Been giving some thought to “What is primitive country decorating?” You hear a lot about it in country decorating magazines and at country folk-art shows. It does appear that country decorator’s have fallen in love with the old worn look of primitives. To me primitive decorating is a gathering of old items that are bits and pieces from the past with touches of my handmade reproductions. I have old cupboards, wood chairs, crocks, water pitchers, baskets, quilt tops and wooden kitchen items. I have some pieces that are from mine and my husband’s grandparents, but other pieces that I have gotten over the years at antique shops and flea markets. I’ve kept my walls a light color to help really show off the darkness of the wood items. I also use the colors black, barn red, mustard gold and dark green in a lot of the items that I make. I love the homey warmth, the old worn colors, and folky feel of primitive decorating that reminds me of our past.
As crafters and artists, we each have our own methods for making our creations and items look old and grungy. Some like it really dirty & grungy and others like it alittle prim & old looking but not too dirty. But we all love the handmade feel of the past that it gives us of when life was simpler and at a slower pace. If you would like to get this look you can use tea, coffee or walnut ink on fabric items. I used tea or walnut ink until I discovered a recipe for adding vanilla with tea and then rubbing cinnamon on the item. This smells great! The more concentrated the tea; the more dirty aged looked you will get. I like to use the walnut ink when I want my item to have a more splotchy look. You can find walnut ink at your local craft store. I found it located with the rubber stamps at my area store. All you do is add water to it. I put mine in a spray bottle. On my wooden items I use a walnut stain gel that you rub on. It is usually located with the craft paint.
This picture is of fabric snowmen that I sold at my Christmas shows last year using the tea, vanilla, and cinnamon technique.
