Thursday, September 30, 2010

Abundance of Autumn: Harvest Day at The Lamb's Tail Antiques

The weekend began with temperatures in the low 80's on Friday afternoon where I live. By 8 o'clock that evening it had dropped to the 60's. The remainder of the weekend weather was decidedly fall. It was the ideal time to go to a harvest festival. At 10:00 Saturday morning that's exactly what my good friend and I did! One of our beloved places to shop is in a small town about thirty minutes from where I live. The Lamb's Tail Antiques in Armada, Michigan is housed in a red barn that is quite literally "filled to the rafters" with all the types of needful things I like...

Handmade, re-purposed, french country, primitives,
antiques, locally harvested botanicals, pumpkins and gourds,
 bittersweet, Sweet Annie, local honey and specialty tea blends...
sigh... I declare... it's a little slice of heaven!

Harvest Day 2010 at The Lamb's Tail Antiques in Armada, Michigan.


One of the gorgeously decked out tents

The fabulous finds my good friend Angie and I left with.


Now that it's Thursday and another soccer-free weekend, I know where I'd love to be going....
If you're in the area stop by The Lamb's Tail Antiques and tell Bonnie hello for me!

Have a great weekend!


P.S. Here are a few more pictures of the cute things I bought last weekend....

I bought this vinatage wool blanket at Harvest Day 2009.

Round scrabble tile necklace, $6...I know, 6 bucks!

Colorful long skinny scarf, $17.50

Re-purposed purse/tote made from a man's woolen suit coat, $29

Thursday, September 23, 2010

About Face

One of the most difficult things about switching from conventional beauty products to greener ones is knowing what to buy.  I went through a long period of trial and error.  Not knowing which ingredients to avoid and being uneducated about ingredient "lingo", I wasted so much time and money. In no way are my following recommendations meant to imply that I'm an expert on skincare. Rather, these are some products I've found to be beneficial for me and my skin type (which alternates between combination and normal(ish). I notice these variations depend upon outdoor (and indoor) weather, as well as hormonal fluctuations. I again encourage you to use cosmeticsdatabase.com as a resource for learning which products and ingredients to avoid.  Many books have been published about natural/organic/green beauty. Check out a few from your local library to start educating yourself!

I've had a few people ask me what I use to wash my face. To be honest, I switch up my facial care routine slightly when the seasons change. As the seasons change, so too does our skin's moisturizing needs. One of the most dramatic changes I ever made was using face lotion on my whole face, even the oily T-zone.  It amazed me that my T-zone slowed it's oil production once it received the correct amount of moisture. Similarly important, but often ignored, is moisturizing the skin on your neck. But I digress, I meant to discuss facial cleansers. I'll save the topic of facial moisturizers for a different day.

Some facial soaps that I recommend:


I {heart} Calendula, 5 ounce bar, $4

Calendula Castile soap, $3.35** for 5 ounces

Nature's Edge Farm's "I {heart} Calendula" is a nice facial bar that works equally well on your entire body. Unfortunately, this soap is NOT currently available. It's on the curing rack and will available in a few weeks.  This soap is worth the wait as it's neither overly drying nor does it leave you feeling greasy. Keep a close eye on Nature's Edge Farm new website for the I {heart}Calendula as well for some tempting autumn soaps that will debut very soon!

In the meantime, try a new formulation that's extremely gentle on your face, Calendula Castile. It's available now at a ridiculously low, moving sale price on Etsy**. This palm oil free soap is made with olive oil that has been infused with calendula. Calendula petals also add to the "pretty factor" of this soap as does the fleur-de-lis stamp. Packaged very "greenly", this bar features a handmade lotka paper label.  **I've been using this bar for the past week so that I could give you my honest opinion about it as a facial bar. I have to tell you, it's very nice. The bar isn't a high lathering bar which makes it particularly well suited for the face. It has left my face very soft and well cleansed.


Rose Clay soap, 5 ounce bar, $5.50

In the winter months I like to use Aunt Nancy's Rose Clay Fragrance Free Facial bar. This gentle bar gets it's rosy pink hue from rose clay. This soap is so mild that I've used it to remove mascara  without any irritation whatsoever!


 Baby Face soap, 4.5-5 ounce bar , $6
 Michigan-based Relic Soap Co. makes another mild facial bar that I adore for washing my face each morning and night. I used it for most of the summer but think it would be an ideal bar in the winter months as well.   Baby Face  artisan soap is so gentle that I actually use it to wash off my mascara. Baby face does contain lavender essential oil, but it is not overly fragranced in the least! Other key ingredients include goat milk, french rose clay, chamomile and calendula flower extracts.


Some soaps that I would LOVE to try:

Alchemic Muse's Sublime Skincare Complexion soap.  Alchemic Muse offers 6 different formulations to choose from. 

Sublime Skincare Complexion soaps,  2 ounce bars, $6
 Botanika: "to balance and refresh oily, acne-prone skin types"
Nectar: "excellent for any skin type"
Paradox: "brighten and revitalize dull skin"
Oceania: "to nourish and purify the skin"
Elixir: "to rejuvenate and restore mature skin types"
Panacea: "to soothe and restore problem skin types"


Rosehip & Geranium facial soap, 3.5 ounces for $6
Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium makes a Rosehip & Geranium soap for normal to combination skin that sounds divine. I've purchased plenty of items from Charlene's Etsy store and have had loved all of my purchases. This facial soap is currently only available on her main website, bathhousesoap.com. Please visit her main site or her Etsy shop for other indulgences for the bath.


 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Hydrangeas in autumn

Just picked these beauties to grace our kitchen table.
Hello Readers,
I wanted to share this picture of the hydrangeas I just picked. I hope you can see the pinkish~brown hue mixed in with the pretty green flowers. I don't recall them ever turning this color before.

Have a lovely afternoon,
Deanna

Monday, September 20, 2010

What is your favorite thing about autumn?


I absolutely, positively, without a doubt, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE autumn! Always have, always will! When I was a kid,  fall meant back-to-school. I really loved school. I also had an odd love of school supplies. Paper products in particular, had a peculiar effect on me. Perhaps it was the feeling of unknown potential of that blank paper. Or maybe I was just a bit "off", lol! I was (and truth be told, still am) somewhat of a geek in that regard. I continue to have a fondness for notebooks, journals, sticky notes, grocery list pads! If it's cute, I want it! Later this week I'll share a few Etsy finds I've recently spotted that just may quell my "addiction" to paper.

Since this is my favorite season of the year, I have a plethora of fall things that I adore. Below are 5, in no particular order....

1) Wearing jeans again
2) Cider
3) Pumpkin picking
4) comforting scents like apple, cinnamon, clove, vanilla &  pumpkin
5) Crockpot cooking

I pose this question to you... 

What is your favorite thing about autumn?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

First Giveaway

Just a reminder: tomorrow is the last day to be entered in the drawing for the September giveaway featuring lovely handmade creations from LouBird Handmade. If you haven't made a comment please do so for your chance to win! You may also become a fan of My Handmade Addiction on Facebook for an additional entry. If you have a blog, link to this post for a third entry! Best of luck to all!




Hello Readers,
I'm happy to announce my very first giveaway. The giveaway will run from today through Thursday, September 30th at midnight EST. One winner will be chose at random using http://www.random.org/  on Friday, October 1st, 2010.

Karley Ziegler Mott, owner of LouBird Handmade, donated these lovely floral hair bobbies and matching ring!  The gorgeous pink shade is truly seasonless so the lucky winner can wear them year round. Once again, thank you Karley for sharing these hand-crafted pieces with my readers!!!!


You will be entered to win these pretties by doing one or more of the following:

1) Make a comment below.
**Please include your current email address**

Score extra entries by:

2)  Becoming a Facebook fan of My Handmade Addiction 

3)  Linking to this post on your own blog.



♥  Best of luck to all of you  ♥





Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Dog Ate My Homework....

I call this "Sophie on Stripes"

Hello all,
I owe you an apology. I hope this doesn't sound like a lame excuse. Let see, since I lasted posted  my electricity went out, I traveled for a weekend-long soccer tournament with my family, celebrated Labor Day at our family's annual party and I survived the chaotic preparation for back-to-school.

So... I have NOT been blogging. Bad job, I know!  I plan to be back on a more regular basis starting the week on September 13th. I will then be announcing my September giveaway! I think you'll like it :)

Stay tuned!