Handmade Homemade Holidays

at the risk of sounding Cliché. I LOVE this time of year. The gardens are sleeping, the bees are tucked in , and my sewing machine has been dusted off after months of neglect. A time to warm myself by the woodcookstove, cook comfort food, bake treats for the family and prepare for The Holiday Season!
Of course, like any mom with a little girl, I succumb to some commercialism to make the little gals Christmas morning nothing short of spectacular. Although it is kept to a minimum, and I really enjoy focusing on handmade and homemade, and teaching Norah to enjoy these things too, as they really are the most special and genuine of all Christmas moments.

Here are some things we have been working on the past week.............................



Homemade
Chicken sausage

 17 lbs to be exact... we processed birds last week , froze some whole, and decided to make sausage with the rest. We ended up with ; Italian, hot Italian, Breakfast style, and Bratwurst,, all equally tantalizing!
Sounds like a good addition to Christmas morning breakfast, to me ;)


Handmade Bows ( and arrows)

My husband made these, and they are AMAZING. He made enough for the whole family , plus a couple more for Christmas gifts. Norah loves hers, and boy is she a natural! I just am not as good a aim, she told me I just didn't have the skills .. haha
He made arrows to go with the bows, but also bought some. The handmade ones are made with doll rods, and eraser tips.
I had a lot of people ask how to make these! I did say I would blog about it, but we just haven't had time .. I do promise to edit this blog and post a link on how to make them soon!


Handmade Quivers

I stitched up these quivers so the kids have somewhere to put their arrows.

Handmade Basket

I had so much fun making this and do believe I have found yet another hobby ;) after a walk through the woods yesterday morning, I decided to collect some ( what I believe is) Honeysuckle vine, and gave a try at making a basket. not to shabby for my first one. Ill be making more for sure. This may to go someone with some handmade gift in it, as it would make a lovely gift basket.


Handmade Hot pad

 

 These Hot pads are they result of a Rug gone wrong.. I braided miles and miles of fabric to make a rug last year. Well the rug was not turning out as expected. The larger the rug became,the harder it was to keep it from "waving" despite my efforts to wet the rug and set something heavy on it,, the large the rug got the less that worked.. SO, I turned these braided beauties into hot pad. I made one for myself and love it, and will be making a few for gifts.





Handmade Snowmen

We will be making these every year !! free, fun, and earth friendly :) Oh,and they won't melt ;)




and last ( well last for now) but not  least.. Handmade Snowflakes!

 I was a bit addicted to these this year. Norah and I spent a good couple hours experimenting , trying to cut out the perfect snowflake, A great craft to try with your kids!!!



From our Homestead to yours

Have a most blessed Holiday Season..

The Cools ~

Norahs Quilt

And just like that ;) Norah's quilt is finished! I took me about a month or so to finish.. sitting down in between chores, bottling honey, making soap, making dinner and all the other necessary things that need to happen in the household ;) I am so happy with how it turned out. I didn't measure or really have "perfection" in mind when I made it,, cutting the strips all different sizes and just kinda wingin' it, if you will.
I can not wait to see it on her bed, in her new Room, which should be done in the next day or so..


next up , a quilt for our bed  ;)


Blessings

The Cools

6 Days Of Rain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Days of rain Last week, totaling 10 inches ( with more on the way) Kept us snug in our home; Crafting , Canning, Baking ,Reading.. I gave Norah A lesson on the Sewing machine and she was hooked. She made 2 handbags that she was awfully proud of ( and rightfully so)  ;) She also made some fancy head wear for her beloved Ponies.

Im still working on Apples.. and more apples,, After this batch I will have put up somewhere around 140 lbs of apples..

and then Yesterday after 6 days of NO SUN (which can be especially hard when living off grid,, our panels desperately needed sun as did we! ) that big beautiful Ball of Fire made a quick appearance

 

 

 

The sun shining through the window, watching Norah run outside to play  and getting my hands in the dirt a bit to dig some sweet potatoes and do some fall cleanup was much needed before this next batch of rain its because it's going to be a doozie...

Hoping we don't have to leave, as we live in a 100 yr flood plain...
Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst... So ready for this to pass and get some Sunshine in our lives..
For now the crafting,sewing,  baking ,canning and hibernating will continue 

Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What an absolutely beautiful morning here in the hollar. The Solstice has arrived, and with that , comes change..... The mornings are cooler, and leaves are starting to cover the ground a bit. I am picking peppers and peeked in on a few sweet potatoes which will be pulled In the next couple of days, but after that summer crops will be finished for the season.
The bees are  frantically collecting what pollen and nectar , storing up food stores for the cold winter ahead....
Not to mention the squirrels in a frenzy collecting nuts for the winter , and my dog on a mission to catch one.. ;)
Robb has been diligent in hauling wood and we can all breath a sigh of relief for the time being,, feeling confident in our supply. Its a lovely sight indeed! And of course, we are ever so grateful for him keeping us warm through the winter.

Me? I am delving into something new this winter... Quilting.. I've been sewing for nearly 2 decades and have never attempted a quilt.. I have spent most my years making clothing and its time for a change...
This will be Norah's quilt...I am moving right along on it and it feels good to create something a little different. I am enjoying this, indeed...

Change is good .............

recycled , reused, and repurposed; projects on the homestead

 

 

 

Having fun making some improvements inside and out this  past week :) Our new hoop house is done! My folks were here to visit last week and helped put the plastic on.

 

 If you are interested in how to make your own hoop house be sure to check my next blog post! I will have a basic how to on how you can build your own!

Most everything in our home is second hand or recycled. Not only because we cant really afford new but because I find a total thrill in buying something used for a fraction of the cost(who doesn't love that rush! haha), and knowing that I am treading lighter on the earth buy reusing something is important to us.

Our hoop house is made with almost all recycled materials. The base and the plastic are the only two things we bought new.

RECYCLED items include:
wood for framing on walls, rustic wood on the outside, those super duper cool camper windows, the pvc conduit piping, the door... oh and those gorgeous gold ceramic pots ;)

I was also able to spruce things up inside the house ! I went shopping with my mom, and ya know when you go shopping with your mom, you naturally go to the thrift store and buy a light pistachio green retro couch ;) Got it for a steal and its in amazing condition!
My living room is quite dark ( I love earth tones,, browns etc, maybe a little too much,) so brining some color into the room and brightening it up was a great idea.....

The bluebird curtains are made from Old/Recycled sheets I scored at the goodwill. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, I thought maybe some clothes for my little one. My mom mentioned that curtains would look cute, and she was right ;) I finished them up yesterday and they turned out lovely.

 

 

Stay tuned for the "How to build your own recycled hoophouse " blog.. I will need my husband to sit down and blog with me...

Hopefully we can find time in the next couple days to sit down and get that done..

Blessings

The Cools

 

 

Holidays are Here

Holiday cheer is in full swing here at the Cools.. If Norah had it her way we would have started decorating in October. She is a verrrry excited little girl this time of year!
She is 7 years old, so the Magic Of Christmas is something to Behold. I am not sure how much longer she will believe in Santa, so I am savoring these years with her and sharing in her excitement!!!

What started out as a few homemade salt dough Christmas ornaments turned into a full Blown Factory,, She spent 2 days straight creating and painting. She decided she  wanted to sell some. I figured this was a good way to teach her about giving, so agreed. We sold them for 2.00, she gets .50 shipping is .50 and 1.00 goes towards St. Judes Childrens Hospital. This opened up a great dialog about children who may not be as lucky or fortunate as her this time of year. Those teachable moments come up when you least expect them ;)

I finished Norahs Advent Calendar, I am not a big fan of the Numbers,, I could not find Iron on numbers anywhere, so ended up using a marker paint pen,, Being that it is December 2nd, I really just wanted to get it done. I will probably end up putting some nicer Iron on Numbers , on.
These calendars  can be filled with chocolates, treats or little "notes" with rewards; ex. Popcorn tonight, or Movie time with Mom... :) A great way to countdown to Christmas with the littles in your life.

The Tree is up and decorated. We purchased to strands of LED lights, but could use another strand or 2... This way we can have the Lights on all the time ( being off the grid we need to conserve) 2 strands only use about 9 watts. eventually we will have enough to to put lights outside as well...


I really do love this time of year <3 p="">

Blessings
The Cools




 

Quiet Sunday

 

 

 

 

 

A chilly start to the morning, gave Norah and Bolt ( our other "child") a chance gather at the warmest spot in the house. The day was spent eating homemade cookies ( mostly by my 7 yr old) , working outside while the sun was shining,  and finishing up some labels for soap ( along with  making another batch of lavender ). It ended with a concert by Robb and Norah , and  confirmed my suspicion that my lil mama has some serious rhythm. :) A blessed, relaxing day on the Homstead.. Hope yours was filled with the same!

The Cools

Its SNOWING.. winter projects ;0

It hasn't snowed here yet... while they called for a lot last week, we didnt get a single flake, but the Mountains got a couple feet! This morning the sky spit out some rainy sleety stuff that vaguely resembled snowflakes, but all in all, it eventually turned to rain.

But even with the lack of snow piling up,, the winter projects are! I always look forward to this time of year, a time to slow down a bit, but I really feel like we have a lot on our plate this season. I am not going to rush my husband though, or myself for that matter... I am learning that taking our home off the power grid is a process, and instant gratification does not apply...
especially when funds are short and you have more projects that you can handle anway..


Santa Came early,, and look what he brought us ;) 6 240 watt solar panels ...........

and whats even cooler is they are USA MADE!!!

Plans have been drawn up , so Robb will be building the stand for the panels this winter.
This week we are Finalllllllllly hooking up our hot water to our cookstove which will most likely be my next Blog post.. so STAY TUNED!


In the meantime Im enjoying quiet crafty mornings next to the cookstove .
working on gifts for the Holidays...