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Distinctive Early American Folk Art and Handcrafts Created by Contemporary American Artists March 30, 2009 It is with deep regret that due to some unforeseen and significant family issues, we have made the difficult decision to close down the Today’s Primitive Home website. We have certainly enjoyed finding and promoting such talented American Folk Art artists and we sincerely hope you will continue to support them. Please know that we very much appreciate all the support and kind words you have shared with us. Without a doubt, we will really miss our Today’s Primitive Home community and the friendships we forged along the way. Best wishes and thank you again for your support. Caryn and Andra Editors Our Latest Picks Scroll down to see all of our Latest Picks Saturday March 28, 2009 The Knight rode in on his white horse, swept her off her feet and... ...it only cost her $32.99 plus shipping! I was literally swept off my feet by the wonderful original, one-of-a-kind Pennsylvania Dutch and Fraktur style hand painted Folk Art items offered by Etsy Store Valleydeutsch. This very talented artist offers a fabulous selection of hand painted original watercolor paintings and Primitive home accessories like this incredible American Folk Art hand painted foot stool. The painting depicts George Washington in full uniform mounted on his horse - oooooh, I do so love a man in a uniform! The top of this gorgeous wooden foot stool measures 10 inches square by 8.5 inches high and boasts period style turned legs. All of the items offered by this artist are handmade right here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. This artist's work is a must see for those who appreciate Pennsylvania Dutch and Fraktur style Folk Art. Friday March 27, 2009 Exclusive Offer For Today's Primitive Home Readers Only - 35% Off Any Furniture Purchase!!! For a limited time only, our good friend Michael Moore is offering Today's Primitive Home readers a 35% discount off any furniture purchase. As you know, we have previously featured several of Michael Moore's handcrafted home accessories and Primitive furnishings. Michael has been creating quality handcrafted Primitive home furnishings for more than 20 years. Hoosier Primitive Furniture is a family owned and operated business - committed to providing their customers with excellent customer service and quality home furnishings at a fair price. This is a wonderful opportunity to purchase quality handcrafted Primitive furniture at incredibly low prices. Want to finance your purchase - no problem. Hoosier Primitive Furniture also offers INTEREST FREE 12-month financing with a 50% downpayment. These are just a few examples of some of Michael's handcrafted beauties that you can purchase at a 35% discount! Wednesday March 25, 2009 Shuffleboard anyone... For years my sister and I have fantasized about retiring and traveling together. We pretty quickly scrapped my idea about buying a Winnebago and traveling across country when I nearly mowed down the showroom during our test drive. And we ruled out taking an Alaskan cruise - our 3-day trial run to Mexico didn't go so well. I have to admit though that ship psychologist was amazing, I didn't think we were ever going to be able to pry my sister out of that lifeboat. When he found out she had a fear of heights I thought his strategy about threatening to airlift her to shore lifeboat and all was pretty darned ingenious. Looks like I may have to settle for a hot game of shuffleboard a couple of times a week at the local senior citizens' rec center. For those of you who collect gameboards this cute little hand painted 12" x 12" Tic-Tac-Toe board complete with hand painted markers, would make a great addition to your collection. It's priced at just $19.95 and is available at Alicia's Gifts from the Heart. Tuesday March 24, 2009 The joys of motherhood Awww...seeing this cute little Child's Prairie Dress reminds me how much I miss when my kids were little. I remember like it was yesterday washing Cream of Wheat Cereal out of my youngest's hair, sitting on the floor in the department store trying sock after sock on her because she didn't like the way the seam felt on her toes - and buying 13 pairs when we hit the motherload. I remember my oldest daughter's first sleep-over - and waking up to find several training bras in my freezer - those were the good old days. This cute, simple little aged Prairie dress made of aged muslin, measures 27" long, comes with it's own vintage little hanger made from wire and a stick, is priced at at $18.99 and is available at Homespun and Primitives. This little dress is just so sweet... Monday March 23, 2009 If you've got it...flaunt it I have to admit I am not particularly impressed with the group of men I like to call the Starbucks groupies. They saunter into Starbucks about 9am sportin' a starched white collar and a suit they no doubt bought at the Men's Warehouse. They order a Cafe Latté, set up their laptops and settle in for a "brutal day at work" - which consists of sending a few emails, checking the stock exchange and then it's off to the gym for a two-hour workout with a personal trainer. I'm sorry but in my opinion, any man who publicly flaunts his passion for Cafe Latté needs to forfeit his Man Card... Now Michael Moore on the other hand has something worth flaunting - more than 20 years of experience creating beautiful, quality Primitive furniture and Primitive home accessories. We've featured Michael's work previously but we couldn't resist showing you this stunning Barn Red Glaze Stain Bench - it's just perfect for displaying Spring florals....ooooo this red finish is amazing. This handcrafted bench is generously sized at 16" tall by 16" deep by 36" wide, is priced at just $40 - and it comes a variety of colors as do many of Michael's handcrafted pieces. Don't forget, Michael's company Hoosier Primitive Furniture offers 12 months - interest free financing with 50% down on any Primitive furniture purchase, how's that for a stimulus package... Got a hankerin' for a custom piece? Email Michael a photo or give him a call at (866) 586-1265. Sunday March 22, 2009 Twistin' in the wind Every time I hear that expression I think about the summer my sister and I plotted to get rid of the neighbor's cat. She had turned our sand box into a litter box and our backyard into an outdoor bordello. It was quite simple really - we just tied four kites to a homemade harness, strapped her in, ran like the dickens and watched as she drifted over the trees and out of sight... Settle down there - I was just kiddin'. I needed an intro to show you this gosh darned cute hand carved Ben Franklin Whirligig by folk artist Leonard Norman. Ben measures 8" wide by 18" tall and is priced at $150. If you fancy whimsical American Folk Art whirligigs you really must see Leonard's very unique hand carved creations. Friday March 20, 2009 The child inside of us all.... I believe within each of us a small child exists who is full of awe and wonder - kind, sweet and innocent. These days however, I'm feelin' more like the other one - the evil twin. I swear the older I get the more impatient I become. My emotions are working overtime. I'm tired and cranky, I've been havin' a bad hair day for about three months now and I could get the chair for what I'm thinking about doin' to one of my sisters - I so need an attitude adjustment. Shoot, if I was my Mama I'd put me in time-out... God remember the good old days when you were a little kid? If you felt overwhelmed you just threw yourself down in the middle of a room and threw one Hell of a hissie fit. It was so refreshing laying there kicking, screaming and bawling my little guts out. Looking back on it, maybe it was the glass of ice water my Mama used to toss in my face to snap me out of it... Well if I have to be in time-out, I want to sit next to little Andrew here - he looks so calm sitting there with his witto itty bitty sheep pull toy - hmmm...wonder what he did to get the chair. I fell in love with this cutie the minute I laid eyes upon him - his little wool suit, high top shoes, his sweet painted little face and oh my gosh, that little sheep pull toy. This doll would be a wonderful addition to any period doll collection. Little Andrew is 13" tall and is priced at $195 and is available at Amercian Folk Artist Shari Lutz's website Shari Lutz Folk Work. I invite you to pop on over to Shari's website and take a gander at the wonderful Primitive and period handcrafted dolls Shari has created. They are truly remarkable! Thursday March 19, 2009 The weenie dog made me do it... I've heard some pretty ridiculous excuses from several of my employees over the years as to why they weren't able to make it in to work on time - but this one wins the gold medal... true story by the way. "I'm sorry I am late...I dropped my son off at daycare and I left my car door open. When I returned there was a little dachshund asleep in my son's car seat. I am terrified of dogs so I had to walk to the nearest pay phone to call the animal control people. It took them over an hour to capture the dog".......WHAT??? C'mon now an hour to capture a weenie dog snoozin' in a Volkswagen - buh bye... Folk Artist Karin Pender has a real talent for capturing imaginary personalities - her Primitive dolls and Primitive folk art animal creations are just full of character. Little Prentiss A Primitive Horse is priced at $35 including shipping. He measures approximately 8 inches tall by 11 inches long and is available for purchase at Karin's website Countryfolk Keepsakes. 
Shave up to 30% off of your teen's cell phone bill...
My Granddaughter is driving her folks nuts with the minutes she is logging on her cell phone - and might I say President Obama's got nothin' on this kid when it comes to text messaging. My God, this kid has more BFF's than the entire payroll department at AIG!
She recently spent the weekend with me.... or should I say she slept, ate and talked on the cell 24/7 for three days. As I listened to her chatting with her friends I realized that her folks could shave a pretty substantial amout of money off of her cell bill if they simply requested that she eliminate certain unnecessary and repetitive words and phrases. For example:
"Dude" - "no way" - "way" - "OMG (code for Oh my God) and the ever popular word "like".... which seems to preceed every other word in the conversation whether she is referring to something she does or does not actually like... Those of you with teens know only too well what I am talking about.
Now this is just my opinion of course but - really c'mon Dude, I mean OMG - it's like so annoying listening to those lame cell conversations isn't it? Geeezzzz.....
While you may be saving big bucks if you decide to implement this plan, you may also find your teen is at a loss for words (like woah Dude how cool would that be - there's another perk you might consider), so you might encourage him or her to take this opportunity to brush up on their writing techniques. With all of the text messaging, emails and cell calls I'm starting to wonder if my Granddaughter can still sign her own name.....
These Fraktur Bird Note Cards are adorned with high resolution copies of artist Lana Manis' original watercolor Frakturs - SO pretty! These note cards are available at Lana's website Honeysuckle Lane and are priced at $10 for a set of six.
Monday March 16, 2009
Frozen in time
I tell ya sometimes life just ain't fair. At night before I hit the sheets I spend hours soakin' in bath bombs, smearin' on at least a pound of various types of skin preps, lotions and potions - all of which are guaranteed to make me look years younger - compared to who Methuselah?
Holding on to a whim and a prayer I race to the mirror each morning hoping the better than Botox creme I added to my regimen has been more successful than the Perky Ta Ta's in 24 hours creme - so far that's been a total flop. I have to admit though the manufacturer was dead on about the alergic reaction - they're pink alright.
I'd like to know my neighbor's secret formula and how she manages to appear to be frozen in time. She's seven years older than I am and that woman is preserved better than a two-thousand year-old Egyptian mummy.
Maybe I should trade-in my lotions, potions and bath bombs for several hundred gallons of the secret papier mache formula Heirlooms by Ashton House uses - their little olde Colette Landry Doll seems to be holdin' pretty well...
Priced at just $137 little 12 inch tall Colette Landry is frozen in time in her 1800's style dress and bonnet made of reproduction fabric. The hand painted detailed artwork on this doll's sweet face is truly reminiscent of those lovely old 18th - 19th Century dolls - a very special doll to add to any Primitive Doll collection.
Sunday March 15, 2009
News at Eleven - "Unsuspecting hockey fans hit the motherload"...
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When I saw this cute little $12 quart size Saltbox Luminarie at Witch Hollow Primitives it reminded me about some of the bizarre places my Grandma used to stash her money.
To say my Daddy's Mama was a bit of an oddity is an understatement - this woman invented the word frugal. My first remembrance of her was seeing her in a moth-eaten old wool coat and she wore that old coat until the day she kicked the bucket. I am convinced she kept the first and the last nickel she ever earned - and she had a nasty little habit of lifting a few bucks here and there from my Grandpa's wallet, though he could never prove it. My Grandpa used to tear the house apart looking for her stash, but she would hide a few bucks here, a few bucks there and in the most bizarre places like a jar of popcorn that she kept in the refrigerator. Poor feller - he never did find the motherlode.
Several years after my Grandpa passed my Daddy took my Grandma to a hockey game. She loved hockey especially if someone else was paying for the tickets, but that particular night she'd purchased the tickets so they were sitting in the nosebleed section.
One of the local news stations that night ran the story - "Unsuspecting Hockey fans hit the motherlode tonight". So the story goes when my Grandma jumped up to applaud a goal, the motherlode, the thousands of dollars in cash she had been stashing in the lining of that old moth-eaten wool coat for years, floated down over the crowd like snowflakes from Heaven. Every time my Daddy repeated that story he said he was sure he could hear his Papa in Heaven swearin' like a sailor.
Friday March 13, 2009
Caught up in the allure of the spin cycle...
According to the "Official Newspaper of the Vatican", the one modern item that in their opinion has significantly liberated women is the washing machine - HUH???? They almost make it sound as though they begrudge a gal anything that might make her life a little easier.
Clearly some Holy man who is sittin' on that body part he calls a brain is caught up in the allure of the spin cycle.
Hellosie oh-holy-one what about the invention of a little thing called the birth control pill? I was feelin' pretty darned liberated when those suckers hit the market.
I guess it's safe to assume if the Vatican had it their way, women would be down at the river every Friday night scrubbin' and beatin' their undies on a rock - with seven little rug rats in tow. C'mon fellas keep up will ya - clearly y'all need to get out a little more often and socialize with folks other than Monks - at least once every 50 years or so.
This Pair of Primitive Scrub Boards sure makes ya realize how difficult the prospect of doin' a load of laundy would be without modern conveniences like hot running water and electric washers; not to mention the benefits of fabric softner - can you imagine slippin into a pair of crunchy cotton undies...ouchie.
This handcrafted Pair of Primitive Scrub Boards would look great displayed in a Primitive or Farmhouse bathroom or laundry room. They are priced at just $38 for the pair, come in a variety of custom colors and are available at Denise's Etsy store Sawdusty. These are just one of Denise's many Primitive and Farmhouse style original designs - aren't these just great looking!
Thursday March 12, 2009
I'll raise ya two cows, a horse and five of my best layin' hens....
In some cultures it was and still is traditional for the bride and/or her family to present the new hubby with a dowry - I prefer to call it Spinster Insurance... I suspect this tradition evolved from one of two revelations:
a) The dawn comes up like thunder one day that your beloved little girl is now a full grown woman and coyote ugly... the chances of her landing a husband based on her inner-beauty and mediocre biscuit recipe is slim to none - by God I'm not gettin' saddled with her the rest of my life, she's already eatin' me out of house and home...
b) You are one of only two remaining single women within a 300-mile radius, there is one eligible bachelor - and he's leanin' toward settlin' on the wench with the big hooters and two mules...
My husband's dowry consisted of a handshake and a small handwritten note - "good luck to ya - she's all yours"... true story.
American Folk Artist Sharon Ascherl is known for her very detailed folk art paintings of rural early American scenes. Sharon's artwork is truly amazing - her painting titled A Maryland Crabfest was featured in AARP's 2009 calendar.
Sharon also creates these lovely Bride's Boxes - reminiscent of the Bride's Boxes popular during 1750 - 1850. These boxes were typically given as a wedding gift or a gift from the groom to the bride - a keepsake in which the bride stored small items from her trouseau - ribbons, small linens, lace, etc.
Sharon's Bride's Boxes are made of museum quality wood and are hand painted with Sharon's signature beautiful and incredibly detailed artwork. The bottom of the box offers a brief history about Bride's Boxes and your box may also be customized with the names of the bride and groom and the event date. A Bride's Box would make a wonderful and memorable keepsake for a new bride and groom. This German style design is my personal favorite - it measures 11" x 7 1/2" x 7" and is priced at $110 - a mere pittance for an heirloom quality Sharon Ascherl original!
Wednesday March 11, 2009
I'll never forget that come-hither look...
As you know, my baby sister is quite the little charmer. Several years ago we were involved in a business proposition that required us to meet with an old friend of hers and his wife who owned a public relations firm.
I don't know who was flirtin' with my sister more - the husband or his wife; I was appauled this was supposed to be a business meeting. This guy clearly worked out and was quite fond of his bulging biceps - for pete sake who could miss them; they were practically splitting the seams on his already one size too small Izod shirt. Multiple times he excused himself seizing the opportunity to engage my sister's attention as he leaped across the room flaunting his tight little bod; it was like watching Mikhail Baryshnikov performing the Nutcracker ballet.
As for his wife - now she was a real piece of work. Each time my sister spoke directly to her, she would smile, wink and give my sister this come-hither look tossing her head as though beckoning my sister to meet her in a dark alley or a local motel. My sister and I kept looking at each other, both of us glancing at her husband to see if he was picking up on his wife trying to pick-up my sister; he didn't seem to be phased at all by his wife's behavior. Needless to say we couldn't wait to get out of there...some business meeting. We joked and laughed for days about the couple we referred to as "Winky" and "Mikhail". Years later my sister found out from a mutual friend that "Winky" had several ticks or twitches as some folks call them. We felt pretty horrible momentarily about all the jokes we told about them over the years, but never could stop pokin' fun at them; the fodder for future funny stories was just too great to pass up - and besides their poor business advice cost us a pretty penny.
Know somebunny who is crazy about cwazy wabbits with twitchin' noses and a passion for chewin' up an entire spring garden in a couple of hours - Murray the March Hare happens to be available. He's all decked out in his coat of many colors and his ruffled tunic shirt. He stands approximately 18 inches tall is priced at $66 including travel fare and is available at Cheriese Nordling's Pfatt Marketplace shop Sweet Whispers and Whims - too too cute!
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