Pennsylvanians do some weird things, and no matter what it is, we totally embrace it as “part of our Dutch roots.” Whether it’s saying phrases like “all the further,” indulging in whoopie pies, or hiding pickles in our Christmas trees—we love our weirdness. Today, I’ve got a new one for you: his name is Belsnickle. You may have heard the name before, or even seen him represented as someone like Santa Claus or Father Christmas. Belsnickle comes from our PA-Dutch folklore. It’s said that he would visit children for two weeks, starting the week before Christmas, switches in hand. Yeah…you read that right: switches. (Continue reading…)
Even in my 20’s, I still get nightmares…often. One night, my husband wondered if doing something like embroidery or reading before bed might help. After a few nights of passing out less than one paragraph into 
, I decided to give embroidery a try. Let me tell you: I haven’t had a nightmare since! It’s fantastic!
After a week of fabulous giveaways and turkey-eating, I thought it would be fun to kick back with a little tutorial! You can whip up this placemat in a jiffy for under $20! It’s sure to make your plates look fabulous without dishing out cash on an expensive charger set! The best part is that you can customize it to match your colors! Let’s get started, shall we? 
Welcome to December: The whirlwind of holiday dinners, parties, family gatherings, cookie baking, and card sending. Christmas Cards. The thought of wrangling Steven and I up on a Sunday afternoon, getting the perfect pose, the right smile, and good lighting seems like a bear. Don’t even get me started on how expensive cards are to order! Every year I scroll through the endless pages of cards on Shutterfly or Snapfish, and decide to make my own cards—I’m not about to spend $1.50 on paper…I’m sorry, but that’s all it is! 
Happy Thanksgiving! Now lets get to Christmas! I get so excited to decorate for Christmas every year—it’s a great refresh for the whole house and allows you to have more fun with decorations than ever before! And honestly, I can’t wait to get home from Thanksgiving dinner and get started—and I know you’re sitting there nodding your head, getting ready to go and decorate yourself, but first let’s go over some rules to make decorating for Christmas a joy! 
