Gearing up for Street Fair Season

We’re gearing up for street fair season, and I’m getting pretty excited.

We’ve got a Mei Tai for the baby – Jeff looks really cute when he carries her in it, since it’s orange with huge white flowers. We’re also going to take a stroller with us in case we get too hot to wear her.

She and I both get really hot very easily and that causes problems sometimes.

I love that their are “vents” in the Mei Tai so we can get a little airflow in there and we don’t seem to get as hot as we do with our Baby K’tan baby carrier.

This year when I was trying to see the vendor list for the Fargo Street Fair, I ended up finding the vendor application and at $300-700 for a booth, I can see why there are usually only 1 or 2 soap vendors there.

I do miss being able to see and smell all of the different soaps and lotions, but I am getting used to it.

If only there was somewhere local that sold more handcrafted items, and had enough turnover so that the same products weren’t sitting the same places they were when I was in the store 2 years ago.

Are you gearing up for street fair season?

Are there any local fairs or events that you can’t miss every year?

Where do you go to get your indie craft fix?

Football Team Spirit Sling from Babyette

I was checking out ring slings yesterday, and I came across one that immediately made me think of my husband.

The Brett Viking Football Team Spirit Sling, $39.98, from Babyette comes in your choice of colors, and is made with jersey mesh to match your favorite team jersey.

I’m not a big spots fan, but I’ve been looking for a pink Vikings jersey for the baby because Jeff wants her to have one, so I’m sure there are a few other guys and gals that might like to have a sling to match their favorite jerseys.

As a matter of fact, Jeff just came over and said “You’re looking at football slings?”

I think this is the first time he’s ever asked to look at a sling.

When I saw the Football Team Spirit sling I immediately contacted Babyette to ask if I could feature the sling on the blog, and use some of her pictures on the post. Beth said yes, and offered a 10% discount code for us to use before December 31.

Just use code 10sarah00 in the message to seller and Beth will send you a revised Paypal invoice reflecting the 10% discount.

If you aren’t into baby slings, Babyette also has NeckScapes Scarves, Fleece Hats, Fascinator Headbands, and Shoulder/Stroller bags.

My favorite is the So Cloche Fleece Flapper Hat, $32.

What’s yours?

S’mores Soap Review

I got the S’mores soap from Savor back in December, after I won a gift certificate to Trendy Shoppes through a blog contest.

The S’mores soap, which doesn’t seem to be available at either site now, is actually made like a S’more, with two pieces of soap sandwiched together with a chocolate layer.

The soap has a slight chocolate smell that fills the area around my sink with a slight chocolate fragrance.

I’m currently using this as a hand soap, and I’ve noticed that I don’t feel the need to use hand lotion every time I wash my hands as I normally do.

Since the soap is sandwiched together with a layer of chocolate, I have noticed that the two layers of soap have separated and slide apart – but that might have something to do with my soap dish collecting a little too much water.

Overall, I’m very happy with the soap, except for it sliding apart – of course if I wanted to I could separate it into two pieces and make it last a little longer which would be nice.

And of course, you won’t have this problem with most of Savor’s soaps, since they come in one piece.

Ordering from Trendy Shoppes was easy, shipping was fast, and everything was packaged nicely.

I did have a problem where I thought my order didn’t go through since I ordered more than one item and paid with Paypal, but a quick email to Suzanne from Trendy Shoppes, and everything was taken care of.

Suzanne was already aware of the problem, so it was being worked on, and it should be fixed by now I would hope.

If you’ve ordered from Trendy Shoppes or Savor, I’d love to hear what you think!

Rock Mama Punk Baby Etsy Store Review

I ordered 3 sets of nursing pads from Rock Mama Punk Baby on July 22, and I got them in the mail on July 30.

The nursing pads were $1.50/2, and shipping was $1.50 for the first one, with the additional two pairs shipping for free, which I think was a pretty good deal.

The nursing pads are very cute, although I haven’t had a chance to use them yet.

The pads arrived in a very cute red box, with “thank you” and the etsy address printed inside the box.

I loved that the box wasn’t any larger than it needed to be for the package.

You know me – I would have loved a little more communication from the seller – I was getting nervous because it was taking so long for me to get the package, (I am impatient) and since the receipts from Paypal and Etsy are automatic, I wasn’t sure if the seller had gotten my information, or if she was on vacation somewhere.

Fortunately, I got the package the day after I started getting worried, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

If you’ve tried anything from Rock Mama Punk Baby, I’d love to know what you think!

Clay Dancer Pottery Review

I bought this facepot from Clay Dancer Pottery for my husband’s birthday, and he loves it.

He even told me I could buy more in the series for him, if I wanted too.

Everyone who sees the facepot thinks it’s adorable as well.

I was really pleased with the shipping times, and the communication from the seller.

I was notified that the item was shipped with insurance, when it was shipped, and Trish also convo’d me to make sure that it had arrived safely.

I definitely wouldn’t hesitate to do business with Clay Dancer Pottery again.

Hoity Toity Lemonade Natural Lip Gloss Review

The Hoity Toity Designer Slim Line Natural Lip Gloss, $3.98, is great.

I tried it in Lemonade, and it has a nice lemonade smell when you apply it, but I can’t taste it, or smell my lips when I’m wearing it.

The gloss is clear, and moisturizing, and it seems more like a balm than a gloss to me.

The tube is slimmer than most lip balms, but I got used to that pretty quickly.

If you’ve tried this let me know how you like it.

Hoity Toity Jojoba Foaming Hand & Body Wash Review

I really enjoyed Hoity Toity Jojoba Foaming Hand & Body Wash $8 0r $9 with a frog or turtle in the soap dispenser.

I tried the Natural Citrus Herbal Blend, which is described as:

An amazing potpourri of many citrus essential oils. Essential oils such as orange, grapefruit, lime and lemon mixed together with the slightest kiss of ginger, peppermint , basil and parsley. Sometimes the best fragrances are born out of experimentation, and this certainly was one. A delicious, but very subtle citrus scent with a trace of herbal wonderment.

The foaming hand and body wash had a slight citrus smell which I loved.

I also loved that it was made with essential oils.

Although this is also a foaming body wash, I mainly used it as a hand wash.

I liked the foaming, and the fact that the soap wasn’t drying.

Even when I was sick and felt like I was washing my hands every time I turned around my hands weren’t dry.

That really impressed me.

I always apply lotion after I wash my hands, but with other soaps even that doesn’t always prevent dryness when I wash my hands so frequently.

The 8 oz bottle lasted about 2 months for the two of us, even though we were sick for a week and both used a lot of soap!

If you’re looking for a new hand soap I highly recommend Hoity Toity Jojoba Foaming Hand & Body Wash.

If you’ve tried it, please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought about it.

What scents would you choose if you were getting some?

If you’d like to learn more about Hoity Toity, check out the following posts:

Hoity Toity Sheer Satin Shampoo & Conditioner Review
Pumpkin Spice – Mmm.
What do you wash with? A crocheted body pouf review. This one only has a brief mention.

What do you wash with? A crocheted body pouf review.

What do you wash with?

I’ve normaly use a net body pouf or a washcloth, but my mother-in-law gave me two crocheted body poufs for Christmas.

Actually, she gave me one for Christmas, then went to her yarn store, where they told her that bamboo was a natural antibacterial, so she should use that for the stuff that will be in the shower, so she made me another pouf with bamboo yarn.

Both of the poufs are nice, and I figured they’d be nicer than the sponge poufs becuase you could wash and dry them to take care of any germ problems.

I was unpleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t like the crocheted body puofs at all.

The first time I used the larger non-bamboo pouf I bent one of my fingernails back because the pouf was so large.

I also found that with both poufs I had to use about 6 times more shower gel than usual.

I’d been using half a pump of green by nature’s shower gel, and a drop or two of Hoity Toity Jojoba Body Wash, and that was enough to fully lather my net pouf.

With the smaller bamboo pouf I had to use a quarter size amount of Hoity Toity and 3 pumps of the green by nature to get a halfway decent lather, and that sometimes ran out before I was done washing.

When my mother-in-law asked for feedback and I told her that I had to use so much more shower gel, she said “Well as you keep using it, you’ll get more soap staying in the pouf.”

I don’t want more soap staying in the pouf.

I want to wash all the soap out of the pouf so I can start with a nice clean pouf.

You don’t let the soap build up in your wash cloth do you?

I don’t – I read that one of the ways to prevent acne was to use a fresh washcloth every day, so that’s what I do when I use washcloths.

Sure it’s a little extra laundry, but washcloths aren’t that big.

Anyways, in addition to the extra soap, it also takes a long time for me to get the poufs warm enough so I can use them – they get so cold after they get wet, and with all the crocheted layers, it takes a lot of water to get through to warm them up I guess.

The poufs also don’t feel like they’re cleaning.

Unless I press hard enough to hurt myself it feels like I’m just rubbing the pouf over my skin, and not really cleaning it.

I think I’ll be switching back to a net pouf as soon as I remember to buy another one.

Not only will I feel cleaner – I’ll be cutting my water bill a little, and I’ll be cutting my shower gel bill too.

What do you use in the shower?

Washcloth, sponge, loofah, body mit, those body glove things?

Related Posts:
Hoity Toity Sheer Satin Shampoo & Conditioner Review
Bauble Bath Scrub Review

Pumpkin Spice – Mmm.

Since it’s the day before Thanksgiving I figured it was time to break out the Pumpkin Spice Shea Butter Ultra Lotion from Hoity Toity.

I love the lotion, and I’m really impressed with the scent strength of all the ones I’ve tried.

It’s strong enough so that I can smell it, and I can even smell the lotion after I wash my hands, but the smell isn’t too strong for me.

I’ve been using the Kiwi Lime Sherbert at home for several weeks, and I’ve got a sample of the Brown Sugar Vanilla in my purse.

They both smell delicious, they absorb quickly and they aren’t greasy at all.

Did I say they smell delicious?

PS Happy Thanksgiving!

Related Posts:

Hoity Toity Jojoba Foaming Hand & Body Wash Review
Hoity Toity Sheer Satin Shampoo & Conditioner Review
What do you wash with? A crocheted body pouf review.

Hoity Toity Sheer Satin Shampoo & Conditioner Review

If you’ve read my other blog you know that I’ve been using the same shampoo and conditioner (Garnier Fructis Moisture Works for dry and damaged hair) forever.

I’ve tried other shampoo’s and conditioners over the years, but they usually leave my hair oily and limp.

I’m so glad I got to try Hoity Toity Sheer Satin Shampoo and Conditioner, because they are better than the Garnier Fructis!

I’ve been using the shampoo and conditioner in Red Apple and Italian Ice since October 21.

When I’m using the shampoo it doesn’t feel as heavy as my normal shampoo does, and I don’t have to use nearly as much shampoo or conditioner as I do with the Garnier.

I’ve also noticed that my hair looks blonder, which is always a good thing :-).

As you can tell, I’m really impressed with the Hoity Toity Sheer Satin Shampoo and Conditioner, and I love the fact that I can choose from so many scents.

The Red Apple fragrance really did smell like a juicy red delicious apple, and the Italian Ice smelled like a sweet sticky lemon.

There was just enough fragrance for me – it filled the shower, but it didn’t linger in my hair.

If you’ve tried this I’d love to hear about it!

Read more Hoity Toity Reviews:

Hoity Toity Jojoba Foaming Hand & Body Wash Review
Pumpkin Spice Mmm.
What do you wash with? A crocheted body pouf review.