Feelin' Thrifty & Crafty

I've been slipping on my blog posts, which is why I am posting now! I've been looking for some inspiration and I've found it! I am feeling like an especially thrifty spender today and I know my fellow Twenty-Somethings appreciate good deals too.

I substituted today for my mother (my favorite substitute teaching job!) because she was going to a breast-cancer survivors luncheon called Horses & Hope. So, we still rode in to L-Burg together and she met up with some other woman who were attending, while I stayed in school and subbed for her. After school she took me to a craft yard-sale she had heard about. It was an older woman who had interests in many different crafts, but who was trying to downsize her collection of items. It was awesome! She had very reasonable (cheap) prices on the craft supplies and Mom and I loaded up for a total of $8 between the two of us! I bought several scraps of fabric for making hair bows (and perhaps other things), three bags of buttons, some miniature clothes pins and some little wooden stars. Now I will be searching Pinterest for button and other crafts because this shopping adventure has put me in a very crafty mood.

 I also got a $5 trim on my hair today. There is a place in L-Burg with a permanent $5 hair-cut salon which I think it pretty cool, but I don't always go there for my haircuts. She cut off more than I expected, but the ends feels so much better! I was pleased to get this done and get a good deal, to boot!

Looks short, huh? Sorry for the over-exposed selfie 

Well I've gotta run! 

The Farmer's Daughter

Cabin Fever

This post was actually written last Thursday....I was going to post it but I wanted to put the pictures in it and my internet was not behaving. So...you'll have to bear with me so I don't have to go back through this and fix all the tenses and such:

I don't know about you all, but I have cabin fever! I have been in or less than a mile away from my house (as in taking a walk) since Sunday early afternoon when I got back from church. I've taken a walk or gone outside to see the snow almost every day. But today I just stayed inside because it's been about 1 degree or cooler all day. I didn't feel like getting layered up and going out even though it might not have been as bad as I thought it might be. Even though I'm tired of being inside, I've been trying to get somewhat crafty for the last couple of days. Last night I made some rosettes out of an old wool coat that my mother had been using for fabric scraps. I'd never made these rosettes before but I was pleased with how they turned out. I've made one completed necklace and the rosettes for a second necklace (but it isn't attached to a chain or ribbon yet to make it a necklace). There is a really good tutorial on how to make the rosettes and necklace, here. Like I said, I used fabric from a wool coat on the first set of rosettes and I actually used felt for the second set. I think they both turned out nicely.

The red one is felt, the brown is the wool

Today my craft was to decorate a platter. I purchased some oil-based Sharpie paint pens a month or two ago online to start decorating my own mugs with. I decorated two mugs when I first got the pens in the mail but I hadn't set the paint yet (by baking them). This afternoon I started working on the platter and the items are presently still in the oven (they're cooling now from being baked). I stole the idea from someone on Pinterest. I bought a package of colorful (red, black, yellow, blue) fine-point paint pens on eBay and some medium point metallic colored pens from Walmart (here is a link to a large package of some that Walmart sells to show you exactly what I used). A friend gave me the platter. Here are some pictures of the stages of my work. In case you are interested, after using the markers, you let your design dry for at least an hour. Then you preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and bake your item(s) for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you turn the oven off and let the items cool completely before taking them out. I have used regular Sharpies to draw on ceramic items before and bake them, but some of the colors fade and the design will still wash off after being baked..which is why I looked into the oil-based Sharpies which are made to last on glass and other surfaces. I'm crossing my fingers the designs do last with these paint pens. If you'd like to see where I got my idea for the design, go here to see hers.

1. I cut out letters from a sheet of "Print & Stick" project paper

2. I stuck them on the platter and make Sharpie dots all over it.
(This took much longer than expected).
3. I let it dry, peeled the stickers off and baked it. I couldn't get the final picture on here though

Snow Days are so good for crafting! 
The Farmer's Daughter

These are a few of my favorite things...

Looking down our blog, I realize almost all of us have made lists in our posts lately...I think lists are really easy to read and it makes the post look so organized. So, I'm going to cave to peer pressure and follow the trend. I'm not sure why I have the urge to make this post, but I've been wanting to make a post of some of my favorite things. In a way it's sort of a spin-off on the 'thankful' posts like Martha S. and Captain Something Fun made...because of course, I'm very thankful for my favorite things. Here goes:

1. Fru fru coffee/ espresso drinks (and coffee shops)...as the other Twenty-Somethings know, I love the comfort, low-lighting and of course the specialty drinks of coffee shops. Anyone want to meet up at one sometime soon? :) Also, I recently bought a carton of Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha iced coffee drink at the grocery..it was a splurge, but it's pretty good!

2. Pinterest. I could spend hours on there and still not get enough. I have been getting alot of good gift ideas off of there lately...and ideas for Christmas crafts too!

3. Baking. This is especially a favorite around the holidays. It's so much fun trying new recipes and sharing the goods with other people. Buddy the Elf said "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."...I think the best way to spread Christmas cheer is actually baked goods. ;)

4. Christmas movies (and music)! Oh, I need to get to re-watching my old favorites and remembering to turn on the Christmas music, because they both make me happy!

5. Crafting...I absolutely love being able to make things for myself and the people I care about. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been knitting alot and I find making things to be a great stress-reliever. If you're looking for another reason to start knitting or crocheting, check this out, it's a craft that's good for your health!

6. My family's pets. Speaking of stress-relievers..it's so nice to live with and around so many animals. They're a good excuse to get outside and take a walk, plus they're always around to hug and love on whenever you need it. And...they always greet me with a wagging tail when I come home late and my parents are asleep.

7. Taking Pictures! Since getting a smart-phone I don't take nearly as many high-quality photos as I have in the past. But, high-quality or not, I love taking photos. Right now I'm participating in a December photo challenge and I'm posting a photo everyday to Instagram. Most of the photos have something to do with the Christmas season and I think it's kind of a fun way to get into the spirit of the holidays. Plus, I always love looking back at my old photos.

8. Jason. Last, but certainly not least. I love this boy to death. He isn't a thing, but he is my favorite.

Of course, this is only a few of my favorite things. Time to wrap it up though and get back to being productive! I hope you're all having a lovely start to the Christmas season!

The Farmer's Daughter

Country Concert & Fall

Yes..I know, it's not fall yet (7 days!) And yes, I am trying to contain my excitement and enjoy the last couple days of summer. But, I am very excited for pumpkin picking, corn maze exploring, sweater-wearing, beautiful leaves falling, bonfire sitting, caramel apple eating, flannel wearing, pumpkin spice everything...and of course-- birthday...season. I am super excited for all of these things, which has gotten me in the mood to pin countless pumpkin and apple recipes.
Last week I made pumpkin chocolate muffins/cupcakes. For the muffins I just left off the icing. They were pretty good, but I think I must have covered them too soon, which made them slightly wet. Here is where I found the recipe if anyone is interested. And if you're interested in seeing my hours of pinning about Halloween and fall and getting as pumped for the season as I am, you should just check out my fall Pinterest board.

The weekend was very exciting for me..the beau took me to the Burning It Down concert, with Jason Aldean (& Florida Georgia Line)! It had been a long while since I had been to a big concert and we both really enjoyed it. Jason Aldean and FGL both sounded very good in concert, I was impressed. Something I had forgotten about concerts was how loud they are. It's probably for the best that I don't go to many concerts, for my ears sake. (haha)

Well, that's all for my update.
Until next time,
The Farmer's Daughter

Pinterest Party

And so my obsession with Pinterest continues!...

My best friend from high school is getting married in less than a month (yay!) so we had a Pinterest Party as her bachelorette party. I'd never attended a Pinterest Party but it was so much fun! I'm not sure how they're usually organized, but we asked everyone to bring a food dish they'd found on Pinterest and another one of the bridesmaids organized the craft project while I organized the beauty project! 

For the craft we made light bulbs into flower vases. I've always though that was a really cute idea! Now my vase is on a shelf above my bed with flowers, where I can enjoy them! For the beauty project, we eat chose a nail design and did each others nails. I thought everything turned out nicely. I made kale & artichoke dip; I was pretty happy with how it tasted. Someone made a spin-off on pizza (as pictured above). 

I stole Martha S.'s idea for the drinking glasses because I thought it was so cute and used chalk board tags to write wedding related words on each one! It was a really cute party! I hope to have another Pinterest Party sometime soon, perhaps set up a little bit differently. It would be fun for everyone to bring a craft and the supplies needed to make the craft. So many pins get forgotten about and that's no fun! 

Pin on! 

The Farmer's Daughter

DIY Necklace & the Rock Quarry

Here goes with an update on some activities I've been getting into: 

Tennessee... I went to visit brother in Tennessee last Thursday through Saturday. Originally we were planning on going to a place called The Beach and some natural waterfalls in Tn. We changed our plans, though, when we heard it was supposed to rain. Instead, we went somewhere closer to their home (in case it started raining). It was a beautiful rock quarry.

The water was a beautiful greenish blue looking down at it and it was very clear and cool in the water. Poppy, my niece, really enjoyed the water once she got used to it. Most of my family loves water..I am pretty sure she will too!

Poppy gets cuter & more independent every day! 

Crafting.. I was attempting to weed out some of the jewelry I don't ever wear and I found a long necklace chain without any charm on it. It reminded me of a necklace I had been wanting to make but I thought I didn't have all the materials for. (Of course this craft was found on Pinterest.)

What I used for to make this necklace: 

Jewelry (small) pliers, scissors, paint chips, necklace chain & a needle

What I ended up doing with the necklace chain I found was shortening the chain and using the links in the excess chain to attach the paint chips cut into triangles. Otherwise, I followed the directions of this blogger: Sincerely, Kinsey I was quite pleased with the final product! :) 

Stay Crafty! 

The Farmer's Daughter

The Great Smoky Mountains

I took a lovely trip with the beau's family to Pigeon Forge this past weekend. We had such a good time! I thought I would share a couple of the highlights. Note: I know I share what I eat alot, but I find that food is something good to be shared. So let me start with some of our meals...

It's a tradition for his family to eat breakfast at a restaurant called The Log Cabin Pancake House. We ate there Sunday and Monday morning and it was delicious. And I love breakfast food in general, so I really enjoyed this restaurant.

Pancakes, bacon & eggs

On the way out we stopped at Bass Pro Shops which is one of Jason's favorite stores. If you've never been into Bass Pro Shops, it's a HUGE store. They have two floors, a restaurant and gigantic fish tanks with a large variety of exotic fish in them. They carry pretty much any hunting or fishing gear you could ever want as well as clothing and other things. I have to agree with the beau, it's a really cool store.
We ate lunch there and I got to try alligator! It also came with a 'gator sauce' (the green one pictured below) made from cream cheese, jalapeno jelly, and half & half. The whole lunch was yummy.

Chicken tenders, alligator tenders, slaw & sauces

The beau and I also went on a balloon ride. I'd never done this before and thought it was really neat! It didn't seem like it was going to be that high up at first, but once you got up there, it felt REALLY high. The view was really nice but we only got to stay at the very top for 3 minutes. So we snapped a few photos and enjoyed the view while we could!

Looking up at the balloon

View of Pigeon Forge at highest elevation of the balloon

Lastly, we went to some outlet stores while in Pigeon Forge. One of the items I got that I was particularly excited about and I think some of my friends already own, is a denim button-up shirt. I saw it at Old Navy and my beau treated me to it since I liked it so well. I'd already pinned some ideas on Pinterest of different ways to wear it and I thought I'd link it to you all too. Here is one link to another blog with several different ideas for a denim button-up and there are many more online. I'm ready to try some of them out!
What a great month June has been!

Until next time,
The Farmer's Daughter