And the award goes to....

Since the Academy won't let us say "And the winner is..." anymore.  Oh, but this isn't the Oscars.

Sooo, today's The Day. I was supposed to spend the morning baking cookies, but instead worked on how to do the drawing for The Clean Giveaway.

I counted up all the entries: one for a comment, one for following Carrie on Twitter, one for Liking the Under The Willow Facebook page, one for each re-tweet of the giveaway. So here they are, the entries (and yes, I did get some butter on the paper...oops) - Jaime, Stace, Janet G, Michelle, Kathy x 6, Squid (for My Kids Eat Squid) x 3, KP x 4:

All cut up and ready to go in the bag:

Son2 helping me pull out a name:

And the winner is.....

Stace!! (I know you're all in awe of my fabulous iPhone photography.)

Since I know how to get a hold of Stace - I am a regular stalker of her blog - I'll go notify her now. It'll make her day; my presence has that effect on people. Hah.

Thank you to everyone who entered and played along, particularly Kathy who helped re-tweet this several times to her many followers. I urge you all to go try Carrie's products even if you didn't win!

And for those of you who are looking for a seriously hefty giveaway, check out:
http://www.theculinarylife.com/2011/win-a-le-creuset-deep-covered-saute-pan/

Have a great week!

BREAKING NEWS this just in: Stace has generously donated her prize to Kathy in the spirit of the season and because she was seriously impressed by the number of entries Kathy had. Thank you, Stace!!!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

A clean giveaway*!

(Please tell me you got the pun!) Anyone who knows me in person knows that I'm obsessively clean about certain things: floors, sinks, toilets, and bathtubs. I could let windows go until it appears to be perpetually foggy outside and it wouldn't bother me much. The things I obsess about are things that we're in constant contact with the most. Window?! Pu-lease.

So, you can imagine my giddiness when my order of Laundry Soap from Under the Willow came with a  sample of Carrie’s newest creation: Cottage & Castle, an all-purpose cleanser.

Regular readers may remember – if you’re not forgetful like I am – that I’ve raved about Under the Willow’s products, in particular her Laundry Soap, which come in a range of scents.

Anyway, I’m always game for trying new cleansers, especially earth-friendly ones. So I used Cottage & Castle on my bathroom sinks, bathtub, and Corian kitchen sink.

Cottage & Castle comes in a powder form. The directions are simple: sprinkle, then scrub with a wet washing cloth, rinse. Carrie also sells microfiber cloth; I used a sponge and that worked great too.

I don’t have granite bathroom sinks and my tub is just fiberglass, but Castle & Cottage did a fantastic job on all those surfaces. It also made the tap and spigot shine, shine, shine! And a little bit went a long way.

The ultimate test was on my Corian sink. The instructions that came with the Corian countertops said to use only non-abrasive scrubbers and Bon-Ami cleanser. Well, guess what? Cottage & Castle worked at least as well as Bon-Ami, plus, it has an incredible scent!

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a scent gal. Scents calm me, make me smile, or transport me to a far-away time or place. So having that lovely, but not overpowering, scent in Cottage & Castle definitely did it for me. I don't normally smile while I'm cleaning, but Cottage & Castle put a smile on my face.

In honor of Small Business Saturday, I’m offering one of my readers a chance to win a package of Cottage & Castle. You can see for yourself what a great product this is!

If Laundry Soap is more your style, you may choose to get a package of that instead, if you win.

To quality for this giveaway, just leave a comment as to whether you’d like the Laundry Soap or Cottage & Castle.

For an extra entries into the drawing, do any or all of the following:

~follow @CarrieGarvin on Twitter, and let us know your Twitter handle in your comment here

~re-tweet this giveaway to your followers on Twitter; again, let me know your Twitter handle in your comment here

~blog about this giveaway – this will net 2 extra entries - give me the link to the post in your comment here

~LIKE the Under The Willow Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Under-the-Willow/201527673599 - and comment on her Wall that you’re entering this giveaway

I’ll put all the entries into a random drawing on Tuesday, December 6^th. If I have a way to contact the winner – through Twitter handle, or on the Under The Willow Facebook page, or if you left a contact in your comments - I will get in touch with you. If I have no means of contacting the winner, you will have one week (Dec. 13) to get in touch with me to let me know your mailing info.

*Giveaway is only open to those living in the U.S.

Good luck!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

But before the pie...

I want to show you the terrific things I'm using; I promise it won't be TMI!

I've been getting Product Body's Crush on You subscription, and have to rave about it. Joanna's scents have been outstanding, and Crush is the thing to use if your hands always dry out when you wash them. Crush is the only soap product that moisturizes my hands as I wash. It's much more than just a soap; it's a yummy scrub too.  This is the current "flavor" (pardon my lousy photo) -

And continuing on the fabulous products theme, Under the Willow has re-opened shop! Carrie makes fabulous soaps, laundry soaps, creams, and lip balms with delightful scents that remind me of home: cozy, comfy, and inviting.  This is what I got in the mail yesterday - not shown is the Twilight Sky scent laundry soap, which I had already put away and used 3 times today:

My only concern is that when I have the Cupcake lotion on, I may want to keep licking my hands, like a cat...LOL!

I sure know some talented ladies!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Under the Willow giveaway!

I'm back, sort of. I have a million (slight exaggeration) emails to catch up on (mostly read quickly and delete, but that still takes a lot of time). In the meantime, I want to do you a favor and tell you about the Under the Willow Gift Shoppe's giveaway! ;)If you've never used Carrie's laundry soap, you are totally missing out. I can't recommend it highly enough. My favorite scents are Home for the Holidays and Lavender Grace, but you can be the judge. Carrie offers this laundry soap (made using her own handmade soaps!) in many scents, and they are all amazing. But enough sitting around reading this; go enter, or go buy some!

p.s. the giveaway scent is Whispering Rose!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

...these are a few of my favorite things!

This past week, I encountered lots of my favorite things. One of my favorite things is knitting, so starting off, I finished another hat. This one dh, the fuss-budget, actually liked and decided to take it even though I was knitting it for myself.
Then, a lovely package arrived in the mail (not brown-papered and tied up with string, but the contents were equally wonderful) from Michelle (Blog of the Soap Pixie). Michelle made a bevy of lovely things for me! Clockwise from top left: a pretty card, a folder of bookmarks and tea bags (details below), a bar of her very pretty soap with a cool and cute packaging (she'll be selling these soon, so keep an eye on her blog for it!), a box of mini-cards, a lavender eye-pillow, and a dazzling holiday bracelet (that I've been wearing ever since I received it).
Here are the mini-cards close-up. Is that ever sweet, or what?
And here's the nifty folder with all the bookmarks and tea bags! Ds#1 already has dibs on the frog bookmark. :)
A day or two after Michelle's package arrives, Joanna's Product Body box of goodies got here. I was running out of Whipped Shea, and bought a couple of jars of that plus their new holiday scent gift box.
Tadaaaa...the holiday scent gift box opened up...obviously the gift was for myself. ;)
Sweet Jo gave me some extra goodies for free: see the cuuuuute pink bag with the following yummies? She also gave me (see first photo) a Hyacinth Bath Bomb that smells intoxicating and that I intend to use as soon as I can spend some quality time in the bathtub.
Another wonderful thing that came in the mail is Carrie's Home for the Holidays laundry soap. I wanted to get more before she sells out because it's my absolute favorite detergent right now! Carrie, always the dear, sent along a couple of little gifts for the boys - I can't show you exactly what they are because they don't get to open them until a couple of days later. ;)
A close-up of the pretty, embroidered towels that Carrie includes:
And last, but definitely not least, I spent a lovely Friday morning with my IRL and blog friend Cake (Whistling Leaf Blower). She checked out our garden, such as it is in the winter, and also brought me my Pay-It-Forward/swap gifts: a psychedelic bookmark for the boys, a pack of cosmos seeds (one of my favorite flowers), a mistletoe sprig, a jar of pear chutney, a pebble hair clip, 2 felted soaps (woohoo!!!), and a coin purse made with the top of an orange juice container (very cute, very creative).
Here's the coin purse, opened up:
I just loooove this hair clip!
So there you have it, some of my favorite things indeed! It was a good week, and with the weekend gone, I look forward to another good week.

What has been some of your favorite things recently?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

You mean it's not Thursday?

Dang...I missed posting this for Thankful Thursday. But, please humor me and pretend it is still Thursday!

I'm thankful, once again, for my soaper pals! I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful these ladies are - their talents, generosity, and loving spirits keep me cheerful even when I'm feeling annoyed by life in general.

I want to give a special Shout-Out to three soaping friends before I talk about the fourth. My Tadpoles and I want to give heart-felt hugs and thank-yous to (in alphabetical order) Carrie (Under the Willow Gifts), Michelle (Blog of the Soap Pixie), and Trisha (Suds to Love) for supporting our little enterprise!

And now, I want to show you some photos from another generous soaping pal: Sherrie (Birch Bark Soap).

Sherrie mentioned that she wanted some saffron in herTwenty-Two Pleasant blog and since I had some that we weren't going to use, I gave them to her. In return, she sent me a whole bunch of goodies that are so lovely, I had to post about them. Here are the goodies:Sherrie sent 2 bars of her delectable soaps (I'm not going to share the Orange Vanilla...nyeah, nyeah to my guys):Sherrie's very talented photographer husband, Adam, gave me some gorgeous photo cards:Sherrie also threw in these super-cute mini slate labels. Can't wait to use them on my jars!Thank you again, Sherrie!

I am very lucky and very honored to have made friends with all of you!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Science, food, donations, and free samples...all good!

What a lovely day Thursday turned out to be!

For a change, our biology labs (courtesy of Meg, Get In Hang On) worked out great. It was very exciting to see lactobacillus (the stuff that makes your yogurt wonderful). ;)

Then, I made a Honey Pecan Pie because I had a pie crust in the fridge I forgot to use. This is one of my favorite recipes because it doesn't call for corn syrup (which I try to avoid), and it's super-duper easy.
Honey Pecan Pie
1 C honey (I used a jar of honey that our neighbors brought back for us from Croatia!)
1/2 C butter, melted
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1/8 t salt
1 1/2 C chopped pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Combine first 5 ingredients; stir in pecans. Pour into unbaked pastry shell. Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes.

I'd also like to mention that Carrie (Under the Willow Gift Shoppe) bought the little tea light holder that ds#2 had made and placed on Artfire, so, Carrie dear, I'll be making a donation...in your name!And speaking of Carrie, here's where the free samples come in: Carrie's looking to give away free samples of her fabulous (trust me as a customer on this one!) laundry detergent. Go get 'em!!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Under the Willow brings sunshine to my life!

I'm positively panicking at all the stuff I need to get done this month (granted, it's a good panic...LOL!), but it's so nice to be cheered up by friends, such as those of you who drop by to comment. Carrie went the extra step and brought some nice-smelling sunshine into my life!I received this beautiful package from her yesterday; is that not the sweetest face-cloth you've ever seen?In fact, it was so pretty and darling, I almost couldn't bare to open it. But curiosity got the best of me, and I was glad I opened up - more samples of Carrie's absolutely fabulous laundry detergent! How did she know I was down to my last scoop of the previous batch she gave me?! To put me in the Holiday Spirit (yeah, I'm ready for Christmas...bring it on!), she put them in a festive holiday pouch that she sewed herself. If you hadn't tried Whispering Willow Natural Laundry Soap already, you really, really MUST!
Back to writing NaNo, on which I've fallen behind already, and sniffing my laundry.... ;)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Under the Willow Wonders!

I adore all my talented soaping friends and they all have a product or two that I love, so I make my rounds when buying soaps so that I can give them all some business and get my fix of my favorites at the same time.

One of my dearest soaping friends is, of course, Carrie (Under the Willow, and Mud Puddle Girl), the lovely proprietress of Under the Willow Gifts! I bought some soaps from her (including her best-selling Cambridge Rum), and she included extra goodies of: delectable Decadent Body Lotion in Whispering Satin (which smells like a glamorous, nostalgic perfume), and a jar of laundry detergent in Lavender Grace.

I love the sweet little bags that Carrie's soaps come in, and especially want to draw your attention to the uber adorable embroidered leaves on the bag to the left: But what I want to rave the most about is her laundry detergent! OMG...it is a wonderful laundry detergent! Now, some of you may remember I made my own laundry detergent not too long ago. It works quite well, but the fragrance just doesn't seem to carry over. Carrie's detergent not only cleans beautifully, but the Lavender Grace scent actually lingers much better than mine. And, oh, what a scent it is! If you dry in a dryer, the fragrance does seem to dissipate, but if you line dry, the scent stays (a bit better on the synthetic fabrics than on the cottons). Carrie includes a cute little scoop and has instructions on the tag for both HE and top-loading machines. I highly recommend buying some of this laundry powder to try it for yourself! You will thank me for recommending it to you! =)
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Someone very special

I missed posting this for my Thankful Thursday post, but really want to give a big shout-out to someone who has been very supportive to my family in our creative endeavors.

Not only is Carrie a super talented lady, making wonderful soaps, and sewing beautiful creations, but she is been a big supporter of the crafts that the boys make, buying their themed soaps and ceramic plate. She is also the first customer at our new Artfire store. She really is like their fairy godmother, spreading sunshine to our lives!

I cannot thank Carrie enough for the joy she brings us; I'm so grateful to have her as a friend.

Go check out her sweet blogs, in the links above, and also here, to get to know this wonderful lady better, and to buy her terrific soaps!This is one of Carrie's "Unconditional Lovies" that she made; isn't it the sweetest?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

We were not alone...

...traveling with us to Vancouver were a bunch of my bloggy buddies! Ok, well, not in person, but their products went with us.

There was Carrie's Spiced Apple soap, Trisha's Winter Wonderland soap and lipbalm (as well as her Crantini soap that she kindly gifted to my sister), Joanna's Champagne Road Wash, Elizabeth G's Dreamsicle lipbalm, and also her cute-as-pie purse, seen here exhausted after daily use in Vancouver:I hope you ladies had fun with me, vicariously!

After our return home, one of our first meals was this lovely plateful - clockwise from top: chanterelle mushrooms from our yard, sauteed in butter; the last of our previous year's green beans cooked with our homemade sun-dried tomato paste; a slice of terrific pizza from Pizza X; our own tomatoes topped with dh's homemade tzatziki made with our own cucumbers.
After we got home, we had to go pick up the materials for ds#1's biology lab course from Meg, so she and I exchanged our pay-it-forward swap gifts. You will not believe the works of art she made! Meg does the most gorgeous leather crafts, and she made me a set of stunning coasters:Each coaster has a different flower, and she even wrote what each flower is on the back of the coaster:Take a look at the wonderful detailing:Many, many thanks, Meg!

I've enjoyed the swap/gifting thing so much I'm thinking I'll have to do it again. Maybe I can organize something like the Christmas gift exchange that kids often do in their classes. Those who are interested can sign up, and I can pair names up by pulling 2 out of a hat at a time...that way, we'd only each have one swap partner and don't have to scramble to make 12 gifts or something. Any thoughts on that, anyone?

I'm looking forward to a moderately quiet week this week. What about you? Any fun plans?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Love from the very special Carrie-Gigi!

Carrie, who has two terrific blogs that I read: Mud Puddle Girl and Under the Willow, and who also sells wonderful soaps, pretty fabric bags, and the cozy Billows, has bestowed some love on me, once again. Those of you who've been here for a while know how special she is to me. I love her products (scrumptious soaps and nourishing hand creams, among other things) and she loves ours (our fun-shaped soaps and ds#2's ceramic plate). The blog awards she gave me are
As usual, I find it hard to re-bestow (is there such a word?) awards because I am so fond of all of you who visit me and whose blogs I visit. But, I will pass this along to those in the right hand column of my blog: all my "followers" and all those blogs I have linked to that are a part of my "must-reads".

Now, go out and enjoy your Saturday! :)

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Soapers are so wonderful!

My most recent example is from Under the Willow Gifts. Look at these goodies from Carrie; she must have given me twice what I had bought! (Remember my other post about how she ordered some soaps from my son, and then sent us some presents?) This lady had a heart of gold and a charitable soul.I feel very lucky to have found this community of soap makers who give so freely of their knowledge, time, and products.

Firefly Mom, it's not just that I'm addicted to soaps, but I think I'm addicted to the friendships that result from my love of soaps! :)

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet." ~ James Oppenheim

Carrie-Gigi, you're an absolute darling!!

Did you see that?? Not only does Carrie-Gigi place an order with us, making my son very happy, but she sends us stuff with the check! Is that a first in the history of retailing? ;)

Her bags are beautiful! The beige one is made from organic fabric too...wow!! You can find her wonderful bags and soaps at both her website and her Etsy shop! Thank you, Carrie-Gigi!!!!

Ok, sorry, ladies...I know I have some comments to reply to but must do it a bit later...have to run again for now. Happy Saturday!

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet." ~ James Oppenheim