Vintage Vessels & Winter Blooms!

I really miss my yard flowers this time of year but I can see 

no good reason to fore go having fresh greens and blossoms inside during winter. You don't have to have  your own greenhouse or access to an evergreen forest to brighten your tables and bring some cheer to all of the rooms in your home.

Without access to local, seasonal blooms the next best thing is to shop your local florist, online florist or supermarket for fresh flowers and winter greens. I picked up some individual bunches of berries, evergreen, holly branches and flowers at my nearby Trader Joe's before Christmas and made a fresh arrangement to place in one of my favorite vintage milk glass vases.  

It's still going strong minus the holly branches. 

 The website Collectors Weekly offers some history as well as images of antique and vintage milk glass.

What sorts of Vintage Vessels  do you have around the house and how do you put them to good use during the bare winter season?

 

Across the Pond with Susan Branch...What are YOU reading right now?

Dear friends,

I hope this note finds you all feeling well rested and content. I've not blogged a single word since Christmas Eve with good reason! I've been carried away to the English Countryside with Author Susan Branch and her sweet husband Joe ( of Maratha's Vineyard)!  We had a joyous Christmas here at home with family and ever since I've been living in my jammies, baking cookies and curling up with my new book Susan Branch Falling in love with the English Countryside at every opportunity. I followed her blog off and on while she and Joe were traveling last spring/summer ( by way of the Queen Mary 11 ) too and from England but having the book in my hand while I was snuggled up in bed reading with a cup of hot tea on my bedside table was the only way to go as an armchair traveler in my book! See, I always by myself a new book for Christmas just for this purpose. It's my way of backing off the Internet highway just long enough to re FUEL and  re FRESH for the coming NEW year!

Last winter I devoured garden book after garden book but this year I felt like an adventure!  To say I've always wanted to go to England is an understatement... It's number 2 on my bucket list, right after I visit my number 1 dream destination, MaryJanesFarm, in Idaho!

Susan had me at the title, but her daily diary starts with how her romance with Joe began and they both shared the same fascination with the idea of traveling by ship to England. The two stories go hand in hand and make for a delightful ( informational and inspirational ) getaway, especially this time of year... I've already been across the pond and back and I'm ready to start from page one all over again! Besides, I'd rather be home reading than shopping clearance racks any ole day!

 You can check out Susan's blog here! 

My garden boots are off to those of you who are still setting 2013 on fire with your fantastic blog posts, projects, recipes and homesteading wisdom.

This farmgirl is take 'n  it easy. That's how fun things get cookin' around here! How do ya like my new jammies and " muck " boots? The "girls" love them cuz they can see me com a mile away! 

What are you reading right now?

Merry Christmas Eve

 

 Dear friends, 

Wishing you a happy Christmas with those you hold dear and

a prosperous and CREATIVE new year! 

Peace be with you all! 

Much love,

Deb and family 

Farmgirl Friday CHRISTMAS Blog Hop # 138

Dear friends, Happy Farmgirl Friday Christmas! I'm taking a break from holiday wrapping and other holiday elf like activities so we can link up and share some holiday cheer over the next few days before Christmas. If you're like me, you still have a few things to do and Christmas is never complete without putting the last little details on your meal plan and getting your shopping done.

Then you can kick back and relax while visiting your favorite blogs from the hop! 

Heidi, Dolly, Debbie and I want to thank you for linking up every week. Each and every one of you brings something unique and special to our weekly hop!

 I swear I'm going to make my first loaf of homemade bread this year! I say it every year and this time, I'm gonna do it! REALLY, I am! Did you know your Farmgirl Friday Kitchen Pinterest Board has 859 followers? Keep those recipes coming!!!

I love red and black anything. Even Christmas ornaments! The Chick n' Coop shared the cutest DIY Barnyard Style ornaments made form the simplest supplies list ever. Thank you for the inspiration Farmlife Chick!

   What NEW and CREATIVE things will YOU try on your homestead in 2014! What did last year teach you in your homesteading endeavors. These are the things we want to hear about when we meet again for the FIRST Farmgirl Friday in January 2014! 

NO LINK UP NEXT WEEK  

But this week's on! 

 Time to link up for your weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!

Your Farmgirl Friday Hostess

Heidi of My Simple Country Living 
and White Wolf Summit Farmgirl Blog
Dolly of Hibiscus House and Dolly is Cooking
Debbie of Farmgirl Unleashed 
and me of course!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

2). Leave your entry in the  Linky tools space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.

3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!

4.) Enter up to three entries per hop! 

 DON'T BE SHY~  

Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop! If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too! 

As always, thank you for your continued participation! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! See you on the hop! 

PS. This is a blog hop, so please share it with your friends by copying the code at the bottom of this post and including it into your weekly entry!

 I'm crafting up more Christmas over on the Beach Farmgirl Blog... Come on by! 

Vintage Cookie Cutter Love

 Good Monday Morning friends! I hope you all weathered the snow storms this weekend. I personally loved watching the white fluffy stuff fall from the sky out my kitchen window while I was snug and warm inside and was extra grateful that we didn't lose power!  It gave me time to get  these adorable cookie cutters uploaded to my Etsy Shop !

I've always loved vintage cookie cutters and I came across a lot of them recently that I figured would be perfect for holiday baking season. Who doesn't remember baking with these as a young girl? I remember seeing them at my grandmothers house and my mother in law still has some floating around in her utensil drawer.

These are most likely date from the 1930's due to the hand painted bullet handles.

Elephants, chickens, and other animal shapes are common for this time period also!  

 These Shamrock ( or clover )  and diamond shaped cutters were most likely used for cutting sandwiches for bridge parties or a ladies social gathering " back in the day "!

Stars are appropriate anytime in my book!  

but when would you want an axe shaped cookie?

On your homestead of course!  Tell, me! Do you collect vintage or antique cookie cutters? What memories do you associate with them? I think they'd make adorable Christmas ornaments on a little kitchen Christmas Tree!


 

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 137 & Giveaway Winner!!!

 

Wow, can you believe we are just 12 days away from Christmas? We are in the spirit of giving on the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop! Today we announce the winner's who entered to win a ONE YEAR subscription to my all time favorite magazine, MaryJanesFarm! Each hostess of this hop chose a winner from the comments section of their blog. 

Let's get right to it! A big thank you to all who entered!

Congratulations to Daisy of Maple Hill Farm Blog! Daisy, send me an email with your address and I'll get your subscription on order asap!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,  the links you all share during the holidays. Your creativity and farmgirl spirit shines EXTRA bright this time of year! 

Time to link up for your weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!

Your Farmgirl Friday Hostess

Heidi of My Simple Country Living 
and White Wolf Summit Farmgirl Blog
Dolly of Hibiscus House and Dolly is Cooking
Debbie of Farmgirl Unleashed 
and me of course!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

2). Leave your entry in the  Linky tools space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.

3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!

4.) Enter up to three entries per hop! 

 DON'T BE SHY~  

Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop! If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too! 

As always, thank you for your continued participation! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! See you on the hop! 

PS. This is a blog hop, so please share it with your friends by copying the code at the bottom of this post and including it into your weekly entry!

Chicken Wire Christmas Tree

 

Whew! I just got back from Open House at the Antique Mall and I'm pooped! It was loads of fun to see how everyone " dressed " their booths for the holidays! Naturally, I had to get in on the action too.I wanted to do something a little less traditional in my booth. I wanted a FRESH vintage vibe so I made a Christmas Tree out of chicken wire and decorated it with burlap garland, vintage lace, vintage postcards, and holiday hankies! 

 I used wooden clothespins to " hang"  the post cards and hankies to the wire. 

Isn't this Poinsettia hankie lovely? It's from my mother in law's collection.

  I made the top out of a small bunch of dried Hydrangeas from my garden and more burlap and lace! It came together sort of willy- nilly but I think it works!

This part of the post won't make it into Artful Blogging Magazine but I wanted you to see that I used a tomato cage for the inside structure of the tree. I wrapped the chicken wire around the tomato cage by laying the cage on it's side and rolling the wire around the cage until it was entirely covered. Because the shape of the cage isn't the same width from top to bottom I had some spots with overlapped wire which I cut to size with wire cutters. To attach the pieces I used the needle nose pliers and my fingers to pinch it all together. Kind of a crude tutorial I know, but it's not fine art folks!

It was a fun project and something I can continue to use for display in my booth as the seasons change.

 And, if you didn't catch my Beach Farmgirl Blog this week I'm sharing my Christmas Holiday Mason Jar Project with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!

 Here's to " making" a wonderful Christmas!

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 136 PLUS a HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY

 

Welcome back to the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop! Heidi, Dolly, Debbie and I missed you all last week and we're happy to be back with a festive HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!

 You KNOW we love our MaryJane! She is the inspiration behind this little ole blog hop of ours!

 Each one of us will be giving away a ONE YEAR subscription to MARYJANESFARM magazine! That means FOUR lucky winners will be the happy recipients of 6 issues of farmgirl goodness next year!

 Never has there been a magazine quite like hers. It's really a magazine for farmgirls at heart, far and wide, who are passionate about the food they eat and grow, living a creative life, and caring for each other.

 I'm proud to be sister # 1199 in the Farmgirl Sisterhood and a contributing writer to her fabulous publication. MaryJanesFarm is so much more than a magazine. It's a way of life.

 To Enter simply leave one comment on the Farmgirl hostess blog of your choice and if you have time, pop over and " like " MaryJanesFarm FACEBOOK page so you can keep up with her weekly recipes, farmgirl features and all of the farmgirl blogs including MaryJane's Raising Jane Journal! 

Then get right back here to enter this weeks hop! We've got lots to catch up on! 

If you aren't already following us please click that follow button and join the fun!

Your Farmgirl Friday Hostess

Heidi of My Simple Country Living 
and White Wolf Summit Farmgirl Blog
Dolly of Hibiscus House and Dolly is Cooking
Debbie of Farmgirl Unleashed 
and me of course!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

2). Leave your entry in the  Linky tools space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.

3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!

4.) Enter up to three entries per hop! 

 DON'T BE SHY~  

Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop! If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too! 

As always, thank you for your continued participation! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! See you on the hop! 

PS. This is a blog hop, so please share it with your friends by copying the code at the bottom of this post and including it into your weekly entry!

 

Frosted Over

Dear friends,
Happy December and all things holidayish! 
Brr............... It's cold here in the Northeast this morning...! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend. We enjoyed lots of good food, time with family and friends and some much needed down time, hence my absence in the blogisphere for the last several days! Are you gearing up for Christmas? I'll admit, I'm feeling festive this year already! I've been busy gathering ( and up-cycling ) vintage goodies for an OPEN HOUSE at  Burlap and Bling ( my brick and mortar shop ) this weekend PLUS stocking my online  Shop ( My Vintage Homestead ) which is getting me in the mood to decorate and celebrate! I've got some wonderfully FUN ( and inventive ) things to show you but you'll have to wait as I'm not quite finished elving!
In the meantime enjoy this little photo journey of the garden frosted over!

 While the garden sleeps under a blanket of frozen leaves, mulch and twigs dreams of next years bounty dance in my head...

 But, for now, it's back to pricing items, taking photos and at some point today I must get to the grocery store. The Thanksgiving leftovers are all gone and the teens are hungry!

I'll see you on Friday when we resume our weekly Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop!