Seattle Bride's Best of 2011

We had a great time last night attending Seattle Bride Magazine's "Best of 2011" party.  When we arrived, we learned that (for the second year in a row) we were nominated in the category Most Creative Favors.  

We were in great company as nominees with local businesses Marrylicious  and Paper Fling.  The winner ended up being Marrylicious, but the funny thing is...in the magazine photograph showing a Marrylicious gift basket, you can see a lovely tin of our Lavender Lover Soap nestled among the other local products they use.  Tee hee.  Love it!  

Thanks to the folks at Seattle Bride Magazine, the readers, and the other wedding industry folks for nominating us and recognizing the creativity in what we do.

The Mountain Beaver Saga

Since it's the weekend and some gardening is going to happen, I thought I'd do an update on my ongoing Mountain Beaver battle.  Here's a brief summary:  a Mountain Beaver (named Butt Head) lives in the bushes on the edge of our yard.  Every year he waits until our new raspberry shoots have grown long and lush, then he chops them off with his sharp little teeth and carries them off to his evil lair.  We had a total harvest of about 10 berries last year. It makes me so mad I could spit (as my Grandma always said).  After several years of trying an electric fence solution, I finally gave up on it.  I just never felt confident that it was working, either because my kids had turned it off when they played in the yard or because the power supply would fail.  I was constantly preoccupied with checking to see if it was functioning properly.  I was living a life of paranoia and obsession... a shell of a woman.

So this year I just put up a chicken wire fence.  I like it because I can actually see that it's working.  It may not look great, but it's totally serving its purpose.  I just used lengths of rebar every two or three feet, which I wove through the wire and hammered into the ground.  I tacked down the bottom edge of the chicken wire with tree stakes to make sure BH couldn't push his way under.  True story...on the day that I went to Home Depot to buy the tree stakes my husband was out in the yard and saw BH walk around the edge of the fence and try to nose his way under it.  What a little s#@t!  

Happily, he was not successful.  See how nicely everything's growing in!  I'm feeling very hopeful.

The Saga continues...Part 4

Real Soap, Drugs & Rock and Roll

This is incredible...hilarious and very informative.  I had no idea that I was producing such an illicit substance!

Thanks to the folks at Dr. Bronner's for putting this video together.

Solid Lotions

I started making some new products a couple of months ago that my customers and I are really enjoying.  The new items are solid lotion bars and sticks for moisturizing the skin.  At a recent craft fair, the responses from people who saw them were about evenly divided between folks who knew what they were and were elated to see that I now carry them, and people who I needed to explain the whole concept to in great detail.  Since so many people have never heard of solid lotion bars, or understand their advantages, I thought I'd do a little educating...

image courtesy of Tack-o-Rama

The solid lotion bars and sticks are simply a mixture of nourishing oils, beeswax, moisturizing butters, and sometimes essential oils for scent.  There are no artificial or synthetic ingredients in them.  Compared to liquid lotions, they are very concentrated and compact (most liquid lotions are 70%-80% water).  The warmth from your skin softens the bar just enough to make it glide easily over your skin and layer everything with the moisturizing ingredients, which soak in within a few seconds.  The effect is not greasy because I have chosen oils that absorb quickly and are light, but very high in nutrients.  A little goes along way and a small lotion bar can last for months with regular use.  I make two different types right now: scented bars, and unscented sticks. 

The round Happy Hand Lotion Bars come in a small tin.  To use them, you just pop the little cake of lotion out of the tin and rub it on your hands, legs, elbows, or wherever your skin needs some extra TLC.  These bars all are scented with natural essential oils and smell great.  They're also really great for slipping into a purse or desk at work because they don't take up much space and won't accidentally get spilled like a liquid lotion might.  The lids on tins I use are screw-on, so that they won't pop off in your purse either.  Handy.

The Super Smooth Lotion Stick is unscented and made with a higher percentage of moisturizing butters, as well as oils that are known to have a low comedogenic rating.  The lotion sticks could be used on the face or for people with very sensitive skin.  I recommend these for eczema, stretch marks, or when the skin under your nose gets really raw and chapped from wiping it during cold or allergy season.  It comes in a small roll-up stick like a lip balm tube so that it's easy to apply on problem spots.

And I'm so pleased with how I was able to slyly slip in my Flying S logo on the label again!  Aren't you impressed?

How To: Easy Fabric Flowers

Spring has finally arrived in Seattle.  Thank heavens!  It's been the most miserably long stretch of wet, cold, windy weather I can remember for a long time.  In honor of Spring (and Mother's Day coming up next week), here's a tutorial for making some really cute and easy fabric flowers.  

I have an absurd amount of leftover fabric from various unfinished and partially finished projects, and wanted to find a good use for it.  My mom also gave me her stash (drawer) of surplus shish kabob skewers, which totaled over 600.  We like grilling shish kabob, but it would take us years to use them up...so, voila!  Beautiful and festive fabric flowers for spring that fit nicely in a vase and are easily arranged in a bouquet.

You'll need:  colorful fabric (I used quilting cotton),  felt squares, pom poms, craft glue, wooden skewers, needle, regular or embroidery thread, hot glue & scented oil (optional).

Start by using craft glue to attach the pom poms to the sharp end of the wooden skewers.  I did this the night before the rest of the project, so that they had time to dry.  The hot glue would work fine too, but has a tendency to get stuck in places you don't really want and makes for a messier look, which is why I went with the craft glue instead.

Cut strips of fabric that are 4 inches wide and between 12 and 16 inches long.  The longer strips will make a fuller flower, so it really just depends on the look you're going for.

Fold over the fabric so that the "outside" is on the outside.  You can press it with an iron, if you want a sharp look, but I prefer a more puffy petal, so I left my fabric un-pressed.

Using your needle and thread (with a knot on the end) make an easy straight stitch along the rough edge of the fabric, catching both edges.  This stitch gets completely covered during the process of assembling the flower, so it really doesn't need to be too uniform or perfect.  This makes it a great project for kids because they can practice sewing a a straight stitch and make a beautiful gather, regardless of skill.  My 4 year old daughter had a blast making these with me!

Gather the fabric by pushing it down the thread and knot the other end of the thread, like this.

Cut a small Pac-Man shaped piece of felt fabric, grab your shish ka-pom-pom, and get ready to assemble the flower.

Place a small amount of hot glue at one end of the fabric, on or near the threaded gather.  Lay the pom pom end of the skewer on the hot glue and press the fabric around it to secure the skewer in place.  Then run a longer line of the hot glue along the threaded gather.

Begin to roll the "petals" of the flower around the skewer.  I applied a couple of inches of hot glue at a time, not the entire length of fabric, because I didn't want the glue to cool and harden before I had time to roll and pinch the fabric in place.

Secure the base of the flower bud while the glue is still warm and somewhat malleable.  You can do a little adjusting of the blossom shape at this point.

Now take your little Pac-Man piece of felt and apply a line of hot glue to the middle.  Then apply the felt to the bottom of the blossom, covering the rough edge.

Add more hot glue to the felt and wrap it all the way around the base of the blossom, holding it in place with your finger while the glue cools.

The final touch is to add 3-4 drops of scented oil (essential oil or fragrance oil) to the pom pom.  The flowers will smell wonderful, won't wilt and will brighten even the darkest corner...or deary Seattle day.

Fun Soap Facts: Weddings

Here's an interesting little tidbit that I read recently:

In the 1500s, June weddings were the most common because people typically took their annual bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June (relatively speaking). However, June is a whole month later and they were still pretty ripe, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide their odor. This is what started the modern day custom of a bride carrying a bouquet of flowers ... and also the (welcomed) custom of bathing more often than once a year!

Addendum:

After further research, it seems that this great story is only that...a story.  Here is a bit of additional information that is quite interesting on the topic-The Bad Old Days: Weddings & Hygiene

Low-Cost, Natural Skincare

image courtesy of  Tack-O-Rama

Over the years my morning and evening skincare routines have gradually evolved. That’s partly because of age and becoming a parent, partly because of what I’ve learned about ingredients, and partly because of negative reactions I’ve had to certain products. I never considered myself to be someone who had “sensitive skin”, but I’ve found that many of the drugstore moisturizers and skin cleansers that I’ve used over the years have either been too drying or have actually made my skin break out. That’s actually one of the reasons I began making my own soap…I prefer knowing exactly what’s in the product, and the easiest way to be confident about that is to make it yourself.

I have a friend named Deanna (a fellow parent at my kids’ school) who is an environmental advocate, author and wildly successful blogger on her site Crunchy Chicken. She often writes about the skincare items that she uses, and it’s inspired me to try some new things myself. I’ve been in this trial and error stage for over a year now and am finally feeling pretty good about what I’ve come up with, on many levels. What I use now is truly all-natural, makes my skin feel clean and smooth, is very moisturizing, and is really inexpensive. So…I thought you readers might like to hear about it!

Here’s what I do:

In the morning, when I shower, I run my face under the hot water for a minute to open up my pores and flush out dirt and oil, then I use a soft washcloth and one of my soaps to gently scrub away any impurities.

I also wash my hair with the same bar soap, or sometimes Dr. Bronner’s pure castile liquid soap. I keep that on hand because my daughters prefer using a liquid for washing their hair, rather than bar soap. After my hair is washed, I use a very diluted vinegar rinse (1 part apple cider vinegar to 10 parts water).  This washes away any soap residue that may remain and closes the hair cuticle, which makes the hair more shiny and smooth. I rinse that out at the end of the shower.

Before I exit the shower I use a little bit (smaller than a dime) of green tea infused hemp oil on my face and neck. When I first buy the hemp oil, I take several tablespoons of green tea leaves and let them sit in the oil for several days, then strain them back out to store the oil. Green tea is a natural antioxidant, and helps to maintain elasticity in the skin, as well as many other topical benefits.

I began using hemp oil after lots of trial and error with other natural oils and moisturizers. I started with regular “all-natural” skin creams that I bought at the store, and they always clogged my pores. Then I tried a variety of whole oils like coconut, sweet almond and wheat germ. They all caused problems on my face eventually, though I recommend them on the rest of the body. I finally settled on hemp oil because it has the lowest comedogenic rating of all of them and is extremely high in nutrients. It also fights inflammation and is a great anti-oxidant in its own right.

I put the oil on my skin when I’m still in the shower and my face is still wet. I gently dab it around my face and neck. I then take the warm, rinsed (now soap-free) washcloth and wring out as much of the water as possible and gently dab off any extra oil with it. I let my face air dry after that. My skin is soft, totally clean and well moisturized. Once I’m out of the shower I dab a few drops more of the hemp oil under my eyes (but not too close) and let it soak its way into the delicate skin there. Any excess gets wiped off with a tissue before I put on makeup.

At bedtime I use a similar system, minus the shower. The key is to apply the oil when your skin is clean, warm and still wet with water. It seems to trap in moisture well, while still keeping the pores open and not leaving a greasy layer because the skin absorbs the light oil so quickly. I’m careful not to let it get into my hair though, as it really weighs it down and makes it greasy. This whole system has been working great for me and costs next to nothing. It makes me look years younger too…see?  ;-)

I’d love to know if you’ve tried any of these methods or have something that you think works even better!