs in a gourgeous high end braided vintage trim ...

I took several picts of it from different angles and close-ups to share with you all ..so have fun ..looking at them below ...

O.k. so ...now I know you're asking ..where did you put it and why didn't you take picts of it inside ....??? Well we aren't keeping it ...This Custom Farmhouse Romance Love Seat is for Sale ...

Today, We took it down to a Local Antique Shop that a friend of ours owns ..in Lake Elsinore, CA ...Her shop is called Mora's Antiques. She (Vicki) and her Daughter (Jamie) own and run the shop and if you are local be sure to stop in they always have such unique items and you won't find any friendlier shop owners than these two !

So that's what we've been up to this week ...and we just found the cutest cupboard this weekend that we are going to be starting on ..On Monday ...I'll be sure to take picts and share the next one with you too !!

Farmhouse Romance Childs Memory Keep ...just listed

Hi Gals ...

well I've been working again ...my creative juices finally started flowing again and it feels wonderful.

I just finished up this sweet .."Farmhouse Romance Childs Memory Keep"

I made this sweet piece from an early antique frame, reclaimed lumber, an late 1800s childs transferware tea cup and saucer, early silverplate childs size fork and spoon, early 1900's Georgir Peorgie page from childs book, vintage hand dyed satin ribbon ...and aged and painted it in layers of white, buttermilk, and deep aqua paint that is chipped and tattered to perfection.

All my handmades are One of a kinds ...being made from antique and vintage pieces ..so I never created 2 of the same ..so your always assured of having a custom piece.

If you would like to purchase this sweet Piece ..pop over to our Sweet Magnolias Farm Etsy store ....and if you don't have an Etsy account ..just leave me a comment here on my blog that you want to purchase it and I can send you an invoice through our Sweet Magnolias Farm website.

Alrighty hope you are all having a most beautiful week ..

Your kindred friend ...Sara

Update as of 8/20 this sweet piece SOLD ...to a very special farmhouse Gal ! I have another couple I am working on so stay tuned ...

Dumpster Dive Find !!!

O.k. this you have to read !!!

This morning ..My Mom and I set out on our morning walk. About 8 doors down from our house there is an empty house that is in foreclosure and they have been doing what is called a "Clean Out" ...meaning that all the junk that the tenant left behind is cleared out into a large dumpster to prepare the house for sale. Living in SO. CA. this is rather common place ..on our street alone there are approx 10 homes set for forclosure and I'm sure more to come .

Anyhow ..the saying "One Mans Trash is another mans treasure" is commonly used around this house ..and their trash became our treasure this morning ...Look what we found...

This is one of those Hoover Steam Cleaners for your carpet, rugs and even tile. Yep tossed into the dumpster.

Now ..if your one of those that's worried about "coodies" ..will you probably wouldn't have touched this baby with a 10ft. pole. It wasn't beat up but just absolutely filthy ! They obviously had bought it to clean up after their pet ..but they opted out on cleaning the machine afterward and well it was loaded with pet hair. What do people think that the machine is going to clean itself ?

Having owned pets all my life and growing up in a farmy atmosphere ..Pet hair doesn't offend me ...a good scrub and you can get your pet looking and smelling beautiful just like us.

Anyhow ..of course first thought was ..does it work ?? The only option was to go home get the truck and take it back and plug it in to see what happened ...Kablooeee ...No not really !

We got it back and sure enough the motor ran and the suction was good but the scrubbers wouldn't turn round like they were supposed too. They were so caked in pet hair ..we figured that was the issue and set to cleaning all the debris away. Well No luck still the scrubbers wouldn't turn !!

Well at this house ..we don't quit and we don't give up until we know without a shadow of a doubt we are licked ..and we weren't to that point yet.

The internet is just an amazing thing (if used for good) and we have found that there is always someone out there that has probably had the same problem as you and can tell you how to fix it or if it's unfixable ( gee is that a word unfixable LOL .)

So I googled ..the name of the machine and how to fix the scrubbers and wouldn't you know ..there was an article on how to get to the motor that turns the scrubbers and how to lubricate the gears and bearings ....so of course we set out with our tools taking the base apart peeling back the layers to get that motor ..

We realized we needed some special grease lubricant and with Lowes just a mile away we sent the man for the grease ..which was only $5 ..

while he was gone we realized that one of the water reservoirs had been broke ....so we called hoover to find out the price of it ..and they said they would send it to us for FREE !! Wow again .Hey don't look a gift horse in the mouth !

So now all we needed was that lubricant and to get it all put back together and see if we had ourselves a working scrubber .

Well it worked ...the man that wrote the article on how to fix it was all we needed and his directions were perfect and easy to understand. After putting everything back together...the scrubbers turned beautifully ..now all we have to do is wait on the tank ..

I knew when I saw this machine in the trash it was worth well over $100-...however this one costs a bit more ..Everywhere I looked it up it runs $265-.

So basically we found $265.00 in the trash today ...not a bad day for heading out on a walk !

So besides sharing with you our Dumpster Dive Find today ..there's a moral to this story ... 1. if you keep things cleaned up they will probably stay working ..and 2. ..is that just because something doesn't work ..doesn't mean there's not a fix if you just research it and are willing to put a little elbow grease into fixing it up. Whoever owned this to me didn't have alot of respect for money ..to spend that kind of money ..treat it the way they did and then toss it away! When you trade each day of your life working for Money to survive and buy things and then you disrespect so grately the things you have bought with it ..that's rather sad to me ..it's really disrespecting yourself and the blessings that God has given us!

So have any of you ever had any awesome dumpter dive finds ??? Leave a comment and share what you found..I know I would love to hear about it and I'm sure other's would too !

Just Listed at Sweet Magnolias Farm

If you love early tinware ..then you'll love these new finds I just listed on our website today !

First up is the Early Tinware Flatback Heart Cookie Cutter

And Next is the latae 19th Century Early Tinware Maple Sugar Mold

If you have an Early Style Kitchen These are just the Perfect addition ...

Stop in at Sweet Magnolias Farm ....and find yourself a Prim Goodie Today !

Have a Most Beautiful Day ..your Kindred Friend ..Sara

Just listed on Etsy

Alrighty ...Here's my next item I have finished up.

I have been trying to get going in the direction of harvest time the last week ...and This Beauty is what I came up with.

This Fabulous Fall "Farmhouse Romance Whisk Broom" is just perfect for that Harvest display or that Prim room all year through.

I have just listed it in the Sweet Magnolias Farm Etsy Store ..Be sure if you are interested to pop in and get it ..as I make these from vintage finds therefore each one is a One-of-a Kind that I cannot duplicate exactly.

Oh and if you aren't an Etsy member and want to purchase it ..just leave a comment with your e-mail and I can arrange for payment through our website.

(click on picture to enlarge)

And don't forget to stop in to our website ..we have lots of wonderful goodies there you won't want to miss out on !!!

Sweet Magnolias Farm

Just listed at Sweet Magnolias Farm

Hi there Farm Gals .... Well I'm like the tortoise lately slow and steady ..but I managed to get a few new pieces turned out. The first of which is this perfectly wonderful "Farmhouse Romance Whisk Broom."

This makes such a nice decorative accent to the Kitchen, Bath or even Bedroom. Hung from an old peg rack or even an early square nail. I've created this piece from Antique and Vintage Finds...which I have upcycled into this gorgeous piece of Primliciousness !

I just listed it on our website ..in the Keeping Room. If your interested in purchasing it don't delay ..as all my handmade are One of a Kind designs that I do not duplicate.

( click on the pict. to enlarge)

Stop in at our site for a visit and be sure to sign our guest book while you're there ..we'd love to hear from you !!

Sweet Magnolias Farm

Sara and Abbey

Summer Favorite ...Strawberry Chocolate Chip Blizzard

This summer favorite at our house ..was developed when we found this great tasting treat while living in the midwest. If you are familiar with Springfield, Mo ..then you would be familiar with "Andy's" ..the most wonderful Ice Cream ever !!! It's a soft serve Custard Ice Cream that is out of this world. Intead of making Blizzards as that name had already been adopted by dairy queen ..their blended treats are called "Concretes" ..and let me tell you ..they are out of this world Good. So Good in fact ..that we have some family that lives in Tyler, TX and Andy's started franchising and some precious soul opened one their ..so we directed our family their and now they are hooked too !

Well Andy's is delicious ..but a few of those tasty, heavenly concretes a week and your pocket book is a bit lighter ..So we came up with an alternative for the concrete and the blizzard that can be made right at home.

The Concrete that was a family favorite from Andy's at our house ..is called the "Wood P. Snow Monster," Nope don't know the story behind the name...But it is made from Vanilla Custard ..Fresh Strawberries and Dipping chocolate ...Yummo !P.S. don't forget to click on the picts to get a larger view.

O.k. so the above pict is how I start making our concretes all by hand no electrical devices involved. First ..I would love to have custard ..but in this house we like to watch our waists a little ..so we use ....

Haagen Dazs Low Fat Frozen Yogurt ..This yogurt tastes great ..Has a wonderful vanilla flavor ..is low fat ..low salt ..and low cholesterol as well.

Next ...I use Frozen Strawberries ..we love the big bag that Costco Sells ..they have a Great Flavor and the frozen strawberry has that great flavor and a nice crunch in the blizzard. Also we use the Zeroll Ice cream Scoop. Every year it seems like we break our scoop ..they make them so cheap nowadays and in a 2 piece construction so that after a few washes and digging in the ice cream ..they split ..So we invested in this Zeroll ..it costs $17.00 at Williams Sonoma ..or you can buy them online. It's a one piece consturction and it has a fluid element .that heats the end of the scoop which is in the handle and is activated when your hand is on the handle... so you can scoop your hard ice cream with ease. Let me tell you it's well worth the investment and works like a dream !

O.k. Next ..on the list ..are Chocolate Chips... Of course my favorite are Ghiradelli ... either Semi-Sweet or the Baking Chips work. Put a handfull in the bottom of a microwaveable mixing cup and heat in the microwave for about a minute to a minute and 30 seconds ..stirring once inbetween to get the chocoloate melted. Stir up the melted chocolate well.

Add a scoop of the ice cream in the bottom of your glass ..and add a small teaspoonfull of the melted chocolate on top....then take your teasoon and start mixing the chocolate into the ice cream ..it will get a bit melty at first ..but as you add more ice cream and chocolate it will thicken up. The chocolate hardens up once it's mixed in and leaves small chips and large chunks and it is so good and crunchy !!!

Next add some more ice cream the chopped up strawberries and another teaspoon of the melted chocolate..and mix in by hand again. Keep doing this alternating ....until your glass is full .

And here is what you will get ..a most heavenly..delicious ...Summer Treat !

O.k. this is my quickie dessert ....Hot Summer Treat ..that tastes better than what you get out (except for Andy's) and really saves the pocketbook !

Oh and leave out the strawberries for just a chocolate chipper ..or add in some of your favorites ..nuts ...caramel..etc...get creative with your favorite flavors.

Alrighty have a Most Beautiful Summer and Enjoy !!

Your Kindred Friend ...Sara