Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 144 and so much MORE!

 

Happy Farmgirl Friday sisters ( and brothers )! Welcome new bloggers! Last week we had 71 amazing entries on the hop PLUS, dozens of pics and posts on your Farmgirl Chit-Chat Facebook group!  Saddle up and mosey on over to join! This week Heidi hosted an all day Scavenger hunt providing 6 fun farmgirl clue's to get our members to share more about themselves. It was loads of farmgirl fun! Today I'm hosting a Cock of the Walk Rooster Modeling Contest, so bring your best looking guys on over and let them Strut their Stuff! There is a prize for the winner!

And, that's not all... There's still time to enter my Waggin' Delights Artisans Dog Treats Giveaway!

Oh yeah! As if that's not enough to keep us all busy, I published my first post on the Community Chickens Blog.  

An amazing community for chicken keepers of all kinds!

 Whew doggies, we've all been busy farmgirls this week! But, we wouldn't have it any other way now would we? 

  Now it's time to link up for MORE farmgirl soul-food. 

Heidi, Dolly, Debbie and I love to see what you're up to from week to week so let's get going!

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!

You don't have to live on a farm to join this hop!

 Farmgirl is a Condition of the Heart~ MaryJaneButters 

Brag a little ( or a lot ) about your farmgirl talents! 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! 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! 

 Enter up to three entries per hop!

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 143

 

Happy Farmgirl Friday!  Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #143. 143 weeks sure sounds like a long time but whose counting?  We can't wait to meet here every week so we can catch up with our farmgirl blogging friends from the far corners of the world. This time of year is always exciting.  As the days grow lighter and longer there's lots of seed talk, which is basically the same thing as pillow talk to a farmgirl! Whisper sweet nothings in my ear about GMO FREE, heirloom and organic seeds of any kind and my heart starts to race, my pupils dilate and I begin fantasizing about plowing up some poor unsuspecting patch of lawn before the ground even has a chance to thaw out!

Before we get hopping let's welcome new bloggers Wendy Miller of the blog The Crafty Cultivator
 and Crochet Hooks a mother and daughter are making duo!

  Now it's time to link up for your weekly dose of farmgirl soul-food. 

Heidi, Dolly, Debbie and I love to see what you're up to from week to week so let's get going!

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!

You don't have to live on a farm to join this hop!

 Farmgirl is a Condition of the Heart~ MaryJaneButters 

Brag a little ( or a lot ) about your farmgirl talents! 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! 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! 

 Enter up to three entries per hop!

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 141

 

 Happy Farmgirl Friday everyone! Welcome back to the finest farmgirl soul food linkup going! 

Are you ready to dig in to this weeks entries? I sure am! I don't know about you but now the the holiday decorations are down and put away I'm beginning to notice several of the left over projects that got put on hold when fall arrived. Most of mine involve giving some walls and rooms a fresh coat of paint and revamping some pieces of furniture in my bedroom and dining room. 

Some of our clever and crafty farmgirls got me feeling inspired to get going! If you didn't get by to Heaven's Walk blog be sure to stop back there this week and check out her fabulous tutorial on making a prairie shutter from scratch. Her beautiful home is filled with charming decor sure to keep you coming back for more..

If this is what heaven looks like, I'm in! Also, check out The Chick n' Coop for her FRUGAL farmhouse COUNTRY- FIDE bathroom re-DO! Here's a peak at the fabric she chose!

Purty, purty...

Heidi, Dolly, Debbie and I love to see what you're up to from week to week so let's get going!

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!

You don't have to live on a farm to join this hop!

 Farmgirl is a Condition of the Heart~ MaryJaneButters 

Brag a little ( or a lot ) about your farmgirl talents! 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! 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! 
Finally, 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!

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! 

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 135

Dandelion House Fall Leaf Arrangement

Dear friends, Welcome back to another week of the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop! 

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? If your laggin' in the preppin and plannin' you're in the right place! 

 You can bet your bottom dollar that The FRUGAL Farmgirl/Boy Friday Community of blogger's will have festive fall decorating crafts, yummy down-home recipes, and simple tips for doing it all on a budget! 

 Last weeks entries provided an entire Thanksgiving menu from the roasted Turkey all the way down to delicious deserts! It was quite a spread! Here are a few that got my mouth waterin'!

 Katie of Maple Grove shared the back story on how the Turkey got to be the main attraction for America's traditional Thanksgiving Dinner alongside her tips for how to Brine and Roast a Turkey and make perfect gravy from scratch! 

Candy C shared her homemade Oatmeal Honey Wheat Bread recipe. Perfect for Thanksgiving dinner and day after turkey sandwiches! Better make a few loaves!

City Boy Hens shared his recipe for Thanksgiving Harvest Apple Cake! Love the maple leaf stencil!

It's not all about the food during the holiday season... Creating Beauty, comfort and a peaceful home free of stress and negativity for your loved ones is paramount to successful holiday season. Not that I need to tell any of you that. But, I've got a few ideas of my own on the subject!

Here's a little teaser for ya! I've finished up a few things for Grandmas Room and I'm sharing it over at the MJF BEACH Farmgirl Blog!

We won't be hopping again until the day after Thanksgiving.

Heidi, Dolly, Debbie and I  are grateful for all you share with us each week and we can't wait to see what you have up your sleeves this week! 

Happy Thanksgiving Farmgirls and BOYS!

We love you! 

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!

New/Old Embroidered Pillow

Howdy friends! I hope you are all doing well on this Sunday afternoon. It's pouring here in New England and I've got the dryer going full blast today trying my best to catch up from a busy week.

 I don't usually post on Sundays, but I'm so excited about how this pillow turned out I couldn't wait until next week to share it!

This pillow was created from three separate vintage pillow cases. They came in a ' lot ' of vintage linens that I bought off of  EBay and were never actually finished with a crochet or lace hem which left them in perfect " UN-used condition ". Someone really spent some time on the embroidery and I just love how each design SCREAMS SPRING!

Add caption

 After cutting the decorated edges off of the pillow cases I sewed them together to form one piece.
Then I added strips of left over pillow case material on either side of the three panels to make a square measuring 21 1/2 inches x 21 1/2 inces.
I used the remainder of one pillow case for the back to complete the pillow.

 I suppose I could have finished the edges and put them to use as pillow cases, but I just loved how the three patterns look together so I made a 20 x 20 pillow to add to my booth space in the Antique Mall.

Maybe you have some embroidered pillow cases tucked away in your linen closet or under the bed someplace that could use a little make over too? Often times the case portion of vintage pillow cases has yellowed due to age or over use but the embroidered edges remain beautiful. It's such a shame to give your vintage linens a life sentence of being packed away.  Why not re- purpose them into pillows, edges for tote bags or add them to NEW pillow cases to be enjoyed for many more years to come?

I hope you're all having a nice easy Sunday afternoon too! 

Now, get to rummaging...And re purpose something lovely!

I've seen you do it! 

See more  of my up cycled vintage linen pillows here and here. 

I'm sharing with Dolly's Designs Creative Blog Hop !

Feedsack Pillows

My name is Deborah Jean and I'm a feedsackaholic...There, I said it!

What could be more fun than handling fabric covered in flowers in late winter? I'm starving for all the colors of my yard flowers right about now but the vintage feedsack fabric I've been gathering for making pillows is feeding my appetite for the bold and brilliant colors of a summertime garden at it's  peak! Instead of getting my hands dirty in garden soil I've been humming along with my grandmothers sewing machine making more VINTAGE pillows for my booth at the Antique Mall.

Working with these homespun fabrics also got my detective juices going.

I found a great site with some feedsack history.

Sometime in the 1920's, an enterprising manufacturer of cloth bags hit upon an interesting idea - maybe he could sell more sacks if they were decorated to be more desirable for the farmer's wife. And the era of the printed feedsack began. No longer just beige muslin, with advertising for the feed company, now sacks began to appear in a wide variety of popular colors and prints. And paper labels were applied, like the one pictured above, so that the fabric could be reused without the advertising. Sharons Antiques

Feedsack fabric has been used for making doll clothes, P.J's, dresses, aprons, quilts, hand towels, curtains and more by clever farmwives over the years. I bet today's clever farmwives can come up with many more uses for these beautiful fabrics of yesteryear. It's also highly collectable and desirable to fabric-aholics. I would love any resources you have for these lovely pieces of the past! 

No pattern necessary! 

• measure and cut your fabric in to a 22 x 22 square.
• turn fabric inside out and sew three sides together with a 1 inch seem allowance.
• leave a large enough opening to insert your pillow form.
• turn fabric right side out and insert pillow.
• pin opening together and sew it closed by hand or with your machine. 

Up-cycled feedsack fabric makes adorable cafe' curtains, valances, aprons, tote bags, framed artwork and of course pillows! 

This suburban farmwife is having more fun whipping up these beautiful pillows... The feedsack cloth is soft to the touch but sturdy enough for accent pillows on an over stuffed chair, tossed on the bed for a bit of vintage charm or just simply propped up on your favorite side chair in the kitchen to admire and enjoy all day long! I've got a few more on the work table and more feedsack fabric on the way which I'll post soon PLUS a beautiful up cycled pillow created from embroidered pillow case edges.

Here is another wonderful resource for vintage feedsacks.

Here's a peek!

Sharing with Tillys' Nest Down Home Blog hop today!

VINTAGE Tablecloth Pillow Tutorial

Dear friends,

 If you've been with me for a while you already know that I've been on the hunt of late to fill up my booth space at the Antique Mall in my home town. I've been gathering in vintage tablecloths, feed sacks, flour sacks and grain sacks to have on hand for making pillows. I'm especially drawn to anything with bold, colorful FLOWER ( you know me and flowers ) prints. Lucky for me, this seems to have been  ' the thing" back in the day! Today I'm sharing a simple pillow project that I whipped up using a piece of vintage table cloth fabric. If this pattern doesn't put a skip in your deep winter step I don't know what would other than maybe a trip to the Bahama's.

Don't rule out a table cloth if it has minor light staining on it. It's possible to remove some stains with a heavy duty cleaner such as  Lestoil ( my hubby told me about it) but if your tablecloth is large enough you can use it as a cutter for crafts or home decor items which is what I did with this one. I already had a 20 x 20 down filled pillow form on hand which I purchased at Ikea for 7.00 each. It's a quality pillow form and makes my old/new pillow look and feel like a luxurious modern day item with homespun appeal.

 

No pattern necessary! 

• measure and cut your fabric in to a 22 x 22 square.
• turn fabric inside out and sew three sides together with a 1 inch seem allowance.
• leave a large enough opening to insert your pillow form.
• turn fabric right side out and insert pillow.
• pin opening together and sew it closed by hand or with your machine. 

Up-cycled vintage tablecloths make adorable cafe' curtains, valances, aprons, tote bags even framed artwork! 

And, if you are lucky to find some that are in " mint " condition they make wonderful wedding gifts for your retro loving friends! 

Do you collect vintage linens? Do you UPCYCLE them ? I'd love to hear what YOU make...!

 

SIMPLE Cozy Kitchen Door Window Treatment

Dear friends,
The joys of nesting have come home to roost here at Dandelion House! Last night while listening to the wind howl ( the prelude to an all night rain storm ) I put the petal to the metal on my grandmothers sewing machine and whipped up a cozy kitchen door window treatment.

After removing the tired, dirty old mini blind I gave the door a fresh coat of paint to match the walls and got to work. I made a valance with some left over fabric from our dining room curtains  and a cute little burlap cafe curtain for the bottom half of the window.

 It's easy to make a simple valance and cafe curtain without a pattern with basic sewing skills.

Here's how I made mine~

VALANCE:

• measure the width of your window and times it by 2
• measure the length you would like it to " drop " from the curtain rod and add three inches.
• this will give you enough for a rod pocket at the top and a hem at the bottom
• this valance has a finished 11 inch drop.

Magnetic Curtain Rod for metal doors

CAFE CURTAIN:

• measure the width of your window and x it by two. This will be your fabric width.
• measure the length from top to bottom adding two inches for a rod pocket and another inch all around for hemming the sides and bottom if you are not using burlap and leaving the edges fringed like I did here.

I sewed a rod pocket on the top of the burlap and left the sides and bottom fringed. The burlap let's the natural light in but also provides a bit of privacy.

 Here it is all together... I love how it cozies up our kitchen but our daughter says it looks like I hung a potato sack on our side door which is just the look I was going for without actually using a potato sack.

 I guess that makes us both right!  What are you sewing right now?
I'm sharing my kitchen door swag with Heidi's Homemaker Hop ,Tilly's Nest Down Home Hop # 3  and the Homestead Revival Barn Hop!
 Go visit them all for more homemaking/homesteading inspiration!

Homemade Living Book Series ~ a Give Away!

With so many folks working hard at living a more sustainable lifestyle we can use all the help we can get learning the basics and how too's of Keeping Chickens, Bees, Canning and raising animals that provide us with our daily dairy needs too.
Today I'm sharing an exciting give away that Amy of Homestead Revival is doing. She's giving away the book series titled Homemade Living! Visit her blog to learn more and enter the give away.

 These books would be right at home on my book shelves and I have a hunch many of you would enjoy them too!
Have a wonderful day and good luck!

Happy GLORIOUS Autumn

It's Autumn! My absolute favorite season of the year... While I do love spring and summer, Autumn is MY season! I have an annual love affair with fall every year.

 The bright and  brilliant earth colors of fall energize me and feed my soul giving me a new appreciation for all the natural beauty of the season. Spring has it's own sense of awe inspiring wonders, and I relish the BEACH life in summer. But fall, to me anyway, is the grand finale! 

   I couldn't wait to put on my farmgirl hat and head outside to my little farm in the yard.

Come see how we have welcomed fall this year!

HOMEMADE Hummus~

Here is a healthy and easy summer appetizer my friend Pat shared with me recently! I took her word for it and prepared it myself ( photo above) and she was right...!  It is fast and easy as well as very tasty.

Dear Deb,
Here is one of my favorite summer recipes. The Hummus is a new recipe for me. I love Hummus and buy it every week at the store. I use it quite a bit for a snack with vegetables and crackers and as a condiment with sandwich wraps. I decided to try making a batch myself and I am so glad I did!

 Homemade Hummus is easy and delicious. The FRESH taste of summer is well worth the effort of opening up the blender. It was easier to make it than go to the store to buy it. I am sure this will become a regular at my house now.

 Lemon Hummus

1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans

¼ cup liquid from can of chickpeas

3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)

1 ½ tablespoons Tahini ( sesame butter )

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil


Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add ¼ cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Place in a serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus. Add a small amount (1-2  tablespoons of olive oil in the well). Garnish with parsley (optional).

*  I tossed in a Table Spoon of Pine Nuts and used them for a garnish too!
Sprinkle with Paprika or Turkish Spices...

* All of these ingredients are easy to find at your local market. Even the Tahini!
 
Just perfect for a summer get together round' the pool, beach or back yard BBQ. I find my best recipes are the ones I get from friends." 
~ Pat Smith

I agree! I love a good recipe from friends... It just makes it all the more yummy doesn't it?

Do you have a favorite EASY homemade summer appetizer?

SUMMER ROMANCE~ family style

I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs recently and I just had to share Pattys' post over

Sewingseeds4u from  Lemon Avenue Cottage  with you! Those are her flowers BTW. Her blog is wonderful and her topic for Saturday Morning inspired me to write this post ( thank you Patty ) about the many ways we love, nourish, care for and create beauty in our homes for ourselves, and our families and what a blessing it is to truly make our homes a haven for those we love...

   We've been having a little Summer Romance... family style!

Our summer splurge this year was an Elegant Garden Gazebo ( that's what it said on the outside of the box ). We have a west facing deck and in high summer it's just too darned hot to be out there during the day and after sunset, it's too buggy... We've practically been living in our " screened porch " and if it was larger I think we'd set up some beds so we could sleep outside under the stars canopy.  It's the new breakfast hangout, lunch spot, juice pop break and yes, on occasion a lap top makes an appearance for some Blog surfing. We've even played cards by candlelight!

  beauty

                                               nourish

Whether you're a working mom or a full time homemaker working on your Master's in Domestic Art's like me, we can all use a little family romance now and then...I know, sometimes your just too tired to even think about making a meal " special  " ( with loving thoughts and hands ) It's easier to just throw something together, quick and get on with the next thing. We all do it! More often than not, we rush through our daily doin's as if we have a plane to catch. Some of us do!  Having the energy to come up with something truly creative on your own can seem like a stretch at times.

 One of the easiest ways I know to add romance to any occasion is with FOOD.  The simplest of meals, can often be the best!

This Saturday night's repast was my summer version of Mexi- night. We are still in the middle of a heat wave, so instead of hot re fried beans and Mexican rice ( an Autumn and Winter Favorite)  I served chilled canned peaches, and plenty of cool fresh chopped veggie fixin's for the Taco toppings. Black olives and home made guacamole are some of our favorites when it comes to Taco night!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

MILD

1/2 Tsp chili powder

1/4  Tsp crushed red chili pepper

dash of garlic powder

dash of onion powder

a sprinkle of oregano

a dash of cumin

 Ground black pepper and a pinch of fine ground

sea salt to taste...

*This amount is just right for a 1/2 - 3/4 pound ground beef  and can be adjusted for larger servings.

 For those who like their Taco's on the spicier side... add more Crushed Red Pepper!

Homemade Guacamole

2- 3  ripe avocado's mashed

2-3 green chillies chopped

1 Tomato chopped

1/2 cup onion chopped

1 1/2 Tsp lime juice  

1/2 Tsp garlic powder

1/2 Tsp fine ground sea salt

*combine ingredients and chill for half an hour before serving.

Serve with tortea chips and as a topping for Taco's, Tostada's and Taco Salad.

If you only have one smile in you, give it to the people you love.

~Maya Angelou

I'd love to know how you romance YOUR family?