How to make a tincture with Propolis

Propolis? What is that? When I put a picture on FB a few weeks ago my friends were puzzled and thought it was dog poop. Propolis is actually a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is sticky. When bees mix the propolis with enzymes they secrete, it creates a form of defense (antibody) that acts against viruses, fungi, and bacteria. Propolis is now believed to:

1. Reinforce the structural stability of the hive
2. Reduce vibration
3. Make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrance
4. Prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive, and to inhibit fungal and bacterial growth
5. Prevent putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However, if a small lizard or mouse finds its way into the hive, the bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless.

Propolis is valuable both internally and externally. It has excellent antiseptic properties. It can be used either dry or as a tincture. A tincture is something dissolved in Alcohol. I am making a 10% tincture. I started with 1 part propolis to 9 parts alcohol. Propolis is entirely insoluble in water, but will dissolve readily in strong alcohol. I picked up Everclear which is approximately 70% alcohol. I froze my propolis so that it would be less sticky and hard. I was then able to grind it up into smaller pieces. I placed those pieces in a mason jar with Everclear. On a daily basis I have been shaking the bottle with the propolis and alcohol. It has been in a dark cupboard for several weeks. Today I am ready to bottle my Tincture of Propolis.

Propolis tincture makes an excellent “Liquid Bandage.” Simply apply a few drops topically around a wound. It is highly antimicrobial; it stimulates immune activity and encourages rapid healing. Like honey, propolis has potent antimicrobial action against H. pylori, and is also among the better remedies for addressing cold and canker sores. Propolis is exceptionally nutritious: “Propolis has more bioflavinoids than oranges…it contains all the known vitamins except vitamin K and all the minerals needed by the body except sulphur.”

Here is a little poem from “Psalms from the Hive” by Jeannie Saum

“Turning propolis, sticky goo
Into something good for you
Is ever so rewarding.
Hard work and messy
But in the end a blessing.”

Ok I just bottled the tincture. I have to say that it is not really that tasty. It does have a resin quality to it. If you can get over the taste scientists believe it is the “perfect medicine.”

Medical Mission to Dominican Republic

Life is truly amazing! I have been given another opportunity. Several physicians in the Miami community have been involved in a Medical Mission to the Dominican Republic. This will be the 11th year that these physicians, medical students from the University Of Miami School Of Medicine, and high school students from Carrollton High School will be making this 5 day trip to the Dominican Republic and helping the people. Several months ago, knowing about this medical mission, I asked one of my physicians if he needed any donations. I went on to explain to him that I had an unusual hobby of making soap, I didn’t mention beekeeping. He was extremely interested and knowing that I was a nurse he wanted me involved in the mission. So the next thing I know I am going to the Dominican Republic to teach the women of the different villages to make soap and to also work as a nurse, which I haven’t practiced as in over 15 years. What have I gotten myself into?? All I really wanted to do was make a little soap for the Doctor to bring down to the people! I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed and in over my head. Actually about 5-6 years ago I almost went to Guatemala. I was concerned about the language barrier. The students from Carrollton actually will translate for us, so I am definitely excited and nervous. I am sure everything will fall into place and I will find this to be a life changing experience.

The trip is taking place March 29th through April 5th. Here is the link and information. http://www.medicalstudentsinaction.com/ Right now I am in the process of trying to raise funds for the trip. It will cost me approximately $1500-$2000 for the trip just for personal expenses. I also need to buy all the materials for making soap. The 5 villages that we will be going to do not have any running water or electricity. Making soap without these two luxuries will prove to be challenging. I need to purchase very basic materials such as gloves, goggles, lye, all my oils, olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, lard (Manteca), molds, spoons, stainless steel pots, whisks, etc. I have written letters to various wholesale Soap Making companies. So far I have gotten little response. I have a personal page on Go Fund Me http://www.gofundme.com/6270d0 I was feeling very discouraged, and thinking maybe this trip was not going to happen. On Friday I received a call from Marla Bosworth from “My Back Porch Soaping Company.” I was beyond thrilled. She spent time talking to me and gave me invaluable information. Her time was so greatly appreciated. Marla has been involved in working with the women of Haiti for the past several years. She and Amanda Griffith organized efforts in Haiti after the earthquake to teach the women there the trade of soap making and hopefully how to start a successful soaping business. Here is information about “Beauty in Haiti”. They named their group OFEDA (Organisation des Femmes Devouees en Action). http://www.soapqueen.com/business/beauty-in-haiti/ Marla’s information can be found at http://www.backporchsoap.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1, she teaches classes in all aspects of Soap Making in New York City, Boston, and Jackson Hole, WY. I dream of taking classes in either her NY studio, or Boston. Right now that is not a possibility because of finances. With Drew still in college and my daughter Katie getting married this year there’s no way I can afford such a luxury. That is why funding for this trip is also imperative.

The reason I feel so passionate about this cause if that on these medical missions, physicians and volunteers go down and provide medical care to the people for 5 days, but after that nothing changes for these people. By teaching them a trade hopefully I can change their world just a little bit, and provide them the skills to start a soaping business.

If you can afford to donate toward my cause in any way please consider http://www.gofundme.com/6270d0 Any amount and every dollar helps. If all my friends pledged a dollar that would be greatly appreciated and really help. Every dollar counts. If you cannot afford to contribute please ask your friends and family. Thank you so much I really appreciate your help. Oh and I forgot to say that for every $25 that you donate I would be happy to send you one of my beautiful handmade soaps of your choice as a token of my appreciation. Here are some photos from "Beauty in Haiti" that I found online and wanted to share:

Time Flies when you are having Fun!

I cannot believe that I have not updated my blog since Thanksgiving. Time sure does go by quickly. It is almost Valentine’s Day 2014. Amazing! So what have I been up to? I have been so busy trying to work both a full time job and start a soaping business. Since my day job is paying my bills obviously it has to be my priority. I had some very exciting news at the start of the New Year. Just before the holidays I found out that Bristol Myers Squibb was going to expand the sales force by adding 188 hospital representatives. That was the position I previously held for over 7 years. Two years ago we went through changes and they dissolved the hospital positions. My territory position also changed and I was then responsible for “Little Havana,” a very Hispanic area of Miami. This has been a very challenging territory. I speak very little Spanish! I spent a lot of time over the holidays preparing for this interview. Since I am a nurse I really feel most comfortable in the hospital position. The competition was very stiff and I found out a few weeks ago that I was offered the Institutional Sales Position. I am very excited and thrilled but concerned because this is a huge position with 21 hospitals that I will be responsible for driving sales. It’s funny because although I felt that I was the most qualified for this new position, my performance over the last year with my company has not been where I wanted it to be. My past performance however had been excellent. The question to be answered was how important was present performance going to be in their decision making?? I did my best to prepare for the interview, expressed my interest, but I really had convinced myself that they were going to offer this position to someone else. So I said to myself that I would continue to do my present job, strive to do the best I could, but continue to try to build my soaping business. My husband recently directed a play that was based on a saying from Woody Allen that states, “If you want to make God laugh tell him your plans.” It is so amazing because I think this is true for most everyone. We are always planning our lives, but somehow as John Lennon said, “life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans”. I had really convinced myself that this wasn’t meant to be and that I would just continue to prepare for retirement. My long term plan was that I had 4-6 years to build a soaping business. Oops…… They offered me the Institutional Position!! Wait a second that is not what I had convinced myself was going to happen! That is what I was striving for but…. not what I thought was going to happen. I was telling myself I should prepare for retirement and another path that life was presenting. Well I am so excited that I was offered this position. Like I said this is a huge responsibility, and since I am an over achiever, striving to do my best is always my goal.

So what is going to happening to my dream of building a soaping business when I retire? Well if you know me at all I will continue to try to do both. My soaping business is going very well. Since I posted last in November I was just starting to participate in local Craft Fairs. I participated in several and did very well. People seem to like my soaps. I am starting to get a lot of repeat customers. Most of all I am enjoying telling my story about my beekeeping and the importance of protecting the pollinators. I think I am educating people about that importance. I am trying to keep my product very pure and use what I can from my yard i.e. herbs, fruits, natural colorants, but I also find myself wanting to be creative and expand my craft. I think eventually I will have a Natural Line, and an Artisan Line of soap. I am trying to find my “Niche.” Since there are so many soapers out there it is important to find my “Niche” so we will see where all this takes me. I really do not like that word “Niche” but I know it is important to differentiate myself and my product. I have found that I have some best sellers. There are certain soaps that I just cannot keep in stock. My biggest problem is that I cannot keep up with production. I am not complaining at all! I am thoroughly enjoying the journey. I think my product is really good and being well received. Right before Christmas I had the opportunity to participate at a Community Farmers’ Market. There are many farmers’ markets around Miami. This was an excellent opportunity. Southwest Community Farmers’ Market is small and new in the community but is growing. I am proud to be a part of what it represents. It is part of the Urban Oasis Project and has a community feel. Annick one of the organizers spends a great deal of time educating people about the importance of planting a garden, the importance of Organic, Non GMO, etc. So this Farmers’ market is everything I believe in. I am not just selling my soaps, I also spend a great deal of time telling my story which I hope is educating people about protecting the pollinators, planting flowers that will attract pollinators in your garden and protecting our bees which are in trouble. Many times people will approach my booth and then they will thank me for telling them “My Story.” I was recently interviewed by a gentleman, Colin McPhillamy, who also writes a blog. He is presently performing in my husband’s production “End of the Rainbow.” He is from England and to me has that typical English sense of humor. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting him. He asked me why I would continue to keep bees since I was allergic. My response was easy, “the Bees are in trouble.” Here is the link to his blog. http://culturedbadger.com/ I am so grateful for what I am doing. I am really enjoying making soap and using all that my bees and yard give me. I am very grateful to my bees for their honey, and beeswax!

Here are a few pictures of my soaps and of me at the Southwest Community Market.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my family and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. This year has gone extremely quickly and I cannot believe the holidays are upon us again. This is going to be a very quiet Thanksgiving as my children are not able to fly home this year. Hopefully some of them will make it down for Christmas. My husband had gastric bypass surgery in July and since he is not really able to eat his usual amount of food this will be a very small preparation for Thanksgiving. I am very grateful that he is doing so well and he has lost over 100 lbs at this point. He is looking so much better. I still bought all the traditional food, but since it is going to be just the two of us there will be no added fuss. It is very different being empty nesters. No pressure!

The last few weeks have been extremely busy. I have completed two craft shows and have three ahead of me. The first two have been extremely successful. I am not referring to monetary success, but personal fulfillment. I have thoroughly enjoyed selling my soap. I have especially enjoyed helping people that truly have skin issues choose the right bar of soap that might help them. I also feel like my product is excellent and enjoy explaining to people about beekeeping, making soap and the importance of an organic product. I have two more Craft Fairs in December. I have one this weekend November 30th, and December 1st, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, in West Kendall. It is their annual Christmas Bazaar. I also have one December 7th, next weekend at Killian Pines Methodist Church. I was invited to participate in the Fruit and Spice Park Heritage Festival January 11th & 12th. I am very excited about participating in all these craft fairs. In preparation for these craft fairs I have been making lots of soap. I made a really pretty Lavender soap that I made with Goat’s Milk and scented with Lavender Essential Oil. It turned out really lovely and smells so relaxing. Lavender is one of the most relaxing essential oils. I also remade several of my recipes like my Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Goat’s Milk Soap. Goat’s milk is very nourishing for your skin and it makes a great bar of soap. I remade my calendula soap, and calendula sunshine soap. I need to remake my Caffeinated Coffee Soap, which was a very good seller. Several of my soaps that I made over the last several weeks are almost cured and ready to sell, i.e. Christmas Soap, Kombucha & Honey, and Natural Sugar Soap. One of my favorites that I have made over the last few weeks was a Coconut Lime soap which I made with organic Coconut milk, and some very skin nourishing organic oils. I scented this soap with Coconut Fragrance Oil, and Lime Essential oil, then topped it with organic unsweetened coconut and grated lime rind. I also made a Goat’s milk soap that I scented with Lemongrass essential oil and put some lemon balm herb in the soap. I really want to try making some more soap with beer. I have a ginger beer and a chocolate stout beer that are just calling me to create a really great bar of soap.





Despite being extremely busy with work and making soap, I somehow found some time to finally plant my garden last weekend. The weather here has been extremely warm. Our average temperature at night has still been in the 70’s. We have also been extremely wet for this time of year which is supposed to be our dry season. November has been behaving more like October. October can be one of the wettest months of the year. Cold fronts do make it though the state but back up on us as a warm front bringing rain. My tomato seedlings are struggling and I am not sure if they are going to make it. I have some new seeds replanted but it is getting late in the fall season to plant. Most people have their gardens started at this point. I have read many articles that support not planting tomatoes until the night temperatures are in the 60’s. Tonight will be the first cold evening for Miami. It is actually getting down to the 50’s tonight. Finally this will be our first cool weather in 283 days.

This year in my garden I planted lots of kale, radishes, lettuce, beets, peppers, okra, eggplant, and Swiss chard. I also planted lots of herbs, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and chamomile. And I planted mint, lemon balm and calendula. I decided to try a new variety of spinach this year that my son Kevin got me from the Baker Creek Seed Bank when he was in California. Malabar Spinach is supposed to grow very well in a more tropical environment and is more vine like in the way it grows. I will take some pictures of it and let you know how it does in South Florida. I am still following the Square Foot Gardening Method. I had to replace my wooden grids with string. It was very easy to measure out 12x12 areas and use nails and string to mark each square. Here are a few pictures of my garden as I prepared and planted. I already see some seedlings starting to sprout through the ground. It has been a really rainy week here in South Florida, I was worried that it was almost too rainy but it seems like the garden likes it, and the seeds are starting to germinate.





I just wanted to give a little update on my busy life. I am grateful for all that I have and for all the many talents that I have nurtured. I recently harvested many jars of honey and my beehives are doing well. I am very grateful for all that my beehives give me. I am grateful that my allergy shots are working and that although I still get stung by my bees their venom has not had the same effect on me. I am grateful for many things in my life most importantly my family that are happy and healthy.





Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Getting Ready for My First Craft Fair

I have been so busy over the last few weeks making soap, lotion bars, and lip balm for my upcoming Craft Fair. My house is in disarray. I am trying to work my day job and start my business, and prepare for my upcoming craft shows. My first show is November 9th at Perrine Peters United Methodist Church, which is located at 18301 South Dixie Hwy, Miami Florida 33157. When I first booked this Craft Fair I was so excited, I was like a kid in a candy shop. Now the craft show is less than a week away. I am still excited with anticipation, but nervous that I will do well and that people will like my product. I have been asking myself so many questions: Will I be successful? What if it rains? Will people like my product? Will there be enough traffic? Will I be able to answer all their questions? Will I know how to work my credit card app? I have been reading many articles and blogs on having a successful craft fair. So I am hoping that I will be prepared.





From what I have read some of the most important aspects to consider are:

Put time into your table design. I have been doing just that. I was reading the Saponifier magazine and came across an article on table displays for craft shows. When I saw their idea I knew it was perfect for Reeny’s Butterflies, Blooms, & Bees. Their idea was accomplished with flower pots that were painted. Each pot would hold different soaps etc. What a perfect idea! What could be better than to use flower pots with butterflies and bees? I spent most evenings last week spraying the pots with acrylic clear paint and then painting each pot a different color to go with my logo theme. I painted the pots green, pink, orange, and teal blue. I plan on staggering the height of the pots to add eye appeal. I need to decorate with a few scrapbooking stickers of butterflies, flowers, and bees. I also plan on drawing a couple of larger signs in the shape of a butterfly, and bee to place in the two larger pots. I ordered a center display from Etsy, that hold 48 bars of soap. I got material to make a table cloth. The material is very bright and has honey bees on it. I think the table will look great and the colors will be inviting for customers. I plan on doing a test run of my table this week so that I know exactly how I am going to place everything. I still need to label all my bars of soap which will take hours.



Bring Food, Drink and Friends. I have sent a Facebook notification to all my friends. I plan on sending a reminder mid week. I am hoping that they will support me and come to the craft fair. It will be a long day so I do plan on wearing comfortable shoes. It is important to dress well. It is also important to bring snacks and bottled water. A craft fair can be busy and there is little time to eat. Making sure I stay well hydrated is important.

Prepare for Payments. I downloaded a smart phone application. I got the PayPal Here device and downloaded the app. I have practiced how to work the device but I am still nervous about using it since it is new to me, and I have never really used something like this before. I plan on bringing $100 in change.

Making Business Cards Meaningful. I have order 200 business cards, but I am concerned that that really isn’t enough. The cost of starting a business and preparing for your first craft fair can be astronomical. I plan on placing a business card with each order. I also painted a flower pot bottom to place cards on my table for people to take. I made a sign in sheet for people to put their name and email.

Get Organized. There are so many items that are necessary for a successful craft fair. Some examples: cashier box or something to hold cash, checks etc. Calculator, tape, stapler, scissors, markers, pens, push pins, small notebook, receipt book, phone charger especially using the new credit card devices. I created an inventory sheet, pricing cards for my table, custom order signs. There are so many things to think about my mind is spinning!

Buying is a very personal experience. People shop at craft fairs because they don’t want the Big Box Store Experience. It is important to tell your story. I want to make sure people know that I use only organic materials in my soaps and that they are terrific for their skin. But I also want them to know how I got started making soap, and that I use my honey and beeswax and products from my yard, in many of my products. I want to tell my story. Many of the articles said to “Believe in Yourself and your Product.” I do! Well I think I do. I will feel more confident after my first craft fair.

The most important part of any booth is a big Smile! As Anne Marie Faiola, the Soap Queen says Smile, Smile, and Smile!

Wish me luck and come visit my booth. I will be booth #11 at the Perrine Craft Fair. See you Saturday November 9th. Here is the link:

http://nowhitetent.ning.com/events/event/show?id=2050193%3AEvent%3A62939