Some more homemade...

This Saturday was another good one. I was lucky enough to spend it with Jeremy and his Mom doing some small town holiday shopping. The small businesses around here really have some great stuff, and if you're a hobbyist, crafter or otherwise, there is something for you! (Bradley Hall, The Columns, Walker & Co. to name a few.)
After finding an AMAZING new tree-topper, among many other things, this is what my Saturday produced: another adorable homemade wreath. I found the wreath at Ben Franklin on the square, as well as the burlap. I bought the twine at Orchelin's, the red fabric at The Columns, and the "farmhouse Christmas" and stars at Bradley Hall.  The Buttons I had just laying around.

Pin It

A very simple project, with some very simple items. It isn't large, about medium size I would say, and I think this one might just be fore sale for the right price. I have been wanting to sell some of my projects just because I don't have space for all of them. I love them all (well most of them....some not as much as others, but for the most part, yeah, most of them.) I have thought about entering craft fairs but I just don't have the time right now. Maybe a little later on in the year!

Flannel-y Traditions

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
I know I did! I just love spending the holidays with family.....and great food too of course.
The family traditions that are both old and new are my favorite part of the holiday season. Jeremy and I starting new ones with our tiny family, as well as being able to participate with the ones that have been handed down through the generations. Some are old heart warmers, like the reading of "The Night Before Christmas" every Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house growing up. Or the saying of grace before a big Thanksgiving meal. These are ones that will be unchanged throughout the years, and that we might carry into our own families as we grow. Then there are the new ones that arise as the "kids" grow older. One in particular with the Bratz family has become a semi-joke, but more and more family members are catching on. Jeremy's cousin Sawyer started wearing flannel shirts to Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers, (the exact context of the joke, I don't recall.) and it has spread to more of the family. It is funny to see more and more people showing up in flannel shirts every birthday or holiday. Like I said, its kind of a running joke, but its entertaining if nothing else.
I guess it is just something to be thankful for. With so much of the world being wrapped up in the material (which lets be honest, we all do at some point) it is refreshing to be able to laugh at things like this with family.
So hold on to your traditions; old and new. They are what so often wind up shaping families. I never think of my childhood Christmas memories with out one of the uncles reading that famous story, or watching Christmas Vacation with my Mom and Dad before opening gifts at home. Driving around looking at all of the lights with my Dad every year on Christmas, to always find that Santa had come when we got home. Even some of the different foods that were at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner every year are so closely tied to our memories. So many of these traditions will sadly die out as we become older, and start our own families. But its the ones that we carry on that will keep family that lives hours away, or maybe just gone, close and in our hearts every year.
So as the holiday season progresses, and we find ourselves stressing over what to buy, and for whom, take a second and remember the smaller things.


Yes, I do become a sap around the holidays. I'm a VERY sentimental person, and the season is just filled with good cheer, memories, tradition and hope. Therefore, the sappiness is just busting out. I can't help it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello lovelies!
With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought that I would share with you all some of the things that I am most thankful for this year. In no particular order:

Jeremy and I about 6 months in...
&I love him more everyday!

JEREMY! (even if we get on each other's nerves...this will be our 6th Holiday together....time as flown by)
My Blog (For giving me something to do, & a way to share & meet more awesome people.)
My Pets (They're the bomb-diggity)
My Health
My Family

Like I said....No particular order...
I hope you all have a wonderful (as well as hopefully delicious) Thanksgiving. I will be doing a little shopping, on Friday, and therefore will need all the strength I can get.... Mmmmmmm.....Turkey......
Anyways, I am getting off track.
Remember to be thankful for what you DO have, rather than get caught up with what you DON'T. Find the joy in the little things, and you will be happier for it.
Gobble, Gobble My Loves!

A Saturday in Amish Country...

Jeremy and I got up and around today and made a little trip into Amish Country. We went to a couple different little grocery stores, and some general stores, and it got me thinking about how excited I am for the holidays! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am going to do as much homemade gift giving as I can, and so it was really neat to wander and get ideas.
However, it does seem apparent, that I am going to have to order some things online so that I am able to make a few of the gifts that I want. It is too bad that the nearest craft store is about 2 hours away. I have a couple options here where I live, but not a ton, and generally, I have to go to a few different places to get what I need. Alas, I shall be making a supplies trip sooner rather than later.
What are y'all doing for the holidays? I am hoping to see more homemade things floating around! It is so much more meaningful, and sitting down and making something can be so rewarding!
Speaking of making something....I sat down to do a window paint today, and wound up hating it! Every once in a while I will be making something, and when I am done, I don't like it at all. The nice thing about window painting is that I can just scrape it off and start new another day.  So that is what I shall do.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

A forgotten project...

This little green corner shelf was given to me by my mother. (I realize this photo is horribly small, but it is the only one that I had of it "before".) It is hunter green, with roosters painted on the doors. Roosters. Now anyone who knows me, knows that I am scared of birds, and therefore roosters aren't really my thing...at all. So after having this green, rooster-y thing in the house for a little more than a year. I decided one day to change it into something that I enjoy looking at, and that is more my style.

So one random Saturday while Jeremy went to watch football with the boys, I turned the game on here at the house, and went to work. I busted out the white paint, and started in on what I thought would be an all day project. I really expected to have to put coat after coat of white over the green, but to my surprise, (thankfully) it only took about two coats of white to hide the old, less attractive shade of green. Once I had my new white base, I redecorated the pulls on the doors, and embellished them a little differently. Then out came the sand block and I went to work sanding edges to make it look a little more "rustic". I was quite happy with how it turned out, and Jeremy was even impressed! (He didn't think it would work out, that the green would be too hard to cover.....He of little faith... ;) I sure showed him!) What do you think?!

Guest Post!

I recently discovered a great talent through guest posting on a friend's blog. (To see my guest post, click here.) Cheryl's Sewing does so many different things, but the aprons are SO adorable! Check out her blog as well!





I was so excited when I got a message for The Hobbyist On Drake wanting me to do a guest post! I said, "Sure! I would love to." I sew almost every night, I love to make new items and get special orders. 

 I would have to say aprons are my speciality right now, although in the Summer I was really busy making pillowcase dresses. Some of them were so cute. I hope that some day I will get enough sewing and I can quit my day job. Everyone can check me out on facebook.

Tinkering....

It seems that I cannot stop tinkering with my blog. It has become a sick addiction and I just wanted to let you all know that it will probably continue to change. I love messing with the different layouts, and because of that, things will probably change quite often. I'm sorry. I can't help myself.

Fa La La La La.....

                                                      Good Evening!

This afternoon, Jeremy and I were out and about getting various things done and I decided that I wanted to do a ball wreath. I always see other ones and love them, and have been wanting to make one for a long time, so I finally got the stuff to do it. I got it all at Wal-Mart because it was easy......and cheap. Of course I had to scour the store for a foam wreath. I was a little disappointed that the one we found was so small (Go big or go home, I always say...) but of course it was the only one left, so I had to take what I could get. The ornaments were the easiest pick, a couple containers for less than $5 each...I'll take it! I got packages of ornaments with 30 balls in each. When I was just getting supplies, I thought this would be PLENTY. I found out looks can be deceiving. I had enough but more would have been better. However, I can always add to it if I decide that I need to. 

Once I had all of my supplies: 60 ball ornaments, a foam wreath, and Sally heating up on the side; I went to work. Very, very simple. Just glue the balls to the wreath...Yep, that's it.

Even though it could use a few more balls, I think it turned out pretty cute, what do you think?!

Nothing a coat of paint can't spruce up!

Hello again! 

Recently, my amazing Jeremy brought home a few great treasures for me. Where he works they have a sort of Buy, Sell, and Trade throughout the company where people put their stuff up for sale. Things like cars, bikes, toys, random household items, to even homes themselves. We have never really found anything that we loved and were actually able to bring home until the other day when a nice lady was getting rid of some old crates. Nothing special, just old, kind of rickety crates. It was a set of two for just ten bucks, so being the bestest of the best, he came home with them. So obviously since then, I have been just abuzz with ideas. 

Last night I actually undertook the project of painting one. Once I started, I realized that it was gonna take a while. (2 hours or so actually.) It is hard to see, but these crates are made Lincoln log style, and therefore you have to paint ALL SIDES of each slat. It was a test of my crafting endurance for sure. However, once finished, it looked much better. Then I grabbed Sally (my glue gun...for a background on THAT, check out my "products" post.) and embellished a little more on it. I think it is simply adorable, and for sure something to have all year round. I can't decide what exactly to put in it yet. Maybe my Country Living subscription or something.....

Finally a little more organized, and a new project too!

Hello Readers!

My apologies for the recent neglect. I am a very busy and important adult.....This is what I tell myself anyways...

Recently I posted about what craft products I use, and was appalled when I realized how UN-organized I was and how poorly I treated them. So you will be proud of me to see that my paints are organized, and my stencils and brushes too.... I am not a total slob.   I do have some more paints, as well as some crafting scissors that unfortunately are not photographed. I had seen on someone else's blog (forgive me, I can't remember which one, or I would have a link for you.)  the idea for the paints! I already had this great Spring Grove Bottling carrier from waaaaay back when that worked perfectly! So happy with it! (So much easier to find stuff too!)

Once I finally had everything organized, I really wanted to do a project. Nothing big this time, just something simple, and quick. I had a smaller piece of barn board left over from our wedding actually, so I grabbed it, and some of my letters. I found these letters at a great place in my hometown of Spring Grove, Minnesota called The Back Porch. Its a GREAT little primitives shop owned by Tammy Stadtler, which is also oddly enough, right across the street from the pop factory. If you're ever in the area, check it out! Super cute stuff, REALLY awesome prices! 

Anyways.....I grabbed these things and went to work. I thought it turned out pretty cute! What do you think?!  Just something small, and Christmas-y...I like it....I hope you do too!

CAKEBALLS!

Hey-Oh, Readers!

Since we just celebrated Jeremy's 24th Birthday yesterday, I thought that I would share with you my very popular (and for good reason too) cakeball (also known as cake pops) recipe. However, I must give credit where it is due. Alas, I did not come up this this entirely on my own. My good friend Stacy Arnold gave me the base recipe, and I only just added some goodies to make them a homerun. So if you are so lucky to try one of mine, you owe Stacy some gratitude as well. 

Here we go:

You'll need the following:

1 cake mix (any flavor)

1/2 can of can frosting (any flavor)

1 package of chocolate chips (you can use any kind; white, semi-sweet etc. but I prefer dark chocolate because it helps the finished product not be overly sweet.)

*I also add in some chopped cookies or candy for texture and flavor

*Sprinkles to make them adorable

You start with a regular cake mix. You can use white, yellow, chocolate, funfetti, whatever floats your boat. But you will cook this exactly as it is instructed on the box.  When it is done, let it cool through. You don't want to be working with hot, or really even warm cake. You have to be a little patient...

Once the cake is thoroughly cooled off, crumble it into a large mixing bowl. (This is where I add the cookie or candy crumbles too....makes for a little better texture, and fun flavor.) Once you have crumbled your cake and added your treats, add half a can of frosting and mix it all up. (You might want to do this gradually so that you don't over frost them, or it becomes "soupy")

Now that you have mixed everything up, you're ready to make them into balls. I use a medium sized pampered chef cookie scoop for this. It keeps everything consistent in size, and keeps my hands clean.  Drop them on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper so they don't stick.

After this step, I will put them in the freezer so that they can set up a little more while I melt the chocolate chips on a double boiler. As I said before, I use dark chocolate to cut the sweetness, but that is up to you. Once you have your chocolate melted, you are ready to coat your cakeballs in it. I just dip the cake into the chocolate then let the excess run off of the sides. This can be very tedious, so you have been warned. Once all the extra chocolate has run off, I place the cake back on the wax papered cookie sheet. While the chocolate is still warm, I add crumbled cookies, candy, or sprinkles. (Often I will do a couple different cookies added into the balls, so this is also a good way to know what kind is what.) 

Once I have chocolate coated all of the cakeballs, I then refreeze them so the chocolate will stiffen.  This makes them a little bit easier to eat. 

The finished product is so incredibly tasty, I can't even tell you, so I will quote my friend Coty Gearin, "So @#$%ing good OMG I want more".

 I would have to agree. They are pretty dang tasty. Also, very cute. And addicting. Go make some NOW!

The Season of Thanks....

Greetings!

Halloween has wrapped up (sadface) and now it is on to another holiday, followed by another, and then yet another. I adore this time of year. Mostly because it is kind of hard to find someone in a growly (I might have made that word up, but I like the descriptiveness of it.) mood. It seams as if everyone, even if only temporarily, is in a cheerful mood. Their outlook on life is a little less bleak because after the excitement and fun of Halloween is over, it turns to the Thanksgiving holiday. Lets be honest, it's pretty much an ignored holiday, popular only for turkey and ridiculous shopping the following day. Perhaps Thanksgiving is kind of Christmas' less attractive, friendless sister.  However, the time right after Halloween is prime Thanksgiving time. It is right before people go into crazy Christmas mode (myself included) with all of the shopping and decorating. It is a small window of opportunity that Thanksgiving has to really be the star. But its there... all over facebook people are giving thanks in their status updates, letting us know how much they love their families and friends, and as this draws on and we are struggling to find reasons that aren't completely shallow for being thankful, the statuses will start saying things like, "I am thankful that Christmas is almost here." (You can only be thankful for things that aren't actual objects so many times, and there is like twenty-something days left 'til Turkey Day.) Then just like that, that aforementioned window slams shut. So I guess what I am saying is that I am making an effort to give Thanksgiving it's due...............Even if they don't have an awesome mascot like Santa, or Rudolph, or Jesus. (yes folks, no disrespect by referring to our savior as a "mascot" but he kind of is...no Jesus, no Christmas...) I mean, Easter has a Bunny, St. Patrick's Day has Leprechauns, the 4th of July even has Uncle Sam. All I am saying is that Thanksgiving also needs to help itself. 

You can't tell me this looks fun....this poor kid looks terrified!

A turkey? Really? Turkeys (yes 'turkeys' is correct, it looked funny to me too.) are scary! If you don't think so, get chased by one.....or ten, and report back to me....anyways, I am getting off topic. In short, I like to represent for Thanksgiving for the same one, to two week time frame like everyone else, but then I am ready to move on to the sparkle and excitement that is Christmas. So this is me making an effort to remind people to be thankful for their families, friends, pets, toys, books, games, and that it is almost Christmas and give Thanksgiving the respect it deserves. Even if it is a little bit less than Christmas. ;)