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Melt n Pour Soaps Updated Letter From the Editor How to Naturally Color Easter Eggs High Fiber Bread and Soup Diet! Truly Soft Bed Sheets Repair Stained Clothes Yes, Easter is the next "pink carpet" to roll out. To get a copy of one of my first simple works, How to Naturally Color Easter Eggs, click here for the PDF. It is an oldie, but goody.
Bath Oil Vials
The next
novel idea was to truly save fragrance oil by making pre-made pipettes that absorbed
1/10 of
Melt and Pour Soap Making, The Self Apothecary, and the Bathroom Chemist books will be getting all new covers to depict the newer techniques. The photo to the left is the backdrop for my Melt and Pour Soap Recipes book. Click the thumbnail for closer detail to the soaps. This month we find we love "Red Clover" essential oil for our shampoo and soap bases. It has a very clean and refreshing scent. We also like "Cotton" for our candle scents which also provide a clean and refreshing aroma. Both are offered in our new craft center.
I think it is really very funny that I am smiling in all these photos, but the truth is, I turned 40 yesterday and am confronting one of my biggest health challenges ever. It has always been acceptable to write about and talk about "diets" but not so fashionable to discuss possible results, such as colon trouble. I know everything in moderation, but I feel I have done the high protein diet enough to severely deprive myself of fiber over the years. I am writing this in case you are running the same path. Other general issues to be aware of: not drinking enough water, or walking enough. These last few months have been a real personal journey about thinking I know everything, more so about my health. Last summer I appeared bloated and ran right to water pills which I never use. The pharmacist even commented bloating can mean more serious things and he did not like the pills at all. He would recommend no over the counter water pills. Well, I bought them anyway but lost no water. I wondered why not. If I only knew that he was right, bloating can be signs of something more serious, and that dehydrating myself further was an awful idea. But if you have never been truly sick, you can think you are invincible. By Thanksgiving I looked pregnant. That generated a doctors visit real fast and he suspected ovarian issues and began treatment for that. It was not until I landed in the hospital before Christmas that I saw all that high protein life style did have a profound effect on my body as I am sure it does other people like me. Some things you can never fix. So, I re-thought the CarbMaster book I wrote. I wanted to take it off the shelves. I decided since some people are bent on being thin, and will buy such a book anyway, I will offer both views in the book on the subject. There are times you must admit you are wrong and I would say this was one, at least wrong to myself. I think a high protein diet is OK a few times in younger years when a person is in good health, but not as a constant lifestyle. When I heard the word "fiber" I really had to read up on it. It was a new one on me. After a careful review of what I usually do eat, it is quite understandable I sure earned the status. I rarely eat fast food, but this is not about a junk diet. I ate tuna and many foods considered elite. In the fiber research I learned a bowl of All Bran in the AM is great, usually gives half the daily allowance of fiber, and too much fiber, over 30 g a day is not good. Opting for whole wheat instead of white is also a very important move. Yogurt smoothies are just the best and believe it or not are very high in fiber and good for your digestion. Chai is still great and kidney beans really take the ribbon on fiber, and Chili at Wendy's seems to offer the only fast food fiber if you are on the run. The Soup and Bread Diet comes from two worlds. The old Hunan Bread, (high fiber) diet that fills you up and the old hippie Miso soup diet. I really had to turn to Miso soup when having to eat liquids. I like it, it takes like beef broth, but as I said everything in moderation. If you would like the two page PDF file on the bread and soup diet please e-mail me at mabelco@tampabay.rr.com . Here is a gadget I finally succumbed
too! I passed this in the grocery store on more than one occasion To start with, it saves money in the fact you are not dumping expensive fabric softener at random. Each time you use it, you are using a very controlled amount, I estimate 2 ounces of fabric softener. Great guide for kids. I am sure it beats the 1/2 of the bottle I used to dump. (There is a law of diminishing returns--the more you dump does not mean always the more fragrant.) Better yet, I add 1/10 an ounce of fresh cut grass fragrance oil to it, and BOY do you have clothes that smell like they were air dried on a clothes line while a lawn mower went by and nailed the clothes! I learned some time ago soap and many fabric softeners are made of OIL. Yes, Oil. I also like this ball because you do not need a fabric softener well on your washing machine, and if you do have one, it will never become dirty or full of gunk. So, less cleaning over all. Thank you Downy! So, I really like the Downy Blue Ball. For a great article on soft sheets, please read below. For more on How to Aromo Your Entire Home, click here. How to Get Soft Bed Sheets and Freshen Towels Since sleep is 30% of your life, this
article is very important. Twelve years ago my Mother in Law gave I asked many people and they could not even understand what I was getting at. I bought a set of the expensive 400 count cotton, and noticed they sure do need to be ironed and they were not it. Finally, in disgust, I found a very worn label on the old sets and they said "Springmaid No Iron" 50% Cotton 50% Poly Percale Sheet. Boy did I get the answer! Poly or not, they felt like soft pure cotton, and still are very soft after some 16 years! I am sure they were not 400 count, maybe 200. I did some web searches and I see Springmaid is a very old line. I do see a few companies with this No Iron Percale mix and I will make sure I invest in them as I need sheets. But in case you did not even know what you are missing, now you do! I would consider that a very true and long lasting wedding gift. I read where an expensive hotel spritzes their guest towels with peppermint, as you would use a room spray. This seems like a very cool idea and another way to get the feeling of royal treatment in your own home. How to Aromo Your Entire Home! Since we figured out almost all soap has oil, we also learned using fragrance oils and essential oils around the home can remarkably increase ambiance without costing much more than a few quality cleaning products. I figure you need at least ten ounces of fragrance oil at minimum a month and thirty ounces total if you want to cover the main living and kitchen areas. Feel welcome to visit our new fragrance center and receive a free oil warmer and two 8 ounce sprtizer bottles for any orders totaling over 32 ounces. Click here to select oils. Beyond the applications listed below, I even use residue oil to wipe a counter or toilet seat down. It makes the house smell just great. Some essential oils, such as tangerine, can also be used as a lip balm flavoring and does emit a soft pastel orange color at the same time! I like to use a potpourris or fragrance oil burner in the main rooms. These are also known as candle "tart" burners and fueled by a tea light. As much as I love making candles, I do get tight on time. I refer below to using a burner in the main rooms. Electric burners are available for nursing homes and college dorms that do not allow candles. I did a study, however, and a 26 ounce soy candle in the kitchen or living room (with 2 ounce of fragrance oil) does throw as well and does last twice as long than just throwing 2 ounces of straight oil in a burner. This is because the candle has fragrance binders and the law of diminishing returns. Meaning, the straight oil throws much more fragrance than the nose recepts and exhausts itself too fast. But I am into straight oil for now. My neighbors can smell it a mile away! As much as I love tart burners, and Downy, it is not advisable to put Downy in an oil burner. I tried it as as an experiment, an economical alternative to fragrance oil. The house smelled awesome, but the Downy caused a small lava looking explosion after being heated to long! It burped and burped until it let loose. This is one reason why we should stick to the use as described on the label! Below are great ways to get fragrance oil or essential oil into your life! First, see home made Febreeze (1 Part Downy to 3 parts Water) for general carpet areas, 6 ounces baking soda with 1/10 fragrance oil as vacuum up carpet freshener. Spritzer Bottle. Trace fragrance. Laundry Room: 1/10 of an ounce Cut Grass or Cotton in Fabric Softener for clean scent. You can also spritz a hand towel and throw it in the dryer for a self made "bounce." 3 ounces a month total. Bathrooms: 1/10 of an ounce Vanilla or Lavender in bath. 1/10 ounce of Red Clover or Rosemary essential oil in all shampoos and conditioners. 6 ounces a month total. Bedroom: 1/10 of an ounce with water in 8 oz spritzer. Shake well. You may want to add 1/10 an ounce Rose essential oil to your basic cold cream's etcetera. 1 ounce a month total. Kitchen: 1 ounce of fragrance oil every two days or candle. McIntosh Apple or Cotton for a clean smell. 15 ounces total. Living Room: 1 ounce of fragrance oil every two days or candle. McIntosh Apple or Cotton for a clean smell. 15 ounces total. I also use orange oil or Tangerine over some wood, some surfaces and to remove any wax residue. I am the queen of spilling things on my clothes. They last about a month with me. Whether it is an oil slick, coffee stain or spaghetti spot, I manage to do it right. Last month I really nailed so many new sleep shirts I got just this last Christmas, I spent one day painting flowers and designs over the stains with fabric paint. I used stencils of stars and flowers and vines to go down the shirt and make the design look deliberate. They came out great and I am no hand artist. In do this, I saved about 5 good shirts from the trash bin. Anger Management Submitted by My Buddies at Boeing
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great 20 minute
family project and so I came up with bath oil variations to soak with. I was
able to use bright colors, but the colors must be oil soluble. The one
hypothesis that did not work out was to put soap or bubble bath in them. Now
that did make the gel cap break down altogether. I was aiming for a confetti
mix to give to people, oil, torpedo and bubble bath beads all mixed together.
When making bath oil beads, try to use them within a 30 day period. The
capsules will start to break down after that. I
found
great bath salt tubes to package them in, also offering the packaging in 
an ounce,
MORE than enough for one
bath. I now keep my favorite bath oil pipette
mixtures by the bath in a "Tepee"
look. That way of packaging is what you see to the right of this
page. I simply took 20 pipettes in my hand and they automatically fell into a tepee
after placing ribbon around the mid section of them. I sealed each pipette
prior by simply dipping the end in paraffin that was not too hot. The user
would simply snip the tip off when using a vial for their bath. This is another copy
right idea for Mabel White Dot Com.
me three sets of bed sheets and they are
the only sheets I have used since. At the time she gave them to me, they were
already four years old and I guess she felt she was ready for new ones. Used
or not, I always found them so soft and comfortable, I could not understand why they
were better than the sheets I had back then. Most importantly, they never
developed little balls even the modern high count sheets seem to be prone too.
Now I am ready to buy new sets, and I began a hunt for what material she bought in
the first place. I felt any label on her sets would be long gone, so I did not
bother looking. 