I know my crafty friends are saying, “Really, you’re just now finding out about this?” but I’m not  crafty so I tend to neglect watching someone else do crafty things.

All I could think of was, “Finally, a craft I could do with really cool results!” I got excited and ran around the house looking for old t-shirts my son left when he moved out of the house.

Found a t-shirt and had at it.  I followed along with Erica in this video:

Somebody help me..I’ve made three scarves so far! I can’t stop! I might have to hit the Goodwill store tomorrow for more t-shirts!!

Give it a try and post a pic of your creation on our Facebook page!

Looks good enough to eat but please don’t-you’ll probably get a tummy ache!  Our pure Goat’s Milk soap is fragranced with a yummy fragrance that reminds us of a Zulu King Cake-chocolate and coconut with a little bit of coffee thrown in.  The “frosting” is actually a bath melt sprinkled with colored sugar.

Award-winning King Cake Soap by the Slice

If you are a member of a Mardi Gras krewe looking for a unique gift for your fellow krewe members, why not give a unique “slice” of Louisiana history?  We offer bulk pricing but will need your order placed well in advance of your event.  Contact us for  more information and special pricing.

Don’t forget, especially if losing weight is a New Year’s resolution, that our King Cake Soap has zero calories, zero fat, and zero Weight Watcher’s points so stock up before the carnival season ends!

Available in stores starting Twelfth Night, the official start of carnival season (that’s Friday, January 5th for the uninitiated!)

I have mixed emotions about leaving 2011 behind. While it was the most challenging year for my family, it was also a year of great personal and business growth.

I’ve been joking around that I don’t want any drama in the new year but then realized that the Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012! So much for no drama!

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there will always be drama and challenges in life and I can’t control that. I can, however, control how I respond to each event in my life, the good ones and the not-so-good ones.

My dad forwarded an email to me recently telling the story of two horses, one blind and the other, smaller horse, with a small copper bell attached to its halter.  You can read the entire story here. I would encourage you to read the story because if you do not, the rest of my post will make no sense to you.

Go ahead, read it……I’ll wait for you………………

My number one goal for 2012 is to be a bell-ringer. No, not for the Salvation Army, but for my family, friends, customer and for small business owners, particularly women-owned, in my area.

And not just some time, but every time I have contact with any one of you.  I hope to offer encouragement to you no matter where you are in your personal or business life.  I don’t have all the answers but I’ve been on this planet for nearly half a century and have owned my business for a number of years so that experience should count for something!

Please feel free to visit with me at the Main Street Market when we are there, at our new shop inside Fleur du Jour, or anywhere else we might be in 2012.  You can sign up for Handmade at Homestead’s  free newsletter, join H@H on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter to learn about the new products we will be introducing, sales we will have, meet-ups with other small business owners, and where we will be throughout the year.

Here’s to a positive, fantastic 2012!

Our lip-smoothing Kissable~a sugar scrub for your lips~ ($7.95) is formulated to help keep your lips in impeccable kissing condition. Ideal for renewing dry lips, this easy to use treatment exfoliates dull, flaky skin for super soft, super smooth lips in seconds. Follow up with our Really Good Lip Balm ($3.75) for kissable lips all season long.

Cleopatra, the Queen of the Nile, was famous for her beautiful skin. Her secret was that she soaked in baths of fresh milk scented with honey, lavender, or rose petals. Some sources even suggest that strawberries and raspberries were used on occasion to scent her bath.  Our Milk & Honey Bath Soak ($9.95) made with the finest of powdered milk and honey, is a natural way to keep your skin soft, supple and radiant.

Looking for an unusual gift? Why not try our Rope-Your-Own-Soap~Reusable Soap Saver ($8.00) a Handmade at Homestead exclusive? The secret to a long-lasting bar of soap is allowing it to thoroughly dry between uses.  Our Rope-Your-Own-Soap is unique in that you use whatever soap you choose, not what the company puts on the end of the rope. When the soap is used up, you simply replace the old bar of soap with a new one.  Makes a great gift all by itself makes an even more special one given with a bar of our Goat’s Milk Soap or our Pure Olive Oil Soap. ($5.95)

All the above mentioned products are available for purchase at Fleur Du Jour, Baton Rouge’s only downtown florist, 447 Third St., Suite B, Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-noon.

Remember, our online shop is closed until January 4, 2012.  You can still place orders while the shop is closed and they will be processed when our online shop re-opens in 2012.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Handmade at Homestead!

This year, I am receiving one of the most wonderful Christmas presents ever.  I will be accompanying my parents to MD Anderson in Houston for my dad’s FINAL post-chemo series of tests.  Dad has had a rough go of it this year so I can think of no better way to end 2011 than to hear him declared cancer-free.

In order that I might make the trip, Handmade at Homestead’s online store will be closing at 8 am on Wednesday, December 14^th and will be re-opening Wednesday, January 4^th, 2012.

If you are local, you can still shop with us at the Main St. Market on Friday, December 16 and Saturday, December 17^th.

And, you can always visit us at our new, permanent retail location inside Fleur Du Jour, Baton Rouge’s only downtown florist, 447 Third St., Ste. B, right next to The Little Village. Hours are 9am-5pm Monday through Friday, and 9am-noon on Saturdays.

Beginning Friday, November 25, our entire catalog is 10 percent off.

But wait, there are more ways to save!

Spend $50 or more, enter coupon code Holiday50-20 in the redemption box at check out and receive 20 percent off your entire order.

Take 30 percent off your entire order of $75 or more by entering coupon code Holiday75-30 in the redemption code box at check out.

You do not need to enter a code to receive the 10 percent discount; however, to receive additional savings on orders of $50 or more, you must enter the coupon code.  Revisions to your order cannot be made once you place your order.

Sale is good through Cyber Monday, November 28th and good for orders placed through our website.  If you will be shopping with us in person at the Main St. Market this Small Business Saturday (November 26th), come check out our sale specifically for you!

We are opening a permanent retail location in downtown Baton Rouge just in time for your holiday shopping!

Our friends at Fleur du Jour, Baton Rouge’s only downtown florist, are moving into the historic Kress Building, 447 Third Street, next door to The Little Village restaurant. Handmade at Homestead is one of a select number of local artists to be featured in Fleur du Jour’s spacious showroom.

We’d like to invite you to join in our celebration! You are cordially invited to our Christmas Open House on Friday, December 2 from 12pm until 8pm.  We will have live art demonstrations, door prizes, live music, refreshment and tons of shopping throughout the day.  From bath & body products to jewelry and more, we will have it all at Kress at Third & Main!

During our open house, we are partnering with Trafficking Hope, a local organization whose focus is to promote public awareness and to provide safe housing for victims of human trafficking, particularly those along Interstate 10 between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

For  a donation of $5 or more made at the open house, you will receive a voucher good for 20 percent off everything in the showroom, good on merchandize from all participating artists.

So come join us in celebrating this milestone in Handmade at Homestead history while enjoying the first retail holiday shopping experience in downtown Baton Rouge in decades. Hope to see you there!

Take advantage of our one day sale to stock up on your favorite items or to get a head start on your Christmas shopping. Here are a few examples of what’s in store for you:

Sale prices only available only to those items in-stock at the Main St. Market; does not apply to items found at our online shop.

The Main Street Market, open in conjunction with the Redstick Farmer’s Market, is held at the corner of 5th and Main Sts. in downtown Baton Rouge.

They are unique, are they not? As you can see, heirloom pumpkins are not always the typical orange color nor do they all have a smooth skin.  One of the most prized heirloom pumpkins is the French cultivar Cucurbita maxima ’Brodé D’Galeux Eysines’ which means “embroidered with warts from Eysines” (a small city in the southwest of France)

Ok, so this one might not qualify as gorgeous in your eyes, but it sure is unique! From what I’ve read, there are many varieties of heirloom pumpkins, each with their own distinctive taste. I’m definitely picking a couple up this Saturday. Even if I don’t get to cook with them, grouping several of them together will make a fabulous fall decoration.

Since autumn is upon us and many are starting to talk pumpkin-talk, I thought I’d revisit one or my most popular blog posts, Chalkboard Pumpkins! I would suggest using the standard garden-variety pumpkin (pun intended) for this project.

What are some of your favorite pumpkin recipes? Do you have a craft project that involves pumpkins? If so, I’d love for you to share it!

This might be a little to late for our friends on the East Coast but these tips were so good, I wanted to post them here so they can be easily accessed by anyone at anytime.

These are hints from friends from around the Gulf Coast area who have been through many a hurricane.  There are several of these hints that I’ve not ever thought of and I’ve been through a few hurricanes in my lifetime!

In the interest of time, I am posting them as I pulled them from my Facebook page. These are in no particular order. I have tried to edit, albeit quickly, but duplicate suggestions may have gotten by me:

• Someone already mentioned having lots of ice in ice chests, cooking food from the freezer, making sure paper towel and trash bags are handy in the event one needs to clean out the fridge, what else?
• Batteries, flashlights, candles, matches/lighters, propane for grills, cash, full gas tanks in cars, bottled water for drinking, stored up water for flushing toilets, bathing, etc.; bread, stuff like peanut butter, canned meats, soup, baby stuff (as needed).
• Cooked food lasts longer than raw food. Oh, and a generator is nice.
• Paper plates, cups, disposable utensils. No water, no electricity means no washing dishes
• Axe in the attic. This is particularly a good idea if one lives in a low-lying area or below sea level. 
• A “plug in” phone ~ no power and the cordless doesn’t ring or work but the phone lines are usually still working.
• A radio that operates off of batteries or a crank ~ you can actually “crank” it for power.  I got mine at Radio Shack and it also has a light that can be turned on.
• Take your window units out of the windows so they are less likely to break
• Do your laundry now since that might not be possible and you’ll be sweaty with no AC.
• Fix your screens so you can get some air moving without skeeters (mosquitos)
• If you are nervous about the roof/trees go out and take some before photos of your house that will help convince your insurance co that the shingles were in fact all there and the tree standing before the storm. Assuming they don’t have the named storm thing up there.
• Get your car off the street especially if it’s tree-lined
• Deck of playing cards helps pass the time too.
• Board games are great to fill the day. Also, jigsaw puzzles.
• A small gas-powered generator, oil, gas and a window unit AC.
• A couple of blue tarps. Duct tape. Staple gun and nails. Hammers, saws — in other words, you never know when you’ll need a tool afterwards.
• Stock up on bottled water and lots of gallon jugs water.
• Extra heavy-duty cords for the generator.
• Portable tv. Battery powered lanterns.
• Forget candles – use lots and lots of battery lamps.
• Don’t forget to bring in the garden hoses, all lawn ornaments, door mats, anything you have out in the yard. Everything is a projectile.
• Trim any loose branches ahead of time.
• Chlorine bleach.
• Find out where you can buy dry ice – get some ahead of time and let that be your first trip afterwards.
• Make sure if you have space in your freezer that you at least fill water and things to fill up the space and create more frozen stuff. And then don’t open it up.
• If power loss is a foregone conclusion, turn down your a/c and turn down the refrigerator.
• My secret: lots of batteries always available at toy r us
• Individual packets mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, etc. so you have that handy and don’t have to open the refrigerator if there is no generator.
• Get gasoline. Gas stations will all be closed for a while; then there will be megalines.
• Put ziplock bags of water in the freezer to help keep cool after you lose power.
• A hand-cranked can opener.
• Extra pet food.
• If you have bug allergies, stock up on bug repellent and epi pens.
• Put all important papers in ziplock bags to keep them dry.
• It’s also a good idea to put at least two changes of clothes into ziplock bags(the big 20 gallon ones) in the event you have roof damage or flood damage, you can at least have dry clothes.
• You’ll need at least one flat of bottled water per person per two days.
• Fill the bathtubs with water to flush toilets.
• Fresh fruit in a cooler with something to keep it cool will cut down on the amount of water you need daily.
• Lanterns are safer than candles and they have battery-powered ones now that last a while.
• Stock up on OTC stuff. Tylenol, Advil, cough syrup, Benadryl, antibiotic cream.
• There is a converter you can get that will allow you to use your car as a generator, if you need emergency electricity, and its available at the auto parts store. It’s good for short spans of electricity if your stove is electric.
• Remember the generators STAY OUTSIDE!!

Let me know if you have any more hurricane prep tips that can be added to the list. Stay safe everyone!