Welcome to A Joyful Homemade Life blog 

This blog is a journal of my family, my art, gardening, food, friends, crafting, pets, books, kids and anything that makes life enjoyable. Especially the little everyday wonders. Hopefully I can give some positive encouragement to each of you in your daily travels. Remember… life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful!

Hi, my name is Pam and I am glad you took a moment to check out our blog.

I am married to my wonderful husband John. We have two great children, Kasey with her husband David and pup Rossi, and Ethan with his wife Caitlin, darling baby June, and pup Sadie. They all make me very happy. We also have Hattie, our loving rescue dog.

OUR HOME

Home is where my family is.

When we were first married, my husband would walk to the top of our hill and say, ”one day we are going to have a home here.” And we do.

We live in a new, old house. It was built by my father Earl Rankin in 1988. ( its starting to become an old, old house.) We designed the home to look old, a stone foundation, wood floors, old beams, tin lighting, and fireplaces are just a few of the details that add charm.

A few additions later and a bank barn and this is where we are now.

Love it, but just too big for two people, so hopefully part of this blog will include finding a new smaller new home and the transition of making a new start after 32 years. Actually, I am excited and up for the challenge. I will keep you updated.

OUR ART

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou

I have been very fortunate to have the chance to always have art in my life.

My parents designed and restored homes and as an only child I was included in their work. I have grown up with a love of antiques and creating folk art.

I am a folk artist and my husband makes and hand grains all of our frames. It is great when a partnership works.

My folk art is a mix of two Pennsylvania Art forms of Fraktur and Scherenscnitte. If you are interested in finding out more, you can go to our website HultsFolkArt.com.

We have attended many craft shows, such as York Folk Art show, Waterford, Mt. Vernon, Sturbridge Ma, and many others. We have met the most wonderful craftsmen and women on our travels. It is a true homemade community.

OUR SHOP

“We’re all just walking each other home.” Ram Das

For 28 years my mom and I, with the help of the kids, my dad, and my husband, ran a shop called Maple Croft Interiors in Lancaster, PA. We also had some lovely women that joined our group along the way. We started in a 1906 red brick one room school that we bought at public auction. We began small in the basement but as the business grew we took over the whole building. A few additions later and this was our building.

I have to say, it was the hardest job I ever loved. I loved working with my mom, bringing my kids to work, our employees, our customers, the gift markets,our product and our building. When people would ask mom and I what we sold, we would say”we sell what we like.” We sold furniture(upholstered and wood), hand made artisan crafts, lighting, pottery, jewelry, clothing and a whole lot more. But it was not always about the selling, it was also about forming a community and the fellowship with our customers. The shop had great music, it smelled good, there were friendly customers and employees. It was a feeling. We would have customers walk in the door and say “ I just needed an hour of Maple Croft.” Of course there were things that were not great at times… but we won’t dwell on that.

When my mom had health issues, we made a hard decision and closed the shop. I was an only child with new priorities, and we decided 28 years was a good run. So things change when necessary and it turned out to be the right choice. I still see folks that say they miss the store. It does my heart good to hear that.

BUY THE STORY

Thank you for shopping with artisans and antique dealers. It makes them do a happy dance.

It’s always fun to get something new(especially if its old or handmade). Acquire pieces that you can keep a long time, if not forever. Don’t just buy things, buy the story. The life experience, who was the artist, were you with friends or family, was it a special show, did the antique dealer know history on your purchase, these stories make your house a home. Then when you live in your home and live with your things, you also live with these warm memories.

Remember good craftsmanship, great antiques and classic design are always in style. Sometimes all you need to do to refresh your home is to move around your own wonderful treasures from one room to another, or use them for a new purpose.