Hippity Hoppity DIY Crayon Bunnies

This project just screams "oh, do me!" If you have any children in your life, you know that eventually you will have crayons that get tossed aside and that are no longer used to color with. You know the crayon that has been colored down where the nice little factory point is nothing but a nub?Then to be discarded never to be used again? Admit it we all like using the ones with a point!  Well, do not throw them away, they are treasures. (Yes, I am a crayon hoarder) You can reuse the old crayons for a lot of things, but our favorite is to make new crayons. Especially when they can become cool shapes, like bunnies!

 DIY CRAYON BUNNIES

Here is how to do this project:

 For the project you will need a metal pan. I used a Wilton Rabbit cake pan. I have seen these crayons made in cupcake pans. However, using shapes makes for more fun!  Sometimes you can find these pans at thrift stores or garage sales. Re-purposing is the best!

 Collect old crayons. Peel off the paper wrapper. This part is a bit tedious and your fingernails will be multicolored and sore. I usually employee my husband or kids to help in this effort.

Once all the paper is removed, break the crayons up into as pieces. This is when your creativity comes in! Group like colors and hues. You can also place the crayons in desired ways you want them to turn out, for example a rainbow that is layered.

 Fill the crayon pieces as much to the top of the pan as possible. But do not go over. See the above photo for the right amount. You want enough crayon pieces to create a thick crayon, but not have it spill over.

The final step is to melt them. Because I used a metal pan, I used my oven. Set your oven as low as possible, I had mine at 200 degrees. Put your pan into the oven and allow the crayon pieces to melt. This does require a watchful eye so as to not burn the wax. As soon as all the wax has turned into liquid, remove the pan. Set in a safe place to cool down.

Once the wax is cooled, you just pop out the new bunny shaped crayon! If the wax does not remove well from the mold, try to gently tap on the back of the pan, or use a butter knife to loosen the sides. Don't use too make force, or you will break your crayon mold. But if that does happen, just break it up and use it for another bunny crayon.

Of course to give as gifts you have to put them in cute little baggies and use fun Easter tags! 

 

My 15 minutes of fame!

I am not really a "Toot Your Own Horn" type of person, but today I cannot help it and I have to share!


Drum roll...

I have been featured with other U.S chicken owners in this month's edition of Your Chickens magazine. The magazine was originally started in the UK. However, in January they kicked off editions for the United States. The magazines are available at Tractor Supply stores and online. Each month they feature American chicken owners. The magazine has caught my eye several times while I was in Tractor Supply. It is beautifully done and provides wonderful information regarding our feathered friends. I have shared who to contact further down in the post if you are interested in being featured. Simon is very helpful and prompt. I hope you do, I would love to hear your "chicken stories." You may also find information on their Facebook.  page. If you do tell them, that Heather from The Whimsical Feather sent you.

 

 
 

Content editor Simon McEwan says: “We are delighted to be a launching in the USA and would like to thank all those American henkeepers who have contacted us. We have had a fantastic response. We would be very pleased to hear from more of you, with about 200 words and a high-resolution photo of you with your chickens. Just email us at: yourchickens@archant.co.uk.”


 

Still waiting for Spring? Why not pick up a new hobby?

 I do not remember wanting  Spring to come as much as I have this year. Living in Ohio we have crazy weather. For instance, Sunday it was almost 60 degrees and sunny. Today some light snow flurries are falling and it is cloudy and cold.

What do we do here? We take it in stride. We take what we can get and maximize our time.This year between the daily life stuff, I played with a bit of fiber crafts. I found on Pinterest some cute little bird designs and took some creative license. So I pulled out the embroidery hoop and thread, and made these cute little hen and rooster designs on our pillow cases. Yes, I am chicken obsessed, how can I not be! My poor husband has to sleep with chickens now. Honestly, he did not mind and to join in the fun, he set his alarm clock on his phone to a rooster crowing. Yeah, the first morning I heard it I jumped up half asleep, thinking our hens were crowing, stumbled into the wall while trying to get dressed. Ha! Ha! Honey, I hope you enjoyed your laugh.

I thought about adding more to the pillow cases, but I liked the simplicity of it. With that in mind do not judge the lack of ironing, I am a simple girl who does not like to iron if I do not have too.



My next project is doing a blanket for my youngest son. I am crocheting it. Now, I am far from  fiber craft perfection and still have a LOT to learn. At this time I can just do the basics. Knit and purl, single and double crochet, and do the basic stitches in embroidery.


My goal is to learn more. I am such a hands on learner, that watching a video or looking at book are not always the best way for me to learn. Locally we have a Fiber Crafts group that meet a few times a month. I hope to get to one of those craft days and learn some new skills.

Hopefully, I can do this before the weather gets warmer, because after that happens, It is all about Garden 2013!

It's Time to Play in the Dirt!

This post my be redundant, I have to say, but playing in the dirt makes for a wonderful day!

Oh, the dirt!

Planting we will go!

Construction of a great find!

Took all but 5 minutes to set up. Voila! A dog and cat proof area for my seeds! *Notice to the right, "photo bomb" dog rear end, she was so interested, but keeping her distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I promote reading!

This is not much of a homesteading topic, but one that is near and dear to me. Reading. I guess you can tie this into homesteading right? You have to be able to read seed packets, animal husbandry books and the like. Some of my earliest memories are of being read too. Today is the birthday of one of my favorite children authors, Dr. Seuss.

 <--------------See? This was my birthday last year, the big 40! I had a Seuss theme for it. Yeah, I am a big kid at heart. Maybe that is why I have a degree in Early Childhood Education and Development.

But I digress...

Today not only is Dr. Seuss' birthday, it also marks "Reading Across America." The movement is to promote reading and literacy. Honestly I do not know what I would do without being able to read. Reading is so much more than just gathering valuable information. Reading takes you places, from the world of Narnia, to Victorian England of Jane Austen. Besides being out in the garden, my other favorite place is in a book store or the library. I love the smell of old and new books. When I was teaching I bought so many books, that by the time my children were born, we had a extensive library. The joys of hearing a child put the phonemic sounds of speech together, creating words and then the moment they realize that they just read. It is one of the most fulfilling things for me. Truly, a gift.

To promote Reading Across America, I want to share one of my favorite books. It is a children's book (of course) and one that I think everyone should have in their home. Oh, and of course it is farm related, so I guess this post does reflect "homesteading."


Here it is....

  Yes, the author is Carly Simon the singer. Which for me was another bonus! I happened upon this book years before I had children. I fell in love with it. My copy has went through four children, and a few classrooms of preschoolers, so it is a bit beat up. But that gives it "character."



The illustrations are something straight out of my dreams. David Delamare illustrated it. I said if I ever wrote a book, I would use him.

Here is an excerpt:


"One night in July
We woke to hoots and howls-
It sounded nothing lie a nightingale
Nothing like an owl.
We looked out the window
And the sea was very calm
But the joint was jumping
On our Martha's Vineyard farm.
Just when you'd expect
Every living thing to doze
Vegetables and flowers
Were putting on their clothes."

Smelly Goods! Review of Lally Broch Scent Shots.

Aromatherapy is one of my loves.  My house always has candles, warming tarts or oils burning somewhere. But I will admit when it comes to what smells I have in my house, I am a bit of a "Smelly Good Snob." There are only a few products that I have found that "meet" my standards. See? Snobby!

A few weeks ago our friends over at Lally Broch Farms asked us to do a test run of their new "Scent Shots." Even though I have products I love, I was very willing to help our friends out. Boy, am I glad I did! I loved how they packaged them. Lally Broch provided great information on how to best use the product,  and the description of ingredients were labeled.

I also received a little bonus in my package too. How fun! They sent me a sample of their Goat Milk soap. I have really wonky skin. Prone to dryness, allergic reactions, and I have two patches of psoriasis that I battle with. Guess what? My skin is loving this soap! It lathers well, and is rich. The scent Maine Woods has a great earthy smell that my whole family loves. My husband and I will never buy "store soap" again. You can order all these awesome products here.

Lally Broch uses soy and essentials oils so that was a major plus in my book. Gotta keep it as natural as possible. Like I said, I received my smelly goodness a few weeks ago. By now "normal" tart melts lose their scent. NOT these! I am still getting amazing fragrance from these, and I melt them everyday. I chose two scents, Mediterranean Dreams and Flower Child. Oh, be still my heart, nose!

An Interview with a Farmer

The Homesteading revival is rapidly growing. It is apparent. You are reading this blog right? "We" homesteaders all have our reasons for joining in. We all have our ways that we contribute. My connection to homesteading began way before I was born. I am the proud descendant of generations that lived off the earth. For my family, this was just not a hobby or a trend, it was life.
By the time I was born, most of our family had retired and moved "into town" making me a city girl. But I was never far from this way of life. Stories, traditions and skills were handed down to me.

But I wanted to know more. Farming, the agrarian lifestyle, what was it REALLY like? Lucky for me I did not have to go far to have my questions answered. With questions, paper and pen in hand, I headed out for a long overdue visit with my grandfather's sister and her husband, my Uncle Cliff and Aunt Madonna. They were very happy to answer my questions. After spending the whole day visiting, laughing and eating some of my Aunt's incredible Chicken Noodle soup, I have a better vision of what it is like to be a farmer. This is their story of farming.

Interview with a Farmer
*CB=Uncle Cliff
*MB=Aunt Madonna

How did you start farming?
CB: My family were farmers. Well I was born in 1934. Right on the kitchen table in the old farm house. (laughter) We all lived in the that house. It was our family farm, started in the 1860's. My family had fruit trees, vegetables, animals for meat, chickens, and a dairy cow. We grew hay too. We got everything we needed there. My family would go into East Toledo to sell the fruit and vegetables to places, restaurants there. Then they would buy 100 pounds of sugar and flour to bring back home. That was all they needed to buy. My Mom and Grandmother canned and we ate what we grew.

Did you always want to be a farmer? 

CB: I never thought about it, it just was what I was. Eventually, I took over the farm. My grandfather built the house we are in now and the barn and I continued.

Did you like being a farmer?

CB: yes. It was good, hard but good
MB: Oh, it was fun! I had a shock after I married him though. I did not know for sure what I got into, but it was fun.

Aunt Donna what did you on the farm?
MB: I drove tractor, would drive the water truck, and I cooked for the workers. Helped where ever I could. I canned using Uncle Cliff's mom's Conservo, that was the best way to can. I loved being on the farm maybe it is like you said it is because it is where our family comes from, the blood memory.

You are now retired, how many years has it been?
CB: I started slowing down when I was 62, but finally fully retired in 1998. We sold the farm land in Michigan and moved back down here to Ohio. 

You farmed here on the family farm until the 1980s then bought a farm up in Michigan. How many acres did you farm here in Ohio? How many in Michigan? What was your main crop?

CB: Here on the Ohio farm we had 85 acres. In Michigan we had 525 acres. The farm in Ohio we raised cattle, we had 125 at a time. We grew our own feed for them here too.We would send them out to be butchered and sold. But we also kept beef for the family. A steer a year would feed the family.  In Michigan, we farmed Potatoes, onions and carrots. We also handled our own washing and packaging in Michigan.

Did you raise any other animals besides cattle?

CB: Sure, we always had some kind of animal here. We had sheep, chickens, we had pigs once, Tom (his son) raised them, but that was not for me, I said no more. We did not butcher our own cattle but we have processed our own chickens. That was an adventure, we had a assembly line going. Then after a long hot day, we came in and your Great Grandma and her sister made dinner for us, Chicken Dinner, not really what we wanted to eat at that time. But those were the best chickens we had that time.

What do you think about the Homesteading Revival?

CB: I think it is good, it is good to be able to take care of yourself and family. Especially with everything so expensive. But the days of the small farms and making money from them are gone. It is not affordable like it use to be. I think it is great that you are gardening, and have your chickens. It is not a bad thing to do.

As far as food goes, Organic or Not? Why?


CB: You know, there is no difference, nutritional difference. A Organic vegetable and a non-organic vegetable is the same vegetable. They hold the same nutritional value. I would be more concerned eating a organic vegetable.  People do not realize how often wildlife roam out into the fields, and there you have fecal matter on the food. You need to clean your food. Even as a packager, we had to clean everything with chlorine treated water before we could ship or store the vegetables. Plus, you do not know if everyone is doing their jobs correctly, even with organics. We even at home clean our fruits and vegetables with a little bit of diluted water and bleach.

So you used chemicals when you farmed?

CB: Only when you have too. And then you have to be licensed, take so many classes and so many hours to renew your license. You cannot just use chemicals as you please. You have to only use the chemical for the problem. For example, if you have nematodes in the soil eating the carrots. I can only use the the right chemical, I cannot buy more than I need and there are strict regulations on how many ounces I am allowed to use to the acre of the problem. Let's say it is a 40 acre area being infected, I can only use the amount and type to cure the 40 acres nothing more. We do not just spray to spray chemicals, we can't.

Do you think anyone can farm? Or does it take a special knack?

CB:Farming has changed so much. Even since I have retired. So much of the tools are all electronic, GPS is big now. I can fix a tractor but now a days? A guy comes out with his computer, to fix one. I would not even know how to farm with the way it has changed. You have to understand all the new technology and computers to farm now. It is amazing how much it has changed.

Is that a bad thing?

CB: No, it is great, it makes it easier. I would just be lost. I still get farm magazines and keep up with it all. Just like how they are able to make plants stronger. Science has really helped the farmer.

What do you mean, like GMO's?

CB: Yes, I think it is wonderful, the fact that we now have plants that are made to hold up during droughts and with stand certain disease, Having these types of plants helps produce higher yields in crops. The small farms and making a living off a small farm is gone, sad but true. It is the large farms that feed this country. So we need to have better crops.

What do you think of the Farmer's Almanac? Should I use it for my garden planting times?

CB: (chuckles) I think it is a lot more accurate then those guys on T.V! As far as when to plant, sure use it. Plant when the ground is ready, when you can work it, with no danger of frost. Or be prepared to be out there covering up everything.

Thanks for doing this. One last thing, Do you have any tricks of the trade or Old wives tales I should know about?

CB: No, not really, I just know when it is time to plant. Know your ground/soil, make sure it is rich and full of the things it needs, and pray that you never get hail.
MB: Never do canning when it is your time of the month. I always was told that. Never really thought much about it, until one time I happened to can during that time, and not one, not one single jar sealed. So, I wonder...