This rustic looking floral is Pepper Grass and I am loving it in just about anything I put it in. It is a neat color.. going with the traditional burgundy, mustard and brown.. and also with some of the new reds and sage greens we are seeing. I have it in rusty pots and here it is in an old kettle.

These little Deacon Benches are back in stock and are a nice way to add some height to an arrangement. Made with pine that has a  medium stain and a rusty star, they go with just about anything.

No matter how careful you are making candles and melts.. some wax always ends up on the counter. Usually, we scrape it off and that is what I use at the house in my warmers. But, I have been burning some candles and have decided to try something new. Now we are bagging our scraps and selling them for .50 an ounce. Our regular melts are $1 per ounce, so you are getting your wax at half the price. There is no telling what you will get.. but that is half the fun. So, while we have it, come try an assorted bag of scraps and enjoy fragrance at an unbeatable price.

These wood wall sconces are also a brand new item from these crafters. We have them paired with coordinating candle rings and a Grungy Battery Operated Taper. We  have already sold several of these and they only came in Wednesday. If you are not familiar with our tapers, we hand dip each one three times in beeswax and roll them in a special grubby mix to get the unique texture we have. They will last about 700 hours on 2 AA batteries and we carry them in several country prim colors.

Another new item they are introducing are these wood trenchers. We have them in several colors and they look great with seasonal potpourri and fixins in them. They are also large enough to make a nice centerpiece on a table.

We have gotten some Mad Scientist time to create a new product. We have sold tons of our Battery Operated LED Taper Candles so we know you like the look. But, with our being in Shipshewana in an unconditioned building this summer, we are looking for a grubby concoction that will not melt. We have finally come up with a process and have applied it to not only the battery tapers, but electric candles as well. Check out our new light. The boxes are made by a local Amish man and we finish them here ourselves. The candle has our new grungy finish. We are planning to make these several colors. Check them out while you are here.

All the excitement and kids have kept Bruce busy today. Here he is catching a cat nap.. but notice he is right by the door so as not to miss anybody. He takes being the official Greeter very seriously.

Also in today are favorites in the popular smaller size of 3 5/8″ X 12 X 1/2″ that have such heart felt sayings as “Let us be silent that we may hear the word of God.”

Ok, this is not the best picture, but again, I have used some everyday items to create a unique display. the speckled pots were pulled out of a cupboard and stacked to add height and be noticable on the top of this hutch. I turned a divided box on end to show my crocks, a pine cone from my Grandmother’s old house and an pretty blue bottle I found in the dirt somewhere. Added to this are garlands and picks in rich earth tones to pick up the colors of the crocks.

The key to shoe string decorating is to keep one eye always open to the possibilites an item may have beyond what it was origionally intended to be.

 Hand-made soap does not tend to dry your skin and you can even use it to wash your hair. Chemicals added to commercial products to increase and stabilize lather are not found in hand made products. They will initially feel a bit different on first use, but you will be loving the feel of your skin. If your skin tends towards an oily side, use soaps that have clays in them. The clay absorbs the skin’s oil and the clay leaves a silky smoothness behind. Adding things like goat milk and oatmeal also affects the final bar and the properties it brings to your skin. 

 Because of the time it takes to make these products andthe expense of oils like olive , they are more expensive than a bar of soap you purchase at the grocery store.. but believe me.. you are worth it. Give up one coffee a day and splurge on a hand-made bar of soap for a special treat. Cold process soap involves combining oils and butters with lye to create a new product ~ soap. By choosing oils and butters by the properties they bring to the finished soap, you can create bars that have great lather or are very moisturizing.

Castile soaps, made with 100% Olive Oil are the most moisturizing for your skin. Using a high Olive Oil content in any soap will increase the bar of soaps conditioning value for your skin. This oil is good for dry skin and creates a long-lasting, non-drying mild bar of soap with creamy lather. No other soap making oil contributes its unique set of characteristics. It retains moisture to the skin by forming a breathable layer but does not block the skin’s natural functions while performing its own.

Another favorite oil for me to use in soap making is Grapeseed. This oil is rich in vitamins, minerals, and other essential fatty acids which help strengthen tissue cells. This oil helps preserve the natural moisture of the skin and is great for damaged or aging skin. You will find I also like to add this oil to butters and lotions as well.

To get a nice, rich lather in a bar of soap I use coconut oil. This oil will produce a bar of soap that will lather in the hardest water and even sea water if the bar is made of a high percentage of this oil. This is a light and penetrating oil that when used in soaps makes lots of rich, creamy lather that will not clog pores and is readily absorbed into the skin. To see other oils used in soap making and their properties check out THIS PAGE on our web site.

Hand-made soaps are a process. Because of the lye, care must be take with their creation. And to be sure all the lye is use by the soap oils to become soap, calculations determining how much lye is needed have to be figured. When we create our soaps, we do what is called super fatting. We calculate the oils needed to convert the lye and have 5% of the oils that remain unreacted with the lye.. a safety margin and extra conditioning factor for the soap.

The required lye is measured into water and it immediately heats up to over boiling. This must cool down as you melt your solid oils and butters. Again, each oil has to measure exactly to the formula specifications. When everything is about 100 degrees, the lye solution can be combined with the oils and mixing then begins. Some recipes blend into soap in about 5 minutes, some take several hours.. and a few can make instant soap. Not a fun thing to put into a mold. It can easily take half a day to make a batch of soap.

Our soaps are ready to unmold the next day. They will air dry another day or two before we cut them and put them away to dry for 6-8 weeks. This is a cure time for them. Water evaporates from them and they become more solid and hard. I have used a week old bar in the shower with no harm.. they just tend to go quicker because of their softness.

After they drying process our soaps are then shrink wrapped and labeled. We hope to get in the back and get more of our soaps made this month. Soap making is not easy to do when the shop is busy because of all the measuring, and when the batch starts to turn to soap, it has to be poured immediately. When we do get some made I will have some small pieces that I will offer as samples. I have used hand-made soaps and body products for over 10 years now.. and because it has made such a big difference in my skin I want to encourage others to experience it as well.

According to the site, this egg pattern kit is a ‘No Sew’ pattern. This might be a good project to do with kids. The eggs are beautiful and the rich colors would be great in any Prim home. An old basket, some grass or straw and these rustic eggs and you have a nice touch for the coming season. Click HERE or on the picture to check out the sellers web site.

While you are on this site check out the articles and the rest of the information contained on the site. I have been here before I have gotten a lot of info here.

Another very nice site with lots of great patterns. These eggs are very cool and I fell in love with several of the patterns on the site as well. I particularly love the Woolie Sheep.. and am tempted to get that pattern for myself. I just don’t know when I will find the time to make them. Maybe when I get moved later this year I will have a few evenings to myself.. lol.. time to wake up from that dream. anyway, click HERE to visit the site and enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup diced bell pepper
• 1/2 cup oleo or olive oil 
• 1 medium diced onion
• 2 can (12 oz) chicken broth more or less to taste
• 1 can (12 oz) of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can (12 oz) of cream of mushroom soup
• 3 cups of diced cooked chicken
• 1 can (16 oz) of rotel tomatoes
• 1 pound thin spaghetti cooked in; chicken broth
• 1/2 pound of velveeta cheese sliced; more or less to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet,  saute bell pepper and onion in oleo or olive oil if you prefer.  Cut chicken into bite-size pieces as it’s cooking. Use 3 cups of chicken. I’ve used canned chicken as well as dropping a whole bird in water and simmering till done, then removing the meat. If you boiled the bird, you have to stock to use for the spaghetti.

 Cook the spaghetti in boiling water or chicken broth until just slightly cooked “al dente”.  Add cut up chicken, all soups and the Ro-tel tomatoes. Stir into the spagetti. Cut the Velveeta into chunks and add.. stirring until melted.

Serve up a large portion and enjoy! The Ro-tel adds some kick.. if it is too much, use less the next time.