The Mint Needle

Every year around this time, our house smells like Heaven. Wanna know why? It's because I'm making my grandmother's wonderful rose syrup. I remember going to her house and eating spoonfuls of pink sugary, rose petals. I felt like it was magic. Like it gave me super powers. It was the most amazing thing... I was eating a rose .  I knew it was something I wanted to pass down to my kids. I asked my grandmother for the recipe, & without hesitation it was given. Today, I've decided to share our little bit of magic with all of you.  You'll get to enjoy the most beautiful, fragrant, & delicious syrup that you shall ever try! For this recipe..... you will need: -hand washed edible rose petals......(the more the better, but make it one variety). Either pick in the morning right after the dew or late afternoon. Midday will cause for saggy, droopy, & dehydrated rose petals. We have a great edible tea rose growing right in ou...

So the other day, I nearly had a break down in my craft room. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why my favorite sewing machine was jamming up. The motor was rough & it stitched extreeeeemmmmlyyyy slooooowww. I tried everything.....I re-threaded, tried a different bobbin, re-threaded again, tried different material, played with the feed.... I even searched for my machine guide, which was a quest in itself in our overwhelmingly packed craft room. And then finally, my do-it yourself skills kicked in because this had become a mission..... I took a screwdriver and began 'undoing' my machine. You'll never believe what I found. Thread fibers from years of sewing were sitting inside, basically creating what my girls called a 'fluffy mouse.' It's all cleaned out now & hip hip hooray, because it's working better than ever. My quest was driven by a wonderful pattern that I couldn't resist. A big THANKS to...

Nature is an amazing thing. Everything we know has evolved from it. And in the 'computer age' of times, I feel like my children are so lucky to see it up close.  Everyday, the girls walk by the nest of baby birds & say hello. It's a wonderful thing to share & wanted to post how just after 1 week these little ones have grown:)

  Recently, I scored a deal on a wonderful, vintage, fabric that was literally a steal. (And by recently, I mean 2 months ago.) For a great price, I got 12 yards of this iridescent, lightweight, cotton fabric. Yellow flowers dance along with a green, soft flowing design. It's just beautiful. After being laundered, it sat, and sat, and sat, folded up on my craft table. It wasn't until I made that gray dress in the previous post that I thought it might be time to give another one a try, & maybe with more perfected skills? So....I have a couple patterns I'm playing around with & just thought I might share them with all of you. I'm voting towards the one in the middle but only because of the gathered bottom. The material is soo lightweight, it really would make the perfect retro style daydress. And, I had to show all of you the cutest pair of boots:)  Is this not the cutest salt & pepper shaker? I picked this up at my local ...

Happy Mother's Day:) And....Look who arrived right on time! Hope everyone enjoys the day with the little ones that make our lives so remarkable:)

Remember our little salad seedlings....... Can't believe it's already time, but thanks to my 'window' covering, we're enjoying spring lettuce, straight from the garden. Every year I mark the day we've picked our first salad, tomato, & peppers.  It's kinda been my way of keeping note with the weather changes in Ohio.  Sooo...when someone says, "this weather's horrible. I won't have any veggies ripe." I'm usually the person that says, "No...actually we're right on time."  One year, I recall a certain somebody saying the tomatoes were late, when actually they were earlier than the year before. Anyway, today's treat was delicious. We enjoy it in the simplest form. Just a dash of salt, olive oil, & vinegar. This beautiful salad that has a green center & red tipped leaves is called Yugoslavian Red from The Cooks Garden . This salad goes good with sweets so you can easily pair it with raisins & bl...

One of the best things a self taught seamstress could do is try to replicate a work of art. It's a great learning experience & you gain an extreme respect for pattern & dress makers. For those who don't know me, I'm in awe with all things from the 50's, retro, & vintage. Not only were they simpler times, the style was amazing. Women wore beautiful dresses that were made with such quality and care.  It was all about the details. The layering, the form, pleats, tucks, & pins..... I love it all! So...as if I didn't have anything else to do....I thought I'd give one a try. I have a couple beautiful vintage finds in my closet, but only two that I feel are true treasures, (and that's were my inspiration came from). One, I got when I was just a youngin' & the other about a year ago on Ebay. (It's one of my super finds.) Why did I want to replicate this, you ask?  Well for starters,...

Now... I usually am not one to fall for those "World's Best" recipe stuff. But....this one caught me off guard and I have to share. These literally are the world's best chocolate chip cookies. They are not your typical thin, crispy on the outside, homemade ones. They are soft, chewy, full & delicious. So here we go! Cream 1/2 of a cup of butter, 1/2 a cup of margarine, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1 cup of white sugar until it's super smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. Put the mixer speed on low and add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract. Then, get 1 Tablespoon of hot water and dissolve a teaspoon of baking soda. Add that to your batter along with a pinch of salt. Add 3 and 1/2 cups of flour with about a cup of m&m's or chocolate chips. Indulge in these cookies after cooking them at 350 for 10-13 minutes. Don't cook them longer, and take them out as soon as the time is up. (Even if they don't look done, they are.) Let the...

It's May! This is the month for saying goodbye to frost, planting outdoors, & getting our patios & porches ready. It's time to take trips to your local greenhouse for plants & all sorts of goodies. So today, I give you a look into two fairy gardens my girls & I whipped together on a warm day. There's more to come as we'll have a few of these in places around our home. We still have fences, chairs, & huts to use. This particular one is a nice size for a table centerpiece outdoors. We used moss, grass, rocks, & forget me nots from our yard. Our local greenhouse is booming with color. I just had to share how beautiful everything looked! There are so many choices when creating these little worlds. And this is what we came home with:) A little bit of everything! I used an old wine box for the base.  This is a great spring time project. By mid-summer, they will be overf...