The Great Pumpkin Pampering Part II

Halloween is just the beginning of some wonderful holidays, and a fabulous time of year to enjoy and taking full advantage of that brisk Autumn energy!

~Make It Yourself~

Sweet Pumpkin Blossom Puree Mask
16 oz fresh cooked pumpkin (or 1 15 oz can)
1 cup ripe papaya
1 Tbsp Bitter Orange Blossom Hydrosol
1 Tbsp Ground Oats
1 tsp Honey
1 egg

Combine all ingredients into a food processor. Puree until smooth. If thicker mask is desired, add more oats. If a thinner mask is desired, add a bit more hydrosol.

Sensitive skin may want to do a patch test before using on face.

The Great Pumpkin Pampering - Part I

Celebrations of Autumn include luxury pumpkin treatments!

Fresh for the holidays and available now!
Unrefined oils including Organic Virgin Coconut, Extra Virgin Olive, and Shea Butter are baked together with a puree of fresh Organic Pumpkin, Muscovado Brown Sugar, Organic Milk and Chai Spices for a luscious seasonal treat! Wrapped in a beautiful, US Artisan handmade, 100% recycled paper wrapper.

Artisan Luxury Pumpkin Chai Spice Soap
Click here to order at our new CZ Luxe Site!

Buy Pumpkin Chai Spice Soap now and receive a free sample of another seasonal favorite, sure to delight - hand prepared Autumn Simmering Room Perfume/Incense.

The Scents of Autumn

Cool Autumn weather has arrived in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. This is time of year when we celebrate the harvest and begin to prepare for the long winter nights.

One fabulously easy way to create a comforting, fragrant, Autumn atmosphere in your home is to make aromatic wax tarts. The tarts can be used as sachets to scent small spaces, such as drawers, closets and bathrooms. They can also be melted, in appropriate simmering style diffusers, to scent much larger living areas.

To prepare, simply melt together, and then mold, a little bit of beeswax, floral wax, a few drops of essential oils and voila! Instant olfactory gratification.

Traditional aromatics of this season, for both scenting and flavoring, include rich warm spices such as anise, cinnamon, clove and black peppercorn. Also fitting are woody notes such as cedarwood and copaiba balsam. Certain florals, such as jasmine and rose, can help round out and bring dimension to your Autumn blend.

This woman's junkmail is also her company's packing material and soap wrappers

At least 98% of the packing material that we use here at A Little Ol'Factory is recycled through re-use. We re-use every piece of packing foam, bubble wrap and Styrofoam that comes through our door. We also shred every piece of junk mail that we can and use it as packing material for our shipments.

In addition to using almost all recycled box packing materials, we are also using more and more recycled packaging for our line!

Our brand new new soap wrappers (to be unveiled on the new site in time for the holidays) are handmade in the US, from 100% recycled paper (such as junk mail), natural botanicals and contain embedded seeds such as Italian Basil and Columbine Flowers - so not only are they recycled and recyclable, but they are also reusable! They can be planted in your garden or a flower pot and grow a lovely decorative or edible plant that you and your family can enjoy!

We are very happy to have announced earlier this year the phasing in of 100% Post Consumer Recycled Plastic ( PCR ) PET bottles. One of ours goal is to, by next year, have all of our items that require bottling in plastic to be in PCR PET bottles. Click here to see these bottles that are more than just aesthetically pleasing.

These are but a few very simple implementations that save us (the company) money, saves us (the growing US population) a LOT of landfill space and saves us (the entire human race) valuable resources that would otherwise be squandered.

According to the Center for the New American Dream in Maryland:

* 5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in U.S. landfills annually.

* The average American household receives unsolicited junk mail equal to 1.5 trees every year—more than 100 million trees for all U.S. households combined.

* 44 percent of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but only half that much junk mail (22 percent) is recycled.

* Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled.

* On average, Americans spend 8 months opening junk mail in the course of their lives.

With little effort, you can be a big part of the solution, both personally and with your pocketbook.

If you don't have a way to recycle and reuse your own junk mail, you can stop if from coming to you in the first place! Check out http://junkbusters.com/ for more info on how.

Support businesses that support recycling efforts. Contact businesses that don't currently use recycled materials and tell them you'd like them to. When consumers talk, business listens!

Have a wonderful week and remember, it only takes a spark (and a little bit of junk mail ;) to get a fire going!

Voluptuous Vanilla

Synthetically produced vanillin can never compete in flavor and/or fragrance with genuine, prime quality vanilla. Once, an aromatic commodity of nearly untouchable cost, vanilla beans, in recent years, have become rather inexpensive. We can now use vanilla beans to create gourmet food and artisan aromatics liberally without guilt!

To extract the the odorous air of this orchard pod, split vanilla beans may be infused in a high proof alcohol or a fatty oil with a long shelf life (such as fractionated coconut, jojoba, etc ..). It is deliciously decedent when infused in Organic Virgin Coconut Oil.

For those who desire a very strong vanilla note in their aromatic blends, Vanilla Absolute is your answer. The variety we have in stock now is strong, gorgeous and full-bodied! Produced by the Old World method for perfumery with undenatured sugar cane alcohol. It took years of searching for a vanilla of this aromatic quality. This is an essential item for the pallet of any aromatic artisan.

Enjoy your weekend, and may every day be as wonderful as vanilla!