DIY Burlap Bunting Banners (for those who can't sew!)

Don't you just love the look of burlap bunting banners? They're so festive and perfect for practically every occasion or holiday. Now that my farmer is getting ready to hit the fields, I made a few fall-inspired banners. Here's how I did it...

 

I purchased 10 yards of burlap for around $20 from BurlapFabric.com. I also purchased jute twine from them and they were great to work with, plus the prices are extremely reasonable compared to other fabric stores.

If you want to stencil letters on your flags, I don't recommend making your own stencils, unless you have a lot more patience than I do! I tried making my own but never found a great way to do it and achieve the look I was going for. I just paid the money and bought an alphabet stencil set from juststencils.com. They weren't the cheapest, but I love them and I know they'll last forever.

On a side note, I also purchased a "Faith" stencil and made this using an old window pane. Love it!

Let's get back on track, shall we? If you're like me and cannot sew, then this tutorial is for you!

Step 1. Make a pattern. Trust me, you don't want to skip this step! Make your pattern on a piece of paper and cut it out.

Step 2. Cut squares of burlap and pin your pattern to a stack of three or four burlap squares. No tracing required, simply cut around your pattern. You'll need good fabric scissors!

Step 3. Paint your letters, if you want them, using acrylic paint. It doesn't take too long to dry.

Step 4. Hang your jute twine between two chairs and pull tight. Fold the tops of your flags down and make a crease. Fold down about a half inch.

Step 5. Plug in the hot glue gun! Place the hot glue in the folded crease and immediately place on the twine. Pinch the folded top over the twine and make sure it stays in place. Viola! You've created a sew-free beautiful burlap banner! Fabric glue works too, but it takes much longer to set and you'll need clothes pins to hold it in place while it dries.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Harvest, 2014

I had so much fun growing these weird and wonderful pumpkins this year! I visited the patch almost every other day and watched them grow. Would you believe these were all grown from saved seed? 

 

 

 

Brightly colored pumpkins

 

Here's my gourd pile. I could look at these all day and not find two exactly alike!

 

 

Pumpkin rainbow :)

Old-fashioned vanilla soap recipe

I haven't made soap as often as I would like since the girls were born, so some of my oils have been sitting around for a couple years. Time to use them up! I made a lovely batch of vanilla soap last week and it's creamy, lathery and reasonably sudsy. Here's the recipe...

Base fats and oils (oz wt):
28 ounces rendered tallow
7 ounces coconut oil
5 ounces sweet almond oil
4 ounces grapeseed oil
3 ounces olive oil
2 ounces cocoa butter
2 ounces shea butter

17 fl ounces distilled water
7.2 oz wt lye (NaOH)

Vanilla fragrance oil and honey added at trace.

See my basic making soap instructions in a previous post. I use the lye calculator at https://www.thesage.com/calcs/LyeCalc.html

Here's some pretty photos I took in our backyard on the rocks. :) The vanilla fragrance is so subtle and sweet!

Growing PUMPKINS!!

Well folks, I'm really turning into a pumpkin nerd! This is the fourth year I've tried growing pumpkins and this year's patch is by far the biggest and most weed-free. By the looks of it, I'll have a nice little surplus to sell by the road. I know people stop for our sweet corn, but will they stop for pumpkins? I hope so! Here's a few little sneak peaks of the growing pumpkins and gourds...

Farm Women: Dealing with the "Other Woman"

Planting season is in full swing and you can almost hear the resounding groans coming from farm women all across the Midwest! Not that we aren't happy to see the crops going in the ground... this is our livelihood, after all! Blogs like this one are popping up in my newsfeed and it's great to know that we're in this together!

Now that I've joined the ranks of farm wife and mom, I've been thinking about an article that my father asked me to read while I was dating my row crop farmer. "If you're going to marry a farmer, you'd better read this", he said. Although it was ten years ago, I've never forgotten the message. It was a "cautionary tale" written to farm wives (or future farm wives), published in FarmWeek, which is the Illinois Farm Bureau weekly publication.

The message was this... Your farmer husband's first love was the land and the livestock. While he loves you and is married to you, he's also married to the land. You could think of the land as "the other woman". His commitment and love for the other woman runs deep, and usually she comes first; before wedding anniversaries, family vacations and birthday parties. Does this scenario sound familiar, fellow farm wife friends??

Reading this article as a 20 year old really didn't mean much, but I get it now. I think the author was spot on when he described the "jealousy" and frustration that I would feel when my husband and father of our children just. didn't. come. home. ever. But it's not all doom and gloom! While it's true nothing can prepare you for being a farm wife and mom, it helps to remember that you're playing a vital role in agriculture, whether you are directly involved on the farm or not. Farm men and women across this nation work really hard to produce food for a growing population. They might lie awake at night and worry about production and financial uncertainties. So whether you're driving the combine, vaccinating cattle or preparing field dinners, remember that you're part of something really important.

Spring, 2009. Bringing lunch out to the field.

My friend Keri snapped this and it's one of my all time favorites!

http://kerihamiltonphotography.com/

Okay I'll admit it, I haven't been handling this planting season as gracefully as I would like. Ladies, this is hard, and my seasoned farm woman friends tell me that it doesn't get easier. So hang on, we're almost through planting season, 2014! It's funny how often I think of the article that taught me that my husband is married to the land. It really was a good lesson. (Thanks Dad!) I would really like to find an electronic version of that article but I haven't been successful. If you find it, please send it my way! Thanks for reading.

Introducing...

My husband Scott and I are proud to introduce our twin daughters who were born on October 6, 2012.

Julie Anne weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was born at 1:13 a.m. via emergency c-section. Kaylin Jewell followed one minute later weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce. They were born at 36 weeks and 5 days and all the doctors and nurses were proud of their weights! They are now 7 months old, and I'm thinking of getting back to my hobbies!

Here they are, in front of the bare garden! Won't be long until it's full of vegetables (hopefully)! Pray that we don't have a terrible drought again this year!

Homemade Moisturizer with Cocoa Butter & Shea

Just got done making a lovely homemade moisturizer! My husband and I are expecting our first child, and I wanted to make a moisturizer I can use daily to help prevent stretchmarks. Okay, I must admit I tried making homemade body cream last winter (without researching anything) and it failed miserably! If I had done my research, I would have known that all lotions need an emulsifier (to bond the water with the oils) and stearic acid (to thicken the cream). So my first attempt was not pretty.

Several homemade moisturizers call for beeswax because it's a natural emulsifier, but I just ordered emulsifying wax and stearic acid from wholesalesuppliesplus.com, which is where I order my soap making supplies. It was much cheaper than beeswax.

A moisturizer that is less than 50% water is considered a body cream. I used this ratio:

Water - 55%
Oils - 38%
Emulsifying Wax - 4%
Stearic Acid - 3%
I believe that adds up to 100%...

I didn't worry too much about making the measurements perfect. Here's the recipe I used.

• Just over two cups of water
• 1.5 cups combined oils, consisting of mostly cocoa butter, a scoop of shea butter, and a splash of sweet almond oil (see, not very scientific!)
• ~3 Tbs. stearic acid
• ~4 Tbs. emulsifying wax

Keep in mind this recipe makes close to 40 ounces of moisturizer.

Melt all the oils in a pan on low heat, stirring continuously.

Place water in a blender. Once the oils are melted, add them to your water and blend on low for several minutes. Add a few drops of essential oil or fragrance oil if you desire. Quick note: Essential oil is natural, fragrance oil is synthetic.

It takes about an hour before it becomes a creamy consistency. As it cools, it thickens.

If you won't be able to use it up within three months, store it in the refrigerator. One final note, I'm always curious about the cost of homemade versus store-bought. Homemade doesn't always come out cheaper but sometimes it does. I compared my cost per ounce to that of Suave Cocoa Butter with Shea Lotion.

Homemade Cocoa Butter with Shea - 15.2 cents per ounce
Suave Cocoa Butter with Shea Lotion - 16.6 cents per ounce

Am I saving tons? Nope. But there's something satisfying about knowing every ingredient in my lotions and soaps.