All summer, I've been so busy with making different soapy goodies that tonight I decided to get dirty and make some seed balls. Playing in the dirt can be so relaxing! Mixed with some clay and Honeybee Wildflower seeds, the organic soil has become an easy way to plant "bee" friendly flowers just about anywhere you can toss out a seed ball! Easy for you and loved by our precious honeybees.

So what is a Seed Ball?
It's a combination of rich soil, some regular air dry clay and seeds of your choice.  A seed ball is so easy to plant. You toss them wherever you'd like to add some flowers...a flower bed, along a highway or median, along pathways...get creative! It's a perfect activity to do with kids of all ages. The combination of soil and clay holds the seeds safely until Mother Nature provides the right amount of moisture and warm temperatures for proper germination. Seed balls can be planted any time of year.

Each package has 20 hand-rolled seed balls ready for tossing. Each ball covers about 1 square foot. You can find them here...Honeybee Wildflower Seed Balls. Seed Balls can be planted anytime of year, so toss some now to enjoy a bright wildflower spring!

Until next time...Happy Planting!

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Do you ever wonder what is in some of the products you put onto your skin? Well, lately I have gotten a bit paranoid about many of the products that are available. So when my dearest friend's son had his first child with his wife, I wanted to make sure that what they put on that new baby bum was all natural and not that  nasty petroleum based gel (you know what one I mean) that really is not a good choice at all!

I was on a mission to come up with a recipe that was all natural, gentle enough for a new baby's bum, had good-for-the-skin ingredients and did the job on rashes and minor skin irritations. It was a tall order but follow along and you'll see what I found!

In my research, I found that clays are a wonderful source of nutrients for the skin with the natural drying and de-toxifying properties I was looking for. In this recipe, I decided to use bentonite clay for its healing properties, its ability to draw out toxins from the skin and its release of needed minerals. Plus it has been found to be effective against Candida albicans which is a fungus that grows as a yeast infection targeting baby bums and the genitalia and oral areas of humans in general.

Along with some bentonite clay, I used Mango butter and coconut oil for their skin-softening properties, the anti-bacterial properties of coconut oil and Lavender essential oil, and healing and soothing  Calendula extract.

Time to chill out!
Once all these ingredients are mixed in well, it's time to chill the mixture until it starts to set up. By chilling it, I can speed up the process a bit but it will solidify on its own at room temperatue...just a lot slower. As it is, chilling can take 30-60 minutes!

As you can see in this photo, the oils and butter have turned from a golden yellow to a  butter yellow. It's about the consistency of semi-stiff butter. The bentonite clay on the left is an all natural clay that is grayish in color due to its aged volcanic ash makeup. I use this unrefined clay to keep all the natural nutrients intact. Some bentonite clay on the market is whiter and more refined losing many of its nutrients.

It's all in a name....
Naming this new creation was a challenge since the balm is chock full of good ingredients all chosen for their special properties, but it really is U...G...L...Y.

My son who has been best friends with the new dad since kindergarten days was the one who suggested the name of  "Ugly Duckling"...so you can see that this new bum balm was truly a family project!

Labels were then designed and applied making it all ready for the next tiny bum that needs a little TLC!

~ Thanks to little Leah Ryan Y. who was the inspiration behind "Ugly Duckling Clay Bum Balm"! ~