Creating gifts

I have finished my first gift of the year. This gift was a selfish one though. I crocheted myself a scarf, for many reasons. The main reason was to make sure I could really complete this project in a timely manner. I have a few more (like 10) to go. I hope to be done with them by the middle of December. Below are pictures of the yarn. I will post finished pictures of the scarf later this week!

The yarn was handspun, hand-dyed local wool. Colleen Hewlett a local fiber artist produced the yarn from her own sheep. I hope to learn how to spin yarn after the first of the year so I too can utilize more local products. Here is the link to Colleen's etsy shop: www.valentinesfarm.esty.com .

Creating Homemade Christmas Gifts

Say goodbye to gift cards and Webkinz...hello love! Homemade Christmas gifts is a great way to save money and give a gift from the heart. Just recently I decided that I was going to make as many of my gifts this year as possible. Now that doesn't mean we are giving our construction paper cards and pompom oranaments. I have done lots of online research and decided on sweet personalized gifts for everyone on our list. My gift ideas range from felt food to scarves and cookies.

This idea came to me as a way to conserve money but to also bring back the true meaning of Christmas. I vividly remember the chapter about Christmas in the book "Little House in the Big Woods," it talked lovingly about creating special gifts for family members. How people took the time and care to make a gift someone else would love. Too often in today's world people get caught up in the chaos surrounding the holidays and forget the reason for our Christmas traditions. I challenge each of you to make at least one gift for someone special this year. This challenge will help you learn a craft and give you a timeline all of which are helpful. Please post pictures of your crafts for all of us to see!

Biscuits!

In the last two weeks I have began making biscuits. Not the kind that come from a can or the freezer section of the store but the kind that begin with love and patiences. Now those of you who know me personally probably are laughing at that last sentences. I have found that mixing and rolling out biscuits is very good therapy. I have also found an awesome biscuit recipe that make fluffy, moist biscuits. Below is the recipe.

ingredients:
1 screaming toddler in a high chair (optional)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
3/4 cup of butter (real butter not that fake stuff)
1 cup of whole milk (fresh milk works best)

Directions:

1. preheat your oven to 450 degrees
2. mix all your dry ingredients together in a large bowl, if clumping sift
3. cut in your butter with a pastry cutter or two knives
4. mix in your milk until the dough as just come together
5. spread a little flour out on a flat surface (I use our kitchen table)
6. turn dough out onto table
7. knead the dough about 6 or 8 times (the less you knead the fluffier your biscuits)
8. roll the dough out to 2/3" thick
9. use a 2" biscuit cutter and cut out biscuits
10. re-roll and cut until all the dough has been used
11. place the biscuits on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending upon your oven)
12. enjoy with jelly, soup, stews and much more!

This is an easy and quick recipe that can be done on a week night. So head to the kitchen and make some biscuits tonight.

It's Been A While

So I hope everyone has been doing great. I know it has been forever since I have updated anyone on my latest creations. In the last 2 months scrapbooking and photography and photoshop has become an obession! I love gathering my thoughts and expressing myself in this medium. I never thought I would be a scrapper! Now I am not an expert at this activity by any means however I do enjoy. Below is some of my creativeness for you to enjoy~

What Farm Wives do at 2 a.m. on a Friday Night/Saturday Morning

Many people spend their Friday and Saturday night at a bar or with friends having a good time. However farm wives, and many mothers spend their time catching up on unfinished projects. That is how I spent my Friday night. I purchased cloth weeks ago to make a pair of overalls, some seat belt covers, and a blanket for my son I just never got around to actually creating any of it.

So Friday night I decided I would stay up late and create a master piece for my son's Christmas outfit (yes, I know Christmas is 4 months away, but I have to start now). I tucked the boys into bed and got started. I laid out my cloth and my patterns. Made sure everything I need was at hand. I began cutting. Things were going great until I when to start piecing the overalls. I discovered rather quickly that I didn't cut mirror images for one piece. So I made the necessary adjustments, cut another piece and sewed the overalls together. I was so satifisifying to finish a project in one sitting. I couldn't believe that all I had left to do was hem the legs. I went to bed feeling very proud of myself.

Pride is a pack of lions in more ways than one. Saturday was full of volunteer work, helping around the farm and cleaning house. When I finally got around to inspecting my work on Sunday I noticed something dreadful... the overalls were made out of a lightweight cord fabric..the cord on one half of the overall are vertical and on the other half hortizonal! Back to the drawing board.... hopefully I can fix my mistake this weekend...

Its been awhile!

It has really been a while since I was able to post about some of my crafts. Life has had its ups and downs over the last month. I haven't had a chance to sew anything lately but I have really gotten into SCRAPBOOKING!!!

Now having an 18 month old son doesn't allow for traditional scraping so I went digital. And let me just tell you I LOVE IT! I have created multiple pages for my son, a camp I help direct and for our local 4-H club. Below you will find a few examples of my work.

Busy Week

I have been busy this week with many projects but the main one has been little man. He has had a stomach bug since Sunday so we have been dealing with trying to get him better. We also had our local livestock pageant on Monday. It went very well I think. I hope that you will check back soon as I might actually get time to finish a project this weekend!