Photo Of The Month

What do you think they are praying for?

This photo came via my Mom's Facebook. Picture by Jim Campbell

In The Spirit Of Recycling~14 Easy to Make Water Bottle Crafts

There are so many ideas for crafts made from recycled items, it's sometimes hard to decide which ones to try. We've rounded up 14 Easy to Make Water Bottle Crafts that are so fashionable, handy and fun, you'd never guess they're plastic bottle crafts! From trendy water bottle bracelets to bottle caps crafts that double as wall art, this collection offers ideas for recycled water bottle crafts that you can use in your everyday life. So if you're going green and want suggestions for crafts using plastic bottle caps, take a look at these 14 Easy to Make Water Bottle Crafts, empty your recycling bin, and get to work on one of these eco-friendly projects!

14 Easy to Make Water Bottle Crafts
Table of Contents

• Jewelry
• Organizers
• Home Decor
• Just for Fun

Jewelry

Faux Felted Water Bottle Bracelets -- These funky, colorful bracelets are a fun way to spice up your wardrobe with wearable water bottle crafts. We love how the felt adds an element of softness and disguises the plastic.

Pink Flower Water Bottle Bracelets -- Who says you can't be fashionable and eco-friendly? These Pink Flower Water Bottle Bracelets look like something you might find at your favorite accessories store, but they're really recycled plastic bottle crafts that you can easily make at home!

Water Bottle Jewelry -- Learn how to turn old plastic bottles into trendy accessories with this Water Bottle Jewelry tutorial. From floral necklaces to dainty daisy bracelets, get creative and fill up your jewelry box with these adorable water bottle crafts!

Plastic Water Bottle Pendant and Necklace Video -- Prepare to be amazed by this recycled plastic bottle crafts tutorial. Watch the video to find out how to make one-of-a-kind water bottle crafts that you can wear every day, including a plastic water bottle pendant and a necklace made from recycled bottles.

Organizers

Water Bottle Supply Organizer -- One of our favorite easy to make water bottle crafts is this handy organizer. Get your craft room in order with this clever storage solution, made from recyclable materials!

Water Bottle Storage -- Never pay for plastic storage containers again! These instructions for recycled plastic bottle crafts will have you organized in no time!

Upcycled Containers -- Water bottle crafts can be useful and cute, all at the same time! You'll love to display these adorable upcycled containers, decorated with colorful scrapbook paper.

Home Decor

Plastic Bottle Lid Art -- For a fun and inexpensive way to decorate your home, you might want to consider artistic water bottle crafts. Your friends will be amazed that you created this contemporary wall hanging using recycled materials!

3 D Canvas with Silk Flowers -- Instead of tossing that plastic bottle, why not incorporate it into your next piece of art? Bring your painting to life using recycled plastic crafts. We love how the water bottle vase makes the painting 3-D!

Adorable Clay Pig -- Water bottle crafts don't get any cuter than this! The best part about this home decor piece is that no one would ever guess that the pig's body is made from a recycled plastic bottle!

Just for Fun

Dog Bottle Bank -- Anyone who loves water bottle crafts will flip over this cute Dog Bottle Bank. Save some green with this simple green crafting project!

Cat Bottle Bank -- Since you can never have enough water bottle crafts, why not make a purrfect companion for your Dog Bottle Bank with this feline version? These recycled plastic crafts also make great gifts for any animal lover in your life.

Bottle Cap Snake Toy -- Looking for fun plastic bottle caps crafts that you can make with your kids? This wiggly Bottle Cap Snake Toy is a great craft for little boys, plus it puts all of those used water bottle tops to good use!

Recycled Tic Tac Toe Game -- It's easier than you think to make your own board game out of recycled materials. This Tic Tac Toe game is one of our favorite crafts using plastic bottle caps because it's something the whole family can enjoy!

Thank you again to Kristin at www.favecrafts.com for more great ideas

WINNER OF THE SMALL SPROUTS YOU CHOOSE GIVEAWAY

Thank you all for a great Facebook participation in our "You Choose Giveaway"

The winner is Mickala Amber! Mickala, please message me with your choice 

I have to say this was alot of fun for me to watch this contest. There are somethings I don't like about Facebook, but I do love how people interact together on the page. I loved reading about your friends and how you would have conversations back and forth on the comment section. Somebody announced the birth of their friends baby. Some old friends connected with each other after losing touch for awhile. I really enjoyed the last 2 weeks of activity

I also wanted to let Jessica Odom know that we will have a runner up prize for her as she put great effort into this contest also.

Stay tuned for another great giveaway soon!

Giveaway Ends Tommorow!

For all of you watching and participating in our big giveaway, It ends tommorow morning at 8am Central time. Please count up your points and post your winning total. No entries will be counted after 8 am Central time.

I will be out of the office part of tommorow, but will count and verify for the winner which will be announced Saturday morning on the Blog and Facebook.

Thank you all for a great turnout!!!!

8 reasons carbs help you lose weight

Eating a diet packed with the right kind of carbs is the little-known secret to getting and staying slim for life.
When we talk about the right kind of carbs, we mean Resistant Starch. Hundreds of studies conducted at respected universities and research centers have shown Resistant Starch—such as grains, beans, and legumes—helps you eat less, burn more calories, feel more energized and less stressed, and lower cholesterol.

Sound too good to be true? Here are eight evidence-based reasons you must get carbs back in your life if you are ever to achieve that coveted sleek, slim look.


Eating carbs makes you thin for life
A recent multi-center study found that the slimmest people also ate the most carbs, and the chubbiest ate the least. The researchers concluded that your odds of getting and staying slim are best when carbs make up to 64% of your total daily caloric intake, or 361 grams.

That's the equivalent of several stuffed baked potatoes (a food we bet you've been afraid to eat for decades).

Most low-carb diets limit you to fewer than 30% of total calories from carbs and sometimes contain as few as 30 grams of carbohydrates a day.

Health.com: 10 fat-burning carbs

Carbs fill you up
Many carb-filled foods act as powerful appetite suppressants. They're even more filling than protein or fat. These special carbs fill you up because they are digested more slowly than other types of foods, triggering a sensation of fullness in both your brain and your belly.
Research done at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom found that consuming Resistant Starch in one meal caused study participants to consume 10% fewer calories (roughly 150 to 200 calories for the average woman) during the next day, because they felt less hungry.

Carbs curb your hunger
According to researchers, when dieters are taken off a low-carb diet and shifted them to an approach that includes generous amounts of fiber and Resistant Starch foods, something wonderful happens: Within two days, the dieters' cravings go away.

The fiber and Resistant Starch fills them up and satisfies them while allowing them to eat the foods they crave. These good-news carbs also raise levels of satiety hormones that tell the brain to flip a switch that stifles hunger and turns up metabolism.

Health.com: 4 hearty whole-grain recipes

Carbs control blood sugar and diabetes
The right mix of carbs is the best way to control blood sugar and keep diabetes at bay. In one study at the Beltsville Human Nutrition Center at the USDA, participants who consumed a diet rich in high Resistant Starch foods were able to lower their post-meal blood sugar and insulin response by up to 38%.

Eat the carbs you want, but you need to combine them so that they don't cause a spike in your blood sugar. Instead of eating white rice, switch to brown and combine it with beans, corn, or other high Resistant Starch foods that keep your blood sugar more balanced than low-carb diets.

Carbs speed up metabolism
Carbs high in Resistant Starch speed up your metabolism and your body's other natural fat burners. As Resistant Starch moves though your digestive system, it releases fatty acids that encourage fat burning, especially in your belly.

These fatty acids help preserve muscle mass—and that stokes your metabolism, helping you lose weight faster. Researchers set out to fatten up two groups of rats, feeding one group food that was low in Resistant Starch.

A second group was fed Resistant Starch-packed food. The rats fed the low Resistant Starch chow gained fat while losing muscle mass. Rats that ate the high Resistant Starch meals preserved their muscle mass, keeping their metabolism moving.

Health.com: 30 new metabolism boosters

Carbs blast belly fat
Carbs help you lose your belly fat faster than other foods, even when the same number of calories are consumed.

When scientists fed rats a diet rich in Resistant Starch, it increased the activity of fat-burning enzymes and decreased the activity of fat-storing enzymes. This means that the belly-fat cells were less likely to soak up and store calories as fat.

Health.com: Blast belly fat fast

Carbs keep you satisfied
Carbs keep you satisfied longer than other foods. Here's why: Your brain acts like a computerized fuel gauge that directs you to fill up whenever it notices that its gas tank (stomach) is empty

Foods high in Resistant Starch flip on every single fullness trigger in the body. They release fullness hormones in the intestine and make your cells more sensitive to insulin.

By increasing your consumption of filling foods and releasing satiety hormones, you'll minimize your hunger and cravings.

Carbs make you feel good about you!
"Dieters feel so empowered once they lose weight on carbs. For the first time, they are able to lose weight by eating in a balanced manner, without cutting out entire food groups," says Sari Greaves, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.   

Resources: YahooShine       

All-over beauty: The easiest way to get gorgeous skin from head to toe

While most of us make at least some effort to keep the skin on our faces clean, moisturized, and well-maintained, the rest of our bodies, and any specific skin issues, often fall into a state of at least semi, if not full-on, neglect.

That's a big beauty blunder, according to experts—since the skin, head-to-toe, is our largest organ, it's also one that can make us look inadvertently older and less healthy than we really are. "The skin differs, depending on where it is on the body," says dermatologist Maria Tsoukas, MD, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, "so it requires specialized care."

You already know what the first two words from any credentialed pair of lips will be: "SPF 30". Beyond that, here's a guide to a full-body radiance:


FACE
Big Complaint: Fine lines and age spots
Expert Fix: Amidst the slew of products that promise youth, the one dermatologists agree you should try (at least if you're not going to see a doctor) is an over-the-counter moisturizer with the vitamin-A derivative Retinol–unless you're pregnant, in which case you should check with your doctor. "Retinol exfoliates microscopically and helps the complexion look fresh," explains Pamela Jakubowicz, MD, a dermatologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. She also recommends lotions with soy for discoloration and old acne marks. "There are some studies to show that soy helps with sun spots," she says.

NECK
Big Complaint: Crêpe-paper texture
Expert Fix: "Oh, you mean the chicken skin?" asks Bella Schneider owner of LaBelle Day Spas& Salons in the San Francisco Bay area. "The first thing I recommend is to tone the neck muscles, because when you build volume, the skin tightens and you really get a lift." To that end, Scott-Vincent Borba, a celebrity esthetician who has worked with AnnaLynne McCord and Ashley Greene, prescribes a daily exercise anyone can do: Try to touch the tip of your nose with your tongue 50 times while massaging in moisturizer or cream using upward strokes to the jaw line.


DÉCOLLETAGE
Big Complaint: Mottled cleavage
Expert fix: Poikiloderma of Civatte may sound like a comic-book villain, but it's actually the medical term for that reddish, spotty, crinkly skin between your breasts—the result of chronic sun exposure—and it affects the neck as well. "You can use face products here," says Heidi Waldorf, MD, associate clinical professor at Mount Sinai Hospital's department of dermatology in New York, "but more gently. Since the neck and chest have fewer oil glands than the face, start slowly with the retinols, and be sure to moisturize." In a low-neckline emergency, redness-disguising self-tanner or bronzer can also save the day.

BACK
Big Complaint: Back acne
Expert Fix: Cleanse once or twice a day with a drug-store wash containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. "These ingredients can help remove the oils from the skin, decrease inflammation, and reduce bacterial growth," says Andrea Cambio, MD, a dermatologist in Bokeelia, Florida. "Don't scrub because you can irritate grumpy bumps into a worse breakout." Jakubowicz notes that for the same reason, you probably shouldn't go any higher with the benzoyl peroxide than 2.5 %. She also suggests making sure that your hair products aren't somehow dripping on your back and contributing to the problem (Isopropyl myristate is one ingredient to look out for). And Waldorf adds that when you exercise, it's important to wear lightweight, moisture-wicking fabrics, and rinse off as soon as you're done. "If the problem persists," she says, "see a dermatologist because you may need a prescription cream or oral medication."

ARMS
Big Complaint: Sandpaper elbows
Expert Fix: Exfoliate like a demon and smother with butter—that's the basic idea. Here you can scrub. And when you're done? "Shea butter, cocoa butter, and Vaseline are great for these spots," says Jakubowicz. For extra softening, Schneider suggests covering your moisturized elbows with cellophane for 10 minutes. "I don't think anybody has more patience than that," she says, "unless you love to lie around and be wrapped."

HANDS
Big Complaint: Old-lady hands
Expert Fix. Tsoukas tells her patients using retinol products on their face to rub the last little bit into the backs of their hands, although the skin there is thicker and more resistant to improvement. Schneider is a big believer in olive oil for beautifying the hands (use fine quality oil and rub into the skin thoroughly.) To address age spots, for those who don't want to use hydroquinone products, she suggests making a lactic acid lightening paste of whole milk, a little full-fat yogurt and a squeeze of lemon juice. "Massage into your hands really well," she says. "And then just stick them into a warmed pair of cotton gloves for about 10 minutes."

STOMACH
Big Complaint: Stretch marks
Expert Fix: To be honest, there's no magic bullet here. Shea butter, cocoa butter, and Vaseline may help prevent stretch marks. Once you have them, though, they are very difficult to treat, says Tsoukas. Prescription-strength retinoids can help a little. Whether various lasers are worth it is debatable, but she has found that the Fraxel can lessen redness and improve texture.

FEET
Big Complaint: Ugly calluses
Expert Fix. As designer heels teeter higher, our calluses grow thicker. Medicated salicylic acid pads (Jakubowicz suggests using 40%) can soften the really tough skin. For general care, manicurist Marsha Bialo, who's known for keeping the extremities of stars like Jessica Alba and Jessica Simpson camera-ready, has a routine. Start by soaking your feet in clean, soapy water and patting the skin dry. You'll need two foot files. These come in different grits—the higher the number, the finer the texture—and ideally, you want to start with a coarser file and finish with a softer one. "File gently," she coaches. "Rather than sawing back and forth, I like to go around and up, making a C motion, so I don't scar the skin." After you polish the area smooth, massage your feet with moisturizer—you don't need anything fancy, A&D ointment for babies works wonders, Bailo says. "Women always forget to do this. But beautiful feet? What a kick."

Resources:Yahoo Shine

Poor households take lead in abandoning landlines~Frugal Mompreneur tips

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In a financial and technological role reversal, a growing number of Americans are getting rid of their old telephones and using only cellphones, a trend being led not by the high-tech elite but by people in poorer states as a way to save money.

Government estimates released Wednesday show at least 30 percent of adults in 10 states rely entirely on cellphones, with the highest percentage in Arkansas and Mississippi, where many cannot afford to pay for two separate lines.

Wealthier households have been slower to use wireless technology as their sole means of making calls.

"The answer's obvious: No one has money here," said John N. Daigle, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Mississippi with broad experience in the telecommunications industry. "If they can do without a landline, they'll do it to save money."

William Phillips of North Little Rock says he grew tired of paying for a landline his family rarely used. So he and his wife dumped their old phone and now have prepaid cellphones that cost a total of $75 a month.

Phillips, a 39-year-old commercial pilot, taught his 12-year-old son, who doesn't have a phone, how to email him rather than call when the boy is at home.

"I've heard people talk about it, that they ought to do it," Phillips said. "They're just hanging onto that phone number."

About 35 percent of adults in Arkansas and Mississippi have only cellphones, according to figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In New Jersey and Rhode Island, the states where the smallest proportion of people depend strictly on wireless phones, that figure is only 13 percent.

Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the nation — 21.9 percent in 2009, according to the Census Bureau. The Arkansas figure was 18.8 percent. The nationwide rate is 14.3 percent.
In 2009, the Census Bureau defined poverty as a single person making less than $11,000 a year or a family of four making less than $22,000 a year.

"I think people decide, 'I can afford one but not the other,'" said Ellen Reddy, who works for a nonprofit community center that helps low-income residents in Holmes County, Miss. She said poor people in her area often have cellphones with a limited number of minutes.

"When the minutes are gone, oftentimes we can't reach our families," Reddy said. "I think people are making choices."

The number of American households that rely exclusively on cellphones has been growing steadily nationwide, hitting 27 percent in the first half of 2010, an eightfold increase in just six years. Arkansas has had the greatest increase, with 15 percentage points. New Jersey's 7 percentage-point growth was the lowest.

Donielle Flowers of Little Rock doesn't remember the last time she had a landline. She's chosen to carry one of two cellphones — a free, government-subsidized phone with 250 minutes a month, and a prepaid phone that costs $60 a month.

"It's an extra bill," Flowers, 34, said of landlines. "I'm rarely at home, so I just need a cellphone. I'd be lost without it."

That matches the conclusion of Stephen Blumberg, a senior CDC scientist and an author of the survey. Over the years, Blumberg has found that lower-income people are more likely than higher-earning Americans to have only wireless phones. Younger people and renters are also quicker to shed traditional landlines.

New Jersey is neither young nor poor, and that's keeping it at the bottom of the list, Blumberg said.
On Wednesday, many people walking around the capital city of Trenton were talking on cellphones or texting family, friends and colleagues. Among them was Harry Weaver, a 46-year-old insurance agent who said he loves the freedom and convenience his smartphone provides.

Weaver acknowledged that he "pretty much lives" on his smartphone but said he has no plans to pull the plug on his home landline. As the father of three teenage daughters, Weaver says he wants a "dependable" phone line in case his girls need to reach their parents in an emergency.

"We could probably end our landline service and save some money, but it gives me peace of mind to know there's another way they can reach us if needed," Weaver said.
Some customers feel landlines offer more security, especially if they ever need to call 911. Since wireless phones are not linked to a fixed address, the caller's location can be more difficult for dispatchers to pinpoint.

The latest state-by-state figures, which cover the 12 months through June 2010, may indicate changes are needed in the way some public opinion polls are conducted, Blumberg said.

As the use of cellphones has grown, major pollsters have routinely included cellphone users in the people they call randomly. The number of cellphone users they call reflects national cellphone use, but Wednesday's findings suggest those numbers may need adjustment in states with especially high or low cellphone dependence, he said.

In addition to those in Arkansas and Mississippi, at least 30 percent of adults in eight other states — mostly in the West — rely strictly on cellphones. Those states were Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas

At the other end, only six states — mostly in the East — joined New Jersey and Rhode Island in having fewer than 17 percent of adults using only cellphones. They were Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

The CDC estimates were based largely on data from the agency's National Health Interview Survey, for which it has interviewed 109,187 households over the past 3 1/2 years.

The government also uses statistics from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey taken between 2006 and 2009, plus information from listed telephone directories. The figures are then blended to produce a single estimate.

The report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr039.pdf.

But even in Arkansas, some people are holding tight to their landlines.
"I was taught to have a house phone at home, whether you use it or not," said Dale West, 40, who carries a $60-a-month cellphone and pays about $35 a month for his landline. "Even though you got a cellphone, you never know."
Resources:YahooNews

SMALL SPROUTS YOU CHOOSE GIVEAWAY!

~IT IS BACK & I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING FOR IT~

~THE WINNER WILL CHOOSE ANY 1 ITEM FROM OUR WEBSITE~

Small Sprouts

First, go to the Small Sprouts Facebook page and "like" us.... then let us know on our facebook page that you liked our page by telling us your name-My name is Sarah and I like your page! This will serve as 5 points. If you are already a Small Sprouts Facebook page friend, then the best way to earn points is to refer friends and family.

Second, refer your friends to our Facebook page and then have them like us! Then, comment on Facebook and let us know that you sent them there and their name so that we can verify. This will serve as 5 points per friend that you refer to our page.

Third, go to www.smallsprouts.com and let us know your favorite products! You can comment through Facebook. This will serve as 2 points every time you comment on our Facebook page and you can do this one time per day during the life of this contest.

Last, you can follow our blog and get 5 points and you can double those points by having a friend also follow our blog. Just let us know the friend you referred to the blog so that we can verify that as well. You can let us know on the blog that you are now following us or if you sent a friend to follow us.

You can rack up your points to ensure a great win by all of the above ways!!! We are excited to hear from you and learn more about you and your circle of friends, mom groups etc.

At the end of the contest count up all of your points and post them on FB so that Small Sprouts can verify your points and we will announce the winner on FB.

Small Sprouts contest will end on Friday May 27th, 2011 @ 8:00 AM CST. Please note you can only like our Facebook page one time for a one time point total of 5 points. You can refer as many friends to our page as you would like and they can also participate in this contest. You can really rack up the points by doing this, but fans must be new to Small Sprouts and they must join after contest begins. You must claim your prize within 24 hours of contest end or forfeit to the next in line.

**Please note that winners choice must be within the regular customer parameters. All Bedding products are excluded from this offer. 1 item only, no extras included but you may purchase additional items like blankets, monograms, etc.,

Beat Bad Air Days

All the major air pollutants (car exhaust, factory fumes, sidewalk smokers) are outside, right? Not so much. Indoor air may be the grimiest stuff our lungs filter each day. Studies show that things like candles, printers, and even shoes can fill your rooms with harmful contaminants, says Ted Myatt, Sc.D., an environmental scientist in Boston. But there's no need to live in a tent in your backyard—just follow these easy steps to lighten the load on your respiratory system.

The Pollutant: Candles

Sure, they make for a cozy ambience, but when you light one made from paraffin—as most candles are—you're potentially harming your health. Researchers at South Carolina State University found that paraffin candles emit chemicals that are linked to liver damage, neurological problems, and leukemia. They can also release a black soot that, over time, may damage your lung and heart tissue, says Jeffrey May, an expert on indoor air quality and author of My House Is Killing Me: The Home Guide for Families with Allergies and Asthma.

The Solution: Choose cleaner mood lighting in the form of electric votives, or buy 100 percent soy candles, which can burn at a slower rate and emit less soot. If you can't avoid burning paraffin, do so only occasionally and in a draft-free area. And cut out the heavily fragranced jar-style versions, says May; they produce more soot.

The Pollutant: Printers

Printers spit out more than just expense reports and flight confirmations—they also spray around lots of microparticles of ink, toner, and ozone, a lung irritant. A recent Australian study found that about one-third of printers are "high emitters," which means they churn out as many harmful airborne particles as you'd find on a traffic-clogged street.

The Solution: Set up your printer in a well-ventilated area and try to stand at least 10 feet away from it during a lengthy job (good advice for when you're at the office too). And remember to print in black-and-white whenever you can, because color ink produces more noxious debris. To see if your printer is on the high-emitter list, visit the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health online at www.ilaqh.qut.edu.au.

The Pollutant: Dust

Those gray tumbleweeds rolling around along your baseboards and under your bed are packed with pollen and zillions of your dead skin cells. They're also the first step in the food chain for dust mites and other insects (gross!) and a breeding ground for mold (grosser!). All that can spell a big headache, quite literally, for women prone to allergies, says May.

The Solution: Sweep a vacuum with a high-energy particulate airborne (HEPA) filter over your floors once a week, and wipe all other surfaces with a clean, damp cloth (make sure you dampen it with water—many spray cleaners, especially those with added fragrance, contain lung-irritating chemicals). And once a month, run your bedding—pillows, comforters, quilts—through a hot dryer cycle; the high temperature will kill any dust mites.

The Pollutant: Shoe Debris

When you stroll through your front door in your sneaks or stilettos, you're likely dragging in some gnarly muck. Sidewalks and lawns can be littered with lead dust, paint flecks, fertilizers, and animal waste—all of which sticks to your shoes. In fact, 80 percent of our exposure to pesticides happens indoors, thanks to tracked-in contaminants, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Solution: Dislodge clods of dirt or grass by rubbing your shoes over a durable outdoor mat (bristly coconut-husk types work best). Once inside, leave your kicks on a cloth mat by the front door.

The Pollutant: Furniture

Pressed wood—also called particleboard or fiberboard—is actually little bits of wood held together by glues and resins. It's cheap (think: affordable bookcases and tables), but it may also emit formaldehyde, a preservative and suspected carcinogen that can trigger rashes, nausea, or asthma attacks, according to the EPA.

The Solution: Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate. "A cheap window-facing fan can clear a room's air in minutes," says May. Or consider opting for solid wood, especially for kitchen and bathroom items, since humidity amps up emissions. If you must go the pressed route, stick with plywood, which releases the fewest fumes.

The Pollutant: Mold

Believe it or not, a little bit of mold can be beneficial: Outdoors, it helps organic stuff decompose, says indoor-air scientist Connie Morbach. "But when those mold spores are activated by indoor moisture, they can grow out of control," she explains. Excess fungus can induce unpleasant symptoms like itchy eyes and breathing problems. And a few harmful strains can attack your immune system.

The Solution: Indoor air that's 30 to 50 percent humidity is comfortable for you but discouraging to mold (buy a $30 digital hygrometer at a hardware store to check your room levels). Spores love dark, damp corners, so once a week mop around your fridge, sinks, and toilets with a mild dish detergent or diluted hydrogen peroxide. Just be sure to dry everything thoroughly; mold can sprout in just 48 hours.

Resources: Yahoo.com

Itchy, Smelly Dog? This May Be the Problem~Frugal Mompreneur Tip

This is my Joseph proudly displaying his Scouts uniform with his favorite dog "Missy". We adopted Missy from the pound here in Merida and the first thing we noticed was bad yeasty ears. It took months of cleaning and dilegence to get it cleaned up, but no more ear odor.

Today I want to talk about yeasty dogs. Yeasts are budding, spore-like forms of fungi.

Both people and dogs have a normal amount of healthy levels of yeast that occur naturally on the body. The typical normal, healthy flora of dogs is a naturally occurring staph, as well as a light layer of naturally occurring yeast. These healthy levels of flora are possible thanks to a balanced immune system.

How a Yeast Infection Occurs

On the immune system spectrum, balance is in the middle, and that's what you want your dog's immune function to be – balanced.

An underactive immune system can lead to yeast overgrowth, because it can't control the balance. The other end of the spectrum is an overactive immune response where allergies are present. This can also lead to problems with yeast.

When a traditional veterinarian sees a dog with allergies – a sign of an overactive immune system – he or she will typically prescribe steroid therapy to shut off the immune response. (This improves symptoms but does not fix the underlying cause of the allergies.)

When your dog's immune system is turned off with drugs, it can't do its job of regulating and balancing normal flora levels, so your pet ends up with yeast blooms.
When conventional vets see dogs with allergies and possibly secondary skin infections, often they prescribe antibiotics. Antibiotics are well-known to destroy all good bacteria along with the bad, wiping out healthy yeast levels in the process, so these drugs often make a bad situation worse.

Another reason an allergic dog, in particular, can end up with a lot of yeast is he can actually develop an allergy to his yeast. Intradermal tests often reveal that a dog is having an allergic response to his own natural flora.

This situation can be very problematic because the dog's allergic response can affect his whole body. These dogs are often red from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail – their entire bodies are flaming red and irritated.

So dogs with an underactive immune system or that are immuno-suppressed can end up with a yeast infection, as well as dogs that have overactive immune systems, or allergies.

Signs and Symptoms of a Yeasty Dog

Definitive diagnosis by a vet of a yeast infection is accomplished either by cytology (looking at a skin swab under a microscope) or by culturing (submitting a sterile swab of the skin to the lab where the cells are grown and identified on a petri dish).

But as a pet owner, you'll be able to tell if your dog has a yeast infection just by her smell. Yeast has a very characteristic odor. Some people think it smells like moldy bread; others liken the odor to cheese popcorn or corn chips. In fact, some people refer to a yeast infection of a dog's paws as 'Frito Feet.' It's a pungent, musty, unpleasant smell.

The odor of a yeast infection is not a normal doggy odor. Healthy dogs don't have a 'doggy odor.' So if your pup has stinky paws or musty-smelling ears, chances are she's dealing with a yeast overgrowth.

Another sign your dog is yeasty is scratching. Yeast overgrowth is tremendously itchy. If it's a problem with her paws, she won't be able to leave them alone. The same goes for her ears. A lot of butt scooting can also be a clue.

If your dog is spending a lot of time digging at herself to relieve intense itching, take heed. Whether it's a bacterial or yeast infection, she needs your help to solve the problem.

Step #1 in Clearing a Yeast Infection: Address the Diet

If your pet is dealing with yeast overgrowth, there are a couple of things you'll need to do.
Number one, you must address his diet. It's rare that a dog has yeast in just one spot – one ear, for example. If that's the case with your pet, you can probably get by just treating that ear for yeast and keeping your fingers crossed his immune system responds to re-balance his natural flora.

But if your dog, like the majority, has yeast in more than one spot, for example on all four paws or both ears, or especially if his entire body is yeasty, you have no choice but to look at what he's eating.

Diet is the foundation of health. The way you nourish your dog is either going to help his immune system manage yeast, or it's going to feed a potential or existing yeast overgrowth situation.

I encourage you to put your pet on what I call an 'anti-yeast diet.' The beauty of an anti-yeast diet is it is also an anti-inflammatory and species-appropriate diet.
Yeast needs sugar as a source of energy. Carbohydrates break down into sugar. Both MDs and veterinarians advise patients with yeast to get the sugars out of their diets.
Dietary sugar isn't just the white kind added to many pet treats and some pet foods. There are 'secret,' hidden forms of sugar that can also feed yeast overgrowth, for instance, honey. Although honey can be beneficial for pets in some cases, it does provide a food source for yeast. So if your dog is yeasty, you'll need to carefully read his pet food and treat labels and avoid any product containing honey, high fructose corn syrup, and even white potatoes and sweet potatoes.

If your dog has a significant yeast problem, I recommend you go entirely sugar-free. Feed low-glycemic veggies. Eliminate potatoes, corn, wheat, rice – all the carbohydrates need to go away in a sugar-free diet. This is really an important step. I wish I could tell you yeast is easy to treat and avoid without addressing diet, but it isn't. Your pet needs to eat a diet that helps keep his normal flora levels healthy and balanced.

The second thing I recommend is adding some natural anti-fungal foods to his diet, like a small amount of garlic or oregano. These foods are both anti-fungal and anti-yeast and can be beneficial in helping reduce the yeast level in your dog's body.

Disinfecting Yeasty Ears

In addition to providing an anti-yeast diet and anti-fungal foods, the third thing you must do to help your dog overcome a yeast infection is to disinfect yeasty body parts.
This is actually an often overlooked, but common sense, almost-free step in addressing a yeast overgrowth in pets.

In human medicine, it is routine for internists and dermatologists to give patients with yeast specific protocols for cleaning affected parts of the body. The same instruction is rarely given in veterinary medicine, which makes no sense and is really a shame.
Typically, a vet will hand a client with a yeasty dog a cream, salve or dip, with instructions to just keep applying it to the infected area. The problem with this approach is that as yeast dies off, it forms layer of dead yeast on top of layer of dead yeast. Unless you remove the dead layers of yeast and disinfect the skin, adding loads of ointment to layers of dead yeast can actually exacerbate the problem.

So disinfecting the parts of your dog's body that are yeasty is very important. There's no pill or cream that can disinfect your pet – you must do that yourself.
If your pet's ears are yeasty, you'll have to disinfect them daily. Just as some people produce lots of earwax and clean their ears daily, while others produce almost no earwax, the same applies to dogs. Some almost never need their ears cleaned, while others need a daily cleaning.

The frequency is entirely dependent on how much debris your dog's ears produce. So if your Lab has soupy ears throughout the summer months, you'll need to clean them every day during that period.

If you check your dog's ears and they're clean, dry and have no odor, you can skip a day of cleaning. Again, the amount of cleaning should correlate with the amount of debris built up in the ear. If you don't clean out that debris, it won't magically disappear on its own. It will grow from wax, to yeast, to a fulminating bacterial infection unless you deal with it.

You can disinfect your dog's ears with either a store bought solution or with witch hazel and large cotton balls. Use as many cotton balls as it takes to remove all the debris from the ears at each cleaning. Do not put Q-tips down into the canals of your dog's ears.

Disinfecting Yeasty Paws

Yeast thrives in a moist environment and in crevices – between your dog's foot pads, for example, in armpit and groin creases, and around the vulva and anus. So disinfecting those parts of a yeasty dog is really important.

Since the only body parts that sweat on your dog are his nose and the pads of his feet, during hot humid months when yeast tends to thrive, you'll need to disinfect those paws.
Depending on the size of your dog, you can use one of those Rubbermaid sweater boxes filled with water from a hose, or if your dog is small you can just pop him in the kitchen or bathroom sink. If you have a giant size breed, you can try a coffee can or cup filled with water. The goal is to dunk the feet, then pat them dry.

Spraying or wiping down a dog's paws won't get the job done. Yeast lives under the nail beds and in all the creases you can't get to if the paws aren't submerged in a foot soak.
I recommend a gallon of water, a cup of hydrogen peroxide, and 1-4 cups of white vinegar as a foot soak solution. You can use this solution as many times a day as necessary to keep your dog's feet clean. 'Clean and dry' needs to become your mantra.
After you dip your dog's feet in the astringent solution of water/hydrogen peroxide/white vinegar, there's no need to rinse. Just pat the paws dry. Leaving the solution dried on your dog's paws serves as an antifungal and should also reduce licking and digging at the paws.

Anti-Yeast Baths and Rinses

If your dog has yeast overgrowth on her skin, I recommend disinfecting her entire body with a natural, anti-fungal shampoo. And yes, you can do this as often as necessary.
It's no longer true that you shouldn't bathe dogs regularly. Back in the days of very harsh shampoos made from coal and tar derivatives, this was good advice. But there are now plenty of safe shampoos on the market that will not over dry your pet's skin or damage her coat.

Since carbs and grains ultimately feed yeast overgrowth, I don't recommend you use oatmeal-based shampoos. Oatmeal is a grain which provides a food source for that yeast on your dog's skin.

Use an anti-fungal shampoo made from, for example, tea tree oil or an herbal blend. These will help control the amount of yeast growing on your pet.
I also recommend anti-fungal rinses during the summer months, from one to three times per week after shampooing. I use a gallon of water with a cup of vinegar or a cup of lemon juice. You can also use 20 drops of peppermint oil. All three will make your pooch smell nice.

After shampooing with, say, a tea tree shampoo and rinsing thoroughly, follow with one of these natural anti-fungal astringent rinses to knock down the amount of yeast.
You should never pour these rinses over your dog's head or into her eyes. Pour from the collar, back. Pour the gallon of solution over her and rub it into her coat and skin, focusing on body parts that tend to grow yeast -- armpits, feet, groin area and around the tail. Then towel dry without rinsing. Your dog will not only feel better, the yeast won't replicate as quickly.

One word of warning about using both lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide: they can bleach a black dog's fur. If you have a black coated dog, you should go with vinegar to avoid a lightening effect.

For Dogs with Stubborn or Recurring Yeast Infections

For many dogs, yeast problems are seasonal. When the temperature and humidity levels rise each year, they get yeasty and stinky. If this is the case with your dog, the summer months are when you'll need to be vigilant about disinfecting your pet and addressing any dietary issues that might be contributing to the problem.

However, if your dog has year-round yeast problems – whether it's 90 degrees outside or the dead of winter – you should be thinking about potential immune system issues.
If your dog is overwhelmed with an opportunistic pathogen like yeast, it's likely his immune system isn't operating at 100 percent.

In my practice, when I see a pet with a stubborn yeast infection, I do immune testing to measure his immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM and IgA). Generally these levels are low in a dog with constant yeast overgrowth.

If your dog is producing healthy levels of immunoglobulins, he should be able to overcome almost any infection, and particularly an opportunistic yeast infection.
Resources:Mercola.com

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5 Things Not to Buy in a Supermarket~Frugal Mompreneur Tips

We love grocery stores. Their stock and trade is food — fresh, frozen, canned or prepared — and kitchen staples like paper towels and laundry detergent. But there are a whole host of other items that cost a premium in grocery stores because of the “convenience” factor. You can get them cheaper at a discount department or hardware store, dollar store, or drug store so leave the following items off your shopping list:

1. Cookware and Kitchen Utensils

It may be convenient to pick up a frying pan while you’re buying your bacon, but you’ll be paying much more than you ought to for it.


2. Cosmetics, toiletries, and personal care items

It might save time to buy your lip-gloss, moisturizer, toothpaste, razor blades, and deodorant at the same time and place you’re getting your food, but you’ll be paying a premium price.

3. Small appliances

Why buy a toaster for $40 when you can buy the same toaster for $20 dollars at a discount house? The same theory applies to coffee makers, electric tea kettles, and hot plates.


4. Party supplies

Buy your balloons, funny hats, place cards, candles, and name tags in bulk at a party supply store and you'll pay a whole lot less.

5. Batteries, light bulbs, extension cords

Again, these are pricey specialty items at the grocery store, but cheap impulse buys at a discount hardware, department, or dollar store!

Resources: Yahoo Shine