DO It Yourself, Waterer Heaters

Last year, you MAY remember I posted a link for making your own waterer heaters.  I was reminded of this, when our chicken's water started to freeze this last week.  My husband asked if we still had those heaters.  And as far as I knew, we did.  Hubby found them, and they are STILL in great working condition!  Even after storing them in our barn this whole year!

We put it under our NEW chicken waterer, which is a metal one...

And it works great.  So far, with temps reaching to the near teens, I have yet to go down and find I have to chip the water out of their waterer. 

To find information on how to make your own waterer, go through my link HERE.

This year, we replaced the bulb, but didn't have to replace anything else! These, of course, are for smaller waterers.  But I have also used them under waterers for my sheep, the waterers were larger, and when it got REALLY cold out, it didn't work as well.  It works the best if you can get the same circumference of tin as your waterer....

Hope you enjoy this idea, and have as much fun making one of these as I did! 

Grandmother Bread

I have been trying for a while now to find the "perfect bread". I was beginning to think that bread companies were the only ones that could make a REALLY GOOD bread... Until I tried THIS RECIPE last week, from "Chickens in the Road".

I couldn't believe how easy it was, so I have to say I was a bit worried on the turn out. There are so few ingredients that I thought it was for sure going to fail... But it didn't! It actually was a very good recipe! My 8 year old son even said to me, "You made this? This must be a different recipe, this is REALLY GOOD, Mom!"

I have tried in the past to make sandwiches with the breads that I made... SORRY! TOO DRY!

I have tried to make it as an enjoyable bread on the side... Yeah, that was good...

But this! I got compliments from my little boys! Even my 1 year old, said this while eating it with jelly, "Mmmmm...". I know!

SO, here it is... the best bread recipe (according to me!):

Grandmother Bread

2 Loaves (can also make it with 1, see link above)

3 C. warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast (1 packet)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 C. sugar

7-8 C. All- Purpose Flour

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, sugar & salt. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in first 4-5 cups of flour and stir with a heavy spoon. Stir in remaining cups, until dough becomes too tough to stir easily. Add more flour and begin kneading. (Flour is approx!) Add flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled (in a warm place!). About an hour. Uncover bowl, sprinkle with more flour & knead again, before dividing in half. With floured hands, shape dough into loaves and place in 2 greased loaf pans. Cover & let rise again in warm place! About an hour.

Bake for 25 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. (My oven burns a little hotter, so I actually bake mine for about 23-24 minutes)

On her web site, she shares with you how to freeze this bread dough, I WILL be trying that one! You can also make different variations of this bread.... like: Sourdough bread, Apple-strudel Ladder Loaf, Cinnamon Crispies, Cinnamon Swirl Bread, Homemade hamburger & Hot dog Buns, Pumpernickle bread, Raisin Bread, Sourdough Pizza... There are also several recipes using the bread too. GO HERE to see all of this!

Oh, and the bread I made the other night, hubby asked me tonight if I was going to enter it in the "Perfect Bread Competition" (a made up competition in his mind...) because it looked so perfect! Well, before we were able to enter.... we ate it. =)

Enjoy!!!

New Ideas, Make it Yourself!

It is getting closer and closer to the holidays, and I have found some MORE great ideas for homemade gifts! These 2 ideas come from a great little site I found, called "Sweet Cottage Dreams". Here are two ADORABLE ideas:

When my grandmother passed 2 years ago, she left behind many things that when you saw it, you thought of her right away... One of those things was shells. She LOVED shells and she left a lot behind. Cuz', you know they have plenty in heaven. I even got MORE this summer when my mom and I went to Florida to close down and try to sell their place down there. Well, there were TONS of shells. I think she always grabbed them when she walked the beach, which she also loved to do. So, I was thinking the other day, what am I going to do with all of these shells? Then I saw this perfect idea:

Shell wreaths. I think they are a perfect addition to summer or to a cottage... And a great way to keep all of those shells that my grandma thought would be nice in her home... Go HERE to see how this can be made... Very easy!!! And when ever I look at my pretty shell wreath, I will be able to think of my precious grandma...

Then check out this precious little gift:

Soooo cute and you could make these to add to the top of a gift or they are cute enough to have as a small gift alone... And best of all you could make them yourself! Go HERE to see more about them!

Remember, a handmade gift is one of the BEST gifts a person could receive, ESPECIALLY when made from the heart...

13 weeks Until Christmas!

Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you! But every year, I find that the more prepared I am, the less stress there is. And Christmas should NOT be a stressful time! It is a celebration for the One who came and gave us LIFE!!!

So, I will be starting to each week post some ideas for gift giving! I am a HUGE component of making your own gifts!!! They can be VERY FRUGAL (which I LOVE!!!), they can be fun, and they can be from the heart (made just for the receiver!). There is NO better gift. And you don't have to be as crafty as your sister or your best friend. You just have to find something that YOU enjoy doing, then explore the different ideas on the Internet. Do you like scrapbooking? Look for different ideas that you can use your scrapbooking skills! Do you like to do the "trash to treasure" thing? Give some of those new "treasures" as gifts!

This week, I have, so far found one very cute idea I would like to pass along, a manicure kit cover. Check it out:

Do you LOVE it? You can get all of the manicure accessories from the Dollar Store, and material will cost very little. If you love it, like I do, hop on over to "dhbuscher" and check out how to do it! Awesome gift for women (or men!) in your life!

If you have a great link that you would like to have included, please e-mail me! I love getting new ideas!!!