Happy fall farmgirl friends!
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One of my favorite things to gift is something home made! I struggle to think of things that could be useful and not just stuck in a drawer somewhere. This week I suddenly thought of a simple iPad case and I jumped right in and made one. It was simple and came out so perfect. Luckily I took pictures along the way so I could share with you (just in case it turned out)! So let’s jump right in!
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Hello Farmgirl friends! This post today is different than my usual posts… but it’s what has been on my mind for three weeks now and so I’m going to write about it! In one word, its called…
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Mary Murray says: Oh Dori…what an example of coming back. I LOVE the quote, “Let your comeback be bigger than your setback” that’s inspiring and just what we need to hear. For all of us there are times – whether it’s heath-related, grief, unemployment, or other stresses, when we simply feel we won’t ever bounce back, but those words can keep us moving forward. Sounds like you’re now on the road to recovery…great news! And also you gave me a wonderful thought…better check with my mom to see if I had chicken pox and/or was vaccinated – you’ve undoubtedly spared so many people the discomfort you’ve had. Take care, Mary
Dori Troutman says: Mary… YES to a vaccine. I have not had the Shingles vaccine, however I will be getting it. I have to wait 90 days post shingles before I can get it. Once you’ve had Shingles, the chance of getting it again is very high. I just can’t bear the thought of going through it again. So I’ll be getting the vaccine soon.
Hope you are enjoying some beautiful Fall weather?? It has been so gorgeous here in Tennessee!
Hugs,
Dori
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I’m so excited to share this super fun project! If you are on Instagram you might’ve seen these jewelry boxes turning to sewing boxes? You can use the hashtag #travelsewingkit to see all kinds of ideas! After seeing a few on my IG feed I decided I needed to take the plunge and make one myself. Today I’m here to step you through my process and you can use my ideas to make one, customizing it to your liking!
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Vicki Lawson says: I am so excited to make this sewing box! (I only have 400,000 other projects in my mind) but this one is a priority. I can see me making a few of these for gifts. I am 72, soon to be 73 and working full time at a healthcare facility (ALF-Assisted Living Facility) and I can see some of my residents embracing this idea. Thank you so much. I am new to the blog but will definitely check this out often!
Dori Troutman says: Hi Vicki! The great thing about this project is that you can make it VERY SIMPLE by only removing a few things and adding fabric. It will still look beautiful and be simpler!
~ Dori ~
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
It’s so darn cute!
Thank You for all the details and pics, who knows….I might even try it one day!
what a perfect idea! I need to make a birthday gift for a dear friend. This fits the bill to a tee!!! And she will appreciate it so much. Thanks, Dori.
Dori, you come up with the most clever designs, and the colors are always so cheery and fun! You’ve given great instructions, and I’m certain there are sewing machines humming away with grateful Sisters who now have names checked off their gift-giving list – it’s true: the best gifts are handmade! Hmmm, wonder if I can start up that vintage White sewing machine I found for free? Thanks again, Mary