And the winner is.....

...Congratulations blogger Mir!! You are the winner of the Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe contest!!

You have 24 hours to respond to the email we sent or we will pick an alternate!

Thank You to everyone who participated in this great contest!! We love you guys!!! And a HUGE thanks to Amanda @ The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe for sponsoring this giveaway!!

Again, Congratulations Mir!!! :)

♥Amy

Mireio Feature and Giveaway! ( Closed, winner announced)

I would like to introduce everyone to Wende the very talented owner of Mireio.

Mireio specializes in luxurious and relaxing spa products, fragrant soy candles, beautiful vintage glass candle holders, and much more!

I met Wende through the Etsy forums, and her shop immediately caught my eye. She makes such luxurious products, and best of all, they are affordable!

I had the chance to ask Wende a few questions about her and her products; here is what she had to say:

Q: How long have you been making your elegant creations, and what inspired you to start doing this?

A: I'm the child of a seamstress, so I grew up sewing. But it took me a long time to work up the courage to actually sell my work. I've made housewares for my own home for years before I took the plunge last fall and started Mireio. As for inspiration, before I opened Mireio I had a vintage store online that did very well. But I found over time that I really wanted to create with the vintage materials that I was finding. I love to mix new with old and find new uses for long forgotten items. So I'm a big fan of upcycling and recycling and refashioning. Creating a new use to something beautiful is a thrill!

Q: There are a large variety of handmade items in your shop from candles to napkins, which do you like creating the most, and why?

A: I must confess, I'm fickle. I tend to love whatever I'm working on at the moment. But if I had to choose, I'd say creating custom orders for people is a real joy. I love listening to what they want and need and then coming up with something totally unique just for them!

Q: What, in your experience, has been the best part about owning your own business as a handmade artist?

A: I've so enjoyed my experience on Etsy--and meeting people and finding new independent artists has been a lovely bi-product of owning my own business. I've had so much fun with it, that I actually write and tweet The Best of Etsy each week. I can't tell you how many amazing people I've met through the process. I love the community it provides. And it's absolutely gratifying to make something you know will be treasured.

Thank you Wende!

Here are a few of our favorite things from Mireio


Wende has graciously agreed to sponsor a GIVEAWAY!!!

What’s up for grabs?????

This beautiful set of six fragrant spring acorn sachets!

Vintage fabrics and prints adorn the adorable sachets. Each is filled with luxurious lavender from Provence. Topped with a real acorn cap and accented with a tiny glass seed bead, each of these Acorns is unique--one of a kind. While small, these lovely sachets are quite fragrant with an amazing palette of lilac, lavender, and hyacinth.

We are going to give you a chance to receive 10 entries into this giveaway!

1.Go to Wende’s shop Mireio and take a look around, then come back here and leave a comment letting us know what item in her shop you like the most. =1 entry

2. Leave a comment letting us know that you are a new or current follower of this blog =2 entries

3. Grab our button (leave a comment, letting us know) = 3 entries

4. Blog or twitter about this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your post or tweet) =4 entries

5. Purchase any item from Mireio, come back here and leave a comment letting us know what you bought (will be verified) and you will receive 6 additional entries for a total of 10 entries!

All entries must have an email address on them (so we can reach you). If your email is located in your blogger account that is fine, just make sure to leave us a way to contact you.

We will end the giveaway and announce the winner on Sunday April 5th at 6pm central time.

Thank you again to Wende for a great interview, and for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway. You can get even more info about Wende and her shop by visiting her blog , or you can catch her on Twitter.

Good luck everyone.

Natural Skin Care

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share with you a few natural skin care treatments that my best friend shared with me (Thanks Laura). They are easy to make and fairly inexpensive. Most of the ingredients you probably have in your medicine cabinet or pantry, best of all they are all natural, no harsh chemicals! I love natural stuff, it is good for you and good for the environment!

I will be trying these out because acne breakouts seem to be a part of my thirty-something life now. I have tried several over the counter products which either do not work, or dry out my already dry skin even more, with little improvement on the acne.

Witch Hazel Cleaning

Tonic Witch hazel has long been known to have astringent qualities. The liquid you can find in the shelves of drug store is an herbal extract with exceptional cleansing, soothing, and healing properties. It was originally used by Native Americans, who used witch hazel bark and twigs in many therapeutic applications and passed on their knowledge to the settlers.

To make your own old fashioned witch hazel astringent, combine 1 cup of witch-hazel with 2 tablespoons of alcohol and apply it to your skin with cotton ball. If you are sensitive to alcohol, you can substitute it with 1/4 cup of white vinegar.

Honey and Nutmeg Scar Remover

Another natural tonic is honey and nutmeg scar remover wash. This treatment is meant to help heal the scars caused by skin eruptions, skin accidents, and acne.

To make honey and nutmeg scare remover, combine 1 teaspoon of nutmeg with 1 teaspoon of honey, and mix them together. Apply them to your face and leave them for 20 minutes. Then, rinse it with cool water. Use it twice a week.

Citrus Blackhead Treatment

Removing blackheads can easily be done with lemon. Citrus is naturally exfoliate, which makes lemon useful when it comes to fighting blackheads in your cleansing routine.

Cut the lemon in half then rub it directly on your face before going to bed. You can also extract lemon juice with a citrus reamer, remove the seeds and then add 2 tablespoons of rosewater. Mix the lemon juice and rosewater together and your tonic will be more fragrant.

You can find these and more natural skin care recipes at about.com~

♥Amy

Slainte Friends!!!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

Last night, as I helped my 7 year old daughter build her "Leprechaun Trap" for her school project, which she assures me she will definitely catch one with, I got a little curious as to all the Irish Traditions of St. Patrick's Day. Although I am not a lot Irish, I am a Heinz 57 mix, so I am sure there is some Irish in there somewhere, I LOVE St. Patrick's Day! You get to wear Green, Drink Green Beer, Eat Great food, try to catch a Leprechaun and I am always hopeful on St. Pat's day...and did I mention drink green beer?? :)

So, What does everyone do on St. Patrick's Day? Well, green beer sounds good to me...but there are parades, and the best part...THE FOOD!! Here are a couple of Traditional Irish recipes I found:

Corned Beef and Cabbage
And...

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

I was feeling very festive this year and I made a batch of Green Clover & Aloe candles!! :) They smell WONDERFUL...not really what I expected but still wonderful!! I am going to burn one today as my own new tradition on St. Paddy's day!

So, on this greenish kinda day I wish all my wonderful followers, friends, & customers a very blessed day, I hope you all see green (in a good way)!!!

I will leave you with a few Irish sayings & blessings!

♥In Heaven there is no beer, that is why we drink it here.

♥May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

♥An old Irish recipe for longevity: Leave the table hungry. Leave the bed sleepy. Leave the bar thirsty.

♥"May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields, And until we meet again, May God hold you In the palm of his hand."

♥May the love and protection, St. Patrick can give - Be yours in abundance as
long as you live.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Amy :)

P.S. Don't forget to enter our GIVEAWAY!! :)

Friday the 13th Special!

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!!

I just wanted to let everyone in on all of the new stuff going on with Amy’s shop Ozark Scents.

First off, in celebration of Friday the 13th, she's having a FRIDAY THE 13th SPECIAL! you can get a 5 pack of 8oz candles for only 29.00!!!!

She is also having a CLOSEOUT SALE on all of her 12oz jar candles. Hurry and grab one while supplies last!

Amy has been working super hard for the last couple of weeks to offer her customers detailed descriptions of all of her candle fragrances! You can now click here to get a wonderful description of each scent that she offers.

In addition to all of this, she is now shipping to Canada! :) Yay!

Last but not least, Amy is now a proud member of the Busy Moms of Etsy Team and the Cafemom Team!! I’m sure everyone will be seeing and hearing allot more about all of this in the months to come.

And don't forget to check out the awesome new soap she has been creating, it looks almost good enough to eat!

I hope everybody has a Freaky Friday (in a good way, of course). Enjoy your weekend!

Laundry day bites!

Well, it is that time of week at my house to get a gazillion loads of laundry done in one day before the beginning of the week! I HATE laundry, I would rather clean the toilet! I have 6 people living in my house so laundry day is definitely no FUN! You can tell I am a procrastinator when it comes to this awful chore, I wait all week to do ALL of it in one day, and sometimes I do not succeed.

Anyway, I got it in my head to start making my own laundry detergent recently. I figure it will save me tons of money and be better for us. Two of my daughters have mild eczema and so I always use free & clear laundry soap anyway. No fabric softener either, they break out bad with that stuff!

I have found some recipes for it I will share with you all and if any of you have any recipes for it that you love please share with me!! You can find many recipes out there and you can be as creative as you want with them by adding your own fragrances! Here are a couple:

Liquid detergent

1 quart Water (boiling)

2 cups Bar soap (grated)

2 cups Borax

2 cups Washing Soda

Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.
Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.
Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (will gel).

Powdered Laundry soap

2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated - you could also try the other bar soaps)

1 cup Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
Use 2 tablespoons per full load.

I figure making and using your own homemade soap will only cost you pennies a load of laundry! It will be gentler on your skin and your clothes. You can also use white vinegar in place of fabric softener, which is WAY cheaper and natural!!

The ingredients to make laundry soap are so inexpensive! Example: Bar of plain soap $1.00, Borax $3.00, Washing Soda $2.50. These are approximate costs, but you can make tons of soap for this price!!

So, I am going to try it, if any of you have tried it or use a certain recipe you love please let me know, I would LOVE to hear them! Any comments or tips you guys have are welcome too!

Well, I am off to switch out laundry! Happy Sunday everybody!

♥Amy

We have been given the Proximidade Blog Award!

We would like to thank all of the little people who made this possible, LOL…..Just kidding.

Actually, the Gaffer Girls over at Gaffer Glass made this possible! Thank you very much; we feel so honored that you chose us. (We are blushing a little)

We love the Gaffer Girls, they are the sweetest girls you’ll ever want to call blog pals, and their blog is terrific!!! Check it out sometime.

So what is the Proximidade Blog Award you ask?

Well here is a description of what the Proximidade Blog Award represents:

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

That is so awesome, and it is true that we like making friends. We used to have trouble in that department, but then we discovered deodorant, and it’s been all good ever since:)

Anyway……Here is what we have to do (with delight)

Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must in turn choose eight of their favorite bloggers to award, and include the Proximidade Blog Award description in the body of your post. Also include the following text:

I am honored to accept this award on behalf of bloggers everywhere. To honor the meaning of this award I must bestow it on 8 worthy recipients. The recipients must award it to 8 of their favorites and post the award description on their blog.

And the winners are….Drum roll please

Milk and Cookeez

The Soap Seduction

You niquely Chic

Stitch 'N Love
Scary Mommy

10 One World

JLynnCreations

Inspiration Bubble

These are all wonderful blogs; I hope everyone will check them out!

And don't forget to check out the giveaway below, it's being sponsored by The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe! Click here to read the post and enter to win a great handmade product!

Have a great day.

Introducing The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe! (CONTEST CLOSED)

Our next featured artist is the talented mother Amanda, owner of The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe. Amanda makes the cutest handmade hair assecories, tutu's, tutu dresses, ribbon onsies, and shirts. I was immediately drawn to her products because I too am a mother and I have 4 little girls. I can just imagine my little girls prancing around the house in Amanda's adorable creations!

I spent some time talking with Amanda, she just opened her online shop, and she has agreed to be our featured artist. She has also graciously agreed to a GIVEAWAY!! (Yay, free stuff!)

She gave us some insight into her life as a busy mom, business owner, and creator.

Here is what Amanda had to say:

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My name is Amanda. I am a stay at home military mom to 2 amazing little girls who are 15 months apart in age. They are currently 2 3/4 and 18months. I am the owner of The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe. I have a myspace page that I was originally set up on as my only way of taking orders. I took the plunge into the online world and opened a web page for my business in November of 2008. I took on 2 partners in my business in January of 2009. I figured that it would help keep the business local when we leave Oklahoma, and would help to expand on what I can do alone. We offer a wide selection of handmade hair accessories, tutus, tutu dresses, ribbon onesies/shirts and are currently working on a whole bunch of new items as well!

How did you become interested in making these cute little hair accessories, tutu's and clothes:

I have always been the extremely crafty type but never knew how to move it into something I could make money doing. Shortly after my youngest was born, I discovered that I couldn't find hair accessories for either of my children's lack of hair. One of my very close friends had been making bows for her girls for quite a while and she showed me some basics. I was hooked after making my first bow! That was in November of 2007. In May of 2008 a woman I was friends with through myspace posted a notice that she was selling all of her supplies and I decided that it was meant to be. I took over on July 6th and have been having a blast making bows since. I love the feeling of making something that someone else will appreciate and find beauty in.

What is the most difficult aspect of your craft, the business, and/or creating:

It is difficult to not buy new ribbon. I sometimes think that I might have more ribbon than sense! I have so much ribbon that hasn't been used yet and I keep buying more. There are just SO many cute prints and I have so many ideas but never enough time in the day to get them all finished!

Anything else you would like us to know about your shop, you or your products:

We are currently running a BOW MADNESS sale, loosely based off of the March Madness tournaments. There will be 4 bows to vote on every day. The top 2 will move on to a later day until only one remains! The daily bows will be 20% off on the day that they are featured and 10% any day after. The winning bow will be 25% off for the rest of March and all of April. Anyone who votes will be entered into a drawing for any bow that was featured during the promotion. The more you vote the better your chances but please only vote for 1 bow per day.

Here are a few of my favorite items from The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe

GIVEAWAY time!!!!

Amanda has graciously agreed to give away one of her beautiful custom hair bows to one lucky winner!! (if you are the winner, and you choose to make a purchase at the Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe, you will also receive 25% off your order)

To enter this contest you need to head on over to The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe and take a look around.

Come back here to Ozark Scents blog and leave us a comment on this post, tell us what you thought was the cutest item or items in her shop and you will get 1 entry into this contest.

Earn extra entries by:

1. Signing up to follow our blog here at Ozark Scents or already be a follower for 1 extra entry.

2. Make a purchase @ The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe to get 5 extra entries!! (will be verified)

All entries must have an email address on them (so we can reach you). If your email is located in your blogger account that is fine, just make sure to leave us a way to contact you.

This contest ends Monday March 30, 2009 and a winner will be picked that evening.

Good luck everyone!!
Amy :)

The winner is...milk and cookeez !!!!

Congratulations!! Milk and cookeez! You have won our blog make-over contest!! You will receive one 8 ounce Ozark Scents candle jar of your choice.

Thank you everyone who entered in our contest and joined us by following our blog!! We truly appreciate each and everyone of you! I hope everyone enjoyed this contest...we will definitely have to do it again!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

Have a wonderful evening!

Ozark Scents

-Amy:)