BeadforLife, a non-profit organization, was founded by three American women to help the women of Uganda learn skills that would allow them to earn livable wages. BeadforLife began by teaching women to make beautiful beaded jewelry out of recycled paper.

They launched a second income-generating project in northern Uganda in 2010, creating a livelihood for the extremely poor women who farm and gather Shea nuts. BeadforLife makes the Shea nuts into Shea butter products, including creams, soaps and lip balms.  The sales of

these products have the potential to empower tens of thousands of women.  Currently, BeadforLife is working with 740 women, most of whom are farmers, to educate them about how to improve the quality of their farms and bring their agricultural goods to market.

I was so excited to try the BeadforLife products because they are sold at fair trade prices so that the Ugandan women can earn a living wage.  I am not a big jewelry person, so when BeadforLife came out with their Shea butter products I knew that was right up my alley!!  I received two Peppermint Lip Balms and a Shea Butter Soap.

Here’s what they looked like in the package:

I gave one of the lip balms to Boo and kept the soap and other lip balm for myself.

The Peppermint lip balm smells so yummy!!  Boo liked it because, “it feels like lipstick, but without the lipsticky part of it.” I liked the slight tingly sensation I got when I put it on, plus it kept my lips moisturized for hours!

Here’s what the soap looks like out of the wrapper (which is made of biodegradable plastic):

Shea butter gives the soap its moisturizing properties and lemongrass and lavender make it smell amazing!!  There is a really nice lather too.  Since I left the bar in the shower, Boo tried it too.  Boo’s review: ” The barky bits make it feel like it’s exfoliating my skin.”

I highly recommend the BeadforLife Shea butter products – not just because they are helping Ugandan women to support their families, but also because they are great products!!

You can learn more about BeadforLife or purchase their products by visiting Beadforlife.org

I was provided products in return for my review.  However, my opinion is my own.

This review is brought to you by Charisma Media Network

I apologize for posting Wednesday’s recipe one day late.  We finally finished moving last night and are still without TV, Internet and landline at home.  My phone has internet access, but not too easy to post a blog that way. I’m actually posting this from work (shh – dont tell).

Boo knows that every Wednesday I post a recipe on my blog. Last week, he asked if I would want to post his recipe for bruschetta.  First we got in an argument about the pronunciation (turns out Boo is right – it’s pronounced bra-sketta). Then I said, sure why not?  Boo’s bruschetta is quite tasty.

Ingredients:

1 baguette, sliced into about 12-16 slices depending on the size of your baguette

A few ounces of your favorite olive oil

6-8 tomatoes, diced

6-8 basil leaves, chiffonaded (see below)

6-8 cloves of garlic diced or smashed (depending on your preference)

Directions:

Brush the baguette slices with olive oil and pop in the toaster until crunchy and golden brown.

Top the toasted slices with the diced or crushed garlic – again, you don’t have to use as many cloves as Boo does – for example, Art doesn’t like garlic so I have to go very sparingly on my slices or sleep on the couch.

Next, spoon on the diced tomatoes.

 Now you need to chiffonade the basil.  First, you take the basil leaves and roll them lengthwise until they look like this:

 Then, cut crosswise into thin strips, which will look like this:

Add the chiffonaded basil strips to the topping on your toast and you are ready to serve!!

Enjoy!!

As you may know, our family is in the middle of a move.  Living in the same house for 19 years, we had accumulated quite a bit of “junK” – stuff we hadn’t used in years or that the kids had outgrown.  Time to have a yard sale.

The first order of business was gathering and pricing all the “treasures”.  In the past, I used to gather everything and then spend a day or two just pricing, but that is so tedious.  I much prefer pricing as I gather.  I took my time and spent 15-30 minutes a day while we were packing, just sorting out the items we really didn’t need anymore and pricing them.

So, how to determine a price?  Please don’t ever have a yard sale without having attended a few first. Walk around someone else’s yard sale, see what the “going rates” are for various items and listen in on some conversations between buyers and sellers.  Think about what you would be willing to pay for the same item.  Now when you go back to price your own items, the last thing to take into consideration is how badly do you want to get rid of it?  Of course, most items can be donated if they don’t sell, but if you really want to get rid of an item, always price low and be prepared to haggle lower.

For large, car-stopper items, like furniture, I use cardstock or heavy 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper to write the name of the item and the price on in large black marker, then I tape it in a conspicuous place, so that traffic driving by our house can easily see it.  For smaller items, I either put them all in a labelled box (coffee mugs – 25 cents each) or individually price unique items by placing bright orange circular stickers on them.  We have never had a problem with people swapping stickers and honestly, you’re not a retail establishment, so you don’t worry about it.  Just say no if the other person is being unreasonable.

Once you have all your items gathered and priced you can set the date for your sale.  Preferably your next free weekend.  The longer you procrastinate, the more dust will gather on your “treasures” and people are less likely to buy dusty items.

A week or two  before the sale, advertise on Craigslist and make some posters.  If you have some sawhorses, you can tape your posters to them with arrows pointing toward your location.

A day or two before the sale, make sure to get money for making change.  I usually go to the bank and get three $10 dollar bills, three $5 dollar bills, 20 $1 bills, two rolls of quarters, one roll of dimes and two rolls of quarters (don’t bother with pennies).  I use an old metal tackle box for my change box.

The day of the sale, plan on getting up at least an hour before the scheduled start.  Have all your items already organized by category, so you can set them up by category.  We use tables,  but if you don’t have easy access to folding tables, I know people who spread blankets on the lawn and lay their “treasures” out for sale that way.

Set yourself up in a conspicuous spot so you can keep an eye on the change box as well as the customers.  If you get anything bigger than a $20, put it in the house, away from customer’s temptation.  Make sure you have at least one helper who can roam around helping people and spell you at the change box if you need a break.

Plan on wrapping up your yard sale by 2 p.m.  In my experience, there is usually a big rush before and after you first open, then steady traffic until about noon.  Sometimes we have a small rush again about 1 p.m. but after that it is usually dead.  Plan on about an hour to pack everything up and put it away.  Sometimes we hold over items that didn’t sell for the next yard sale, but since we are moving, we hauled everything off to the thrift store.  Or you can call Salvation Army or Goodwill to come pick everything up for you.

I hope these tips will help you have a successful yard sale!!

If you have any yard sale tips you would like to add, please write them in the comment section below.

The Becoming

Jessica Meigs

ASIN: B006AKAQE4

Genre: Horror

Publication Date: November 2011

236 pages

About the book:

The Michaluk Virus is loose.

In the heart of Atlanta, Georgia, the Michaluk Virus has escaped the CDC, and its effects are widespread and devastating. Most of the population of the southeastern United States has become homicidal cannibals. As society rapidly crumbles under the hordes of infected, three people—Ethan Bennett, a Memphis police officer; Cade Alton, his best friend and former IDF sharpshooter; and Brandt Evans, a lieutenant in the US Marines—band together against the oncoming crush of death and terror sweeping across the world.

As Cade, Brandt, and Ethan hole up in a safe house in Tupelo, others begin to join them in their bid for survival. When the infected attack and they’re forced to flee, one departs to Memphis in search of answers while the others escape south to Biloxi, where they encounter more danger than they bargained for. And in Memphis, the answers that one man finds are the last answers he wanted, answers that herald a horrific possibility that there may be more to this virus than first suspected.

My Review:

I had never read zombie fiction for this book, although I did enjoy the movies Zombieland and I Am Legend and I had to stop watching The Walking Dead: Season One because I was having nightmares.  To be honest, I was afraid to read The Becoming at night for the first week.

Once I got into the book though, I was so enthralled by Cade, one of the strongest female characters I have ever read, and the gripping story line, I often forgot I was reading zombie fiction.  The book read much more like a war story.  I especially enjoyed Cade’s friendship with Ethan, the curmudgeonly police officer, and her camaraderie (maybe burgeoning romance?) with Brandt, the Marine. This book was a fast read because I didn’t want to put it down!!  I can’t wait until the sequel, The Becoming: Ground Zero, which comes out July 2012.

My rating: 4 1/2 IMI Galil SARs (if you read the book you’ll know what this is).

Jessica Meigs has been nice enough to offer an e-book of The Becoming for one of my lucky readers!!  Enter on the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway