Batty's Bath Contest!

From Peacocks to Piranhas

Peacocks roam the grounds of the art school and would often come to our door completely distracting the kids from class. Sometimes the only way to get them back on track was to ask them to draw the peacocks with crayon and oil pastel...which they did quite well after a quick chalk board lesson on how to draw a peacock. Kids at this age (4-5) are unsure of their skills, but once shown how to draw something, can usually run with it after practice.


Royal dog


Princess self


Whale shark in the moat!?

Crock in Monet's water lily pond ;-)


Royal pooch


Princess self


Castle line drawing


Piranhas in the moat!


Peacock beauty

See Deep Space Sparkle blog for more wonderful lesson ideas!

Kid's Royal Selfhood

Since the theme was Castles, Kings and Queens--we added a royal crown to the children's self-portraits. They got a real kick out of it!












Lesson plan inspired by Deep Space Sparkle.

More kid art

Knight in shining Armor

Sophie's princess self portrait

Interpretation of a Royal Dog


Sendak inspired Monster

Palace at night


Crockodile guarding the castle lily pond


Castle line drawing


Palace on a starry night


Royal Pedigree


Sendak Monster

Special thanks to Patty at Deep Space Sparkle for her inspiration behind most of these lesson plans. I had to alter them somewhat to fit the class theme and the three hour time span, but I would have been at a total loss as to what to teach 4-5 year olds this summer without her help!!!! So, thank you so much Patty!

My new favorite discovery was how much kids love watercolors...just give them a sharpie and then have them watercolor in their drawing--they LOVE it! And clean up is so EASY for me!!!

Kids summer art classes at Laguna Gloria

Piranhas guarding the castle moat


Royal Pooch


Princess self-portrait


Royal pet


Castle Jester Clown Color Wheel

Thanks to Deep Space Sparkle for her inspired lesson plans!

Summer Classes at Laguna Gloria

Self-portrait


Phillipe in Monet's Garden is a great book to go with this exercise.


Self-portrait


Recycled Robot


Royal dog

Thank you Deep Space Sparkle for your lesson ideas!

When Comfort Food Just Wont Cut It...

When comfort food just wont cut it, get a warm and comforting feeling from Batty's Bath Sweet Brown Sugar Scrub Cubes! Enjoy the scent of sugary sweet brown sugar while benefiting from the skin loving properties of these sugar scrub cubes!

Each cube is packed with naturally exfoliating sugar and is made with Batty's Bath glycerin soap which is known for it's amazing cleansing action while protecting the delicate pH balance necessary for soft, healthy skin.

Directions: Take one single use sugar scrub cube into the shower. Massage over wet skin and rinse clean. Keep the remaining sugar scrub cubes in the wide mouth jar they are packaged in and store in a cool dry place.

Get your own sweet brown sugar scrub cubes here!

Motorcycle Soap

Motorcycle Soap, originally uploaded by She's Batty.

Here's a picture of the soap I made Dad for Father's Day with Mom's hand to show how big the soap bar is :)

Live Swim Drink!

Don't Be Scared by Those Labels

How many times have you heard that if you can't pronounce an ingredient or have never heard of it, it must be bad? I've heard this more times than I can count and I cringe every time I hear it. This approach to reading labels is naive to say the least, but don't worry! Batty is hear to stop that naive way of thinking in it's tracks and save you from embarrassing yourself in front of educated label readers ;) hehe.

Let me explain...

Ingredients can't be just thrown on to a label any old way. There are regulations that have to be followed including the name of the ingredient. In Canada, all labeling must follow the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) - a system of names for waxes, oils, pigments, chemicals, and other ingredients in bath & body products, based on scientific names and other Latin and English words.

Some of the INCI names are fairly similar to the common name such as purified water. Under the INCI it's called "water (aqua)". This one isn't trying to trick anyone. It's self explanatory and is the same as the common name.

But many others end up looking like those "sketchy unpronounceable" ingredients or "scary never heard of them" ingredients, when, in reality they are very common ingredients that almost everyone would recognize under their common name. For example Vitamin E's INCI name is "Tocopherol Acetate". Unless you had a background that educated you in latin, or science, or INCI names, you probably wouldn't be able to guess that Tocopherol Acetate is Vitamin E.... had you not read this blog post, Tocopherol Acetate might have had you thinking it was something scary that should be avoided. Aren't you glad you know better now so you wont get caught down the road trying to explain to your children why you wouldn't let them use Vitamin E (assuming they aren't allergic to it). ;)

Not to mention if you follow the logic that if you can't pronounce an ingredient it must NOT be safe leads to the logic that if you CAN pronounce it, it must BE safe. Can you pronounce "hydrogen cyanide"? ... ya, I thought so ;) .. So don't be duped into thinking that quick little "tricks" like how easily an ingredient is pronounced leads to it's safety level (which obviously is just ridiculous).

This is just the tip of the iceberg for label reading, but knowing about the INCI system is a key to understanding that just because an ingredient isn't recognizable at first glance, doesn't mean it's something "bad" or "scary".

FYI: True soaps will have either sodium hydroxide or sodium palmate listed on the label. These are key base ingredients used in true soap making. Something that may throw you off when looking at commercial soaps labels (i.e. not handmade soap), is that the sodium hydroxide or sodium palmate may be is missing from the label. But how can that be if you need sodium hydroxide or sodium palmate to make soap? Well, many (if not all) commercially made soaps are really solid detergents. Read the labels carefully and you’ll see that they are called “body bars” or “beauty bars” since they can’t call themselves “soap” because they aren’t made with oils and lye (i.e. sodium hydroxide or sodium palmate) as "true soaps" are.

I carry your heart with me

By ee comings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

One Art

By Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.

Even More Essential Oil Soaps Have Arrived!

Grapefruit Essentail Oil Glycerin Soap
Grapefruit Pink Essential Oil is believed by aromatherapists to be a spiritual up-lifter, and to ease muscle fatigue and stiffness. It is also a purifier of congested, oily and acne prone skin.

Peppermint Essential Oil Glycerin Soap
Peppermint Essential Oil is widely credited with being refreshing, a mental stimulant and energizing. It's familiar aroma of peppermint is known for both its warming and cooling properties.

Sweet Orange Essential Oil Glycerin Soap
Sweet Orange Essential Oil has been historically recognized for it's deodorizing properties, for brightening dull skin and for easing stress. It has a fresh, citrus orange scent.

Patchouli Essential Oil Glycerin Soap

This Patchouli Glycerin Soap is handmade with "dark patchouli essential oil". Patchouli is a warm and earthy aroma. Patchouli is known for being helpful for skin irritations, acne, and other skin imperfections. Since this soap is packed with patchouli, it's great for anyone looking to calm down problem skin.

Batty's Hair Care Video

Batty's tips and tricks to getting beautiful hair for low maintenance girls! Hear what she would have told herself if she could go back in time, and what she wants to share with you!


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*~*~*~* Quick Recap of Batty's Bath Products *~*~*~*

Handmade Shampoo
-cleanses your hair without stripping it of its natural oils and rises clean away

Handmade Conditioner
-restores moisture balance to dry, damaged hair and leaves it feeling soft, silky and shiny

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*~*~*~* Helpful Links *~*~*~*

Batty's Bath - http://www.battysbath.com
Where to get all of the products I mentioned in this video

Batty's Blog
http://battysbath.blogspot.com

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Contact: battysbath@hotmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/battysbath
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/battysbath
Blog: http://battysbath.blogspot.com

Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius Hybrid
Toyota Prius pictures
Toyota Prius photo

toyota corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact/compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million sold as of 2007. Over the past 40 years, one Corolla car has been sold on average every 40 seconds.The series has undergone several major redesigns.

toyota corolla
toyota corolla
toyota corolla
toyota corolla