ONE MORE DAY OF DECEMBER...

Good evenin' pals! Just taking a little break away from the sewing machine to stop in and tell you how much I'm enjoying all of your decorating talents! I love all of the greens, candles and simplicity. I finally got out some things last night and got started. Dick stayed with our grandson and I made a pot of coffee, lit the candles, turned on the music and just putzed until 1 a.m. It was so much fun. Still have to add some greens, put the tree up and change a few things around, but it's coming!

Tonight I'm sewing like a wild woman trying to finish up more prim chair covers and pillow cases for the shop. Our second weekend of the Holly Dickens Festival is almost upon us and I need more prims! A wonderful gal that I met at the Breckenridge show is bringing an order tomorrow and I'm so excited. She makes prim, prim, prim goodies. Dick is still at the wood shop tonight finishing a beautiful new cupboard. If you would like to know more about the Dickens Festival, go to the Holly Dickens Festival facebook page and see what all of the excitement is about. We picked up the GREAT prizes for the raffle. We have a drawing every Saturday and Sunday. Last weekend we gave away dinner for two, lift tickets and ski rentals for two at Mt. Holly, and an overnight with a jacuzzi and fireplace. Not bad for $1.00 per ticket! Wait until you see what we have this weekend. Well friends, time to check the oven to see if some goodies are dry and back to the sewing machine. Have a great evening and keep those beautiful pictures coming! Until next time...

AND THE FIRST WEEKEND OF DICKENS...

After months of hard work, our 39th Annual Holly Dickens Festival finally arrived. People came and we all had a great time. Two more weekends to follow too!

Dick and I, as co-chairs for the festival, would like to welcome you for a little preview.

The heart of the festival this year has got to be the sledding hill right in the middle of town. The kids had a blast and I can't wait to take my turn! It will be here for two more weekends!

The St. Dominic's Chapel Girl's Choir were just heavenly, both outside

and inside of our shop. They will be here two more Saturdays.

Holly Hills Primitives had special guests yesterday, Teresa Kogut and Jan Turchey. They did needle punch and needle felting demonstrations and were getting names for upcoming classes right here at the shop.

Our own Sharon was as elegant as ever as she waited on the customers.

It's always fun to have Zanie Janie next door!

The kilted magician strolled through the shops performing some fantastic magic tricks.

We rented costumes from Sutton's Costumes and the fine folks from that shop came to pay a visit in their finery.

Oh my goodness, we had the best ribs EVER cooked over a wood fire by the Red Wood Grill.

Jacob Marley paid us a visit - chains and all (Jeff Miller).

Mr. Scrooge and his real life wife made the festival a real hit (George and Diane Kullis).

Two country gentlemen shook hands and had a great time (Dick and John LaCroix).

We even had an English bobbi strolling to streets and keeping things safe (Denise).

We had to be at the shop at 6 a.m. this morning (grown) for Channel 7 from Detroit to do live interviews.

Hard to even talk at that time of the morning, let alone be on t.v.!

The Queen led the children's parade, performed Renewal of Vows and entertained the crows and she was beautiful (Debbie Musgrave).

Dick and I spent some time with Queen Debbie and Santa (another face of John LaCroix).

Josh Zion (JZ) was the hero of the festival with his sledding hill.

The beautiful Adventist choir also came in to entertain the customers.

Now this was fun! Judd and Alicia came to Holly to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Dick and I were the witnesses for their Renewal of Vows with the Queen.

They even had their own congregation. Congratulations to Judd and Alicia. Well friends, I'm just plain tuckered out. Time to get a little rest. We have two more weekends of the festival - sure would be fun to see you in the shop! Until next time...

THANKSGIVING EVE...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!

Our week has started out as crazy as ever! Our granddaughter, Ellie, invited us to the first grade "Friendship Feast" at her school on Tuesday and we had a ball!

She read her story to us, we colored and cut out pilgrims and Indians, and had a great meal. Daughter Amanda met us there and it was the perfect "kick-off" to our holiday. We are thankful to be going to our daughter-in-law Kim's family Thanksgiving tomorrow. Jim and Sharon always make us feel so welcome. AND THEN on Friday night is the Holly Tree Lighting at 6 p.m. before our 39th Annual Dickens Festival gets underway Saturday at noon. This is something you won't want to miss. The festival will run Nov 24-25, Dec 1-2 and Dec 8-9 from noon to 6 p.m. There will be entertainment all afternoon, carriage rides, Santa, great food and wonderful shopping. We even have a sledding hill right in the middle of downtown Holly! If you come to Holly, be sure to come into Holly Hills Primitives and say hello. Our shop has never been filled quite like this! We have a huge selection for your holiday shopping. I am missing my Rosie dog with all my heart, but I know she is in a better place for this Thanksgiving holiday. I hope all of you enjoy your families, good food, and peace. Until next time...

FRIDAY NIGHT IN HOLLY...

Here at last! Our November Ladies Nite Out was about 30 minutes away and the gals lined up all the way around the corner to pick up their free tote bags and coupons.

Holly Hills Primitives put out the welcome sign.

How would you like to grab a bunch of friends and go prim shopping in this?

Or maybe this one?

The Holly Spirit Shop (Janet) welcomed our Dickens Scrooge.

Dick had some laughs with Jesse Lambert - our township supervisor.

There was music in the windows, wine in some shops, giveaways and lots of yummies.

The streets were blocked off and the shoppers went from one shop to the next on our main street,

and then around the corner on Battle Alley.

Our little corner of town (Holly Hills Primitives and Zanie Janie's) is the best spot in town. We had a great time and would like to thank new and old customers for making this a success. Our blogging friend, Earlene, came to visit and we shared a little glass of wine together at My Sweet Holly.

I wanted to share the last picture of Rosie and I. My heart is breaking tonight. I know that tomorrow morning she will be leaving this earth and her soul will go to greet my Dad in Heaven. How can you ever replace the best friend in the world? Cancer has struck again and has been fast and furious to my girl. It is time to let her go to sleep and be rid of her pain. I love you Rosie girl, there will never be another...

LADIES NITE OUT...

It's that time again, our annual holiday Ladies Nite Out in downtown Holly is tomorrow night (November 16) from 5-9 p.m. Holly Hills Primitives has been working SOOO hard to get the shop ready and we have SOOO much new merchandise for you to choose from. I was at the shop last night until after midnight and we worked all day today to get most of it finished up. Just a few things to do tomorrow and it will be a wrap. Hope you can find some girlfriends and come join in the fun!

These little snowmen make great bowl fillers!

The gingerbread men are just waiting for a forever home.

It is also my pleasure to announce that our furniture business has taken off like crazy and we have opened a wood shop about a block from the shop. We have some beautiful, unique, primitive pieces in the shop. We will be adding lots more during the holiday season. Custom orders are also welcome! Just bring us an idea or a picture and it can be yours. Well friends, time to do a little housekeeping before our busy weekend begins. Have a wonderful, peaceful evenings and we'll talk again soon. Until next time...

GREAT WEEKEND!

Hi Prim Pals! Whew, what a crazy weekend. I've got A LOT to share with you, so I hope you're up for a slew of pictures! We loaded the trailer Friday and took off for Breckenridge to set up for the Homespun Holiday Show. What a delight! It was so well organized and there were so many beautiful booths.

Come on into our booth. The table and chairs were at our entrance.

Dick finished this red cupboard on Thursday night and we delivered it to Lansing on our way home from the show last night.

My ALL TIME favorite is the fireplace. Please Santa, this is all I want for Christmas!

We had a long table filled with handmades and they went fast!

The crock bench was filled with lots more goodies.

The dry sink and blanket crane shelf showed off the hand-made pillowcases. They were gone in the blink of an eye!

Another beauty by Dick is this chimney/settle.

The broom holders also flew - hope we can find more children's brooms!

We were honored that Sue bought this cupboard. When we delivered it to her Lansing home, I was in prim heaven! Her home was featured in Country Sampler a while back and it is unbelievable in person. Thank you Sue!

Having some fun with the girls! Earlene, me, Sue, and Cheryl. It was just a great day, we made lots of contacts, and we're looking forward to the Promise Of Spring show on March 30th. Thank you to Char Byers for a wonderful show!

Our town unveiled a memorial to our service people this afternoon, which was very moving.

Our new memorial.

Thought some of you might want to see a little preview of the shop. We have LOTS more goodies coming in this week and next week. The front of the shop is decked out in lots of reds.

Had to share a picture of our "island"! This is an original old fanning mill that Dick converted into an island. Wish I had room for it!

Yup, those are the doors into Zanie Janie's coffee shop.

Gotta love mustard!

Our little "coop" is filled with lights.

We have quite an offering of Family Heirloom Weavers goodies - including this bed of pillows!

The candle cupboard will be restocked within the week too.

I could just cozy in with a cup of coffee on this make-do settle.

It is right next to the fireplace in our cabin.

Nothing like tiny white lights this time of year.

This little pie safe would be so adorable on an old cupboard.

And more green, textiles and a cute little house. I will be posting more pictures when our next load is put out this week. For now, hop over to our selling blog http://hollyhillsprimwares.blogspot.com and see what's new! Don't forget, this Friday night from 5-9 p.m. is Ladies Nite Out in Holly, Michigan. Grab some friends and come visit Holly Hills Primitives. Until next time...