BUSY WEEKEND...

Good Tuesday morning prim friends! What a weekend this has been! After the shop closed on Saturday, I ran up to visit my dad, came home to babysit for Lucy and Abbey (just for a couple hours), and then we headed up north to "The Little House". We raked leaves ALL DAY Sunday - we think they multiplied since last year! Abbey rode up with us and she raked like a little trooper.
Monday morning my friend Connie's husband, Rick, and his friend, Gene, drove up from Tennessee to pick up the furniture they had bought a couple weeks ago. They pulled an all-nighter, left at 1 a.m. and were home last night by 9 p.m.! Yesterday morning, Rick had to take Gene to the Peppermill for a great Michigan breakfast before they came to the shop. (Then a little birdy told me that they stopped at the Holly Donut Shop on their way out of town!) Gene (on left) and Rick (on right). These two reminded me of a couple teenagers, they were having such a great time!

Gene's Suburban all loaded and ready to head back to Tennessee. A great old prim MUSTARD pie safe and a beautiful oak ice box went home with them - and then we added a big old mustard carpenter's tote. Can't wait to see pictures of everything when it gets all primmed up in their home! (Have fun Connie!) Rick and Connie will be back to Michigan at the end of December and we actually get to have some holiday time together this year - can't wait!

Saturday afternoon I took my Rosie dog up to visit Dad. He just loves to have her come visit! I always just throw him her leash and he takes over for the remainder of our visit. This nursing home is wonderful, but it still breaks my heart every time I leave and can't bring him home with me. It's so hard for Mom too, they will be married 64 years in February!

Another shot of Dad and Rosie.

Yesterday afternoon I took in LOTS more goodies to the shop and hope to have pictures on my next post. It's going to be a busy day getting everything tweeked again, but always fun!

Poor Dick had to rake leaves - again - at our old house yesterday. My friend Debbie came to help me move more things out and SORT! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little closer, sure hope it's soon!

Hope you all have a wonderful, creative day!

Until next time...

SUCCESSFUL LADIES NITE OUT...

My day began by doing a lot of tweeking in the shop and getting things ready for our Ladies Nite Out. New dolls are arriving on a regular basis now, so I had to price and put them out.

Snowman on a funnel.

Big snowman doll with a quilted jacket.

Big Santa doll.

Santa with his toys in his pockets.

Large angel in her Christening gown and old Bible in her pouch.

Prim Santa.

Then the balloon bouquets arrived and pink balloons were going up all over town.

My old vintage snowpeople greated customers as they came in the door.

The DDA (Downtown Development Authority) passed out pink bags with specials and coupons to the first 300 shoppers.

Our Abbey ran into some friends and they were ready to shop!

My Ashley did the baking for the event. Isn't this prim snowman cake (with real sticks and buttons) the cutest thing??? He was a big hit!

Then came the music!

Oh thank you Eddie for your wonderful music! Can't wait until Dickens and your dulcimer!

I took a short stroll after dark and the town looked SO pretty. This is my front window. You are looking into the dining room of Scrooge!

Zanie Janies coffee shop (next door to me) was crazy busy all night!

Marta's Loft, a beautiful women's clothing store, was very elegant.

My Sweet Holly was adorable.

And then it was over. Battle Alley was clearing out, but the pink lights were still ablaze. All in all, it was a successful evening with large crowds. I don't know what I would have done without our Kim. We sure were lucky when she became part of our family! She helped me all evening and was a trooper.

We still have TONS of holiday items with more arriving daily. Hope you get a chance to stop in to visit us soon. Now it's time to curl up and take a break - until tomorrow.

Until next time...

GOOD MORNING AMERICA CAME TO TOWN...

November 11th, what an important day for our great nation. I would like to take a moment to thank all the veterans for their unselfish service to keep our country strong and free. I have two very important veterans in my life. First of all my husband Dick. He served during the Viet Nam war and was there from August, 1966 to October, 1967.

Then there's my dear Dad. He was a medic in WWII and was gone from home for 3 long years. Thanks to both of you.

It was also a very exciting day in our little village of Holly. Good Morning America came to film!!! There were people everywhere right in front of the shop and the excitement was intoxicating. There were children, shopowners, adults, dogs and everything in between!

The film crews were on the second floor of the building right across the street from Holly Hills Primitives.

That's my shop in the background with the green paint and little window panes.

The police blocked off Battle Alley from any traffic while the crowds were on the main street.

My new friend Janie (Zanie Janie's Coffee Shop a/k/a Simply Coffee) and I decided we needed to get our sign into the film. We stood on stools at the back of the crowd and hoped we would get our chance to be on t.v.! Anyone interested in viewing our exciting episode should tune in to Good Morning America on November 27th - just before opening weekend of the Dicken's Festival!

You've got to love these holidays for the women that have the day off! The shop was BUSY and lots of goodies went out the door. I have LOTS to price and put out tomorrow. I am trying to get fill the shop for our Ladies Nite Out on Friday night. Hope to see some of you there.

Well, it's late, I'm tired and ready to snuggle in for the night. Hope you all have sweet dreams!

Until next time...

GREAT WEEKEND...

What a wonderful, fun weekend we just had! Saturday was quite busy at work (thank goodness), then Dick and Tony (son-in-law) brought a few more furniture pieces over to the new house. I ran home and threw a lasagna together and we had our first dinner guests, our friends Kenny and Debbie. It felt so great to have company and just a "normal" evening. Debbie and I did some craft brainstorming and we all had a great night. I was sorry to see it end, but we'll all be together again soon.
Then Sunday I got up and ran down to Lisa's Country Cupboard to check out her holiday open house. Everything was way cute and she had a wonderful "treat" table. Couldn't stay long, had to get back to get my shop opened up. I was outside taking down the cornstalks and I heard a familiar voice telling me to throw those things away. I looked up and saw my best friend Connie and her husband Rick walking down the sidewalk - all the way from Tennessee!!! What a way to light up my life! We only get to see each other a couple times a year and it was such a surprise. They came back to Michigan for an appointment and we got to spend one afternoon and evening together. It was so much fun to show her the shop, go out to dinner together and then show her our new home. She ended up buying a couple pieces of furniture - so Rick is going to make another trip to Michigan to pick them up for her! Yup, it was a great weekend! Connie and I inside the shop.

Connie and her hubby, Rick.

Today started out being quite restful (I'm closed on Mondays). We took Mom to pick Dad up at the nursing home. Thought it would do him good to go out to lunch, but he ended up not feeling very well and had to take him back a little early. Our Chad and Kim came to meet us too. Maybe it was just too much excitement, but it sure breaks my heart.

Then back to the other house to pack a few more boxes. It looks so darn lonely over there, but it's coming - little by little.

Tonight I'm going to grunge dolls and more and try to get some things ready for the shop for Ladies Night Out (this Friday night).

Well girls, hope your weekend was as much fun as mine was!

Until next time...

HOLIDAY SHOP TOUR...

HOORAY!!! I finally got a camera and figured out how to get the pictures on the blog again - now I just have to tweek being able to take the pictures! Hope you're all ready for a post full of pictures.
Today was a beautiful day in Michigan, I even got to leave my front door open all afternoon. One couple that came through the door was Larry and Linda from Three Rivers, Michigan (a fellow blogger). They were both SO nice and it was great to meet them. I (with a lot of help from the elves) finally got the shop ready for the holidays (even though there are more goodies arriving daily).

Are you ready for a little tour? This is my front counter. The candy cane letters spell out "Holly Hills".

Our fireplace moved to the front of the shop, hopefully to welcome our visitors.

Our front tree is covered with prim ornies!

Our table is set with Christmas Carol dishes, stitcheries, signs...

Another view of the table.

This is the step-up level going into Zanie Janie's coffee shop. I just love having the French doors open and having such a great neighbor - plus the coffee smells SO yummy!

A view of our little village down one side of the shop.

The doorway to one of our "houses".

"Candyland" is chuck full of snowmen, ornies and more!

Another view of "candyland".

Had to try to get a closeup of this wonderful OLD prim sled. It is about 6 foot long and HEAVY! I've never seen one like it and I just love it.

Our "living room" is so cozy. We have a beautiful, new Johnston Benchworks sofa on special for $995.00.

How about this old vintage, paper mache, store advertising Santa? Isn't he the best?

Another tree full of angels, mittens and trees. The Hoosier is filled with "mice" items and more.

One of our houses has wooden icicles that are so unique.

Inside the "blue" house is filled with all kinds of goodies.

Our "log cabin" is filled to the brim with more ornies and primitive wares.

We have lots of prim tables, shutters and cupboards.

Love this old, PRIM, black hanging pie safe.

The back wall of the shop is our old log cabin.

This week we will be getting more furniture, dolls, pillows, stitcheries and who knows what else!? What an exciting time of year for everyone. I hope you have enjoyed our little holiday tour. (I just noticed that there is the wrong date on all of the pictures - oh well - more tweeking.)

Now that I have a camera, I'll be taking pictures of our new home very soon. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time...

UPCOMING EVENTS...

Okay, okay... I'm getting closer to getting a camera, in fact, maybe tomorrow! I feel lost without it and I have so much I want to share with all of you.
What a great day I had today! My friend Debbie came out and spent the day with me and helped get the shop all tweeked and ready for more merchandise. We did a lot of brainstorming and had lots of fun.
For you gals that aren't too far away, I thought I would give you a rundown on the events planned for our little village:
Nov. 7 - Holly Holiday Craft Show at Holly High School
Nov. 11 - Veterans Day (a great shopping day)
Nov. 11 - 1 p.m. Good Morning America is going to be filming right around the corner from my shop. Come on in to town and get in on the action. Will be aired on Nov. 27.
Nov. 13 - 5-9 p.m. Ladies Nite Out! The pink lights are up and everyone is busy getting their shops prepared for the beginning of the holiday season. This will be one fun night throughout the town. Our shop is even going to be having live music!
Thanksgiving weekend and the two weekends following - The annual Dickens Festival. Bring the whole family and enjoy a fun-filled day!
I'm ready for some jammies and a good warm meal, so stay tuned and I WILL be having pictures very soon!
Until next time...

ALMOST DONE...

OHHHH! My poor old bones!!! This has been quite a week and weekend. My friend Bonnie came and helped me last week move all the furniture in the shop to ready it for our holiday decorating. I closed the doors for Sunday and Monday and thank goodness for Terri! We WORKED into the evening on both days and I'm ready to open the doors today. Still have a little tweeking to do, but we're ready for the holidays. You couldn't even walk through the shop without tripping, but now the trees are up, the garlands are hung, the lights are glowing and the wonderful, primitive handmades are all through the shop along with some beautiful primitive antiques.
Our front window turned out better than expected. Holly has a Dickens Festival for three weekends, starting Thanksgiving weekend, and our window looks like you are looking into the dining room of Scrooge - complete with Tiny Tim's crutch. We even have the Christmas Carol dishes for sale.
In between working on the shop, we are still moving things to our new home. It is sure comfy and cozy here and I think we are really going to like it. Most of all, I think my Mom finally has peace of mind not being by herself. Our old home is still filled with lots of things and I will have to pack more, sort more and get ready for a sale there sometime soon. Sure seems like there are not enough hours in a day!
I will be posting pictures soon. You wouldn't believe this, but I think someone had sticky fingers in my shop. My camera is gone!!! I hate to think this could have happened, but it was setting out and just disappeared. My daughter is going to bring her camera to the shop and to our new house so I can at least share pictures with you. Guess I'll have to go camera shopping again soon. I feel like I lost a body part without it!!!
I talked to my friend Connie (in Tennessee) and she helped with a Christmas redo at Rebecca's Thyme in Pigion Forge on Saturday. If you ever get a chance, don't miss this great primitive shop! Connie is her "Funky Tennessee Artist" and creates unique, primitive dolls (and more).
Well gals, time to get to work, keep tweeking and open the doors!!! Have a wonderful day.
Until next time...