Cattle Tag Key Chains

Thanks to my favorite brother and a key chain he has,
I have decided to venture in to making something ‘farmy’ but cute.

Cattle Tag Key Chains!

I am currently sharing the key chains on Instagram {farmgirlchaos}
and selling them using PayPal.

If you would like to place a custom order, just shoot me an email at

farmgirl.chaos at gmail.com

For now, they are $8 shipped.
{I have yet to get to a post office to see what it will really cost to send them….
so the price might go up to accommodate that cost.}

Here is what I have made so far.

I also take custom orders, so let me know what you would like!

 

 

 

      

I will also have some key chains available for purchase during the
Back Roads Vintage Market, on June 22.
{And will hopefully take and possibly make custom orders there as well.}

Country Drives

A few times the past couple three weeks,
instead of taking the 4-lane road home
{which is busy with road construction},
I have been taking myself on country drives.

 

This means:

Back Roads

Country Roads

Gravel Roads

Little or No Traffic

 

Traveling at Slower Speeds

Enjoying the Sights I See

 

Getting Home MUCH Later than Usual

 

Enjoying some of the best views in Iowa!

 

Have you gone on a country drive lately?

If not, I encourage you to!

Rural Iowa.  I love it!

Howdy Kitchen….Baby Showers

The first weekend in April,

I was hired to make a rainbow cake for a baby shower.
Because I was going to use a frosting technique that hadn’t used before,
I did a practice cake the weekend before, which happened to be Easter,
as well as my dad’s birthday.

Perfect timing!

The cake was 6 layers tall, in ROY G BV order. {No ‘I’.}



This frosting technique took awhile, but I think it’s fabulous! 

If you search around online or even Pinterest,
you will see lots of different styles and ideas for this technique.

Finally, the inside of the cake…..

It was a Noah’s Ark themed shower, so of course the cake as rainbow,
and the frosting blue to resemble water.

But this frosting isn’t just colored blue.

It is actually blue raspberry flavored.
And is currently my favorite frosting!



Last weekend, I was hired to make cupcakes for another baby shower.
I went with the following flavors:
Wedding Cake with Blue Raspberry Frosting
Chocolate with a frosting I made up
Strawberry lemonade with a whipped cream frosting

 

I’m a fan of cupcake tablescapes!

So much better than picking them up out of a pan!

{Note….I did not do ANY of the displaying of the cupcakes or the work to set it up.
I just made the cupcakes, and shared some of the items
around my home to help pull it together.}



After making all of these….I must admit that my current favorite cupcake is:

Wedding Cake with Blue Raspberry Frosting.

Up next for the Howdy Kitchen…..

Making a couple hundred {likely more} mini cupcakes for a graduation party.


What flavor of cupcake would you want to enjoy a graduation party?

Shower Gift Idea

Yup.  It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted.
Life happens.  So I’m enjoying it.
:)

Let’s back track to the beginning of March.
My ‘little’ sister, a friend, and I hosted an

‘I Do’ Barbeque

for some friends.

 

I made the invites for the gathering…

and mailed them out as well.
That required me to print off address labels for the envelopes.

Then I got to thinking…
I should just print out a double set of labels,
and make the thank you cards that keep with the theme.

So I did.

  

I went with a simple look.

But I knew I had to use the ‘I Do’ saying again. 

I think it works.

The kraft cards and envelopes, ‘burlap’ ribbon, and paisley ribbon
were all found at Hobby Lobby. 
Of course I got it all on sale or used a coupon, if it wasn’t below $2.

So next time you host a wedding or baby or whatever shower,
think about printing off a double set of address labels.

Even if you don’t make the thank you cards to go with the addresses,
it is one less things for the couple, new parents, whoever to worry
about addressing the thank you’s.


And because this is the ONLY picture I took the night of the gathering,
I might as well share.

Keeping with the barbecue theme, the napkins were hankies.
Plastic silverware and thick paper plates = easy clean up!
Of course, Ball, Mason, or handled jars to drink out of.

The fun part, Gina had recently purchased the
RedNek Wine Glasses, so we used those for the
Bride & Groom.
White hankie and ribbon for bride.
Black hankie and ribbon for groom.

:)

True Chaos

Time to be real here……

Here’s my crap craft room.

All because a couple friends talked me in to switch-a-room too many months ago.

Read about that here:
Switch-A-Room
Switch-A-Room Update 1

Because it feels like I’m never home,
it hasn’t been a priority in my life to get this done.

But, my nomadic sister and her husband will be visiting
and spending the night on Friday and Saturday…
OF THIS WEEK!

That means I need to get this done…as much as possible.

I usually work well with deadlines.
So I’m hoping it will work out well!

Feel free to leave any tips and suggestions!
Or, if you are local, feel free to come over and help.
I’ll make cupcakes!  :)

At this point in time, I don’t really want to buy anything to make it happen.
I need to work with what I have.
Or donations or free finds.

Or better yet…if you are need of crafting supplies,
come on over and take stuff!
There are a few things I can’t part with.
Other than that, I’d be happy to share.

And as I quote my brother from the comment he left me on this photo on Facebook….
”Talk about (farmgirl) chaos.....”

:)

Drop Cloths to Curtains

Back in January, I was ready for a change of curtains in my living room.

Here’s a glimpse of what they looked like.

 

I still like those curtains.

It was actually one curtain panel that I bought at Walmart.
I just rotated it, then had my mom cut in half and sew for me…
since I don’t have my own sewing machine. 

But, I was ready for a change, something with less of a statement.

I have seen people use drop cloths as curtains,
and have at least one friend that has them as well.

So after seeing them and confirming I want them,
I decided to go for it.

One Sunday, my parents visited, and we had to make a Lowe’s run for a different project.
So while there, I picked up one 6x9 drop cloth.
After my mom was too kind and ironed it for me, we got it hung up.

The curtain eventually came back down last week for a couple days
for some alterations.

Mom visited me in Marshalltown with my favorite farmboy nephews
for a post-birthday ice cream date.

 


Mom took them with her to cut, hem, wash, and then iron them.

Instead of just one panel, I now have two.
They are no longer stiff, but have a little flow to them.
And best of all, they no longer smell!
They just had a distinct fiber smell to them.

And thanks to my dad heading over to my town for a farm sale,
my curtains were returned 2 days later.

Talk about service!
I even waved as we passed each other on the highway.
Did you see me dad?

And now the finished product.
{Sorry, I don’t have a full size picture yet.}

I love them.
I feel like they ‘soften’ the room a bit…if that makes sense.

The best part…$11.

If you are in need of some simple, neutral curtains,
go to your local hardware/home store,
get yourself some drop cloths,
WASH and iron them,
hang them up,
and enjoy!


My coworker recently got herself a few drop cloths for curtains from my suggestion.
She’s adding something extra to them, and I can’t wait to see what she does.

Feel free to check her out blog!
Simply Adapting

Farm Sweet Farm

Thanks to Instagram, I ‘met’ Contented Sparrow…and eventually found her Etsy store, and found an item I had to have. 

Isn’t it awesome?!


I actually messaged Megan on Etsy, and asked her if she had any Iowa maps, and if she could do a custom stamp job.

To my surprise and enjoyment, she messaged me pictures of SIX maps to choose from.
{I picked the colorful one.}

And, being the farmgirl that I am, and loving everything farm, I asked her to put
Farm Sweet Farm
on my map.

It’s fabulous.  I love it!

After I was finally able to get to the Post Office on Tuesday afternoon,
{after the card was left in my mailbox on Friday}
I got home and opened up the cardboard.

This is what I found inside….

I mean, really!  I thought I could hang it on the wall just like that!

But I didn’t.  :)

I had it hanging in one stop, but then moved it to its current home.

Moving it caused me to pull a bucket of vintage hankies from my room,
and put it by my collection of glass bottles in a wire basket,
on top of a vintage suitcase.

It works.  I love it!

So, if you want a unique and custom piece of art for your home,
be sure to give Megan at Contented Sparrow a holler!

You can thank me later.  But be sure to share a picture!  :)

Decor Ideas

With all my cleaning, throwing out, giving away, selling, purging that is going on,
I have done a little organizing and redecorating…
via Instagram and Facebook.

And it’s fun!

It all started with some washi tape.  I had no idea what to do with it.

One suggestion and donation via Instagram lead me to this:

Now I just need to get it hung up in the craft room.

 

My second project started with a tool crock I have had for a few years.

And believe it or not, I had to take out some of the tools, because there were too many!
Since I use most of them, I decided to upgrade to something different.

It was my plan to find something white and simple at Target, but I forgot when I went there.

During one of my cleaning spurts, I found a cute pail/bucket, and put it to use!

Yup.  I love it!

So I shared it on Instagram, which shared on Facebook.

Little Prairie Girl mentioned using a magnet on it to hold recipes.

Yup.  It works!

 

Yesterday, my ‘coffee table’ was bothering me, so I went to work.

I started with this:

I knew I wanted to use the basket and include the truck somehow,
but my mind wasn’t in the thinking mood at that point in time.

So instead, I share the picture on Instagram which shares to Facebook,
and got some great suggestions. 

~Put magazines or books in the basket and the truck on top of them.~
~Plants in the basket.~
~Wrap books in plain paper and wrap them together with fun string/twine.~

But this is what I did before most of the other ideas came in.

I figured I was on a fun pail/bucket kick,
so I decided to keep it going! 

It is now the fashionable and functional home for my remotes.

I did put some magazines under the truck as well.

I thought about wrapping them in string/twine,
but I still read them!

So that didn’t happen.

 

But overall, what was fun about this for me was getting fantastic input from people on Instagram and Facebook.
On Instagram, I got tagged in a few pics of people sharing how they kept their kitchen tools.
I’m a visual person, so it’s great they can take a picture and share how they display, store, use their items.

I know Pinterest is a great resource,
but sometimes it’s just overwhelming with too many ideas.

Where have you found inspiration/ideas for your organizing or decorating projects?

A Year of Instagram

As you might be aware, I took on the challenge of taking/sharing a photo a day, via Instagram.  There were some days where I might have shared a picture I took on a different day.  Really, I wanted pictures that made me happy, or made me smile, or made me laugh.

I’m happy to report…I was successful in sharing 366 pictures during 2012!
One of these days, I’m hoping to put it all in a book for myself.

Given the fact that I succeeded, and it seemed that some friends enjoyed my pictures as well, I have decided to take on the challenge again! 

I know my photos aren’t always perfect. 
You might not understand why I’m sharing a certain picture.
You might wonder why it seems I take pictures of only farm things, cupcakes, and kids. 
Well, I think of it as a glimpse of my heart. 
The things I love, that bring me joy.

So, here’s to another year of Instagram photos!

And here’s my start so far….

If you want to follow along, my Instagram name is farmgirlchaos, you can see the photos to the right on the blog, or through the link on my Facebook page.

Be sure to let me know your Instagram name if you are on there as well!