Homemade Living: How To Make Pomanders

Have you ever made pomanders or clove oranges? I've seen them before but never made any myself, so this year I decided to get some oranges and cloves and create some of my own.

It's really easy and straightforward to make your own pomanders. All you do is gather your choice of fruit (you can use oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, tangerines, etc) and stud them with whole cloves. You can get creative and make designs on your fruit, or just completely cover them with cloves.

I found that it was helpful to use something to pierce the fruit and create a hole for the cloves before trying to insert them into the oranges (much easier on the fingertips!). I simply used an ink pen, but you can use anything you have on hand to make your pilot holes. This can also help if you are trying to make a design on your fruit so you can line up your cloves in a certain pattern.

You can also tie ribbon around your pomanders and hang them on your Christmas tree, but I chose to just display mine on a platter. The scent of the pomanders is amazing and apparently if you shake your clove studded fruit in a bag of powdered orrisroot (found at health food stores) the fruit will dry evenly and retain its scent for up to a year!

I got my whole cloves at our local health food store in the bulk spices section, so they were really inexpensive. And of course you can find a bag of oranges anywhere, so this is a great frugal way to decorate for the holidays. They also serve as a fabulous all-natural air freshener with no chemicals whatsoever! Every time I walk past the pomanders I get a hint of the scent and it just screams holidays to me. I think I will make these clove oranges for years to come!

~Tammy

This week in the Homemade Living series, I am joined by Mary and Jackie in posting about how we incorporate homemade items into our lives. Next week Daisy, Staci, and Sue will be up. If you have some free time, please check out the other posts in this weekly series!

Frugal Finds

Today I'm taking some inspiration from my good friend, Jackie, who often writes posts about her awesome thrifting finds. David and I went to an antique store over the weekend and I found a few things that I really loved and was thrilled to get them on the cheap.

Pretty plates, bowls, and platters are my weakness, and I spotted this cute little platter for only $3! I was so excited about my find, and apparently Gizmo was as well because he just had to get in my shot.

Let's try this again so you can get a better view of the platter...

Somehow his paws still made it into the shot, but at least you can see the platter here. It is a bit smaller than a standard platter, but I put my bananas on it and it was just the right size.

I also got some great old muffin tins for $3. One of them is a bit more rusty than the other, but if I use muffin liners it should be ok. Or, I could use the rusty one for organized storage of my earrings and other jewelry.

For only $1, I snagged a cool old copper mug. I didn't plan on using it for drinking, but thought it would look cute with flowers (pink peonies perhaps?). Once I got it home, I decided to put part of my ever growing guinea and chicken feather collection in the mug and displayed it on the kitchen window sill.

I'm really into eclectic items lately, and I think this copper mug is quite different. I normally wouldn't look twice at it, but something about it caught my eye and I'm glad I picked it up. I think it's unexpected but also looks like it fits right in. All in all, I got my platter, muffin tins, and mug for just over $7 with tax. I'll call that a successful shopping trip!

Have you found any good bargains lately?

~Tammy

From The Farm Blog Hop

Today I am doing something a little different from my normal Friday posts and instead I am co-hosting the From the Farm Blog Hop! I have been participating in this hop for a while now and always find such wonderful posts from other bloggers. I hope you are able to submit some of your own posts if you are a blogger, and if you aren’t a blogger, please feel free to click through some of the links to view other posts. I know you’ll find something you enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Congratulations! Please feel free to grab our button and display it proudly on your blog!

Photo provided by Chicken Scratch Poultry http://chickenscratchpoultry.com/

<a title="From the Farm Blog Hop" href=" http://myhealthygreenfamily.com/blog/wordpress/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y449/From-the-Farm/FTFFavorite_zpsa9fe81b7.jpg" width="180" height="180" alt="From The Farm Blog Hop"></a>

Now, on to this week's party:
1. Link up to three of your best gardening or homesteading tips, farm-themed posts, recipes, homemaking and simple/frugal living tips, decorating ideas, DIY projects, craft ideas, thrifty makeovers or repurposed items, healthy, sustainable living tips and giveaways.
2. Link back to my blog, or put the link party button anywhere on your blog or post to share the love.
3. Make sure to check out some of the other links before leaving.

Photo provided by Chicken Scratch Poultry http://chickenscratchpoultry.com/

<a title="From the Farm Blog Hop" href=" http://myhealthygreenfamily.com/blog/wordpress/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv97/StoneFamily_2009/LetThisMindBeinYou/FromtheFarmButton-Final.jpg~original" width="180" height="180" alt="From The Farm Blog Hop"></a>

We can't wait to see what you share with us!

Note: Linking up to this party will automatically sign you up for an invite to next week's party via email. To unsubscribe, please reply to any email you receive and you will be removed. Linking up also allows us permission to publish one of your photos on our blogs, Facebook, and/or Pinterest pages.

Warmly,
Tammy
and
Your From the Farm Blog Hop Co-Hosts:
The Adventure Bite | Sunny Simple Life | 1840 Farm | Let This Mind Be in You | My Healthy Green Family | Fresh Eggs Daily | Louise's Country Closet | Happy Days Farm | Five Little Homesteaders

An InLinkz Link-up

Our Sweet Sylvester

If you've been reading our blog for a while, you know that our tuxedo cat, Sylvester, has been such a big part of this blog ever since he made his way to our homestead several years ago. I have been putting off this post for as long as possible, but I think I am finally ready to share the news.

We had to say goodbye to Sylvester on Saturday. It was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make. He had gone missing for about five days, which is totally unlike him, so I was beginning to think something was wrong. He showed back up one night early last week looking very sick and lethargic. I took him to the vet and he had a high fever as a result of a really bad infection. He was put on strong medication and given fluids through an IV because he was severely dehydrated. I brought him home and kept him in the garage to continue his care, but he refused to eat or drink. After several days I took him back to the vet because I knew he couldn't survive much longer without food or water, and she suggested running some blood work on him. They found that he tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus and as a result, his immune system was so weakened that he couldn't fight off his infection. He had lost so much weight and was refusing to eat or drink and didn't have much strength at all. He was obviously suffering and would not recover, so I made the tough call to have our vet put him to sleep on Saturday.

I spent as much time with him as I could on Friday, and even brought him into our guest room so I could cuddle with him and say my goodbyes. I ended up sleeping with him for a few hours until he got up and went under the bed, almost like he had said his goodbye to me and was ready to go.

Sylvester was such a character, and was the most loving cat I've ever known. It amazed me the first time I saw him cuddle up to our big dog, Duchess. He welcomed our new kitty, Emma, to the homestead and showed her that it was safe here (since she had direct contact with Sylvester, we will be getting Emma tested for FIV sometime in the future).

He was a loyal companion on our walks in the woods and was never far behind. Occasionally he would get distracted by something and fall a little behind, but I'd just call to him and he would run to catch up.

Words can't express how much I will miss him. I'm just so happy that he found his way to our home and I got him to stick around. I feel blessed that I got to know him and be a part of his life, if it was only for a couple years. He will always have a piece of my heart.

As soon as I went out to my car after the vet on Saturday, church bells were ringing. It was almost like he was being welcomed into Heaven and it gave me such peace. I know he is having a blast in Heaven right now with all our other furry and feathered friends we've had to say goodbye to in the past. In his final moments on the Earth, I was petting him and telling him how much he was loved, and he went out purring. I can't think of a better way to say goodbye.

~Tammy