Our Babydoll ram has been losing some of his fleece. Our oldest son decided to collect it and wash it.
Steps to follow when washing Babydoll sheep wool:
1. Filled the sink with hot, hot water. He said he got it up to 180′ F.
2. Then stir wool around.
3. Put a tiny bit of dish soap or laundry detergent in the water. Keep stirring. Not too hard.
4. Change the water. Repeat the process.
5. Lay out to dry on top of dryer.
Here is what it looked like:
Kind of disgusting, isn’t it?
Most of you are probably aware that our second oldest daughter B (almost 15!) makes goat milk soap (read more here and here). We are anxiously awaiting for our goats to give birth in April or May so we can have our own supply of goat milk. Since last summer we have struggled to find a local source, but finally the farm we bought goat milk from last February started their kidding season and we have goat milk again!
We also have a mold of mama goat and baby, a cow and a baby and a horse. Depending on availability, we will try to offer you a choice. 
Goat milk soap is one of the most moisturizing soaps around. Our soap is all natural, handmade by our daughter using goat milk and 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oils. We also leave some unscented for those with sensitivities. Other ingredients include: organic palm oil, organic olive oil, organic coconut oil, organic shea butter and lye (which is saponified.)
We want to offer two of you a chance to win five bars of goat milk soap! ($30-35 Value!). These will be our medium to large bars or a mix of the two. We are running this giveaway longer as it takes the soap four weeks to cure and she is making a new batch so these will be FRESH off the assembly line so to speak.
Ah! Love is in the air – Valentine’s Day is coming!
I remember the days of being Sweethearts – going out to dinner, flowers, & candy. My…My… can things change once kids enter the picture. Valentine’s Day has changed in our house, we now celebrate as a family. Here’s a few inexpensive ways to make Valentine’s Day a family event!
1.) Make heart pancakes for breakfast – Make your favorite pancake mix, add a few drops of red food coloring. Stir up the batter good and cook them. When they are done cooking, take a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out your heart pancakes.
2.) Heart shaped sandwiches for lunch – This is a good craft as well as lunch. Build your favorite sandwich and then use the heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out a really cute sandwich.
3.) You need flowers for Valentine’s Day – Material needed: a few sheets of colored tissue paper and a pipe cleaner for each flower. Take the tissue paper and lay them on top of one another and then twist a pipe cleaner in the middle. Fluff out the tissue paper to make tissue flowers.
4.) You can’t have Valentine’s Day without chocolate – My favorite is chocolate covered strawberries. Buy strawberries at your local store and a bag or a few bars of your favorite chocolate. Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 30 second intervals at first. Stir the chocolate. Once the chocolate starts to melt only microwave about 10 seconds or less, be careful not to burn the chocolate. Use oven mitts to take the chocolate out of the microwave, it will be very hot. Then dip your washed & dried strawberries into the chocolate, I sometimes use a spoon to coat the berry. Place the chocolate strawberry on wax paper to dry.
Enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day as a family!
About a month ago my 14 year old daughter “B” and I went to a Green Expo to promote our farm. We collected a few business cards, one of which was a local sheep farmer. I finally got around to visiting their website and discovered they sold wool dryer balls. These wool dryer balls are handmade by M.
When my older girls were little I had to stop using dryer sheets because a couple of them broke out with rashes. I never liked the expense of liquid fabric softener so we’ve basically gone without. I have used a rag with vinegar on it to get rid of static cling.
That’s why I was excited to try the wool dryer balls come in as an alternative. We have been using them since the weekend and they are working. We do not seem to have to turn the dryer on for a second cycle on our larger loads so it is doing what I hoped they’d do in reducing dryer time by soaking up extra wetness. No one has said anything about static cling yet so I am hoping that will be rectified as well.
I think I’ll get my mom a set of dryer balls the next time she comes to visit.
Do you have any dryer sheet remedies?
Arts and crafts projects are always a big hit in our household with my four year old son. They are even a bigger hit around the holidays, since we like to give homemade gifts to grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Kid Made Modern collection is a great affordable option for kids and parents alike, plus they have great holiday craft ideas. Sold exclusively at Target and target.com with nothing over $20! They offer everything from crayons & markers, to craft kits like tie-dye & ornaments.
My son had a blast using the Double-Pointed Crazy Crayons, Mini Colored Pencils, and Washable Markers to color a birthday card. The crazy crayons were nice and thick so they were easy to hold, and had super vibrant colors. My son loved how “crazy” he could color.
I loved how the mini colored pencils were packaged. They came in a tube where the cover easily comes off and you can choose your color. It was way easier for him to get them out of the tube opposed to the traditional box where they are all aligned in a row.
The markers were very unique, too. They had ridges on them like a pencil, but they still felt smooth. It made it very easy to hold and color. Any of these would make great stocking stuffers!
We also had a chance to try one of the Kid Made Modern Faux Stained Glass Ornament Kits. Even though the age on the box says 6+, I figured my four year old could do it with my help. It contained all of the supplies to create six ornaments including the directions.
My son had a great time painting the ornaments and waiting patiently for them to dry so he could see them finished. Each ornament was individually wrapped with a plastic film to protect it from getting scratched. I found this to be very difficult to remove. It took me a couple of minutes for each ornament. I wish I would have removed all of the plastic films before I had my son sit down for the project. I loved how many different color paint choices came with the box as well as two different sized paintbrushes.
It even included string to hang each ornament. We made one for each set of grandparents and a few for some other family members.
Kid Made Modern kits would make great holiday craft ideas and gifts for children this Christmas season. Check out their array of products at
It is that time of year again. Thanksgiving, then Black Friday deals and the shopping frenzy. You can either battle the crowds to get the best deal or you can shop from the comfort of home! Moody Sisters wants us to announce their Black Friday Deals! You can read Kim’s review here. Or visit their website www.moodysistersskincare.com
Moody Sisters’ Mission: To bring skincare back to the basics by handmaking each product using only natural and earth-derived ingredients.
If you are looking for eco-friendly, all natural (REAL all natural) skincare products then you have to check out Moody Sisters! You can follow Moody Sisters’ Facebook page to see when the Black Friday coupon code goes live or subscribe to their newsletter to get the coupon codes early.
Also keep your eye open for a new Moody Sisters’ review and giveaway in the upcoming weeks. Brande will be reviewing some cool products.
So are any of you going shopping on Black Friday? Me? I’ll be nice and toasty warm in the comfort of my home!
Christmas Stockings were one of my favorite things to open on Christmas day. We did them for several years with the children and just got out of the habit because stocking stuffers were costly having 8-10 Christmas stockings to fill. My mom use to fill them with batteries, makeup, hand lotion, lip balm, maybe a nightie or something rolled up, socks, ribbon candy, shelled nuts that we had to crack ourselves, a huge apple and orange that our hometown’s grocery store only stocked at Christmas time.
Here are my 2013 Christmas Stocking Ideas, most of them personal care products:
1.800Razors.com, especially for mom and dad. They shave really well. My husband thinks for a disposable razor it shaves the closest he’s ever experienced. I really like mine too. I like that we get to keep the razor and only buy replacement razor blade heads. The razors have lasted quite awhile too. I think we are both still on our first head and it’s been over a month since we received them.
2. Shaving cream to go with those razors!
3. Burt’s Bees lotion. Our oldest daughter has been using this for her dry skin and it helps a lot. When we use goat milk soap we do not even need any moisturizing lotion.
4. Bumble and Bee Organic lip balm. This lip balm has become one of our favorites! Not only do they have lots of flavors but it works!
5. Flash Drive. On my wish list is this Ningxia Red USB thumb drive. I think it’s cool!
6. Toothbrush and toothpaste. I know our children would be very excited to each have their own tube of toothpaste and not share with a sibling! It’s the little stuff, right? Same goes for lip balm too.
7. Our daughter’s handmade goat milk or cow milk soap! It comes scented or unscented and in several different molds. Not all are showing on our sales page.
8. A kitten! An 8 week old kitten would fit perfectly in a stocking and make your child’s day! And no our kittens are not for sale.
What are your top 2013 stocking stuffer ideas?
I’m always on the hunt for free and fun activities for my family. Lowe’s has a fantastic program called Build and Grow. On my daughter’s first visit she received a Lowe’s apron, a hammer & protective goggles to borrow and her project. When she/we finished the project we returned the hammer and protective goggle and she was given a certificate and a patch for her apron! She loves the iron on patches that she earned and loves to show them off on her apron.
So, far we’ve built 2 monster trucks and a “Croods” the movie planter. Our next build is a sweetheart frame on May 11th.
Click here or head over to Lowes.com and search for Build & Grow to sign up at your nearest Lowe’s for the next free activity for kids!
Last week I published a Goat Milk Soap Wordless Wednesday post that showed the process of making Goat Milk Soap. This week’s post is showing the finished product – bars of Goat Milk Soap. This process involved grating the bars, melting it down again, adding essential oils. Remember, we use Young Living Essential oils as they are 100% pure therapeutic grade. Plus, we like the way the company is run and how they own many of their own farms – they have an open door policy, offering tours and even inviting people to come help with the harvest. I sooooo want to go some day!
We love this Humming Bird mold.
My daughter used a kitty cookie cutter to make a few small bars of soap for the children.
This soap mold required cutting the bars and you can see how soft they still were; because of this we are going to allow our soap bars to cure another week or two so they are firmer before selling them. We did sell a few bars over the weekend, just not as much as we wanted to.
By the way, happy spring!
Ta-da….Goat Milk Soap curing for 4 weeks. We are going to melt it down again and put it in molds tomorrow to sell at two events this weekend!
