Old House Mercantile Sale!!

As of today there are less than 75 days until Christmas!

In that less than 75 day time span you have to finish enjoying fall, plan and prepare for Thanksgiving, decorate for Christmas, make cookies, go caroling, make lists and check them twice, shop and wrap for family, friends, and more!

I can't help you roast the turkey (although my recipe is HERE), and I can't send my little elves over to help decorate (however you'll find some inspiration HERE), but I can help you check several items off your shopping list!

From now until the end of the month when you use coupon code EARLYBIRD20 you will get 20% off your order at the shop! 

Need a teacher gift? 

We have goat milk soap!

Need a gift for your favorite sister?  

We some lovely signs for any occasion.

Need a gift for mom and dad or a newly married couple?  

Check out our Wedding Vow and LOVE signs!

Or do you need a little something to spruce up your home for the holidays?  

We have some beautiful Christmas signs and other decor 

to get you in the holiday spirit!

**Please remember all signs take 2-3 weeks to create so plan accordingly!  Thanks!**

Fall Tour: Dining Room ... and a Winner

Our house is all prettied up for the fall season.  Apple and cinnamon candles are burning, spiced chai is steaming in our mugs and some Pumpkin Pie Squares are baking in the oven!  Come on in and check out the dining room!

A glass vase filled with little glittery pumpkins, an old white shutter and a weathered bird house sit to the right of this mantle art (available in my shop), while on the left we have a star, a fabric pumpkin, and a few antique crystal pitchers that were my great grandmother's and my mom's. 

This old fireplace used to burn wood, now it is piped for propane.  It's really cozy on a chilly fall day!  (FYI, the sconces now have battery operated pillars in them.  A gift from my in-laws.  She knows what I love! And boy do they ever look pretty!)

An up close view of the window treatments.  There are deep green roman shades on each window in the dining room (and in the office) topped with burlap swags.  I found this idea on pinterest in a laundry room and loved it!  I also found the pin for washing burlap.  I tried it and I found that it doesn't make a huge difference whether you wash and dry or not. Burlap is burlap.  However...I totally advise against drying it in the dryer.   Don't ask me how I know. *grin*

A bit of a dark view, sorry.  This is the baker's rack with microwave (we find it's more helpful to have it in the dining room than in the kitchen), baskets for paper napkins and paper plates (we use them when we have a gathering), and on the bottom shelf (not seen) is the basket with the kiddos' piano books in it.

The antique player piano.  The player part doesn't work, but the kids play piano.  The oldest five take lessons.  They love their piano teacher!  On the wall is a ladder hubby made for me.  It's wrapped in grapevine garland and some berries.

I am really loving this antique buffet that was given to us. I haven't put anything in it, yet, because hubby has to fix one of the doors and we need to replace some of the hardware.  I'm not sure if we'll ever paint it or not. I'm liking the shabby chic look I've added to this room here and there and I think it would look great with a white-wash look on it, but I can't bring myself to doing it. Sitting on top is a fall runner that Rebekah made for 4H a few years ago. On top of that is a basket that we keep cloth napkins in.  Actually they are the multi-packs of washcloths found and Walmart and other stores.  We use those instead of expensive napkins.  They wash up nicely, too.  We have several shades of tan.  On the wall is a chalkboard I've made. The saying says "Welcome Glorious and Wonderful Fall!" (I shamelessly copied Aunt Ruthie's chalkboard!  She is so talented! Love her!)  I might be putting some more smaller ones in the shop soon so keep on the lookout.

Well that's it for the dining room!  I'll take some pictures of the living room soon!  

♥ ♥ ♥

 Now for the ...

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Hometown Harvest cookbook is...

 I love the fall colors (renate at rwitt9@yahoo.com) 

Congratulations!  I'll send you an email!

Thanks, everyone, for entering!  I loved reading your favorite things about your favorite seasons.  Happy birthday to those who also celebrated (or who will be celebrating) an October birthday!  

Check back in a few days for the living room tour!

 

Cranberry-Eggnog Monkey Bread

Phew! What a busy day we had today! I took my oldest to his job at the local farm/corn maze. He had fun leading around 45 kindergarteners. Seriously ... It's totally his thing! I also ran my oldest daughter to her back doctor. She's doing great! It's been almost 4 months since her back surgery and doc is pleased as punch with how she's coming along! I also went to a 4H planning meeting for the moms in our group. Then we had homemade pizza and then went to town for a few matters and to drop off our oldest at a guy's night out!  Phew!  Yep...that's about all the excitement that I can handle in one day!  I'm beat!  But...before I turn in for the night I thought I'd share with you another fun recipe from Gooseberry Patch's Hometown Harvest cookbook!  Our oldest daughter, Rebekah, made these the other day with our Hometown Skillet Omelet.  They were really yummy and she said they were pretty easy to make.

Cranberry-Eggnog Monkey Bread

3 7 1/2 oz. tubes refrigerated biscuits
1 c. sugar
2 t. cinnamon
2 c. sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. powdered sugar
3 T. eggnog (see below for a substitute)
1/4 t. vanilla extract

Separate biscuits; cut each into squares.  Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl; coat biscuit pieces in mixture.  Arrange 1/3 of the biscuit pieces in the bottom of a generously greased Bundt pan.  Sprinkle with 1/3 of the dried cranberries.  Repeat with 2 more layers, ending with berries on top. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter with brown sugar.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for one minute.  Drizzle over layered biscuits.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; invert onto a swerving plate.  Let cool slightly.  In a small bowl, blend together remaining ingredients; drizzle over top. Slice and serve.

*Notes:  She used a bag of frozen dinner roll dough, thawed.  I'm going to have her try using my dinner roll recipe next time to save a bit of money.

She also used a 9x13 instead of a Bundt pan. 

Eggnog substitute:  3 T. milk (whole would be best, but use what you have), 1 tsp. vanilla, and a dash or two of nutmeg


Don't forget to go enter my giveaway HERE to win a copy of Hometown Harvest!

 Click on the cookbook to purchase a copy!  

♥ ♥ ♥

Also go visit these ladies for another chance to win!

Girl with Blog

Recipes that Crock!

Three Kids and Lots of Pigs

♥ ♥ ♥ 

**This post contains affiliate links.

Hashbrown Skillet Omelet and a Giveaway!

Hey all!  Wow fall has snuck up on us, hasn't it!?!  We've had our share of illnesses and we've also been crazy busy but we've also had a lot of fun so far this fall.  I'll post on the fun stuff soon...fall fair and animal judging/auction...fall fair up in Michigan, and lots of fall decorating has gone on! Fall is my favorite season!  Not only is my birthday in the fall, but I love the sights and the smells of fall!  The beautiful falling leaves, the pumpkins, the spice candles, the creamy spiced chai... 

The folks at Gooseberry Patch have invited me to join the giveaways for their Hometown Harvest Cookbook!   Of course I said "Yes!"!  I love me some Gooseberry Patch cookbooks!  The recipes, decorating tips and homegrown feel to it is something that I just LOVE!

Before we get down to the goods of the giveaway I'll share a recipe with ya'll!  Actually my girls are quite the cooks and bakers lately!  My oldest is 14 1/2 and part of her homeschool curriculum is "Home Ec" which entails menu planning, recipe finding, and cooking/baking quite a few goodies! If you've seen my Pinterest boards lately you've seen a lot of yummy recipes that she's found!  My second oldest daughter is 13 and loves to whip up some yummies in the kitchen!  Tonight she made a double batch of the Hashbrown Skillet Omelet (page 20 in the cookbook).  It was pretty tasty!

Hashbrown Skillet Omelet

2 T. oil (we used coconut oil)
3 c. frozen shredded hashbrowns
1/2 lb. bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1-1/2 c. shredded Cheddar or Cheddar Jack cheese, divided (we used cheddar...yummy!)
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. water
1 T. fresh parsley, chopped ( we used 1 t. dry parsley)
1/2 t. paprika
Garnish: hot pepper sauce, catsup (we skipped the garnishing)

Heat oil in a cast-iron (we used our oven-safe skillet) over medium heat.  Add frozen hashbrowns; cook for about 10 minutes without turning, until golden. Turn carefully; cook other side until golden.  Remove skillet from heat.  Sprinkle hashbrowns with bacon and one cup shredded cheese.  Beat eggs and water; pour over cheese.  Sprinkle with parsley and paprika.  Transfer skillet to oven.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes, until eggs are set in the center.  Remove from oven; sprinkle with remaining cheese and let stand for 5 minutes.  Cut into wedges; garnish as desired.  Serves 6.

Now for the giveaway...

♥ ♥ ♥

GIVEAWAY SCOOP!

One winner will win a copy of Gooseberry Patch's 

Hometown Harvest Cookbook

 Giveaway starts now and ends midnight Tuesday, October 8th (my birthday!) at midnight!

I'll announce the winner Thursday, October 10th!

ENTRIES

EACH ENTRY MUST BE IN A SEPARATE COMMENT, PLEASE
(IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF THE BLOG, NOT FACEBOOK) 

1 Entry -  Leave me a comment in comments of the blog...

tell me your favorite thing about fall

(if you don't like fall then share your favorite season and the thing you like most about it)

BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL

1 Entry - Like me on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/OldHouseHomestead

Tell me in a separate comment

(If you already do, just let me know.)

1 Entry -  Share this post on Facebook

tell me that you did (in a separate comment) and leave the link in your comment

1 Entry - Pin this blog post 

and leave the link (in a separate comment)

1 Entry - Tweet about this post

leave me your twitter link (in a separate comment)

1 Entry - Post about the giveaway on your blog

leave a link to your blog (in a separate comment)

 ♥ ♥ ♥

A new Fall pretty in the shop!

**This post contains affiliate links.  I'd appreciate it if you'd purchase from my Amazon store.  Thanks so much!

Stitching Winner and a Birthday Girl

Birthday Girl!

We have three teenagers in the house now!  Hannah turned 13 last week and hubby and I are both feeling mighty old!  We'll be really bad off when our fourth kiddo joins that group...then half of our kiddos will be teens! Eeek!

Stitching Winner!

Sorry for the delay on posting the winner of the Gooseberry Patch Stitching for the Kitchen giveaway.  We hosted a birthday sleepover, a wedding, church, a 4-H bonfire, and a migraine thrown in the mix this weekend! 

So...the winner is Sue D. who said her first project was weaving potholders.  I think we can all raise our hands at that being an all-time favorite kid project!  Sue, I'll be sending off an email to you to get your address so the publisher can pop one in the mail to you. 

*  *  *

I have a new Christmas sign in the shop!  "Wise Men Still Seek Him" is an 18x24 sign that will look great on your mantle or in a grouping on your porch!  Go check it out HERE.

Northern Michigan Fun!

Hey there!  We returned from northern Michigan last Friday and have been busy ever since!  Between our local Pickle Festival (deep fried pickles were deeelish!), Church, Small Groups, picking and canning peaches, pickles, blackberries, and grapes (tomatoes are soon to come) we've wondered when we will have time to sleep!  We're so thankful for how the Lord has provided for us, though!  Come winter we will be so happy to have our pantry full of yummy foods!  Also our third oldest turned 13 this week so we'll be hosting a sleepover tomorrow night and we have a wedding to go to the next day!  Yes, we're crazy like that! 

So...the promised recap of our camping trip with some good friends of ours!


We camped at Hoeft State Park (one of the oldest state parks in Michigan) for the week.

We had a lot of fun at nearby Roger's City enjoying fireworks and the breakwall.

We enjoyed some awesome Michigan made ice cream!

(Two thumbs up for the Bear Claw! ... Yes, he was saving some of his face for later!  LOL!)

We visited the largest limestone quarry in the world...in Roger's City!

 

We also enjoyed nearby 40 Mile Point Lighthouse!

The wreckage from the Joseph S. Fay (1905) 

We had a lot of fun looking for rocks!  We found a few petoskey stones and some beach glass!

Samuel with his loot. 

Ocqueoc Falls was a hit with the kiddos as well!

We enjoyed some Mackinac City attractions such as Colonial Michilimackinac and the Fort.

Mill Creek was a lot of fun!  It's home to Michigan's first saw mill.  They've uncovered a lot of artifacts and rebuilt it all.

Our 11 year old Isaac got to help with the saw demonstration.  He had a lot of fun!

We also enjoyed some local fudge, a bit of shopping, relaxation and a lot of laughs!

It was a very fun vacation!

Stitching for the Kitchen

Hey all!  The kind folks of Gooseberry Patch and Sixth & Spring Books have kindly sent me along a copy of Stitching for the Kitchen to review!   It is full of so many wonderful kitchen stitching projects!  My plan was to have my Hannah (age 12) make a project in the book and I'd share it with you here, but due to some unforeseen circumstances in receiving the book, our crazy busy schedule the last few weeks with 4H projects and judging and now some sweet out-of-town guests that we only see once a year visiting...stitching didn't happen.  But...I'd like to share some of my favorite items from the book!

You can purchase the book HERE (I'm an Amazon affiliate by the way so I get a little kick-back if you purchase it there. Please and thank you!)

A few of the projects that are my favorite is this adorable Child's Apron, Mitt and Chef's Hat set (our Lydie has to sew an apron for her 4-H project next year!)

I also love this Log Cabin Potholder!  (My current potholder collection is less than stellar so I'm definitely in need of potholders!)

I fell in love with this Market Tote Bag, too!  Who doesn't need new tote bags?!  (My girls could use some cute dance bags for their ballet slippers and other dance gear!)

This Circular Rag Rug is adorable!  I've got a lot of scraps and a large crochet hook to whip up one of these babies!

And this Needlework is gorgeous!

Of course they have everything you need to know how to create this lovely projects!

Plus there are templates for designs and a pocket in the back with patterns tucked in!

Well there are sooo many more projects that I would love to make, too!  Oh!  Did I mention there are recipes sprinkled throughout?  It IS Gooseberry Patch, after all!  Their books HAVE  to have recipes in them!  *smile*

I hope you will enjoy this book as much as my girls and I will!  The fine folks at Sixth & Spring Books have kindly offered to send one of my fabulous readers a copy of this gem of a book!

So here's the scoop...

♥ ♥ ♥

GIVEAWAY SCOOP!

 

One copy of Stitching in the Kitchen will be given away!

 Giveaway starts now and ends midnight Thursday, August 15th

I'll announce the winner Friday, August 16th

ENTRIES

EACH ENTRY MUST BE IN A SEPARATE COMMENT, PLEASE

1 Entry -  Leave me a comment ...

tell me your first craft project you've ever made 

(if you're not a crafter, yet, tell me something you'd like to make)

BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL 

1 Entry -  Share this post on Facebook

tell me (in a separate comment) that you did and leave me the link

1 Entry - Tweet about this post

leave me your twitter link (in a separate comment)

1 Entry - Post about the giveaway here on your blog

leave a link to your blog (in a separate comment)

 ♥ ♥ ♥

 Go visit these other blogs for other chances to win!

July 22

Gooseberry Patch

July 23

Momma Young At Home

Craft Gossip

July 24

Glued to My Crafts

Green Eyed Momma

July 25

Sew Serendipity

July 26

Smashed Peas and Carrots

Marsha's Spot

July 27

Wild Olive

Only From Scratch

July 28

Pam Kitty Morning

Blue Nickel Studios

July 29

Old House Homestead

Susie QT Pies Cafe

Prairie Flower Farm

July 30

The Crafty Princess Diaries

Gramma's in the Kitchen

Two Maids A Milking

August 1

Vicki O'Dell

Homesteader's Heart  

August 2

A Creative Being

Delightful Country Cookin

4-H Summer Judging

This has been a loooong week! (And it's not even Wednesday!  Ha!)  We stayed up later than usual to finish projects and make sure all papers and tags were completed and in proper places on projects.  Here's the lowdown on the winnings...

Lydia won a blue ribbon for her chocolate chip cookies!

 Isaac won blue and honor ribbons for his chocolate cake!

 Rebekah got blue and reserve champion ribbons for her snack mix marketing plan (for foods)!

 Hannah got blue and reserve champion ribbons for her 30 minute yeast rolls!

 Lydia got a blue ribbon for her cake decorating entry.

Hannah got blue and honor ribbons for her cake decorating entry!

 Isaac got a blue ribbon for his cake decorating entry!

 Hannah got a blue ribbon for her Lego creation entry!

 Isaac got blue, honor, and champion ribbons for his Lego creation!

 Noah got blue, honor, and reserve champion ribbons for his Lego creation!

Rebekah got a blue ribbon for her Child Development poster!

 Lydia got blue and honor ribbons for her stenciled/hand painted Welcome sign!

 Hannah got blue and honor ribbons for her framed embroidery entry!

 Noah got a blue ribbon for his black and white pencil drawing of Gandolf from Lord of the Rings!

Rebekah got blue and honor ribbons for her 1 Cor. (Love) scripture stenciled/hand painted sign!

Isaac got a blue ribbon for his punched tin Nubian goat framed art!

Isaac also got blue and honor ribbons for his outdoor plant stand for woodworking!

 Hannah got blue, honor, and reserve champion for her gift wrap entry!

 Rebekah got a blue ribbon for her gift wrap entry!

Lydia got blue and reserve champion ribbons for her lapped back pillow sham for sewing!

Hannah got blue, champion, and state fair entry ribbons for her quilted Christmas table topper for sewing!  

Phew!  We had so much fun, but we're glad to take a break from 4-H projects for a bit.  The kiddos are already talking about what they might want to make for next year!  Oh boy!