Are your children safe in the tub?

My Mom recently e-mailed me an article from health.usnews.com. It is discussing a study on common baby washes, shampoos, and lotions. The study showed a large majority of products tested contained the chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. It goes on to say that these have both been linked to cancer. As a parent I was shocked that these chemicals and known carcinogens are legally in products used on your family's skin. I was also disapointed with the article's lack of information about the different products tested and the risks involved with using these products. There were 28 products tested and only 5 named?? I looked for more information since this article was lacking in some pretty important areas. At least in my opinion.

I ran across this article by The Washington Post. It is a little more helpful but still does not answer all of my questions. According to the Washington Post there is "Modest Risk From Children's Toiletries". Then they said that these chemicals have not been tested to find out their risks as a carcinogen when used on the skin. This quote from the article really made me wonder. "FDA has not concluded, based on risk assessment, that the products containing these substances are injurious under intended conditions of use," said Linda M. Katz, director of FDA's office of cosmetics and colors. So, basically you (the FDA) have no idea if these products are safe or not but you think they might be so you continue to allow them to be sold to parents for use on innocent children!

I want more information before I feel safe using many of the "cleaning" products on the shelves at most stores. I am sticking to natural handmade items. Please let me know if you know of any helpful articles that discuss this in more detail.

What do you think about these articles? Do you buy any of the products listed? Will you still use them?

GIVEAWAY ~ Cold Process Lavender Soap

To celebrate the upcoming addition of cold process soap to my shop I decided to offer a FREE 4 ounce bar of undyed lavender made with essential oil to one of my wonderful blog readers.

How to enter to win:
Check out 1 of my shops Pamper Me Please or The Creators and pick your favorite item listed for sale. Then post a comment on this page about your favorite item with your contact information. One entry per person please. I will announce the winner on Monday, March 16th!

Ingredients: olive oil, distilled water, coconut oil, palm oil, sodium hydroxide, grapefruit seed extract, and lavender essential oil

Lightbox

I have been putting off buying or making a lightbox for several months now. Many people said they work great and that it improves your pictures a lot. So, while my Mom was visiting this weekend we made one so I can take pictures for our new shop we are starting. So far I have been very pleased with the results. After a little cropping and editing the pictures look great. I used this awesome lightbox tutorial . I could not find the Bristol paper in the size used in the tutorial so I bought a white sheet and I think it works good. I have a couple of items listed in our new shop with pictures from the lightbox. Let me know what you think. The Creator's

My busy but wonderful life

I have not had time to blog in a while so I thought I would do a quick update. Last week I was sick with a flu like bug and this week the baby and I both got a stomach virus and shared it with Daddy. Wasn't that sweet of us. lol

Business related topics:
I have some wonderful cold processed lavender un-dyed soap curing. I can not wait for it to be ready. I hope to make some more this weekend. I am going to start selling bar soap in my shop in March. I am thinking about a soap giveaway...hum, what do you think?

In the next week I am going to be listing my new shower gel and bubble bath as well. They will be available in all our fragrances, 60 plus scents!

My husband Dave and I have been running our shop Pamper Me Please and I help my Mom, Patsy with the computer and picture related parts of her shop. We have been talking about going to one shop for and have finally decided to start a shop with all 3 of us selling products. Our new shop is going to be www.thecreators.etsy.com. We are all very excited about it and working hard to be ready for our Grand Opening on April 1st. Yes, April Fool's Day. lol

Orders have been pretty steady this week and I am very happy about that. I made 72 bath bombs today along with getting other orders ready. :) Keep it coming!

Hope everyone has a great Friday tomorrow! Nana is coming to visit us for the weekend and will be here tomorrow. The kids are so excited!

Chemo Angels - HELP NEEDED

There is a program called Chemo Angels that helped my cousin's 3 year old daughter last year while she was going through treatments. She sent me an e-mail and said they are very short on volunteers. If you or someone you know is interested in helping there are many ways to get involved or they could also you donations. I believe there is also a Senior Angels program on the same page if you are interested in helping a senior citizen.

Here is a short description about the program taken from their web-site http://www.chemoangels.net/.

"About the program...
Chemo Angels is a volunteer organization dedicated to adding a ray of sunshine to the lives of those undergoing IV chemo treatment. We believe people going through the physical, emotional and mental rigors of chemotherapy deserve some encouragement. Many of our Chemo Angel volunteers are cancer survivors themselves, or people whose lives have been affected by cancer in some way. Our common denominator is a desire to brighten the lives of cancer patients while they are going through this challenging time."

Thanks for your help and support!

Curtain Updates

The old curtain that is wonderful shades of baby poop green and yellow on a beige background is on the left and my new linen colored curtains are on the right (they are not shiny like they showed up in the picture)

I have really been in the mood to update things around the house that have been bugging me since we bought our house in Nov. '07. Unfortunately, I have a long list of things I want to do but not enough time or a large enough budget right now. I was able to mark a couple of things off my list while we were out of school because of the ice storm. I finally have new curtain in my living room. We have a huge window that is 16 foot long in the living room that has been covered with drapes from the 70's literally. They are some of the ugliest curtains I have ever seen. Since our window is so big it was seriously expensive to get new curtains so I have just be dealing with what we have. I found a wonderful sale and was able to get new curtains and a scarf for my window for about 1/3 the regular price!! I am so excited.

I will post so more pictures when I get my scarf up as well. Also, I am working on new lighting fixtures in a couple of rooms and painting. All handy people are welcome to come over and help. :)

New Products

Lady Bug Hair Bow


What would you do if you were stuck at home for more than a week thanks to an ice storm? Well, I have been working on new products. I have already added hair bows with many more to come. I am also in the process of adding hand knit items, body wash and bubble bath. I am very excited to be offering my wonderful customers new choices. I am going to try to list everything in the next week.

When the going gets tough...

I recently went to the store with my kids and saw a true act of kindness. We were walking in on a windy and cold day last week. I was rushing in to get out of the cold and not paying much attention to the people around me. We stopped to get a cart and I overheard a lady and man talking beside us. There is a local group collecting gently used coats, sweaters, gloves, ect. for people in our community that can not afford to buy what they need to stay warm. The lady was saying "I sure wish I could get one of those coats". When I looked up she was wearing a t-shirt, pants and sandles. It was 33 degrees outside without the wind chill. She went on to say her husband was on disability and she was just laid off from her job so they could not afford a coat for her. When she said that to the stranger standing beside her took off his coat and told her to put it on to warm up. She shyly took the coat from him and put it on. He told her he needed to do something and would be right back for his coat. He walked into the store and came back a few minutes later with a bag in his hand. He asked her if she would mind holding it for him while he put his coat back on. She took the bag from him and when she looked up the stranger had disappeared. She glanced to see what was in the bag in her hand. It was a brand new lady's coat and a note that said "hope this helps".

There are a lot of people in our country and around the world that are going through rough times right now. If you ever listen to the radio, watch t.v., read the newspaper, or surf the internet you are bombarded with all the negative thoughts you can handle. What can we do about it? Other than hope, pray, and hang on....I propose we do our very best to support those around us. Of course your family and friends but what about the people in your community. You do not need money to make life better for others. Here are a couple of ideas to help and encourage others that cost very little or nothing at all. If we pull together to support and encourage those around us maybe this world will be a little more bearable for everyone.

Make a card for a neighbor
Serve food at a soup kitchen
Volunteer service at a local charity
Smile at a stranger
Donate items that you and your family don't use any more
Hold a door open
Visit seniors in a nursing home
Have a neighborhood potluck

Please help me with my list! What ideas do you have to help others?

Oh Crazy Day

Tis' the season for cold, flu and stomach bugs. Would you like to guess which of the three we had in our house this weekend when the septic tank decided to backup and we could not get a plumber to come out until Monday? Gross I know but that is what we get for buying a house in the country. According to them it was NOT an emergency situation. I would not want to see their idea of an emergency. My husband and I were both sick but so far the babies have not gotten it and I hope it stays that way. I have not been that sick in a very long time. Thankfully we are both feeling better now and the plumbers are at the house as I am typing this. I really hope everything gets fixed because my husband and I both have finals to study for next week. Wish us luck.

Hope everyone had a better weekend than we did. lol

Pearl Harbor - Thank You

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all USA Veterans for their service to our country! I was an Army Brat so the military will always hold a very special place in my heart. Our military and their families make amazing sacrifices for our freedom everyday.