What's New on the Homefront

 

I was looking through my phone to see what pictures I had to share with you. You know kinda like a glimpse - here's what I've neglected to share with you for the past oh month-and-a-half.

 

I managed to get some canning in this year, despite the fact I let the garden go and the weeds took over. Weeds as tall as me. (YIKES) 'Twas not the year of the garden. But we did get some jars of dilly beans, some salsa, and pizza sauce. I also tried pickles using this recipe. Delish.

 

 

I've been sewing sporadically. Started working on some block for a sampler quilt. Also, a super top secrete project involving ALOT of pink that will be ready for it's big reveal soon.

 

 

Goose hunting opened a few weeks ago, Mr. B has been stalking the Canadians several nights a week. Did you know the season runs all the way into DECEMBER? Yeah, I'm already ready to have it over. Speaking of geese, anyone have any good recipes? I know that I'm going to make the bulk of it into jerky - we did that last year, but I'm willing to try something new. Also any recommendations on dehydrators? I'm going to purchase my own.

 

 Other than that not a whole lot. No house projects. We've been visiting family, watching football, family dinners, going to a crab boil, oh and my new little nephew arrived four weeks ago! Bad Auntie, no pictures.. 

Peter Rabbit Baby Shower

I've been off the radar for a while, like a month. Yikes! You see I've been putting the vast majority of my creative energy in planning and putting the finishing touches on the most spectacular baby shower for an amazing mama-to-be, my little sista. 

 

 

 

 

Side note - see that corsage, those are itty bitty baby socks rolled up for the flowers! The little bump's daddy has some creative sisters.  

 

This shower has been in the works since, well, Easter when we first decided on a theme - Peter Rabbit. And found these invitations. Then the pinterest board was created and the ideas started flying. I love how all of the details came together to create a stunning event.

 

 

 

 

We were blessed with beautiful weather last Saturday - good thing, the shower was outside.

 

 

 

 

See that bunting hanging in the trees. I thrift some old sheets and my mother and I spent an entire afternoon sewing 225 feet of it. She ironed every single triangle - crazy I know. We also placed her in charge of chairs. Rather than getting the metal folding ones her and my aunt managed to wrangle dinning room chairs and benches for all of our guests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm in love with the details of drink station - with it's labled pitchers and mason jar cups. Let's not forget the paper straws! Mama lovers her Arnold Palmers, half iced tea half lemonade. So naturally we had both available. Oh and for us non-expecting ladies strawberry basil infused vodka.

 

 

 

 

A light lunch of chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches along with a few salads and fresh fruits and veggies was served.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course there was a plethora of deserts. There isn't a thing as too many desert options. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful afternoon to celebrate a beautiful lady and her soon to be bundle of joy. I feel blessed to have been a part of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs in the 'Bator

I have the most wonderful, exciting news! We have baby birds!! Ok well not yet, they are still growing but in about 20ish days we will. Yup you heard me right still growing; they have yet to hatch. Mr. B got word of a soon to be abandoned nest, mama built it in the middle of a landscaping project.  Well he knew how sad I was over the fact that there would be no goslings this spring. (and he’s a softie he didn’t want to see them abandoned either)  He told the guy that we would come and pick them up.

So Sunday afternoon, Mother’s day how fitting, we drove to the farm supply store to pick up an incubator and then on to rescue some babies. All ten of them are tucked away in the ‘bator at a nice 99.5 degrees with 55% humidity and are being rotated twice daily. We candled when we brought them home and we will look again in a few days to check for growth. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

On the crafty front I managed to finish this pillow the other day from the leftover triangles from piecing the Starry Splendor quilt.

Easter Buffet

It's hard to believe that Easter will be here at the end of the week. Especailly with the snow that was covering the ground when I woke up this morning. What gives Mother Nature? It's spring no more snow! We are done with winter!

 After Christmas, Easter is my favorite holiday. And with the winter being so long and cold I wanted to welcome spring into our house even if I can't open the windows just yet. So this year I took the time to decorate our dinning room.

Take a look!

I have to give a big thank you to my mum for sending me some of her extra decorations. Especially all the eggs! I enjoy being able to have an Easter Egg Tree.

\

For the table we still have the burlap runner and the primitive box that Mr. B made me last fall. This season it's filled with faux yellow flowers, the name of which are escaping me right now. But we have a shrub in our yard that gets those exact flowers. 

Starry Splendor Quilt Top

This past weekend Mr. B went back to our home town to try and spear an elusive sturgeon. I on the other hand stayed at home were it was warm and toasty. I spent the majority of the weekend in comfy pants puttsing with the Juki and watching chick flicks with the fur babies.

 I was able to stitch this quilt top together.

Not a bad accomplishment for the weekend. I'm still pondering at how I'm going to quilt this one, by hand or straight line on the machine or take the plunge and try free motion quilting with the Juki. But first to find some backing fabric. Might have to do some online shopping, oh darn.

Penny Sampler Quilt - Sneek Peak

Over the past several months I've been plugging away at my newest masterpiece. Right after my crafty room was set up I started taking an online quilting class. We learned several different skills applique, paper piecing, and precise piecing. The practice projects were blocks that were sewn together to make a sampler quilt. Erwin is so gracioulsy modeling it for you.

Two weeks ago I finished the top and am now diligently working at hand quilting. I had originally planned to tie it with pearl cotton. But the more I looked at it and thought about it hand stitching was the way to go. Rather than an all over pattern I am stitching each block individually, decided on the different designs as I go. Once the thing is done I promise a post with an overload of photos.

DIY Planter Box Centerpiece and Burlap Runner

As promised, more details on the burlap table runner and planter box centerpiece.

I've been seeing allot of this look on Pinterest; I thought it would would be perfect for our ginormous table. And this was totally something I could do on the cheap for our dining room. 

I bought a few 1x4s and gave my basic instructions to Mr. B of what I  wanted, I was going to do it myself but no sooner would I have gotten the out the saw and stated my first cut then he would have rushed it to do it for me. I was saving us a step. I asked him to build me a three sided box with a bottom that was 38ish inches long and primitive, no fancy mitered corners etc.

He got it spot on. He filled in the screw holes and gave it a quick sand. Then that's were I come in. I picked up some of the sample size jars of paint in the oops section, fifty cents a piece, total score! So I had a shade of white and a rust color. Using mainly white with just a tiney-tiny corner of my brush in the rust to give it some depth and antique-y look, I gave it a few coats of paint. Then I took the sander and roughed it up along the edges. Finally I took some stain and went heavy on the exposed wood and gave the rest of the paint a wipe down with it, you know to complete the aged look. 

I filled it with a garland of leaves and some blue mason jars. I filled the jars with corn. Everyone has a 50lb bag of whole kernel corn laying around their house don't they? If you don't I suggest you run off to your nearest farm supply store and purchase one. Best $11 investment; you never know when the need might arise. You know to feed your critters, make bags for corn hole toss, or use in your totally amazing fall centerpieces. Once the jars were filled I topped them each off with a tea-light to complete the look. 

As far as the table runner. It is as simple as cutting your burlap to size and gently fraying the edges. Easy-peasy. I do have a bit left over. I bought three yards so my runner would be a continuous strip (my table is 8 feet long, three yards is 9 feet, 6 inches of over hang on either end). It comes in 40 inch widths and I only needed it a foot long. I better start stalking Pinterest for some more crafts.

Sneak Peak

I thought I would give you a little teaser while I prepare the grand photo tour of the newly completed crafty space at the Acres. I'm so excited to have this space to sew, create, and blog. Over the past few days I find my self standing in the door way just looking in. I still can't believe that it has happened and it's all mine!

Scrappy Stars Quilt Top

This morning I woke up early. I was unmotivated to clean the house and it is cold and windy, didn't really want to work in the gardens either. I decided to get re-acclimated with Betty, my sewing machine. It's been months since her and I sat down to work together.

I had these star blocks put together since this past winter. All that was needed to do was to sew them together with sashing. A nice easy project to get back into the swing of things. A few hours later I had it all put together. 

Now to decided how to quilt this one. I haven't decided if it would look best hand quilted, machine quilted with straight lines, or tied. Or there is always the possibility of a combinations. Tying might look nice with some hand quilting  to highlight the stars.

Any suggestions? 

Now I best go clean the house...

Bird Pillow

Remember how I told you I took down the big snowflakes I had hanging in the living room. I’m trying to banish winter. Once they were down it got me thinking on the pillows. Remember I had made sweater covers for them. I figured sweaters on the couch is just as much of a wish for cold snowy weather as snowflakes on the wall. I decided this weekend something needed to be done about them. I want something cheerful and summery for the throw pillows.

That is easier said than done. You see our couch is this weird shade of slate/moss green. Deep reds and browns work nice with it but I want something brightish and cheerful! It took several walks around the fabric store to come up with a plan. I decided on some red-orange (to complement the TV stand), navy blue, and a hint of light green. Of course there will be some neutral grays and whites thrown in there.

Behold the first updated throw pillow.

The bird pillow.

Birds, I know go figure..But it’s not geese so it’s ok right?  It doesn’t contribute to the crazy bird lady factor, does it?

I have been seeing the bird on a wire silhouettes in my search for artwork for the house and I’m continually drawn to it. I haven’t taken the plunge to actually buy anything though. So I thought why not incorporate the design into a throw pillow.

For those of you who are wondering, I used fusible web to attach the bird silhouettes to the background and further secured them using a zig-zag stitch in coordinating thread. But before I did that I had to make the wire for them to sit on. We can’t have the birdies floating in space ungrounded. I marked a straight line on the background fabric and then using the straight stitch on my machine sewed a few lines. I was purposefully sloppy in this, which was rather liberating! (I mainly quilt so straight seems with a perfect ¼ inch seam allowance are a must.) I’d have to say I am darn proud of how it turned out.

Let’s take another look and drool and my craftiness.

There are four pillows on our couch. I'm still working on the covers for the other three, so but be on the lookout for updates!



I'm Back

Well hello there!

Nice to see you again. 

I took a little break this month. Don't worry it's not you it's me. In all reality there was nothing going on in our lives that I thought was worthy of a little chat. No house projects, no craftiness, no baking. We spent most of this month watching movies. There was a week long Harry Potter marathon and weekend of the Lord of the Rings (don't we sound like nerds). We worked our way through many bowls of popcorn and rediscovered our love of the nacho. Tostitos topped with some sort of meat, cheese, and salsa tucked under the broiler for a few minutes and then topped with a dolop of sour cream. Great dinner for in front of the TV and almost no dishes. 

 I did get allot of quilting done on my sunshine quilt. I'd say it's about 2/3rds done. I can't wait to show you the finished product. The quilting really makes it, by far this is the most intricate quilting I have ever done. Lots of loopies and flowers. Several of my finger tips are calloused from the millions of stitches.  

This weekend we finally made it to the hardware store. We picked up some things to get some little projects done.  My theory is if we have the supplies here it is one less thing to get in the way of getting something done. It seems when I want to do something it requires a trip to town and the thought of driving makes me loose all my ambition. 

Yesterday Mr. B went snow boarding, no broken bones this time. He did fall on his shoulder and it's rather sore this morning. Perhaps I should put him in a bubble or not let him go anywhere with his brother unsupervised. Any-who while he was gone I went to the craft store and the thrift store. My creativity and ambition has been restored!! I think we will be seeing much of each other in the next few weeks. 

Last night I baked. For the first time in over a month!

We are celebrating my Grandma's birthday today and I thought some celebration cupcakes were in order. Nothing to fancy, white cake with butter cream frosting and sprinkles. Sprinkles are practically a necessity around here. 

Don't you just love the little flags. I would love to say that I made them myself. I said I was once again inspired, but not that inspired. I picked them up at the craft store, the are Martha Stewart. Gotta love that lady. The colors remind me of spring, nice and bright and cheery. I am so ready for the snow and winter to be over with. I took down the big snow flakes last week. I told Mr. B I am done wishing for snow. Now I need to find something else to hang on the wall behind the couch. But any way I digress. 

One more picture of the delicious cup cakes.

Until next time!!

M. 

I Got My Craft On

A few weeks ago Mr. B was working nights. That meant I had the house to myself in the evening. I got to eat pineapple and tuna salad for dinner (two things he dislikes). Gus and I snuggled on the couch and watched chick flicks. I also got in touch with my inner craft goddess. I made somethings to make the living room feel more warm and cozy this winter. 

New covers for the pillows. 

I've been seeing sweater pillows all over pinterest. I knew they would be perfect in our living room. When I was at Target the other day I saw a small one in the holiday decor. For the price of one small pillow I made four huge ones for the couch.

I found some thrift store sweaters and hacked off the sleeves and sewed them up. I just covered the pillows we had on the couch. I figured in the spring I will just carefully open the seam and take out the pillow to reuse the sweater for next year.

I have also saw some giant snow flakes while perusing Pinterest. They make the perfect seasonal wall art for be hind the couch.

They were supper easy to make. Hot glue, Popsicle sticks aka craft sticks, paint and some ribbon. And I didn't even burn my fingers with the glue.

One Fish, Two Fish, New Fish Baby Shower

Last weekend I had the honor of throwing a baby shower for my dear friend and sister-in-law. Her and her husband were visiting from Mississippi for the holiday. I wanted to go with something bright and cheery, not the typical pastel, it's a boy theme. (yes they are having a boy!!) After getting some inspiration from Pinterest, I decided to go with a Dr. Seuss theme.

I found these adorable invitations. They set the tone for the whole shower. In case you didn't know I'm all about themes and being mathcy-matchy. I blame my mother.

With the theme set it was time to figure out a menu. Keeping with the Dr. Seuss theme we had the following:

Roast Beast - hot beef sandwiches

Who Hash - cheesy potatoes

Yot in a Pot - calico beans

Green Eggs - deviled eggs

Truffela Fruits - fruit tray

Fish Cakes - cup cakes

Yink Ink Pink Drink - pink punch 

Funny story about the green eggs. I died the yolks to make them extra green and pipped them back into the eggs. We gave one to my niece, she's two and is crazy about cupcakes and frosting. She was all excited and grabbed the yolk first thinking it was frosting. She put the whole thing in her mouth at once. You should have seen the look of betray on her face. Priceless!

Not to worry she did get a fish cake, and a few to take home.

For the table decorations I made Truffela Trees, you know from the Lorax. An easy and inexpensive decoration. I used Martha Stewart's tutorial on tissue paper pom-poms. I made them smaller by cutting my sheets of tissue in to quarters. I then hot glued them to some stick and stuck them in mason jars with "grass" (green tissue). They were a big hit.

Especially with all the little girls who ran around playing "cheer leaders" with them.

I also purchased several other printables from the same Etsy vendor that made the invitations. We had signs to put up, labels for the bottled water, and advice cards for the guests to fill out. My printer got quite a work out! 

 We had to play some games, it wouldn't be a baby shower with out them. I found a Dr. Seuss trivia game that we printed off to play. We also did baby shower bingo, of course on Dr. Seuss bingo cards!

All in all it was a great afternoon celebrating. The mom to be had a wonderful time. Now we just have to wait till the little man gets here!

Kitchen Curtains

I finally got around to putting some curtains up in the kitchen. The windows did have mini blinds on them, which I left. In the morning the sun blares in this room and it is nice to be able to block it, especially in the hot summer months. The windows needed something more, they were rather bare and needed some dressing up. I decided on a valance something that wouldn't block the view of the back yard but still make it look homey. I couldn't find anything in stores or online that I wanted, so I got crafty and made my own. I even lined them, as the polka-dot fabric was rather thin.

(please ignore the crappy door, that will be replaced soon)

See that hot pan holder. My sista went to Vegas this spring. I told her to bring me back a supper kitschy souvenir. A pot holder with the Vegas strip on it; I think she pulled through.

Cupcake Gig

I had my fist paying gig for cupcakes!! 75 of them for a graduation party. My Friday evening was spent hanging in the kitchen, slaving over my kitchen aid. Man how I love that thing!! I don't care what any one says, it was much better than getting diamonds from you sweetie for Christmas and so much more practical. 

I know Friday evening spent bonding with a mixer and doing five loads of dishes. Is that what you call them, loads? It sounds more like I was doing laundry. Maybe we should call them sink-fulls. But what I did amounted to way more than five sink-fulls. Sink-fulls just doesn't express the sheer volume of dishes as vividly as I would like. Batches? No that doesn't sound quite right either. I'm going to need to think on this for a while. 

So anywho Friday night, cupcakes and dishes not the most glamorous thing to be doing on you Friday evening. I did get a nice sugar buzz going and I swear I had a cake hangover the following morning. I made 75 cupcakes 100 cupcakes. One batch didn't turn out as pretty as I would have likes, I think I over mixed the batter when I added the strawberries.

Edible, yes.

Delicious, yes.

Pretty, oh hell no!

I couldn't sell those babies. They looked like wrinkly old lady skin with pink blotches all over. I know pictures would be nice here, but in the heat of the moment taking pictures of my nasty looking cupcakes was not a priority. I had to turn the oven back on and give it another go. Don't worry they weren't a total loss, the boys at work thought they were great. Free cupcakes, who cares what they look like!

I went for my stnd by white cake this time. Thankfully my client, Mr. B's aunt, didn't have many specifications about them just red and white. Client sounds so important and official don't it? Gives me the warm fuzzies inside. Client. 

I even went all Martha Stewart and made these cupcake toppers. I had some Wisconsin Badger fabric hanging out upstairs, some wooden skewers, and a glue gun. I blame the sugar high for a sudden burst of energy at the end. You know you need to quality check the frosting. The grad is attending UW Madison this fall. I thought they were a nice touch.

I know pictures of the cutsy toppers but none of the cupcakes. Disastrous or nice!! I had every intention of taking pictures of the good ones once they were set up at the event. But the camera got left on the counter, I blame the cake hangover.

Loads, it's loads of dishes. I consulted google and that's what it came up with. Now we can all sleep better tonight.

Kitchen Bouquet

I wanted to give our friends somethin small for their wedding. She said that having the ceremony at the house was enough and not to worry about a gift. However, when people say things like that I still feel the need to get them something. I like handmade gifts, something that says I care about you enough to make you something I know you would like. To me it is more personal than wondering through Target trying to find something, I do this on occasion. (we all can't be craft godesses)

This was their wedding. I wanted to make them something and was running short on time. Hot pan holders it was, simple and easy yet completely usefull. I whipped up two in my favorite colors, teal and red. Two hot pan holders was just not going to cut it, I needed something more to round it out. Off to Target to wonder the aisles. I came home with three wooden spoons and a set of flour sack towels, I have a drawerful and it is never enough!

Now to wrap it up pritty.

Throw it all in a large vase and tie it off with coordinating ribbon. Rather cutsy don't ya think?

This was such an easy and fun project to put together! And think of how easy it would be to change it up with different fabrics in the hot pan holders. This might be making a reocurance in some future bridal showers.