Soap

*Photo from Grace and Miss Mouse website*

I discovered these handcrafted, made in Vermont soaps earlier this year at a sheep and wool festival, and they are amazing! I have never been able to use a bar soap before. They’ve always left me with a dry, scaly, itchy feeling on my legs and body. So I’d pretty much given up the handmade, artisan soap route. I assumed my skin just wasn’t meant for them. But while shopping around with a friend at the festival, we stumbled upon the booth for Grace and Miss Mouse Soaps. And I picked up a bar to smell (because who doesn’t love that?) and was immediately intrigued. It felt like I was holding a bar of lotion. My hands felt more moisturized when I set it down. So I threw the dice, and bought two bars assuming if they didn’t work out, at least I supported an indie biz.

But they did work out. And they smell amazing. The first bar I used was the Rosemary Mint, and it was so fantastic. I was excited to shower just to use the soap. The scent was so incredibly refreshing. The second bar was an unscented Castile soap, which is a much gentler soap and I figured might be better on my skin. In retrospect, I should have used the Castile bar first, but the Rosemary Mint smelled so damn good I couldn’t wait. Luckily, it works lovely on my skin!

*Photo from Grace and Miss Mouse website*

Also, these soaps last. I bought my bars in May, and only now am at the point of needing to order more as the second bar is almost gone. And no, I’m not a shower-once-a-week person – I shower just about every other day, so it gets used regularly. I do keep the bar out of the shower, which definitely helps preserve it’s life.

So if you’re looking for amazing soap, and the added bonus of supporting and indie/handmade biz, check out Grace and Miss Mouse Soaps! Other flavors I’d recommend just by their scent: Zen, Black Raspberry Vanilla, and Lavender Oatmeal. They also offer Sheep’s Milk Soap!

I was not compensated for this post – I just love their soaps and spreading support for indie businesses!

BUBBLES!!!

My head immediately goes to Finding Nemo when I hear someone yell the word bubbles. Then it goes right to Spongebob.

Moving on! We love bubbles around here (is there anyone who doesn’t?) and it’s such a great summery activity, I figured I’d make this Fun Fact Friday all about bubbles.

First, some bubble facts:

Snapping shrimps kill their prey with bubbles. Seriously, it uses bubbles as a weapon. It creates a captivation bubble around it’s prey that immediately collapses. The shock wave from the collapse is momentary, but produces heat nearly as hot as the sun. (This is definitely my favorite fact this week – that is just so cool. . .or hot rather!!)
Jarom Watts of the US created the largest free floating soap bubble on February 21, 2009. It had a volume of 483 cubic feet and was made using a wand.
When two equal volume bubble join together, their walls become flat due to equalizing pressure on both sides. This makes a square bubble.
Sam Heath (aka Sam Sam The Bubble Man’) hold the world record for most people inside a bubble. On march 27, 2006 he fit 19 boys and girls inside a giant bubble.

One of my best friends, rocking the giant bubble wand.

I make all our bubble solution – it works so much better than storebought, especially for large bubble blowing! For a batch that fits in a large mason jar (my preferred storage method) simply mix together 3 cups of water, 1 cup of dish soap (we use Dawn), and 1/2 cup corn syrup. Stir it gently, then get ready to blow some big bubbles!

Behold the wonder of bubbles!