handmade
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Natural Homemade Lip Balm
We have been getting great feedback about our lip balms, so I thought I’d fill you all in on what they are made with. We don’t claim to use all natural ingredients, but we try to keep our products as natural as we can. Our lip balms are made with beeswax, coconut oil, olive oil, vitamin e oil, flavor oil, mica powder and powdered sugar. Beeswax – Beeswax contains anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-allergenic properties. Beeswax has fantastic skin-softening properties and enhances skin elasticity. Coconut oil – Coconut oil contains antioxidants that help protect the skin from harmful radiation from the sun, and coconut oil helps to hydrate skin and…
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Yummy Gluten Free Bread
I made my first loaf of gluten free bread yesterday. I have been procrastinating about this for weeks because the first and only time I tasted gluten free bread I didn’t like it at all. The kind I tried eating was dense, dry, and tasteless.So, I found a recipe using almond flour and started mixing up the batter. I was concerned with the fact that the recipe called for FIVE eggs. I was unimpressed with how thick and yellow the batter looked. Overall, I thought it would turn out to be a brick that would go directly from the oven into the trash can.I was pleasantly surprised when I…
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FDA Disclaimer Situation
“The information in this post about essential oils is not intended to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat or prevent any disease. According to the FDA, only drugs can make those types of claims, which these products on our website are not.” You’ll likely be seeing this disclaimer on my posts when I write about our products. We use essential oils in our soaps, and there’s a good reason for that. Most essential oils are plant based, and I feel better about using them than fragrance oils, when we can. My hands are a little tied when it comes to talking about the benefits of essential oils. I could literally be fined…
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Self-care and Baked Goods and Produce, OH MY!
A lot has happened since I last wrote. We became an official business – A Tiny Homestead LLC. We began ordering supplies and making all the things. We vended at our first local craft fair a month after starting the business, and then a second vending opportunity two Saturdays ago. It’s been a whirlwind of activity, and learning, and excitement. All three of us also registered to be Minnesota Cottage Food Producers, which means that we can sell baked goods, dried herbs, and canned goods that we make here. We don’t have to use a commercial kitchen, nor are we subject to state inspection. This coming weekend is the start…
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Big Changes!
Spring will be arriving for real this weekend! We had blizzard conditions last Friday night, but this Saturday we are expecting highs in the 60s. That’s the first big change. The second has a bit of a story to be told. March 6th, Kyle’s almost 30 year employment with Xerox ended. He has decided to take a hiatus from the job world and focus on home. This means that we have made A Tiny Homestead into an official business (our name now has the letters LLC attached to it). Not only will we continue to offer our CSA farm shares, but we will be selling our produce and wildflower bouquets…
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Jewelweed – Fun Fact, It’s Not A Weed
A weed is defined as a wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants. If jewelweed was growing on our little lot of land, we’d have to pull it, mostly because it spreads. But, since it’s growing along the edge of a friend’s property, I don’t see it as a weed, I see it as a resource. My husband and our son were scouting out deer sign and places to hunt and got into a patch of Stinging Nettles. When they got home, my husband was scratching at the rash on his hand. I googled a home remedy solution and discovered that jewelweed sap…
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Retirement – What’s that?
Hello! Thank you for visiting our online home. I have started a few blogs over the last ten years. One was about books and writing. The two current ones are about cooking and old-fashioned living, respectively. I also blog for Grit magazine. So, when my husband floated the idea of us running a business together, I was all ears. He has a corporate job, but his heart isn’t in it. His grand retirement plan is to buy some land and start a CSA, and rent out land to Tiny Home owners. I am all in on the idea, but we need to fund the project. To that end, I have…