DIY Natural Perfume Workshop 6/12

As I mentioned in my last post, I will be offering hands-on workshops where you can learn how to make a variety of your own natural beauty products. To start, on June 12, I will be hosting a DIY natural perfume workshop in Washington, DC!

Enjoy a hands-on lesson on crafting your own natural perfume. After an explanation of the properties of various essential oils and absolutes, you will enjoy formulating your own personalized scent. Throughout, I will give you the tools and knowledge that can be applied to your future DIY projects. Head home with some Herban Lifestyle sample products and your own aromatic creation!

This workshop will be held at Be Clean’s studio in the historic 52 O Street Studios, Studio #308. We will have a 6′ table with seats that can accommodate up 6-8 folks. It’s on the third floor, which requires a walk up stairs. We will have sips and snacks for everyone to enjoy throughout the class. And we will have a special shopping event after the class – attendees can take 20% off their Be Clean purchase.

The cost is $70.00 per person.

To sign up, visit my website. Or for more information, please email me at info [at] herbanlifestyle [dot] com.

 

A New Chapter for Herban Lifestyle

Over the past few months, I have been increasingly called to pursue projects outside of the realm of making organic bath and body products. I mean, literally called on the phone by people asking me to take on research projects and acting work! Life has re-connected some old channels and opened up brand new paths for me. I don’t feel that I should ignore these very strong signals that it is time to shift some of my focus from Herban Lifestyle.

As part of my mission to help people live happier, healthier lives, I will continue to offer my shampoo bars, moustache pomade, and DIY kits that teach people how to make their own natural products. I also plan to continue offering instruction through workshops, videos and more. And I will keep you posted with updates on all of these.

It has been a wonderful 8+-year ride during which I’ve seen many changes in the handmade and natural bath and body worlds. It has been encouraging to watch the growing demand for truly natural products. Thank you for the continuing love and support over the years! I look forward to sharing the next chapter with you.

~Mary

Crafting Supplies and Packaging for Sale

As part of my moving on, I am selling most of my equipment, packaging and ingredients. Please feel free to contact me at info [at] herbanlifestyle [dot] com for current items and pricing.

Make Your Own Spa Product Workshop at Be Clean Shop, 11/21

Come to Be Clean’s studio to get a hands-on lesson on natural ingredients and the product-making process! After an explanation of the properties of various herbs, spices and essential oils (think sandalwood and lavender), enjoy crafting your own spa products, such as soaks and sugar scrubs. Throughout, we will give you the tools and knowledge that can be applied to your future DIY projects. Head home with some Herban Lifestyle sample products and your own soothing, aromatic creations. The cost for the workshop is $60.00 per person.

This workshop will be held at the historic 52 O Street Studios, Studio #308. We will have a 6′ table with seats that can accommodate up 6-8 folks. It’s on the third floor, which requires a walk up stairs. We will have sips and snacks for everyone to enjoy throughout the class.

And we will have a special shopping event after the class – attendees can take 20% off their Be Clean purchase.

The workshop will be facilitated by Mary Kearns, who has made it her mission in life to make the world a happier, healthier and more fragrant place. Raised in a family that prized natural foods and recycling, Mary has had a lifelong a passion for the natural, organic and earth-friendly. With a background in health and cancer prevention, Mary is committed to helping people live their best, healthiest lives through her business, Herban Lifestyle.

You can sign up on the Herban Lifestyle website. Or, for more information, please email us at info [at] herbanlifestyle [dot] com or call us at (202) 321-2479.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub!

Mary Kearns will be demonstrating how to make your own sugar scrubs and fizzing bath salts on Great Day Washington, a new morning show on CBS’s Washington, DC affiliate station WUSA9. The show airs live Tuesday, October 20th from 9am – 10am EST, so tune in if you’re in the area! If you can’t, the video will be available on their website. And here is the recipe for pumpkin spice sugar scrub we will be demo’ing!

It contains organic sugar and pure sea salt for exfoliation, plus real pumpkin purée for a bit of skin brightening thanks to the natural alphahydroxy acids. For additional skin benefits, and to make it smell delicious, just add some pumpkin spice blend. Delicious!

Ingredients: ½ cup sugar, ½ cup salt, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree, ½ tsp pumpkin pie spices

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well-blended. Because it contains fresh pumpkin, use immediately, or store in a clean jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Enjoy!

Join us at the new Whole Foods in Ashburn, VA for free samples, demos, specials & more!

I am thrilled to announce that the new Whole Foods Market in Ashburn is carrying my line of shampoo bars!

So, I will be demo’ing and handing out samples of my shampoo bars on Friday, July 31 from 11am-2pm, Saturday, August 1, from 9:30am-2:30pm and Wednesday, August 5, from 3:30pm-7:30pm, 19800 Belmont Chase Drive, Suite 160, Ashburn, Virginia

There will be many other local makers demo’ing their products, and lots of special offers including 30% off health and wellness products. Hope you can join us!

And for those of you who live outside of the area, please feel free to use coupon code SHAMPOO10 to receive 10% off your order at the Herban Lifestyle online store.

Join Us at Another Damn Craft Show June 13th!

I am busy making Fuzzy Soaps™ for Another Damn Craft Show at Art Enables on June 13th. This “juried collaboration of artisans with one simple mission: to celebrate the local DC arts-and-crafts scene” is being organized by the amazing Jessica Blaszczak of This Little Piggy and Beth Baldwin of Tigerflight, two leading creatives/organizers for the DC area craft scene. It also features many, many of my favorite DC-area crafters. You can read more about the show and the featured artists on the Another Damn Craft Show Blog!

The soaps are an old customer favorite, available only at shows. Made with organic soap and wrapped in sustainably raised and dyed merino wool, these little weirdos are practical and fun. I will have them in a variety of colors and flavors!

I hope you can join us!

Saturday, June 13, 2015
11am – 4pm
Art Enables
2204 Rhode Island Ave, NE
Washington, DC

Lovely Chili Hot Chocolate with Rose Petals

Love-Me-Dew at Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place, Boulder, CO

 

On a recent visit to Boulder, I had the pleasure of visiting one of my favorite restaurants, Shine Restaurant and Gathering Place. And one of my favorite things about Shine is their offering of “potions,” which are a “thoughtfully and lovingly concocted array of fantastic, non-alcoholic brews, using a rich assortment of herbs, vibrational-essences, juices, spices, coconut milk and natural sodas.”

This time around, I tried the Love-Me-Dew, which is coconut milk infused with cocoa, chili powder, rose petals, raspberry agave and vibrational essence of rose quartz. It is designed to enhance feelings of self-acceptance and self-love. It certainly evoked feelings of love for this drink – since I tasted it, I have been craving it! So, I thought I would try making my own version given ingredients I had around the house.

Here is my version:

• 2 cups almond milk (best when you have time to make your own)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (more or less, depending on your taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder (Shine uses chimayo; you can use more or less, depending on how spicy you like it)
• A few sprinkles of finely chopped dried organic rose petals for garnish (make sure you use culinary roses)

Heat the almond milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to steam. Lower the heat and add the cocoa powder, maple syrup and chili powder. Stir until well-blended and remove from heat. Divide into two ceramic mugs and sprinkle a half-teaspoon of rose petals on top of each. Share the love!

 

Please Join Us at Treat Yo’ Self Artisan Market on 2/8!

We hope you can join us for Treat Yo’ Self, an artisan pop-up event at Derek Brown’s trifecta of Shaw Neighborhood restaurants Eat the Rich, Mockingbird Hill and Southern Efficiency. The event will be held on February 8, from 3:30-8:30, and we’ll be selling Valentine’s Day gift sets for him and her. Each venue will will offer food and drink specials for the day and will feature a music soundtrack curated by Derek Brown and One Love Massive.

Treat Yo’ Self is a pre-Valentine’s holiday market offering locally made distinctive gifts for from a hand selected group of DC-area artisans chosen for their consistency in quality, appearance and sustainability. It’s a perfect way to get something special and different for yourself or your boo this Valentine’s Day. 

Hope to see you there!

How to Make an Upcycled Bottle Cap Table!

My husband has been saving bottle caps for as long as I’ve known him, saying that someday he planned to make something out of them. He wasn’t sure what it would be, and the bottle caps kept accumulating. Inspired by the colorful collection, I decided to turn them into a practical gift for him. And given the volume of caps, I thought it would be good to make something that used A LOT of them!

In combing through Pinterest, I found lots of bottle cap craft inspiration. The ones that used the most were tables, so that’s what I set off to make for him.

Here is a list of the items I needed to cover a 2’x3′ table:

• 1 small table
• Lots of bottle caps (I used 486 for a 2′ x 3′ table)
• 1″x2″ wood strips for trim
• 2″ wood nails
• Wood filler
• Aluminum foil
• 16oz Gorilla Glue
• 2 quarts ready-mixed grout
• 2 quarts of pre-mixed epoxy resin
• Sandpaper
• Large grout sponge
• Grout float
• Bucket filled with warm water
• Newspaper to catch the drips
• A well-ventilated, minimally dusty room in which to work
• At least 3 days to allow for curing time (in other words, don’t start this on Christmas Eve!)

I found a sturdy, basic little table at a local thrift shop. It had a cluster of tiny princess and heart stickers stuck to the top, which I decided to just leave since I didn’t require a perfectly smooth surface.

I started by separating the caps by color, then laying them out to see what type of pattern I could make given the colors and quantities I had. Once I figured it out, I removed the caps, placing them in cups by color.

In order to make the grouting and lacquering easier, I added a rim to the edge of the table by nailing on some 1″x2″s that I had cut to size.

Because the table had rounded edges, and I am not skilled or patient enough to cut the trim to fit, there was a gap that had to be filled.

I improvised by stuffing in some tightly wadded aluminum foil into the corner to fill in the space.

Then I filled in all of the gaps with wood filler to prevent any grout or lacquer from seeping through. Once the wood filler was dry, I sanded it and removed any loose pieces.

Next, I glued the caps into place starting from the outside. I used Gorilla Glue, which worked well. It provides a strong hold, but doesn’t dry instantly, so you can adjust the caps as you work. You don’t need to use a lot per cap, just a few drops. Once I had glued down all of the caps, I let it dry overnight. The instructions say it is 80% dry in 2 hours, but fully cured in 24.

Next, I grouted the caps to give it a tiled effect. Using a grout float, I carefully worked the grout in and around the bottle caps, making sure there were no gaps. I then used the float to smooth the top to make it even and to the point where the caps were just visible. I then used the dampened sponge to wipe across the grout until the bottle caps were visible and the grout was even. It took a lot longer, and required more patience than I had anticipated! I then let it sit for 24 hours.

Finally, I covered the entire surface with epoxy resin, making sure to fill in all gaps. I again let it sit overnight. While not perfect, I was very happy with the results!

Extraordinary Things Start Small: WunderAround Blown Glass Trunk Show at Herban Lifestyle 11/29

Here is our interview with Etsy artist Beth Hess of Wunder Around. She will be demo’ing how to make terrariums using her handblown glass vases at our Small Business Saturday event, which takes place Saturday, November 29 from noon to 4pm at our Merrifield Store.

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When did you start your line and why?
I enjoy making colorful, functional pieces of blown glass that can be used (and enjoyed) everyday. I’m well into year two of my Threads Collections. These are highly touchable pieces with lots of texture. I started making white vases with various colors of “thread” on the outside and the collection has grown from there. I started my Duos Collection last year after returning from a trip to Iceland. The colors I saw there just begged to be recreated in glass. I started the Duos Collection to capture the intensity and juxtaposition of colors that I saw, and continue to find new color combinations around me everyday.

What were you doing previously?
I’ve always been a crafter and I love to experiment with new mediums and techniques. I took my first glassblowing class five years ago in June and fell in love with it. My professional background is in communications and I spent more than a decade helping nonprofits and businesses tell their story.

What do you love about owning your own business?
Doing it all. I enjoy things like making signage and updating my website in addition to the actual making.

What is the most challenging thing about owning your own business?
Doing it all. There’s always more that I could be doing, so prioritizing and making the best use of my time is a constant battle; along with keeping up with things like bookkeeping.

What inspires your work?
Color and the challenge of transforming 2,080 degree clear glass into something else entirely. Each color behaves differently as you’re working with it. I love the challenge of making an idea a reality in glass, the process of working with the glass itself and seeing what happens when light passes through the results.

Where do you see your line going from here?
I’ve been working for a while now with two-colors in each piece and recently started adding a third, and working on some new shapes to highlight them. I don’t know yet where it all will go, but am enjoying the process.