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Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
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I love this classical beauty of a clock! I wonder how many stories it knows?
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I imagine, generations ago, there was an aproned woman standing at the door just getting back from gathering morning eggs. Inside the wood stove is warming the place and coffee has been made and sits on the back burner. Time for a cup in the rocker to warm up the hands before starting breakfast.
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Ah Winnie you are so poetic and make it seem so nice. Reminds me of so many left over shacks you still see here, mostly in West Virginia coal country where they are so very poor. Used to work for a coal company many years back and when we went there to make mine inspections the poverty was so overwhelming and heartbreaking.
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WINNER!!!! Giveaway: No Place Like …

Jaylyn Morehouse said on February 8, 2014:
This Kansas girl would love to know about the 8 wonders! I live in Lawrence, and absolutely LOVE this town!!! So many kid friendly things to do. The community is great. Lots of places to try out craft beers, including some from our local brewery, Free State. Awesome boutiques downtown on Mass Street. Nice music scene. Tons of characters in this town that you’ll get to know and love once you live here! I love LAWRENCE!!!
Congratulations Jaylyn!!! Watch for an email from the farm.
And the original GIVEAWAY post was:
Calling all Kansas gals! And friends of Kansas friends. And friends. You know who you are. Have I got a deal for you. Never as good as the deal you got goin’ on now if’n you’re livin’ in the great state of Kansas and all. But I do have a book for you (and friends of friends), all 272 pages.
What are the 8 wonders of Kansas anyway?
This here book has 216 of the BEST places Kansas has to offer in Architecture, Art, Commerce, Cuisine, Customs, Geography, History, and People (plus the secret list of 8 wonders).
Every page tells a story that is, well …
full of GO! GO to Kansas and see for yourself, in person, the “Wonder” categories. We’ll put names into a hat and pull out a winner. You’re already a winner if you live in Kansas, but this book will help you fall deeper in love with Kansas … no matter if you live there or merely plan to visit. Or dream.
So, tell me something wonderful about Kansas.
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I have never been to Kansas but I really want to visit Lindsborg and be immersed in all things Swedish and scandinavian. Plus, a visit to Kansas would put me closer to a new friend in Oklahoma whom I would love to meet in person. Please add my name to the hat!
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I agree that Kansas is a wonderful place to live! I have lived in Northwest Kansas most of my life. I have traveled many places and I agree with Dorothy…there’s no place like home. The most wonderful thing I find about Kansas is that my wonderful husband is here! We live about 30 miles from one of the wonders, the Cathedral in Victoria and about 40 miles from another, the stone garden near Quinter. It’s nice to hear people love Kansas!
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I have a very good friend from Kansas, just north of the Okla. border. Haven’t seen much of Kansas and am curious about the 8 wonders, will be interesting to find out and maybe see one day! Thanks for the opportunity! Blessings to all of you.
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What a brilliant idea, and it looks like a brilliant book!
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ROCK CITY, near Minneapolis KS, is quite a wonder with the huge Dakota Sandstone concretions. I would enjoy seeing them. From the Interstate highway some of the limestone fence posts can be seen. Mary Beth
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I’d love to win that book about the beautiful state of Kansas!
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I would love to visit Kansas, one day; road trip! 🙂
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Many years ago my (late) husband and I traveled to the various county fairs in Kansas. He was a motorcycle racer and it was great fun to see the Kansas countryside. I’d love to go back and visit.
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This Kansas girl would love to know about the 8 wonders! I live in Lawrence, and absolutely LOVE this town!!! So many kid friendly things to do. The community is great. Lots of places to try out craft beers, including some from our local brewery, Free State. Awesome boutiques downtown on Mass Street. Nice music scene. Tons of characters in this town that you’ll get to know and love once you live here! I love LAWRENCE!!!
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My great grandparents homesteaded in Clay County, Kansas after the Civil War. I have plans to visit there this year!!
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Kansas! The Breadbasket of America! The Heart of America! The Wheat State! The Sunflower State! Why would you want to live anywhere else??
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Have family in Kansas…would love to visit them and explore KS
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I’m a Kansas gal forever and ever… Born and raised here. Kansas has so many different landscapes from the prairies in the west to the Gyp Hills and Smoky Hills in the middle part of the state to the eastern part with rivers, trees and wonderful hills. And don’t believe them when they say Kansas is as flat as a pancake.
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I’ve only been to Kansas once, but I could see the curvature of the earth, straight ahead on the “flat” highway!
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I have never been to Kansas, but would love to see the 8 Wonders of Kansas and the land of Oz.
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I love the wheat fields of Kansas!
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Both of my parents and their parents were born and raised in Kansas. My grandparents were all farmers, too! My best memories are of visiting tnem and helping feed the animals and my Grandma showing us kids the popcorn patch that she grew for the grandkids. That is why Kansas is beautiful to me. I love the wheat fields and the sunflowers in the summer!
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We have to go through Kansas to visit family in Missouri and Illinois from Colorado. I love the Prairie and Kansas has much of it, the rows of sunflowers, corn and of couse the wheatfields. I can just imagine Laura Ingalls runnying through the fields after school barefoot and having the time ofher life.
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Many hidden treasures in Kansas. Lived there for 5 years. The lovely Flint Hills, Tuttle Creek Reservoir, the Renaissance Faire, canoeing the Rivers, and great people.
So many fond memories, good food and the wide open land and skies.
Wish I had never left.
Thanks for the memories ladies. -
We have the most beautiful sunsets! The geography is actually quite diverse; flat plains, the gorgeous Flint Hills (that’s where I live!), and the southwestern part of that state which was once dubbed “the great American desert!”
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My daddy was born and raised in Kansas. We travelled from California every summer to see my grandmother. Our parents would load all 6 of us kids into the backend of his Dodge pickup truck and off we’d go. Loved visiting my grandmother and aunts and uncles in Lansing 🙂
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What a wonderful juxaposition of color in this photo. Love the orange, the yellow and the deep shimmering burgundy.Just makes that honeybee shine.
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Giveaway: Bee Fabric

Here’s a cool GIVEAWAY sponsored by my favorite online source for fabric, FatQuarterShop.com. Read through to the end to join the other 400 women who’ve already entered to win. Win what, you say? Read on!
What’s that buzz? Bee My Honey by MaryJane Butters for Moda Fabrics just arrived and has been causing quite the buzz around here. This farmgirl-chic collection will stir up some new project ideas and get your head buzzing! Keep reading for a closer look at the collection and a chance to WIN one of MaryJane Butters’ Designer Select Bundles!
Q: MaryJane, tell us a little about your Bee My Honey collection. What were you inspired by?
A: Here’s the buzz: The little guys and girls are disappearing. Vamoose. Puff. Right behind their eight-legged buddies, bees are not all that high on everyone’s list of favorite animals. Puppies, yes. Kittens, sure thing. Owls, absolutely. But bees? The more I’ve learned while working with my bees (and reading the news), I feel the need to help everyone become more fond of the itty-bitty creatures. I mean, they’re working hard for us. If you happen to LIKE fruits and veggies (can’t live off potato chips—although some people try), you should LOVE, not just like, bees.
But you know what they say: You never know what you have until it’s gone. Short of dressing up like Pooh Bear, complete with honey pot atop my head, I didn’t know what to do.
So I send people on over to watch the Vanishing of the Bees documentary. There ARE things we can do to entice our bees back, and I was determined to do my part. Plant a bee-friendly garden? Done that. Learn how to be a beekeeper? Check. Design BEE fabric? YES!! Here you go, girlfren. Created with love (and honey).
Q: How did you go about selecting the fabrics for your Bee My Honey Designer Select Bundle?
A: I tried to think like a bee. Bees flitter from color to color and then back home. That seemed to work just fine, given the many different hues of merriment and color and restful shadows found in Bee My Honey.
Q: What design trends are you currently exploring?
A: Burlap is all the rage right now. Once it’s washed and yummy soft, I’m having fun putting it together with delicate, but roughly hewn, prints like you see in Bee My Honey.
Q: What projects do you hope to see made with Bee My Honey?
A: Here’s the deal. We care, and we talk, and we hope. And one day, people everywhere will begin to ACT. Beekeeping groups are sprouting up everywhere. I’m using profits from the sales of Bee My Honey to help fund one of them. In the meantime, I have outfitted one of my campers with Bee My Honey curtains and pillows, using the fabric swatches I received early on before the mill printed its first full run.
Q: How do you describe your style and how has it evolved over the years?
A: I’m attracted to two very distinct, couldn’t-be-farther-apart styles. On the one hand, I love frilly, cute, lighthearted, COLORFUL imagery. Kind of like Winnie-the-Pooh meets Farmgirl. On the other hand, I’m drawn to a more modern look that is rugged and full of texture, with heartbreaking simplicity and stark imagery that pulls you back in time. Think burlap meets rustic Victorian lace. Bee My Honey is my attempt to combine the two.
*2 Truths and a Lie*
1. Bee My Honey was inspired by one of my queen bees, Matilda.
2. I’m writing a children’s book featuring Matilda.
3. Matilda has started a dating website, but only organic gardeners are allowed to join.
One of the 3 statements is false. Go to the Fat Quarter Shop and comment on this post, telling us which statement you think is false. Answer correctly and you have a chance to win MaryJane Butters’ Designer Select Fat Quarter Bundle!
Giveaway closes March 4, 2014. Good Luck!
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These new fabric designs are great! I love the colors, bee designs, and how they all coordinate together. I am saving the documentary to watch and keep for my Mason Bee project I am planning on doing in May to earn my next badge. Starting small and simple with the bee adventure!
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Absolutely fantastic fabric collection. I especially love it because my first name means honey bee in Greek. That makes the plight of the bees even closer to my heart. I’m sad I have not been able to find Bee My Honey being carried in a quilt shop in St. Louis. However, I have gotten a few charm packs online to start with. I’m keeping everything crossed for the giveaway!
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Ladies, rev up your sewing machines ! And keep bzzzzzy sewing up a storm with these charming fabrics. Absolutely wonderful designs and so original.
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Love the fabric! Makes me want to start a SPRING quilt!
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Wow, this is an old treasure! I love the tag line talking machine company.
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I love this sweet old print welcoming Spring. The pink and the green. My favorite colors together!
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Coming Soon to a Magazine Near You!

The April/May issue of our magazine, MaryJanesFarm, is now in the works and will hit newsstands mid-March. Each issue is filled with great tips like this one:
Classic American Clothespins
These days, it’s hard to find a good-quality clothespin. The last large American clothespin manufacturer went out of business in 2007, and imported clothespins just aren’t the same—wimpy springs and low-grade mystery wood that doesn’t last throughout the seasons. At least that’s what Herrick Kimball’s wife told him. So Herrick got busy developing beautiful clothespins made to last a lifetime, crafted from sturdy ash with heavy-gauge, tight-coil, American-made, stainless-steel springs.
Classic American Clothespins is a small, home-based business with a big mission: to bring the manufacture of high-quality clothespins back to America by encouraging small-scale, decentralized production by entrepreneurial woodworkers all across the nation. With that in mind, Herrick sells both kits and clothespin springs (as well as finished pins).
Said Herrick, “I would love to see a network of clothespin crafters spring up all across the country, supplying heirloom-quality clothespins to people in their communities.” Find out more at ClassicAmericanClothespins.com.
If you’re not already enjoying our magazine, MaryJanesFarm, click here to subscribe.
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Thank-you for this post today! I have been thinking that 2014 needs to be the year I finally get a small clothesline. Now, I have the link of just where to go to get my clothespins to start out. Next, will be making that adorable clothespin apron from Mary Jane’s book that I have been wanting since I first saw it 4 years ago! I think Herrick has done us all a favor by recovering a classical american standard that has kept families in clean clothes for generations!
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Thank you for the post on the Classic American Clothespin. I have just ordered their self-assembly kit. I’m looking forward to assembling them myself. What a fun new project.
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Hanging out my laundry is good for my soul!! I feel somewhat “centered” every time I do! I can’t wait to get some of these new clothes pins! I really want some good ones! Thanks for the post. I really enjoyed it!
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I’ve enjoyed a book titled “The Clothesline” which also has a lot of info on the history of clothespins. I enjoy the book immensely!
And, I’m always on the hunt for good, quality clothespins. There was a time when all there was available were the plastic ones and they are absolutely awful!!!!! Since then, better quality wooden ones have become available again.
Thank you!
CJ -
I love my clothesline and hanging out laundry is one of my favorite tasks. Maybe you could recommend them to ABC’s Made in America segment?
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I love black and white photographs
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I am realizing that this wheel was metal as opposed to wooden. Weren’t most work wagon wheels made of steel while wagons used for people made with wood? It seems to be that when I remember old movies or illustrations from books.
I love this old truck. Does it actually run? Such a beauty!!