Yesterday morning, I glanced out my kitchen window to a bit of glory glistening. After weeks of unending rain, the sun streamed so brightly, the fall foliage showed off in all its wonder and the adorable fabric banners hung (over my favorite swinging bed that our son made me) flickered in the wind.
It was definitely a Little House Moment. I don’t know about you, but Little House on the Prairie books and TV series stir such fond memories of my childhood.
My parents were strict about TV viewing and I wasn’t allowed to watch any TV during the week, EXCEPT for Monday nights. I waited all week for that hour; sixty minutes that transported me back in time to a more simple way of life, one rich with tradition, heritage, and character building moments and then I head to my room to read.
When the in and out craziness of our hustle and bustle life get the best of me, I yearn for times like that. That’s why I have this desire to learn a bit more about living off the land, gardening and being more self sufficient.
Every year I write about planting my big garden and then the reality of NC July heat hits and I realize I’m just a bit too lazy for the true Little House way of life. Can anyone relate?
I’m not giving up on my dream though; someday I’ll have that barn built and we’ll host times together to learn the skills that came so naturally to Laura and Mary, but until then, did you know that Little House on the Prairie has a website?
Yes, they sure do and I’ve been stalking it non stop. You will LOVE IT and it has so many creative and inspiring ideas and information.
It brings me full circle because if you’ve ever heard me speak, I always bring up Little House on the Prairie. It’s the one show growing up that always brought me to tears no matter what.
A few years ago, I bought a sewing machine for our eldest daughter in hopes that she might find a “Little House” type hobby with that sweet machine that I never did. Well, it didn’t end up being her, but our youngest just might have gotten the bug. I signed her up for a few sewing lessons and she has the basics down.
Last week, my sweet, visiting sister in law, who is the biggest quilter I know, passed on some excitement and encouragement to her and we had such fun with the new Little House on the Prairie® Andover Fabrics Collection.
For the past few years, I’ve been on a banner kick. They just add so much to any home, party or entertaining spot, but typically, I just print them out using my Free Banner Alphabet template or hot glue something together.
Not this time!
I used the template to cut the triangles, but then I made the bottom banner by doing a straight stick onto some jean type ribbon and my daughter did the top banner just stitching the fabric pieces together. It was SO simple that I can’t believe we didn’t do this before.
I am not a sewer AT ALL, so if I can do this, so can you. I’ll do a step by step tutorial soon for those that still don’t believe me.
My sister in love also showed my daughter how to make a simple “envelope” type of pillow case. They didn’t use a pattern or anything and it turned out just adorable.
She was so proud of her work (and this mommas was too.)
You are going to want to check here to find the local store that carries the Little House on the Prairie® Andover Fabrics Collection. Grab the books, re-read them and have some fun diving into that wonderful world.
Was Little House on the Prairie part of your growing up years?
My older sister and I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie and often pretended to be Mary and Laura (no one wanted to be Nelly; ). What good memories of imagining life being lived on the frontier!
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Jen Reply:
November 12th, 2015 at 1:40 pm
HA!! I did that with my friend too. Poor Nelly – she always got the bad rap and brought it on herself. Make sure you enter to win all the fun stuff. 🙂
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Yes! Little House was a big part of my childhood. My two sisters and I loved it and would “play” it all the time. My kids have loved the books, and we have a trip to De Smet, South Dakota, planned for next summer to see the homestead and school.
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I loved that show and still do!
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I loved watching Little House on the Prairie every week. My grandmother bought me the set of The Little House books one year for Christmas. I treasured them.
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I loved the books and the TV show. I read all the books to my 9 kids over and over again. On days when I was overwhelmed, we would watch the reruns and call it school 🙂
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I loved watching Little House on the Prairie. When I got married (at age 19), my husband and I moved to North Carolina where he grew up. We lived in an apartment , but had no TV. So, in order for me not to miss my favorite show, I listened through the wall every week (thankfully, my neighbors also watched the show.) After hearing this story, my parents bought us a tv for Christmas!
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I pinned but accidentally put wrong url in the form. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/228417012328235734/
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I lived on a farm, and watched Little House on the Prairie. It was the only TV show we kids were allowed to watch as well. There were always plenty of chores, but we took time out to watch Little House. We loved seeing how the Ingalls family worked through their problems and challenges. I catch the reruns as often as I can. I plan to buy the entire series one day soon!
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Jen Reply:
November 12th, 2015 at 11:02 pm
Maybe you’ll the whole set here 🙂 Hope so!
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So many memories as a child but the best memories have been sharing them with my daughters and nieces. We have taken them many times to Walnur Grove and to De Smet
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My daughter and I LOVE everything about Little House on the Prarie. We have it on our DVR and if we get “behind” she is not a happy little girl. I love watching the reruns with her and trying to recreate things the way they were done in simpler times. She’s the most crafty of all of us so she is forever making doll clothes and playing with swatches of fabric dreaming up what she can create next. Baking is more my crafty area and she’s eager to help there too. Her favorite episodes are when PA is helping the children from the Blind School travel by a wagon train and contending with Mrs. Olsen being her normal cantankerous self. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this!!
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Hi, I shared he giveaway on my facebook, its not letting me have the points though!. I really want them too, I love Little House I read it to my girls in homeschool and do the primer with them!
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Jen Reply:
November 13th, 2015 at 11:40 am
Can you check it again? If not, I’ll ask the ones who set up the rafflecopter. It may just take a bit to reset the points?
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Angela England Reply:
November 29th, 2015 at 7:41 pm
@Sunnie, Sunnie – I know why the Rafflecopter does that – it awards the points automatically in real time UP TO 10 points when someone clicks your shared link. It doesn’t matter if you share that link in the “bring a friend” section on twitter, facebook, email, whatever but whenver someone clicks it to check out the giveaway because of your referral you’ll get a bonus entry. Hope that helps!
Angela <
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I had no choice of tv shows growing up in the 70’s, we had one tv. But I did love Little House. Michael Landon was so handsome and it was always fun to see what mischief Nellie was getting into next.
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Like you, Little House was MY SHOW growing up {though I came on the scene after it was over and I watched it every night in syndication}. It was the only show I was allowed to watch. I got so addicted to it {I wish there were a kinder word to display the accuracy} that I actually memorized the title to every episode. When I got to college, there was a station that played it at 9 in the morning, which was usually when we all got ready in our room. My roommates would send me out of the room when the show came on and they would wait until the title displayed and then they would call me back in and time me to see how long it took me to know the episode. I was consistently under five seconds in knowing the correct title. I know there are some things I should never admit out loud and this is one of them, but it so cracks me up that I admit it. And kind of proudly.
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I still. ..read the Little House books, especially The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy Golden Years. The morals, truths, and close family ties are all interwoven into her books, and I feel so cozy , warm, and loved even .. reading them!
I am there when it is so cold in their house that you can see your breath, when Laura walks on the Prairie with Mary, I can “see” the vastness of that great, empty treeless prairie, I get happy for Laura when she has a new “hard-earned” dress to wear to Sunday service. And I always just wonder how they all sounded together when they sang to Pa’s fiddle.
Oh, I could go on and on!
And I am 58 years old and have passed this love of the books to my oldest daughter , my youngest, nope not so much. ha ha
Have a great day and if you haven’t read a Little House book lately, dive into one and come up smelling like a “Prairie Rose”! ha
Cindy Collins
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I also shared on Facebook and I didn’t get the 10 points. I love Little House on the Prairie! This post brought back such memories. Reminds me now that I should start sharing the tradition with my little granddaughter! Would absolutely love to win!
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I love Little House! I read the books, watched the tv series, and begged my parents to take me to Mansfield, Missoui when I was 13 (the rest of my friends were planning trips to the beach, but not me! LOL).
I wondered if you watch the series “When Calls the Heart” on the Hallmark Channel? It’s the only current series that somewhat reminds me of Little House (and Michael Landon Jr. is a producer I believe).
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Jen Reply:
November 13th, 2015 at 1:13 pm
we LOVE When Calls the Heart. IT’s a standing date with my daughter although what are they thinking when they make us wait six months in between the short seasons. Not fair! 🙂
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When my daughters were young I often called my oldest Laura as she was such a LHOTP follower! (Her name is not Laura!)
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Also, before my oldest daughter was 4 years old she had me read ALL the books straight through three times. The fourth time she specified book and chapter BY NAME. She was 4 years old!! She could also sing all the verses to “Come In and Shut the Door” (I have it on tape!) and other songs from the books (we had the songbook and I’d sing them to her and she memorised them!!!) So, yeah, I often called her Laura by ‘mistake’.
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Love those awesome moments.
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I loved the TV series, and how it showed their faith at the center of their lives. And I love the books! The Long Winter really stays with you. I really like Laura Ingalls Wilder’s other writings, too, like her old farm columns for a newspaper. One time she wrote about how “The Man of the House” bought her a new-fangled butter churn – she didn’t like it, and he didn’t take the hint that she wanted to use her old one… Till she drop-kicked it out the door and confessed to him that she threw it “just as far as I could.” : )
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