Spring adventures: McMenamins Edgefield

 

We are still sorting through photos from our adventures in Oregon over spring break.  One of our first stops and perhaps my new favorite find was McMenamins Edgefield. We were just off of the plane and a little tired since we had a very early start to the travel day.  The first order of business was lunch.

We decided that we would search for a local place.  A sign caught our eye - McMenamins Edgefield. We thought we would take a chance, but we felt pretty confident because we were familiar with the McMenamins name.  On a previous trip to Oregon, we learned about two brothers - the McMenamins - who bought historic properties and renovated them into bars, restaurants, hotels and other great places that people could enjoy.  In fact, we planned to stay in one of the McMenamins properties later in the trip.  (I think I want to be the McMenamins when I grow up.  What better mission than renovating historic properties and offering wonderful food and places to gather?)

We discovered that McMenamins Edgefield has a restaurant - The Black Rabbit.  We not only enjoyed our first lunch of vacation, but also went back for dinner that night.  We enjoyed delicious food and a great environment.

The story behind the property was really fantastic.  It was built in the early 1900's as the county poor farm.  There is now a working vineyard, brewery, gardens and a little golf course.

After we enjoyed lunch, we walked around the gardens.  I was really excited to see that the daffodils were in bloom.

 We spent a little time walking through the wine production area and loved looking at the vines in their vineyard.

 I am really fascinated by the wine making process and loved seeing all of the equipment.

 Our visit was a little too early in the spring to have the gardens in full bloom.  It was still really easy to imagine the beauty.  We found the place to be peaceful, quaint and magical.  This little garden cottage was adorable with the vines draping over the side. This would make the perfect backyard studio.

I am a huge fan of great local food and places with a story.  We hit the jackpot with this find!

A dream realized: IKEA

I am not really sure how we have made it this far in life and not been inside an IKEA.

When we landed in Portland for vacation a few weeks ago, we saw an IKEA along the way to our first stop.  I made a mental note that when we returned on our last day that we should try to make it to IKEA to shop around.

We did make it on time and spent some part of the evening wandering around.  We did a lot of looking and our only purchase was some kitchen towels.  These are the perfect kitchen towels - great price, absorbent and they have held up really well after some washings.

I understand that Kansas City will soon have an IKEA.  We will have to add another stop to our Kansas City shopping list.

Vintage finds: backroads of Oregon

 Over the past few months, we have enjoyed several trips.  Over spring break, we returned to Oregon and had the chance to revisit some of our favorite stops from a trip we took in 2007.  We also found some great new places.

On a rainy afternoon, we stopped in a small town and found a bakery.  After enjoying a couple of cupcakes, we asked the staff about any good vintage shopping in the area.  We were directed to a small town a few miles away.

There, we discovered a two-level stop with so many treasures!  Some of my favorite finds are the sweet, primitive wooden wagon.  It has moveable wheels and the BEST color.  I am in love with the chippy-looking paint.  This found a home on my studio table to hold gift certificates and coupons.

 We found these two tin lunchboxes - one with a cowboy motif and the other with an American-Indian motif.  We first found the lunchbox with the red lid and I was pretty sure that I wanted to buy it, but was stuck on the price.  We decided to employ the "walk around" strategy to see if we still loved it after a little more shopping.

Then, we rounded a corner and found the brown lunchbox in another booth on the other side of the floor.  It has the child's name written on the top!  I was sold!

And, how could you leave one behind?  These are the perfect addition to our kitchen.

Creative friends

 One of the best things about our Prairie School Farms adventure is meeting so many great people.  We continue to be blessed by opportunities to collaborate with creative and talented people. 

We belong to several different creative communities and one of the benefits is sharing ideas and items. We won a contest and had the chance to connect with Colleen from Pennsylvania.  She makes really beautiful cards.  Check out her Etsy store.

She custom designed notecards for us in two different styles.  The cards include photos from our Facebook page.  We LOVE the cards and can't wait to use them!

Please take some time to look at her work - nice things made by a nice person!

Something beautiful and practical

A friend of ours painted this beautiful windmill on a drop leaf table.  The table height makes it perfect for a coffee table or it could also be an accent table under a row of windows or in an entry way.

We love it!  This is one of those items that I constantly weigh - should we sell it or keep it?!

Thank you cards with paper flowers

Over the winter break, I had the chance to work on some handmade cards.  You can tell how busy things have been if I am just now posting about something that happened in December.

I tried out some simple cards using Stampin' Up! paper and a 'Thank you so much!" stamp.  I made the paper flowers using pages from an old book.

The paper flowers were made in two ways.

Flower number one was super easy.  I used a circle punch with scalloped edges.  I roughed up the circles a little bit and smoothed them out to add some depth.  Then, I stacked a few together, punched a circle in the center with a mini hole punch and added a brad.

Flower number two was a little more detailed. I used the circle punch to create a cardstock base and then used the same punch to create circles that would eventually become petals.

This picture gives you an idea about how to fold the circles into the petals.  Double-sided tape is one of my favorite crafting staples and it works perfectly as an adhesive for the petals.  Once you have the petals created, just stick them on, six per base.  Then, I used a mini punch to make a hole in the center for the brad.  Finished!

I think the flowers would also be cute embellishments on a gift or on a picture frame.

Studio update

Today was all about reorganizing, cleaning and fixing things. The cold weather and snow we have been experiencing has taken a toll on our studio and on us!

Thankful for a warmer day and a moment when both of us were home, we set out to get the studio back into shape.  My dad was also in town to help with the repairs.  We had some pipes that froze and broke and my dad's expertise was what we needed to be back in business.

While the guys worked on the plumbing repairs, I reworked the store.  It was fun to finally sort through all of the signs my husband has been making.  He has been trying out some new designs and color combinations and I have several favorites in the bunch.

We look forward to being open again soon to show off all of the latest creations and finds.