Prairie Scraps

 I’ve wanted to make bags for the end of season, or even the beginning of music lessons in my studio.  Most of my students, carry their books everywhere, and they get destroyed from the car, water, food, etc.  so this gift is a little selfish on my side.  However, I do think that these turned out adorable.   I found these canvas backpacks on Amazon.  I even took into consideration the size of their binders, so that the binders would fit into the bag!    Chalk Couture came out with these two blueprint style transfer stencils that have musical instruments on it.  I should have checked them, because they didn’t have a guitar, and I actually have more guitar students this year than piano students. I just didn’t put the keys and piano on the guitar student’s bags.  For the music across all the bags, I used an old Christmas transfer called O’ Holy Night.  I just left off the words, so it wasn’t obvious that it was Christmas music.  I...

This  project was a fun combination of my love of a good thrift find and gardening. I found this cute box at Goodwill for $2.99 on spring break!! I used 3 different kinds of sedum from my garden to fill this box. It’s a win win. I get rid of some of the extra sedum in my garden and this makes a cute little box for the deck. Watch the video here:  Thrift Store Repurposed Box  

 Tonight I worked on a Father’s Day gift for my hubby. This is a bucket light for when we got camping.  I did a video on it- so you can see how it works. After Father’s Day I’ll get a better picture to share.  Watch here:  Father’s Day Gift Idea

  I have been on a mad search for a large enough surface to do this transfer stencil on!  I found one for 50% off in Hobby Lobby’s Spring wood section.  It’s 20” x 24” - huge!  For the rest of the supplies to make this beautiful statement piece:  American-Made Fireworks supplies Here’s the DIY video I did!  P lease enjoy!   I am an Independent Chalk Couture Designer.  You can shop:  HERE

 Whenever I find one of these homemade cutting boards of a pig cutout at thrift stores, I snatch it up!  This one only cost $2!  The last one I did, I gave it to one of our pig buyers along with a plate of homemade cookies.  I thought it was a fun touch.  Here’s the supplies I used: Pig cutting board Storm Paste Country Kitchen Artist Tool Set Bright White Paste  - for the bottom half Placement Tape Small Squeegee If you have any questions, please message me.  If you purchase any of the above products, you will be supporting my small business.

I was pretty excited to see the fall chipboard signs at Dollar Tree this week.  I went a little crazy, but at least I have a medium to use for all my fall transfers.    These leaves were so fun, we did a Facebook Live  while we made these. Here’s what we used to make these: Dollar Tree Chip Board Leaves Ink Waverly Chalkpaint Pumpkin Waverly Chalkpaint Waverly Clear Wax Oh My Gourd Transfer Autumn Sayings Transfer Shimmer Spruce Paste Shimmer Crimson Paste Papaya Paste Squeegees  I used the Waverly paints to cover the the chipboard leaves.  Before chalking the transfers on the leaves, I put a light coat of wax on it.  Then the fun part of chalking the transfers!  Check out the videos to see how we made these!

  I’m so excited about the beautiful detail in this month’s  Club Couture .  It looks so beautiful in just a few minutes of spreading chalk paste on it.  This project, I made from a Dollar Tree Fourth of July tag (you can check it out in my live).  I didn’t even cover anything from that side of the tag. Here are the items that I used for this project: Dollar Tree Fourth of July Tag  Waverly White Chalk Paint - Walmart Paint brush Waverly Clear Paste - Walmart July  Club Couture   Life is a Bowl of Cherries Transfer Squeegee Cart Link  - this has the colors that I used, a squeegee, and a tag - everything you need to make this project along with the Club Couture  Transfer.   2 1/2 wide coordinating ribbon What do you think?  This project doesn’t take that long to make (I do a lot of chatting in the video). It really takes longer to wait for it to dry, than to do!  So much fun!

Receiving snail mail these days is a pretty amazing thing!  It seems lost by the wayside.  To receive an actual gift or package is even more exciting!!  I love getting mail, I love getting gifts!  I also love to craft - so this is the perfect mix:  Club Couture !  For just $19.95 each month, you can get a reusable transfer and three coordinating pastes in the mail to make any project you can dream of!  So fun!   Here’s what the transfer looks like in it’s fun envelop.  The things I used to make this project are: Cutting board (found at a thrift sale for $1) Club Couture Transfer - this one is the May, 2021 called Sweet Lemon Grove Chalk Paste - I used Sage & Bumblebee Chalk Couture scrapers Chalk Couture round mini Ribbon Scissors Baby wipes (for my messes) I made a little video on how I made it - I would love for you to check it out: This is such a fun and easy way to get a little crafting done each month!  For under $21, I was able...

 I’m going to be a Grandma!  So I’m throwing a shower to celebrate the new baby girl that my daughter is going to be having!  I picked the theme of llamas and cactus.  I’ve always been fascinated with making a diaper cake for a decoration and gift for the new mama!  Don’t ask me why, maybe it just embodies everything crafty with having a baby! My biggest thing about this project, is that I want it to look pretty and help with our theme of the shower and I want the Mama-to-be to be able to use all those diapers.  So - I resisted using a glue gun! Here are the things that I used in this project: 1/3 a Box of Kirkland Size 1 Diapers  - Costco $12 (it’s full price was $35, but I only used 1 of the 3  packages in the box) 14” Wilton Cake Tray -Walmart $4 for 4 (I used 1) 2” wide Burlap/lace ribbon - Walmart $4.63 Jute String - Dollar Tree $1 Cactus picks - Dollar Tree 3 for $1 each Pack of tiny rubber band hair ties - Dollar Tree $1 Toy for top - Walma...

I’m back to making crafts for our holiday for the fall craft shows to help my 15yo raise funds for his 4-H Exchange trip to Japan next year.  One of the most popular items that sold last year were my Dollar Tree Gnomes.  I made a video on YouTube, and it remains as one of my most popular videos to date.  You can see how I made these cuties. I wanted to share with you some close up pictures of some of the gnomes, because after making dozens of them to sell, they really each have their own personality. Stay tuned, as I’m working on some more gnomes right now - this time in the shape of ornaments.  I just can’t get over how cute these gnomes are and, even better, that they are from my own background - Scandinavia!   If you have a chance, please comment, like and follow my YouTube Channel while you’re watching the video.

I am completely laid up from a logging accident for about 10 weeks, just for a start.  I’ve been antsy just sitting here, so I’ve been wracking my brains (and obsessing about Pinterest) as to what I can craft with one leg up!  I came up with these adorable Farmhouse Bead Garland and Tassels.  Not the best picture, but hey, I can’t get around right now! I even made a video about how to make those tassels!  These are so easy! They bring me back to. Stringing beads as a Kindergartener!  So relaxing and fun.  I will be selling these at our Christmas Craft show in December and hopefully I’ll get it into our  Etsy Shop. Check out my video and let me know what you think!  Also, be sure to like, comment and Subscribe to my channel!  

My 14yo son is doing a three year 4-H project where they raise funds and study the United States government and end with a three week trip to Washington DC.  One of the fundraisers that the group does each year is Spaghetti dinner.  It was a huge event where we served dinner for 500 people. At the end of the night, there was a ginormous amount of spaghetti sauce and spaghetti left over.  (There were sausages, salad and bread too, but those were pretty easy to take care of.). Of course, I couldn’t turn down an industrial size pot of spaghetti sauce as well as several gallon bags of cooked spaghetti for free. I made up dinners for my college kids and kids at home out of them.    I have two recipes that freeze very well with cooked spaghetti.  The first one is Spaghetti pie.  There are dozens of recipes on Pinterest for it, but this is what I did (I didn’t use any measurements, because I was using several different size containers): Spaghetti Pie...

My newest project! I found this old saw at a local thrift store, and knew I wanted to try to paint it.  In fact, I found a whole pile of saws and figured I’d try one first and then go back for more if it worked like I wanted.  I actually thought it was a little speedy at $2.50, but bit the bullet and bought it.   The first thing I did was wash and scrub this with vinegar.  It did clean it up a little, but not like I thought it would.  All the markings are character, right? Next, I clear coated it with Clear Spray Paint by Krylon like this: Next I used my  Chalk Couture Transfers  to put a Vintage Truck and “This is How We Roll” on the saw. Finally, I used the Krylon Clear Coat to make the chalk paste permanent. Here are the links to the Chalk Couture transfers and products I used for this project.  (I do make a small amount for all sales on my site.  Thank you for your support). Vintage Truck Transfer “This is How...

We love to share with our neighbors and friends at Christmas time by giving them a gift.  Even better, is to make it homemade!  This year, I wanted to make an Eggnog Quick Bread, but soon realized that this would require a lot of Eggnog for the ingredients.   I decided to try this  Cinnamon Bread Recipe  and loved the taste and texture of it!  It turned out wonderfully (as long as you don’t overbake it!) and made a nice large batch.   I love my mini loaf pans!  They are a must have for making quick breads.  My quick never get fully cooked in regular size pans, but the mini pans really work great!  You can get some on  Amazon HERE. This summer, I found a Pampered Chef Stoneware loaf pan at a rummage sale for $3.   Was a little worried about getting them out of the stone for sticky breads, especially in this case.  They came out wonderfully, so now I’m pretty excited about this stone pan! I highly recomme...

  I love gifts!  Both giving and recieving gifts makes me the most fulfilled.  I know, there are many that don’t enjoy or value gifts like I do, but hey, I don’t enjoy hugs at all!  Gifts are my form of hugs!  That being said, it doesn’t need to be expensive at all to give my joy! I have two children in college, so I love to find creative things to send in the mail to them.  Several years ago, I discovered Happy Mail!  The idea is, to find items that are non-traditional to send in the mail.  So, 1-2 times a month, my college kids, get a fun package in the mail, that is unexpected.   Of course, Valentine’s Day affords a great gift in the mail - a tin of chocolates! For the Star Wars tin, I put: “Join the HEART side!” For the Minnie Mouse tin: “There are so MINNIE things we love about you!” I just put address labels on the back side and they go through the mail, just like that!  No box or anything!  I did choose these ...

  This is our second year of raising pigs for the fair.  We've had some bumps along the way, one of them was our homemade feeder of last year.  I tend to have ideas, and then Mr. Right gets the pleasure of trying to execute my ideas.  Most of the time it works out, but last year, our feeder was a fail.   This year, we need a feeder that can go a long period of time, since our pigs are not on our property where we live.  Our neighbor made a complaint about the smell of the pigs last year to our landlord, so the landlord told us no more pigs. (Keep in mind, there are only 2 pigs on 6 acres and they are only here for 5 months and then go to the 4-H fair and livestock auction) Thankfully, another neighbor graciously allowed us to pen up a corner of her horse pen, to put our pigs in.    This year, I wanted to be sure that Mr. Right did a quality version of the pig feeder that would make it through the entire five months, and hopefully...

Today, we are going to clean the carpets in the living room.  If you own your own carpet cleaner, you can just focus on the living room today.  If you have to rent a carpet cleaner and you are anything like me, this will create a frenzy of 24 hours of cleaning all the carpets in the entire house!  Either way, you may want to save this job for when you can work on this for an entire day.   What you will need: Vacuum cleaner Carpet Cleaner - after getting a new puppy at Christmas, this is the one I ordered online and LOVE!!!  It is worth every penny!!  I've cleaned a lot of carpets, in my own home and commercially, and this is by far the best machine I have used! Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent Carpet Stain Buster Envirocloth What to do: Remove as much of the furniture from the room as you can. Vacuum the entire room, taking special care to get the edges around the room. Spray the Carpet Stain Buster on all visable stains ...

  If you haven't noticed, in each room, we've been trying to move from top to bottom with our cleaning.  So in the living room, we've cleaned the Chairs & Couches , the Woodwork , the Walls , and Organized the shelves and Drawers .  Be sure to check out those articles if you haven't already. Today, we are going to do a clean-up of all the electronics in the living room. You will need: Optic Cloth Dust Mitt Container to coral all of those chords - I like this one: Double Duty Caddy Zip ties What to clean today: Start off by cleaning all of the screens in the living room with the Optic Cloth .  Using a cloth that is not approved for this job can scratch you screens!  The Optic Cloth is approved and works great at not only cleaning, but repelling future dust. Here's a list that I came up with: Computers Television IPads & Tablets Smart Phones Small Gaming devices Once the screen is cleaned, you'll want to go all the way around yo...