Valentines 2009 Edition

           

  Making Product & Saving Money

 Green Tea Food Recipes  

Cultural Focus:  Chinese New Year   

              Oriental Themed Body Formula's   

Extending the Life of Your Perfumes

Green Tea Bath and Body Recipes

   

 

Silk Floral Selection & Design

 

 

 

Letter from the Editor:        

Rose Care....Lucky enough to get roses and want to arrange them professionally?    Pick a vase 1/2 as tall as the roses.  Make sure you have a vase ready of cool water ready before your start.  (Warm water will cause them to bloom too fast.)  Be sure you cut each stem at an angle so they can drink as much as possible.  I also use a utility knife to get rid of any thorns and give each rose more ways to drink!  Remove any leafs that fall below or near the water line.  If you do not, you will have a smelly mess a few days later.  Click here to watch floral design in a vase-if you are REALLY into it!

Simple to arrange:  To arrange, put one rose on on side at a slant, and then another rose on the opposite side, at a slant.  Keep working your way around--spinning the vase to make it even.  Keep your longest rose for the middle.  When they are in place, spin your vase around to pinch off any "working" petals.  These are petals that make look bad and have defended the flower.  I am not big on Baby's Breath--except alone in it's own vase.  Alone it looks breathtaking and simple, like snow on winter tree limbs. 

I love Ting Ting for almost every holiday arrangement and gold ting ting and/or red seems to work for all occasions.  What is ting ting?  It is like glitter sticks you add three or four of to a finished arrangement.  Ting ting adds flow, movement, height and a sparkle of "fun."  A beautiful bow also can be added to make the arrangement exceptional.  I mainly keep gold ting ting and gold ribbon on hand because it suits almost any occasion.  Florists at the grocery stores can usually give you a few that you can reuse. 

If you use Baby's Breath in your rose design, it is placed in last as a "filler" for empty spots.  Just spin the vase around to fill gaps and make it all look even.  Crushed Aspirin and 1/2 can of Sprite--to the rest water-they sure do love.  Try to change water every fourth day.
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No Flowers?  Here is a thought!

'Cash, check or charge?' I asked, after assembling charming Valentines items woman wished to purchase.  As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. 

'So, do you always carry your TV remote?' I asked.'No,' she replied, 'but my husband did not buy me anything for Valentines, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally. And here is his Amex card- Amex told me on TV not to leave home without it!'


 

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Silk Flowers a Long Lasting Luxury

As London taught me, SPOIL YOURSELF!  Do not sit around and wait for Mr. Right to do it.  So, as the economy gets gloomier, I make my area bloomier!

As a conceptual writer I have to stay upbeat and afloat.  I now make it a point to not watch the news and increase the beauty around me.  Last year I took advantage of the fact Roses were $9 a dozen.  They definitely did cheer me up all week and were always placed close to where ever I am working.  I buy creams, light pinks, butter creams, plumerias, and sometimes-if I worked hard that week, a dozen of each.  I am so use to gazing at them in my thought time-I can exchange for real silk flowers when fresh flowers go astronomical in price and I would not know the difference.  Many silks these days look absolutely real and are worth the investment so you always have them within your horizon.  When I display silks, I will spray like a "rose" room spray in the area, or "lilac" and so on-to add a second dimension of enjoyment.  Some silks are actually plastic now, very well done, and far easier to clean.  These can be incorporated into fresh arrangements as the "fill" of back drop.  The wild flower spray above is one great example.  I bought the most of that particular style because it was the start to my over all "theme" which was relaxed, free flowing, casual yet classical and most importantly, realistic.

             
   

Luxury you can afford.  Fresh Roses are not considered a necessity and why the prices drop to a realistic mark up in a down economy.  Fresh cut flowers at a reasonable price is one of the many opportunities.   Even in a down market, when Valentines [my birthday] hits and roses become $22 a dozen at minimum for weeks into Mother's Day. Hello SILKS!  From February to June I will arrange silks, pretty much the same way I arrange fresh.

   
   

How to make your own silk floral arrangement?  Tour every silk floral outlet and buy only the ones that look the most real.  You will have your hands full just with those.  I took my purchases with me to each store to make sure I had a match the total color palette I was aiming for.  I like off white/crèmes a LOT so I can throw seasonal colors in to a huge stunning arrangement and do little else-as each season changes.  As with Gold, it fits almost any occasion.

I knew I needed 12-22 stems for each home arrangement. I pretty much stayed with a soft wild flower but classical theme.  A "believable" arrange is important with believable colors.  People know Roses do not come in bright purple, or blue even.  And they sure do not come ion gold or silver glitter!   I try not to cut them, but to bend them to the size I need.  That way if I need them longer in the future I can un-bend them.  You can also add green sticks to the bottom and use floral tape to make a special bloom stem longer-if you must.  Sometimes I have to do that for an outstanding focal flower that is destined for the center.  Again, ting ting may be thrown in for beauty as well as "believability" to the eye.  I don't do marbles, they do not look very believable.

Best Supplier:  Afloral.com

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Candle Recycle: Making Marbleized Pillars

Find your stash of spent candles or hit your friends up for their "spent" candles-or start making them save them now.  Buy some votives at deep discounts to whack and chunk.  Do a one week collection and just separate by colors into bins.  Everyone has spent candles.  Pick the RIGHT wick.  A metal one when using paraffin.  And fat enough to burn uniformly.  You can get paraffin wax right in the canning section of your grocer store!  It is like $2.99 a pound.  Sure I am into natural but in this economy, paraffin is cheap and makes a gorgeous finished product.

Industrious projects I would pursue in this economy is like Chunk Pillar Candle;  making candles from "spent" ones, and making "chunk" type pillars.  Here you are simply pouring clear hot paraffin over old chunks of spent candles.  You would need a mold-so invest in a good one.  Depending on what colors you arranged together, you can have a gorgeous expensive looking candles.  The hot paraffin "melds" everything together and gives a marble effect.  Two draw backs: It may "smoke" depending on the quality of prior used materials.  Pillars and even Votives have a "lava" effect where the wax goes somewhere.  Have SAND on hand for your base and clean up will be a total breeze.

I arrange all of my stand alone votives and pillars in sand and/or shell-in a gorgeous glass bowl.  This way I have beauty and little clean up to speak of.  I simply swap out candle colors/scents as the seasons change.  You can get sand from places where they sell kids sand boxes. 
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Caring for Your Precious Perfumes, Scents and Butters

If your lucky enough to get real perfume, keep in a cool, dark place.  This is why real perfume should stay in the nice box it usually comes with--and not displayed out in the light.  Unless you use a lot of it, in that case you may not worry. 

When someone gives me an ounce of real perfume, it may take me a year to use it.  When it is 3/4 full, I will add a 1/2 teaspoon of ROE (Rosemary Oleoresin Extract) and 1/4 teaspoon of Dendtritic salt, because it will extend my shelf life another good year once opened.  I did this with an ounce of Channel #22 (a rare and hard to find scent) I received a few years ago.  I just used the rest of it over the past holidays and it was still perfect in scent.  Casmir, by Chopard, in another favorite of mine.

To remind you of what our essential oils guru, LeAnn Ketcherside wrote some time back, Dendtritic Salt and ROE is great for a natural form of preservation and the biggest bang for your buck.  Click here for her former article on ROE and here for her former article on Dendtritic Salt.  These two ingredients truly are classics and weather the test of time.
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Turning Your Oils and Butters into Soap

As a start to the new year, time to do some "spring cleaning" on your raw materials.  I always loved the Rumpelstiltskin story spinning straw into gold.  In this case we are spinning aged oils and butters into soap!   Before I get going on "Soap" I hope you all started your "craft gift basket area" and pillaged and salvaged every bow, decoration and box you could during the holidays! I went to the dollar store and picked up candles just for the pretty shape of the jar!  Pretty glass is so expensive to ship in.  After burning the candle, I  reuse them to make my own soy candles. 

Cold Process Soap

I am talking to some women who have had carrier oils over a year.  Yikes.  First, smell them.  If they are "ok" get ready to make a lot of soap with them.  The old fashioned lye type.  That is about all you can do when you are up against a good carrier oil about to meet rancid.  Rancid is a smell you will never forget--the smell of vomit may be a good key indicator.  So, easy to tell when an oil is becoming "off." If your oil is old--but still not nearing the "off" smell--say hello soap day.  I think a year is way old for oils and butters.  And when oils and butters are not kept cool, and in a dark place, they are easily compromised.   Even my Bee Pollen Oil, after a year, should be made into soap.  Someone called me with a gallon of it and wanted to make lip balm, (after a year.)

In fact I agreed with these customers we would all aim for the same day to dedicate to soap making,  so we can support each other long distance.   I need to make 180 pounds of soap, because I have fresh stock in and will not sell "iffy" dates.  I noticed I am stuck with the high end oils--like borage, rose hip, because it is so expensive--it does not rotate as I want it too.  I called Leeann Ketcherside, our former essential oils expert who is the guru.  She is about to have to make a whopping amount also-her stash of oils and butters are nearing  a year.  But her back is still not recovered and she needs a day when her husband can take off work to help her lift things.  She said she adds so much ROE to her oils when they come in, she does not worry as much.  We do also, we learned that practice from her--but still, I am determined to make soap.  The big issue is where to get the Lye.  Lowes does have it, it is called Roebic and look for the crystal form--not the liquid form.  It comes to $3 a pound since it comes in a two pound container.  Look in the plumbing section.  Make sure it says Sodium Hydroxide as the only ingredient as Roebic sells quite a line.  Above is my first go around, just to get back in the groove.  The Marble technique I wrote about in  The Natural Soap Maker and the other photo "Savonettes." Meaning little bath soap balls in that bowl above.  Leeann also taught me that--to shred leftovers and pack as hard as you can.  That is a work out--who needs a gym?

We have a soap mill who already makes our Castile and Goats milk, more set up for such a large scale project.  I had given some thought to shipping that 180 pounds to the mill.  But the shipping would probably be outrageous.

Melt and Pour, you can shred or chunk old designs and make new ones, or melt them back down and make soap on a rope incorporating fresh essential oils.  So grab a cup of coffee, or tea and set a day aside to create!  Click here for how much money you save making your own products.  It was a newsletter after thought based on feedback I am hearing.

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Green Tea Bath and Body Recipes
 
The best way to care for your skin is to keep it hydrated!  Water, green tea, Rooibos, and lots of it!
 
The Orient has always been state of the art in skin care.  They were one of the first developing cultures and I deeply respect their values.  I will be flying to Tokyo and Singapore for Harry's Teas, so I am studying up fast on culture and customs.  For starter's you can powder Jasmine rice in a food processor for basic powder.  Tapioca is also another neat ingredient.
 
When making lotion or crème, Green Tea can be infused and look a tint of green, depending on what type.  It will be very light in color.  The way we make lotion and crème in a blender has not changed.  Click here for that and here to buy EmulSoy.  We also sell Green Tea Flavor oil, I use in my own lotions and crèmes.
 
Matcha powder is basically the finest ceremonial green tea in a powdered form.  We now use "Matcha" powder to make face masks.  This can also be infused to achieve a natural bright green color for lotion making infusions.  Delicate Matcha powder has a rich sweet taste and is naturally pure . It contains rich in vitamin C, E and many minerals. It also contains an important element of Polyphenols.
 
Matcha is an excellent source of rejuvenation. A new beauty treatment for refreshing and revitalizing the skin is to apply a mask of fresh green tea powder mixed with natural ingredients. This is a natural and inexpensive way to a fresher, clearer skin.  You could do a 1/2 matcha and 1/2 green clay base, and make a paste with a little liquid.  Remember, hot steaming towels are always an elegant trademark of the orient.  If you cannot afford the Matcha, try buying a bright green tea in bulk and making a powder form in your food processor.  You can also buy Matcha Powder here.
 
 
Green Tea With Egg White Facial Mask
Place 2/3 teaspoon Matcha with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl,
Add 1 teaspoon egg white,
Mix into green paste,
Use 2 cotton buds to apply green paste on face, avoid eye area,
Wait 10 minutes,
Clean face with warm water.

 
Green Tea With Lemon Juice / Milk Facial Mask
Place 2/3 teaspoon Matcha in a small bowl,
Add 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or milk, ½ teaspoon clear honey,
Mix into green paste,
Use 2 cotton buds to apply green paste on face, avoid eye area,
Wait 10 minutes,
Clean face with warm water.
 
Green Tea Milk Bath
1/2 Matcha Powder
1/2 Dry Milk
Mix well and enjoy with candlelight!
 
When using any infusions, whether it be herbal or teas, for lotions and crèmes, you will have to add a preservative at 1% of the entire formula.  And take care not to get the preservative on you.  We wear gloves when handling any preservatives.
 
 
Blue Malva petals make the most beautiful purple infusion for the water side of lotion making.  Plus, Blue Malva purportedly has a slew of properties ranging from aphrodisiac to anti-inflammatory.  I would use Evening Primrose oil as my carrier oil. Infusing dried red rose petals on the water side also produces a beautiful pink lotion.  I used our Rose Flavor oil for the pink lotion that was infused with red rose petals.
 
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Green Tea and Rose Lip Balm
 
Yes, we actually have green tea flavor oil!  I also use it when I make green tea lotion.  Rose flavor is popular and mixes nicely with the green tea flavor oil. 
 
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Oriental Theme Body Care

Buzz words include:  Almond, Bee Pollen, Coconut, Coconut Milk, Cassia, Cajuput, Ginger, Green Tea, Honey, Lemongrass, Lime, Lychee, Mango, Patchouli, and Rose. 
 

The Chinese New Year

I have usually associated the United States New Year with the celebration of the Chinese New Year, and decorate accordingly.  I recently learned the Chinese New Year is much longer than ours, and the date depends literally on the moon! 

The Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.  In 2009 the Chinese New Year starts on January 26th. 

Prior to New Year's Day, Chinese families decorate their living rooms with vases of pretty blossoms, platters of oranges and tangerines and a candy tray with eight varieties of dried sweet fruit. On walls and doors are poetic couplets, happy wishes written on red paper. These messages sound better than the typical fortune cookie messages. For instance, "May you enjoy continuous good health" and "May the Star of Happiness, the Star of Wealth and the Star of Longevity shine on you" are especially positive couplets.

Etiquette dictates that you must bring a bag of oranges and tangerines and enclose a lai see when visiting family or friends anytime during the two-week long Chinese New Year celebration. Tangerines with leaves intact assure that one's relationship with the other remains secure. For newlyweds, this represents the branching of the couple into a family with many children. Oranges and tangerines are symbols for abundant happiness.

Superstitions and Customs

The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.

Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New Year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out. Making your own lanterns is easy and fun.  Click here for a site that shows children how to do it.

Fortune Cookies (an excerpt of Making Fortune Cookies by Judea Bentley)

The fortune cookie, like chop suey, is a U.S. invention that is often thought to be from another country. Fortune cookies actually come from Los Angeles, where Canton-native David Jung, a baker and restaurateur, began making cookies with thin slips of paper inside sometime around 1920. Jung founded the Hong Kong Noodle Company, which was producing more than 3,000 cookies an hour in the 1920s.  Jung handed out these cookies, which contained words of encouragement, to the poor and homeless people on the streets.

 

 
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Every Day Recipes With Matcha (Green Tea Powder)

 

  Delicate Matcha powder has a rich sweet taste and is naturally pure . It contains rich in vitamin C, E and many minerals. It also contains an important element of Polyphenols, Although it is possible to use Matcha in a wide variety of recipes, it is important to remember that it originates from Japanese tea ceremony. Therefore, it is a very special type of tea.
 


 

  Matcha - "Green Tea Cappuccino"
Optional - Warm a Japanese tea bowl or a cappuccino bowl with hot water, empty and dry the bowl.
Place ½ teaspoon of Matcha into a Japanese bowl,
Add 1/3 cup 60 degree water,
Use a bamboo whisk or a teaspoon to whip the powder to green froth,
Drink it right away, in three or four sips,
(If it is sipped leisurely, the green tea powder will settle to the bottom and the tea won't be as pleasurable.)
In traditional tea ceremony would be served with a sweet or 2 slices of Yokan (red bean jelly.)
 


 

  Green Tea Cake - Taka Tea Garden Specialty
Use home tea cake recipe.
Place 1 tablespoon Matcha in a large mixing bowl,
Add Tea Cake ingredients,
Add 3 eggs and 150ml milk,
Add 4 tablespoons (80g) vegetable oil or margarine or butter,
Stir all ingredients until it is even consistency,
Follow below instructions:
"Preheat oven, Grease cake tin, Place mixture in tin, Place in oven to remove cake, Invert tin to remove cake etc…"


 
  Green Tea Ice Cream
Soften any 1 litre container of vanilla ice cream at room temperature,
Place 2 teaspoons Matcha with 3 tablespoons of softened vanilla ice cream in a small bowl,
Mix into green paste,
Place green paste into 1 litre of softened vanilla ice cream,
Stir ice cream until it is an even consistency,
Store in Freezer,
Serve once hard.
(Use a home made ice cream machine for a better result.)
 


 

  Green Tea Banana Milk/Soy Shake
Place 1 ripe banana,
Add 1/2 teaspoon Matcha,
Add 200ml cold milk or soy in a mixer,
Optional - add 1 teaspoon honey or 1 raw egg,
Mix 30 seconds.

 

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How Much Money You Save Making Your Own Product

I never really discuss how much money you save by making your own custom products. In this economy, it is really important.  That 180 pounds of oil I am about to render will be about 250 pounds when water is added.  So, this will produce about 750 bars of great soap.  A street value of $3,000 or more.  I will most likely donate it all to the Salvation Army.  I do not mention it much, but we donate a lot.  Such as all the floral arrangements produced in my video's went to retirement homes as a surprise and it was a lot of fun to visit each room and give a quality arrangement. 

In this economy I highly recommend "bartering" and we will set up such a system.  Kind of like the seed exchange ladies do their thing!  Some of my customers are great at making soap--some just feel confident making candles.  So, we will work on this new system as we build our message boards.

I just located one article I wrote about how much money you save making our own product, so here it is...

The Bottom Line (Repeat from 10/31/2005 D.R. Dolen)

I have been preaching "making your own products" for years because it is easy, does produce a higher quality product and saves you money.  Some people have to actually see the savings to get the drift.  Yes, most of your money is in good containers, but they are generally reusable.  Even so, you are still saving money.  Below is a chart I created so you can compare the maximum it should cost to make about ten of each of the items below--from a per item view:  (If you click the link it will take you to the main supplies to make each item.)

20 Ounce Candles $4 Saving $16 each
Lip Balm, .5 Ounce $1 Saving $4 each
Any Balm, .5 Ounce $1 Saving $4 each
Solid Perfume, .05 Ounce $1 Saving $6 each
Lip Gloss, .05 Ounce $1 Saving $5 each
Room Sprays, .05 Ounce $1 Saving $5 each
M&P Soap, 4 Ounces $1 Saving $4 each
Cold/Hot Process Soap $1 Saving $5 each
Lotion, 16 Ounces $2 Saving $8 each
Cleansing Milk $2 Saving $12 each
Body Scrubs $1 Saving $12 each
Bath Seltzers/Bombs (2) $1 Saving $4 total
Bath Salts, 16 Ounces $1 Saving $8 each
Milk Baths, 8 Ounces $2 Saving $6 each
Edible Love Lotion, 4 Ounce $1 Saving $5 each
Edible Love Dust, 4 Ounce $2 Saving $8 each
Chocolate, 4 Ounces $2 Saving $6 each

 
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The Apothecary

A good Apothecarist  can preserve most any food as a fundamental skill-with emphasize on salt, dehydration, canning and basic rotation and storage.

A good Apothecarist  is resourceful and can exchange like for like when resources are low.  They know waters, oils, acids, fats and powders.  They know shelve life a a  little chemistry as well.

 

Read about Ringo a dog flown in from Katrina.  Official Bio of his owner and short Bio RSS Syndicated Feeds on the environment.  How Twitter is best used.  Deborah Dolen Books on Amazon.   Review of her books on Open Library,  Paperback Swap, Good Reads and ReviewScout.  You can also read Google Profile.    Deborah Dolen on MySpace Facebook, and Flickr.  This is our favorite blogspot.   See Deborah Dolen on YouTube and her last book written London Apothecary and book.  For more environmental articles on water and oil.

 

Visit Deborah on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/deborah.dolen MySpace   http://www.myspace.com/deborah_dolen Twitter http://twitter.com/DeborahDolen or BlogSpot http://deborahdolen.blogspot.com/   Buy Natural Liquid Soap!  It is much safer than commercial brands.  Natural Liquid Soap for People or Natural Liquid Soap for pets.