Pioneer Days at the Mill

My first festival of the year is almost here!  Pioneer Days at the Mill will be this weekend, May 1 & 2, 2010 at the Wolf Creek/Pine Run Grist Mill at 3190 State Route 3, Loudonville, OH 44842.  I sold at this festival last year and it was a huge success!  It only costs $1.00 to get in and there are lots of great things to see; the mill will be open, vendors, and historic encampments!  The festival runs from approximately 9am – 4pm on Saturday and 12noon – 4pm on Sunday.  They are calling for rain this weekend, but the temperature will be nice so don’t let a little rain stop you.  I will be there rain or shine!  And I will have all the soaps I posted below (see my April 1st blog entry) with me to sell.  As always, soaps are $5 or 5 for $20.  I will also have bath tea bags for $1.00, laundry soap products for $3.00, and soap dishes for $3.00.  I also have some soaps left over from last year that I will be selling at a reduced rate of $3.00 each.  Hope to see you this weekend!

Soaps Galore!

My week of soap mass-production is almost over! One more batch to go, and everything I have made in the last week will go with me to the Pioneer Days Festival at the Wolfe Creek/Pine Run Grist Mill. The soaps I choose to make are the favorite sellers from last year’s Farmers’ Market as well as a couple new combinations and recipes. Below is a list of the nine batches I made (that’s 135 bars!)

• Lemongrass & Orange Hand Soap (this one is new!)
• Lavender Goat Milk Bath Bar (my second-best seller)
• Honey Almond Oatmeal Bath Bar (always a favorite for summer-lovers)
• Orange, Cinnamon & Clove Bath Bar (originally made to appeal to my male customers, but women love it, too!)
• Coffee Clean Hand Soap (can always be found in my kitchen)
• Rosemary & Lavender Bath Bar (another new scent, I had lots of requests for rosemary in my soaps)
• Unscented Goat Milk Bath Bar (super moisturizing and gentle without any added fragrance)
• Double Mint Delight Bath Bar (peppermint and spearmint…my best seller last year!)
• Peppermint Goat Milk Bath Bar (a new twist on the popular Double Mint Delight)

As requested by a family member, who LOVES the mint soaps, I have added menthol crystals to my mint recipes. Menthol will amplify the “tingly” sensation when you step out of the shower. A great summer soap that will really help cool you off during the hot months.

All of my soaps now contain locally raised honey. Honey is an excellent skin moisturizer and the sugar content allows the bubbles to explode when you lather up your bar. How appropriate for a company named Nature’s Honey, right? I still get all my goat milk from some very spoiled and happy goats living outside Mt. Gilead, Ohio. For all my non-goat milk soaps, I use personally collected spring water from the Niman Spring in Perrysville, Ohio (right beside the Malabar Farm Inn, if you have ever traveled that way!)

All of these soaps will be cured by the Pioneer Days Festival on May 1-2, 2010 and whatever I don’t sell out of will go on my Artfire website, so you always know what I have available for purchase. And, please, you don’t have to order from my Artfire website to order soaps! If you are local, and most of you are, I am happy to set bars aside for you for pick-up or delivery. Just send me an e-mail at natureshoney@live.com.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Pioneer Days

Spring is just around the corner (well, technically, it is here. But we got 3 inches of snow the other day, so it isn’t here yet!) Which means spring and summer festivals are about to begin and I need to get movin’! I have been cranking out soap for my first festival of the year, Pioneer Days at the Mill at the Wolfe Creek/Pine Run Grist Mill on May 1 & 2, 2010. This is a great event, I did it last year. Lots of reenactors who set up a great camp. The Grist Mill is open and it is only $1.00 to get in!  The mill is located on State Route 3 S. in Loudonville.  The festival runs on Saturday and Sunday from 12noon – 5p.m.  See you there!

Artfire Studio Back Open!

My Artfire Studio is open once again! I will be updating as my new soaps cure!

http://natureshoney.artfire.com

Hey, look, I made soap!

I made soap today! It is my first batch of the New Year. I had a family request for my mint soap, which I haven’t made in a while and always sell out of first. Unlike my previous mint soap, Double Mint Delight, this batch is made with just peppermint essential oil, instead of both peppermint and spearmint. I’m not sure what to call it yet…any suggestions? This bar is also a goat milk bar, my first try at that as well. I added honey and crushed peppermint leaves at trace. I can’t wait to see how it turns out! Guess we will have to wait until March 11th!

Happy New Year!

We are hours away from 2010! I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year and greatly enjoyed their holiday season. I can’t wait to start making soap again…I have some great new ideas I really want to try out! Lets celebrate the New Year by making 2010 a Green Year! There are so many simple changes you can make in your life to help the Earth and be eco-friendly. How about stop using plastic grocery bags? Keep a couple eco-friendly shopping bags in your car and get in the habit of grabbing them before heading to the grocery store or farmers’ market. Switch to eco-friendly cleaning products. They are so easy to find now, all your department and grocery stores carry them. Or, even better (and money saving!) clean with water, vinegar, and baking soda!

Don’t forget, there are LOTS of indoor, winter farmers’ markets around town! Here are a couple I enjoy visiting.

Olde Worthington Indoor Winter Market - Saturday’s 10am-1pm from January to April – http://www.owba.net/winter_farmers_market.htm

Columbus Winter Farmers’ Market – Every other Saturday 10am-1pm Nov. to April (see website for schedule) - http://columbuswinterfarmersmarket.com/blog/

Holiday Gift Baskets for Sale!

I have four (4) holiday gift baskets of my ALL-NATURAL BATH PRODUCTS for sale! They are listed below. Please e-mail me at natureshoney@live.com if you are interested!

Large Basket – $40.00
Includes:
Wrapped brown wicker basket with green bow
4 – Calm & Soothing Herbal Bath Teas
1 – Honey Almond Sugar Scrub
1 – Cedarwood Sage Bath Bar
1 – Orange, Cinnamon, Clove Bath Bar
1 – Lavender Goat Milk Bath Bar
1 – Evergreen Envy Bath/Shaving Bar
1 – Wooden (Walnut) Soap Dish
1 – Loofah
1 – Light Green Hand Towel with Ribbon

Small Basket – $25.00
Includes:
Wrapped white and blue wicker basket with red bow
2 – Calm & Soothing Herbal Bath Teas
1 – Honey Almond Sugar Scrub
1 – Honey Almond Bath Bar
1 – Wooden (Walnut) Soap Dish
1 – Light Green Hand Towel with Ribbon

Small Basket – $25.00
Includes:
Wrapped brown wooden basket with green bow
2 – Calm & Soothing Herbal Bath Teas
1 – Honey Almond Sugar Scrub
1 – Lavender Goat Milk Bath Bar
1 – Wooden (Walnut) Soap Dish
1 – Satchel of Lavender Flowers (great for a clothing drawer)
1 – Light Green Hand Towel with Ribbon

Small Decorated Wooden Box – $25.00
Includes:
Wrapped decorated wooden box with red bow
1 – Calm & Soothing Herbal Bath Teas
1 – Honey Almond Sugar Scrub
1 – Goat Milk Bath Bar
1 – Wooden (Walnut) Soap Dish
1 – Light Green Hand Towel with Ribbon

Fredericktown Christmas Walk – December 6, 2009!

Nature’s Honey will be set up at the Fredericktown Historical Society this Sunday, Dec. 6th for the annual Fredericktown Christmas Walk. Stop by and say hello!

Holiday Fair this Saturday, Nov. 14th!

Join me this Saturday, November 14th, at the Westerville Community Center for their Holiday Fair!  This craft show will have many vendors from all over the area.  Some crafts you will see include jewelry, photos, handmade beads, stamps, and, of course, my soaps and other handmade bath and body products! The fair is open from 10am – 1pm.

The Westerville community center is located at 350 N. Cleveland Ave., Westerville, OH 43082. That’s at the corner of N. Cleveland and County Line Road.

Wash Your Hands!

Below is a note sent to me from a friend and Farmers’ Market patron, Wendy. It was sent to her via an e-list she subscribes, the Environmental Working Group. Please read below and take note!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Supporter,

You’ve probably been told to wash your hands since you were a kid: before you eat, after you use the restroom, when you’re sick. It’s such a simple, well-known and effective way to prevent the spread of germs.

So why are we writing about something you already do?

Because hand washing with safer soaps can reduce toxic exposures, too.

Hand washing is an effective — but often overlooked — way to reduce our exposures to toxic chemicals. Chemicals can migrate onto our hands from the many toxic products we use everyday — and the simple act of washing our hands can help reduce our exposure. This is especially important for young children, whose hands are so frequently in their mouths.

Choose a safer soap. Ironically, some soaps contain chemicals you should avoid (like triclosan). Choosing a safer soap is an important part of reducing your toxic exposures.

To help you choose safer soaps to suds up with, EWG put together this month’s Healthy Home Tip: Wash those hands — with a safer
soap.

Visit our Healthy Home Tips page to learn:
How hand washing reduces toxic exposures.
Why you should skip anti-bacterial soap.
How to identify safer soaps.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the products we handle every day didn’t transfer toxic chemicals onto our hands? But they do. EWG is working hard to provide you with the information you need to make smart choices. Contributions from supporters like you help EWG produce this important, but costly, work. Please click here to make a contribution today.

Talk to you in a month when we discuss our next Healthy Home Tip: Skip the non-stick.

Thanks for reading!

Environmental Working Group

P.S. This tip is part of our Healthy Home Tips Series. You can find our first four tips and sign up to get the rest right here.

The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to using the power of information to protect human health and the environment. The EWG Action Fund is a legislative advocacy organization that uses EWG research to promote healthy and sustainable policies.