A Real Treasure

Farmgirl Mister Jim clucks and sputters with every load of pickin’ treasures I bring home, always commenting as he helps unload, “this really is enough….”

Well today, FGM Jim had an epiphany! Pickin’ really can be for profit and even a good profit! 

Occasionally I will visit an on-line auction site, enter a few minimum bids and then wait to see what happens.  If I win it great, if not, oh well, there will be others.

Recently I happened upon what appeared to be a small vintage beaded evening bag, and the opening bid was less than $5.  So I placed the opening bid and never looked back.  Three days later, I received an email announcing I had won the bag.  It arrived about a week later, and it really is quite lovely.

Wanting to know a bit more about the bag I started to research on the internet and was shocked what I found.  First my bag is as much as 100 years old!  I immediately called to Jim to come look.  My little beaded bag sells for anywhere from $285.00 and up.  Well Jim jumped on his computer and continued the search for an hour, pulling up every version of French steel beaded bags he could find.  Some listed for as much as $400.00!  Needless to say, future pickin’ is now encouraged!

The most difficult part of finding treasures like this little bag is that I find them to sell, and often I don’t want to let go of them. 

This is so true of this gorgeous French Steel-cut Beaded Purse.  It is a shimmery beauty with long lattice fringe, beautiful pink lining, and sewn in ribbon Made in France.  Ornate detailing and a delicate button with loop closure.  Beautiful bead work makes this an outstanding example of this art form, every little bead hand done, and none missing.  A heavy bag, dating to the late 1800's early 1900's. 

But alas, my little find is for sale, and to all you collectors out there, it is in fabulous condition, all fringe in tack, button and loop in tack, handle intact.  Lining is clean and Made in France task is clean and intact.

Add this to your collection for $225.00

A Farmgirl Sews

Farmgirls are strong, hardworking, fun-loving, friendly, and creative. We are passionate, compassionate, and we have an intensely romantic side. Whether we wear overalls and a cotton shirt, or long skirts with pantaloons, there is romance in how we live and all we do and how we live our lives.

Recently I came across a bounty of old sewing patterns and I had so much fun sorting through the bags and bags of envelopes while deciding how I would use them.

Many ended up as tissue paper to wrap treasures purchased at our Cottage Sale this past weekend, and the instruction pages were pulled to use for craft paper and fun gift wrap paper. Empty envelopes were saved for scrapbooking and tag making.

However, nearly two dozen spoke to my Farmgirl heart. Patterns of jumpers, shirts, dresses, overalls, and even nightwear - all from decades past and present - ended up in a pile that I just couldn’t bear to take apart. There are long and short skirted, jumpers that can be adapted in length or embellished, a variety of dress styles, blouses and more. There is even a fabulous Wedding dress pattern that you can just surely envision a Farmgirl Bride marrying the man of her dreams and celebrating in the best barn party ever!

Here are some of the favorites, and you’ll find them all ready for you to purchase at www.farmgirlsisters.com at our on-line Cottage store.

One or two I will keep so that I can make them up and sell the finished products for you buy and wear! I only wish I could copy the patterns so more and more of you could enjoy them, however, remember Farmgirl Sisters respect copyright laws! But I promise to search them out where ever I go, and will keep adding them to our store.

To see them all, visit our website at www.farmgirlsisters.com, they will all be posted in our on-line Cottage Store over the next few days.

Happy sewing…………..

Bumble Bees and Pecans

It's Spring and our Spring Cottage Sale is in full swing, and here I am at 12:25 a.m. making bumble garland to put out for tomorrow's sale.  Still going strong Friday and Saturday, hundreds of great Spring and Easter Decorations, gift items, collectibles, antiques and so much more, but that's for another blog.....

I haven't ever posted about one of my craft projects before, but I think this garland is quite clever, and takes a little time, but is fairly easy.

What you'll need:
Pecans
Black Spray Paint
Yellow craft paint
Cordless drill and small drill bit
16 gauge black wire
Window screen
Heavy duty scissors
Glue gun
Needle nose pliers

Drill holes through pecans either end to end or through the middle depending on how you prefer to hang your bees; spray them all black;

Using bright yellow craft paint - I used Daffodil - add your bumble bee stripes;

Using heavy duty work scissors, cut modified heart shapes for your wings from the window screen;

With a drop of hot glue add your wings to the top center of your bee. If you have drilled the holes through the middle for vertical hanging,be sure to not glue your wing over the hole. I simply cut a deeper v into my heart shape so the wings go "around" the pre-drilled hole.


I like to leave my wire on the spool until I have completed my garland because I kind of "free hand" my curls and spirals, so I never know how much wire I will actually use. For garland, feed the horizontal drilled "bees" onto the wire.

Curl the cut end of the wire into a loop for hanging, the add a few spirals. Move a bee that you previously fed onto the wire up to the spiral, and add another spiral, move the next bee up the wire, and continue for length of garland you wish. I use about 7 "bees" per strand. Once you've completed getting the "bees" into place and your final spiral, leave a length of wire, and clip the garland from the spool, with your needle nose pliers, curl the end into a loop for hanging.

I like to use a wooden spoon to wrap my wire around for my spirals.

I like to make vertical "bees" to hang from pots or garden hooks. Use the same technique above, but use the bees you drilled through the middle.







and there you have a garden of bumble bee garland from pecans...........buzz! I think I shall try some Lady Bugs from walnuts next!

My Thanksgiving

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I think it’s for many reasons. I love the Fall, the colors, the cool crisp days, wool plaids and bulky sweaters, and there is something about cooking in the Fall, that first big pot of chili, baked apples, and of course Thanksgiving dinner. The more people around my table the better, family and friends, maybe a new acquaintance that doesn’t have someone to share the day with…..it is my day to be thankful so many things, and to share my table and cook like crazy. This year we will have nearly 20 around our table(s) – four to be exact, and included in our gathering is my son, an Army medic (need I say how thankful I am that he is once again home safe from deployment!); my mother, who just celebrated her 87th birthday; my very dear friend Sherri; adopted and extended family with our youngest guests age four, Hailey and Skylar to Mom, 87.


It could only be more perfect if my sister Bonnie and her family in California could be with us too.
My pantry list of menu items includes two 23 pound turkeys, two hams, 30 pounds of potatoes, 3 quarts of mixed berry compote, yams, 2 pounds of buttered carrots, apple sausage dressing, corn soufflé, Italian pasta salad, dinner rolls, and a dessert table that rivals any bakery window.

Amidst all of this cooking preparation, my Farmgirl Sisters and I are still busy readying for our Cottage Christmas Sale beginning December 1 and running through Dec 4 and what a amazingly fabulous sale this will be. Thousands of ornaments from over 30 theme Christmas trees, holiday décor items, collectibles, gift items, antiques, home décor, furniture and so much more.

For more information on our sale and a map to 606 Kingsway at 6th, downtown Branson, visit our website at http://www.farmgirlsisters.com/.

So, I will post a few more pictures to tantalize you with what awaits at our sale, and then I’m going to return to the kitchen to finish up the oatmeal raisin cookies for our dessert table – my son’s favorite!

I encourage you to take a moment of quiet time and make a mental list of all of your blessings; you will be amazed at how long this list is…..its easy to forget in our day to day living.

I wish each of my Farmgirl Sisters a wonderful and thankful filled Thanksgiving and I thank all of my family and friends for filling my life with love and laughter.

‘til next time, Stormy

Wash Day Woes

Oh my, it is easy to get busy, and think that “I can Blog tomorrow”, and before you know it, days have gone by, and you realize that if you don’t “just do it”, you will not get back to it, and another project started will fall by the wayside, unfinished. It is the same way with resolutions, or life changing determinations that we make, whether as we start a new year or a new chapter in our life.

Our brutal weather seems to have dissipated, at least for the time being, and the frozen pipes that kept me from the chore of laundry have thawed, only to reveal that my old washer has given up the ghost, and we were off to find its replacement.

After weighing our options, a little wheeling and dealing, and diligently looking at energy and water efficiency levels, we arrived at the choice of a front loading machine without all of the fancy bells and whistles which kept it within budget.

So now a good reason to clean out the laundry room, as it will be delivered on Saturday, so I can check off another “to do” on my get organized list, by completing the laundry room task out of necessity.

Have you every watched the TLC show, “19 Kids and Counting?” a lovely family named the Duggars, out of Arkansas share how they live their lives with a family brood of 19 children! They have no debt, and have a wonderful philosophy, don’t buy new, buy used and save the difference……………..I am trying that as my new shopping mantra, maybe not on everything, but on many things.

On a past episode they shared that they make their own laundry soap, so I’m am searching out their formula and shall give it a try. I just hate paying so much for laundry soap filled with chemicals I can’t even pronounce that I know hurt the environment, and in containers that are mostly not recycled. So I shall attempt my hand at soap making, and will share the recipe and results in a future blog!

If you happen upon my blog, and you like what you read, please share with a friend, and as always, feel free to leave your comments.

‘til tomorrow, Stormy

So this is the view this morning from my front porch, and though you can't see it well, it is snowing, really snowing! None of the weather personalities predicted this morning's snow................but the Farmer's Almanac did! In fact, the ol' reliable alamanc has been on the money for what this winter would bring our part of the Country. In fact if you look at where this winter storm has been this past week, you will see the map in the almanac and it is almost exact!

Had a client in the office this week who told me all of the persimmons he opened had the spoon shape, and sign of winter snow and bad weather, and there are so many other 'farmstyle' signs................all point to snow, and lots of it as we welcome in 2010.

So as we end this first week of the New Year, I hold out hope that it is to be better than 2009 in many ways, that it will a fresh start to those who had troubles, and that it will a good year for all!

Tonight I am dog-sitting for a friend, and will take a sewing project along, and my snuggie! If I keep my hands busy, it may be easy to keep to my healthy eating and not sit with snacks and watch tv!

'til tomorrow, Stormy

The Resolution Hiccup.............

The Resolution Hiccup………………….ahhhh, six days into the new year, and already I find myself struggling with old habits, but in true farm girl style, I will pick myself up by my boot straps (if my boots actually had straps), and forge ahead. I look at my resolutions as an evolving process, not something that overnight I can just change or become, after all it took years to make these habits, so it will take time and determination to change them.

I find that it is easy for me to become discouraged, there is so much I need to get done, so much I want to accomplish, that in a state of being overwhelmed, I have a very, very, bad tendency to just do nothing, but go from project to project and finishing none! Oh my, and I wonder why I have such clutter…………

So today, I will use my lunch break at work to make a three item list of things to accomplish when I get home. Just three small tasks, that I will complete…………I know that, that small sense of accomplishment will strengthen my resolve to move on to more things, longer lists and bigger projects. So for the rest of this week, I will take those baby steps. Three things on a short list for each evening after work, and perhaps three small things, and one larger project for Saturday……and since this is already Thursday, I will adopt that same approach next week, because you know the experts say, it takes the repetition of 45 consecutive days to change or alter a habit.

As for our weather here in SW Missouri, it is frigid! I mean really frigid…………………last night we added an fourth bale of straw to our kennel for “the boys”, which they really love….it’s play time to romp through new mounds of fresh straw, we raised the heated water bucket off of the ground, and wrapped their dog house ………….it’s an 8ft x 8ft outbuilding…………in plastic weather sheeting to help against the predicted blizzard condition winds. They of course took it all in stride, knowing that whatever I was doing, it must be needed, or I wouldn’t have been out there doing it.

So as I jump into this busy Thursday and head off to work, I wish you all of my fellow Farm Girls, a great day, stay warm, and just for the heck of it, make yourself that short list of things you will accomplish today!

‘til tomorrow, Stormy

Another Life Lesson Learned - Farm Girl Hospitality

Another frozen day in the Midwest, I feel guilty complaining when I hear how others are fairing even worse with record breaking cold in the minuses……………………oh my.

Well I learned a self taught life lesson in humility last night. . . . , I have a very bad tendency to resent when people just drop in. My mother was a firm believer in being invited, or at the very least calling ahead to see if now would be a good time to come by………………… anyway, a lovely friend dropped in, and I was very put out……………, shame on me.

She came bearing bags of clothing that she had wanted to share as we are both losing weight and our sizes are shifting fairly quickly. Three large bags of clothing she came bearing in the frozen darkness of night, with children bundled in the car. She was so incredibly gracious and giving, and her usual wonderful self, that once she left I was really consumed by guilt for my un-neighborly thoughts……………

Why shouldn’t friends be welcome to just drop by, in true farm girl spirit, I should welcome any and all, and if my place is a bit messy, so what! If I was in the middle of putting in laundry, get them comfy, and finish throwing in the load. I always have coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot cider and other beverages to offer, I have a plethora of mugs and dainty cups to suit most any mood or season, I have a lovely dining room complete with a sitting area, perfect to sit and chat as farm girls love to do.

So today I put out there, that yes my house is always a bit cluttered, and there are always numerous projects underway, but then my friends already know that about me – so on this 6th day of this wonderful New Year, I am adding another resolution to my growing list of self-improvements I will make - to take on this New Year, this new refreshing decade – friends are welcome, and in my Farm Girl Heart I will be more neighborly, more tolerant, and more welcoming to all who come to my door!

Stay warm my farm girl friends! ‘til tomorrow, Stormy

A City Girl with a Farm Girl Soul

These are the ruminations of a city girl with a farm girl soul, not just a farm girl heart mind you, but a farm girl soul. I know that deep down somewhere my destiny took a turn and left that country road that led to a farm filled with animals, numerous children, and the perfect garden, and took me to suburbia somewhere south of the Motor City where I grew up in the 60’s.

While the little girls I played with had their one or two dollies, their pretend husbands went off to the office to work, and they tended in their pretend kitchen - my “husband” was a farmer, and all of my dollies and stuffed animals made up my “brood” of the ten children I was sure I would have one day, once I became a mommy for real.

Alas, I had no farmer husband, not for the lack of trying-on more than one husband to find the right fit, and although I do not have a brood of ten children, I am the Mother of one perfect son.

I have lived in cities my entire life, though moving to a small town in Missouri a little more than a decade ago, hoping to find that small town rural life. . . with out much success. I find that my farm girl soul has been screaming a little louder for recognition as of late.

Perhaps with my discovery of Mary Jane Butter’s wonderful books and magazines, the silly Farmville game tens of thousands of become addicted to on Facebook, or just looking for a simpler more fulfilling life as I have topped the peak of 50 and moving towards yet another birthday.

I come from a very small, and I mean very small family. As a child I was a voracious reader, and loved books about family, especially big families. I remember reading a story about a wonderful Jewish family with many, many children and cousins and aunts and uncles, and how they coped with life during the Depression. I must have reread that book several times, and somewhere convinced myself that I had a secret Jewish family looking for me, waiting to welcome me into their loud, laughing, large family.

I read dozens of stories of pioneer families, and families making their homes in the Appalachian Mountains, all with that common thread of a large loving family, and looking to the earth to give them their livelihood and their home.

So now as we enter this new decade, I have my list of resolutions readied, and as always, it includes all of the same ones from years past ….lose weight, become more organized, do something I really love to do………….I have given them a new look………….losing weight will come with living and eating healthier, and the garden I am already planning for our first sign of Spring; becoming more organized will go hand in hand with my looking to make do with what I have and no more shopping as a matter of convenience, only out of necessity. I will de-clutter and donate, I will have yard sales to pass along my treasures to fill the need or become the treasure of someone new, and I will take and make the time to do the things I really, really love to do. I will sew and craft, and garden, and care for my animals…………….and if the City Ordinances allow, this year I will have chickens. Three lovely bantam chickens housed in a delightful all-weather chicken coop!

So here you have the beginning of my Blog. The blog of a City Girl with a Farm Girl Soul, the blog of a romantic who formed her image out of the hundreds of books she read as a child; the wild ramblings of a 52 year old woman, who this year, this new decade, will finally decide what she wants to be when she grows up!

I hope that you decide to come along for the ride, I promise it will be one that will make you laugh, make you take pause, make you remember, and even once in a while it may make you cry……………………but no matter what road we travel, it will be a great ride!