~raggygirlvintage french grainsack style pillows~

Hello peeps, before we get to the french grainsack style pillows, let me show you my view the past 10 days....

Pretty sweet hey! I was sunning it up with my family in Palm Springs, we were l-a-z-y!!

I had all kinds of plans for how I would use the time, but sometimes a body just needs a rest, so I swam, read, played games with the kids, shopped a little, looked at the stars, and watched humming birds! Do you know I can no longer beat my 16 year old at Scrabble. It’s a sad day I tell you.

I tried blogging from my ipad while I was gone, but it went all squirrely on me and I even managed to lose my last post. I took it as a sign to just chill and spend my time reading all your blogs instead!

We almost missed our flight home, but not quite, they were closing the doors behind us and we lost our seat assignments. As I’m not a good flyer to start with I think I handled it all very well! So now I’m back in the rain up north wearing three sweaters, with the fireplace going, but spring is a-coming, I know it, and I have so many things to work on and share with you here at raggygirlvintage. 

~raggygirlvintage french grainsack style pillow~

So first up, with us all fluffing our homes for spring, I wanted to show you some pillows ideas. I’ve been making these french grainsack style pillows for a while now, but I don’t believe I’ve ever shared them with you here. Here I have a french grainsack pillow stacked with a blue stripe ticking pillow and two of my budget Ikea white pillows. They almost redeem my awful navy sofa. Almost.

The grainsack style pillows are really fun to make, I use a heavier, nubby fabric and handpaint the stripes. The fun part is you can vary the width of the stripes for the look you want. 

I prefer to do a lighter coat of paint so it’s a little patchy here and there, makes it look more like a weathered grainsack.

This pillow closes with two twill ties on the side, so it’s easy-peasy to remove and wash, and I love the look of the side ties.

I finally got to list my french grainsack style pillow in my etsy store, so if you’re not up for making your own, head on over and check it out! I have a couple more new graphic pillows I’ll be listing there soon, including my all time fav. Here’s the link:

~french grainsack style pillow~

Happy spring fluffing!

linking up to these awesome parties:
 Feathered Nest Friday 
Air-your-laundry-Friday 
Home and Family Friday
Frugalicious Friday
Frugal Friday 
Show and Tell Friday

Tracey

 xoxo

~raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin'~robins eggs in a teeny nest~

Well now, isn’t that the strangest thing, this post just clean disappeared from my blog, all except the title, and I have searched and searched and just can’t find it!

This nest is just too adorable so I’m gonna repost the photos here for a little more rgv french farmhouse stylin’ with birds nests, in case you missed it.

This is a very teensy nest and perfect for tucking in just about anywhere, I especially like it on my mantel or tucked on a farmhouse shelf with my little white pitcher.

I’m loving the robins egg blue against the red. Very vintagey. Vintage and french farmhouse stylin’ is okay, promise! ‘Cos we’re eclectic around here, keeps life interesting!

Okay, let’s hope this doesn’t vanish on me again!

linking up to Feathered Nest Friday over at French Country Cottage

Tracey

for more rgv french farmhouse stylin’ posts click on these links

~decorating with birds' nests~

~burlap~

~blue ticking and lavender~

~vintage milk carrier~

~french farmhouse stylin’~decorating with birds’ nests~

Hi friends,

Okay, how about some more ~raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin’~

I’m all about keeping it simple gals, so just sharing what works for me!

So, ~birds nests~ A great way to introduce a little of that more rustic feel a la ~french farmhouse~ into your decor in a budget friendly way.

This is one of my best loved nests. The speckled eggs in this nest are a great neutral color, they go well pretty much whereever I put it. I’ve had it in a birdcage, under a wire cloche, out on a dresser. So versatile!

I also love the two tone layers in this nest, especially against the burlap.

So if you’re wanting to introduce a little more ~french farmhouse stylin’~ in your home, better go get yourself a nest! Just make sure you pick one that looks authentic. Or if you have more patience than me you could make one, there are some tutorials out there by bloggers who have made their own nests!

Next post I’ll be showing you my nest with robin’s blue eggs, it is teeny tiny and so sweet. Yes, a bit more color in our ~french farmhouse stylin’~!

So, how about you, do you use birds nests in your decorating?

Bye for now

Tracey

For other ~raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin~ posts click on these links:

~vintage milk carrier~

~blue ticking and lavender~

~burlap~

~raggygirlvintage top choc chip cookie recipes part II~

Hello!

I hope you enjoyed the two favorite recipes I included in Part I, which you can see here. 

~Yummy vanilla pudding choc chip cookies~ 

and

~Bestest Giant choc chip cookies EVAH~

I see these recipes are making the rounds on pinterest, hopefully you have a chance to try one of them too!

Today I’m going to share with you two more of our favorite choc chip cookie recipes. Yup, I told you peeps, a lot of choc chip cookie tasting in these here parts. Which is primarily why this post took so long, getting a photo before they are all gone can prove challenging!

So let’s dive in. 

First up

 ~Spicy Oatmeal choc chip cookies~ 

That’s right, the “healthy” cookies! Oatmeal and shredded coconut, along with yummy spices and sticky molasses make this a substantial cookie.

Recipe # 3

~Spicy Oatmeal Choc Chip Cookies~

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

* Beat these ingredients together well.

*Add the following and mix well:

1 1/2 cups oats (I use the old-fashioned, not the quick cooking)

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon all spice

1 1/2 semi-sweet choc chips

* Drop spoonfuls on parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for around 12 minutes.

Yum!!

Finally, the recipe I just couldn’t cut! The secret ingredient in this one is cornstarch. Yup you read that right, couple teaspoonfuls of cornstarch. I personally prefer these within a day or so of making them, or toss them in the freezer, but the recipe says they keep up to two weeks….

{I pulled this recipe from a magazine 5 years ago, it comes from Anna Olson, a Canadian chef}

Recipe # 4

~Anna Olson’s Choc Chip Cookies~

3/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy, beat in egg and vanilla.

2. Sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.

3. Stir into butter mixture with choc chips just until evenly mixed.

4. Spoon tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 mins

Well there you have it, let me know if you try any of these awesome recipes!

raggygirlvintage foodie signing out!

Tracey

~raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin’~burlap~

Hello friends,

Well enough about blogger issues, let’s get back to the fun stuff! Ready for some more ~french farmhouse stylin’~ 

raggygirlvintage syle?

We can’t talk about ~french farmhouse stylin’~ without including a feature on burlap. Burlap is one of the most versatile decor fabrics. Of course if you can get your hands on authentic burlap sacks all the better, but there are also great burlap fabrics out there that still have that rustic, vintage feel and look.

I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to cut up the few vintage sacks I do own, but they make great “props” folded or rolled and tucked here and there in your decor. {I think they are going to look awesome hanging on my whitewashed ladder when I am brave enough to smuggle it inside the house!}

You know how I love burlap table runners, and if my etsy sales are anything to go by, I’m not the only one! I love to make plain burlap runners, runners with white ruffles, ticking ruffles, vintage ruffles and runners with french graphics. They have all featured in my home decor at one time or another.

Whilst I am a big fan of decorating with burlap, I have to tell you I don’t enjoy working with it. If you’ve worked with burlap you will know what I am talking about!! By the end of a sewing session both my home and I are covered in fluff. and I have itchy eyes and skin for days. But every now and then I roll up my sleeves and work with burlap, ‘cos it’s worth it for the final product!

This is a pillow I recently made out of a printed burlap, it has french script and graphics all over it.

I backed it with plain burlap, but next time I would back it with a heavy cotton. It is hard to sew burlap on burlap and not have the seams part, as it is a very loosely woven fabric. For this reason it is not my favorite fabric for pillows, and for this same reason this pillow resides in my home : it did not pass my somewhat perfectionist standards for sale!! I’m okay with that, it looks kinda cute on my little bench, don’t you think!

The great thing about burlap is the neutral color goes with pretty much anything, and it adds that rustic lived-in touch in a home. You can get it in a variety of colors nowadays, but I prefer the traditional light brown burlap, or the off white.

 

 This is a small runner I made in the off white, with white ruffles and broderie anglaise lace. 

It fits well on a bench or end table and looks equally cute folded up.

And of course you may remember my Queen Anne chairs which I painted white and reupholstered with burlap.

So there you have it, ~rgv french farmhouse stylin’ a la burlap~

How about you, do you like to decorate with burlap?

linking up to:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Primp your Stuff Wednesday
We Did It! Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays 
Wednesday Wowzers 
White Wednesday

Tracey

for more posts on ~rgv french farmhouse stylin’~ see here:

vintage milk carrier

ticking and lavender

~update on blogroll problems~

Hello peeps,

First of all, a big thank you for all your comments and input on my blogroll problem, it is helpful to know that others of you are also struggling with this.

Take a deep calming breath….

Well, I can’t say I have it all resolved, but I am nothing if not persistent, so this is what I have figured out so far:

1. Blogger limits how many blogs you can follow, apparantly it is 300. I had 409 on my list. Wowzers!!! How did that happen. Yes gals, a little blog maintenance was in order, but blogger was still not allowing me to remove {unsubscribe} or add {subscribe} new blogs: back to the original problem. {You can see how many blogs you are following on your “configure blog list” gadget under layout}

When I “add” new blogs or "remove" blogs under this gadget, it appears to accept the info and change the number, but as soon as I close the page and reopen it, it is right back to 409 blogs. The changes don't save.

2.In the process I switched over to the new blogger interface. When you log in to your dashboard it gives you the option to try the new blogger interface. I had been too scared to hit that button in case it messed everything up, but I did it gals, and so can you. I thought maybe if I switched to the new interface it would solve my problem. It didn’t!

3. So, I needed to find a way to unsubscribe from some blogs, actually from a lot of blogs! Here’s one way I found that you can do that. Sorta. Google this :

google.com/reader/settings

When I went to this link it opened up a list of all the blogs I was following, and gives the option to unsubscribe. Yay!! 

You can also access Google Reader through your dashboard.

Still with me? Okay, take another deep breath…

4. So this was a long and tedious process. How do you decide which blogs to cut. Each one is unique and special in it’s own way. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself, but here are some pointers for how I did it.

~open your blogpage and scroll right down to the bottom of all the blogs you follow. Start opening the blogs one by one.

~you will notice that some of the blogs near the bottom of your blogroll no longer exist, or haven’t posted in a very long time. These are the easy ones to unsubscribe to. Start making a list. For me, if the blogger hadn’t posted in 6 months I put them on the unsubscribe list.

~as you work your way up your blogroll you will start to come across blogs that have posted more recently, but in my case I have to cut over 100 blogs to get back under that magic number of 300. Even that is a lot. Think about it, if even a third of those bloggers posted every day that’s 100 posts to read each day! So you have to decide on which blogs you really want to keep subscribing too.

~I have to tell you, I found this process very hard, I felt like I was turning away friends, I felt disloyal, it was way harder than I thought it would be. Make yourself a big cup of tea before you start.

~Once you have your list go back to the google link I gave you above, and unsubscribe to the blogs you have decided to cut. It looks like you can check off the boxes and unsubscribe to a bunch at once, but I was too afraid I might lose them all, so I unsubscribed to each one individually.Right click on the trash can icon and select okay.

5. I couldn’t find anywhere here to add blogs. Could just be me??

6. You can also apparantly unsubscribe by going to the blog and in the Followers Box click on Options. Follow the prompts and you can unsubscribe to the blog. I tried this with a couple but they are still showing up on my blogroll. Maybe it will work better for you!

7. So this is where I find myself now. On the Google reader page I apparantly now subscribe to 259 blogs, and strangely enough the blogs I tried to add under my layout page that wouldn’t save, they actually show up here!

~But, when I go back to my layout page, it still says I have 409 blogs on my blogroll. The blogs I have unsubscribed to are still showing up in my blogroll on my blog homepage. And the new blogs I have subscribed to are not showing up. Grrr again!

So gals, I’m not sure where to go from here, I’m hoping maybe it just takes a while to update. Just thought I’d share what info I have found and hopefully we can figure it out together. Anyone know how to get an answer from blogger??

On a lighter and brighter note, look out for another post this week on ~raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin’~

and part II of raggygirlvintage top choc chip cookie recipes.

Tracey

~why can't I add new blogs to my blogroll?~

Any ideas peeps? 

For some reason Blogger is not allowing me to add new blogs to my blogroll, blogs that I have signed up to follow. 

I hit add to list, check them off, then when I hit save it hangs or does nothing. Indefinitely.

I don’t think I’ve exceeded the magic number {whatever that might be} as I have tried deleting a blog to create space before adding a new one.

Anyone figured this one out? I wasn’t able to find any answers on the help forum. 

Hoping you can help!

Tracey

~french farmhouse stylin’~blue ticking and lavender

Hello friends,

Ready for some more raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin”? I sure am!! 

Although french farmhouse stylin’ suggests a more neutral palette, it’s okay to include some color. Really.

And what is more french and farmhousey than striped blue ticking {or any ticking for that matter}.

Use as a feature pillow...

 or stack together with white pillows.

Doesn’t ticking look yummy with lavender, I cut this fresh and it dried out in the the jar.

There is something so classic and vintagey about blue striped ticking.

 Of course I couldn’t leave you without a ruffle too!

Happy french farmhouse stylin’

linking up to Penny Pinching Party @ The Thrifty Home 
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts 
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
We Did It! Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado 
Primp your stuff Wednesday @ Primp 
Wednesday Wowzers @ Oopsey Daisy 
Sugar and Spice @ Seven thirty three 
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Tracey

 

other RGV french farmhouse stylin' :

~vintage milk carrier~