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Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Kris Sievert!!!

Kris Sievert (#6020) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Cross-Stitch Merit Badge!

“I have been doing cross stitch for years, so I tried something different, I tried perforated paper. I had never used anything other than fabric.

It was hard because you can’t wash the item when done. I had to be particularly careful. I am giving them as gifts to some girls in my life for Halloween.”

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Wow, Kris, these are just beautiful!! What a special treasure for all the girls in your life. Your handwork is so perfect and the patterns you used are just the cutest ever. I bet everyone was so excited to receive your gift today!

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photo-of-the-day

farm_romance-4266-2

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    It is these rich earthy colors of fall that make this time of year beautiful to me. They are warm yet bright and I love how they kick off a cascade of memories of home. I would like a sweater in these tones!

  2. “Every leaf speaks bliss to me ” – Emily Dickinson

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photo-of-the-day

photo-of-the-day_scrapbook

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    I love to look at scrapbooks done by people who have a passion for it. They are works of art and beautiful keepsakes. It sure beats the boxes of photos that most of us have!

  2. Kay (Old Cowgirl) Montoya says:

    So nice to have something you can pick up and go down memory lane with. Did you use your potato stamps with it?
    I have all my things packed away and put into storage. It looks like it is going to be another year here and I am getting antsy. Everyday I think oh I can do this or get that and then I remember oh yes it is storied. I am going to sew some things like aprons. All mine are stored. I have heard of the potato stamps before but never tried it now I will. Thank you for the reminder.
    Hugs Kay

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Scrapbooking Merit Badge, Expert Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life   

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Scrapbooking Expert Level Merit Badge, I was on a roll, still basking in the warm glow of earning my Intermediate Level Badge. I tend to be a bit on the obsessive side when it comes to hobbies. They’re kinda like cookies: I collect one flavor and binge eat them until I get a little bored, then I move on. So lately it’s been my scrapbooking hobby obsession, and I’m all about something super nifty I wanted to share with you Chiclets:

Potato Stamps!

Why yes siree, girls. How much more farmgirl can it get: combining good ol’ salt o’ the earth spuds with a little creative artwork? I know, right?

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So here’s what you do to really up the ante and customize your Expert Level scrapbook …

Homemade ‘Tater Stamps

Supplies needed: potatoes (regular or sweet will do just fine), an Exacto knife, your imagination (don’t leave home without it. Wait. You are home. Just have it with you at all times, ok?)

Slice your potato in half. You want a nice smooth surface, so this is not the time to use your dullest knife (save that for spreading frosting or something). Decide what kind(s) of shapes and designs you want your stamp to be. If you’re feeling a bit nervous, just go through your cookie-cutter drawer and use one of those. If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you can Google silhouette shapes and stencils, print one out, and trace it on your spud. If you’re feeling super devil-may-care-throw-caution-to-the-wind-we-only-live-once-take-the-bull-by-the-horns, then freestyle your own design right atop your potato. You little rebel, you.

Cut out your masterpiece with your Exacto knife.

Dip into the paint of your choice, or color with watercolor markers or Sharpies. Press onto your scrapbooking pages in a highly sophisticated and organized pattern. (Or just go willy-nilly nuts like I did. I enjoy a good crazy-quilt effect, so sue me.)

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Photo by Jimmie via Flickr

That’s it. You now have a truly one-of-a-kind stamp that can also be used to do other things (though I can’t guarantee you it will earn you a merit badge):

Stamp with fabric paint onto tablecloths, lightweight baby blankets, cloth napkins or placemats, hand towels, personalized gift wrap or gift tags, stationary …

I’m a mad stamper.

Somebody stop me.

Is there a 12-step program for stamp addicts?

My name is Jane and I am a stampaholic. Oh well. As they say, pot-AY-to, po-TOT-o.

P.S. Another benefit to using potato stamps as opposed to buying all those expensive, factory-made ones: you can toss ’em (or eat ’em, ha! note to self: use organic paints) when you’re finished. No fuss, no storing, no cost, no dusty collection that you’re embarrassed to find when you’re rummaging through drawers looking for cookie cutters … win, win!

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    I am so glad you showed us how to do this because I was just thinking the other day how we did tater stamps years ago in Girl Scouts for Christmas cards, and I was thinking about trying to do the same again. Now I have the perfect tutorial. You know my first stamp is going to have to be an apple. And when that gets perfected, they will have to call the men in the little white coats! Hello, my name is Winnie and I am Sister of the Year with an Apple problem!

  2. Ooooh I loved potato stamps when I was a kid! We learned how to use them in my one school house I attended. Once in my early ” poor” years as a young adult I made my Christmas wrapping paper out of paper grocery sacks and potato stamped themes. I seem to remember the pine trees came out the best.

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Mary Jo Boyd!!!

Mary Jo Boyd (Quiltsister413, #5559) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Expert Level Knitting Merit Badge!

“While in Lincoln, NE, for a business conference, my friend and I stopped in to the local yarn store and found an adorable shawl pattern that we both had to make. We purchased two skeins of Crazy yarn and got to work right away in our hotel room. It took me about a month, but I finished it.

I think it went well. The pattern was by far the most challenging one I have tried, but I enjoyed knitting a little each night and watching it grow. I got to use circular needles for the first time and found I really loved them. The edge called for an I-cord bind off, which was completely new to me. YouTube videos are so helpful in these situations! I found several videos to help me through and it turned out very nice.

Shawl

I taught four ladies how to knit at our last Faithful Farm Girl meeting. Each of the ladies brought size 7 knitting needles and some practice yarn and I taught them how to tie a slip knot, do a long tail cast on, how to knit and how to purl. I also provided them with two patterns for knitting dishcloths and they are off and running … or is that knitting.

The fifth person I taught to knit is actually my friend and knitting teacher. I actually got to teach her two techniques I had learned that she didn’t know. How cool is that! I taught her the long tail cast on method and also a new way to add a new color or skein in the middle of your project. She now uses both new techniques and loves them!”

Learning to knit

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Mary-Jo your shaw turned out so beautiful!! The yarn is so fun the way it changes colors too for this pattern. You did a great job! Congratulations!!

  2. Diane Higbie says:

    What a great shawl!! Fantastic job! Would love to know the name of the pattern if you have it. Thanks.

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Going Green Merit Badge, Expert Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life   

For this week’s Cleaning Up/Going Green Expert Level Merit Badge, I burrowed myself into my abode for a couple weeks and buckled down in some serious green projects. See, there’s a nasty piece of carpeting in my bedroom I’d been ignoring for quite some time, and I’d been feeling guilty each time I ran my dryer when there’s perfectly excellent sunshine right outside, and, well, suffice to say, I needed to spruce up my green living a bit to earn this badge.

I rolled up my proverbial sleeves (and the literal ones, too), donned my cutest and hardest-working apron, and got to work.

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Here’s what I accomplished with a couple of afternoons, some know-how, a little grit and determination, and several slices of Gluten-free Apple Cake:

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  • I yanked and pulled, tore and ripped, pushed and shoved, rolled and kicked, and in all other ways, completely and utterly abused the poor carpet. No, I wasn’t beating it clean; I was removing it altogether. I could have gone the cleaning and out-gassing route, but let’s be honest, I’m more of a dismantler than a … uh, mantler. You know what I mean. And also I wanted an excuse to buy an adorable little shag rug for right beneath my bed to squish my tootsies into each morning. Call me shallow.
  • I bought a length of clothesline and squinted my eyes at my backyard. To be honest, the front yard would have been slightly more perfect in my quest for line-drying clothes, but I kind of figured my neighbors didn’t want to stare at my unmentionables fluttering in the breeze. I’m selfless like that.

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Short of waving my magic wand and making two trees line up perfectly in my backyard, I was stumped. I stood, feeling dejected, in my wide-open space, with my coil of rope in my sad hands. Then it came to me. The laundry room window lined up perfectly with my one lonely pear tree! Voilà! I was back in action. I rigged it up just like they do in all the old-fashioned movies with shots of the cities. You know the ones that go from apartment to apartment, sometimes slung right over the streets? With my clever pulley system, I am feeling several shades of grand. I even feel a little like a Disney princess somehow, and I must confess to singing to the squirrels and chipmunks and birds as I line up my yummy-smelling laundry to dry. Another point for the backyard and the neighbors, as my singing voice is … well, unique.

  • I also needed a new coat of paint in my pantry (holiday baking is here, my pretties), and so I took advantage of my green streak to purchase a couple of small tins of non-toxic paint. My cinnamon-colored pantry with ginger-colored trim is begging for a batch of Christmas cookies right now.

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  • I arranged my best go-to books about greening up your life in alphabetical order, and then let my friends and neighbors know they were available for borrowing. My books, not my friends and neighbors. Rent-A-Friend? Ha! I may be onto something there. But in all seriousness, have you seen this?

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The next part of this badge (hey, it’s the Expert Level, dahlinks—it takes time) was to donate six hours to a friend in need of greening up. But first, let me bask in the glory that is my shaggy rug, munch another piece of cake, and finish crooning to the woodland critters.

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    So many easy and ideas shown here to pretty up one’s place. I like the idea of the bright paint for a pantry and the blackboard paint on the bookshelves for a perfect Farmgirl inspired upgrades too.

  2. Ah Maryjane, how oddly coincidental! my laundry line # 1 is strung from the old antique pear tree to the old lilac by the stone cottage. The second #2 line goes from the pear tree to the antique apple tree. So they make a corner. Nothing better than fresh wind flapped laundry on the line. its gonna be cold ( high of only 45-50) today but really windy , so I may do another load this morning, you have inspired me to get out there despite the chilliness.

  3. …have to add, how lucky you are that you can pull up your old wall to wall rug. I am renting this farmhouse and despite it many fine attributes ( huge 18 X 19 ft custom oak kitchen, lots of closets including a monster linen closet, and everyone’s favorite -a laundry chute to the basement ) it has the worlds ugliest dirt colored shag wall to wall carpet in the downstairs rooms. Nothing keeps them clean or odor free. If it were my home I’d rip those stinky carpets out and have a bonfire! Did put down various antique and newly made hooked rugs on top of it to keep my sanity for beauty. Oh well,the dirt doesn’t show at least !

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sherrilyn Askew!!!

Sherrilyn Askew (Sherri, #1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Expert Level Putting Away for Winter Merit Badge!

“I have canned tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, cucumbers (ad nauseam), pears, apples, pumpkin, and plums using either the water-bath method or the pressure canner (my grandmother’s). I posted in the chatroom about my canning endeavors. I dehydrated chicken and a variety of vegetables and herbs for later use, and froze countless blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Using my dehydrated chicken, vegetables, and herbs, I made chicken soup in the crockpot. Using canned pears and frozen raspberries, I made a fruit strudel for dessert. When my folks came over midday, they helped clear the contents of the dishes.

Having things already partially prepared makes preparing meals so much easier, especially during harvest season when time is a hot commodity. My mom even paid me a compliment.

My goal has always been to have a home that smelled as good as hers always did. Hers always smelled like home-cooked food. She told me I had succeeded, and it was wonderful.”

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Congratulations Sharon! You really have a huge bounty of ingredients for your family. I know you will be enjoying many creative combinations this coming Winter. I love that your Mom took the time to compliment you on all of your hard work and achievement!

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photo-of-the-day

farm_romance-4352

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    The glorious colors of Fall. There is nothing so soothing as the oranges,reds, fading greens and yellow after a long hot summer.

  2. OOOh Horseshoes, what a neat game. thought no one played it anymore but met the National Horseshoe Champion at an antique shop and learned it is a sport that is alive and kicking ( get it -like a horse kicks? )

  3. Cindi Johnson says:

    I haven’t seen anyone play horseshoes for such a long time! At the camp my family went to (3 times a year, yay!) there was always some competition going on. Mom was determined to be champion one year so she installed a horseshoe pit in our backyard! 🙂 Fun days out there in the mountains with friends.

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Know Your Food Merit Badge, Intermediate Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,065 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,688 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life   

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Know Your Food Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I channeled my despair over my non-producing cucumber plants, my acorn squashes (the bugs found them delicious), and my frostbitten cherry tomatoes, into something less sorrowful: realizing I could use a CSA for some of my veggie needs.

What’s a CSA, you may ask? Is it like CSI, Miami? Uh, no. Not so much. Less violence, more arugula. Less drama, more kale. Less movie stars, and more low-profile stars (like the oh-so-humble potato).

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it’s positively dreamy for beginning gardeners, such as Yours Truly. You support your local farmer by giving her a set amount at the beginning of the growing season, and she gives you a hand-picked bag of produce every week. While I may have grandiose dreams of perfectly flourishing gardens, they don’t always come to fruition (get it? Fruition? Fruit? Gardening? hah), and I might need some professional help.

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No, not that kind. Well, maybe that kind …

While I’m working on the hue of my thumbs (while not green, they are a shade up from the black they used to be … a nice gray, if you will), I will pledge to support my friendly, local professionals. I mean, how can you possibly go wrong with homegrown, local, fresh, organic, produce? Um, yeah. You can’t.

Did you know that most supermarket produce—besides being coated in toxic chemicals and bizarre waxes—lingers in trucks and boxes for up to a year in cold storage? Whaa? By that time, those brightly colored apples you’re so happy to find for 98¢ a pound have almost no antioxidants left in them at all. And your orange juice (that sneakily doesn’t really taste like oranges anymore) has probably been sitting in a vat for months and months, only to have some orange “flavor packs” stirred in. Aged wine? Yum. Aged OJ? Ick.

Yikes, yikes, and double yikes. Here’s where changing where you get your produce comes into play. The challenge for a lot of us is we really, really like “one-stop shopping.” I mean, come on, who wants to (and who has the time to) go to several different stores for different items? Can’t we all just grab a cart and get it all at once at McWalShop?

Well, make a small change, says I. Support your local farmers, who would love to cut you off a slice of their Golden Delicious, and who would happy to assure you it came fresh from a tree only a few hours before. You’ll taste the difference, by golly, and you’ll also bask in the warm glow that’s the feeling you get when you do something beneficial for the community.

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Once you’ve picked out your very own CSA, snuggle down with a bowl of fruit and a copy of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Your brain, your heart, and your tummy will thank you.

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    In our area, many CSAs also run stands at the Farmer’s Market so you can always take advantage of their offerings. I love that photo of all of the sunflowers and produce piled together!

  2. CSAs are truly the wave of the future for families especially who want to eat fresh and healthy. We have a number of them here in Lancaster County PA . Most are organic. We are also blessed with a number of local produce stands right on the farms, often with just an ” honesty box” to put the money in. As a small seed company many of my best customers all over the country are market growers or CSA owners. Michael Pollan is my hero. Read his other books too, especially his first bestseller ” The Botany of Desire”.

  3. Karlyne says:

    The Golden Delicious comment was right on for today! I’m picking up 25# from a local organic homeschooler (organic kids and apples!) today, and the applesauce I’m going to make for the grandkidlets will be in memory of my mom who loved Goldens!

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Emily Race!!!

Emily Race (#3591) has received a certificate of achievement in Outpost for earning an Intermediate & Expert Level Woman-at-Arms Merit Badge!

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“I am applying for both the intermediate and expert badge. I have been a hunter for around 9 years. I drew a permit to hunt moose this year and began practicing with my 270 at the rifle range. I learned to be comfortable shooting accurately. I practiced at 100 and 200 yards. I also learned about different grains of bullets that could be used and cleaned my gun.

I then went hunting with my husband and found a beautiful moose.

I became very confident using and taking care of my 270. I was ready when I found the moose to make good, safe hunting choices. We now have 325 pounds of meat we processed in our freezer to feed our family for the year.”

  1. Wow, yesterday we were talking about keeping moose as pets, today shooting them? Very bad timing for putting up this post ! It should have been shelved for a later date. I’m not against hunting especially for food but this was a sad juxapostion of subjects.

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