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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Bajidoo Holiday Ornaments

I was lucky enough to have a short visit from Brenda of Bajidoo, just before Christmas.  What a treat!

One evening I had my own little arts & crafts lesson from Brenda.  She shared with me some of her charcoal drawing techniques, which is an art medium I've never used before.  We used water color pencils.  We painted and tried out a new dimensional paint!

Using some of Bajidoo's ultra cool decals we made these cool holiday ornaments...


We also decorated a wood bangle box with Bajidoo's fab Steam Punk design.

So beautiful and I can't believe how easy and quick it was to make such gorgeous things!

A HUGE thank you to Brenda for the education and the good times!
Jody - a big Bajidoo fan!

Monday, December 20, 2010

"Baby, It's Cold Outside!" says your henna

Baby it's cold outside!

Henna can be picky about temperature and winter is a different set of challenges than summer.

In summer, we have to be careful that we don't "cook" our henna. We have to keep it out of sunlight and not let it get too warm. When mixing henna powder in the summer dye release is often much quicker (often a just a few hours will yield good dye release). This also means that the henna paste can lose it's dying abilities quickly, so you need to keep your henna cool.

Mixing Henna in the Cold
In the winter (even here in Florida) we have to be more patient with our henna. The same henna that would obtain full dye release in a few hours can take a full day or more in a cooler environment. I find that if my house is less than 70 degrees I need to let my Jamila henna powder mix sit 48 hours or more. I do this in stages. I mix my powder with my liquid (lemon, tea mix, or whatever I am using that day) and let it sit overnight. The next morning I add sugar, essential oils, and any additional liquid if needed. I let that sit again overnight and the next day I put the henna in applicators and cones for freezing. Sometimes I don't freeze the cones until the next day, giving the henna a full 3 days to sit.

Applying Henna in the Cold
I am always cold, so I have to work extra hard to get a good stain in the winter. I get all my supplies together along with a candle, blanket, and cup of hot tea or glass of wine. I do my henna while I am all wrapped up in my blanket and seal it with lemon sugar. When my hands (or feet) get cold, I hold them over the candle.

Here in the store, if it is too cold, I have clients sit beside a space heater to make sure they stay warm while we apply their henna.

Another great way to raise your body temperature for good henna color is to do a traditional henna wrap.  After your henna has set, seal it with lemon sugar.  Try doing 2 or 3 thin coats of sealer.  Once the sealer is completely dry, wrap the henna in bathroom paper.  This will absorb sweat.  Be sure to wrap a couple of layers.  Wrap your mummified henna in plastic wrap.  This will seal in your body heat.  I often follow up with a sock or other piece of clothing over the plastic wrap so the wrap doesn't stick to everything around it.

This winter, keep temperature in mind while mixing and applying your henna. Remember, body temperature is nearly 99 degrees. Even 70 degrees is a significant difference in temperature.

A fellow Floridain henna artist, Michael, gave me this tip to share...

"I have this thing called a "ThermiPaq"... basically it's a sand bag that you use for sore muscles and you can heat in the microwave or put in the freezer. I heated mine up for about 1.5 minutes and put that in the bottom of a cooler. I then covered it with a small towel and then laid my bottles of henna on top. This way, the henna was gently heated overnight even though the house was cold. I did that for 2 nights and the henna started turning a dark green/brownish color. I tried it after that and it works wonderfully."

Stay Warm!
Jody

Friday, December 17, 2010

Christmas & Holiday Hours

Happy Holidays to EVERYONE!

Good news!  We have received a HUGE order of glass bangles.  It will take weeks to organize the bangles so that we can make them available to you.

Due to this, we are closing the store the week between Christmas and New Years.  The store will be closed Dec 24 - January 3. 

If you have a special need during this time, feel free to email me direct, Jody@BeachcombersBazaar.com.  If I can make special arrangements for you I will!



Happy Holidays!
Jody

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

NEW Indian Bindi Body Stickers!

Just got a TON of new bindi body stickers in!  Seriously, like 40 new styles!
 Ultra sparkle with tons of crystals on each bindi.
There is also a really nice selection of large show bindi.
 Bindi make great stocking stuffers or additions to envelope gifts such as cash or gift certificates.
 Remember bindi can be worn anywhere or on anything!  Try them on your cheekbone or on your shoes!
Time to decorate your body!
Shop Bindi at our website or our Orlando store!

Jody

Friday, December 10, 2010

Organic Earrings for Normally Pireced Ears

Woo Hoo!  They have arrived, and they are GORGEOUS!

Our newest products are these fab new tribal earrings, Beachcombers Organics.  They are handmade in Bali of wood, horn, bone, and Mother-Of-Pearl.

Stretched lobes and gauged ears not needed!  These cool tribal earrings are for normally pierced ears. 

We have split expander styles that look like they've been threaded right through your ear hole.  These are known as cheaters or fakers.

Fatastic that you don't have to lose all your jewelry as you move up in gauge sizes, yes?



 See!  They look like real expanders when they are worn!


 We also have these cool organic pin style earrings.  These use a horn or wood stick for the earring post.











How did we move from Indian shoes, glass bangles, and henna to organic earrings? 
Glad you asked!  A little while back a good friend was dealing with some health issues.  To help in her healing process I did quite a bit of healing henna tattoos for her.  As a thank you gift, she gave me the coolest earrings I had ever seen!

That's them in the picture...

I wore them EVERY day until she bought me another pair for my birthday.  Then I started swapping out my fabulous organic earrings.

I got so many compliments on them, that I thought I had better start sharing the wealth (not to mention keep myself in good supply!).  Our tag line for Beachcombers Bazaar is "Be Noticed..."  These earrings certainly fit the bill!  I started looking around for a good family source for the earrings.

That's when I found Wayan.  What an amazing person!  He and his wife started a small art business in Bali in the 80's focusing on his lifelong passion of carving and wood sculpting.  These hand carved earrings are now part of his art.  That little business is continuing to grow as new family members and other artists from the community are added.

Like most Indonesians, the environment and natural resources are important to Wayan.  All materials used are harvested responsibly.  Wood is from renewable tree farms planted specifically for the purpose.  Horn and bone are left over material from farm animals and animals are never killed for their horn or bone.  Indonesians (much like native Americans)  try to use every part of an animal or plant and waste very little.

I'm proud and honored to have added another small family business to our own business family!


Give them a try!  They make a fabulous unique gift, and you'll be supporting our local USA small family business AND Wayan's local small family business in Bali.

Jody