Holiday Closure

We will be closed Friday, May 27 through Monday, May 31 in observance of Memorial Day. You may continue to place online orders during this closure. They will be processed by time and date received when we return on Tuesday. Enjoy this long weekend and remember to honor and give thanks for those that have served our country.

It's my monthly Bunco Wednesday; the one night a month I get to hang with girlfriends & roll dice. It's a Bunco Bogo day for you. Purchase up to 3 Mold Market molds & we'll include a free mold of our selection for each Mold Market mold purchased. Remember, limit is 3. We promise to pick some real winning molds. Key BUNCOBOGO in the comment section at checkout to get your bogo deal! Offer ends today at 11:59 PM ET.

Why We Make Soap...

My youngest grandson after a nose dive in the sandbox. He could be the soaping poster child. With those curly locks and blue eyes, he could charm anyone into making soap. Needless to say, my daughter wasn't so happy about all the sand on her floors. My buddy decided that the best place to wipe off the sand was once he walked INTO the house :))) That's a boy for yah!

What do you think about that spider tattoo he's got going on mid-chest area?

Why I Love the USA Soap Mold GiveAway

And the winners are.....

Christina from TN and Jean from IA. Congratulations. My staff read every entry and, believe me, it was hard to pick. For that reason, I am sending every person who entered this giveaway an "appreciation gift". As for the winners, your molds and soaping apron are in the mail.

Here is what Jean had to say about the USA:

I love living in the USA because we have the chance to follow our dreams. Our country gives us a chance to pursue our dreams by providing educational opportunities for all, and the freedom to choose what path we wish to take. Here is how our family members have taken different paths to follow our dreams. My husband and two daughters are all graduating from college on the same day (Michelle Obama is scheduled to be the keynote speaker). One will get a doctorate, one a masters, and one a bachelors degree. Thankfully, all are gainfully employed : ) in the fields of their choosing. Meanwhile, our son is a member of the US Army. He chose that path as his way to a career and an education unlike any other. As he entered basic training, he commented that it's ironic that in order to defend freedom, he has to give his up. It amazes me that we have so many wonderful men and women who are committed to sacrificing their own comfort so they can defend the freedom that we enjoy. That is another reason I love living in the USA. Because of the freedoms we enjoy because of freedom defenders who gave up their freedom (and in many cases, their lives) in order to defend mine, I had the chance to attain my masters degree (I have no interest in pursuing a doctorate) and enjoy teaching online. Oh, and I also used my education and my freedom to pursue my dreams as I started my own small soap making business.

Thanks for the chance to tell what I love about living in the USA! God bless you, and God bless the USA.

And, this was Christina's entry:

I love living in the USA because of the freedom we are still allotted here. Freedom of religion is a great and cherished freedom that should never be taken for granted. Many Christians around the world are tortured and put to death for a freedom and privilege we in America take for granted every week. We are not punished, houses are not broken into, and we are not hauled to prison for praying or having a Bible in our house or car. So many times in other countries around the world people are dragged out of their houses or cars and either sent to a fate worse than death being a prison of such horrific conditions that they suffer with diseases for years prior to dying and are tortured daily for the "Crime" of having a Bible in their possession.

We also have a wonderful freedom called Freedom of Speech. We are allowed to say what we want when we want although some people do take that privilege to extreme but most of us use it wisely yet we take it for granted.

America is blessed with many privileges and freedoms we simply take for granted as The Constitution protects us and guarantees us these freedoms and privileges. Many people in countries that are not allotted these freedoms risk their lives time and time again to try to grant their families a taste of this freedom we take for granted everyday.

Thank you for our freedom and the privilege of living in the USA!!

Best Mother's Day Gift Ever!

I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day with my Mom, husband and daughter's family. My honey-man grilled out steaks and roasted veggies and I made an awesome low-cal/low fat "Fudge Brownie Blitz" for dessert. The weather was sunny & beautiful so we were able to eat lunch on the deck.

I am pictured here with a prized possession gifted to me by my daughter. When my Daddy passed away in September 2008, my daughter took only two keepsakes. 1) An undershirt (because she slept in one of grandpa's undershirts when she stayed the night as a young child) and, 2) all of grandpa's ties. Trust me, my Daddy had many as he dressed in suits every Sunday for church (he was a minister/pastor). The lap quilt pictured contains snippets of my Daddy's ties. My daughter also had quilts made for my Mom and herself. My grand kids each received a mini blanket as a keepsake. Quite honestly, this was the best Mother's Day gift I have ever received.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day as well. It's a busy day with lots of catching up to do from this hectic weekend. Sophie Soap Chick is now home from University and should be dropping in on occasion to work on some new soaping projects. I have some great ideas for her.... but, can't tell :)

I'll be posting the winners of the "Why I Love the USA" MOLD GIVEAWAY from last week. My staff picked two top winners.

FINALLY! Spring Arrives in Michigan

The weeping cherry tree is blooming. YIPPEE!! I can see this tree outside my kitchen window and it brings great joy to see these little pink blossoms emerging from the grayness of Michigan post-Winter. It also reminds me of prom season (which is happening this weekend in our area). My daughter would always have prom pics taken beneath this tree. Of course, the tree was smaller then :) It's grown a bit since my daughter was in high school as you tell from the picture we had taken last night. It was at my grandson's 2nd grade school concert.

Papaya Seed Facial Mask... Oohh La La

As promised, here is the Papaya Seed facial recipe. Not only does it smell good, but it's also good for the skin.


1 tablespoon papaya seeds
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 fresh strawberries with leafs
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kiwi-lime juice (you can also use just plain lime juice)


Blend ingredients in a blender . Yup! It's that easy. This facial recipe is great for oily skin but can be used for all skin types. Leave on face for 12 minutes and then gently rinse off with warm water. This recipe makes (2) facial applications. Apply your favorite facial cream after removing the facial and call it a night ;)

Come on... you didn't really expect a middle-age woman to show her face, did you? (wink wink). Hey, take a look at that hand. A good indicator of why I don't put my face on camera smeared with a facial mask (and expect to make sales! )

WARNING
If you have sensitive facial skin that reacts poorly to skin care products that contain vitamin C, ask your dermatologist or doctor before applying papaya directly to your skin. Vitamin C can cause redness, itching or burning to skin that is extremely sensitive or that is affected by eczema or psoriasis.

Going Green...with Kale

Many of my followers know that I've been on a mission to lose weight. To date, I've lost 25 pounds and I'm back to my "ideal" weight. Eating healthy and in small portions is how I've been able to lose. Trying to incorporate green foods can sometimes be challenging. Here is one of the ways that I am using greens (such as Kale which I would not otherwise eat) into my daily diet.

This is a "green" smoothie that I made this morning. My daughter stopped by to picked up a few things before work. She took one look at the smoothie and said, "What the hey is that?" and headed to fetch some coffee. What she didn't know...it was for her. Once she sampled it and got past the color, her statement was "WOW, this is awesome!".

Here is my own home-brewed Green Kale Smoothie recipe. It's very tasty, but again, you have to get past the ugly color. It looks like pea soup, but the taste is ever so yummy. I'm also including a bonus recipe for a facial mask using the papaya seeds in a separate blog post. It's ideal for oily skin but can be used for all skin types.

GREEN KALE SMOOTHIE:
2 cups chopped kale leaf
1 banana
2 cups water
1 cup frozen non-sugar strawberries
2 cups chopped papaya
1 tablespoon splenda sugar

Place ingredients in blender until you reach a smooth consistency. This recipe yielded 9 cups for me.

Hemp History Week & We're Celebrating...

This is "Hemp History Week" and we are celebrating with the following offer:

Purchase 2 pounds of GPE Hemp Butter soap base along with one Mold Market Hemp Leaf soap mold and we'll include a FREE 1-ounce bottle of Bamboo & Hemp fragrance oil. That's a $3.60 value. But that's not all! (Doesn't this sound like one of those infomerical??...it slices, it dices and it vacuums your carpet while you sleep at night!!) OK, back to the subject. If you purchase both of the above items, we'll also include a Soap Saver bag which is another $2.40 savings. You've got a $6 savings going on here.

In a nutshell, spend $15 and get $6 back in FREE PRODUCT. Now that's a deal as far as I'm concerned. So, how do you qualify for the Hemp History Special?
1) Purchase the two required items (soap base and mold).

2) Type HEMPWEEK in the comment section of the shopping cart at checkout.

It's that simple. We will include your FREE ITEMS in your package :))

Soap Mold Giveaway! Will You Be the Winner?

Don't you just love free stuff? I do! Well, if you're a FB (Facebook) friend of GPE (GoPlanetEarth) then you will qualify for this giveaway. Not a friend? Then jump on over to our FB page and "Like" it. Then, follow the instructions below to register for our FREE MOLD giveaway. There will be two lucky winners.

It's so easy to register and here is the scoop:

1) You must be a FB fan of GPE. This means you must have clicked on the "Like" button on our Facebook page.

2) Send an email paragraph stating why you love living in the "USA". Include your first and last name, plus shipping address in the email. If you win, we will post your first name along with city/state on my blog or our FB page. No personal info will be divulged (scout's honor).

3) Two lucky FB friends will receive (4) newly released mold designs from Mold Market AND a Mold Market Logo Soaping Apron. This is a $45 value PLUS GPE pays the shipping cost. You can't beat that! Thank you Mold Market for this special offer.

You can take a peek at the molds you could win here.

Good Luck to all. Drawing will be held May 8th (Mother's Day) at 8 AM ET. Winners will be notified by email. OK, gang, you've got one week to register. Spread the word to all your soaping friends via Twitter or Facebook.