Waxed Corn

Well I tried it and discovered it's not for me.  I was super excited about it but should have known it would be too dark for my liking.  I waxed 2 pieces of indian corn and I just hate the way it took away from the natural beauty.

I'm gonna scrape that wax off.  The whole time I was cutting up the corn I kept thinking how pretty it is and how it's going to be so hard to sell it, being the fall lover that I am.  Now I'm excited that I've decided to keep it all, lol!

I gotta tell you about my little man.  Robbie smelled the cinnamon and came into the kitchen to see what I was making.  He said "Oooh, can I help you?".  He sure loves to help with anything.  Robbie was helping me dip the corn into the wax.  I told him that I didn't like it all and was disappointed in how it turned out.  He asked me if I was doing it right, ha!  He ran and got his "phone" (his sister's old phone) and googled 'how to wax corn', lol!  Pretty smart thinking for a 7 year old.  Scrolling through the phone looking for an answer, he finally gave up and asked me why I wanted it waxed anyway.  I explained to him that it was primitive looking, old looking and I like things that are old and remind me of my grandma.  The wheels were turning in his little mind, you could just see it in his facial expression.  Then he pipes up and said "You mean like that one tv show where the guys take old stuff and make it look new again, only you take new stuff and make it look old again?"  I love all my kids equally but this one really makes me smile a lot, he's always thinking.

Anyway, we decided that we liked the indian corn better natural so we got the icicles and started waxing them.  The good thing is that I will finally have some ready to sell BEFORE Christmas instead of after this year!  =]

I've decided to only sell them by a baker's dozen from now on.  These have natural twine but the rest will be stained muslin hangers, I believe I like that look the best.

I'm really contemplating doing away with Etsy.  Mainly because it's such a hassle to keep track of what sells elsewhere and in the meantime pray no one bought it off of Etsy, making sure to delete it from the shop as soon as possible.  I created a couple of new pages on my blog and will use this to list my handmades.  Also in LOTS of selling groups on Facebook.  Doing really well there but I'm in so many that I forget what I list where, lol!  Gotta find a system for tracking.

Anyway, that's all that's going on here.  My mom came to stay with us for 9 days, leaving on Labor Day.  We spent the week scrapbooking but running around a lot too.  Rich kept up the laundry and the house picked up for the most part which was sweet of him.  But still SO much to do to get caught up.  As always, I enjoyed her stay so it's been worth a hectic week.

I'm grateful for my family that supports my crafting even though they don't understand it or even try to understand it.  As long as they are there to help out and take care of other things then it doesn't bother me a bit.

Thanks for stopping by friends.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures of fall decorating soon.  Have a delightful week, be a blessing~

Crafting again...

I've had a very busy couple of weeks of crafting and it has been a blast!!  I can't even remember the last time I was able to spend so much time doing what I love.

This is what I was doing last night until the 3rd time I cut into my finger with the big knife and my son suggested I stop.  But none of the cuts bled too much, haha.  Cutting up Indian corn for waxing.  Can't wait to see how it turns out, I'll be back to share with you.  I'm not doing them extreme prim, but just enough to more or less seal it and add a little cinnamon scent.  I definitely want to be able to see their beautiful colors!

After I took a break from that, I had the family carry down 8 totes of fall... my very favorite season of all!!!!!!  Robbie had so much fun helping me unpack it all... his choice, by the way.  It was cute to hear his little 7 year old mind talk about remembering all the pieces as he unpacked them and how much he loves them, lol!  A sample of what this week holds for me...

Robbie and I went outside today and put the scarecrows out.  I just love sweet potato vine.  Glad it's cheap as I have to buy some every year.

I want to share some of what I've been working on.  I bought this cute fall fabric at JoAnn's a couple of months ago.

...and turned it into this...

These are slowly being filled with sawdust to make into little bowl tucks.  I say slowly because they are small and the fill hole is even smaller, lol!  So they have been a booger for sure.

I'm extremely happy to say that I sold my first wholesale order to our sweet friend Patti Leitzel, proprietor of THE BRICKHOUSE CRAFT SHOP.  The wonderful shop is located at 1625 State Route 209 in Millersburg, PA so if you are ever in the area please stop by and tell her and her husband Tim that I sent you.

I wish that I had taken a picture of them all before I boxed them up but I forgot.  I bought this fabric at Jo-Ann's also.  I love to look for squared off designs that I can cut apart and make into little pillows/tucks.  These ended up being 5" x 6" and I backed them with red/green homespun.  They are filled with fabric scraps and cinnamon, I love the chunky, old-fashioned feel of these!  Here is what one of them looks like.

Last Tuesday was our first day of school.  Don't let their expressions fool you.  Ryan will be a senior this year.  He's actually looking forward to it, he just hates when I take his picture.  Amariah has a fake smile hiding her fears and anxieties about entering high school as a freshman.  Robbie's expression is about right... he's not sure what to think about entering 2nd grade in a new elementary school.  They crack me up and sure make our life fun!  

Ok, time to get back to work... lots to do to get autumn rolling around here.  Looking forward to seeing your pictures of beautiful fall colors around your area and your wonderful fall decorating in your homes!  =]

I'm grateful for the three awesome kids in our lives.  As we enter the busiest time of year for us as football is in swing now with basketball soon to follow, I'm thankful that God blesses me with time to craft and create, so relaxing for me.  Thanks for stopping by, wishing you a grand week ahead~

Bakersville, home of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

I went back home to Bruner, MO and spent a few days with my parents to prepare for their 60th anniversary party.  I knew we were gonna have work ahead of us so one of my sisters, my mom, and my youngest spent a day traveling around the Seymour and Mansfield, MO area.

Seymour is a neat little town, I remember going to their Apple Festival every year back in the day.  I was on the lookout for Amish while my sister was on the lookout for geocaches, lol!  That's why we travel so well together... we both get to hunt for what we love.  

This was one of my favorite antique shops that is long gone, but the building is still there.  I always thought it was a lovely place.  It is now a neat shop called In the Root Cellar.  Denise is very sweet and made our visit enjoyable.  She had some wonderful mason jar accessories that I had to have... one of them being a reproduction zinc lid that had a cork bottom with a vintage label printed on the cork.  It is a coaster, how clever!

From there, we headed on down the road to Mansfield, MO making a stop at Bakersville, home of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Some of you may even order their seeds.  If you do, this is where they come from!  From their website: "In the rolling hills of the Missouri Ozarks stands a legacy to the passing of time. The homestead act in the mid-1800s encouraged the Rippee family to move west and settle what is reputed to be the longest-lasting homestead in Missouri. The family raised many varieties of produce, birds and animals, and were quite skilled in the crafts of the region. They traded with the Osage Indians and cared for soldiers during the Civil War in their hand-hewn log-cabin."

Robbie posing with their beautiful blue Bel Air parked by the store.

Their grounds were just as beautiful as the rest of the place if not more so.  They definitely take great pride in what they have.

But what was truly amazing was inside!  This is only the very back section of the store...

A closer view of one of the back units.  This is just the tomato section!

This is just one side of the store!  The other wall was almost as long except for the register area was at the end.  It is incredible how many seeds this store had!  I'm telling you... overwhelmed was an understatement!

Cute little shopping baskets for your convenience...

Another excerpt from their website: "Bakersville is situated on the original Rippee farm. The Baker Creek Seed Store now stands where the family’s market garden once was. In 2007, we saw the beginning of our historic town. Besides the Baker Creek Seed Store, we also have a speaker barn, restaurant, an old-time mercantile, herbal apothecary, a natural bakery, garden museum and blacksmith shop, two music barns, a Western jail, a native rock oven, a windmill and many breeds of historic poultry and livestock."  With that description, I'll share some of the pictures that I took.

Robbie shutting his Aunt Jodi in the jail before she could escape, lol!

Having more fun at the jail than we probably should have. (btw... this little guy did all the props and poses on his own with no help from us at all, he was quite the ham!)

The Jamming Barn where part of the monthly Heritage Day Festival happens, would love to come back for that sometime.

My sister Jodi and Robbie posing

Oh how I loved this place and wouldn't mind moving in.

Inside the herbal apothecary...

Inside Harriet's Mercantile (you can see my mom wasn't as amused as the rest of us, lol)...

The back side of this lovely case.  You just pull out whatever merchandise you need.  Oh, so neat!

The goats were a little too friendly.  I was trying to get pictures of them and they kept sticking their faces up in my camera, it was so funny!

This is the center grounds in the middle of it all.  The Amish were building a fountain while we were there.

It was a little hot this day and we were sweating by the time we were done but it was a delightful time.  I highly recommend that you take a road trip on down to Mansfield, Mo and stop by Bakersville to support these fine people as they "work extensively to supply free seeds to many of the world’s poorest countries, as well as here at home in school gardens and other educational projects. It is their goal to educate everyone about a better, safer food supply and fight gene-altered, Frankenfood and the companies that support it. We work with a network of about 150 small farmers, gardeners and seed growers to bring you the best selection of seeds available! Many of our varieties we sell were collected by us on our travels abroad."

Oh, and what seeds did I purchase?  None!  Instead I brought home the free 211-page catalog because after looking at seeds for 45 minutes and being completely overwhelmed, I just couldn't decide, hehe!

I'm grateful for enjoyable times like this that make our summer fun and educational at the same time.  Lots of laughs with the little guy while spending precious time with my sister and mom.  Thanks for stopping by and joining us, wish you could have been there in person with us... you would have loved it~

60 Years

July 31, 1953... so long ago.  

This post is dedicated to my parents Roy & Connie Goins as today they celebrate 60 wonderful years of marriage!  I am so proud of them for sticking it out when times *weren't so wonderful* as we all experience sometime in our life.

Gotta brag on my niece... look at the detail on their gorgeous cake!  No formal training or classes whatsoever, completely self-taught.  Mandi is very talented for sure!

We are fortunate to have many talented women in our family.  Mandi's sister Toni, another niece put together the beautiful flower arrangements.

Then a couple of other nieces, Jessica and Kristin, did the majority of the decorating.

For being a last minute idea, they did a fantastic job of putting this together with leftover supply pieces and I think it turned out to be my favorite.  Love all these black & white photos of my parents put into the shape of a "60".

A wonderful time was had by all, family and friends alike.  I'm grateful for the big, loving family that God has blessed me with.  Being 3.5 hours away from them as they are all within 20 miles of each other sure is hard sometimes and I still get homesick but I'm very thankful for precious times like this as we celebrate major milestones and make sweet memories to keep with me forever~

Graters and Sieves

Hi friends!  I hope you are enjoying your summer so far.  We have actually slowed down quite a bit and I am LOVING sleeping in and going to bed whenever I want... which is why I'm writing this post at 4:30 in the morning, lol!

LOTS had been going on... as usual.  I started a part time job in April at the historic Skelly Lodge.  It is 6 miles from my home, extremely flexible schedule, fun perks, my bosses are super sweet and they are Christians.  This picture is from the day I started in April.  I need to take one now with the humongous hydrangeas blooming, they are absolutely beautiful!

I received a little surprise last week.  Rich ordered these for me from Amazon.  I was showing a picture to him and told him that I was going to buy some with my next paycheck.  What a sweet surprise it was!  Aren't they beautiful?!?  I can't decide what I want to do with them ...craft supplies? ...jar lights for the back yard? ...flower vases?  Maybe a little of each?  What would you do with them?

Rich and I went antiquing last week and I picked up the 3 in 1 Lightning Shredder grater that's front center... perfect time for some tweaking.  I took my graters out of the crock bowl they were in and put them in this wood tote.  I like it much better, I can actually see them now.  The orange peeling paint nutmeg grinder in front belonged to my father-in-law's mother.  I love owning pieces that belonged to family!

I put my sieves in a colander beside the graters.  I think my favorite is the one with the white nylon.  I don't know if it's a homemade piece or if these were actually sold back in the day.  Either way I like it because it's different and I've never seen one before.

I also like the one that's resting on it... do you see the patch at the bottom?  So reminiscent of the old days but I could see myself doing it now days, haha!  The awesome sieve on the other side is from our sweet friend Karen of My Colonial Home.

It's been a busy last couple of months of school.  So proud of my kids so I'll be back to brag on them in another post.  Thank you my friends for sticking with me even though I've not been here lately.  I'm grateful for your friendship because not only does it give me an outlet to share and discuss antiques and primitives but because you all are some of the sweetest and neatest people I've ever known.  I thank God for allowing our paths to cross and for blessing my life with your friendships~