Happy New Year - About "The Ball"

Click the Photo for History of Times Square New Years Eve Ball

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and blessed New Year!

Christmas Cookies

I remember how fun it was to bake Christmas Cookies with my sisters during the month of December. Some of the types we would make year after year would be:

• Sand Tarts - we used our holiday cookie cut outs and brushed with egg whites and then sprinkles. Boy would I indulge in those!

• Springerle - the traditional German cookie that tasted like licorice and was a bit hard on the teeth!

  

  Linzer Tarts - the jam/preserve filled tart. Not one of my favorites from the past, but still tasty.
  

Great site for all your holiday cookie recipes! Here

History of The Advent Calender

I always had an advent calendar as a child and still love them today.

Here is some interesting information about the origins of the Advent Calendar.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------The origin of the calendar, like so many of our Christmas traditions, started in Germany back in the 19th century. Different methods of counting down the days to the celebration of Christmas were used.

Drawing a chalk line to mark off the days, later lighting a candle every night or putting up small religious pictures marked each day until Christmas. The first printed calendar was produced by Gerhard Lang in Germany. When he was a child, his mother attached little candies to a piece of cardboard and each day Gerhard would take one off. His first (printed) calendar consisted of miniature colored pictures that would be attached to a piece of cardboard each day in December. Later Advent calendars were made with little doors to open on each day.

The child might find a small piece of candy, a Christmas picture, a religious picture or a bible verse.

The German calendars were sold until World War II, at which time production was stopped due to the war shortages. After the war, the production of calendars resumed in 1946 by Richard Selmer. Selmer credits President Eisenhower with helping the tradition grow in the United States during his term of office. A newspaper article at the time showed the Eisenhower grandchildren with The Little Town Advent calendar. His company still produces calendars today and can be ordered online.

Holiday Shipping Schedule

You may want to keep in mind the shipping schedule for packages this holiday season, especially if you plan on buying many gifts online. These dates are guidelines and are NOT guaranteed by the USPS.

Holiday Shipping Schedule:

Anywhere in the US:

	Letters and Cards		Priority Mail®		Express Mail®		Parcel Post®
	Dec 20		Dec 20		Dec 22		Dec 15

Outside the US:

First Class International : December 4th
Priority Mail International: December 11th


I ship by both First Class and Priority and it's based on the weight of your order.

• For example: up to 2 soaps or 2 linen sprays or 2 milk baths will go First Class
  

anything more will ship Priority Mail. So, something to keep in mind when you are shopping. First Class could take a week or longer as we get closer to Christmas. If you need me to ship Priority, just drop me an email prior to paying for your order.

Shhhh!!!.....New Scents

For those of you that choose to check my blog, you will be fortunate enough to know ahead of time which scents I will be adding in the future or near future :-) Shhh...it's a secret.

Future Soap Scents and of course available in a lotion, linen spray, jelly jar.

• Voodoo Berry
  
• French Vanilla
  
• Florallissima - this will be brand spanking new and it may or may not have a new name

Gift Sets and Packaging Preview

I will be offering oatmeal pinstripe gift boxes with pretty sheer organza ribbon in either wine or old willow (soft antique green) that can be purchased separately.

These will be perfect to place either my 8 oz jar of lotion or sugar scrub inside. I will most likely offer this wrapped (with natural wood excelsior padding on the inside) or I can ship it flat (as the box folds) and you would get the ribbon on the side (no filler).

The new gift set I plan to offer will come in a pear tree decorative gable box and will include 1 full size jar of sugar scrub, 1 full size jar of lotion and 1 bar of soap. You will have 3 holiday scent choices for this set. This may or may not give you the option of having a 3-in1- gel instead of the scrub.

Upcoming Holiday Scents Preview

Over the next few weeks I will be introducing some holiday scents - old favorites as well as a couple of new ones that were not offered in a soap before. These will include soaps, lotion scents, scrubs (custom), linen sprays and Jelly Jar Scents.

• Cinnamon Buns - a little different than last year
  
• Gingerbread - same delicious bakery fresh scent
  
• Peppermint Stick - tingling sensation
  
• Spiced Cranberry - *NEW*

I am also trying to gather together gift set ideas. One thing I may be offering are small gift boxes with ribbon that can be purchased separately for specific items.

The Great Pumpkin

Pumpkin History:

Pumpkins are believed to have originated in North America. Seeds from related plants have been found in Mexico dating back to 7000 to 5500 B.C.

References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was changed by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin."

Native American Indians used pumpkin as a staple in their diets centuries before the pilgrims landed. They also dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. Indians would also roast long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and eat them. When white settlers arrived, they saw the pumpkins grown by the Indians and pumpkin soon became a staple in their diets. As today, early settlers used them in a wide variety of recipes from desserts to stews and soups. The origin of pumpkin pie is thought to have occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and then filled it with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in the hot ashes of a dying fire.

Pumpkins and Halloween:

The origin of Halloween dates back at least 3,000 years to the Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced "sow-ain"). The festival was held starting at sundown on October 31st and lasted until sundown on November 1st. It was similar to the modern practice of the New Years celebration.

On this magical night, glowing jack-o-lanterns, carved from turnips or gourds, were set on porches and in windows to welcome deceased loved ones, but also to act as protection against malevolent spirits. Burning lumps of coal were used inside as a source of light, later to be replaced by candles.

1,524 Pound Pumpkin Wins Calif. Contest

Pumpkins and Skin Care:

Autumn can play some nasty tricks on your skin with its winds and chilly weather. And Pumpkins contain lots of anti-oxidant vitamins A and C, as well as zinc and beneficial alpha-hydroxy acids.

National Candy Corn Day is Coming!

October 30th is National Candy Corn Day

I had no idea! :-)

Candy corn is a confection popular in the United States of America, particularly around Halloween. Each piece is approximately the size of a whole kernel of corn, as if it fell off a ripe or dried ear of corn. The candy is usually tri-colored with a yellow base, orange center, and white tip, although the color combinations may vary. Candy corn is made primarily from sugar, corn syrup and honey. Carnauba wax is usually added. Although it is most popular at Halloween, it is available year-round. The National Confectioners Association estimate 20 million pounds of candy corn are sold each year.

And here is the guilt free variety :-). My Candy Corn goats milk soap, available for a limited time. Although this soap started out with 3 colored layers, it tended to migrate, so the next batch will be a solid color - most likely yellow or orange in tone, but still a fabulous soap and yummy scent!

Customer Feedback - I listen!

You asked for it and you got it! - Freesia - yep, it's here.

Did you know that Freesia (Ecklon ex Klatt) is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa? Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan.

Name: After Dr Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese, a German physician.

Cultivation and uses:

Freesias are very popular garden plants, grown for their often strongly scented flowers. The most commonly cultivated species is F. refracta, which was crossed with F. leichtlinii in the 19th century. Numerous cultivars have been bred from these species and the pink- and yellow-flowered forms of F. corymbosa. Modern tetraploid cultivars have flowers ranging from white to yellow, pink, red and blue-mauve. They are widely cultivated and readily increased from seed. Due to their specific and pleasing scent, they are often used in hand creams, shampoos, candles, etc.
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For those of you that have participated in my soap and scent polls, thank you! It's so important for me to know which scents and products you want to have available and your feedback is what will help to make that happen!

If there is ever a scent that you don't see offered or in one of my polls you are always welcome to send an email to: suggestions

Welcome to My Blog!

After thinking about it for awhile now, I thought maybe I should start a blog and add it to my site. So, here I am starting this new venture of blogging.

I may announce new items I am offering as well as products I plan to offer in the near future. I also plan to post some fun facts, information about bath and body product ingredients and some holiday related topics as well.

You'll have to keep checking back to see exactly what I have to share with you!