Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #206

 

 Happy Farmgirl Friday farmgirls!

The first week in September is always a whirlwind if you've got back to school or ( off to college) aged kids in the house isn't it? I always feel like I've just gotten into my summer groove and it's time to start back to school shopping already. With our youngest off to her freshmen year in a local college this year I'll have plenty of time for indoor painting projects and feathering the nest. Luckily it's not completely empty, yet but it's a comin'. Sniff, sniff.

I'm holding on to my baby AND  these last few weeks of summer because I'm still " in the flowers " as my family likes to say.  I'm even dreaming about them at night! 

Take it from this flower farmgirl,

The power of flowers is a strong and wonderful spell to be under.

This is one of my recent bridal bouquet mock-ups created with seasonal blooms from my little backyard flower farm. The combination of the soft pink of the Cafe Au Lait dahlia, deep royal purple dahlias with a mix of earthy greens and lacy dusty miller makes for an earthy, yet romantic feeling. The bride and groom are having an intimate backyard ceremony and celebration with local food, FLOWERS and music.

Tell us, are you seeing more local flowers at events and family celebrations these days? 

My farmgirl co-hostess Debbieand her sweet hubby Mike, are working in the garden and mid-way through a kitchen DIY project. Aren't they ambitious? I can't wait until it's finished. I hope she posts pics.. Hint, hint!!!

I bet your kitchens and gardens are bursting as you work hard to preserve this season harvest. 

Share it all right here with your farmgirl friends from far and wide.

 It's a three day weekend too, so have fun and be safe where ever you are.

Sewing LINKY Party! Calling all SEWING Goddesses

Do your friends call you the supreme sewing queen? Join the party!
The Sewing Party at Dandelion House!

Calling all Sewing Goddesses! 

Starting today and every Tuesday in the month of May we'll meet here each week and keep each other in stitches!

NO RULES

Share anything you've sewn with your own two hands in any category.

 Here are some examples to get your juices flowing!

Aprons, Clothes, Crafts, Curtains, Table Cloths, Runners,Tea Towels, Quilts, Home Decor Projects, DIY and more!

Plus there will be a surprise GIVEAWAY along the way!

Mother's day is days away ( May 11th)  and I just had to share this simple Made to Match apron pattern I picked up at Joanne's Fabric Store last week. It's a Kwik Sew Apron pattern for Misses, Girls, and dolls too. Spring is taking it's sweet time to warm up here in the northeast so I'm gonna do some a little inside " sewing" while I wait things to warm up outside.
I couldn't get enough of all the beautiful floral patterns available for quilting, crafting, and sewing. If my budget would have allowed I could have gotten really carried away, but, I was able to restrain myself and chose 12 different patterns for a total of 6 Misses sized aprons.
My mom is going to sew along with me. She's making three and I'm making three.
The larger pattern  in the following photos will make up the body of the apron and the smaller, contrasting print will make up the large hem on the bottom and the pocket.

 

I love this modern red, black and white colorway. It's modern, fresh and funky!

Have you noticed all the orange-y, coral-y, color in fashion and home decor lately? While I love all things faded, time worn and well loved, I am equally crazy about COLOR. This fabric makes me feel as if summer is already in full swing. I swear I could hear the bees buzzing around me when I pulled it off of the shelf at the store.

This one is just about as cheery and inspiring as it gets...It's covered in bold and encouraging sweet sayings that make you feel young and as if anything is possible! 

Who wouldn't want to be covered in that while you work? 

I can't wait to see your sewing projects!

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!

 

Burlap and Bling Lampshade Tutorial kinda/sorta

 No, it's not a hat but you could wear it on your head to a party, or at a party, or to create a party atmosphere at home if you wanted to. Or, you could just use it for the purpose it was intended for. To bring a little burlap and bling to your home decor. This is the base of the lamp/s I made the shades for! It's a vintage crystal lamp from the 1950's. They are at my booth shadeless at the sans shades at the moment but not for long! If you squint, it's easier to picture them together. Go ahead and try it. I'll wait....... See? Yeah,  not so much... anyway....

here's my attempt at a tutorial... kinda /sorta like the title says.

I started with two re-claimed bell shaped lampshades

( medium size) 

 I cut my burlap garland into 13 inch strips and applied them at an angle draping down the lampshade. Glue a corner of the garland at the top of the shade and let the remaining piece drape down and around the shade naturally. Glue it to the shade using your glue gun in a few places. Be careful not to over do the glue because you'll be able to see it through the burlap! Let the pices fall naturally around the shade and fill in the uncovered spaces with random scraps of burlap until the shade is completely covered and you like how it looks.  I tried to channel Magnolia Pearl while was making mine. I was going for that perfectly imperfect look!

Trim any edges of the burlap garland off the bottom of the shade leaving 1/4 inch at the bottom overhang so the white fabric underneath  doesn't show.

 Once your shade is covered apply your black trim to the top edge of the shade. Then apply your ribbon with bling to the top edge of the black trim. ( see below ) Arrange your large stick-on jewels randomly on the shade then glue them in place with your glue gun. Now it's time for you to clip, glue or pin your flower on.  Center it in the middle of the shade in between the bottom of the trim and the bottom of the shade.

TA DA! This was an easy fun up cycling project to do. If you don't like black you can choose any color. I think white, or ivory and lace trim would be lovely too for a classic shabby look!

 Just use your imagination and have fun with it!  

There's a ton of inspiration on pinterest to get your creative juices going!

  Supplies: 

1 or 2 bell shaped lampshades

1 roll of burlap garland ( you can find it at Michael's craft store )

large flower pin/clips of your choosing

 2 packages large stick- on jewels ( Michael's or Joannes Craft Store )

Black crafting trim 1 yard will give you plenty!

Ribbon with some sparkle

glue gun

scissors

So tell me... Hat or lampshade or both? 

Sharing with Tilly's Nest Down Home Blog Hop! 

Homemade Coffee Sign Tutorial~ GUEST POST

Dear friends, I'm so excited! Manuela from the fantastic home making blog A Cultivated Nest is here to share her easy and frugal hand painted Coffee Sign Tutorial! Manuela has made a mission out of making do with the home you have now. Her blog is choc a block full of easy, frugal decorating ideas with practical charm and that warm, homey feeling. So sit back and enjoy this wonderful tutorial sure to inspire creative ideas of your own! Take it away Manuela!

Hi, I'm Manuela from A Cultivated Nest where I blog about gardening & making the most of the home you have now. I'm so excited that Deborah Jean asked me to share a project with you all!

  I'm going to show you how I made that hand painted “Coffee” sign. If you've ever priced hand painted signs on Etsy or eBay you know they can be pretty pricey. Well, they are really easy to make! 

  You need a piece of wood that you've painted in the color of your choice - I just used some aqua craft paint that I happened to have. Flat and satin is the best finish to use for this type of project. You are going to print out the words that you want on your sign. So what I do is open Word and start playing with the different fonts and sizes.  For this sign I used the Oldgate Lane Outline font and I changed the size to 200. The word "Coffee" is printed in landscape because otherwise you wouldn't be able to fit the whole word onto a sheet of paper at this size.  I just liked the font  and  had to try several different sizes before I found the one that would work with my piece of wood.

2.To transfer your word(s) onto your sign use either graphite paper which is what I did here or cover the back of your words with artists charcoal, crayon or press really hard so that an indentation is left. I’ve used all these methods and the graphite paper (Micheal's, Hobby Lobby, art stores etc.) has been the easiest to work with.

3. Use a dull pencil or something that’s not too pointy and trace over your printed out letters. You should have your board, graphite paper and printed out words in that order.

 4. Now that your letters are transferred, all you have to do is fill them in! You can use a brush or a paint pen if you think your hand isn’t steady enough for a paint brush. 

I’ve used them both and I find I like the paint pen better - it's easier for me to trace around the letters and then fill in. But if you like using a brush, a firm angled one is easiest to use in this application. 

 After your sign is dry, you can sand it as much or as little as you want to get a distressed vintage look. I sanded the edges and over the words. You can also seal it if you're going to put it in your garden.

Using this basic technique allows you to customize your sign any way you want. Plus these make great gifts or you can keep it for yourself! 

Follow A Cultivated Nest on Pinterest too!
Sharing this post with Tillys' Net Down Home Blog Hop
and The Country Homemaker Hop! 

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 89

Happy Farmgirl Friday # 89 friends! 

 It's where we gather to flaunt our farmgirl/boy spirit every Friday no matter what! I hope you're all enjoying a little break after Christmas! We are taking it easy and dreaming up new things to do in 2013!Can't wait to share all the fun plans we have in a future post.. But, for now it's jammies and slippers time. I bet you're cooking up some wonderful things too! 

Farmgirls love anything to do with homesteading, keeping chicken's, embroidering, sewing, knitting, spinning, quilting, natural home remedies for health care and cleaning, horses, goats, cows, organic gardening and cooking, caring for their loved ones and friends and are community minded. Re-purposing and UP-cycling are high on their list of " fun things to do too! "FARMBOYS like to join in from time to time and we are glad to have'm.

  Your Farmgirl Friday Hostesses are:
Heidi of My Simple Country Living
Dolly of Hibiscus House and me of course!

You know, I get such a thrill out of hosting this blog hop because you make it so much fun! I've been paging my way through last weeks entries with my best friend and constant companion.

Here are Max's picks for last week! 

Let This Mind Be in You  shared her saggy shelves in her food pantry. This made Max a little nervous because he hates to see any food go to waste. Especially after all of the hard work that goes in to producing, cooking and canning! Any ideas for propping up these saggy shelves?

Heather of Scratch Cradle blog shared some outstanding chicken snow day images... Max  really enjoyed them too because they reminded him of his Cottage Hens in the snow too! Last but certainly not least Mindy of Purposefully Simple blog shared a fabulous paper flower tutorial for the Bloggers Unite for Cookies and Crafts for Sandy Hook. A tribute to the entire Newtown, CT. community.

Max says thank you Mindy for your generous heart and he really likes your flowers too. You didn't know he enjoys crafting did you? Wait a minute, maybe it's being crafty he enjoys? Either way, Max and I thank all of you for your wonderful entries! 

Now, it's your turn to link up for yet another, weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!

 Here are the rules for the Farmgirl/guy Blog Hop!

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!

We want to get to know you better! 
Have a great week and I'll see you on the hop! 
 Thanks to all who participate and welcome new linker- uppers!

 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!  If this is your first visit, come on back and join the hop!

Thank you all for your continued participation! I'll see you on the hop!
Love,
Deb 

PS. Don't forget about YOUR Farmgirl Friday Recipe Box on Pinterest! I'm adding new recipes each week!  It's become a terrific resource for meal planning here at Dandelion House!

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 87

Welcome friends old and new!

It's week # 87 of the ORIGINAL Farmgirl/Boy Friday Blog Hop! Thank you all for a great turnout last week!  You surprised me with 102 amazing entries! And here I thought participation might get smaller during the holiday season. From day one I've enjoyed hosting this blog hop and I want you all to know that Farmgirl/Boy Friday will continue in 2013! We have grown together in blogging friendship and I can't imagine life without you! Hey, I can get a little mushy if I want too!

  Your Farmgirl Friday Hostesses are:
Heidi of My Simple Country Living
Dolly of Hibiscus House and me of course!

 Farmgirls love anything to do with homesteading, keeping chicken's, embroidering, sewing, knitting, spinning, quilting, natural home remedies for health care and cleaning, horses, goats, cows, organic gardening and cooking, caring for their loved ones and friends and are community minded. Re-purposing and UP-cycling are high on their list of " fun things to do too! "FARMBOYS like to join in too and we are glad to have'm on board!

 HERE'S YOUR TOP THREE  FROM LAST WEEKS HOP!

 Who says you can't have a simple, sunny Christmas?

Elaine at Simple Sunny Life shared how she decked out her kitchen cupboard with red and white checked trim! This looks so cheery and festive too!

 Country Gal, Elaine of  OUR COUNTRY COVE blog shared some of her SIMPLE Christmas decorations too! Her husband who she lovingly refers to as Papa made the ornately carved wooden trees with his scroll saw. BEAUTIFUL!

Bonnie over at Bees, Birds, Berries, and Blooms reclaimed an outdated computer corner and created the most inviting quilting nook in her log cabin in the woods complete with a view of snow covered mountains.

I don't know about you, but if I had this view I think I'd add a mini frig, a comfy couch and a coffee pot to this space and I don't even quilt! You'd need a crowbar to get me out of it until garden season starts!

Well done girls! 
Now, it's your turn to link up for yet another, weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!

 Here are the rules for the Farmgirl/guy Blog Hop!

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!

We want to get to know you better! 
Have a great week and I'll see you on the hop! 
 Thanks to all who participate and welcome new linker- uppers!

 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!  If this is your first visit, come on back and join the hop!

Thank you all for your continued participation! I'll see you on the hop!
Love,
Deb 

PS. Don't forget about YOUR Farmgirl Friday Recipe Box on Pinterest! I'm adding new recipes each week!  It's become a terrific resource for meal planning here at Dandelion House!THANK YOU!

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 29

Welcome to Farmgirl Friday blog hop # 29 ! How are things going on your homesteads this week? Are you having beautiful Indian Summer weather or a mix? We've had some rain mixed with warm, sunny days too. The leaves are beginning to turn along the southern shores of New England and you can bet I'll be out with my camera snapping away so I can share some of our world famous fall beauty with my blogging friends!  Can you believe my nasturtiums are still climbing up the side of the Little Red Hen House? I haven't put my gardens to bed ( completely) for the winter yet, but I have spread a light layer of good, aged compost straight out of the chicken run on to some of my newer plantings. I continue to give shrubs a long, deep drink of water once a week which I will keep up until the first frost.

The girls have been enjoying the warm days of Indian Summer too! I happened to catch them all in the " tub " one day basking in the dirt!  Aren't they sweet?  

 I've also been busy inside puttering getting our nest ready for cooler, darker days ahead. We've added some new lighting in our hallways and a few of our rooms to keep our spirits high and our home bright. I've also been putting the finishing touches on our son's bedroom make- over and our recent kitchen remodel! I love the feeling of comfort that comes with settling in and preparing for the next season don't you? Stay tuned for more posts from " inside Dandelion House!

 This might be the season for putting our gardens to bed, but I'm planting some new dream seeds for next year and I'm excited to share them with you soon!

The stone man only has a few more slab pieces to lay down before he can " call it good" on the patio he's been building from re-claimed granite. He's been working so hard and for his first one, I think it's quite impressive... Shhhh, don't let him hear that, I'll never hear the end of it ! Wink Wink...

Now, let's see what you've all been up too!
It's time to link up for your weekly dose of Farmgirl Soulfood!

Here are the rules for the Farmgirl Friday blog hop!

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 Mr. Linky 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!

A big thank you to all of you who share such wonderful projects, recipes, farming and homesteading/making wisdom each week! And, as always, welcome new friends and subscribers!

Don't forget to leave a note on the hen house door on the way out! I'll see you on the hop and at MJF Beach Farmgirl Blog! Come check out my Fall Fodder post!