Skin Care For Everyone!

My granddaughter got her first American Girl Doll today. We drove over an hour to get to the Mall of America's store. Inside the store it was packed with little girls and big girls oohing and ahhing over the dolls and accessories. I hadn't been in there before so I was in for a big surprise. The biggest being the price tag on the dolls and accessories(and boy are there accessories)! The dolls are almost $100 a piece and the outfits and other fun stuff you can purchase are all very spendy. Once you buy your doll you can bring her back to get her ears pierced or her hair styled, all for a price of course. There is a cute little Bistro where you can get a bit to eat and your doll gets served food too.

Being in the bath and body product business I noticed what else you can buy for your doll. A skin care kit! Yes, even your doll needs facial products to keep her looking her best!

All this is said with tongue-in-cheek. When my own children were young they wanted Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls. I'm just jealous that someone else came up with the American Girl Doll idea. They are raking in the cash while making little girls happy.

Do your daughters have American Girl Dolls? Do you? (If I had one, I'd pick Ivy or Kit.)

A "Skinny" Sangria Recipe

My new goal is to cut down on my sugar consumption. (Of course I waited until Halloween was over...) I've just been reading too much about how hard sugar is on your body. As I was checking on some of my favorite sites I came across this recipe.

By Bethenny Frankel
From Health magazine (http://www.health.com/)
Make yourself a lighter red sangria by ditching the sugar and replacing some of the wine and high-calorie liqueur with sugar-free soda.

Just slice up 4 apples and 3 oranges. Combine fruit with 1 pound red grapes, halved; 3 bottles light- to medium-bodied red wine; 1 can Fresca (or any diet lemon soda); and 1 can club soda. Chill mixture, and serve over ice for 16 servings of scrumptiousness.

Here’s the best part: Each serving has only 173 calories—that’s 125 calories saved.

So I can do some entertaining and watch my sugar intake. I'm still trying to figure out how to use agave nectar instead of sugar in my baking/cooking. Has anyone tried it?

Steps to Minimize the Risk of H1N1

We’ve all been hearing so much about the H1N1 flu. Maybe you saw Dr.Oz on Oprah telling us to take Vitamin D. Other advice is to take a probiotic each day, get plenty of rest, eat healthy, cover your cough and keep your hands clean. Here at Gathered we are working on all-natural products to help fight the flu virus.

Being a certified aromatherapist I am always looking for good information about health. On Aroma Web's site they have some excellent advice about minimizing the risk of H1N1 using essential oils. They also have some really good general advice that anyone can use. To read article go to: http://ow.ly/yqUa

Knock on wood--I have not been sick yet. I think it's a combo of extra Vitamin D, keeping my hands washed,getting enough sleep and using Gathered's Sanitizer Spray in my classroom. I really have to work on cutting back on my sugar intake. Easier said then done, looking at left-over Halloween candy!

What have you been doing to minimize the risk of the flu?

Make Your Own Shampoo and Conditioner

From an article on www.Care2.com

By Elizabeth Seward, Planet Green

Oh, shampoo and conditioner. They keep our hair clean and smelling great. While we all love being clean, shampoos and conditioners aren’t totally innocent products. Most of them are filled with chemicals that aren’t any good for our planet. Since they get washed down our drains, these are important things to think about! On top of that, the containers they come in are typically plastic. Sure, we can always recycle plastic, but isn’t it better to reduce the production of plastic in the areas that we can? I think so.

The answer? Try making your own shampoo and conditioner! You’ll save money and use more natural ingredients. And isn’t it better to know exactly what you’re using on your body?

Here’s a basic recipe for shampoo. Feel free to alter the recipe to make it work the best for your hair type.

You need:
1 empty bottle
3 cups of soap flakes (which you can get almost anywhere)
Water
Essential Oil of Lavender
Essential Oil of Rosemary

Directions:
Mix the soap flakes with the water and then add 4 drops of each oil.

For conditioner, the ingredients are probably already in your house.

You need:
1 empty bottle
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of baby oil
Water

Directions:
Mix the above ingredients together and you’re good to go!

This post was inspired by Hollywood Green

I haven't tried the above recipes but they do look interesting. Way back in my younger days I did try beer as a rinse and mayo to condition. More recently I have used vinegar as a rinse. Have you used any other home-based products on your hair?

Wordless Wednesday

Everyone has a bad hair day!

Top Ten Favorite Links of Pamper U

Hey, my hubby says I spend way too much time on the computer. Little does he know that I love reading other people's blogs. I've come away with inspiration, great recipes, beauty tips, craft ideas, decorating ideas,homemaking tips and ideas for my own blog articles.

So I thought I'd pass along some of my favorites:

http://www.bakerella.com/ a fabulous site if you love really cute baking ideas such as cake pops

http://www.cinnamonandeverythingnice.blogspot.com/ how to make the perfect pie crust (even with her help I don't think there's any hope for me!)

http://www.bitemebaker.blogspot.com/ a thirteen-year-old's blog. She's a creative baker.

http://www.hostessblog.com/ simple chic fall decorating ideas

http://www.partiesandholidays.blogspot.com/ loads of gift ideas

David J. Pollay's blog http://ow.ly/wnw great inspirational reads

http://www.naughtysecretaryclub.blogspot.com/ I'd check it out just becuz the name is fun. This blog is too!

http://www.lollishops.blogspot.com/ fun items

http://www.happynews.com/ Sometimes you just need some happy news!

Jerry shouldn't complain about my time on the computer. This week he's had a great rice/black bean dish, a pan of fantastic Nanaimo bars and I found an easy Halloween costume idea for him. Although if he figured out how much fun blogs are to read, I might never get a turn on the computer again!

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Halloween Nail Art

I found my black nail polish from last year's Halloween. Not too creative--just slap on the black. I was looking for a little more pizzazz and came across Bella Sugar's website. Bella Sugar has posted a fun guide to Halloween nail polishes! Also included are other cute things like decals. I love the candy corn idea. Now if I can just get Jerry to paint my right hand...


Check out: http://www.bellasugar.com/5390380 for Halloween nail ideas. Let us know if you decide to try one and how it turns out.