our Labor Day

Last weekend we had a full holiday. The Shunks came to visit and to bring me lots and lots and lots of stuff - everything we couldn't fit into the back of our car when we left a few weeks ago! Most of it was from thrifting and then lots from their basement. An old barn door, chunky wooden spindles, old piano keys and more corn crib wood (to be specific).

Grandma came to help around the house and to enjoy the girl.

Pretty sure she did.

"Pap" came to help with some muscle work and enjoy her.

Pretty sure he did.

Ladybug couldn't get enough of Grandpa last weekend! It was hilarious. Every minute she couldn't see him she was calling his name or finding his belly. She was so excited with extra energy. Loved it.

We celebrated Grandpa's upcoming birthday with another apple pie. And lemme tell you folks, it was beautiful! (And yummy, a la mode.) Thanks to my best friend's suggestion to freeze and grate the butter into the flour for the crust, I'm pretty sure my pie crust has never been better. (Thanks, E!) I won't be looking back from my crisco days, it's 2 sticks of real butter crust all the way.

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Okay, okay, besides food, this birthday man gave me so much of his time to help with my upcoming Christmas market - I'm so grateful. He had much patience with my only-in-my-head ideas and spent a couple of hours on his knees hammering frames together for my corn crib slat signs. He cut the barn door, piano pieces, and nine 8-feet long boards into 8", 10", 12", etc pieces and helped drive alotta nails. We (well, he with my "support") washed and put hinges on their (turned MY!) antique house shutters to make a decorative screen. Can't wait to set it up!

Here is a sample of the corn crib slat signs (still to be painted). Some will be red and some will be aged plain wood.

front:

back:

Most of the muscle work is over ... now I need to get painting, distressing, staining, waxing, shellacking, gluing, sewing ... so much to do! But I never would've been in this spot without them.

Happy!

Thanks Janet for spending so much quality time with the girl - having her occupied and happy was as important as the muscle work! And thanks George for all your hard work helping me put together my frames, shutters and other little things!! I am really, really happy and really, really grateful.

And some other random crafts (while I've been in the mood!)

When going through my new vintage patterns the other day, I came across one with a sturdy piece of 70s graphic material in it. Awesome! It was a small rectangle and I thought about making it into some kind of stretch belt with elastic, but then I decided to try out a headband.

I kept all of the fabric if I want to change it up later, but for now, here she is! I cut an old elastic headband to connect the ends and it's perfect! I've always had a slight problem with headbands - every since I was a little girl, wearing then gave me headaches. So, I haven't worn them!

This time I made it very, very loose - but snug enough to stay on my head and it worked! Hooray!

And I've also been waiting and waiting and waiting for my oatmeal container to run out - Ladybug used to eat oatmeal every day but we've changed things up a bit for breakfasts (which I'm sure she's happy about!) and our oatmeal supplies no longer deplete like they used to.

Anyway, Valerie had a great idea for a plastic bag holder and I wanted to try my hand at it for her diaper trash.

I took a piece of striped wrapping paper, cut it to size and glued it on.

Then I took a star stencil and traced a pattern in the top and cut it out with scissors. Easy peasy!

What crafty things have you been up to lately?

CSA Weeks 13 & 14

Last week's CSA pick-up included...

... a huge bunch of fresh basil, a pound of okra, 2-1/2 cups mixed salad greens, a pound of red cherry tomatoes, 10 hot peppers, a watermelon and ...

Wheat flour!! I ran out a few weeks ago and have been needing some flour. Well, here we are. "Heirloom Turkey Red Wheat Flour" -- our CSA newsletter gave some details. 

"German Mennonites from Russia brought this wheat to Kansas in the 1870’s. Standing at almost 5 feet tall, it was the variety of wheat that gave Kansas the nick name of the “Wheat State," and it's the basis for the song line, “amber waves of grain."  It is now on Slow Food America’s list of foods that are in danger of going extinct. It has been replaced with more modern high yielding varieties.

One unique characteristic about this flour is that it has about 1/5 the amount of gluten stands found in modern conventional wheat. We have had several gluten-intolerant people tell us that they can actually eat our flour. This flour is good for bread making (both in a machine or by hand), cakes, pancakes, muffins, cookies, waffles, and even pasta."

Can't wait to show off my wheat flour!

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 Yesterday's pick-up was sorely needed after a couple weeks of no meal-planning. I promised Jeremy there would be supper on the table and I'd get meal planning going.

We received two glove eggplants, a half dozen brown eggs, 1 large and 4 tiny sweet peppers, 4 small cucumbers, a lb of okra, several cups of salad greens, and microgreens.

Have you heard of microgreens?! I hadn't but I guess they were introduced in the spring before we signed on and they brought them back for the fall. I'm excited to try them! They are at the stage between sprouts and salad greens ... and great on burgers, tacos, sandwiches, etc.

Oh what to make! 

some antique finds ... and a fun announcement!

So when we were in Ohio, we went thrifting. And along the way stopped at an antique store. I found four blue glass Ball jars with zinc lids for $4 a piece! The only booth in the place that had good prices and I wanted to support it.

Here they are featured in my newly shabby-chic-ed wooden wine rack.

And speaking of vintage, antique, rustic, shabby chic, distressed, handmade ... I not only opened up a new shop this month, next month I'm going to be a vendor at a two day Christmas market!! I'm super excited, working really hard and scared no one will buy a thing, but I'm going to go for it anyway!

So up until the last weekend of October, I'm going to find myself up to my ears in old wood and paint, but I'm so happy I get this chance.

Jeremy suggested that I go "thrifting" in his parents' basement and whaddayaknow? I found some amazing stuff.  I'll feature some of it individually when it's fixed up (before and afters) but look at this amazing pile of antique goodness! Some would call it junk, but it's treasure to me.

Can't wait to show you my creations!

Oh, and I found this clutch for $1.

It even had matching gloves inside!! They are way too small for my big hands, but I love it. Muah!

More on the Christmas market soon!

Hey- upcycle your shirts!

Happy Labor Day! Hope you have the day off. We're spending time with my husband's parents, so it's been fun!

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Off that subject: I've been in an upcycling mood lately ... it's just really fun to turn things made one way and use them for something else!

(Most of them have turned into pillows ... starting here, but pillows are fun! Right? I can't resist!)

A couple of shirts didn't sell on Etsy before I phased out my women's clothing. They are funky but they don't exactly scream classy vintage.

So how about a floral pillow?!

(paired with my Grandma's plum polyester remnant.)

And then another shirt ... sorry! I deleted all the pictures before I decided to keep it and cut it up. I paired this one with a golden yellow broadcloth leftover from my sister's nursery linens.This one is long, 12x22 compared to my previous square (16x16) pillows.

And finally, a shirt that was given to Jeremy but didn't fit him in the shoulders. I loved it so much I couldn't bear to give it away! So, why not cut it up?! My BIL Shawn has the same shirt so I decided to make his new little guy a matching bowtie. Shorts are still in the works if I can find a casual pair to pattern them after!

Here is the final product!

Now I just need a picture of it on the little guy... :-)

Announcement! (The shop kind.)

So I've made the decision and the ball is rolling!

I've sectioned off my children's shop as my main dig. At schätzli, you will be able to find baby and children's vintage clothing, patterns as well as games, books, toys and decor.

And, as of today, I've opened a second shop! This shop, called schätzli vintage, will be my "play" shop ~ slightly less serious, more random and just the place for all the fun things I can't pass up or others give me. And I'm super excited about this fun shop ... it won't be my main focus, but I'm happy with this decision nonetheless! I'll be adding some handmade stuff closer to Christmas (more on that later - and I'm excited to have a place for it.)

C'mon over and see the changes I've made!! Let me know what you think.

toddler discovers shredder

... this is what happens when a certain toddler goes to work with Mama only to discover change in the drawer and a shredder in the corner.

At least the reverse still works! (Oops.)

CSA Week 12

I'm a week behind, but the computer is gone again all week, so forgive me. I'll play catch up next week.

Last week's pick up included...

... 1/2 dozen brown eggs, 1 lb okra, 1 lb potatoes, several sweet peppers, one fat cucumber, 2 white globe eggplant (baba ganosh?), four slicing tomatoes and a head of garlic. 

My pick of the week is garlic. Ever since we lived in Haiti, we got so spoiled using fresh garlic - among other things! A garlic press was a must on my wedding registry and we go through quite a bit in a year.

Growing it yourself is so easy! Split a head apart and stick the cloves (each one will be one head in the spring) in the ground in October (in Kansas at least) and let it sprout. It'll winter over, start growing again the next spring and by July you can pick it, dry it and it will last until it's gone.

Yum.

a 1943 bi-plane ride

(One more Ohio post... and it's a special one!)

Jeremy was surprised with a 20 minute ride in a 1943 bi-plane (restored) for his birthday while we were in Ohio. So cool!

The pilot (and owner) runs an aircraft refurbishing business and they sell or give those planes to mission organizations or other non-profits that need airplane access. (For example ... Mission Aviation Fellowship in Haiti got a plane from them to fly in the mail - among other things like people and cargo - from Florida every week! Ring a bell, Kosters?) Talk about re-using - they essentially take wrecked planes and rebuild them, giving planes that wouldn't have had a chance except for parts another life!

Jeremy getting in!

Ready to go!

Coming in for a landing (on the grass).

A happy birthday boy. (Thanks again Shunks!)

George rode after Jeremy ...

And guess who else got a surprise ride?! Super fun.

(Dad, you would've LOVED it.)

a birthday pie - and a recipe!

A certain hubby of mine had a birthday last week. He turned the exciting 3-2 and we went to Ohio to celebrate. That's pretty much his gift, but I wanted to surprise him with an apple pie.

And, boy, it was YUMMY served warm a la mode!

Here's my scrumptious flaky apple pie recipe:

Crust: Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee 

Filling: 6 large granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
a few tsp of cinnamon (or to taste)
a few Tblsp white sugar (depending on how sweet you like your pie)
a splash of lemon juice (or juice of one medium lemon)

Mix together, spoon into bottom pie crust. Slice several pieces of butter on top, close with second pie crust. Brush crust lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle a little white sugar on top to make it pretty.

Bake at 375*F for 1 hour until bubbly and brown.

Cool for awhile and then enjoy!!

:-)

Happy Birthday Love!

CSA Week 11

Only 2-1/2 more months of our CSA left! I can't believe that school is starting this week and fall is coming. The weather is so much nicer - almost reminiscent of fall. (And have I mentioned how much I love fall?)

Last night's pick-up included several small yellow potatoes, 4 green apples, 3 large slicer tomatoes, one watermelon, three eggplant, several small sweet peppers and three mini cucumbers. YUM! 

Jeremy is dreading the eggplant, although I think I'm going to try to pull of an edible eggplant parmesan ...

But before I do, can I tell you how excited I am to have apples this week? Jill said it was the first time they've had apples in 4 YEARS - and how I love baked apple goods(!). Even eating an apple is so yummy but I've been avoiding them because apples are number ONE on the Dirty List. Growing apples organically makes them slightly less than perfect looking, but I can feel SO good about feeding them to my family because they are pesticide free!

Who knew I'd get so excited about apples?! 

CSA Week 9

This week's pickup included...

... 4 cucumbers, a pint of cherry tomatoes, 8 small peaches, a watermelon (yum!), a pound of okra and 2 cups of basil.

And the pick of the week is ... CUCUMBERS! Added the four to my stash and I have quite a few. (Too many.)

Any cucumber recipes you're dying to share?! I could use some!

Angry Birds Cupcakes

So another piano student (I only have 3) had a birthday last week - remember my other piano birthday post? Anyway, A just turned seven - fun age!! Active boys are quite the challenge at the piano bench and I'm looking more and more into activities we can do to keep him engaged.

(I've just found this teaching resource and I'm super excited to try it out. I'll let you know how it goes!)

And he loves Angry Birds. I found a blank notebook with the red angry bird on the front on clearance awhile back and I actually planned to use it for incentive - but then I thought, "Why not an Angry Birds birthday!" So I did.

I found this tutorial for fun cupcakes...

Aren't they awesome!?

source

So, last Monday I went to gather my supplies. Marshmellows, frosting, black licorice, red sprinkles...

I really didn't think that it would be super difficult. Well, four stores later, I realized that I had no idea where (and no time left!) to look for red sprinkles and none of the stores carried rope licorice so I had to give up on sprinkles and I used a chopped chocolate bar for the angry eyebrows.

All of that to say, I was sorely disappointed in my rendition. Not to mention, the frosting was PINK! I tried so hard to make it red (the tutorial even said to use red gel coloring to get it red, but my gels just didn't work!) - and pink is SO not cool for a 7 year old boy, mind you. Sigh.

They ended up looking messy and childish but I wasn't about to throw away something I'd put money and time and thought into. So I shared them - at least they were tasty!

mmm! :-)

a couple new shop items (*gasp!*)

It's been awhile, hasn't it? The summer has been slow going for the shop, so I've tried not to go thrifting too much. That always gets me in trouble.

But, the other day I had the itch and the girl and I drove out to one of my favorite thrift spots.

I found these adorable crop tops - although I don't think I'd ever put my child in one,  they are so cute and summery!

another sweet pink dress ... (I think I need to sell these as a lot for someone and get some other colors in my line!)

A sweet little yellow toddler nightgown...

And a summer sweatersuit from West Germany - I include that tidbit because from the tag (that says: "Made in West Germany"), I can tell it was manufactured at least from 1990 or before which makes it vintage for sure! (Because West Germany was no more at the end of 1990.) It's in really great condition although like the crop tops, I'm not sure I'd put a baby in a sweater for 100 degree temps, but it's still cute.

Feel free to stop by the shop or click the button on the right side of my blog to visit! I'm slowly clearing out my sale items and hope to have my new all-baby/children's schätzli shop up by Sept. 1. I'm still not sure if I'm going to open another shop - like schätzlipatterns or something like that, but I'm deciding. Too much great vintage for one person!! 

Wish me luck and I'll be back with another shop update at the beginning of the fall. 

Ciao!

CSA week 8

This week's CSA pick-up included...

1 lb okra, 2 lbs white onions, 1-2 lbs asian green beans, pint of cherry tomatoes, 4 slicing tomatoes, two small cucumbers and two ears of sweet corn. Oh, and a crazy toddler. :-)

... and the pick of the week is... OKRA! I grew up with a family recipe of okra, and (Dad) I am proud to say that I snatched up this okra over beets (any day) and I'm gonna make our fried okra recipe. Excited!

But do check out these Asian green beans. Have you ever tried these? They are like 4 times the length of regular beans!?! Insane.  Not sure how to prepare them, so more research is in order.

I ventured into the fennel realm last week and came out kicking. It smelled very strongly of anise (black licorice - which I despise) so I was slightly skeptical, but I kept my reservations on hold until I tasted it especially after reading that someone who also hates anise liked this and a friend confirmed.

But, no siree! Not me, fennel is on my black list, friends. It tasted so much like anise to me that I almost gagged. Seriously, I'm not a picky eater at all, but I just couldn't do it.

And beets are not my favorite (much too earthy for my taste) but I did enjoy a "slaw" of carrots, apples, a small beet, raisins and walnuts tossed in lemon juice last week.