It's Prairie Dog Time!

Much as Groundhog Day is eagerly anticipated in February, here at the Village we look forward seeing the elusive Prairie Dogs each January.  That said, our Prairie Dogs are not your typical scurrying mammals.  Ours hail as a local Chapter of the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society...and they come bearing food!

Enough with the tomfoolery.

The Prairie Dogs will be here on Saturday, January 14, from 1-4 p.m.  They will be demonstrating the preparation of everything from appetizers to desserts using charcoal briquettes and cast iron.  Here is a schedule of specific demonstrations if you'd like to plan your schedule accordingly:

History of Dutch Oven - 1:30 - 1:45


Dutch Oven Care - 2:00 - 2:15

Dutch Oven Implements - 2:30 - 2:45

Temperature Control - 3:00 - 3:15

Enjoy photos from prior years' events here and here...

Unique, affordable holiday gifts...all to support a worthy cause!

'Tis the season when holiday gift giving pushes to the forefront of many of our lives.  As such, we'd like to remind you to consider your local museum stores when searching for that perfect gift for all your special someones.  Fort Worth has no shortage of amazing museums with fun and inspiring shops offering unique items for sale.

In the case of Log Cabin Village, many items are made right here on site.  The dollars you spend in our store go to support our overall site and educational programs.  It's local shopping at its best!  We can even pack your treasure in a special Log Cabin Village backpack (a steal at only $2.95).  And yes...we still have TCU purple in stock. 

We hope you'll consider our or another Fort Worth museum store when doing your holiday shopping.

Details:
Log Cabin Village Museum Store
2100 Log Cabin Village Lane
Fort Worth, TX  76109
817-392-5881
http://www.logcabinvillage.org/

Open Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.
The outside gate is shut 1/2 hour before closing, so you'll want to get here before then.

In addition, you do not have to pay admission if you only wish to shop in our store!  We're open through December 23rd...  Handmade items are one-of-a-kind, so hurry up and claim your goodies before someone else does!

Herb dolls for the culinarian in your life (herbs from our herb garden)

Log Cabin Playset--Build your own!

Sunbonnets made here on site!

Beautiful corn husk wreaths--holiday and harvest colors available.  Made on site.

Coonskin caps for the adventurer in you...nature guides, games, and books to pass the time.

Got someone on your list who LOVES Fort Worth as much as we do?  We've got you covered!

Pennywhistles at amazing prices for your budding musician.

Knitted baby blanket/hat and scarf--made on site.

Dolls for young and young at heart--rag, yarn, and clothespin.  Rag and yarn dolls made on site, clothespin dolls made in Dallas.

Stuff their stockings with an old-fashioned treat!  A STEAL at only 15 cents each.  Buy 10!

Bead and leather bracelets fit nicely in stockings as well...

As do unique pencil sharpeners...

And wooden nickels or tops.

Maybe you'd prefer a Village kitty or Topsy-Turvy doll to snuggle with.

Perhaps your "do-it-yourselfer" aunt would like some more knowledge (aka "Country Wisdom")

Old-time toys, perhaps?

Historic currency just for fun?

Beautiful wrought-iron candle-holders, triangles, nails, and other items handmade on site by our blacksmiths

Beautiful framed original sketches of our buildings

Also available as notecard prints

Exquisite walking sticks made on site from local reclaimed wood (fallen limbs and the like)

Cornhusk dolls made with care on site

Log pencils, wooden animals (made on site), and Texas keychains...the options are almost endless!

A moment of blogspiration...

Hello dear blog readers...it's been entirely too long!

Please know that, with regards to our absence, "it's not you...it's me." The good news? The reason there are so few blog entries lately is because we are BUSY! We are grateful for the work that makes it difficult to stop, breathe, and write.

That said, we miss you! We are much better at "micro-blogging" via Facebook and Twitter, so please check us out there for more frequent updates.

So what's new? We've just come through a very successful fall, full of music, candle dipping, and even an early visit from St. Nicholas (if you missed him, don't worry. He'll be back at our Dec. 17th holiday event). The weather provided reprieve from a brutally hot summer, and now the leaves are falling steadily, blanketing the museum grounds.

Winter is coming quickly. We're preparing firewood for the cast iron stoves and capes/shawls for the interpreters. And we're busily readying items for our upcoming Holidays at the Hearth event (details below).

But mostly we're coming off a time of being thankful to look ahead with hope at what the coming year may bring. And it looks pretty darned good.

Incidentally, are you wondering why there's a photo of a leaf and twig hut at the top of this post? Blogspiration, my friends...provided by one of our wee visitors who took the time to artfully craft this small "dwelling" behind the Howard Cabin during her visit out here this past weekend. Proof that stopping, breathing, and appreciating the little things can be not only blogspirational, but also cathartic. Thanks for the reminder, dear one.

Happy holidays to you and yours...


Holidays at the Hearth
December 17, 2011

1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! You can even have your photo taken with our historic St. Nick ($5 fee for photo and folder). No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

Great photos from Frontier Fall Fest!

Check out our great photos from Frontier Fall Fest on Saturday!

How does your garden grow?

Did you know that raised bed gardening was the method of choice for most kitchen gardeners in the mid-19th century? Neither did I until our newest historical interpreter, Pat, pointed it out. Like all of our interpreters, Pat brought with her a unique skill set dynamically suited to educating and inspiring our visitors. And as we do with all our interpreters, we set about figuring out how best to utilize (exploit) these skills to our advantage.

Pat is a Master Gardener and has devoted much of her life and time to educating children and adults about gardening. She researched 19th century gardens and developed the plan you currently see in progress. And so the Log Cabin Village raised bed garden is currently underway. Want to see our experiment unfold? Stay tuned...

Please click on the slideshow to start and to control the speed...

The legend of the corn husk doll...

Very soon we'll be featuring our Frontier Fall Fest event here at Log Cabin Village. We're very excited because in addition to a number of activities included with regular Village admission, visitors will have the chance to make copper bracelets with a Silversmyth for $5 (while supplies last) and corn husk dolls for $3.

Corn husk dolls are an interesting craft because they have roots in many different cultures. This is more than likely due to the common nature of people using available materials to create useful and/or delightful things. Although most commonly associated with Native American culture, corn husk dolls appear in the history of many of our white, black, and Latino ancestors as well. They are truly a cross-cultural historical toy!

Perhaps most famous is the Legend of the Corn Husk Doll cited frequently as deriving from Native American culture. While I haven't yet discovered a specific origin (or determined whether it is, indeed, a true Native American legend), it is a great story that reminds us all of the dangers of being vain and self-centered. Most sources indicate that the legend stems from the Iroquois Confederacy, of which Oneida and Seneca were parts. Here are a few different sources for the legend, with only slight variations in each. Enjoy!

The Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (from Illinois)

Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Story of the Corn Husk Doll (Iroquois Tale from a Seneca woman)

Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (Iroquois Tale from Sister Sky)

Legend of the No Face Doll (Iroquois Museum)

Vlog Cabin Village!

Thanks to our friends over at Anchor Marketing and Design for this great vlog about the Village!