Candles in Colonial America were a necessity. Obviously they didn’t have electricity and oil for lamps was costly. Candles were the light of the night. The common people made their candles out of tallow, which is animal fat and it burned rancid like the Roman candles made of the same substance. The well to do used beeswax candles; the average family couldn’t afford such extravagance.

The common colonist was out in the field quite a bit and even the women worked outside some. They made the discovery of using bayberries that they boiled to get the wax. These candles didn’t produce a lot of smoke and they smelled very good. It took so much time to make candles out of bayberry wax that it didn’t become popular. Plus, eight pounds of berries made one pound of wax. To recoup the finest form of the wax took many days. Time was of a premium; there was a lot of necessary hard work to do.

The main candle they used for their home was a tapered candle. Repetitive dunking of the cotton strands into the wax made these candles. The wax built up around the wicks of cotton strips. When burning the wicks had to be maintained as they didn’t have braided wicks. When the 1700’s rolled around the whaling industry flourished in the colonies. This gave the colonial candle makers the choice of whale oil and they made spermaceti wax. Wax made from whale oil didn’t smell much better than that of tallow though it did hold up better in the summer’s heat.

To make candles by the colonial method get a non-waxed tapered wick and weight the end with a washer. Melt the wax in a melting pot, a tall coffee can will do. The container should be tall and narrow. A tall can allows melting less wax. When the wax is thoroughly melted shut off the heat. Place the can or pot on a surface that resists heat. Start dipping the wick into the wax. The first time hold the wick in the wax while the wax quits bubbling. The rest of the dipping needs to be just dip in and take the wick out. Hanging the wicks between dipping is a good idea if you make more than one at a time. Leave the wick out briefly between each dip.

The dipping continues until you get the diameter you want for the candle. This can be time consuming. Patience is a part of this process. You’ll hang the candles to let them harden. Clip the candles onto a coat hanger and cut the end so the bottom is flat. Once you go through this process with a few candles the big job candle making was in colonial times will be quite clear. Think of how many candles a household used in a year. Imagine reading by candlelight, sewing, cleaning a gun. Any task they did at night was by the light of a candle. What difference electricity makes.

Tara Smith is a crafter and candle maker. The head writer and co-owner of a Scented Soy Chunk candles, company Candle Scentsations. Join her as she writes about her passion and shares ideas and tips at her website that carries Highly Scented Candles.

Although babies are the cutest and most precious beings in the universe, why is there such a huge discrepancy between a really cute BABY and a truly mediocre baby PICTURE?

If you want to take baby photos that capture THE TRUE ESSENCE OF YOUR BABY, remember these critical points…

Your Baby’s First 3 Months

Think of this period in your baby’s photographic life as the MOLDING STAGE. Like Gumby, you can pretty much place the baby in any position you want. And if someone else is posing the baby while you are already in position to shoot, so much the better.

This is the time to capture those adorable little baby bits. You can read about additional tips for photographing babies and view sample baby pics here.

At this age, the “baby bits” (feet, hands, eyes, noses, etc.) ALONE can make a wonderful photograph. Either use your camera’s macro setting and/or carefully crop a non-macro picture.

Black and White images can also create quite an impression. Check your camera for any black and white selection. Or, most of the photo-editing software has ways to make the transition from color to black and white fairly simple.

When you add a parent’s hand(s) or face to the picture, an entirely different effect is created.

Play With Perspective

One approach is to get at eye-level with a sleeping baby, but position yourself at their feet. Believe it or not, you could easily take 50 photographs of a sleeping baby, and never take 2 that are identical.

An outstanding photographic exercise would be to snap off 50 images, each one from a different angle and perspective; using different focus points and aperture settings (for depth of field). Don’t worry; you won’t run out of ideas!

Once you begin to think about taking baby photos differently, all sorts of new posing ideas will emerge. One example is to use the camera’s macro setting when taking baby photos.

With the use of a tripod, focus solely on the baby’s eye, thus pushing the nose and everything else OUT OF FOCUS. Although more challenging with babies, it is possible (and very dramatic) to catch the reflection of an object in the baby’s eye. For that type of image, an extreme crop would be optimal.

Want to see more ideas for taking better baby photos? We’ll show you how to create stunning baby photos for every stage of your baby’s first 18 months.

Portrait photographers have very special skills for they capture the essence of their Become A Model subjects if they are good. Portrait photographers take pictures of tiny babies and their grandmothers that the family will keep for many years. Portrait photography requires special skills. Surely those that specialize in portrait photography must have a keen knowledge of cameras and films. They must have knowledge of lighting, and they must be able to apply this knowledge. Those that practice portrait photography must select the appropriate papers for printing their work. Portrait photographers must select a tone for their images.

On the walls of many museums and in the pages of history books, there are many examples of portrait photography. The images of kings and queens from many years ago are available because of the skills of portrait photographers. These kings and queens look majestic in most of these portraits because this stance was important to their station in life. Great historical figures from Napoleon to Winston Churchill gaze down from the walls of museums because of the skill of portrait photographers. Their images document the important deeds of these figures. Skilled portrait photographers have preserved the images of Roosevelt as he led the nation during World War II.

Portrait Photography Documents Important Family Memories

Skilled portrait photographers follow a bride around on her wedding day to make sure that they capture each moment of this important event. During the course of the day, the photographers use their skills to capture candid photos of the bride, the groom and their families. Some time during the day, they will probably take time to capture a special portrait of the bride and groom that will be preserved for many years so their grandchildren can one day learn about this special day many years before their births.

Portrait photography of Model Talent is important to capture the images of people at different times of their lives. A portrait of a first grader will probably be very cheerful and hopeful. The portrait of the same girl on her wedding day will show her maturity on an important day. The portrait of a grandmother will be handed down from generation to generation so the family members will know something about their ancestors. The skilled portrait photographer will capture more than just the appearance of this woman. Hopefully, this portrait will provide some insight into the hopes, dreams and thoughts of this woman and Female Model for her descendants.

Casting is known and loved for the high temperatures, glowing molten metal, and the possibility to make nearly anything. Metal and their alloys are not the only things that can be used in casting. Casting in plastic, most notably resin casting, is becoming popular with artists and jewelers looking for something odd and unique.

Resin Casting does not involve the use of furnaces, crucibles, or casting sand. In fact all one really needs for resin casting is a mold, some resin (of course), and time.

There are actually two forms of resin casting. The first kind is the one that more closely resembles metal casting, uses a mold and even gates and runners if it’s complex enough. The second type of resin casting is simply incasing an object in the resin. An example of this is using an ice cube tray and placing an object like a small pendant in one of the tray’s cavities and then filling it with the resin solution. After the resin dries you can pop it out of the tray. The pendant is now encased in hard plastic. This form is usually employed by jewelers and crafty moms but tends to be fun for everyone no matter age or experience. At the very least it’s a great way to get rid of some of the clutter around your house and disguise it as art. You can cast leaves, coins, and other objects in the resin to make anything from charms to magnets.

Resin casting using molds is generally used by those who work with models and miniatures. Resin casting is a great way to make several pieces at once so you can avoid shelling out money you may not have and waiting several weeks for delivery of your items. Who has that kind of time anymore?

Like metal casting, resin casting will require you to build a mold. If you are fortunate enough then you can easily find pre-made molds, especially if you are working with miniatures. If you don’t feel like buying these pre-made molds or just like doing things the hard way, then you will have to make the mold yourself. Don’t worry, it’s still fun.

You will need to find a molding box that will hold the rubber that will be used to make the actual mold until it dries. Many who work with smaller objects find that working with toy building blocks to create this molding block work extremely well and will provide added convenience. A wooden box will work as well, of course. The box, or flask, will not have a top or bottom, just the four walls. Place molding clay at the bottom of the flask and insert your original. Make sure to add a way for the resin plastic to enter the mold. This cup or funnel should be placed at the top of the mold. You are going to prepare the silicone rubber and catalyst which will be used to create the mold. Follow the instructions on the labels since each type will vary. A process called degassing can be used which will remove all the air bubbles from the rubber. This is a fun process involving a vacuum pump.

Slowly pour the rubber into the flask, covering the original. This can take up to a day to dry, so be patient. Remove the molding clay and repeat the process using the bottom part of the flask, or drag. You should have two parts now, with the original in the middle. When dry, remove the mold from the box and very carefully split the mold to remove the original.

Place the mold back together and prepare the resin solution, follow the instructions to the letter. Pour the resin into the top of the mold, where you placed the cup. The set time for the resin should be stated on the bottle, but for most it will take up to 30 minutes. When ready crack the mold open and remove the cast.

Resin casting can be a great family craft project but just make sure to follow all of the safety guidelines. This type of casting can still be dangerous even though you are not dealing with molten metals. Often times, the solutions and chemicals used in resin casting are poisonous if consumed. Not to mention that resin casting can be a bit smelly so working outside or in a well ventilated room is advisable.

Metal Casting Zone is the new website that is all about Metal Casting and building a Metal Casting Community of members. Right now there is a free offer for new members when you sign up you will recieve a free ebook on Metal Casting Basics. Visit Metal Casting Zone today to get your free ebook on Metal Casting.

Purchasing a pottery kiln is no inexpensive undertaking. It is the largest investment a potter has to make. But which type of kiln should you buy? Good question. In this article, I will take a closer look at different types of kilns available and a history of how pottery kilns were used in the making of handmade pottery and other ceramic pieces.

Primitive kilns were no more than the simple hearths used for cooking, warmth, light, and protection. In fact, pit kilns being very easy are still incorporated in hand made pottery and ceramics. Clay has been used since prehistory for decoration and function but it is unknown how the actual firing process was discovered. It is thought that the first fired pots originated nearly 10,000 years ago, when agriculture began. These early farmers needed storage containers and fired clay served these needs well. The earliest kilns were pits dug into the ground and the pottery loosely stacked on top of each other. Flammable materials were placed around the pottery and the fire was allowed to burn down. After cooling, the pots were cleaned of the ash and residue and were then used.

Another early form of pottery kiln, the beehive kiln, was the first kiln constructed that looks like what we consider a kiln. The pots are stacked in an arched chamber retaining greater heat than the pit kiln and making the pottery more durable. An alternate type of the beehive concept was built in China around 500 A.D., yes way back then, and called the stepped kiln. This kiln used the simple form of the beehive, but had multiple chambers in a terraced pattern so that the kiln capacity could be increased. This worked well in villages where pottery making was a primary activity, and where a large volume of pottery was needed.

A well known kiln concept that is used today is the natural gas kiln. Rather than using the flammable materials of the pit and step kilns, natural gas is used for the fuel. There are both updraft and downdraft natural gas kilns available. The advantages of natural gas as a fuel are that it produces very low levels of pollution, and that the fuel is relatively inexpensive. In some areas propane is more commonly used as a fuel; however care must be taken as propane is heavier than air and if the flame should get extinguished, the gas can settle and produce a potential for explosion. Natural gas will disperse on its own since it is lighter than air.

The only new kiln technology is the electric kiln. Unlike other methods which utilize a fuel for operation, electric kilns run by coiled wires that bring about heat. A toaster operates on the same principle. A lot of the modern electric pottery kilns are equipped with electronic shut off devices, called kiln sitters, to monitor the firing process. Still, any kiln must never be left unattended.

So there you have it, a brief history of the kiln and the different concepts behind it and its construction. Now go make pottery.

Soy candles provides detailed information on soy wax candles, pottery, handmade soaps and more and is affiliated with handmade soap dishes.

It is interesting to note that people from all walks of life are choosing to opt for professions which are close to their heart. If we talk of sterling silver jewelry, we would imagine an elegant piece of necklace or a stylish bracelet which is sold through a normal shop and is available for purchase at a fixed price. This is a normal scenario wherein you happen to be a prospective buyer and the sterling silver jewelry is your prospective purchase. Let’s try and do a role reversal. Let us see what happens then.

Visit various shops and known jewelry stores

If you wish to create your own style, you need to first understand the needs of an existing market. This can be done by paying a visit to numerous jewelry stores. The visits need to be regular so that you are in constant touch with the various designs and styles. Once you have gained familiarity, it is time for you to take the plunge and discover the artist within you. Sterling silver jewelry has a lot of potential if it is tapped by the right person. You just need to have a design in place.

Use the facilities of the World Wide Web

Internet has changed the age old concept of long distance travel. Now you can visit even the most distant places and see the most authentic locales at the slight tap of a button. The best part is that you never move out of your living room. If you have a passion for designing your own style of sterling silver jewelry, you need to first understand and visualize the available designs in the market. Once you have a hang of these designs, you need to simply give them a shape and create your own style. You never know, your creation might become the next big thing in the world of stylish sterling silver jewelry.

Visit sales and unknown shops

At times, it helps to visit those shops which have not been frequented by normal shoppers. You can recognize these shops from far as they appear small and shabby and are located well away from the main marketplace. Here you would be surprised to find a wide variety of sterling silver jewelry and some designs which have been long forgotten. You can also try your hands at the local garage sales, yard sales, church auctions and various other stores. An authentic dealer of antique jewelry is also a reliable source to get you the designs which can never be found elsewhere.

Collect bits and piece and put them together

Sterling silver jewelry is not a single entity and is diversified into various sections. So, while visiting a particular showroom or an antique jewelry shop, you discover a unique necklace or a stylish bracelet- feel free to pick it up. To this, use your own creativity and make an ornament which is a blend of the two. This would be a case of positive mix and match and would work wonders for you.

This article about the creation of your own Sterling Silver Jewelry was provided by http://www.queenbjewelry.com - visit us today for all your Jewelry Sterling Silver needs.

U.S. sales of organic foods and beverages increased from $1 billion in 1990 to $20 billion in 2007. People are willing to pay more for organic products because they think they’re healthier. Researchers at Copenhagen University disagree. In a study that included apples, carrots, kale, peas and potatoes, the researchers found organic produce doesn’t contain more nutrients than non-organic produce grown with pesticides. Of course, the study, published in the “Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture”, didn’t look into the health risks of pesticides. JSFA is a chemical industry journal.

Increasing health risks from raw produce led to the FDA’S discovery that modern radiation techniques can kill food-poisoning germs without compromising the safety or nutrient value of some vegetables. As of August 2008, the FDA has allowed food producers to treat fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce with “enough radiation” to kill E-coli and other dangerous germs. Who knows - maybe kids will eat more spinach if it glows in the dark.

There’s no problem, however, getting Americans to eat iceberg lettuce. They eat more of it than any other lettuce variety - 22 pounds per person in 2005. Although romaine is a distant second at 8 pounds per person, acreage for growing romaine is increasing while acreage for iceberg is decreasing. Because iceberg in 95%-96% water and contains few nutrients, it’s becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of lettuces. To give it more respect David Still, a plant science professor at California State Polytechnic University, is trying to cross iceberg with butter lettuce. This would boost iceberg’s levels of antioxidants, as well as vitamins A, C, E and K. Although iceberg has only 1/20 of the vitamins as darker/softer greens, it’s perfect for crunchtimes.

Because being a vegetarian isn’t perfect for everyone, more people are becoming flexitarians - people who eat meat occasionally. A growing number of experts and famous foodies feel that cutting back on meat is a practical compromise that benefits our bodies and our planet. Dawn Jackson Blatner, registered dietitian and author of “The Flexitarian Diet”, believes that vegetarianism is a healthier lifestyle, but too hard to do 100% of the time. Mark Bittman, gourmet food writer and author of “Food Matters” believes the average American eating 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish a year - twice the global average - affects both global warming and global obesity. As for flexitarians, they believe the meat of the matter is - less meat.

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Growing vegetables year round can be a challenge in most of the US. The winter months won’t support any type of outdoor gardening in most of the US, and in the southern states many types of vegetables won’t survive the summer heat and drought.

But Indoor Gardening can be a real challenge as well. Proper lighting is always an issue, as most vegetables want 8 hours or more of sunlight a day. Of course many vegetables such as corn or large vining plants like cantaloupe are just not practical even if you could create enough lighting to support them.

But it’s not at all out of the question to grow small leafy vegetables for salads, and many herbs can be grown indoors as well. These generally are not heavy feeders, so they are also well suited for a Hydroponics Systems.

One of the more popular systems for growing container vegetables indoors is the Aerogrow Aerogarden system. It includes room for several seed pods and a built in adjustable height grow light. With a microprocessor based controller, the flow of nutrients in the hydroponics system and the timing of the grow lights are optimized for the specific type of plant that you are growing at the time. By varying the height of the grow light as the plants increase in size, you are able to maintain the optimum growing conditions for weeks at a time.

Another advantage to the Aerogarden indoor garden system is the variety of seed types available for the system. You can grow a variety of lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, herbs, chili peppers and even petunias. With this large a variety of plants, some folks find they need more than one Hydroponics system to keep up.

Cosmetic and medical products that get in contact with our skin are absorbed through the skin, get in the blood stream and can accumulate in high quantities in different parts of our bodies. The absorption of substances from outside the skin to positions beneath the skin, including entrance to the blood stream, is referred to as Percutaneous Absorption. Usually, shampoos contain very aggressive cleaning ingredients that desroy hydrolipidic film. Hydrolipidic film is an emulsion of water (hydro) and fat (lipos). Its main function is an external barrier, a defense against bacteria and fungi. In addition it keeps the skin supple. The cleaning ingredients of shampoos destroy external barrier of the scalp and all the dangerous ingredients found in shampoos enter our bodies.

This is why all cosmetic products not just medical products must be tested for safety.

Hairdressers and estheticians are considered to be at high professional risk, because they come in contact with cosmetic products more than anyone else. Most importantly, there are a lot of different ingredients in cosmetic products, especially shampoos that can be very damaging to our health. In particular, there are lot of ingredients widely used in the cosmetic industry that are not being studied as much as food products and drugs, but they can be very dangerous and carcinogenic (can cause cancer). The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says the number of cancers being diagnosed each year is growing faster than the overall population. Skin cancer has increased by more than 350% in last five years.

This is why all Allatolia products have been extensively tested and analyzed for safety and clinical effectiveness.

Allatolia products are manufactured without the addition of colorings, perfumes, and thickening ingredients since their origin (1978), because the very high quality of raw materials used allows avoiding any kind of covering. Colors and perfumes are often added to products in order to cover bad quality of raw materials (low quality raw materials often smell very bad). Dermatologists and Allergologists consider perfumes and colors which are added to cosmetic products as the most responsible for contact dermatitis. Contact dermatitis is a localized rash or irritation of the skin caused by contact with a foreign substance. Professionals in the cosmetic field, especially hairdressers are at higher risk for developing irritations and allergic reactions due to the fact that they use cosmetic products all day long.

Allatolia products are made without formaldehyde since the origin (1978). Formaldehyde (or formic aldehyde) is a preservative considered to be very dangerous, although widely used for its low price. Formaldehyde is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. International Agency for Research on Cancer states that there is sufficient evidence that formaldehyde causes nasopharyngeal cancer in humans. Formaldehyde also causes allergies.

Under certain dosage the present laws do not yet force producers to declare the presence of formaldehyde. In Switzerland the use of formaldehyde is forbidden for both medicines and cosmetics since 1967. Therefore, the voluntary procedure to submit the products to the composition exam to the laboratories of Swiss Hygiene and the consequent certification of conformity means that, under precise responsibility of the producer, the products are made without formaldehyde. All the certificates that state that all Allatolia products do not contain formaldehyde can be found on our website.

Villa Bofghini products are manufactured without Methylene Chloride since the origin (1978). Methylene Chloride has always been considered as a very dangerous substance for human health. In spite of this, it has been largely used to manufacture hair sprays and hair fixing products mainly because of its low cost and of its high volatility characteristic (it is able to let the other ingredients exhale very quickly, thus allowing to fix hair almost immediately). Obviously, Methylene Chloride and other substances heavily pollute the environment. This bears dangerous consequences to the health of people using such toxic products. Only in 1998 did the European Commission finally classify it as “R-40” meaning dangerous substance able to cause irreversible noxious effects to human health.

Allatolia products have been clinically studied and tested for maximum safety by Repeated Insult Patch Test. All Allatolia products have passed this test. Under normal conditions it takes 28 days for the basal layer of skin cells through their death and physiological transformation to finally reach the skin surface. This is the cycle of the skin, called cellular turnover. This is what allows the skin to have the power of self-defense from anything that comes in contact with it.

There are two clinical-pharmacological tests used to evaluate safety of products for topical application. They are Patch Test and Repeated Insult Patch Test. The Patch Test usually lasts 48 hours. As previously explained, the cellular turnover of the skin lasts 28 days. This means that the product tested only for 2 days cannot be called hypoallergenic, because 2 days are not enough to really test the product. The Repeated Insult Patch Test lasts for 30 days, that is to say two more days of the skin cellular turnover. This is why the product that managed to over come such a rigid test is certified as “Incapable of causing irritation or allergic reactions”.

According to the FDA, there are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term “hypoallergenic”. The term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean. Manufacturers of cosmetics labeled as hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenicity claims to FDA.

Allatolia products have overcome the strictest clinical-pharmacological test in the University Laboratories for Maximum Safety: “The Repeated Insult Patch Test”. All Allatolia products are certified as incapable of causing irritation or allergic reactions.

Up to today, Allatolia is the unique whole range of products in the world that was able to overcome the hardest test for maximum safety.

The scalp is at the top of the list among the body parts affected by Allergenic Contact Dermatitis. Shampoos are the most dangerous products, because they destroy the hydrolipidic film of the skin (extreme barrier for the protection of the skin) and that provokes the dangerous rebound effect of the sebaceous gland, and in turn canceling the skin power to self-defense. That is why they are considered to be the most dangerous cosmetic products. For this reason hairdressers are at a higher risk.

Allatolia finished products have been registered and approved by the FDA. The finished product is the result of mixing together various ingredients. Every ingredient has its own characteristics which can be changed by combining it with another ingredient. It is evident that by advertising a product only because it contains a particular ingredient does not show the proven scientific value of the finished product. So, it is very important to test the finished product as well as each ingredient separately. All ALLATOLIA products have been tested as finished products.

For most shampoos, the manufacturing process starts with making a large amount of concentrated shampoo in one shot, and then it is diluted. Allatolia, on the other hand manufactures their shampoos differently. It is done by addition of ingredients to each bottle one by one. We add the ingredients, not dilute a high concentrated solution.

According to the results of the tests and analysis of Allatolia products, the use of Allatolia products allows achieving important clinical results with no side effects.

The whole range of Allatolia products has very advanced scientific characteristics, because we are able to achieve both aesthetic and curative results simultaneously. This is another scientific and technical innovation called Product Dynamism.

The unique distinctive characteristics of Allatolia line shows that Allatolia manufacturing levels and quality of the ingredients were almost 30 years ahead of the modern European Regulations.

We offer safe shampoos. As our reader, you are entitled to 5% discount on any purchase in our store. Just use the coupon code: READERS5 at checkout.