- september -

September was a particularly fun month this year. Over Labor Day weekend we traveled (with my mom, stepdad, stepsister & her husband) to this GORGEOUS place. Honestly, it was breathtaking. I'd never been to that area of Virginia before and I'm ready to pack up and move! We built fires, ate s'mores, paddled kayaks, had canoe races, cooked some amazing food, crafted, and so enjoyed each other's company. 

My boys building a fire on the first night we were there. 

We made these Finnish stars out of fabric - they were so much fun and surprisingly easy! You should definitely try them - my friend Stacy even made some with her kids using scrapbook paper. 

A beautiful old barn that we passed on the way back. 150+ acres for sale with amazingly restored barns/home for the bargain price of $2.5 million. We considered calling about it. ;) 

The Capitol Market is one of our favorite places in town, and it's breathtaking in the fall. So when Josh & I celebrated our 10 (!!!) year wedding anniversary September 8, we decided to go there and walk around before our dinner date. Isn't that everyone's idea of a perfect night out?! We are HIP. 

We bought about 55 lbs of apples and did all kinds of fun stuff with them....I'll talk about that in the next post. 

A river goes right through the middle of our town, and the IL's have a boat, so we took advantage of one last summer day and went fishing. The kids had a blast and I got totally (TOTALLY) freaked out by all the fish jumping out of the water inches from me. I discovered I'm more of a "fish from the boat" kind of girl than a "fish IN the water" kind of girl.

I started reading Omnivore's Dilemma while we were in Virginia, and I still haven't finished it. NOT light reading. Fantastic, life-changing, but most definitely not light. One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm, which is featured in this book. I feel like I should put this sentence in sparkly neon writing - that is how I feel about that man and his contributions to our modern food (counter)culture. Josh, as I was getting out of the car when we arrived at the farm: "If you see him, do NOT run up to him, squeal, or scream. He's a farmer, not a rock star." And obviously I had to buy this t-shirt. (This is a great video interview series if you're interested.)

It seems like the second the leaves start turning the knitting needles call my name. I bought this yarn when we were on vacation 4 years ago and it's finally becoming a pair of socks. I'm making my first ever pair of toe-up socks and have fallen in LOVE. Almost finished with the second one! 

(((My apologies for the picture-heavy, scattered post - since I'm not here often I thought I'd give you a little more bang for your buck, haha!)))

Real & Good

source:People, Places & Quilts 

We just returned from our yearly trip to our favorite place, Charleston SC, and I think we are all a little homesick for the beach. And the food. And the people. (My brother and his sweet wife live there, along with some awesome friends). 

There are several places that are our "must-visits" when we are there so I thought I'd share them with you! 

#1 on that list is Metto. They make muffins like you have never seen...Josh and I swear they put crack in them. Something illegal must be in them - that's how good they are. We had a spiced peach walnut muffin this time that was out of this world, and I also tried a honey latte that was incredible.

I always visit Southern Accent for my Tyler Candle fix. (My favorites are Mulled Cider and High Maintenance.) There's also a fantastic antique shop next door. 

People, Places, & Quilts is another favorite - the staff is so friendly and there are 2 shops to visit - one in downtown Charleston and a gorgeous old building in Summerville.

The Griffon flickr source

The Griffon on Vendue Range is one of our favorite taverns...it's small, cozy, and has great local beer on tap.

Homemade Pimiento Cheese inspired by our trip to Charleston SC

And now. The original point of this post. One of my best friends from college moved to Charleston with his wife about 7 years ago, and we have never managed to meet up. I had never met his wife OR his beautiful new baby girl, so we made a date to meet at Page's Okra Grill in Mt.Pleasant. I noticed that this place was always packed when we drove by, and most of the license plates were local, which is always a good sign.

The restaurant has about as much atmosphere as Shoney's, which means it's not great first-date material, but, oh, is it family-friendly. The food was SO, so good and all made from scratch - even the dressings & sauces. We got Redneck Rolls as an appetizer without even knowing what they were. (Deep-fried wonton wrappers filled with homemade smoked BBQ and pimento cheese, with a homemade BBQ sauce to dip them in.) I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. We ate our weight in mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, fried okra, fried chicken, fried green tomatoes - you get the picture. And then we went back 2 days later. ;) 

I had never had REAL pimento cheese before - only the pinkish-peach stuff that resembles Play Doh in the little plastic containers that come from the deli section. And I could never bring myself to even really try that. So when I tasted this I was shocked at how good it was. Josh and I immediately looked at each other and agreed that we must duplicate it at home. I started with Bobby Deen's recipe and made quite a few changes to get to this:

4 oz cream cheese (room-temperature)

2 cups freshly-shredded sharp cheddar (I like half regular & half sharp white cheddar) (and DO NOT buy the shredded stuff in a bag - don't do it!) 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3-4 tablespoons pimentos, chopped to whatever size you like 

small clove of garlic, minced or pressed

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

salt & pepper to taste

Mix everything together, either by hand or in a Kitchen Aid. (It can't get much easier than that.) It shapes into a ball if you'd like to make it into a cheeseball - we were dreaming of rolling it in bacon & green onions. It makes a wicked grilled cheese sandwich, and is awesome with a fresh loaf of bread. 

- shop -

The shop has been stocked! Use code JULY4 for 15% off through Monday, July 4. I hope you have a fantastic, safe Independence Day weekend! 

(( This dotty garland has already been snapped up by a speedy shopper, but I have enough fabric to make another if you're interested - just let me know! ))

- exhale -

What an absolutely manic June this has been. I can say with full confidence that this has been one of the busiest, most challenging months I've experienced. April & May were filled with preparation for my first fair, and then once June 1 hit, I stepped it up a notch, panicking slightly that I wasn't going to have enough to sell. 

Then. June 14. My husband had an accident while mowing the grass. His foot slipped under the lawnmower. I've never experienced terror like I did when I heard his scream, and saw him lying motionless in our back yard. To see your most important, your favorite, your everything like that...there are no words. BUT! By the grace of God, he didn't lose his foot, or even all of any of his toes. They're not gonna be pretty, but he will have full function and be able to walk and run normally. His recovery is going to be quite long, probably at least 3 months, so could you please pray that goes smoothly? He will also most likely have skin graft surgery in 2 weeks.

I'm sure you have experienced how an accident can throw things into perspective. Suddenly the fair didn't seem so life or death, you know?! But I did pray about it and go on with my preparations, having already invested so much time and money. The upside of this whole thing is that we have gotten to spend so much time together! He sat with me at the fair and we had the absolute best time. It was fantastic. The kids spent time with our friends & family over the weekend and had a blast, so I'm calling it a success. :D

We met so many kind, enthusiastic people last weekend - and if you're one of them, thank you!! Thanks for your encouragement and patronage, and supporting handmade. 

While we're adjusting to our new, home-based normal, I'm hatching a few new plans. I have a class in the works, so look for details about that sometime next week. 

So with this new appreciation for phalanges and the important role they play, we'll be hanging out, reading books (Josh on his new Kindle!), watching Phineas & Ferb, and loving our unplanned extra time together. 

**Oh! I'm adding a few things to my shop tomorrow & Thursday - I'll post a little note here when I do.**

Small but Mighty Destash

Some good things! Click on over....

- practical project -

We have a bar in our kitchen, and it's where our kids eat 99% of the time. They destroyed a set of solid wood stools in under a year, so we replaced them with these metal stools. The tops are cushioned and swivel, but are upholstered in the ugliest fabric - which has been stained with yogurt, salsa, and who knows what. I made some pleated slipcovers, which looked great, but had to be washed constantly and didn't hold up long. Something drastic needed to be done!! I know this is a pretty basic project, but thought I'd share in case you want to tackle a project of your own.

I unscrewed the seats, removed them, and then stuck the stools in the sink for a good scrubbing. That's how bad they were. 

Then I used some taped-together sheets of wax paper to make a template for each cover.

I pulled the fabric taut on each side and stapled. 

Then went back around and stapled the excess fabric, makings sure to tuck it in so it looked nice from the top and sides. 

Then trimmed the excess fabric. 

And put the base back on! Super easy project - quick and so practical. 

Much more kid-friendly, and the color matches our kitchen perfectly. FYI, this is Heather Bailey laminated cotton, available here. The vinyl laminated surface wipes clean so easily, and feels great - so much less stiff than I imagined. If you've felt oilcloth before, this is not as "crispy" and has a great hand.

I love these three little bums. ;) 

- a happy table -

I've had the pleasure of working on a few spreads for WV Living Magazine since last fall, and this is what I came up with for the spring issue that's on sale right now. I actually remembered to take a few pictures before Katie (the assistant editor) came to my house to shoot it. Her pictures put mine to shame but I'll share anyway. ;) 

My mother-in-law lives right up the street from us and has the most incredible collection of....well, everything! She has teapots, china, glassware, serving pieces - in other words, if you're looking for it, chances are she has it. I asked her if I could "shop" her house and she was kind enough to give me free reign. This was shot in February and most of these pieces are still living at my house...shhh...I just can't let them go yet. 

I found the most beautiful tulips and greenery at Kroger, of all places, and fell in love with the teeny cabbages that are in the red pitcher. Of course they haven't had them since. 

Iced tea glasses are from our wedding china (I think there are only 5 left that haven't been broken!) and the green glasses are from my MIL. 

The feature in the magazine is to provide inspiration for a Mother's Day brunch (why did I not post this before Mother's Day?) so I made some little clay wineglass charms/tags that say things like "Mom" and "I love you". I wrote a tutorial that's in the issue - let me know if you're interested in it and I'll post it here. 

I found these beautiful soup bowls at Home Goods - they were the jumping-off point for the tablescape. It's a little hard to see, but the background of the plate is a linen texture with off-white polka dots. The white dishes are our wedding china - 10 years later I'm so glad we picked something simple that I'm not tired of looking at!

. For the napkin rings, I just cut a bit of burlap and various pieces of ribbon, wrapped them around the napkins, and then secured it with a clothespin that had been stamped with some special names. 

I got about 2 1/2 yards of burlap at the fabric store to use as a tablecloth, and then used one of these little Spouncers  (isn't that the worst word?!) and some off-white acrylic paint to mimic the design on the bowls. I love the table cloth and will probably use it in my booth for the next couple of art fairs I'm in. 

Sorry there are not any full-length shots - I had my fixed lens on and didn't have time to change it. You'll just have to grab the issue! Here is a list of the stores that carry it - you can find it all over the country!