Country Lifestyles
“How you do one thing, is how you do everything” — All for My 5
By Jessica Crabtree
In 2011 Amy Binder and her husband Cy welcomed their fifth and final child into the world. “That was in April and here it was, we had five kids and began thinking about the Christmas season, bills and providing for all of our children,” the mother of five explained. Binder’s profession is a teacher and coach, choosing teaching as a way to spend the most time with her kids, and coaching because she is passionate about athletics and competition. Binder considered her options. With little time on her hands, she resorted to what she knew, being inventive and using her artistic ability.
October of 2011 the Muenster native began painting glass Christmas ornaments, adorning each with names, initials, school or college logos. That year Binder sold approximately200 ornaments, acknowledging it was purely a source to help provide for her family. As popularity grew, customers began challenging Binder with different requests. Admitting the quality of her work improved through experience, the entrepreneur and artist has gained knowledge of paint and the process of assembly. Every year since, Binder has hand-painted around 200 glass Christmas ornaments per Christmas season. “Due to the success of the ornaments and the confidence I gained through selling my artwork, I realized that with five growing children, I could help ease the financial burden of a large family by continuing to paint throughout the year,” Binder expressed.
Afterward, Binder began creating family trees on canvas. The base of the tree uses the matriarch and patriarch names and the tree then is formed on up by all family members’ names. It is a unique display, one that combines a handmade, personalized touch. Once the family tree canvases took off, Binder started incorporating wood. “I love the family trees, but canvas is not forgiving. With wood, you can sand it down, re-paint and redo if you mess up; wood is so forgiving,” acknowledging wood as being her favorite material to work with and paint on.
To read more pick up a copy of the June 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
Binder’s family includes her four sons, Mason, Brennan, Dax and Titan, daughter Jada and husband Cy. (Photo courtesy of Amy Binder)
Binder aside “Sweet Mother of Pie” owner Betti Jo Weber, with The Pie House sign Binder handmade. (Photo courtesy of Amy Binder)
Custom painted skillet by Binder. (Photo courtesy of Amy Binder)
Here Binder is shown with her mother, late grandmother and daughter, completing four generations. (Photo courtesy of Amy Binder)
By Dal Houston
I am terribly saddened by all the argumentative discourse that seems to be going on in today’s world. It seems as though it is no longer enough just to disagree on certain issues. We are expected to classify someone as an enemy if they do not always agree with us on all issues, lest we be considered weak.
To make things even worse, because those who disagree with you are now considered enemies, the sentiment seems to be that it is only fair and proper to destroy them, because they are the enemy, again with the fear of ridicule for being weak if we do not fight.
With all that said, and seemingly unrelated, I am a big John Wayne fan. From watching him dive into his role as a cowboy, to marveling at his time portraying a soldier or appreciating his acting gig as a sailor, there is seldom a week that goes by without me watching at least one
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Martha Crump
That old adage, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.,” may have some basis in truth when applied to minor situations. However, when what you don’t know is presented in the form of a “Trojan Horse” and is what amounts to an incredible attempt to fleece American property rights, it becomes a different story altogether.
To put this unbelievable tale together, we need to step back to Joe Biden’s 2021 Executive Order which pledged commitment to help restore balance on public lands and waters, to create jobs, and to provide a path to align the management of America’s public lands and waters with our nation’s climate, conservation, and clean energy goals.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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