Someone seems to have a case of spring fever

I may or may not (definitely may) have spring fever. 

I miss my garden, the warm sun on my back, eating veggies and fruits fresh from my yard...

Here's a little photo collage of some of my past gardening fun:

Garlic is my very favorite thing to grow! We just planted about 40 cloves plus another 20 rounds and 100+  bulbils. I'm anxious to have enough garlic to get us through the winter and then-some. We eat a lot of garlic!

The first couple of years I grew tomatoes I probably grew eight plants or so. Then last year  I said, "I'm growing any this year! I'm taking a year off." Then I found a packet of seeds and figured "what the heck..." and grew 21 plants (plus I bought another three from the local nursery for good measure). Then last year I learned how to can so... I'm probably going to grow about 40 tomato plants this year so we have enough to get through until the next season! I just love making chili and sauce and salsa!

We are blessed to have some gorgeous apple and peach trees in our yard, too. The peach tree is the smallest, saddest fruit tree you've ever seen. It looks like a soft wind could knock it over. The first year we had a miniature peach grow. Just one! Then in 2010 we had a massive harvest of peaches! The photo above shows one of the three bowls full we harvested. Amazing. Then in 2011 we had none again. I was told by a local farmer that in Maine the peach trees rotate every other year on production. I guess we'll see what happens in 2012! In addition, we have strawberry plants that were transplanted from my friend's farm so her donkeys wouldn't eat the strawberries -- lucky us! We also have a gorgeous little nest (complete with glitter streamers) that robins lay eggs in just about every year.


Aaaah.... soon it will be time to head outdoors again for the happy harvests of spring!

AND... I ordered these crazy looking squash that I'm SUPER excited to grow and eat. They're called Yugoslavian Finger Fruit Squash:

View all of Kenyon Organic's heirloom seeds here.

Happy spring dreaming!

Etsy On Sale Starts Now

I've seen a lot of people trying Etsy On Sale lately and I thought I'd give it a whirl! I have posted my entire 

Paper, Arts, and Cards section on sale for 30% OFF!

Have a look around:

Give Etsy On Sale a whirl by clicking this link!

Vintage Finds

I've been having way too much find scouting out fabulous vintage finds for my etsy shop and even more fun photographing the finds. The most difficult thing is parting with them! But knowing they're going to a good home helps! Here are some recent finds:

Hobnail Milk Glass Tumblers

Black Lotus Bowls

Stacking Teapot Cream and Sugar Set

Mother of Pearl Buttons

Teal Kitchen Utility Scale

Hope you've had as much looking as I've had hunting!

Click the links to visit my etsy shop to see more.

Check out my twin sister's etsy shop to see her paintings featured in most of these backgrounds.

New Printable PDF Items and Giveaway

There's just something about checklists and fill in the blanks. Maybe it's a Virgo thing. Or maybe it's just the pure satisfaction of order, simplicity, and speed. Having a list of options right there before you and being able to move on quickly. I adore checklists. So I have started creating some printable PDF items which are now available in my etsy shop.

First up is this snarky little "While You Were Out" notecard -- perfect for the office, home, or dorm room. Have a little more fun in your cubicle by passing these notes on to your co-workers:

While You Were Out - Printable PDF available here.

If you've been following my blog you've probably noticed that I love sharing recipes. Naturally this recipe card was born. Perfectly bright and cheerful for the kitchen, also great for sending to a friend to share a meal from afar or bringing to a potluck pre-filled out with the recipe you're sharing that night:

Recipe Card - Printable PDF available here.

And now on to the FREE PRINTABLE PDF offer!

Simply comment on this blog with two things:

•Your favorite item in my etsy shop

•Your email address

and I will email you a free printable pdf of my "Things I Probably Shouldn't Forget To Do" list:

Who doesn't need a to-do list, right?

Get on it!

*Painted tins featured in the photo above are available from my sister's etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/jamieribisi

The Look is Posted!

Photo Credit: Krystal Kathleen Photography

The Dress to Impress project over at Well To Do You posted the look for today and Suz included my birch bark earrings! It's very exciting to see my creations in use and for such a great cause. Be sure to check out her blog and keep up to date with the daily looks posted for the month of January.

The very earrings donated to the project and shown above.

A recently sold pair

Another pair that are available in my etsy shop.

Dress for Success!

All across the world Dress To Success programs are collecting clothing and accessories for women in economic need to help them thrive in work and life. You can connect with your local chapter here.

In Bangor, Maine one blogger is doing something extra special. Suz of www.welldotoyou.com is documenting how to make the most of one dress in your wardrobe by accessorizing in different ways. She has collected accessories and clothing from various retailers, crafters, and jewelry makers and will document her daily outfits for the month of January. She will be donating all of the items collected to the Dress For Success of Southern Maine chapter.  You can view the Dress To Impres section of her blog and keep up to date right here.

I am mailing out these birch bark earrings tomorrow. I think they will go nicely with the LL Bean dress and really pop on the outfit. Birch bark is also a fun way to bring nature to your earlobes, especially in Maine. I'm eager to see how she incorporates these earrings into her style and also eager for them to be donated to a woman in the program.

You can see a larger portion of my birch bark and other jewelry here and I will be adding more soon.

Check out your local chapter of Dress For Success and see how you can help.

Recipe Card: Forgotten Cookies

If there's a cookie that reminds me of childhood it's, by far, the Forgotten Cookie. We always had the recipe taped up in my mother's cupboard right next to the stove. Our family friend Patsy would make them whenever she visited us. Upon finding the recipe, copied one day in haste, I see that it also says it's Aunt Filly's recipe, although I don't recall her making them. I'll have to inquire further!

The recipe (a copy, not the coveted original)

These are simple, sugar-filled cookies which give the feeling of eating a cloud filled with chocolate chips. Simply heavenly. Simple to cook and a great recipe for children to create (with the help of an adult, of course). These Forgotten Cookies are meringue cookies, called "forgotten" because the last step requires putting the cookies in the oven and turning the oven off leaving them overnight to "forget" and be found, happily, in the morning hours.

Ingredients:

2 Egg Whites

2/3 Cup Sugar

6 Ounce Pack of Chocolate Chips

1 Tsp Vanilla

Supplies:

Cookie Sheet lined with aluminum foil

Whisk or hand blender

Mixing Bowl

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size mixing bowl mix 2 egg whites (forever) until they're stiff and stand in peaks:

Perfect peaks


Mix in sugar, chocolate chips, and vanilla. I was lucky enough to have my friend's homemade vanilla! Delicious!

Dollop the mixture onto the aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. Your cookies will fluff up while cooking to about 1.5 times the size of the dollop you put down.

Place your cookie sheet into the oven and *get ready for this* TURN THE OVEN OFF! Do not open the oven. Leave the cookies in the oven overnight (5-6 hours). They cook in a nice low decreasing heat. In the morning, you'll have some delightful goodies to test!

These make a great bake-ahead treat for parties in the holiday season when you just don't have all of the time in the world. And if you leave some in the oven for Santa I'm sure he'll be happy, too.