Two of my friends (Nikki Ballard and Cory Waldrop) and I are going to have a booth at this year’s Prairie Arts Festival on September 4th.  I am so excited.  Never in a million years would I have ever thought I would be selling homemade items, much less at the PAF.  The PAF is kind of a big deal.  I have gone to the PAF about ten times over the years and I look forward to it every year.  One of the reasons I love living in Mississippi is that most little towns have some type of annual festival and West Point’s PAF is one of the best I have seen.

Mark your calendar or planner or blackberry or iphone or however you keep up with important dates and come see our booth.  You will not be disappointed.  See my items and Cory’s items on Etsy.

I can understand why Mississippi chose the Magnolia as it’s state flower.  They are so beautiful.   This one is blooming outside of my window at work.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Look at these pretty head pieces.  I can’t decide which one is my favorite.

Photography by Josh Hailey Studio

Also the fact that her  photography was shot by the ever so talented Josh Hailey makes me like her even more.  Not only is Josh one of the most fun people to be around, he is such a talented photographer.

Photography by Josh Hailey Studio

Photography by Josh Hailey Studio

If you like what you see, check out her Etsy Store here.  Oh and don’t forget to spend more than a few minutes browsing Josh Hailey Studio.

On December 17th a study released in the journal Science revealed that a person’s view of their own happiness closely correlates to studies objectively measuring each states’ quality of life based on factors such as temperature, sunshine, crime, cost of living, etc.  Read the whole article here.

With that being said, it makes me happy to report that Mississippi has ranked in the top ten for something other than childhood obesity or teen pregnancy.  I find it funny that New York is last.  I also find it interesting that 6 of the top ten states are in the South.  Go team!

1.  Louisiana

2.  Hawaii

3.  Florida

4.  Tennessee

5.  Arizona

6.  Mississippi

7.  Montana

8.  South Carolina

9.  Alabama

10.  Maine

My White Pumpkin

This is how I did it, well this is how John, Nikki and I did it:

1. I placed the pumpkin on an old towel and found a pencil and a permanent marker to draw his face.  I was told this is not the first step and that I should cut the stem first but I didn’t want to do it that way.
2. Next, I drew the face on my white pumpkin with the permanent marker because I thought it would be easy and didn’t need the pencil.  I failed.  So with Nikki laughing at me, I turned the pumpkin around and started over.
3. I began cutting around the stem with the largest knife I could find, because it made sense to me that I needed the largest knife in my kitchen.  Under the advice of my friends I (a.) started using a smaller serrated knife and (b.) faced the blade away from my face. (Side note: White pumpkins smell like cantaloupes when you cut them.)
   

   Use a serrated knife to carefully cut around the pumpkin stalk.

4. Next I began to pull on the stalk.  Nothing happened even though I thought I was pulling really hard.  Nikki took the knife away from me and ran the knife around the stalk to make sure it was cut all the way through.
5. Nikki was right.
   

   The orange triangles are from the first face i tried to draw.

6. Next, I used a spoon and pulled out all of the pulp and seeds.  The seeds I set aside because we plan on toasting them tonight.  The pulp went to the compost bin.  Our worms got a Halloween treat too.
   

   Now he needs a face.

7. I finally cut his face.  This took way longer than it should have until John told me that Turby had mentioned that a pairing knife would work better.  He didn’t tell me himself because he had already offered some advice to which i replied “I don’t want to do it that way.”  Sometimes I make things harder than they are supposed to be.
   

   My Jack-O-Lantern is smiling or maybe yelling.

8. After his face was cut, I added a soy candle which was leftover from my recent wedding.  The soy candle I used is supposed to burn for 12 hours, which cuts down on the amount of candles I will use to amuse the trick-or-treaters and the amount of chemicals the candle will release while burning.
   

   I added a soy candle which can burn up to 12 hours.