Look whats new on the farm !!

 WELCOME BABIES  !!

Adeleigh and Weston arrived Friday afternoon, 4 weeks early but doing well. Mom did fantastic !!  Almost immediately after delivery they were placed skin-to-skin with mom and left there for about an hour to bond.  So fun to watch them during the first few minutes of life what a miracle !!  God is amazing !!   

Adeleigh Grace 4lbs 15 oz -18 inches long

Weston Hoyt 4lb 7.5 oz - 19 inches long

If the weekend is any indication of the next few years, their feet will not hit the floor until they're simply too heavy to lug around. I'll likely be posting more pics over the next few years  :)  

Thanks for stopping by, E

Dilly Dallying with Paper Doilies

Don’t you love this Christmas swag that Vicki made ?  When I spotted it on her blog  I knew I'd have to try making one sometime. 

It's made with supplies from a kit here (love their stuff).  The center doily grabbed my eye; I don't think I've ever seen a printed doily ??  I wondered if it was printed or stamped.  I decided I would give printing a go since I am not taken with my stamping skills.  Here is what I came up with …after more than one attempt J.  This digital thing may be basic for most folks but not here in the “Hollow! 

I found an image copied it into Word, adjusted the image size, then simply repeated pasting the image onto the page.  Then the real fun started.  At best I abhor my printer … I’m sure it’s me but we always disagree - sometimes it gets really nasty where there is a globing of paper and sometimes even cursing is involved – anyway … I ended up taping the doily onto the page using painter’s masking tape (the blue tape that peels off easily).  I found that placement of the doily on the page was important; the doily needs an inch or so below the edge or else as the paper feeds the printer (at least mine) eats the edge of the doily. I also found that securing tape under the doily in the center is a delicate operation (it tears). So here is what I ended up with. 

Now secure in my doily printing skills (and about 3 hrs into it) I did another doily using vintage Christmas paper wrap from here -  I've become a doily printing fool.  

On another note I made myself a Hippo under glass vignette for Christmas, the best $1 I've spent in a while (Dollar Tree hippo)  makes me smile every time I look at him J

The Christmas season begins

I am kicking off the season with one of my favorite Christmas songs; I just discovered it a few years ago !  Let the merriment of the season begin ...  and it's "Merry Christmas" at my house.

I have no idea if the following is true - but it has to be because I found the information in online :) 

"Gayla Peevey (born 1943) is perhaps best known for her song, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (Columbia, 1953). A child star from Oklahoma City, she was 10 years old when she recorded the novelty song written by John Rox in 1950. The Oklahoma City Zoo capitalized upon the popularity of the song in 1953 through a fund raising campaign to "buy a hippo for Gayla" in order to bring a hippo to the zoo. (They had no hippopotamus at the time.) The song raised $3,000. A baby hippo, named Matilda, was procured and flown in to Oklahoma City and presented by Peevey to the zoo."(paroly.com)

'Tis the Season - no peeking

I started following several blogs about two years ago during a very difficult time of my life.  And "as the world turned" and life's circumstances improved I discovered that I really enjoyed blogland.  Just before New Year's eve 2011 I started my own blog. My first blogging adventure was on NYE when I joined in on a craft-a-long with Paula and friends, it was so stink'n  fun !  This little piece of my world has been a way to connect, share, and acknowledge the wonderfully talented and generous women I've had the pleasure of meeting here in blogland.  


One of the wonderful women I've met is Cindy at Rick Rack and Gingham.  She is hosting a Christmas ornament swap and invited me to join.  I will be exchanging ornaments with Cindy and Debby from Cozy Blanket. I'm working on my little ornaments and here's a peek at one under construction ... but that's all for now :)   I hope to have these in the mail in a few days !!   Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving everyone !  E in TN

An Oink and a Moo ... our sweet "Little People" are almost due

For months my life has been consumed planning a baby shower for my niece who is expecting her first baby in January; turned out to be babies.   She’s not so much a girl-ie girl but a country kind’a girl.  She wanted a “John Deereish” themed shower, but I convinced her to allow me a little freedom and promised her she would be happy … and she was.

Her invitations were from etsy: Little Bee’s Graphics – we printed and embellished them.

I decided to use Fisher Price “Little People”, their farm toys are precious.  Here’s what I ended up with:

The banner is hand cut, embellished with baker’s twine, ric rac, ribbon, and buttons.  The corn stalks are made in a tube (of sorts) over a metal rod.  The cobs are made from paper and wrapped with crepe paper, the tassels are jute.  There are four different cakes on the table, but I cheated, only the sheet cake is edible, the others are fondant covered rice crispy cakes for decoration. My Dad was no doubt rollin in his grave over me buying miniature hay bales, even with a Michael’s coupon.   “W” is for Weston, and “A” is for Adeleigh. 

We have a history of twins in the family.  My dad had twin maternal aunts and twin paternal uncles.  Kelsey’s Grandmother Barbara has two sets of twin siblings.  Our guests enjoyed the display with all the twins pictures.   

 The "store bought" sheet cake was topped with toy John Deer Farm equipment.

The children on this cake represent the twins: Adeleigh and Weston

I loved his frog; her blue bird was perfect !

My friend Amanda made the fondant with a simple recipe melting marshmallows, and adding powdered sugar.  She covered the cakes and I helped her decorate them.  I used a small sauce pan as a mold for the rice crispy cakes.  The fence posts are Kit Kat candy bars.

  

 The pig cake is my favorite.  I've had the sweet little pig toy for years; I made the mud puddle and pig rump from pre-packaged fondant. 

The centerpiece on my appetizer/beverage table was a challenge.  I saw these wonderful gigantic (41/2 ft) sunflowers and knew I had to have them, but vases were way outside my budget so I used a plant stand, turned it upside down, wrapped it in poster board, and covered it with paper and chicken wire.  I added the red fabric and a jute ribbon. I was pretty pleased with it, and the price was right !  

  (look close and you can kind'a see the chicken wire)

I made two types of centerpieces: The diaper cake is topped with a toy from 

Oriental Trading Company. It's a cute cow that will fit inside the barn. 

(Afraid we didn't get a very good picture of these).

 

The paper animals, flowers and tractor are cut with scissors and punches (sure wish I had a fancy machine to do this !), the hay bales are raffia wrapped around tiny foam squares.  Some of the paper elements are embossed.  The base is a cake round supported by ping pong balls I spray painted red. 

The pig centerpiece is a puppet from the Dollar Tree, over a tin can and the eggs are painted Easter eggs.  Mums are gorgeous this time of year, and inexpensive (5 for $20); they looked great on the tables.   

The food was wonderful (thanks to someone other than me):  Fresh tossed salad with almonds and mandarin oranges, fried/grilled chicken (of course), green beans, scalloped potatoes, and fresh yeast rolls with honey butter served from a wheel barrow. 

  

We had a huge crowd, mostly family.

She received a ton of really nice gifts.

The day and the shower were perfect. One thing is for certain these babies are 

surrounded by a family that loves them and can't wait to meet them.   

(me, Kelsey, Laura my daughter)

We had a “real” photographer in the group, and I can’t wait to get her pics. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the help !!!  ( ...and as horrible as I look,  I’m look'in pretty good for someone who had a horrible GI bug for the 4 days leading up to the big day, thought the gallbladder might have to come out at one point ! ) 

Thanks for stopping by !!  E

Good Bye Summer !

Where did it go? Is September really a few days away?  Boy does time fly!  I spent my summer visiting in blog land, and working, it’s our “busy” season.  But mostly I’ve been consumed (that’s the best description) with planning a baby shower for my niece. 

As you might guess my idea of a cute baby shower involves pink, blue, ruffles, lace …. Ahhh what a dream to play with these colors and textures… but my niece is not a pink and lace kind’a girl, so she requested John Deere green and yellow!  What !  Yep you got it.  I begged for, and was granted a little creative flexibility and think she’s going to be pretty happy with her shower.  Here is the invitation she chose from Little Bees Graphics ; I took off from there. 

  

I want her to be happy with the outcome, and so I’ve gotten her “OK” on some of my decisions, but she has no clue what the final look will be.  I added red and blue to the plan, and using the farm characters and accessories from Fisher Prices “Little People” – this is one of the pieces I’m using

 When I started looking for inspiration there were limited farm theme parties (beyond John Deere) but in the last week there seems to be an explosion of them on event planning blogs, but no “Little People” yet J  I can’t wait to show you what I came up with... however, my camera and I are currently NOT on speaking terms so I’m afraid a picture of my diaper cakes (I made 5 for centerpieces) will have to wait, but I love them.  Stay tuned, once the camera and I have resolved our differences I’ll be back.  

Have a safe and happy Labor Day !   E   

Cuteness from Creative Breathing !!

If you have never seen the creations of E over at Creative Breathing, you need to stop by !  She has a number of wonderful tutorials to stitch; these cute little guys, and her tutorial are featured on Craft Gossip today for all the world to see ... congrats to you Elizabeth !

Blessings E in TN

Sadie Mae !

Look who arrived in TN!  It’s our traveling guest Sadie Mae Tejas from the great State of Texas.  Welcome Sadie Mae let’s visit TN  !!

Sadie is a “friendship bag” and began her travels with Cindy of Rick Rack and Gingham (read about how she came to be here) .  So Cindy, with her big Texas heart, offered to share Sadie as a “friendship bag” with blogger friends all over the US.  Along the way Sadie is gathering postcards, recipes, and souvenirs.  Late in the summer Sadie will complete her travels at the home of Cindy’s friend in AL who tragically lost her husband in the terrible tornadoes this past spring. It’s my hope that Cindy’s friend will find comfort in the “friendship” shared, and in knowing there are several folks across our great country who hold her and her family in their thoughts and prayers. 

Sadie appears to be having a grand time visiting everyone!   Sadie Mae arrived in TN after spending a few days in NE with Michaele and her family (Sprout’n Wings ).  Wow looks like Sadie really had a good time out on the great prairie! Visit Michaele to read all about it.

Here in TN Sadie and friends were busy. They arrived in White House, no not that one, the tiny town of White House in TN J  and for an introduction to the local history, our first stop was our cute cute little White House Museum.

Here they learned about our past economy which includes a mill and the moonshine industry (it’s TN). 

Then they sat in a tiny little antique rocking chair, played school on an old school desk

and read Jack and Jill Magazines, but their favorite was the sewing machine. They were so excited they jumped right up on it!  Said they felt connected with their past, and said “if it wasn't for nice folks with sewing machines we’d probably be a heap of folded fabric in someone’s closet” (like at my house). 

On Saturday we headed to Chapel Hill TN for the 34th annual “Super Pull of the South”. http://www.lionssuperpull.com/ .  This event is sanctioned by the National Tractor Pulling Association and draws the top “pullers”. There is over $100,000.00 in prize money.  If you've never been to a “pull” (tractors and trucks) it’s an event to behold !  “Pulls” have been around for years and over time have evolved into a sport with unbelievably powerful equipment.  These tractors “ain’t ‘chur grandpa’s tractor”, some of these things have multiple engines; some even have aircraft engines. The goal is to see who can pull a “weighted sleigh” the longest distance down a dirt track.  I’m not sure I “get it”, but we go with my cousin and her husband every year and oh what fun!!  The population of Chapel Hill TN is 994…there were 15,000 (thousand) fans at Saturday’s event !!

Our first stop was at Henry Horton State Park where we spent the night.  Then off to the”pulls” Sadie and friends really had a good time watching the roaring machines and visiting with the “pullers”. 

The pullers were very excited to meet Sadie and friends and posed with the pups for pics (the guys feared their masculine image would be damaged seemed bashful with Sadie so Sadie took the photos).   Here is Jim Holman, from OH who was thrilled to meet them; his team won their class.

They met the American Thunder team, and driver Bill Vories.  Their machine has 4 engines, and won their class.  Fun to see the big guys with these little pups !  As you might imagine there was a little friendly bantering between “boys” during the “meet and greet” J

They also met Miss Chapel Hill 2011…isn’t she cute in her tiara and cowboy boots?

…and watched really big, really loud, smoke spitt’n tractors, roar’n toward them.  We had great seats at the end of the track with the pullers and their families.

Sadie was content to stay in the bleachers but the pups got sooo excited they hopped on the barrier in front of the stands and sat next to the track officials to watch ! 

 The folks in TN sure gave Sadie and friends a warm southern welcome but it’s  time to send Sadie and friends off to OH to visit with Debby and her family.

So long guys keep in touch … ya’ll are welcome to visit anytime!!       Hugs,  E in TN (pls forgive errors in post took me hrs to get it done with computer issues !!)