DIY Valentine's Day Ideas

DIY VALENTINE’S DAY

Here's a thought: skip the dinner out, call off the babysitter and stay home on February 14th. Here's a more relaxing Valentine's Day idea:

• Pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli, steam up some vegetables, and add some crunchy French bread. That's dinner.

• Set up the kids in another room with Dick Van Dyke on Netflix or Brady Bunch on Hulu (free on Hulu.com!) 

• Replace Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and try a Bollywood video instead (they’re my new fav). They’re exotic, most are clean, and they count as a chick flick. Try this one: Jab We Met. (You'll either love it or hate it, but reading the subtitles forces you and your love to stay awake and engaged... which makes the next suggestion last even longer...)

• Plop your husband's feet on your lap and start the foot massage. Don't go dry with this foot rub... use the Beesilk or Au Chocolat, and I promise he'll let you watch another Bollywood.

• Finish off with a flavorful wine (Oak Knoll’s Niagara white wine from Oregon is our honeymoon wine that we love). A big bar of Toblerone chocolate is a delicious accompaniment. 

Valentine's Day: DONE. (xoxo!)

Agloves: Another Helper for Working Hands

It's the job of the Beesilk bar to clear up cuts and wounds, and get your hands soft and ready to do the work you need to get done.

But what the Beesilk bar can't do is keep your hands warm while out in the cold. That's when I recommend Agloves because they not only ward off the nip, but they keep you connected when using your iPhone or iPad. As you know, the touch-sensitive screens won't work with regular gloves. The Agloves solve that. They are knitted with actual silver to pull the natural electricity from your fingers and give a clean touch-sensitive response for your screen. 

I can now exercise outdoors and be able to switch through podcasts on my iPhone without having to take off my Agloves. The touch is localized enough that I can stop and type a text while out on the walking paths. I needed these on Park Days when we lived in cold, dry Colorado (I needed an iPhone back then, too).

Jonathan, 14, sports the Agloves Sport for his iPadMy 14 year old grabbed the gloves and put them to use first, and my 12 year old quickly pointed out that the "Ag" in Agloves is the chemical element symbol for Silver (thus the name Agloves - clever, eh?). Even my tech-savvy husband was impressed and put them through the "man test" (1. it must work. 2. it can't look feminine).

What I love is that these gloves are classy to use out on the town, for men or women. They fit well. Don't let the size options intimidate you - the small/medium fits my hands and even my husband's hands, just right. And their marketing is brilliant: "I (g)love you" it says on the package. Doesn't that sound like a Valentine's Day gift for the taking?

A few more bragging points about Agloves and then I'll tell you how I found them. They were awarded "Audience Choice Award 2011" at the world's largest consumer electronic show in Berlin, they won "Best New Product of the Year 2011" from the Stevie Awards, and INC. Magazine chose Agloves as the Best Touchscreen Glove. 

The story behind how Agloves began is a fun read (a mom-daughter start-up) and the mom of the pair connected with me via my website with a business question. Then I checked out her products and found so many similar connections between MadeOn and Agloves: both help the hands get the job done, both started by a mom with a need, and both are affordable.  I asked Jennifer if I could pass along a discount code for MadeOn customers and she was happy to comply.

Here's a coupon code for 15% off, one use per person, which expires March 31, '12: "MADEON"

Agloves offers a 90 day test to see if you're happy with them. The gloves I have are the Bamboo Agloves (light colored), made with bamboo and are 87% antimicrobial, and the top-selling Agloves Sport (black), which are heavier, thicker, with a tight cuff to keep the heat in. In California, I'll put both to good use and frankly, it will depend on what color coat I'm wearing, but for those of you in a colder climate, go for the Sport. If going green is more important to you, go for the Bamboo. 

Love at First Sight Lotion Sightings

First, a YouTube subscriber pointed out what showed up in the middle of my YouTube video:

Then a favorite customer emailed me a photo of her son's Beesilk Jr:

This week my soapmaker, Rosemarie, included this cute heart-shaped goat milk soap in the box:

Finally, I remembered a sighting on my Pinterest board, made by Amy of Amy's Finer Things:

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Tips and Tricks when making Lotion for Gift-giving

Have you tried any recipes in the Gift Giving edition of My Buttered Life e-book? Although I write the book with my own ideas, mixed with plenty of research and experimentation, I get a lot of Aha! from the people who buy the book and give me feedback. 

Here's an example. This email came from Christy: 

Hey Renee! I just wanted to say thanks for the great e-book (gift giving)! I made a batch of the Chocolate Peppermint lotion bars for my family to try and we love them! My daughters and I decided to do some for Valentine's teachers gifts.

I loved the ramekin idea and was able to score some on clearance at my grocery store. :) I have found that it isn't even necessary to make them in one size and store/give them in a bigger one. They pop out fairly easily from the original size, especially after you use it a couple times. 

One trick I tried tonight was to put the ramekin on my scale and measure ingredients right into it, using the proportions from your recipe. I then put the ramekin in my toaster oven at about 250 deg until everything was melted, cooled a few minutes and stirred in the oil. It worked GREAT! and no extra pan to clean up. It takes a bit longer to cool and harden, because of the ramekin getting hot, but that wasn't a big deal for me. 

Anyway! Just thought I would share an alternative technique with you! Especially great for when you only want to make one bar, because you can get the quantity exactly right. 

Have a blessed night!

Christy VanderWall

I asked a few questions about the ramekin, and here's her follow up:

Once you get them out of the ramekin the first time, they come out pretty easily...especially after you use them a few times. They either fall out on their own, or just require a little tap on the bottom. Now, I will say that my first round was done in some square ramekins, which are tapered on the sides - not straight up and down. So, that might be helping them come out easier. I made a couple round/traditional ones tonight and will have to see if the same is true for those.

Thanks again for the fun recipe! We are planning to do some chapstick for the girls classes as well, instead of candy for valentines day!

There you go! Christy has figured out a way to delete the "clean up" job involved in making lotion. If you have ideas you've tried with success, don't hesitate to share them with us! Email me through the contact page.

How to Clean Beeswax

This morning I was asked this question about cleaning beeswax:

I am seeing on a couple blogs that you can get beeswax from a

bee keeper and clean it yourself using pantyhose and a double broiler.

Is this safe?

Here's my answer:

Yes it is, although I haven't used panty hose. It's a messy project but

the easiest way to do it is to use two crock pots (assuming it's something you plan to repeat).

Melt the wax in one, and then pour through a paper-towel-lined metal sieve

into the other crockpot (which is kept hot).

When all the beeswax has been pouredthrough, use a turkey baster to pull the melted,

clean beeswax from the one crock pot into ice cube trays. You now have 3/4 oz cubes of clean

beeswax.

I used this system for awhile because you can save a lot of money buying

directly from the beekeeper. After awhile, it may become too much of a

hassle, and you do have to be aware of the hot beeswax (it's flammable and

doesn't need a flame to ignite it, only heat, but I've never, ever had

beeswax ignite on me.)

I prefer the paper towel method because you can throw away the paper

towels when finished (I'm not sure how you'd clean the pantyhose; you'd

have to purchase more pantyhose for future beeswax cleaning projects).

I've also tried using coffee filters, but the beeswax doesn't go through

the paper well at all, and also it cools too quickly, blocking the paper

pores.

The Gift of Frankincense

As January 6th celebrates Epiphany (the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus) it’s appropriate to focus on one of the gifts, Frankincense.

Frankincense is a resin that comes from the bark of frankincense trees. Using a steam distillation process, frankincense essential oil is produced from the tree resin.  Because it comes from the bark of the tree, the scent is slightly woodsy with a touch of lemon. It worked beautifully with the essential oils of myrrh and cinnamon this past Christmas when I whipped it into shea butter and coconut oil.

Another way to enjoy it is in its bark form. If  you happen to have friends who travel to Ethiopia, talk them into getting you a bagful of frankincense bark chips to throw on your open fire. Your house will smell divine.

 Frankincense Tree (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

3 Ways to Kick the Cold, Including a Homemade Vapor Rub Recipe

I woke up the other day with the scratchy throat, stuffy nose and foggy head that made me wish time could stand still... just long enough to get over the incoming cold that was about to take residence in my body. 

 As a mom, sneaking in an extra ten minutes of sleep time is do-able, but sometimes we need another boost to get back on track. I was thrilled that a few tools worked wonders this week:

1. Have you tried those packets of Emergen-C fizzy drinks, with 1000 mg of Vitamin C? They seem to work well for our family, but for our family of 10, the $8 for a box of 30 servings adds up. Instead, I buy pure vitamin c powder and put 1/4 tsp into hot tea. It's only 5 cents a serving and it's a healthy way to combat the cold season. I buy ours at the Dr. Clark Store.
2. Heat: in the form of a hot water bottle, or a heating pad, or my absolute favorite, a wool corn warmer  made by a special customer and friend last month. It's great for aching muscles and cold feet.
3. Homemade Vapor Rub : you can make this as strong as you like, and what I suggest below for essential oil amounts is quite strong (use care and discretion if using on children). This recipe was inspired by Crunchy Betty's recipe here.  I fatted mine up a bit to make a thicker salve by adding shea butter. 

Homemade Vapor Rub

•      1.5 oz shea butter
•       .5 oz almond oil
•        .25 oz beeswax

Melt the above ingredients. Remove from heat and add:

•        ½ tsp peppermint essential oil
•        ¼ tsp eucalyptus essential oil
•        ¼ tsp rosemary essential oil

 Go ahead... kick the cold out of the house so you can focus on more important tasks!

Oh, the Tangled Web...

No matter how hard I tried to fix it, the problem seemed to only get worse.

Do you have a daughter with hair like this?

Have you worked in conditioner, washed it out, only to have the tangles back by the end of the day?

Have you ever spent $30 on a hair brush designed to fix your problem, only to find it didn't?

Have you had the knot develop so badly that even your hairdresser couldn't detangle it, and had to resort to cutting it out?

Have you ever felt the mixed emotion of embarrassment and relief to find that the solution was right under your nose? 

When my hairdresser suggested I rub olive oil into her hair, I grabbed our hair butter instead. I rubbed (too much) hair butter in her hair and the within 10 minutes her hair was completely detangled. Not only that, but two hours later, it remained detangled. 

I have since found that I only need a small amount of hair butter to rub through my hands and finger into her hair (too much makes the hair look greasy). A few minutes of combing and the knot detangles... the comb cuts through her hair like... butter :) 

It's such a relief to have a happy, tangle-free daughter.

 

How to Clean up after Making Hard Lotion

Mary asks:

I just made your  hard lotion and lip balms from the DIY kit.  They turned out great but how to you recommend cleaning the pyrex cup used for melting and cleaning the dropper?  Thank you.

My answer:

With the Pyrex, while it's still hot (or put it back in the double boiler to get it really hot) wipe out residue with a paper towel and then clean with very hot, soapy water. The dropper is more tricky; you can try to squeeze out as much melted oil as you can while it's still melted, then wipe out with a paper towel and then clean with hot soapy water (squeezing in and out with the hot, soapy water). After a few uses, it becomes difficult to use again, so you could just try to dry-remove as much as you can and then keep it wrapped until the next use. If it's a project you plan to do often, I would invest in Pyrex used just for lotion-making.

how I ensure the quality of the hard lotion bars

I had a question emailed to me about how I ensure the quality of the hard lotion bars that I ship out.

Here's my answer to her question:

Dear C,

Thanks for asking about the "behind the scenes" process of the hard lotion

bar.

I personally hand-craft the lotion bars in small batches (usually 50-100

units at a time), setting aside a "test" bar that I personally use check

for quality of the batch. The ingredients have a 1-2 year shelf life

although we go through hundreds of gallons of ingredients each month, so

my 6 month shelf life is easily guaranteed. I slightly change the recipe

proportions as the weather changes or to accommodate natural variations of

the harvested oils.  I keep the ingredient list short and free from

chemical additives or preservatives that often are the cause of skin

problems (hence the company name "MadeOn"- we note the date the product

was made on with each bar). Only three ingredients are used, so it's easy

for those who need to track the ingredient list of their skin care

products.

I offer the how-to recipe on my website for those who like to make it

themselves so they can customize it the way they want it (for example,

some people like to add scent as the original Beesilk bar has no scent).

In general, I would not recommend the lotion bar for the face if the face

is prone to acne. However, I personally use it on my face only when I feel

"dry" from winter weather or after swimming.

Renee Harris

MadeOn Skin Care

Black Friday Specials

AVOID THE CROWDS - Shop at home!

*Shop at a certain time

*Some codes have a limited number of uses - first come, first serve!

*All times posted are Pacific Standard Time on Friday, November 25th, 2011

*Check on Facebook for reminders! 

Here's how it works: decide what products you plan to purchase, then be the first to use the code below by placing an order at the start time and using the code at checkout. When the allowable number of codes have been used (where applicable), your cart will say "This code has expired." Some codes will last a time frame, while others have a limited number of discounts assigned to it. 

This year's chocolate bark recipe... and the e-book that fixed my cravings

Last year I posted a recipe for chocolate bark that was extremely tasty. I wanted to make it with coconut oil, and it worked! My one modification: I'd use fine sugar instead, so that it dissolves better. 

This year I have an even better recipe, thanks to Katie's new e-book Smart Sweets: 30 Desserts to Indulge Your Sweet Tooth. (Actually, in all fairness, she got it from Wardeh, and you can view her recipe here.) The recipe calls for honey instead of sugar (I was afraid it would taste too much like honey, but the honey flavor hardly comes through), and, get this a food processor, instead of the stove top. It's super fast and easy; in fact, my son made us a batch (see photo). What really amazed me is that the true cocoa flavor comes out loud and clear, and it's so incredibly smooth, it even impressed my France-raised  husband. 

In addition to the chocolate bark, she has a marvelous recipe for honey molasses cookies, again using healthier ingredients for a cookie that tastes just like fall. Again, my son was happy to take over the baking responsibilities and we all got to benefit from it. You'll find chocolate truffles, peanut butter kisses, and even "pro biotic" fudge bars in Katie's new e-book!

So how do you get the book? Just click over here and purchase.

Or, if you're already planning on making a MadeOn purchase, you'll find a $3 off code, good through December 16, 2011 that will arrive in your email inbox along with your MadeOn receipt.

Or, you can get it free on Cyber Monday, with the purchase of any of the "stocking stuffers" on the gifts page (right side column).

This e-book is a must-have for all your holiday baking cravings. 

Full disclosure: Katie and I promote each other's products, which we'd only do if we liked each other's stuff, and we do! So clicking here to purchase her book means I get some cash to buy more cookie ingredients. 

Oil Pulling: My One Month Experience

It's been a month since I started oil pulling. 

A few of my initial hurdles:

• Flexibility: although my initial plan was to always oil pull while in the shower, I learned that it got complicated to work it before breakfast if I showered late (I like to see the steam coming off my scrambled eggs, not cold and rubbery, thank you very much!). So I tried to oil pull first thing in the morning, always before breakfast.
• Texture: oil pulling was easy in early October when we still had 80 degree weather and the coconut oil was liquid. Once the cooler weather hit and it solidified, I had to get over the "glob" in my mouth. The suggestion to just chew it helped (thanks Marla!).
• "Don't talk with your mouth full." A lesson in action when my children wanted to ask me questions while oil pulling ;)

My mental picture:

After reading the Oil Pulling book by Dr. Fife, I formulated this image in my mind when I oil pulled: I had a whole army of bad bacteria sitting in my mouth that had formed through the night. They were like a massive crowd of soldiers waiting to get past my throat to do whatever damage they could muster up. They hid between my teeth, behind my cheeks, under my tongue, hoping to ride the scrambled egg transport into my body like a Trojan horse. Enter the coconut oil (or, in my case, the coconut oil with a tad of sesame oil and a drop of peppermint oil). By swishing the oil through my teeth, across my tongue and around my cheeks (it must be oil, not another liquid, so that it can bind), those bad guys are whisked away from their hiding places and bound together by their fats. Twenty minutes of swishing wordlessly, my mouth is ready to be done with it: the swishing oil and the bad bacteria. Down the sink it goes. 

Did it help?

I need more than a month to really know if my teeth have improved. What would really tell me is a trip to the dentist. If I have a better than normal check up, I'm sold. I do notice that my teeth don't seem quite as sensitive (especially with the candy temptations I've succumbed to over the past couple of weeks). 

What others have noticed with their oil pulling:

I have found the conversations on Kitchen Stewardship's blog to be fascinating. Can you oil pull while pregnant or breastfeeding? (my opinion: I'm oil pulling even though I breastfeed my 1 yr old, but definitely do more research if you're concerned). What if you have amalgams (fillings) - can you oil pull? (Fife recommends you get them removed regardless of whether you oil pull or not).  Do you take breaks, a week on, a week off? (Fife has a "maintenance schedule" outlined of how often you should oil pull, depending on your situation). Is that black stuff in my toilet growing out of the crud I spit in there? (it's worth reading the comments just to get to that conversation!). 

So will I keep doing it?

Absolutely! The anecdotal evidence from the various comments are convincing enough to keep it up. There's really nothing to lose, and it does make me more aware of the health of my teeth. So I'm sticking with it. How about you?

Look Who We're Sponsoring Now! (plus a Music Giveaway)

“I want to make a movie.”

 Many of us hear those words from our children, whether at age 7 or 14.  But Jesse Winton (now 17) made movie-making a reality from the time he first uttered those words two years ago.

This is more than switching on the iPhone, video-taping Lego warriors falling from brick castles, and uploading the movie to YouTube. Jesse worked with his brother Cody, father Randy, and also teamed up with renowned production companies and composers to bring their movie Rescued to completion.  They were able to submit it to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival last month. Check out the trailer here: Rescued.

We’ve chosen the Winton family as an organization to sponsor for their work in spreading the word about adoption. The focus of Rescued is to call us to view adoption as a necessary function of the church to take care of the fatherless and give orphans a future.  Jesse himself chose the topic. With November as Adoption Awareness Month, the timing couldn’t be more perfect, and for the Wintons, more meaningful: Randy and Lisa added two girls to their family through adoption.

So how did Jesse and his brother Cody first learn to 1.) take initiative and, 2) follow through with their goals? It started years ago when Randy changed careers so that he could spend more time with his wife and boys.  A series of events brought the family to become the Winton Family Bluegrass Band, and now Randy, Cody and Jesse bring their award-winning bluegrass music to churches and events throughout the United States.  The boys have learned from the family what it takes to take an idea from scratch and make something out of it… no small task when producing CD’s and competing in competitions.

The Winton Bluegrass band has toured from California to South Carolina this summer, hitting Missouri, Iowa, Texas and a whole host of states in between.

To find out more about their music, see the track list, listen to clips, or purchase their CD’s or singles, visit their store.

If you can convince them to come to your town, I highly recommend you see them in person. Randy and the boys have a show that will entertain you, humor you, and get your toes a-tappin’ and head a-noddin’.  If they play Little Black Train for you, it’s worth whatever miles you travel to hear them, just to hear that song.

 Until then, they’re offering YOU an opportunity to win their very latest CD called Be Assured. Here’s a clip of my favorite song from their album: You’re God

Contest will end November 15, 2011

To be entered to win the CD, do one or more of the following:

(make sure to leave your email or sign up to follow the comments so we can get a hold of you!)

1.)  follow The Wintons music/band page on Facebook and report here that you did so

2.)  follow Rescued the Movie on Facebook and report here that you did so

3.)  “Adoption” – what does it make you think of? Leave a statement here. 

Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter can be Used Interchangeably (with ratio modifications)

 Hi Renee,

I downloaded your new ebook yesterday.  I'm thinking about gifts for Christmas, and I have a few questions for you.

1.  Are shea butter and cocoa butter equally effective for treating very dry skin such as cracked heels and fingers? For dry skin like you mention, yes. For eczema and psoriasis, shea butter seems to work better, from the testimonies I receive. 

2.  Can the body mousse be made using shea butter instead of cocoa butter? Yes! In fact, that recipe is in my summer e-book. Adding essential oils is optional. 

3.  Can you tell me where you get the mold and tins for the hard lotion bars that you sell? I had those custom made. There are bead organizers (it's a plastic 12-box organizer) that you can find at Michaels and Wal-mart with fairly close dimensions but you do have to cut off the edges to fit the tin. If you can find rectangle soap molds with the correct dimensions, you might be able to find the right size for the large tin. 

4.  You mention using small ramekins for molds and large ones for containers, can you be more specific on the sizes? One is 3.5 inches in diameter and the other is 3 inches. 

I know at least a few people I will be giving this to at Christmas will really benefit from using it, as I have.  Thanks so much!