Easter Baskets are on the Way

I am starting to put out the selection of Easter Baskets. The one pictured above has bubble bath, and bath pouf, a tooth brush & soap travel case and a individually wrapped cookie. I have a variety of baskets to choose from. Prices are $6.00 and up. The basket above is $16.00.

Winter Wonderland

So much for Spring. Mother Nature had other plans for us today. We had a winter wonderland. Hopefully it will all melt tomorrow and that this will be the last winter storm.

Olive Squalane

As I continue to work on expanding my offerings of bath & body products in my store, I must share my latest find. I most recently discovered Olive Squalane and I am in love with it. After doing research and hearing all the great qualities this oil has I had to try it. I started by making an all natural lotion that includes olive squalane. After the first application of the lotion, I was thrilled. I tend to have dry skin and this made my hands feel so moist and soft. I now use it as an all over body lotion and my facial moisturizer.

I will be soon offering this lotion as well as Olive Squalane in its 100% concentration that can be used as is for a moisturizer and more. These are some of the reported benefits:

Heals chapped /cracked Skin
Helps prevent UV damage to skin
Helps skin to retain moisture
Helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles
Imparts relief to dehydrated and ultra-sensitive skin
Softens the most rough-textured skin and leaves no oily residue
Helpful in counteracting conditions of eczema, psoriasis, and post-operative skin.
It can be applied throughout the day to soften dry, scaly spots.
It can be used under make-up for a flawless application and as a base to maximize the effects of moisturizers.
Squalane is also an ideal addition to nighttime facial treatments or other formulations.

Those that have been testing my samples have had great feedback and have noticed a difference in their skin. Especially those using the pure Squalane. I look forward to having this available for you to try very very soon!

Margaret Hudson Program

I had the privilege of taking a tour of the Margaret Hudson Program School in Broken Arrow this morning. The program committed to educating pregnant and parenting teens and their families to be healthy, self-sufficient, contributing members of the community and to educate the community about the challenge of teen pregnancy and parenting.

I was very impressed with the facility and the opportunity the program provides to pregnant teens and young mothers. They can take their babies to school with them and know that they are well cared for while they study and finish their high school education. Seeing all the beautiful babies was a very special treat.

I will also be speaking to the girls on Career Day in May on opportunities to start their own business. In this world that we live in, opportunities to start businesses are so available. It is possible to turn your favorite hobby, talent, or skill into a viable business that creates an additional income for your household or it can be pursued into a full-time career. I am looking forward to sharing with these girls.

Cup of Coffee Networkers

One of the best things that I have done to help grow my business is Networking. The opportunity to get out, meet people, share my business and what I do is very valuable. Not only do they get to know about my business, they get to know me. Building relationships is necessary when building a business. I also meet great people that can help me with my business. Therefore, when I heard of Cup of Coffee Networkers I was ready to participate.

This group is 100% free. A location is set up and hosted so people can come together and network. There is nothing to pay or join. Just come and network. If you want to get a cup of coffee or tea it is purely optional. New clubs are starting up all over. Check out the website here for times and locations. You can also get information about starting one in your area.

I will be hosting the new Broken Arrow group on Monday evenings from 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm. We will be meeting at Stonewood Coffee & Tea. Come out and joins us. Bring lots of business cards.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It was my intention to make St. Patrick Soaps and post them here. Well I made the soaps however I was not really focused on the task and what was to be cute soaps turned into a soaping disaster. Therefore, no soap pics. The cute little leprechaun will have to make due.

Catching up with Technology

Ok, I am trying to get up to speed with all of the current technology. I have been trying not to but see that it is no longer realistic or beneficial to me or my business to do so. Therefore, I am now up an running on Facebook and I just set up my profile on Twitter. I can't say that I am fully proficient on either at this time but it is a work in progress. I added a link for Twitter on the blog today and if I figure out how to do so for Facebook, I will do that too.

Cat Litter????? I Don't Think So!

While I was getting ready for work this morning, I had the news on as usual. On the morning show (a national morning show at that) I was listening to they had a guest come on and give some suggestions on things you can make and do at home to save money. This particular tip was on making an exfoliant at home instead of buying an expensive sugar scrub from a retail store.

I can appreciate the idea, however not the recommended ingredient. She suggested you use your cat litter. Yes, I said cat litter. She said just to add some water to it and use it as an exfoliant for your face & body. I about fell over. I don't care how tight money may be we do not have to resort to using cat litter to exfoliate. You can find many economical brands, including a Shea Butter Sugar Scrub we carry for $8.00. However, if money is tight, and that is more than you can afford to spend, you certainly can make some at home that would work.

These are ingredients you would most likely already have in your pantry.

Take 1 part sugar to 1/2 part olive oil. Mix together. If desired, you can add extra oil. This will make a nice simple scrub that will do the job. And you did not even have to disturb the kitty.

New Diaper Cake Design

This is a new design I created today. I think it is fun and cute. Hope you like it.

This product is also available here.

Sand Art

I found myself watching this and was completely mesmerized as she transformed each picture. This is done by Ilana Yahav, a world renown sand animation artist. Using only her fingers, Ilana draws with sand on a glass table. On her website you can watch her video clips and contact her. http://www.sandfantasy.com/.

Here is one of the videos.

Diaper Cupcakes

I have been making and selling diaper cakes for quite some time now. Today I started doing some experimentation with some new diaper creations for the shop. These are diaper cupcakes. I think this would be cute for decorations at the shower and then can be given to the mom-to-be to use. A 6-pack is 9.95. They will also be available in blue for boys.

The Lease is Signed

After a month of negotiating and anxiously awaiting this moment, the lease is finally signed on the new space. My lease ends in my current location at the in of May. I am excited about the new location as it is much bigger, it will have a full class/party room, and it is easier to access with lots of parking. I am so excited to take The Gift Garden to the next level. I look forward to continuing to offer a great selection of gift items, customized party favors, handmade diaper cakes, and once moved I will be adding my line of bath and body products. I expect to be open in the new location by May 1st. Until that time, it will be business as usual at our current location.

A Beautiful Day

Today was a great day. Warmer weather finally broke today giving hope of Spring. I could hear the birds singing outside while I was working inside. It was wonderful.

I was also able to experiment with some more mineral make-up. Today I worked on formulations for Mineral Veil. I think I have 2 that I like.

This week I also worked on foundations and blush. I hope to make some of these items available for sale in the near future. At the end of the day, I went to take out the trash and was pleasantly surprised to find this cute little critter in the yard.

I was lucky to get the picture as I had to run back inside and get my camera. I came back out and it had not moved. The rabbit sat so patiently while I took the picture. Too cute.

Goals and a Reality Check

In the beginning of the year I set many professional and personal goals. I was inspired by the start of a new year and the great 8 part series done by Anne-Marie at the Soap-Queen Blog. The other day she posted a check up to see how we were doing on our goals. What a reality check. I thought I was doing ok but after looking back at my list, I am not doing very well at all. Here are the list of goals I posted (I have more but these are the ones I posted):

1) Go back to weight watchers and attend meeting each week and resume work on my weight loss goals.

2) Get excercise back in my life starting with 3 times a week and increase to 5 times a week

3) Clean and organize my work room and office (I loose so much time looking for things)

4) Continue to work to pay down debt. Specifically to reduce credit card debt by 50% in 2009

5) Actively market my business. Contact at least 10 prospects each month for wholesale business.

6) Post to my blog at least 3 times a week

7) Bring my website up-to-date and maintain

8) Get my Etsy shop going.

Having this brought to my attention will hopefully help me get back on track. Yikes.....I am so off base. Well posting it here will also help with accountability. Ironically, this weekend, I picked up a book called Dream It. List It. Do It. The book shows us how to make dreams come true through the use of a life list. There website is 43Things. com where we can list goals, share our progress, and cheer others on. So now I have again listed my goals, shared my progress or lack thereof, so now it is on to cheer. Sometimes we have to be cheerleaders for ourselves too.