tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:39:03 +0000kidshomesteadingcraftingKnittingcraftcrochetgardeninghome makingfoodcutefamilyThrifty Thursdaycraftivismdogsodds and endsHatsSewinghumoramigurumifunny picturesfunny videosholidayhomeschoolingChristmasFree Food FridayThanksgivingafghananimalsbreadoutsidepatternpuppiestoysWarm Up AmericaapplesblanketrecipesPumpkinsafghan from hellbaby afghanbook reviewcomments4th of JulyBin LadenCinnamon BiscuitsHaitiHalloweenIdentity TheftProject LinusRelay for LifeSt. Patrick's Daybluecherry coffee cakechickensclothingcookiesfelthomemade dog treatshoodiejewelry makingkaznashi flowerslaundrymoviesmovingmushrooms in the fieldnatureorganizationpeachespearspopcornquiltsweaterswine flutreatsupdatewinnie the poohyarnhttp://craftivista.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)Blogger231125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-5677969323322459641Fri, 14 Feb 2014 05:25:00 +00002014-02-13T21:27:53.656-08:00dogsfamilyhomesteadingOur dog is an important member of our family.  She's our pet.  She's a protector of our family and our home.  She's a playmate for our children.  She's a companion for my husband and myself.  When we have to go out and work in freezing cold temperatures or during the wee hours of the morning or in the blistering heat of the sun, she's right there with us.  She http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2014/02/homemade-dog-food_13.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-2188414335580870301Wed, 05 Feb 2014 23:48:00 +00002014-02-05T15:48:52.234-08:00 A couple of days ago the kids and I took the popcorn we had been drying in the garage and brought it into the house to be shelled.  Even though we had sold quite a few ears at the pumpkin stand this last fall, we still had more than enough left over to last us through until next fall which means I will be finding plenty of popcorn recipes on Pinterest.  That's ok though because, http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2014/02/corn-cob-birdfeeders.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-1360282195325330630Fri, 24 Jan 2014 05:21:00 +00002014-01-23T21:21:46.257-08:00foodhome makinghomesteadingkidsThe new year has started off with a bang.  With the record breaking cold spells we've been having in the Midwest, most of our time so far this year has been spent trying to prepare for, survive through, and repair after the bitter arctic temperatures we keep experiencing.  You know you're in trouble when it's warmer in Alaska than it is in the lower 48 states.  Cleaning the http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2014/01/welcome-2014.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-7995710900747793970Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:06:00 +00002013-10-10T13:06:25.558-07:00 Have I mentioned yet that I love fall?  I hate winter but I LOVE fall.  The weather is wonderful, the colors are fantastic and, of course, it's harvest time! This is the time when all that hard work really starts to pay off.  Sweet corn, popcorn, Indian corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, gourds, apples, cabbage, heck we even have watermelons still coming up and ripening for us.&http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-season-of-harvest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-1184803535574717758Tue, 24 Sep 2013 03:45:00 +00002013-09-23T20:45:38.080-07:00Ok, I may already have a post on here somewhere about making butter.  In fact, I'd say it's pretty likely.  However, I can't find it so I'm going to blog about butter anyway.  I mean, butter is kind of like bacon, it may not be good for us but we love it all the same.  Why bother making it at home, you might ask?  Well, for the love of butter of course!  Butter made http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/09/today-we-make-butterand-buttermilk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-3334956119228041950Thu, 29 Aug 2013 04:18:00 +00002013-08-29T20:49:05.496-07:00appleshome makinghomesteading  My jars are sterilized and ready to go in the waterbath canner In the last post I mentioned picking a giant bushel of apples.  What did I do with those apples, you may ask?  Well, truth be told, we ate most of them fresh.  My kids can pack away fresh apples like nobody's business.  BUT, I did can some.  That's right.   I canned them.  Good old http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/08/canning-apples.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-3665804153902579396Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:01:00 +00002013-08-14T22:01:27.607-07:00It has been unseasonably cool this summer, not that I'm complaining or anything, but it has certainly felt more like fall than summer.  Even as I'm typing this I'm sitting with an afghan I made a few years ago wrapped around my shoulders.  I have a couple of windows open and the chill is working it's way through the room.   Tonight would be a good night for a warm glass of teahttp://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/08/change-is-in-air.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-230420688006300649Fri, 12 Jul 2013 03:20:00 +00002013-07-11T20:20:28.178-07:00A little chicken love to brighten your day!  This is one of our marans (we think) sitting out enjoying the sunshine in front of the big barn.  Here she is again.  And this one is one of our barred rocks.  She's extremely friendly.  LOVES to perch on my husbands shoulder. Well that's it for the moment.  Just a little chicken break.  Enjoy it.http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-chickens-have-landed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-8688124477770008179Fri, 05 Jul 2013 14:36:00 +00002013-07-05T07:37:12.971-07:00chickensgardeninghomesteadingOk, so I'm a day but I hope your Fourth of July was a good one.  For us, meh...  There was a light drizzle here so our tiny midwestern town decided it might melt if it held it's fireworks display so they postponed it for tonight.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the message and we packed up all the kids in our finest patriotic gear, grabbed the camera, grabbed a picnic basket and http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/07/happy-fourth-of-july.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-673601907052614559Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:58:00 +00002013-06-17T19:58:52.656-07:00Spring is easily one of the busiest times of the year for us, second only to fall.  In the spring we clean, we till,we fertilize, we plant, we fertilize a little more, we pull weeds, and pull weeds, and pull more weeds, we do a lot of the work on the buildings that we neglected to do over the winter and we wrap up our schooling on top of all that.  This spring was particularly busy.&http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/06/strawberries-and-more.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-4600354718156464526Tue, 14 May 2013 04:37:00 +00002013-05-13T21:37:47.381-07:00Well, as you may have noticed, I've been offline for quite awhile.  That seems to happen to me at various points and I really do apologize for that but this time I have a good excuse, namely a brand new addition to the family in the form of a fairly small (albeit getting much bigger all the time) little baby boy.  Yes this new little guy has kept me pretty busy.  He had me http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/05/so-much-to-talk-about-but-so-little-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-7796746332489619290Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:29:00 +00002013-01-22T14:29:50.923-08:00foodhomesteadingrecipesFood costs have been steadily increasing for the last several years and are expected to continue to go up, up and away.  With more and more families finding that their grocery bills are increasing $100, $200, sometimes even $300 a month without buying any more than they used too, many people are scrambling for ways to cut food costs.   Making at home and making in bulk is one way http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/01/homemade-biscuit-mix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-2663783591572633736Wed, 02 Jan 2013 04:17:00 +00002013-01-01T20:17:13.980-08:00The last year was interesting to say the least.  Nationally we watched the economy dip and turn on it's own roller coaster ride.  We paid $4 or more a gallon for gas at times (I can still remember my parents complaining for paying nearly $.75 a gallon in the late 80's, early 90's).  We saw turmoil in  Europe and the Middle East.  We dug deeper into our pocket books to payhttp://craftivista.blogspot.com/2013/01/goodbye-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-2686553038167021257Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:41:00 +00002012-12-28T10:44:18.273-08:00afghan from hellcutehomesteadingkidsKnittingOne of the projects I had started for the holidays was the Quick and Easy Newborn Sweater.  I found the pattern on Ravelry, of course. .  I really liked the garter texture on this pattern, it's something a bit different.  But I think if I try it again at a later date I'll probably modify it to be in stockinette stitch and maybe add some duplicate stitch designs for variety.&nbsphttp://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/12/quick-and-easy-baby-sweater.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-3666008861660289591Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:51:00 +00002012-12-26T14:51:52.956-08:00I hope everyone has had a very Merry Christmas!   Around here we woke up Christmas morning and were kind of surprised to find that there was still a small amount of snow on the ground from the last "blizzard" that dropped a little less than 2 inches on the ground.  Nothing deep but it definitely looked more "Christmasy" than the mud we've gotten used to seeing around here. Even http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/12/merry-christmas-belated.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-2653177392119075934Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:00:00 +00002012-12-12T17:00:01.435-08:00foodhome makinghomesteadingTis the season for snacking, apparently.  My trio of munchkins have been craving snacks for the last several days and so I've taken to the kitchen to save the day with homemade granola bars. Now if there was ever an easy and versatile food to make this one is it.   The recipe is simple and it takes no time at all to cook and cool.   The combinations you can create are http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/12/granola-bars-episode-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-5717288799545785451Tue, 11 Dec 2012 03:27:00 +00002012-12-10T19:27:33.134-08:00 This was my pantry space. It was being taken over by plastic grocery bags.  I lived with it like this for way too long.  So this weekend I finally decided to take a stand against bag clutter.  I made a plastic bag holder.  For the pattern I went with "Crochet Bag Dispenser" from Ravelry.  I really didn't make any adjustments to the pattern at all.  It was a http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/12/crochet-plastic-bag-holder.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-6105283109010651076Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:42:00 +00002012-11-19T16:42:51.477-08:00foodhomeschoolingkidsWe've been baking!  The kids' home school group is having a harvest party in honor of Thanksgiving and we were asked to bring the cookies.   We thought about just plain Jane chocolate chip or simple frosted sugar cookies but then I decided to do a little searching for something a bit more "special".   In my hunt I came across these cute little turkey cookies from http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/11/turkey-cookies-for-turkey-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-5421238840137768716Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:18:00 +00002012-11-09T20:19:28.433-08:00familyhome makinghomesteadingToday was laundry detergent making day at our house.  I make a powdered detergent.  The process is quick and painless, taking me only a couple of minutes to make up the batch.  This simple, homemade detergent gets our heavily soiled, farm-family laundry clean with only about 2 Tblsp. per load. What you'll need: 1 c. of Borax 1 c. of Super Washing Soda (you can usually find this athttp://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/11/because-laundry-wont-do-itself.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-3913112029358075772Wed, 24 Oct 2012 04:06:00 +00002012-10-23T21:06:03.750-07:00I've been away from this blog much longer than I expected.  That seems to happen to me a lot but I come bearing updates.  The first big news: We've moved!   We traded in the old house for a much larger one on much more land.  Moving is a lot of work and it seems to get harder the older I get.  On top of the move, DH has inherited a huge portion of his family's farm http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/10/im-baaaack.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-1611846427979836403Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:08:00 +00002012-07-31T19:08:13.317-07:00Oldest has finished her fair projects for this year.  She sewed a dress and has some framed photography she's turned in for Girl Scouts.  I'm pretty proud of the dress she made, she did almost everything by herself (aside from pinning and ironing) and, although there are some mistakes, it looks pretty good.  Considering she's only 8 years old and this is the first time she's ever http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/07/oldest-has-finished-her-fair-projects.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-2090883964363490065Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:36:00 +00002012-07-16T18:36:42.288-07:00 The last few weeks Oldest has been working on her project for the county fair.  She decided to learn to sew and make a dress as one project and do either a photo collage or a family tree for the other project.  With the power outage and the computer being down for awhile, I'm thinking the family tree option might be out of the running this year.   Otherwise, the kids http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-projects.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-772233647775981288Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:00:00 +00002012-07-16T00:00:43.292-07:00   We had a really quick and really nasty storm a couple of weeks ago.  The first and last bit of rain we've had around here until today.  Unfortunately the storm knocked out our power, which with our cruddy power company usually translates into several days in the dark.  No different this time, we went 4 days without power.  Signs of an aging infrastructure I suppose.http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/07/drought-and-delay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-3290371947981725170Sat, 26 May 2012 23:10:00 +00002012-05-26T16:11:52.576-07:00Most of my family was here in America well before  America was it's own country, including European and Native American descendants.  Several of my ancestors fought in the Revolutionary war which made us a free and sovereign nation in the first place, including one who served under George Washington himself...pretty cool, huh?  I've had great-grandfathers, grandfathers, uncles, andhttp://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/05/memorial-day-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221138636585875651.post-8179621673732768731Sat, 19 May 2012 04:01:00 +00002012-05-18T21:01:00.666-07:00I got so fed up with being sick.  I was coming up on two weeks of battling that viral infection and things weren't looking any better.  I did something I normally don't do.  I asked for help.  I asked for prayers.  Our God is truly an awesome God.  I went to bed feeling miserable Wednesday night.  I was itching all over.  The rash was still terrible.  http://craftivista.blogspot.com/2012/05/healing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Craftivist)0