Guest Post: The Next Adventure

Okay, this is going to wrap up our guest posts... 

Brenda from Cozy Little House is heading out on her next adventure! She currently lives in East Texas and is heading for Oklahoma. Brenda writes and photographs about her life and her journey. She is an excellent photographer. We love her ability to capture the beauty around her. We are so excited for her next adventure!




Okay Brenda, take it away!


PREPARING FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE

As I start scaling down and getting ready to pack to move,
I realize I have a whole lot of glass objects around me to deal with.

Oh, but how could I part with these white pitchers!
(Of course there's the chance stuff will get broken en route...)

Oh, I just can't think about that now. I have to think: Bubble wrap. Lots of bubble wrap.

I've already packed and parted with several sets of dishes
that went to the consignment shop. But you know how it is:
You look around you and think you can get rid of something.
And before you know it, it's found its way back to the "keeper" pile.

I'm getting weary just thinking about this.
But then what "decorator" doesn't have a lot of glass pretties?

Not to mention all we store in glass objects. Like bowls and jars and such.

Humor me. Look around you. How much surrounding you would have to go in boxes that say: Careful! Glass inside! Beware of breakables!

-Brenda   http://cozylittlehouse.com

Brenda, be careful and be safe in your travels, friend.

Thanks to all of our great guest bloggers!
We appreciate you so much and helping us out here!


Next week, Barb and I will back with lots of posts...
but more importantly... lots of WEDDING posts!


xoxo
Barb and Vicki

Guest Post: Cookie Time Tuesday!

Gosh, we hope everyone is having fun with our guest bloggers.

Our next guest is Lindy from Itsy Bitsy Paper. We met Lindy through a linky paper.
She's a great talent in lots of areas... baking, graphic design, DIYs and crafts. 

Hop on over to visit Lindy and get to know her better.

Take it away Lindy!

COOKIE TIME TUESDAY!

I am so excited to be guest posting today at Curly Willow DIY!  

I do a Cookie Time Tuesday every week featuring a new Cookie Recipe.  It is so much fun to give them a try each week and knock on wood I've not had a single recipe that hasn't turned out yummy.  Each week I laugh and say that I have a new favorite cookie until the next Tuesday.

This cookie is so simple but looks amazing and tastes even better!  How can you go wrong with Peanut Butter, Nuts and Chocolate?  The cookie recipe is a super simple flourless PB Cookie that is great by itself or dipped in chocolate and nuts.

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 Print Recipe HERE

You will need:

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup mini chocolate chips 

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 cup chopped peanuts

 • Gather Ingredients

• Mix the first 6 ingredients together

• Add mini chocolate chips to batter and mix well

• Roll into balls and place on a baking sheet.  Flatten with tines of a fork

 

• Bake cookies for about 10 minutes

• Melt the bag of milk chocolate chips

• Dip cookie in melted chocolate only covering halfway then dip in nuts

• Lay dipped cookies on parchment paper to let the chocolate harden

YUMMY in the TUMMY!

If you have any other questions or need anything from me just let me know and 

I will get it right to you. Thank you again!

"Like" the Itsy Bitsy Paper Fan Page on Facebook

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Visit Itsy Bitsy Paper's Blog for lots more fun!

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Lindy Harnarain

itsy bitsy paper

Owner•Designer

www.itsybitsypaper.com

http://itsybitsypaperblog.com

Wow! Those look yummy!! Thanks Lindy. I will definitely be making those after the wedding!!

xoxo Vicki and Barb

Guest Post: Finding Family at Find-a-Grave

Our next guest blogger is Connie from Hartwood Roses.

Connie lives in Virginia and has an amazing home, with a a small rose nursery that specializes in antique roses. Connie is a Certified Rosarian, a Master Gardener, a carpenter, a remodeler, and a dreamer. (As she states it... We love that!)

Okay, Connie, take the wheel, your in the drivers seat today!

Finding Family at Find-a-Grave

I’m thrilled that Vicki and Barb has invited me to guest post over here on her blog today.  She told me that I could talk about anything I want, so I’ll tell you about one of my favorite web sites.

I love spending time in cemeteries.  There is something peaceful and relaxing about wandering through the carved stones, reading facts and figures about families who once lived nearby.  It is especially rewarding to search for and find the grave of an ancestor ... standing in the same spot where their family stood while saying their final goodbyes.  (Many of the roses in my garden came from cuttings I snipped during some of my visits to cemeteries ... but this is a subject for another day.)

I began researching my family's history when I was 16 years old.  What was once a very challenging undertaking, involving interviews with family members, trips away from home to courthouses and dusty library basements and cemeteries, is now so much easier with all of the resources available online.  Most of us have heard of Ancestry.com ... but have you ever visited FindaGrave.com?

With Find-A-Grave, it is possible to look up your ancestors, or just about anyone, find where they are buried, and possibly see photos of where they are buried.  Content comes from user submissions, and new graves are being added all the time.

The caption on this photo on the Find-A-Grave web site says, "This is an abandoned cemetery that is in disrepair. The only portion of the headstones that are visible are the stone base and one portion of a headstone. The Genealogical Society of Central Missouri by Evans and Thompson ©1933 documents that Micha Toalson is buried at this location."

The photo above is the Toalson Family Cemetery in Boone County, outside of Columbia, Missouri.  Resting in this spot are my great-great-great Grandfather William Toalson (1781 - 1841), his second wife Micha Brown Toalson (1798 - 1874), and William's son James (1817 - 1875). 

The grave of my great-Grandfather, in New Providence Cemetery,
Columbia, Boone County, Missouri. (photo by Neil Wilcox)

I have never visited Missouri, though my father's family has been there since the early 19th Century.  Photos of my ancestors' graves were taken by Find-A-Grave volunteers, in response to photo requests from me.  Volunteers sign up to take photos when asked, posting them to the web site for all to see. 

The grave of William West, one of my great-great Grandfathers, in New Providence Cemetery, Columbia, Boone County, Missouri. (Photo by Neil Wilcox)
 

I am a Find-A-Grave photo volunteer for my area.  Whenever someone requests a photo from a cemetery nearby, I receive an email with details so I can visit the cemetery and take the requested photos. 

Photo taken by me at the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery, Culpeper County, Virginia.

I have also uploaded photos of the graves of my own ancestors to the Find-A-Grave database, to help other folks who are researching the same families that I am.

The grave of Mary Surratt, Lincoln assassination conspirator, 

in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, DC.

I recently spent one morning taking photos at two nearby cemeteries for a Find-A-Grave member who lives in Mississippi.  Her family has a rich history where I live in Stafford County, and it took a couple of hours for me to find everyone she wanted photos of.

Here is an interesting little fact ... I have found that most graves face east, toward the rising sun. (there's probably a reason for this, but I don't know what it is), so I find that it's best to take my photos in the morning, when the sun is shining on the face of the tombstones.  Afternoon photos would be back-lit, with the sun shining directly on my camera, which makes the inscriptions in the photos hard to read.

While I'm wandering through cemeteries, you KNOW that I also have to take 

photos of the roses I find there.

Safrano, growing beside the gate to the Andrews plot, Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.

If you have some time to kill, surf around at Find-A-Grave and see what you can find.  If you like history, cemeteries, and photography, considering becoming a volunteer.

Connie at Hartwood Roses

Thanks Connie! We definitely learned something new today!

I never knew that service existed.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Vicki and Barb

Guest Post: Necessity or Luxury?

Okay, today we have a great friend, Lorie from Vintage Country Girl

She is from the Midwest, in fact, lives only a short 45 minutes from Vicki.

 And they got to meet this past early spring. It was awesome!

Lorie lives on a farm, with a big garden, barn animals and enjoys life with her hubby and two beautiful kids.
She blogs about all things creative... food, decorating, life on a farm, and her amazing kids.
I hope you stop by and meet Lorie and get to know her and her family.

So, take it away... Lorie!

Necessity or Luxury?

Canning and freezing food is not for everyone.

My mom was a canner.  She always had a huge garden and put lots of food away.  I  never thought I would do it. Then I had kids! And found out feeding them is expensive, and you never REALLY know what's in stuff you buy. The cost of food, good food, just keeps going up. It's ridiculous!

When I started, I started off small.  I made applesauce with my mom and sister.  I froze strawberries and made freezer jam.  My kids loved this, and I loved that I made stuff that I knew the ingredients of. My garden got bigger each year, (still does.) I've had help along the way.  I haven't done it on my own.  Phone calls to my mom asking whether I can do such and such are frequent.  As my kids got older, they started helping and Brent, my husband, does too.

Books like these are helpful.

Each year I try to master something new.  This year it was a copy-cat recipe for Pizza Hut pizza sauce.

 

It's good!

My one freezer is full already.

The other one holds meat from the pig we butchered. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work and often I wonder...is this really worth it?  Especially when a big chunk of money goes out for baskets of peaches or apples or grapes.  But in the end, it always is. There is such a surge going on right now for buying locally, buying organic, and going green with our eating.  If I'm the one growing it in my garden, and then canning or freezing it, I know what's in the final product. So even though I may complain over the hours it takes to prepare something to freeze or can...I know it's gonna taste good this winter to pull fresh fruit or grape juice out of my own stash.

So here's a challenge.  Start small.

Ask a friend or family member for help.

You'll reap the rewards over and over.

Thanks, Lorie! 

Gosh, I think I missed out!! I was supposed to head to Lorie's over the summer and learn this process, but life got crazy busy and I couldn't add another project to my life. BUMMER!! 

We hope you are enjoying our guest bloggers! We sure are!!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Vicki and Barb

Guest Post: Lovin' Freebies

Okay, here we go with our next awesome bloggin' friend!

Stacey from A Sort of a Fairytale has become a great friend of ours.

She is another Midwestern blogger. We love that!

Stacey style is super cute, very fun and she loves COLOR!

Stacey also has her own Etsy shop with some fabulous vintage finds. 

So, stop by her blog and get to know her, then go check out her shop.

Here's Stacey!

Hello Curly DIY Readers!

I'm Stacey from A Sort Of Fairytale and I have the honor of Guest Posting here today!

So, I love to search to the ends of the internet for anything and everything cute and lately I've been on the hunt for Free Digital Printables.  I have found some really great stuff that I think you will love too. I can't believe all the super cute free printables that out are there, ready to download with one click! Did I mention they are FREE?!

First up is, Do-it-yourself-invitations.com, where you will find this thank you note card and envelope with adorable Chinese lanterns.  There other cute styles of free printable note cards on the same page too!

Next, we have bunting...because I love me some bunting!  At Ruffled, they have listed an alphabet bunting printable for you.  Just click on each letter near the bottom of the post to go to the download.

If you are planning a wedding, like Vicki, you should check out these 12 free wedding printables at Intimate Weddings.  Click on the links they share to go to the download.

Lastly we have, darling summer (hey, it's till summer, right?) floral gift tags from Eat, Drink, Chic.  

Get your printers revved up and enjoy all the Free Printable Goodness!

Many thanks to my pals, Vicki and Barb for letting me share here today!

xoxo Stacey 

Thanks Stacey! That was a lot of fun. There are quite a lot of printables out in cyberspace.

I hope y'all take a moment to check out Stacey's blog and her etsy shop.

And if you are looking for more printables, you can always check out my printable site...

Vicki's Freebies

Guest Post: Do You Textorate?

Please welcome today our first guest blogger! 

We are so excited to have some of our bloggin' friends guest post during this busy time.

Alison from the Polohouse has a beautiful blog. 

She lives here in the Midwest, like Barb and I, and is a very creative woman! 

Lucky girl has a beautiful home that was once a polo barn. Cool, don't ya think?

So, here we go. Take it away Alison!

Do you Textorate?

I love to add numbers and letters into the design and decor

of casual rooms. This look is increasingly popular in decorating

today and works well in rooms such as family and game rooms, offices,

and kitchens too.  

There is just something about old type and numbers that add

a little bit of graphic interest to a space.

You can add antique or vintage signage, destination subway or bus blinds, grain and feed sacks, marquis letters or numbers, and other decorative elements that have printed text on them.

If you don't have anything antique or vintage to work with, you can stencil or create

your own images to replicate an older look.  There are many websites and companies that sell  these kinds of tools and stencils to help you create your own vintage-style designs.

Whether through a lettered sign, old numbered tags, chalkboard messages, or monogrammed

towels or pillows --- you may be "textorating" and not even know it!

Do you use letters or numbers in your home decor?

Blessings,

Alison, The Polohouse

Thanks Alison! Barb and I love your blog and so happy
you were able to stop by for a guest post today!!

Hope y'all are having a happy week, full of adventure!

xoxo

Vicki and Barb