Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Linda Van Ausdell!!!

Linda Van Ausdell (#4347) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Intermediate Level Recycling Merit Badge!

“I have been recycling for many years. When we had our kitchen redone, I put in a recycling center. I take my recycling every 2 weeks or so, and we only take in one garbage bag a week.

I works great and I don’t mind the extra time it takes. It’s worth it.”

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 Make it Easy for earning a Beginner Level Make It! Merit Badge!

“I obtained a used toolbox on wheels, cleaned it up, and stored my tools inside, making sure I labeled the drawers with the types of tools within.

I also made a planter out of cedar.

Having the tools on wheels is very handy, as projects are often done based on space available.

I also learned that cedar is a soft wood that will split if you put the screws in too deep, but the drill has speed settings. Once I slowed the drill down, things went much better. (Drilling holes first did not stop it from splitting.)

My daughter and I made the first one together, then I made the second one. I am going to line them both with plastic, then plant my garlic in them.”

This week, I was thrilled to get a box from my dear friend and fellow farmgirl April Choate (Sister #658, sonshine4u). Enclosed were supplies for a project, a video CD, and the following handwritten letter:

Dear MaryJane and Meg,

I’m sitting on the floor in my craft room, buried by my current project of making aprons. It’s a glorious place to be! Thread bits and fabric cuttings, hissing iron and shiny shears. I’m having a blast!

The reason I’m writing has nothing to do with aprons, but it does have to do with being a farmgirl. You see, I have had this special project in various stages for over a year. In fact, I was inspired a month after I saw you in Kansas. Anyway, I finished it and can now share it with you.

I made a video tutorial for you, and have some of the supplies for you in the package. The rest, I’m pretty sure you’ll have around the farm. Open the package to find out what the fun is!

Much love,
April

I first met April a few years back when I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the Creative Connection Event in Minneapolis. After the event, Megan and I took a hired car and drove for about 45 minutes to April’s house, where she hosted a farmgirl chapter get-together that included Farmgirl Beer served by her husband! (I had no idea there was such a thing so I brought my bottle home in my suitcase.)

Here’s a video of the festivities. (But don’t get distracted from making it all the way to the bottom of this post to watch April’s surprise video:)

And now … here is April’s farmgirl genius video so you can see what all the henquarters cackling is about.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … CJ Armstrong!!!

CJ Armstong (ceejay48, #665) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Expert Level Home Insulation Merit Badge!

“Our home is not in need of different or replacement insulation. We have, however, replaced weather stripping around doors due to sun damage or because our former cat tore it all to pieces.

My sister, who is handicapped, and her hubby built a nice enclosed sun porch on their house and I assisted in installing the insulation in the ceiling and around the windows and doors in that room. I’m envious of this room, as it’s wonderful.

I have also assisted my daughter in utilizing curtains, blinds, etc. in her home to help insulate. She lives in the Arizona desert, so the main thing there is the blazing, three-digit, summer heat.

It’s always good to reassess insulation issues over time due to things wearing out, etc.

I’m glad our house is still in “good shape” regarding insulation in the walls, ceiling, and floor and we have insulating “honeycomb” blinds on all the windows, which makes a huge difference.”

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.”

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 

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?

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.)

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!

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.

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!”

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 

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.

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:

• 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.

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.

• 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?

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.