Post Full Of Excitement!

Hi Everyone! This is going to be a long post with lots in it so I hope you stick with us.

First of all, today is our last day of our birthday celebration. It’s been a week full of giveaways, announcements, and freebies. Thanks so much for following us and thanks so much for your support.

A special, special thanks to Jessica who has stepped up this past year and added so much to the blog while Brittany and Ashley were moving and setting up their new homes. Her talents are incredible. Be sure to see all her posts under “About Us” under her name. Look forward to seeing more from Ashley and Brittany. I’m so proud of all of them.

Now, on to a huge announcement we are so very excited about. We have some very talented husbands who support us in all our endeavors whether it’s our flea markets, the blog, and our everyday lives. We want to especially thank them for their love and help. Today we are announcing that two of our husbands are going to be joining us every now and then on our blog.

Dave is Brittany’s husband and has many talents. He is a pilot, a great father, loves to cook, is great with kids and young adults, and is always willing to help anyone.

He also works in his family business as a tile setter. You can see the beautiful tile work they do here. But, what I love most about him is that he loves Brittany and takes good care of her and their family.

He’s going to post some great recipes and other ideas he has. Thanks Dave!

Brian is Jessica’s husband and is also amazingly talented and quite the handyman. He is in the process of finishing his basement and helps Jessica make all her benches. He works in the oil fields, is a Dukes of Hazards fan, and is a very protective husband and father.

I love that he plays and enjoys his children. He even does their nails.

Brian also has some great ideas and recipes to share with us. Thanks Brian!

Stay tuned for their posts.

Because it’s close to Easter and Spring has finally arrived we are giving away an Easter package today.

We are including one of our Rag Bunnies

three small fabric Easter eggs

and a few other Easter goodies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you would like to make your own eggs make sure you go here for the pattern and instructions.

If you would like to make your own bunnies here are the instructions:

Bunny Pattern

Items Needed

Cotton Fabric (I tea dyed all of my fabric)
Cotton Batting
Buttons For Eyes
Embroidery Thread For Eyes
Twine
Pom Pom For Tail
Stuffing
Ribbon And Other Embellishments
Thread
Fusible Webbing (optional)

– Print and cut your pattern pieces out. Tape paper pattern together for bunny. These can be reduced or enlarged for various sizes of bunnies.

– Pin bunny pattern pieces onto desired fabric and cut out.

– Pin face piece to cotton batting and cut.

– Cut a 4″ x 36″ piece of contrasting fabric for collar.

– I like to use fusible webbing on the back of the face and inside of the head to add some stiffness and hold the face in place.

– If you’ve used the fabric webbing iron it on the cotton batting face piece and then iron it on the front of the bunny. Zig zag around the face.

– Sew button eyes on using embroidery thread. For eyelashes tie a piece of embroidery thread around the buttons and knot. Trim.

– Knot a 4″ piece of twine onto a needle and stitch it into place in the nose area. Place a small touch of glue on either side to hold into place.

– Using embroidery thread and a satin stitch create a nose over the twine. Using a straight stitch create the mouth.

– Put right sides together sew a 1/3″ seem allowance around the bunny leaving the bottom open for stuffing. Trim curves and stuff.

– Slip stitch the opening closed and stitch or hot glue a pom pom on the back for the tail.

– For the collar sew a gathering stitch down the center of the 4″ x 36″ contrasting fabric. Gather. Stitch or hot glue the collar around the neck.

– Add a bow or other embellishments.

And lastly……

If you missed our guest post on Play Party Pin on dying Easter eggs here it is.

First though, did you know that the eggs in the grocery store are already three weeks old? But, no worry. Eggs last 3-4 weeks after the sell by date. The reason I tell you this is that farm fresh or “new” eggs are harder to peel than older eggs and I do find that eggs that are close to their expiration date are also hard to peel. So, when making boiled eggs I use eggs I’ve recently purchased from the store for the easiest to peel eggs.

After years of boiling eggs I’ve stumbled upon what works for me the best. I’ve found this keeps the eggs from over-cooking and becoming rubbery.

Add your eggs to a pan of cold water in a single layer. Starting with cold water keeps the eggs from cracking.
Turn your heat to high and bring to a boil.
If you have a gas stove take your pan off the heat for a few minutes to stop the boiling. Reduce your heat to simmer and replace the pan on the burner and simmer for 12 minutes.
If you have an electric stove just turn off the heat, cover with a lid and let sit for 15 minutes. The remaining heat in the electric coils will be enough.
Remove the water from the pan and replace with cold water. Repeat.

Now for the dying part.

Using dye from the store is great and so easy, but if you are concerned about the color dyes they have that might seep into the eggs you might want to try the more natural way of dying your eggs using items you may already have in your pantry. In fact, using the items below is my favorite. I love the beautiful colors they give me.

For these eggs I used the following:

Green – Spinach (two handfuls of spinach leaves simmered in one cup of water)
Burnt Orange – Onion Skins (one handful of skins simmered in one cup of water)
Purple – Grape Juice (one cup)
Red – Beets (one beat cut into chunks and simmered in one cup of water)
Brown – Tea (two tea bags simmered in one cup of water)

For the items I simmered I first brought them to a boil and then simmered for about an hour. I then let them cool and strained the liquid. I add one Tablespoon of vinegar to each mixture. This helps the color bind to the egg shell. Pour the liquid into a cup and add your eggs. I like deep colors so I keep the eggs in the die for 10-15 minutes. Let dry and your done.

Another fun way to dye eggs is using Kool-Aid. They do have a color dye in each one but they create bright colors that kids love and makes the eggs smell fruity. Simply mix each of your packages with 2/3 cups of water. It doesn’t take long to dye with these colors.