Wordless Wednesday....getting my bow on.

Please contact your elected officials.

I usually stay clear from politics, but can't help myself on this one. Call or email your elected officials. Tell them you are their constituent, and you oppose SOPA and PIPA.
SOPA and PIPA would put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA would build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease. SOPA and PIPA are not the answer: they would fatally damage the free and open Internet.

Fairy, Fairy quite Contrary....Blessing from the Fairy Hobmother!

Boooyah! 2012 has been rocking and the best part so far is getting a wish from none other than the Fairy Hobmother! First off I will say I never win anything. Never. When hearing of this infamous Fairy Hobmother, I was somewhat skeptical, but gave it a whirl. In case you are wondering who this Fairy Hobmother is, she is from Appliances Online http://www.appliancesonline.co.uk/washing-machines/washing-machines.aspx and has the awesome ability to sprinkle love in form of gifts for bloggers like myself. All you have to do is leave a comment and she may or may not grant you a wish. It is all soo much fun. Checking my email to see if the Fairy Hobmother had visited was really the best part and I am going to miss that. Anyway leave a comment on what you wish for and make sure to link your blog. I will say it has to be reasonable, I think. I imagine she isn't going to give you a vacation home in Hawaii or a million dollars, but hey who knows. ;) She will always have a special place in my heart because this is the first time I have ever received anything through my blog. So thank you Fairy Hobmother! Oh and check out http://www.appliancesonline.co.uk/washing-machines/washing-machines.aspx

I heart shampoo bars!

Many of you understand my hatred of shampoo. I hate how it strips my hair, leaving it dull and lifeless, full of frizz and these days old. Did I mention I am turning 35? Anyway, over a year ago I decided to go no "poo". Refer back to my Wen post. Long story, I used Wen and in turn, had greasy hair, but couldn't put my hair through the torture of shampoo and discovered co-washing. Love, love, love co-washing. I still have to shampoo my hair about once a month, but it is sooo much healthier. It does have its drawbacks though. My hair lost the bounce. Healthy, soft, but no bounce. You know what I mean....like the commercials. You have bounce when you use regular shampoo, it strips your hair from anything that might hold it down. On top of that, I would get the occasional grease head look. I started to use a baking soda wash. Loved that too, but still no bounce. My hair was healthy, but not as happy as I would have liked it.

Then I happened upon shampoo bars! I found a recipe and decided one morning I was going to make shampoo bars. I have never made soap before, but already had a few ingredients with exception to the lye. I looked at the health food store, the grocery store, but to no avail. Finally someone mentioned a hardware store. Ta da, people use it clean out their pipes and here I want to put it in my hair. Ha! Being that my Grandmother made lye soap and I am pretty sure her grandmother made it, I felt that it couldn't be too bad or too harmful. I researched lye and people raved at how luxurious it made their hair and skin. Sold. So I figured out my recipe and recruited my husband. I felt as if I was on the brink of causing a massive explosion and learned the words trace and saponification. I had no trace or no saponification. So remelted and tried again with luck. I think it came out as I wanted it too. It was my first attempt. I had no idea. As long as it resembled soap, I felt like it was successful. In my reading on shampoo bars I also read about apple cider vinegar conditioner and so bought myself a fancy spritz bottle and filled a quarter of it with apple cider vinegar and the rest with water. I couldn't wait a day for it to completely harden and tried it that night. Grease head. So bummed that it was a massive fail, but figured at least I could use it as skin soap. I tried it again the next night, still holding on to hope. I don't think I even bothered with the rinse and just went to bed. The next morning I woke up and it was like Christmas. For my hair. OMG, soft, curly, BOUNCY hair. No frizz, no grease, just luxurious hair. I think it just need more time to harden, but I really don't know why it didn't work that first night. So I am in love and made another batch this weekend. There are still a few things I would like to work out, but more than anything I am loving the fact that I can change it however I want, I can use the best ingredients, the best essential oils and it is all good for my head.

The Holidays are Over!

The Holidays are over and we have welcomed 2012. I have my resolutions in order and plan on getting back on track. I have new products for Etsy in the works, laying off on gluten, taken up soap making and discovered the Chia seed. All in the first 6 days of the New Year. I hope the rest of the year can be just as productive. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Can't wait to see what everyone's New Year Resolutions are. Please post!

In the meantime....here is our month of December!