Did someone say pumpkin???

I just made this delicious pumpkin cheesecake and I thought I would share the recipe, courtesy of Miss Paula Dean, with y'all!




Ingredients
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.
Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Bonbons & Booze

Etsy SAFEteam (Soap Artisans Friends of Etsy) has listed a new challenge. The theme is Bonbons and Booze! Please go take a look at all the fantastic entries and cast a vote for your favorite bar by posting a comment on the blog. And the best part? One lucky voter will be randomly selected to receive a free bar from the winner!

Vote here: http://etsysafeteam.blogspot.com/2009/09/bonbons-and-booze-safeteam-challenge.html

Are You Ready To GET SOAKED?!

Do you like to be pampered? Does your skin feel dry and scratchy? Tired from a long day at work? Husband on your last nerve? Need a break?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to...

Relax and unwind with soothing bath salts!

I am so thrilled to introduce you to an amazing new bath and body shop that specializes in high quality bath salts. Owned and operated by one of my dearest friends, Get Soaked has been a HUGE success since it first hit the market. Their products are made with a blend of fine grain epsom, dendritic, and dead sea salts and combined with moisturizing glycerin.

And let's not forget about the long list of fabulous fragrances. If you are like me and can never decide on just one scent, Get Soaked has got you covered! Try a sampler, such as the 'Sweet Feelings' pack including tropical limelight, cucumber melon, and blackberry cream.

So, what's all the fuss about? What are salts good for?
*Epsom salt is known to soothe skin irritations, relax achy muscles and help to remove toxins from the body.
*Using bath salts helps to soften your water. Soap lathers much more in soft water.
*Exfoliate rough skin on your feet, knees or elbows bypouring a small amount of salts directly onto a damp washcloth.
*Take long baths without turning into a prune! Salts reduce the amount of water that passes through your skin.

The bottom line? These salts are sure to leave your mind soothed and your body smooth. So what are you waiting for? Browse the shop. Order now. Make time for you. Draw yourself a warm bath, grab your favorite book, perhaps even a glass of pinot, and get soaked! Your whole body will thank you!

If you have any questions feel free to contact Get Soaked by emailing GetSoakedInfo@comcast.net

Sometimes you feel like a nut!

CHERRY ALMOND GOATS MILK SOAP

Have you ever had a good scrubbing with cherry almond exfoliating soap? What's that? No, you haven't? Well, you don't know what you are missing! Cherry Almond fragrance has become a huge success. I absolutely love the smell. Ripe juicy cherries with just a hint of nutty almond. It reminds me of a sweet and tasty lollipop. And yes, you may want to lick yourself all over after scrubbing up with this creamy goat's milk soap! Not only will you smell great, but the all natural almond meal gently exfoliates your skin to make you kissably smooth.

But don't just take my word for it. See what a few customers have had to say about:

"Oh my, this smells SOOOOOO amazing!!"

"I think I am addicted to this soap! I love it!"

"omg delicious!"
"Best smelling soap on the planet! Thanks Sunset!!"

INGREDIENTS: coconut oil, palm oil, safflower oil, glycerin, goat’s milk, purified water, sodium hydroxide, sorbitol (moisturizer), sorbitan oleate, soy bean protein (conditioner), titanium dioxide (mineral whitener), almonds (ground), fragrance oil, colorant

NOTE: This soap does contain real almonds. Please do not use if you have any nut allergies. If you are unsure please just ask me to HOLD THE NUTS!

But wait, there is more! Can't get enough of this juicy concoction??? Head on over to Aromalite's shop on Etsy!

How about a milk bath, a candle, creamy lotion, room spray, and even body spray in this awesome very cherry scent. Take a warm bath, give your self a scrub down, don't forget to moisturize, and grab a travel body spray to keep yourself smelling oh-so lickable ALL DAY LONG!!

For The Love of Loofah

DID YOU KNOW? Loofahs are derived from vegetables that can be grown and cooked just like squash? But when allowed to mature they become a tough mass of cellulose fiber great for scrubbing!Used for bathing, loofahs leave your skin feeling clean and invigorated.

Pair with creamy shea butter soap and your favorite fragrance for the perfect all-in-one bath product! Use for cleansing, exfoliating, and massaging. Also great for shaving. Massage all over your legs and use the suds for a smooth shave.

Each 3" loofah is covered with 4 ounces of soap containing refined shea butter.

Happy Easter!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

By Hand is offering yet another amazing giveaway. This month the theme is 'April Showers Bring May Flowers'. Imagine a gift package bursting with flowery items at a retail value of $318!!!! This prize is HUGE! Can you say Mother's Day?? :)

This is just a preview of some of the items you can win! The contest is open worldwide to participants 18 and up. Follow this link to view all the shops and products including with this amazing deal and learn how to enter. Each household is allowed 9 entries. But hurry up, it ends on April 22, 2009 at 11:59pm EST.

Parlais-vouz francais?

After 14 long years, years, I finally returned to visit gay Paris again! My dear BF had a business trip planned and asked me to join him. After all, it was going to be Valentine's Day. What could be more romantic? Most days he spent in meetings while I toured and shopped the city streets of Versailles. We stayed right around the corner from the beautiful Chateax de Versailles where King Loius XIV once resided. What an amazing place covered with gold. The day I decided to visit the gardens, it snowed!


On Valentine's Day there was a stunningly colorful sidewalk craft fair offering everything from flowers to body products to my favorite 'vin chaud'! How could I pass on a cup of spicy hot wine? After dinner we hopped on a train and dashed off to the Eiffel Tower. It was getting late and unfortunately the upper most level was closed. But the mid level was still mighty high! And cold, but well worth it! Next time I will have to go back when it is warmer.

We also visited the Arc de Triumphe and Champs E'lysee, the Sacre Ceour at Monmartre, and the Louvre Museum.

1021 Sales And Counting!!!

I would love to say that was the current stat for Sunset Soaps! But it's actually how many sales there have been in the last 143 days in a wonderful chat thread in Etsy called 'Second Chance BNS'. I just recently joined this group and I absolutely love it!

What in the world is a BNS you ask? BNS = Buy-N-Sell. It's your opportunity to makes sales and friends on Etsy! The rules are simple. To join, "make a purchase from any of the shops on today's list and you'll be put on tomorrow's list for 24 hours. This is called the Second Chance BNS for a reason: If you don't have a sale the first 24 hours on the list, your shop will be put on the list the next day."

Currently, there are 53 shops participating in **this thread**. So many talented shops to choose from. The more you shop, the longer you stay on the list. And you get sales and make new friends too! What could be better than that?! Just take a look at some of the wonderful products to choose from below!

Pay It Forward

When I first joined Etsy, I was really surprised and thankful for how supportive and thoughtful everyone was. I went into the critique forum for some helpful advice on my new shop, and not one but two members immediately bought up all of my items. I was stunned, I had 7 sales in one night, my FIRST 7 sales! I was so touched that I had this brilliant idea to return the favor to another member. Since I had been so lucky I wanted to make a purchase and send some love to an unsuspecting seller, and have the momentum continue. I planned it all out and write a new thread topic called Pay It Forward. I was surprised no one responded. DUH! Little did I know the Pay It Forward (PIF) concept already existed at Etsy!

Some members choose to offer their products for free and call it a PIF! Sometimes they might ask you pay 20 cents for the listing fee and a small amount to cover the shipping fee. If you purchase this item, in return you list a PIF in your shop, and so on. I really wanted to get involved in this so last week I decided to grab a PIF. I received two pink glass bead bracelets from DeNovo. And now it's my turn. I am offering two of my rose soaps, any fragrance, as a PIF in my shop. I hope someone is able to find them and enjoy and of course keep the positive energy flowing! You can *find the details here* in my shop.

I'm Just A Girl!

I'm just a girl, a grown woman that still loves pink! I don't know why, but I am just drawn to it. I went through my favorite list on Etsy and couldn't help but notice everything looked the same! For example, take a look at all these earrings I hearted. Aren't they all adorable? How am I supposed to choose which one to buy myself?!?! I already have a pink bracelet on the way, now I need a pair of earrings, don't I? :)

Pretty in Pink

Oooooh ooooh that smell.....

It's time to place another order at Brambleberry for fragrance oils. There are so many to choose from, this is a very difficult task. They all sound so yummy that I tend to think with my tastebuds when creating my wish list. But what do shoppers really want to smell like when they shower? Give me a hand and help me narrow down my selection. Please, thanks!

Read a full description of each fragrance below.


1) White Magnolia - This floral fragrance has some supporting notes of Lily of the Valley and Freesia, as well as some intriguing fruity notes of grapefruit and plum.

2) Beach Breezes - A light Ocean-type scent. It has top notes of Bergamot and Cyclamen (a flower with a "white" scent), middle notes of Lilac, Jasmine and Lily of the Valley and rounds down to the mellow notes of Cedarwood, Sandalwood and Musk.

3) Coconut Lemongrass - A mix of zesty lemongrass and fruity pineapple. With middle notes of lily of the valley and peach to temper the citrus, the blend ends beautifully in a smooth finish of coconut and sandalwood.

4) Cucumber Melon - Juicy and ripe, and not too sweet.

5) Grapefruit Lily - Clean fresh grapefruit with lily. This is a wonderful refreshing scent.

6) Soapy Clean - A clean, unisex scent that smells just like fresh laundry.It's a wonderful neutral fragrance that smells like you've just taken shower and are all squeaky clean.

7) Ginger Fish - This fragrance is all sparkly with top notes of Lime and Lemon, followed by a heart of Ginger, generic fruit notes and a dry down of Musk. Like a really citrus gingerale drink. It's fresh, it's happy, and hip.

My old ME computer!

I know I know I have not posted anything interesting in a LONG time. But my computer is on the fritz! I need to replace it but I really don't want to. I have had it since college, it was a gift from my parents in 2000! I know what you're thinking, it's old and so am I! LOL! I should give it the boot, but I don't want to spend a lot of cash right now.

It's usable. All the content is still there, I just have really poor color quality and no functional mouse. So I have to go tab tab tab enter enter over tab on the keyboard, soooo frustrating!

But I hope to be back up and running soon! Stick around!

Guilty Pleasure #1

So, my boyfriend has been out of town on a business trip for several days. And while I love and miss him dearly, there is something nice about having the whole place to myself. I get to spend the whole weekend in my PJ's, sipping coffee, no makeup, turning the kitchen into a big oowey gooey soap crafting mess. And speaking of oowey gooey, I get to eat what I want when I want. My number one guilty pleasure today????

One giant warm chocolate cookie fresh out of the oven! What woman could resist? And later I get to watch Desperate Housewives with a bottle of wine and no interrupting man in the house? Heaven!! :)

Twuffer - Schedule Twitter tweets.

Twuffer - Schedule Twitter tweets.


Now you can tweet while you sleep, how great is that?!?!


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Princess Rose Soaps

It's chilly and snowy and cold today, so I decided to stay in with a warm cup of coffee and play with my new silicone soap molds. I absolutely love them. They are so easy and fun to use. Here is a picture of one of my finished products all wrapped up in a little cello gift bag. Want to see how they are made? Here is a quick little tutorial.


1. First I choose the type of melt and pour soap base I want to work with. For this rose, I used a 99.5% glycerin goat's milk soap base from Nature's Garden Wholesale Candle & Soap Supplies. Cut the soap into small squares and place 2-3 oz. in a microwave safe glass.

2. Melt the soap in the microwave for about 20 seconds, check and stir. If there are still solid pieces left heat for an additional 10 seconds.

3. Now you get to be creative. Add your favorite color and scents. For this soap I added a couple drops of red soap safe colorant and several drops of Romance fragrance oil, also available from Nature's Garden. You can also add glitter at this point!

4. Pour your melted soap into a rose silicone soap mold. There are hundreds of excellent silicone soap molds available for sale on Ebay.

5. Leave your soap to cool and harden. This is the worst part, I have such little patience! To speed up the process and make demolding easier, pop into the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

6. When completely cool, turn your mold upside down onto a clean surface, and gently pull away the sides of the mold and give a push in the center of the mold until POP out comes your rose!

7. Have a look at your creation, you won't be disappointed!

Not ready to start making your own soaps? Here is a link to these beautiful little rose soaps for sale in my Etsy shop!

http://tinyurl.com/75rrdp

Twitter Moms: The Influential Moms Network

Make Your Own Soap at Home! | Healthy Child Healthy World

Make Your Own Soap at Home! | Healthy Child Healthy World

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