Category: Homemaking

Easter Basket Gifties

This year I think a lot of people are looking at a very different, unique Easter time. On a church related blog that I run, we’re sharing items that some of us ladies make and sell in an effort to not only connect with each other in support but also to provide some “pretty things” made locally to fill those Easter baskets or bring some cheer to someone. Below are some images of the chalk painted jars with flowers and lotion bars I’ve been making over this past year, as well as botanical print cards from drawings I did. If you are “local” and are interested in either of these items, please fill out the contact form and let me know 🙂

  • Jennifer’s Art Print Cards – sold in sets or individually
Chalk painted mason jars with artificial flowers – colors vary ($10) Lotion bar with small saucer ($8) Art print cards with envelope (set of 4 $8 or $2 each)

Elderberry Syrup Recipe

I keep going back to this recipe from Wellness Mama when I want to make Elderberry Syrup for our family. I’ve used this recipe many times, and just this past fall I purchased some tiny silicone ice tray/muffin pans to pour the syrup in, then froze them into little mini elderberry ice cubes. After they froze, I popped them out and put them in freezer bags, in the freezer. When we are ill or I think we might become ill, I pull out the bag, pop a few cubes in our tea pot, add hot water and we sip on it as elderberry tea.

We got the elderberries from our friends last year who grow them. I dried them in our dehydrator and put them in a jar for storage. This year we are planting our own bushes to give it a try here at Medley Acres. Thankfully all our kids seem to enjoy drinking the syrup or tea, as elderberries are very beneficial at helping to ward off and fight colds and flu.

See the full blog post with link to the recipe here, via Elderberry Syrup Recipe

I also found a helpful and informative poster about elderberries online that I thought I’d share:

Developing Medley Acres

This year we decided to try planting a pumpkin patch for pick your own pumpkins this fall, along with a zinnia patch, sunflower patch and sweet corn. We also planted a large number of heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and perennials from seed that we hope to be able to sell later in the summer as well.

Dan invested in a few more tractor/farm implements, including a planter and a plow, and has prepared and planted the 5+ acres we had previously leased to a local farmer… we now have fields of timothy, clover, and switchgrass for cover crops/habitat, and we’re adding our garden fields of pumpkins, sunflowers, and raspberries. Its finally dry enough in the fields to be able to get out and do some planting! We’re hoping for a long fall to make the growing season long enough to make all farmers’ plantings worthwhile this year…

Here are some pictures from the homestead over the past couple of weeks (including today!). Many of the photos are courtesy of our daughter Eva.

grasses in the field
puff dandelion
clover
grass
flower
sunlight and field
zach and miriam in dad’s clover field
nibbling on clover
eva hanging out in the dirt
chewing clover
dan roto tiling the pumpkin row
team work getting the seeds planted
miriam putting in the seed
pumpkin seed – grow!
dad and zach getting the technique down
pumpkin row
getting rocks out of field
hauling rocks
checking out what is growing
raspberries – wild
snowy river the rooster
hens
gretel who needs a hoof trim
heidi the goat
lane of grapes
flowering bush
purple flower
dan’s planter
dan’s planter coming home
our wild asparagus
wild asparagus – kids LOVE it
local second hand shop find – pottery bird feeder
apple blossoms
apple blossoms
new raspberries
jen harvesting nettle
basket of nettle
nettle
dried nettle
only half a jar to go
mr wolf “the bee guy” at his hives on our property
bee guy – putting up solar fence to keep the BEAR out
view from my “mom coop”
front yard view from porch

Chalk Paint Mason Jar Project

I got really attracted to these chalk painted mason jars I’ve seen around… Dan bought me a couple for my birthday a couple of years ago, and I really like how they look. We seem to have collected a large amount of canning jars recently so I thought this would be a perfect way to “declutter” … by making something out of them to give as gifts or sell as gifts.

Ideally, I would have had these ready for a little pre-Mother’s Day sale, but I wound up actually making 32 of them to use as table decorations for a conference I’m helping with, which is taking place the 2 days before Mother’s Day… I was happy to do it because it was fun and it was motivational to make a certain amount, by a certain time.

Here are some pics of my mason jar crafts which are adorning tables at Mystical Rose Gardens in Baldwin for a conference on Living in the Divine Will being held there this weekend. We plan to offer them for sale at the end of the conference, in case anyone needs a last minute Mother’s Day gift 🙂

Lotion Bars for Mother’s Day

IMG_20190430_162157Last year I ran across some really nice recipes for making lotion bars. Well, what I ran across first were some super cute lotion/soap bar molds that I fell in love with! So I ordered the molds, then decided to try making lotion bars. Someday I will try soap, but for now, I’m enjoying using beeswax from local honey bee keepers and experimenting with different combinations of essential oils.

I someday hope to have a little shop set up on our “homestead” where I can sell things like this and other crafts, but for now, I’m going to just spread the word and likely add these to my Etsy store.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these lotion bars and live locally, I’d be happy to prepare one for your wife, sister or mom for this upcoming Mother’s Day 🙂 I have them in the form of larger 4oz size flowers, which come with/on an antique (or antique-ish) saucer for $8 or in a smaller 2oz size in tin for $6.

Lotion bars are made with beeswax from local beekeeper, shea butter or mango butter, coconut oil and an essential oil. They have a very light fragrance – I have used a mixture of lavender and orange with some, and peppermint and orange for others. They work great for rubbing onto really dry spots on your skin, for travel, and for sitting next to your kitchen/bathroom sink or on a night stand… having it rest on the little saucer makes it handy to keep anywhere! And it looks cute! (if I do say so myself!)

Since the flowers are all in various designs and the saucers have been collected from second hand shops, there’s no guarantee that you will get exactly what you see online… please allow me to pick the right flower and saucer combo for you 🙂 Your purchase will come in a little bag with tissue paper and a tag, ready to give 🙂

Please fill out the contact form or send an email to jennifer at turningleafstudio.com if you would like to place an order 🙂 Thanks!

Hand Poured Soy Candles

Forestville Candle Company LogoTwo teenage daughters of a good friend of mine have started a business for themselves, hand pouring soy candles. Their business is called Forestville Candle Company and they have an Etsy store that I would like to share here: ForestvilleCandles.

I’ve been a “regular” candle buyer from them since they started selling their candles before Christmas because I LOVE the glow of candles, and the fact that these candles do not emit toxins in the air.

Their scents are delicious! Some smell so good, I could eat them! (but not quite…). In the winter, I really liked their Balsam scent, and Peppermint. This spring, they have a huge selection and a variety of sizes to choose from… I have been burning Lemon in the house recently and it has helped my mood immensely on the more dreary spring days. My other current favorites are Cucumber Melon and Lily of the Valley…. none of their scents are overpowering, but they fill the house with a warm, comforting aroma. I just love them! forestvilleCandle2

If you need yet one more reason to purchase non-toxic candles from an entrepreneurial pair of teens, part of their proceeds go toward Feed My Starving Children, an organization that is dedicated to providing nutritious meals to children worldwide. So not only do you get beautiful aroma and wonderful ambiance, you also help support a couple of good kids in their efforts to build their savings accounts, & you also help other children around the world… !

Check out Forestville Candle Company and tell them Jennifer sent you 🙂

 

Homemade Honey Lip Balm

Best-Homemade-Lip-Balm-Whole-Fed-Homestead

Recently, I purchased some beeswax from friends of ours who used to have bees (Cindi and Pete from Rush River Fiber). I had intended to use it to make lotion, and when I was looking for recipes online, I ran across all kinds of interesting and fun looking lotion and lip balm recipes. I tried my hand at it and while I think overall it was a success, the beeswax had a very high honey content and it wound up quite soft for the little twist tubes I had purchased to put it in. BUT… it tastes DELICIOUS! 🙂

So when I ran across this post by Whole-Fed Homestead, I thought – hey, this is the route to go!!! I have not used their method/recipe yet, but the next time I make a batch, I’m going to follow their method. Thanks to Crystal from Whole-Fed Homestead for letting me repost her recipe here to share with you! (her recipe even made it into Mother Earth News Magazine!)

 

 

 

Who Has Time for a Sick Day?

Good reminders!

A Homeschool Mom

Who_Has_Time_for_a_Sick_Day?It got me. I’ve been skillfully avoiding it for the last few weeks, and lacking all subtlety the dreaded virus finally caught up with me. I am now under the weather. Strictly speaking, sick. Doesn’t this ill-timed disease understand I don’t have time for this? I’m a mom. I’m a homeschooling mom. I’m a mom with way too much on my plate to become even the slightest bit tired much less down for the count. I can’t take a sick day. Who has time for a sick day?

Dramatics aside, how does being sick affect our learning routine? It’s one thing for one of my children to be sick. Mom can attend to their needs while keeping the remainder of our household intact. But when I get sick almost everything stops. As we can’t afford to keep this up for too long, I need a plan of attack:

Just How…

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Elderberry Syrup Recipe

By Wellness Mama

Tis the season… for a cold. Darn. Thankfully it’s just a little sniffle but I’m going to finally make the elderberry syrup that I’ve had the ingredients to make for a while now… I have a couple of recipes at my fingertips, but this is the one I’m going to work from today from Wellness Mama.

elderberry-syrup-recipe-1

photo credit: wellness mama