20 Must Have Farmhouse Decor

We just love the farmhouse look and so many people are writing to us and asking where they can get some farmhouse goodies that can give them the look they love so we decided to make a post with a few of our favorite looks. 

One hot look in farmhouse/cottage is shiplap.  Check out our super simple tutorial on painted shiplap. We really love the simplicity of this look and if you get tired of it, it is so easy to cover. 

Faux Shiplap:

Simple items added to your shiplap walls make your cozy farmhouse look just right like this amazing vintage look scale.

Click here to purchase Metal Scale Clock With Hanging Basket

Coffee stations are really popular and make everything you need for coffee at arms reach. This super cute vintage drying rack for bottles is a great place to hang your cutest coffee mugs.

Click here to purchase Curved Metal Drying Rack

Ticking is oh so trendy once again and just sings of farmhouse.  Try these super cute ticking table runners to make your table have that cozy farmhouse or cottage feel. 

Click here to purchase the Striped Table Runner

Baskets are another great way to give that cottage or farmhouse look. These can be used to display your favorite lap blankets, plants, or decor.  We really like these metal strap baskets with the lids. There are so many things you can do with them.  We would actually use them to bring in our orchard fruit and bigger veggies in the garden. 

Click here to purchase Metal Basket Weave

Another way we love to give the cottage the pretty farmhouse look is by incorporating vintage looking items like this egg tray.  This is a great way to hold your girls' eggs, or candles, etc. Let your imagination be your guide. 

To purchase click here Metal Egg Tray

Real enamelware is expensive so why not try these vintage looking enamel trays to display your favorite decor, your jewelry or perfume.

To purchase, click here Enameled Farm Fresh & Farm Market Trays

Farmhouse / Cottage decor evokes a warm sense of home and family. The traditions of family and friends gathering around the home. Try these pretty "gather" signs to evoke those precious memories with those you love. 

 To purchase click here Gather Wall Sign

We really love the look of these baskets. We can think of a million things to do with them!

They would be beautiful with your softest white towels rolled up in them.  They would be gorgeous with potted plants displayed in them. So much more. 

To purchase these click here Wire Mesh Wrapped Freestanding Planter

We love the look of this map and the idea of being together as we travel and explore and love how it fits in with our farmhouse decor. 

Click here to purchase Come Away With Me

The look of yesterday, a simpler time and place is what farmhouse is all about and we love the look of these vintage look suitcases. Use them as a stand-alone decoration or stack them as a bedside table. 

To purchase click here Decorative Suitcase

We love how this "thankful" sign looks with the shiplap walls and it goes so well with the farmhouse look.

To purchase click here Thankful Sign

There is truly no place like home and when you get home and take off your shoes and slip into something comfy it is such a wonderful feeling. This sign captures that feeling so well and fits in beautifully on your shiplap walls. 

To purchase click here It Is So Nice To Be Home Sign

This pendant light finishes off your farmhouse look so beautifully. 

Click here to purchase Hanging Pendant Light

Cute throw pillows are a must for your cottage look. They are cozy and comfy and make your space look just right. 

Click here to purchase God Bless This Hot Mess Pillow

Click here to purchase Slate Grain Sack Pillow

Worn wooden floors and slip-covered furniture make the farmhouse look. Add this cute grain sack rug to your room, it is a great way to add warmth to your space.

Click to purchase here Slate Grain Sack Tassel Rug

Using unique vintage look items really make the Farmhouse look complete. Like this great vintage look chicken feeder plate rack to display all of your gorgeous plates. 

To purchase click here Chicken Feeder Plate Rack

Bring that charming farmhouse look into your bedroom with this gorgeous bedding.

Click here to purchase Pearl Quilt Sets

Click here to purchase Pearl White Euro Sham

Baskets are a great way to store your favorite blanket, your fall pumpkins, gorgeous hydrangeas or other farmhouse decor. Check out this cute basket. 

To purchase click here Upright Wire Storage Basket

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Need a delicious recipe for your fall get together- or to go with a hot cup of coffee? We have just the thing! Pumpkin coffee cake, this recipe is super moist not too sweet and loaded with all of those pumpkin spice flavors we know and love!

For Crumb Topping:

¾ Cup organic all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
4 Tablespoons raw sugar
4 Tablespoons light brown sugar
6 -Tablespoon melted grass-fed butter

For Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. Softened cream cheese
4 Tablespoons raw sugar
1 teaspoon organic vanilla
1 egg white

For Pumpkin Cake:

1 ¾ Cups organic all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
¼ Teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
1 Teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 Teaspoon organic cinnamon
1 free range egg
1 egg yolk
2/3 Cup light brown sugar
1/3 Cup raw sugar
1 Cup organic pumpkin puree
½ Cup oil
½ Cup plain sour cream
1 ½ Teaspoon vanilla (try our recipe)
1/8 Teaspoon organic nutmeg
1/8 Teaspoon organic allspice

For the Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease 9 inch spring form pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, set aside. In an electric mixer, mix together egg, egg yolk, sugar and brown sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, sour cream and vanilla to combine evenly. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine.

To make crumbles: Stir together flour, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium size bowl. Add melted butter and stir until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until you are ready to use them

To make filling: Place cream cheese in an electric mixer beat until creamy. Add egg white and vanilla and mix until just combined. Stick it in the refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Pour half of the batter in the pan and smooth, spoon cream cheese filling on the top and smooth. Pour remaining pumpkin cake batter, smooth the top, sprinkle with crumb topping and bake 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

After 20 minutes run a thin knife or spatula around the cake, release the ring from spring form pan and remove it.

To make the glaze: stir together powdered sugar and cream. Drizzle over the cake.

This article contains affiliate links. Affiliate links cost you nothing extra but help to support the Rosevine Cottage Girls so we can continue bringing you recipes, travel posts, garden and farm posts and so much more. 

The Practice of Being Present

Life is so hectic.

For all of the "time-saving technology" there is today, we are a generation that has no time. We are hurried and harried, rushed and stressed.

I think that we have lost the ability to just be.

To be present with the ones that we love.

To enjoy the sweet laughter of family members.

To cherish the friend that is next to us instead of the twenty that we can't stop texting.

The sister or friend that desperately may just need an ear but we just can't stop checking our social media long enough to be there for them.

We are connected to the nth-degree but are we connected how it really counts?

Our kids practically come out of the womb with electronic devices. They can wield a tablet and their mommy's cell phone but do they know how to play? Do they know how to pretend? Have they ever chased bubbles? Or butterflies? Or caught fireflies?

And the biggest question is, have we done it with them?

Have we played hide and seek?

Have we curled up and read bedtime stories, of knights and princesses and castles ancient?

Today, we think that we can be anything, and everything but the truth is somewhere along the line we have forgotten to just be.

We have lost the art of stillness.

Of eye to eye contact.

Of true friendship.

Of time well spent.

When was the last time you didn't have any electronics around you? No trilling whistles or bells and then just sat on the porch and watched the sky painted in brilliant hue change to indigo blue. My mom always told us that we need to take notice of sunset, for God painted it just for us... hoping we would just take a moment out of the business of our lives and take notice. To thank Him for the beauty that surrounds us every day but we are just too busy to see.

When was the last time you sat with the family at the dinner table and talked, and laughed and prayed? That you asked how another person's day was and then sat and listened?

When was the last time you played a board game with the TV off and no cellphones?

That you sat cuddled up with your little ones and read aloud to them?

Technology and the internet was supposed to draw us closer but in reality, I think it has done the opposite.

Gone are the days of family, the connection of friends.

What are your fondest memories with family?

The best times that you spent with friends?

Give us some of your ideas on how to be intentional and spend time with those that are the most important to us all and let's pick one or two to do each week as we learn again, or maybe for the first time, to just be...

Holy Land Tour | The Sea of Galilee

The story of my Israeli experience is no longer in any particular order. Life sometimes interrupts the best intentions of staying on track and life has certainly been busy these last month’s causing me to take a break from writing. While praying where to start again, I’ve landed on the Sea of Galilee.

We left the beautiful King David Hotel and traveled north to reach the Sea of Galilee also known as Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, and Lake Tiberias. It took the entire day because we made several stops along the way, including getting baptized in the Jordan River at a spot they believe likely where John baptized Jesus – awesome!

Our second hotel was not as nice as the first, especially the room itself. Well, nothing really but we were not here to enjoy the hotel -right? Right! A great feature, however, was a large patio overlooking the beautiful Sea and surrounding hills. Each morning, we would fill up our plates with a bounty of food and sit on the patio to enjoy the fabulous view. Loved it!

The morning after our arrival, we ate breakfast rather early and left on a surprise excursion. It was a beautiful morning and promised to be a warm day. The sky overhead a fabulous blue, however, the hillsides were a little hazy due to dust storms in Syria, directly across the Sea. Our destination turned out to be only a short distance from our hotel- the harbor. There tied to the docks were two very large 1st-century replica fishing boats. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that not only were we going to board them, but sail out onto the sea!

Our group was large so the owner had tied the two boats together so that we could all fit. They had laid many plastic white patio chairs on the deck for seating. We made our way to the back. Due to a shortage of seating, which was ok with me, Eric and I sat on the wooden steps leading to a platform at the stern of the ship where among other things was a large flagpole. Slowly we traveled out to the middle of the sea. It was so peaceful, quiet and relaxing which felt fabulous since we had been on a continuous mock 5 pace. They had Christian music playing softly in the background.

Once we reached the middle, they dropped anchor. The first thing they did was announce that they had a tradition to raise the flag. As an honor to their American guests, they raised the American flag along with the Israeli flag and played the American National Anthem as well. This always makes me cry and being out on the Sea of Galilee doubly so. Pastor Jack and Amir then gave us the lay of the land followed by a Bible study.

We are surrounded by Biblical history. Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene. Gennesaret, Chorazin,

Matthew 11:12 – “Woe to you Chorazin”, Capernaum (Home of Peter and site of many miracles; Bethsaida (home of Phillip); Mount of Beatitudes. Continuing on, Bethsaida, Mathew 11:21 “Woe to you Bethsaida”; and even the suspected location of the drowning of the swine.

To be floating on the sea where we are absolutely positive Jesus not only sailed but walked is more than emotional!

All four of the Gospels describe this event, and why wouldn’t they! This was an event that at first scared the daylights out of them and then convinced them that he was, in fact, the Son of God.

First, let me explain that the Sea of Galilee is 680’ below sea level and the climate is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. Surrounding the lake are hillsides, some up to 2000’ high in the east towards Syria.

The weather at the top of the hills is cool and dry. The sea is relatively shallow as lakes and seas go, the deepest part about 200’ deep. All of these conditions are perfect for violent storms to suddenly occur with no notice. The winds coming from those high cools hills, whip down to the middle of the shallow warm sea and small boats especially are in real trouble. I’m told even in March of 1991 a severe windstorm caused waves as high as 10’ went onto the shores causing property damage.

After one of Jesus’s teaching sermons, he made His disciples get into their fishing boat, instructing them to go to the other side of the lake ahead of Him. Jesus needed some alone time and went up on the mountain to pray.

Matthew 14:24 reports “Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves for the wind was contrary.” 

Mark 4:37 says 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.

As you can imagine, they were afraid. The fourth watch is the darkest part of the night, before dawn. The disciples had been painfully rowing towards Capernaum approximately 3 or 4 miles (John 6:17). Suddenly, they think they see a ghost. They believed that right before death you see spirits so they naturally assumed they were about to drown in the raging sea. But it wasn’t a ghost, it was Jesus!

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,[b] he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat came and[c] worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

Can you imagine? I was floating here in this beautiful spot picturing this event in awe and wonder.
We were then challenged. “What is the wind in our life, and do we try to impose our will on God or pray that His will be done in our lives?” Do we believe Psalm 89:8-9

O Lord God of hosts,
Who is mighty like You, O Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
When its waves rise, you still them.

I was reminded, that we rarely listen, but Jesus is there whispering or yelling to us during the windstorm “Be of good cheer. I am here!” “Take heart and do not be afraid”

Are we gripped by fear during our windstorms? If so, it will rob us of life and the blessing of seeing Jesus. Peter walked on water until he realizes the waves are enormous. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and let Him calm the winds and the waves. Peter as an old man in 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us:

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

God Bless You All

Shalom!

Debbie

Debbie lives in Southern California with her husband Doug and her children and grandchildren.










Scripture is taken from the New King James Version Copyright @ 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

How To Make Chicken Wire Napkin Rings

We love unique things here at the cottage, things that tell stories, and remind you of bygone days. I've been kind of obsessed with chicken wire since I saw the dresses made of it on Pinterest -I think I hear angels singing every time look at it. Yes, one day I will get around to making them (don't tell Mr. Cottage, I don't think he could take it). But in the meantime, I'll content myself with making napkin rings to go with my country napkins. 

What you will need:

Chicken Wire Ribbon

Scissors

Fake flowers

Related Article: DIY Burlap and Gerber Daisy Napkin Rings

Decide how big you want your napkin rings to be, cut the wire and roll into a circle. Line up the ends and twist together leaving a hole in the center for the base of your flower.

Insert two fingers on either side and stretch the wire into the correct shape.

Squeeze the base of the flower through the wire, you want it to fit snuggly. If there are any loose wire twist them together around the flower.

This article contains affiliate links. Affiliate links cost you nothing extra but help to support the Rosevine Cottage Girls so we can continue bringing you recipes, travel posts, garden and farm posts and so much more. 

Dachau Concentration Camp

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrick Bonhoeffer

Today we are visiting Dachau. Everyone else on this trip but the guy I paid to drive me has backed out, they didn't think they could handle it or just weren't interested. In a way I'm not sure I can... but that is how it should be. You shouldn't be able to handle the amount of evil that happened in this place, it should bring tears to your eyes and make your heart constrict. It should rip your heart out as your feet echo over the same places thousands of others walked and died, and as you walk out that gate where so many have before, it should leave you changed.

For years I've read books by and of the survivors of these camps, I've wanted to visit one for myself. I can't explain why... maybe to understand what they felt, hated ripped from family and home, frightened. Maybe it was simply to put a picture with the books I've read. As we drew near, I was struck how normal the tree-lined street looked. No hint of the evil that lay beyond.

The sky seems too blue here, the cold air pushes us on and my feet crunch crunch crunch on the gravel. There are few here, here to experience this place or perhaps they are looking for something, meandering these silent paths, the crunching of their shoes the only sound wrapped in bubble coats and winter hats.

Concrete and wire, plain wood floors and bare bulbs. I can't image how hopeless they must have felt... cold, sick and hungry. No one was coming to save them, God must have seemed so far away... You are so very powerless in a place like this with evil all around. Why did people wait? Why was it none of our business? Shouldn't it have been?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 NIV

Images from Schindler's List and Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Life Is Beautiful play in my head as we move through the buildings I can almost see them...

The man I paid to bring me here fidgets nervously. He is angry. He does not understand why I am here. Doesn't understand the importance. I'm stunned silent to hear that he has never heard of concentration camps, doesn't care. He just wants to leave.

I walk away from him. Drawn into the haunting stillness of the place. The horror of the place...

Dachau was established in March of 1933, the first of many that would follow under the Nazi's. Heinrich Himmler officially described the camp as "The first concentration camp for political prisoners". It was built on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory.

Related Article: Visiting Nuremberg Part 1

Main building of the camp, prisoners entered the camp through this gate.

Initially, prisoners were German communists, social democrats, trade unionists and political opponents of the Nazis. Other prisoners were added to the mix over time -Jehova's Witness, Roma's (gypsies), Homosexuals and "Anti-Socials" and repeat offender criminals. During the early years, few jews were inturned here, those that were belonged to one of the groups or were convicted of violating the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 (Reichsburgergesetz -Law of the Reich Citizen- deprived Jews of German citizenship. Only Germans were considered citizens of the Reich. The second law Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und der Deutschen Ehre -Law of protection of German blood and German honor- forbid the marriage between Jews and Germans. This law also prohibited the employment of maids of German descent under the age of 45 in Jewish households, and Jews from flying the German flag.

Early in 1937, the SS. began construction on a large complex on the grounds using slave labor. The prisoners slaved under horrible conditions until it was finished in mid-August 1938. The camp remained almost unchanged until 1945. The camp was a model camp for the others that followed and a training center for SS concentration camp guards.

With increased persecution, the numbers of Jewish prisoners soared, on November 10 - 11, 1938 in the aftermath of Kristallnacht more than 10,000 Jewish men were interned. Most were released after only a few weeks or months, many after proving they had made arrangements to emigrate from Germany.

The camp is divided into two sections,  the camp and crematorium area. The camp area consisted of 32  barracks including one for clergy imprisoned (in December of 1940 Berlin ordered the transfer of clerical prisoners held at other camps, making Dachau the center for the imprisonment of clergymen holding 2720, of those 1034 died or were killed) and one for medical experiments.

The camp administration was located near the gatehouse at the front gate, the camp also had a kitchen, laundry, showers, workshop and prison block. The courtyard between the prison and central kitchen was used for executions. An electrified barbed-wire fence, ditch and wall with 7 guard towers in circled the camp to prevent escapes.

In 1942 the crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp, it would include the old crematorium and new barracks that would house a gas chamber. There is no evidence that the gas chamber in barracks x was ever used to murder human beings, instead, prisoners underwent "selection" those thought to be too sick or weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim Castle "euthanasia" killing center near Linz Austria. Formerly a mental asylum the first 98 of its thousands of victims were taken to the gas chambers on January 15th. Family members of those murdered would receive fabricated death notifications many stating heart failure and circulatory collapse as the cause of death. By the time the Nazi's ended the practice of killing the sick, weak and elderly in the gas chambers of the death castle in 1943 the castle had claimed 2,595 lives.

These are the beds that the prisoners had to sleep in. There were enough for 200 in each but ended up housing 1200 men in each.

In Dachau as in other camps, Nazi doctors performed "medical experiments" on prisoners, including high-altitude experiments using a decompression chamber, malaria, hypothermia (by putting the men in water in freezing temperatures) and tuberculosis experiments and testing new medications. Prisoners were forced to test methods of making seawater potable and halting excessive bleeding. Hundreds were killed or permanently disabled from these experiments.

Sculpture in honor of the dead.

The prisoners of Dachau first employed in building the camp were forced to build roads, work in gravel pits and drain marshes. In summer and fall of 1944 to increase war productions satellite camps under Dachau administration were established near armaments factories throughout southern Germany. More than 30 subcamps in which 30,000 prisoners worked almost exclusively on armaments. Thousands of prisoners were worked to death in these subcamps.

Looking at the Catholic Memorial the Catholic Victims

As Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Nazi's began moving prisoners from camps near the front to prevent the prisoners from being liberated. Transports from the evacuated camps arrive continuously resulting in deteriorating the already horrible conditions. After days of travel with little to no food or water, the prisoners arrived weak and exhausted often near death. Typhus epidemics swept the overcrowded camp.

Foundations of the many rows barrack's are all that remain here at Dachau.

April 26, 1945, American 42nd & 45th infantry division and 20th armored division approached the camp. Fleeing the oncoming liberators, more than 7,000 prisoners were forced on a 70-mile death march to Tegernsee. Any who could not keep up were shot, many died of starvation cold or exhaustion along the way.

Armed Nazi guards stood one watch 24 hrs a day in the seven guard towers in the Dachau camp while two rows of electric fencing surrounded them.

On April 28, just hours before liberation a train and 40 cars arrived, it had left Buchenwalk four weeks earlier on April 7th filled with more than 5,000 prisoners. 2,000 parished on the circuitous route that took them from Thuringia through Saxony to Czechoslovakia and into Bavaria. Only 816 prisoners survived the trip.

One of the two crematoria buildings at the Dachau Camp

On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated the camp, as they approached the camp they discovered more than 30 railway cars filled with the bodies of prisoners brought to Dachau and forgotten in the haste to retreat. In early May of 1945 American forces liberated those forced on the death march to Tegernsee.

The number of prisoners incarcerated at Dachau for the 12 years it was in operation exceeds 188,000, the number of those who died in it or one of its many subcamps is believed to be greater than 28,000.

To The Dead To The Reverent To The Reminder...

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9 NIV.

End of log.
Mr. Cottage

 Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™