A Colonial Christmas Bedroom

TGIF Friends!
Hope all filled their bellies 
while enjoying time with friends 
and/ or family.

We first watched the Detroit parade,
on tv,

which is now 95 years in the making.

What a wonderful parade it was!

Then had a great meal that my sister
prepared for all of us.

Thanks again Teresa!

While you peruse my pics
of our colonial bedroom,
I want to tell you the story of the 
Royal Proclamation of 1763.

This proclamation was issued by King George III
to Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa's
on October 7, 1763.

It forbade all settlements west of a line drawn
along the Appalachian mountains

which was delineated as an Indian
reserve for the Ottawa people.

Many of the colonists were not happy with

Britain's proclamation.

Now Daniel Boone at this time decided

to start hunting and trapping

west of this line to supplement 

his farm income.

Daniel Boone was a rebellious one.

He moved his family from 
North Carolina to Kentucky in 1769.

Now mind you this was west of the line
King Charles stated in his proclamation
that settlers would not cross.

When the Revolutionary War
started, Daniel served as a militia officer.

In Kentucky the war was fought primarily
between the American settlers
and the British- allied Native Americans.

After the war,
Daniel Boone fought in one more war.

The Blue Licks War was

between the settlers and Shawnee

who were still fighting to get their land back.

Shawnee warriors captured
Daniel Boone in 1778.

He managed to escape to alert
Boonesborough of the Shawnee attack.

Although outnumbered by the Shawnees,
Boonesborough was saved.

Following the Revolutionary War,
a group of forty eight men,
became the first Americans to
enter the Northwest Territory.

The Northwest Territory

at that time was not out West

like we know of today.

They established the first
American settlement under the 
new United States of America
in Marietta, Ohio.

The Northwest Territory
at this time was the following states.

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois



Wisconsin, Michigan

 Northeast Minnesota.

Further advancement into the frontier
also involved claiming lands
owned by the Native Americans.

Since I live in Michigan,
if living in the late 1700's
I would have move out West.

Mind boggling for me.

Any hoot,
hope you enjoyed this lastest Colonial story.

Today I will be working from home.
Dinner will be Pepper Steak over rice.

The weekend will find me painting
my rabbit and finishing up a few mini
hooking items that will go with my snowmen.

Have a wonderful last weekend of November
my friends!

1763 Blessings To All!
Janice

Santa Came Early

Yes he did!

Hello my friends!

Santa came early this year for me.

Back in July...TE HE

I purchased this Santa for myself 

on our Anniversary trip back in July. 

This one in his boot as well.

Bob said I could purchase these as my

Christmas present.

Purchase I did.

Santa (Bob) came early. 

Thank you Honey!!!

So you are probably asking

how is Santa colonial?

Now let me tell you,

Saint Nicholas lived in 300 BC.

He would have made an appearance

in some of the colonial homes,

but not all.

It was the Dutch who brought 

Sint Nickolaas to America in which 

his nickname was Sinter Klaas.

However Sinter Klaas was not the jolly

ole elf we know of today.

Traditional gift giving in the 1700's

was for the wealthy to share something 

with someone less fortunate in the community,

or to their slaves, or both.

The recipients were not expected to give 

anything back.

Children usually did not receive gifts.

Some wealthy families would give

 their children coins for them

 to play with during the day. 

Christmas in Colonial times 

was for those who were

well-to-do to be charitable.

Wealthy folks did not give gifts to

other wealthy families. 

You were expected to give gifts 

and expect nothing in return.

Gift giving was done on 

the Twelfth Day of Christmas

which was January 6th,

not Christmas Day. 

This display was the first one I created

way back in the middle of September.

It is on a cabinet in our bedroom.

This will be my last post until after

Thanksgiving,

so I would like to wish you all

a very blessed Happy Thanksgiving!

I read this blessings and would 

like to pass it along.

In a world where so many are hungry,

may we eat food with humble hearts.

In a world where so many are lonely,

May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.

                         ~Author Unknown

Pre Thanksgiving Blessings To All!

Janice

What Did You Do Now

I so love the yummy colors of

red, white and blue.

When I was deciding what to create

for my bedroom colonial look,

I naturally thought of stockings.

Then I thought, why not make them from

antique coverlet pieces.

Now I would never cut up an antique one,

but found these pieces all on Ebay.

These pieces all had the center seam,

so all are very old indeed.

Now even though I would not cut up

an antique coverlet,

one of our vendors did...and when I found

out awhile ago that she did

I simply cringed.

It was a red and white 

early one in perfect condition.

She cut it up and made heart pillows out of it.

Although the pillows were cute,

I still would not have done that.

I have no idea if these Ebay sellers did the same,

but hoping they did not.

I worked on these at work.

This one is red with blue on one side.

While the reverse is blue with red.

Now for some history on stockings.

Stockings were an important part of Colonial dress.

They were knee high in length for both women and men.

Although everyone wore them

men's stockings were called leggings or spatterdashes.

Girls were expected to learn how to knit

stockings when they turned 4 years of age.

School was taught at home then.

Girls learned how to run a household.

Boys were taught what their fathers did.

At 14 children were considered to be an adult.

My granddaughter is 14.

I cannot even imagine her being considered

an adult...but the fact of the matter is,

back in the 1700's folks did not live as long

as we do now...so it was a normal action.

I will show you more of this Christmas area

in our bedroom in another post.

Just a tease for now.

This weekend will be one 

where I can do whatever I want to.

All I have to do is laundry and clean up.

Then I will be working on a new rabbit,

and a new snowman that I drew up.

What will the weekend find you doing?

Stocking Blessings To All!

Janice

Colonial Hat Boxes

Good morning friends!
I love to create things when I have the time.
Today I wanted to show you my latest
Christmas tree decorations
I created for one of my Colonial themed trees.

I used these two fabrics from my stash
and purchased these paper mache boxes
over at Hobby Lobby.
Two different sizes.

Using Modge Podge here are my 
colonial hat boxes.

Believe it or not hat boxes of the 1700's 
were more for men than women.
They needed hat boxes for their wigs,
and Cocked Hat Boxes for their tricorn hats.

Life for women in this time period
was just to be a mere object for men.
They had no rights.
Unless a women had to take care of a parent,
it was expected they marry before they were 20.

The average birth was 7 per woman,
and some died at childbirth while some children
died at a very young age.

Life was hard back then.

Men were taught that educating a woman
was a waste of time.
Men educated their sons.
Mothers taught their daughters  
to learn housekeeping skills,
nothing else.
If your husband died, you were expected 
to remarry within 6 months. 
There were some woman who worked
outside the home; but that was not the norm. 

Those woman who were from elite families
did own hat boxes, and clothes for the elite
were highly fashionable
 for both men and women. 

Within the family unit the man 
was the head of the family.
Only he had the right to vote,
and make any decisions for his family.
Only if the husband was away, was the wife
able to make important decisions. 

Women of the 1700's were only valued

for being a person who could take care

a man's needs.

Because men out-numbered

woman back then, if one became widowed,

all of the unmarried men in town would

flock to her door.

Widowed and unmarried men needed women
 to take care of their households, 
bear children and also take care of another
 man's children if their first wife died.

How sad to be a slave to your husband,
because in essence back then that was what
women of the 1700's were.

Someday I hope to own a real wallpaper
box from this era.
They are so hard to find and most are
way out of my price point. 

Hatbox Blessings To All!
Janice

My Most Precious Items

Oh Happy Happy day my friends.
I will be working our store today,
whilst Bob moves his dad
from an upstairs apartment
to a lower unit.
At 76 he just cannot do those
steep stairs anymore.

Before I go though,

today I want to show off 

my most precious of all items.

Today we live in a throw away society,

but back in the 1700's they built things to last.
I have a few items from the 1700's,
and here they are.

How to tell if you have a piece of 

furniture from the 1700's is by rosehead nails.

These nails are square but raised in the middle.

(see close up of my piece)

This dough box was my second piece

that I was able to purchase

made in the 1700's.

I so love the mouse hole and early red paint.

This early salter carved from one piece of wood.

This is one of three burl bowls I own.

Hand carved. 

A hand carved noggin for drinking ale.

A one piece black fruit compote.

The first piece I ever purchased

was this Windsor chair.

I purchased from a fellow antique dealer,

who has since passed.

Up close you can see the original yellow paint

from the 1700's, then a blue paint from the 1800's.

Finally the black paint from the early 1900's.

It is extremely difficult for me to find any

pieces from the 1700's.

When I usually do, I will pay the price,

as these pieces are so very precious to me.

Can you imagine these items being

around for over 300 years.

Do you think furniture from the present

will last this long?

I for one do not think it will.

Well my friends off to eat some breakfast

and off to the store I go.

Hopefully Bob will relieve me by

mid afternoon so I can come back home

and work on things.

What are your plans today?

Precious Item Blessings To All!

Janice