Cabin Fever at the cabin!

Well, after another impressive snow storm that started to hit us on Thursday and finished up last evening, can I tell you that we are getting a little cabin fever. The kids missed another two days of school, so they pretty much lost all of their Easter break! And I hear we have another 2 storms coming our way....ooooohhhhh boy, we need to get out and about! :)

*we are trying to capture the heighth of some of our snow drifts.....


*this tree is actually pretty tall and Gracie is standing on large amounts of snow to mark the tree where the snow came up to..

With all this snow, the good news is I am getting a lot of crafting done!

*lots of boxes pretty far done...

* a little bunny stitching....

* wax pieces and more stitching....

We (Indian Trail Pottery) is going to have a big open house over the weekend of Palm Sunday, which happens to be the last weekend of March this year. It is going to be Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. We want to have a new and refreshing selection of pottery, plus all of my handmades. I also ordered some blackened beeswax bunnies and spring lambs and chicks that arrived and I am quite anxious to get them all packaged up and displayed for this show!

*I have a lot more but there are all still packed up in a box!

So, with all the excitement about having our first spring open house, there comes much anxiety about what all I need to make and how much should I make of this and that, and of course thinking if I will have enough inventory! YIKES!!!!
Ok, well I guess I better start thinking about summer, I mean supper!!!!! ;)
I hope you all have a great beginning to March! :)

WOOLIE WEDNESDAY~ Small Star Penny Mat

Todays project is another simple but yet a much needed staple in the world of prim/country decorating....a small penny mat. You can set these on coffee tables, have them hanging out over a shelf, you could even make a bunch of these and have them out under place settings for those that keep their table set all the time (just remove them before you have messy eaters)! :)

Now, for you first timers on penny rugs or mats, don't become intimidated, this is easy peasy simple stuff! It is just a simple blanket stitch around the pennies. I even have all the specifics for you on how to make this star mat. You do want to choose two contrasting colors because it really helps to add POP and show off those 13 stars in the mat itself. Ok, here it goes.....

You will need:
20 black 2" circles
20 yellow 2" circles
13 stars that measure approx 1.5" from tips
20 black 1.5" circles
29 yellow 1.5" circles
16 black 1" circles
20 yellow 1" circles
Black thread (or whatever contrasting color you choose)
*49 additional 2" circles of the bottom colored material, OR a piece of wool(same color as bottom) to scallop around the entire finished piece. This is so you don't see all the excess threads on the bottom. You want a nice finished, clean bottom.

You want to begin with the smallest circle and stitch it on to the medium sized circle. Once that is attached, then you attach that joined piece to the largest size circle. When you have all the pennies completed you want to lay it out on a table in your finished pattern and then begin stitching them together.

I would love to see anyones finished mats if you choose to make this design. It is a great past time and you will just love your finished piece! Or if anyone has a great idea or project you would like to share for woolie wednesday, please feel free to email me! Enjoy!

A Prim Rack

Well, this is something I picked up Monday, on the outing with just me and my husband. I found it in a neat old prim display in my favorite antiques shop. I really don't know if it was used for something special, because instead of board shelves, the shelves are made of a bunch of dowels going across....maybe sometype of shoe rack??? Not sure?! But anyway, I like it....now where to go with it and what to do with it....I will find a place, don't worry. ;)


I have just little odds and ends sitting on it so you could see the rack better...
I actually want to take it out into our pottery shed and use it for holding items for our spring open house. Does anyone have any other good ideas for it?....

Have a great weekend!

Woolie Wednesday~Wool Garland

Today's wool project is very easy peasy, but yet very prim and I think pretty cool!!
When working on my braided rugs, I have my long strips that I am connecting each other to; you must snip off that angled corner, which leaves you with TONS of these:

lots of triangles.......and I mean lots! Plus any little excess pieces that I have from other projects just goes right in to my "triangle basket".
So, with all those accumulating in a whole bunch of colors....your mind starts to process with creativity~! And here is what happens.....

Wool Garland! Here is a shorter piece using larger sized triangles and the longer piece is using tinier triangles. Just string those babies up while watching tv or whatever and in no time you have these beauties!
Now, what to do with them?

Well, I think they are just peeerrrrty in a basket or bowl, but I also use them on our Christmas tree as garland.....I told ya that they were prim! :)
I also made little wreath ornaments by just stringing a much smaller piece and then tieing the two ends together and leaving a loop. These look so cute when you have a whole bunch on the tree.

So, what'ca think?!

Well, I guess I am starting to think spring?! I am still enjoying the scenery of the snow, and really not minding the cold temps and the white stuff blowing constantly, but somewhere subconsciously I must be thinking of spring....

I just had to get these at the grocery store...they were calling my name, plus they were 50% off, so I just had to bring them home with me. ;) I love fresh flowers!!!!!

Last night I also found myself working on these.....

.....cinnamon eggs!

This is a prim wire basket awaiting some blackened beeswax bunnies, lambs, and chicks.
So I guess I am thinking spring...how about you?!!!! :) Stop back tomorrow for WOOLIE WEDNESDAY!

My Valentines!

Here are my 3 favorite little valentines sucking their lollipops with these foam cutouts I made for Indiana's valentine treats for school. They were the cutest thing! I made all the girls big lips in hot pink and red, and the boys I made them these cutesy lil mustaches, all with a hole in the center where their lollipop stick went through, so when they were sucking on those pops, you would see these great funny faces! So fun! Now this picture is missing my true valentine Bob, but he was downstairs while I was snapping some photos(and he wasn't sporting my foam mustache!) :)


So, this is pretty much my view here at home...lots and lots of snow. I have been busy doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I have been down and out with a pretty rough head cold, and that has pretty much wiped me out! I hope to get back to some serious crafting this week, but first....tomorrow Bob has off and he is taking me out for breakfast after the kids get on the bus. After that he plans on taking me up to one of my favorite stores! Its a huge antique mill, maybe some of you in Pa have heard of it: ROLLER MILLS! So, that is my valentines present....maybe a small antique purchase?! We shall see!



Hope you all are well and enjoyed this weekend and Valentine's Day with those that you love!

The First WOOLIE WEDNESDAY***A wool crazy quilt!

For the first woolie Wednesday project, I am showing you a project that I have been working on for quite a long time~and I still am not finished! It's one of those ongoing projects that you have laying around and work on from time...does anyone have one of those?! So, someday when it is finished I will show you the complete quilt, but for now I will show you what I have done so far....
Let me give you some specifics regarding the quilt. I have 81 blocks total, 9 blocks high and 9 blocks across. The quilt so far measures about 85 inches square, but will be putting atleast a 3" - 4" border around the blocks and then the backing will be a large piece of wool. So, this quilt will be WARM! It's already like an x-ray blanket!! :)
I cut out all the pieces by hand, using a cardboard template, then I sewed all the pieces together with the sewing machine, then I attached the blocks together in rows, also with the sewing machine. Now comes the part that is taking its longest....crazy quilting by hand on EACH SEAM!


As you see in the pictures I skip around, so there aren't too many blocks completely stitched all around yet, but I am getting there. :) I must admit, I will be very excited when it is done, but it really does take up time, and that is one thing that I have more of right now...last year, nope, not so much....


Now, some of these pictures make this quilt look a lot brighter than it really is....I had to lay out this beast on the floor, so getting good pictures was kind of hard...it is an assortment of different colors of wool that I had gotten years ago. Now, with a much larger assortment of colors of wool I could really do another big one, but this will be just fine (when it is finished)! ;) It is very warm, very primitive and I have a very great friend, Amy, who showed me hers and gave me the great idea of doing this...maybe I can get a finished picture of hers to show you next week on WOOLIE WEDNESDAY!
So, I hope you enjoyed this first woolie wednesday post, and again if you have any great ideas or projects that you would like to share, I would be happy to post it for you, highlighting your idea and blog (if you have one).

WOOLIE WEDNESDAY...coming soon!

I thought I would start sharing projects that I am working on, or finding ideas for projects with WOOL every Wednesday....WOOLIE WEDNESDAY! I am not a person to have a straight structured schedule, especially while being at home, but I thought it would be fun to show and share wool ideas once a week since I am finding more and more friends out there who share a love of wool with me!
I'd love to hear from you with any special projects or ideas you have with wool and I would be happy to highlight your idea or your blog...sharing ideas and creativity, isn't that what its all about?! :)
So, tune in Wednesday for my first woolie wednesday post!

Winter Wonderland and a great recipe!

Well the BIG snow finally arrived late afternoon Friday and left between 16-20 inches in Central Pa....how awesome! We were waiting anxiously for this one! It is just beautiful outside! The kids were out on and off all day yesterday and I ventured out too for a little bit, but boy did I ever have time to work on crafts and also do some baking!


We are having Indy's birthday get together with family today, so I needed to make him a chocolate and peanut butter cake and instead of just plain old ice cream, we are having a Sundae Social~! My kids love sundaes and they always request banana splits or "make your own sundae", so with all the ice cream toppings you can imagine, that is what we are having. And since it is Super Bowl Sunday, boy will there be some good eating today! :) LOL!!!
So, now on to the recipe...this is a good old fav in our house: Chocolate cake with Homemade Peanut Butter Icing!

Black Joe Cake

2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 cup hot coffee
*Mix these well

2 cup flour
2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
*Add together and mix into first mix.

*Bake at 350 in a 13X9 for 40-45 min.

Homemade Peanut Butter Icing

1/3 cup peanut butter
3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 -1/3 cup milk (depending on consistency you might use 1/3 c)
Blend peanut butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and milk, beat until frosting is of spreading consistency and smooth.

Well, just wanted to do a short post for today, but later in the week I will show you some of my projects that I am currently working on...and they are all with WOOL!
Ok, have a great day!
Tarrah

My New Favorite Sign

Don't you just love seeing old roadside signs?! Like: U-pick Blueberries 1/2 mile, or Pumpkin Patch next right, or ANTIQUES, or Church Spaghetti Supper....you get the idea. I love looking at old signs, and even some newer ones, but with their own personality, nothing real fancy and store manufactured....those good old hand painted signs. Well, with that in mind I knew our "egg sign" had to be a little catchy and it shouldn't read like all the other egg signs in our area: Eggs for sale, no Sunday sales (we live around the amish) :), ours had to have some personality along with something that would automatically make you smile.....so what'cha think?

Now, hopefully we'll sell some eggs! :)

A Trip to Lancaster and my Baby Boy turns 8!

My family ventured out this past Saturday to Lancaster to take in some good food and check out a few shops...since my little guy had a birthday, he requested Shady Maples for his birthday dinner outing. With no argument from the rest of us, we couldn't wait to go there once again. Boy, was it delish! :) We were so full from their huge and fantastic buffet of food that we could all barely waddle out of the place!




We also toured the enormous gift shop downstairs and then headed out to drive through the beautiful farms and land of Lancaster.

Love this beautiful stone house!


Kids having a good time in the car! :)

We made our way over to "In Grandma's Attic" and met Patti, the owner there. What a sweet lady she is and so nice to chat with! I wish I would have taken a lot more pictures once we got inside, but there were people constantly in there talking with her and I was just trying to look at everything and was in awe of her barn out back that she also had merchandise in....so neat! So, I didn't get any other pictures....sorry....next time I will! :) And speaking of next time.....In Grandma's Attic will now start carrying Bob's pottery! We are quite excited with our little expansion and feel very blessed to have the two coolest Patti's that want our stuff~! (Patti from The Brickhouse, and Patti from In Grandma's Attic)

This is the front of Patti's shop: IN GRANDMA'S ATTIC. If you ever get the chance, stop in and see her cute store!

While we were chatting with Patti, it started snowing and it was coming down rather quick, we had a few other stops we had to make, so we were soon on our way. We hit up an awesome antique store called Cackleberry's which is on 30, just down from In Grandma's Attic. Look at this antique rabbit mold I found. I love old tin chocolate molds...but they are rather hard to find!


So, now as I type this I am making my son, Indiana, a birthday cake because today is his actual birthday~Groundhog's Day, (and YES, Phil saw his shadow which means 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!!!!)
Anyway,I can hardly believe how fast time is going. When I came home from the hospital after having him, at night for the first few weeks all I would do was lay on the couch holding him while watching the winter olympics....now here there are on again....and I am reminiscing!

Ok, well there is still a big supper to plan out and make plus a little more decorating to do for his big day...got to have it special for him when he comes home from school!
Tarrah