{Local Gift Giving Guide} State of Ohio

hello thoughtful gifters, are you ready for this upcoming season of giving? i can't believe that it is almost time for the holidays!

something i love to do for the holiday season is give my favorite locally made goods to my loved ones. often times family members get excited about specific brands and makers and ask tons of questions. it makes it fun for me and i think it is once again a great way to support the businesses in our own communities!

today i'm sharing about Ohio gift ideas! {please note that this post has many links that take you directly to Ohio businesses. i am intrigued by these businesses and have received nothing for putting them in my blog post.}

+ local foods
every place has their favorite foods! what about a gift card to a local orchard, brewery, an independent restaurant or mom + pop bakery?

Carillon Brewery Co. in Carillon Historical Park in Dayton.
Wheat Penny Oven & Bar in Dayton.
Sunrise Cafe in Yellow Springs.
Wildflower Cafe in Mason.
Skillet near German Village.
Wolf's Ridge Brewing in Columbus.
Casa Nueva in Athens.
Ale House 1890 in Lancaster.
Fowl and Fodder in Toledo.
Cleveland Independents ::MANY places to eat on this link, i might make a personal quest to eat at each place:: around Cleveland area.

or could you find a holiday style treat at a public market? i love picking up local granola, honey or maple syrup to gift. there are many places to shop...

North Market in Columbus.
Second Street Market in Dayton.
West Side Market in Cleveland.
Findlay Market in Cincinnati.

are you a canner? could you pull from your personal jarred up stash? or pick something up from one of these stores... you might want to pick up some spices or chocolates to gift too!

Ashery Country Store in Fredricksburg.
Dorothy Lane Market in the greater Dayton area.
Mustard Seed Market & Cafe in North East Ohio area.

+ handmade items
someone on your list need a new tshirt? handmade ceramic mug? a tote bag for dance class? some new stationary? try a shop or pop up market that focuses on supporting makers from your area.

5th Street Arcades in Cleveland.
Crafty Mart in Akron.
Celebrate Local in the Easton Shopping Center in Columbus.
Urban Handmade in Yellow Springs.
Miami Valley Pottery in Yellow Springs.

and don't forget you can always do a quick search on etsy to support makers from all over during their best selling time of the year!


+ long time local favorites
you know the mom + pop store that everyone has loved for years. yes, you can make a gift of that... just some creative brainstorming and you can make a themed gift basket out of anything! {movie night in with a red box gift card and local snacks, a salsa gift basket with a few salsas and locally made tortilla chips... sounds pretty great to me!}

Ohio is pretty stocked when it comes to historical favorites of the donut and snack food variety...

Becker's Donuts in Lorain.
Bill's Donuts in Centerville {um, open 24 hours.}.
Mikesell's Potato Chips in Dayton.
Grippo's Snacks in Cincinnati.


okay, so this is where i need your help! do you have a favorite Ohio made present you like to give? what other states would you like to see a Local Gift Giving Guide created for? write in the comments and let us know!

happy holiday shopping!

{Local Gift Giving Guide} How to Give Locally Made Gifts

hello folks, are you ready for this upcoming season of giving? i can't believe that it is almost time for the holidays!

something i love to do for the holiday season is give my favorite locally made goods to my loved ones. often times family members get excited about specific brands and makers and ask tons of questions. it makes it fun for me and i think it is once again a great way to support the businesses in our own communities!

i thought this would be a perfect time to consider how to give locally made gifts. here are a few tips i have for you...

+ local foods
every place has their favorite foods! i am sure in every city there is a favorite bakery or even a few independent restaurants... we like to snag a few gift cards for our friends + family.

check out a local market that carries independent + local foods. we make at least one trip over to North Market each year in Columbus. even more locally we like to shop at the Second Street Market in Dayton a few times each season. sometimes the hours of operation can be tricky but make a fun outing - grab breakfast and holiday shop on a Saturday morning!

when considering local food one could also create a darling gift from canned goods. i'm talking pretty in the jar goods that either you or someone else thoughtfully put in the jar themselves. our local orchard carries tons of great jellies and jams and we've been known to gift Ohio maple syrup or my very own apple butter.

+ clothing or other handmade items
of course i am a huge fan of shopping {etsy.com}. supporting makers from all over is very important to me. so i totally believe that if you are looking for something particular and you want a quality made item you could easily find someone on etsy making a wonderful product. that is an avenue worth pursuing. you might also want to find out if you have a local store that supports many makers in your area - many of the makers might even have their own etsy store as well. i've mentioned it before but i like shopping at celebrate local in the easton shopping center in columbus if we are in the area. Or the ever reliable urban handmade in yellow springs. shops like these often have t-shirts, bags, winter gloves, gorgeous pottery and other usable goods that might make you think of someone on your list.

+ long time local favorites
you know the mom + pop store that everyone has loved for years. yes, you can make a gift of that... around my home state we have a serious love of potato chips and donuts... i'm sure we can create a cute gift basket out of such goodies.


okay, so this is where i need your help! i have loads of ideas for Ohio made gifts and will be telling you more about that on wednesday. what other states would you like to see a Local Gift Giving Guide? or do you have a favorite way to support local while shopping for your holiday gifts? write in the comments and let me know!

what state do you want to see a Local Gift Giving Guide for?

Current Room Tour {Our Study - The First House Edition}

I often mention projects + work that we completed around our home. We were busy bees over the last few years - sanding, remodeling, laying new flooring, clearing clutter and organizing  spaces... Making our first house a very much loved home.

The study was the smallest "bedroom" in our first house. We made one side of the room my husband's work space and the second side of the room my space. This room gets incredible sunlight during the day and it was always a little wish of mine to use this space well, lesson planning for school or writing for the blog. I did just a few times, but probably not as much as my heart desired. 

I love the shelves my guy made - reclaimed wood and just big enough for some books and other office type necessities. 

*this particular series on my blog is to show what rooms looked like in our house... as in using my iPhone to quickly snap a few photos of a mostly {HOPEFULLY!} clean but probably in-progress or fairly-tidy room.

our new {old farm} house

hello again!

it was so good to take a break. with all our moving and packing, organizing and finding the new normals... well, i just needed some time to have one less thing to feel responsible for.  thanks for all of you coming back to read this post today :)

so it is true. we are moved in and finding the rhythm of our days in our new to us house. we've been eating in our dining room just thinking about how many other people have eaten a homemade meal in our home over the year. our house was built in 1894 and it is just stunning.

stunning as in i pinch myself or yell "i can't believe we live here" basically every time i walk up our new staircase. {yes, stairs}

so here's the scoop with our newly purchased home... we weren't really looking it just came up and we jumped! for about a year now we've known what our criteria would be for a little homestead... thinking it would be a little out of town, at least five acres and either very cheap so we could fix it up or something that we could live in right away {while we finish fixing it up}.

it popped up on our local real estate page and when my husband said "we might need to act fast" i knew that we were in for some excitement. we saw it the second day it was on the market, got pre-approved for our home loan and put in an offer the next day. i think we started calling family after our offer was accepted... saying "guess what, we are buying a house and no we weren't really looking"... i guess sometimes you just know. and friends, we just knew.

so i guess that's all for this morning. i'll be back to posting little updates and maybe even a few last photos of our first home - the one we are still doing a few odd jobs to before it becomes someone else's treasured place. we will miss it, but we are excited for our new adventure.

have a happy Monday morning!

* i've added this post to Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop! ::click here:: to head over and check out all the great information and stories from other bloggers! Thanks to all the hosts and bloggers for sharing in the fun!

around these parts {taking a few days off}

hello friends!

guess what!? something very exciting is going on around these parts!

my husband and i officially purchased a mini farm!

well, it is an old house with barns and five acres of land. but soon it will be our dream mini farm. {soon is a relative term here when we've been declaring things like forever home}

the house has loads of character. just enough land for what we want to grow. and the property is a short drive to our village, family, friends and professional work.

we couldn't be more excited. and after just a few days of moving/cleaning/searching-the-barns-for-treasures i realized i couldn't wait to say something here.

and after a few days of all that work i also realized i need to spend a few days away from the blog because we still have much to do to settle in {and we are a few days away from our new internet connection as well}

so, i'll be sure to say 'hello' again soon. and soon this time will mean early November!

.:take a breath:.

this morning i need a moment.

a moment to just take a breath.

i thought maybe someone else did too.

so this is your reminder to take a few deep breaths and be present. right now. 

welcome to the new week. 

i'm going to keep breathing deeply with my eyes closed and then live my day with my eyes wide open. 

 i hope you enjoy the same.

Current Room Tour {Our Living Room - The First House Edition}

I often mention projects + work that we have worked on around our home. We've been busy bees over the past few years - sanding, painting, laying new flooring, clearing clutter and organizing spaces... our first purchased home is shaping up nicely. We are reaching the vision we had when we first purchased this sweet little home. I think it is having the flooring in the main spaces completed.

Today I thought I would share about a room that I really love to spend time in... our living room.

this is the room that is typically clean... clean enough for me to meditate or read

or for my husband and I  to settle in and watch a movie

I really love the accent wall behind our fireplace and putting little vases of flowers on the mantel.

This room is being lived in + very much loved. In fact, I might head over to the couch and read a bit right now...

*this particular series on my blog is to show what rooms currently look like in our house... as in using my iPhone to quickly snap a few photos of a mostly {HOPEFULLY!} clean but probably in-progress or fairly-tidy room.