Homemade Slow-Cooker/Crockpot Apple Butter Recipe

Hey y'all!  Hope you all had a great Christmas with your family and friends :-) .  We just wanted to show y'all in this post one of the most, delicious recipes that we've made this month.  We actually gave a few jars as gifts. So here we go; our homemade apple butter recipe!

You'll need: (made a little more than 2 pints)
          2 dozen apples
          1 cup water
          1/2 cup brown sugar (may have been a bit more since I used rounded measurements)
          1 tsp cinnamon
          1 tsp allspice

First, you'll need to peel, core, and slice your apples.  Instead of doing it by hand, I got to use this amazingly, wonderful piece of kitchen equipment that Jesse gave me :) !   This apple peeler saves tons of time. I love mine!  You can get them on Amazon and they,re are definitely great to have around.

Next, just break up the slice "circles" (if you used the peeler) and toss them in them sugar and spices.

Then place the apple mixture and water in your crockpot (which is another amazing gadget that I use all the time).  I really like my particular crockpot because it has a nice, locking lid.  We got ours as a wedding gift, but you can also find it on Amazon ).

Set it to low and pretty much just forget about it.  I cooked mine over night.  Cook it for a few more hours on low, then bump it on up to high and prop open the lid.  It should thicken a good bit once it cooks down.  This is optional, but once it looked like this, we blended it to make it nice and smooth.  It was really delicious just like this though and next time we might just leave it a little lumpy.

It was very simple, tastes great, and smells AMAZING!!!  Thank you so much for stopping by.

Have any of y'all ever made apple butter; if so how do y'all normally do it?  Also, what other kinds of slow cooker recipes do you use regularly?

Please be sure and let us know if y'all try this and how it turned out!  We really appreciate your comments and kind words of encouragement. :)

Old-Fashioned Country Christmas Ornaments

Hey y'all!  I know Christmas is this week and everyone has already finished decorating, but here is the post I promised a while back with some of our country, Christmas tree ornaments that we made this year.

Since burlap is such an in thing right now, there is no shortage of it available in all different styles and in all the stores.  I made this one with some leftover burlap from Gavin's baby shower (click here to see an older post on it).

A simple salt dough ornament as a keepsake using Gavin's chubby, baby handprint.  Click here for a tutorial on how to make these.

Rustic, glitter, glam ball made with twine.

Beautifully, brilliant colored, natural ornament using orange slices and old gingham fabric scraps (click here for instructions).

And last, but not least, a button snowman that Jesse's mother made for us last year from Jesse's great grandmother's buttons.

What kind of rustic, country, or old-fashioned homestead/farm style ornaments have y'all made this year or in the past?

DIY Salt Dough Baby's Hand-print Ornament Tutorial

Here is an easy little, old-fashioned, handmade ornament that we made for Gavin the other day.  It was super easy and used all ingredients that were already in our kitchen.  We thought it would be fun to keep an impression of Gavin's chubby little hands and feet.

So here's how to do it:

•   1 cup flour
•   1 cup salt
•  1/2 cup water

Just mix flour and salt in a bowl; then make a small well in the center and pour in the water.  Knead into a nice sticky dough ball.

With a rolling pin, roll dough out flat and even.

Cut out the shapes and press the little hands and feet in the sticky dough to make your imprints.

Bake in the oven at 200 F for about 2 to 3 hours or until dry.  I found it easier to roll, cut out, and bake dough on a sheet of tin foil to keep them from sticking.

That's all!  It really is that simple. 

We hope y'all have a very merry Christmas this week!

Cedar Log Wood Slices

 Lately, we've been cutting cedar wood slices on our

sawmill to fill some orders.

 Jesse cutting them and then blowing the

excess sawdust off of them.

 This is how we get two of our products that are for sell in our

Etsy shop.  The cedar sawdust pictured above and the log discs below.

Here are the links to both items

click here

 to view our listing of a set of 6 discs that are

1" thick and 8" to 10" in diameter for only $24.00

They are great for rustic centerpieces, cake bases,

wedding decor and lots more.

click here

for our cedar sawdust listing of only $4.75 per pound

Many people get some for crafts, model train sets, dolls,

closets and much more.

Don't forget about the coupon code to our store;

MERRYCHRISTMASYALL

Be sure and take advantage of the 30% off

store-wide coupon that we are offering

through Christmas this year!

Thanks for stopping by.  What have y'all

been up to and making lately?

Our New Split Rail Fence

 We just thought we'd show y'all a small project that we've been up to lately.  It turned out great too; our new split rail fence.  The pieces we used were scraps from our sawmill, but the authentic way to make them is by actually splitting the rails with an ax, a hammer, and a wedge (stay tuned we may make a video on this soon).  Here are few pictures of our fence.

 We propped the rails on large rocks.

And Jesse added one of the horseshoe welcome signs, that we

make and sell in our Etsy shop, as a final finishing touch.

Dried Orange Slice Ornaments DIY for a Simple Country Christmas Tree

 Hey Y'all!  With Christmas just around the corner, we decided to show y'all how to make these old-fashioned orange slice ornaments for a simple homestead/country style farm Christmas tree.  They are really super easy to make and look soooooo cute up against a nice pretty evergreen.  Also, other benefits to these ornaments is are that they are completely natural and you don't actually have to store them all year; just make some more next time.  You can use strips of gingham material as your ribbon to tie them to the tree and that just makes them look even more rustic and adorable.

  How To:
                   
      - Preheat oven to 200
                   
      - Next cut orange slices about an 1/8" thick or so.  You'll want to make sure you cut more than you want just in case some fail (and eat some scraps as you go 'cause they're delicious and very good for you).

       - Line cookie sheets or shallow pans with aluminum foil and place them in the oven

       - Keep a check on them often, but turn them over in about an hour
                 
       - Then start turning them over about every 30 minutes or so.  It took me about 2 and a half hours to finish drying these, but everybody's ovens heat differently.  Don't fret if a few of them stick to the foil; just gently peel them off and turn over.  Keep a close eye on them towards the end 'cause they can start to brown easily.

That's all!  You can use ribbon (or fabric scraps like I did) to tie them to the tree or string them up as a garland, place them in a nice looking wooden bowl or container filled with some awesome smelling, homemade potpourri, and I've also seen people put them on wreaths for some extra color or make wreaths specifically with them.

No matter how you use them, they just look great!  Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for some more old-fashioned country Christmas ideas real soon.

How do y'all decorate for a simple rustic Christmas? 

We would love to hear from y'all so please take the time to leave us a comment. :)

Christmas Sale! w/ Coupon Code

Hey y'all!  We have some great Christmas Sales and Coupons to offer y'all (our special blog friends) for this Holiday Season, so be sure to take advantage of them and check 'em all out!

 For our Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWrightfamilyfarm, just enter this coupon code 

MERRYCHRISTMASYALL

and you'll get 30% off of everything in our Etsy shop! :-)

(coupon good until Christmas)

We have some great rustic, country, homestead, and farm style products available (all homemade from our farm) that would make great Christmas gifts for family and friends as well as some western themed items, bath and beauty accessories, music, home decor, kitchenware, craft supplies, and much more all available at an awesome deal with this store-wide coupon! 

Please note that all prices listed below are regular price before use of coupon

Happy Shopping!!! :-)

Horseshoe Welcome Sign $65.00 w/Free Shipping

Horseshoe Candle Holder $16.95

"Songs I've Written" CD by Alice $12.00

"Wildwood Flower" CD $10.00

"Farmland Fiddle Tunes" CD $10.00

15 Small Cedar Wood Slices $11.45

(Great for crafts!!!)

Crochet Soap Bag $6.95

Country Western Horseshoe Trivet $14.00

All Natural Peppermint Beeswax Lip Balm - Pack of 3 $6.00

Free Shipping when combined with any other item in our store!

Cedar Log Tea Light Candle Holder set of 2 $16.95

And many, many, more items too!  Make sure you check back often, 'cause

we're always adding lots and lots more products all the time.

Also, our online store Wright Resale is offering a store-wide sale with everything already marked down 20% until Christmas!

So be sure to go and check out all of these great deals too!

Rustic Live Edge Slab Benches $150.00

Here's a link to our blog post that will show you how we make them

click here

Ty Beanie Babies Pecan the Bear $6.06

4 qt. Slow Cooker $33.44

Quirky Wrapster Earbud Cord Wrap Iphone Stand Black $5.99

Targus Grypton Tripod for Camera Small TG-GT6010 $6.99

K-Cup For Keurig Coffee Brewers Kahlua 18-Ct. $8.00

We have other flavors in stock as well!

Allen Camo Saddlecloth Archery Arm Guard $8.05

GripGo Universal Car Mount for GPS and Cell Phone $12.00

We use ours all the time and it works great!

Head Master Tennis Racquet in good condition $31.93

Monopoly Board Game 2007 $12.85

Infantino Fresh Squeezed Squeeze Station Baby Feeding w/ 10 Pouches $20.18

And Lots More!!!

Take advantage of all these great deals during this holiday season for

some of your Christmas shopping have a very Merry Christmas Y'all!