If you’re a regular reader of my Raising Jane blog, you’ve probably noticed some adorable little junk sculptures in our recent “farmgirl romance” photos. They’re the creations of Carol Hill, my magazine designer. (We’ve just finished our Feb/March issue, “Celebrating 15 Years,” and Carol’s designed every issue except for the Premiere issue!)
This fall, Carol discovered a passion for repurposing all kinds of found objects into unique works of art. Carol says her interest was piqued when she discovered that a woman in her ukulele group (another of Carol’s passions is playing the ukulele), Shelly Gilmore, made beautiful large-scale yard art out of old metal findings. (You’ll be able to see Shelly’s art in an upcoming issue of MaryJanesFarm.)
Carol asked Shelly to make her a front-porch railing and promised her that she’d supply the materials. So, off to yard sales, old barns, and friends’ shops she went, and in the process, discovered lots of smaller items that were just too interesting to pass up. She wasn’t interested in drilling and welding, but thought if she could just glue things together and keep her sculptures small, it would be a good hobby to do at the dining room table. An evening spent browsing “assemblages” on Pinterest, and she was hooked.
Carol had already “decorated” her 1971 VW Bug (retired now for a few years) with year-round permanent décor using 100% silicone sealant, so she knew that would be a good choice to hold together her creations. A quick trip to the hardware store for a few staples, and off she went on a brand-new adventure.
Carol says, “I’ve always been a collector of kitschy things—my house is filled with knick-knacks and antique treasures. But I have an offbeat sense of style, so I often see the beauty in things that others may pass right by. My junk sculptures give me a chance to use things that catch my eye, but don’t have much use on their own. In the sculpture above, for instance, I started with an old bottle that had been dug up in a friend’s garden (leaving the dirt intact), added a split walnut I found on a path here at the farm that reminded me of an owl (as well as its perfect heart-shaped interior) for a head, an antique button that I turned upside-down for a hat, an old rusty nut and washer for a neck and shoulders shape, two adorable old pink cup hooks for arms, a decorative butterfly for wings, a scrap of lace from MaryJane’s stash, a Bingo number I found somewhere, and two colorful beads from my jewelry box.”
“I call the girl above ‘Zaza Zen.’ She’s made from a little vase of a girl’s torso that I’ve had for years, set atop a cut-glass votive holder, and topped with a doll head I found at a garage sale. She’s decorated with a strip of red sequins with lace peeking out the bottom to cover up the transition from the bust to the candle holder, a strip of red ribbon from a Tibetan lama, a piece of beaded holiday garland, and a precious little beaded earring in the shape of a girl that I long ago lost the mate to. Her hat is an incense burner with a quartz crystal cluster on top.”
“This tiny guy (note the scale when you notice that his arms are replacement bulbs for mini Christmas lights) came to life when a friend, hearing of my new adventures, gave me the little knob that became a head. She said she had noticed it on a walk and admired its shape and age (it looks like an old Bakelite knob), but didn’t know what to do with it. I found a little bottle for a body, added more rusty nuts for shoulders and feet, and topped it off with a souvenir thimble from Cody, Wyoming, a wild bead, and a wooden star, and called him ‘Marshall Cody’.”
“I find that making these junk sculptures are the perfect pastime for me … they combine my love of precious old things and kitschy new things and don’t require a large chunk of time all at once—there’s a fair amount of waiting involved while you’re waiting for glue to dry before you can turn the pieces over to work on another side. After using my creative juices all day to design a magazine, I find I only have small increments of time that can hold my interest for other creative projects. But for now, I’m on a roll … in just over a month, I’ve made about 20 sculptures! Coming up next? I’ll have to build a running shelf around my living room to display them all!”
Looking for that perfect farmgirl game this Christmas? 
Moo-ve over Monopoly … this farm-inspired game will have you buying the farm instead of the boardwalk. Farm-opoly is a property trading game depicting life on the farm, where players increase their profits by collecting acres and trading them in for big red barns. A lot like Monopoly, but full of country humor and fun farm facts … you’ll pass “grow” instead of “go” to collect $200, buy properties like “Grandma’s Apple Orchard” and “Combine Curve,” and get special passes like “Bale Out” and “Free Manure.”
Farm-opoly is a celebration of farm life. Suggested for ages 8 and up, it’s fun for the whole fam farmily. Guess what we’ll be doing Christmas day with my grandgirls?
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 (#1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Outpost for earning an Expert Level Rocks & Minerals Merit Badge!
“I have collected over 10 specimens of rocks and minerals, and identified them to the best of my and my reference books’ ability. A number of them are gemstones.
All these specimens were found within the United States (either in the dirt or the rock museum), mostly in the southeast.
Left to right by column: cut stones (topaz, ruby, garnet, amethyst, tourmaline, and aquamarine), fluorite, aquamarine, silver topaz, amethyst, emerald, peridot, smoky quartz, ruby, green tourmaline, olivine, black/green tourmaline, calcite (maybe), and granite.
I found some of these rocks in Alaska. Unfortunately, someone took my favorite one, which was a perfectly round piece of granite. He was going to slice it in half for me and he never gave it back.”
The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 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/Recipes Expert Level Merit Badge, I hosted a lover-ly (channeling Eliza Doolittle) dinner party for my nearest and dearest. But not just your average dinner party, with take-out or delivery pizza, oh no! Never let it be said, farmgirls, that this girl doesn’t know how to party.
And by “party,” I mean—of course—eat concoctions made from passed-down family recipes until I burst. I had been collecting the recipes for some time now, preserving them (Get it? Preserves? Like Uncle Ed’s lemon preserves? HA! Just a little Farm Kitchen humor there.), gifting the results, and basically eating myself into a coma. Not really, but it was a close call the weekend I attempted perfecting Great Grandfather’s caramel torte recipe. A helpful note from me to you: too much caramel does not a happy belly make.
Julaftonen by Carl Larsson 1904 via Wikimedia Commons
Anyway …
A dear friend of mine reminded me that not all of us really have families who A. cooked, or B. passed anything down, but I could share some of my kooky family members with you, if you’d like. I mean, let’s face it, some of us have a few more than our fair share, so we’ll be generous. In the words of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace, ”Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.”
‘Christmas Comes But Once A Year’ by Charles Green via Wikimedia Commons
Gramma Barbie’s Famous Horseradish Deviled Eggs
PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES
MAKES: 6 EGGS
6 eggs
3 T mayonnaise
1½ T prepared horseradish
¼ t black pepper
¼ t salt
1. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut off the top third of one unpeeled egg. Carefully scoop out both the egg white and yolk from both sides of the shell into a medium bowl, reserving the larger portion of the shell. Repeat with all eggs.
3. Add remaining ingredients to eggs and mash together until smooth.
4. Spoon or pipe mixture into the reserved shells and decorate as desired.
Aunt MJ’s Glamping Asian Chicken Slaw
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES MAKES: 4 SERVINGS
This recipe can be made ahead of time and put in your cooler, or it can be assembled at your campsite.
2 skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
½ cup green onions, thinly sliced
3 T rice vinegar
2 T peanut oil
1 t sesame oil
1 T fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 t sugar
1. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, and onions.
2. Add remaining ingredients and toss to blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve as a salad or fill pita pockets.
“As you think about your holiday gift list, please consider a gift that gives back to family farmers,” says American Farmland Trust. It’s not farmland without farmers. To save farmland, we must ensure that all farmers can make a living—as well as a life—on the land. American Farmland Trust works to save family farms by building community support for agriculture, improving market opportunities, and ensuring access to land for the next generation.
With a donation of $25 or more to American Farmland Trust, you’ll “adopt a cow for someone special” and they’ll send your recipient an adorable plush cow named Milkshake and a certificate of adoption.
It’s a fantastic way to give a meaningful gift—one that will help family farmers thrive by supporting the work of American Farmland Trust.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
