I'm Back!

After a much needed break from the blog world, I'm back!  We had an eventful past 4 months and are hoping for a much calmer 2016!  Jacob's Grandpa Luthi passed away about a week before Christmas.  He was such a great Grandpa and we miss him dearly.

He was our supervisor when we made apple cider this fall.

Another beautiful sunset in Kansas.  We have the best!

Jacob helping me fulfill one of my crafty wishes.  We built this sign together.

Knapp Christmas was eventful, as always!  Mom made all the grandkids pajamas, so they are pretending to be asleep.  Apparently some of them are just happy sleepers.  I'm pretty sure I don't smile in my sleep! 

One of my favorite pictures from the whole weekend.  This is so typical! 

We had to have an arm wrestling contest with the littles.

Dad's styling his new grilling apron.

Haley's Birthday

Beautiful cake.

Beautiful girl.

Jacob welding horseshoes together for another one of my projects.  He's such a handy husband!

We went to West Bend several weeks ago and Jacob brought along a project to work on with the boys.  It shouldn't take too long, he said... 8 hours later and this contraption came home with us never to be taken down again.

Colton's Birthday

Another amazing cake.

Can you imagine this squirt being a drummer?  I may need to get Liz a set of ear plugs for her birthday...

Guess who made this adorable Groundhog Day Cupcake.  Yep.  Liz is super talented!

Annual Valentine's Day Supper

Our annual Valentine's Day supper with the other young couples from church was hosted by Victor and Hope this year and we got spoiled!  Here is what lobster looks like before you cook it.  I had to get that mental image out of my head in order to actually eat it.  You could seriously see all the little legs underneath...

The table... and the men waiting patiently for the meal to be prepared.

It was a fascinating for us all watching the lobster cook.

Our plate... Lobster, filet mignon, asparagus, twice baked potato, and a red lobster biscuit.  I did not get a picture of dessert (oops!  It was delicious!), but it was a chocolate lava cake.

Grandpa Luthi collected tractors and wanted to leave one to each of his grandson's.  They drew out of a hat which one they each got.  He ended up with the John Deere 2030, I believe.

And one last picture... Grandpa had a great hiding spot for his "hide-a-key" if he lost his truck keys.  He continues to make us laugh months later.

I know that was a quick catch up, but I'm looking forward to keeping you more up to date with the Knobloch's from now on.  Hope you all have a blessed new year.

October Instagram

Better late than never... I bring you October's Instagram posts.

 Sign I painted for our fall mantel decor.  #silhouettecameo #creativetouchbykrystal

 Cookie baking time.  #sugarcookies #fallfood #creativetouchbykrystal

 Never a good sign during harvest.  #farmlife #farmerswife

 You know you are a #farmwife when you hear your hubby say "ooohh!  She's a looker!" and "Wow! Look at that body!"  And he's reading a cow sale catalog.  #farmerswife #farmlife

 Perfect night for this.  #farmlife #firepitfun #marshmallowoverdose

 Me- "Um... honey?  What is this?"

Him- "I was going to wear it and changed my mind."

#HowHeHangsUpClothes

 Gorgeous sunset tonight.  God paints such an amazing sky! #kansassunset

 Quiet Sunday night just chillin'.  #oldmarriedcouple #adultcoloringbook #timespenttogether

Painted Signs

I have just started tampering in the painted signs department.  It really intimidated me to use a stencil and make sure the paint didn't bleed under the vinyl.  But I have a few tricks that I tried that worked amazingly well for me!

I first designed my stencil in my Silhouette 

I then cut out the stencil on Oracle 651 vinyl (an outdoor vinyl that is stickier) and placed it accordingly on the pallet.  I then applied a thin coat of Mod Podge over the letters to seal the edges.  After that has dried, you want to paint with an almost dry foam stencil brush and use a dabbing motion until everything is painted.  (Stencil Brush like these)  Let the paint dry slightly before removing the vinyl stencil.

I made this circular sign the same way as above.  I did my design in my software and cut my stencil out to fit the sign.

 My wooden sign I used was the bottom of a whiskey barrel that had broken.  It was a little trickier to do this sign since I had to cut it in several pieces to fit this size of sign.

 Finished product!

What Fall Looks Like Around Here

I always enjoy the many things fall brings, and one of those is decorating!

Our mantel:

 I made this sign new this year.  Keep an eye out for details in the next blog post :)

 Our table centerpiece.  I through out last years rotting decorations in the garden and had an abundance of fun pumpkins and gourds that came back this year!

 Another sign I made using my Silhouette cutting machine.  That cute little owl is actually a salt shaker from Wal-Mart.

 Our front porch.  Another new addition to this years decor was a pallet I painted and used as a holder for the corn stalks.

This is an old whiskey barrel turned on its side.  There used to be quite a few more pumpkins and gourds in that basket until the puppies discovered them!

I stained a couple unfinished crates for the steps.

Our mums just ballooned this year!  I couldn't believe how big they got after we transplanted them this spring.

And of course, the coffee bar is back!

To see last year's fall decor, go HERE.

September Instagram

Where did September go?  It just flew by for us!

My office this evening.  #farmlife #farmerswife

Semi decals #creativetouchbykrystal

Loved having my mom here!  I always tend to find a project for her to help me with. #paintthekitchen

Life changing, fresh salsa making machine! #vidaliachopwizard #birthdaygift #thankyoumama

It's a hot dog roastin' in the fire pit kind of night.

Apple cider crew

I absolutely love getting pictures like this first thing in the morning! #adorableniece

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