I used to do body wraps in my own home. It was really easy.

Body wraps are usually herbal formulas of clay and seaweed. You warm your body up by pressing warm formulas and cloth to your skin. Your pores open up and then the herbs are absorbed through your skin.

Lots of people do this, spas sell the treatments for nearly $100 a pop. It’s an easy way to literally reshape your body in an hour.

I learned how to make the formulas on my own, so now I just make up a batch when I feel like having my own spa day.

I’ll tell you though, the first time I did it on my own, I didn’t lose any inches around my body. None.

I used my sister as a guinea pig, and she lost 14 inches in her first try.

Imagine how jealous I was! So When I tried again, it was even better. I think it helped having an extra pair of hands, or maybe I didn’t make my formula just right.

A lot of people wonder if it works, yes, it works. Is it going to make you lose 100 pounds in a day? No, it won’t do that. It’ll reshape the body you already have by a little bit. You’ll look and will be a little slimmer, when done correctly.

I enjoy a nice spa treatment like every other girl out there, but paying $100 for a body wrap isn’t for me. Not all the time.

When I’m trying to lose a little bit of weight, I’ll stick to my diet, like mine with Nutrisystem, and then about once a week I’ll start a body wrap.

So what will it really do?

It will slim your body down a little bit. Imagine if you were just a half inch away from fitting into that size 12 pair of jeans. If in an hour you could fit into that pair of jeans, it’s like an instant reward for doing what you were doing, losing weight.

Sometimes weight loss takes time to show on your body. When you do a body wrap, it’s like instant gratification. If you do it every week, it’ll help you keep up your momentum for losing weight.

I wrote a book about it. It’s $3.99 for the Amazon Kindle. If you don’t have Kindle, you can download it using Kindle for PC.

Tired of being tired before you get to the fun stuff? Here’s a few ideas on getting around all the boring stuff.

1. Work from your own home office. Many of us spend a lot of time at work. If you spend 8 hours a day in an office, two hours on the road, and time showering, getting dressed, breakfast, getting your mind set for work, shaking off work after work… work takes a lot of time. Instead convince your boss, or convince another boss, to let you do your work from your own home.

2. Work part time hours. Learn to live on less income, and you can live comfortably on working those hours part time. This is especially great if you can work freelance, and you’ll spend even less time working, and you are in complete control of the money you bring in. Earn $50 an hour, or more. Choose your hours, choose your pay, choose your job. Think about it. Does what you really want to do require more money, or more time?

3. Cut back on costs, to reduce the need to work a lot. Even if you love your job, and want to keep it, reducing what you spend your money on can relieve some wallet stress.

4. Rethink tasks at home, like laundry. Do you really need to wash sheets every week? Couldn’t you push it back two weeks? Or longer? Many tasks that we tend to do every day, sometimes we really don’t have to do them every day, or there are better ways to do them. Behind in laundry? Take them down to a laundry service. It may cost a few dollars, but it’ll save on hassle. Once it’s caught up, you can start on a regular, not-as-often laundry routine.

5. Become a food hack pro. Food takes up so much time. Unless you love cooking, there’s usually some cooking hacks people can follow in order to reduce time in the kitchen. For example, you can learn how to identify if a recipe is worth cooking in five easy steps.

6. Let your tastes evolve, and move on. Sometimes we do things only because they are routine, and not because we enjoy them. For example, maybe you used to enjoy a certain rubber chicken blog, and would follow the blog every day. Now, you no longer have an interest in rubber chickens. You know all about them, you’ve had your fun and now you want to learn about something else. Learn to let go.

7. Get help. When you’re overwhelmed with a task, like taxes, or house cleaning, or organizing, it’s so much easier to give the burden to someone else, someone who may enjoy doing those things. It does cost money, but when you save money by working at home, or save on the utility bills, that few extra dollars on getting someone else to do the hard stuff may be well worth it.

8. Get free help when possible. Many people are often stumped by daily problems, sometimes the problems are specific. A generic list like this one may not be able to help everyone in every situation. Find a forum, a group, a person (I have email!) and ask, “How can I…” and get direct answers. Spend less time researching when a pro or other people can point you in the right direction. (Google when possible, but when you don’t know where to start, or need extra help finding just the right keywords to search, try asking.)

9. Eliminate email, phone calls, television, etc. I used to spend $50 a month on cable television that I never watched. I’d turn on a DVD or watch Netflix before I’d watch the 300-channels-with-nothing-on cable tv. Learn the tricks to cut down on emails (using folders, deleting junk before you get it), eliminating phone calls (voicemail) and save money on cable, unless you really, really, really enjoy those things. All those hours are yours again.

10. Find that project you do want to spend all your saved hours on. I work part time hours, live well doing so, and I ended up with so much extra time, I decided to go to school for a degree in physics. Finding something to do gave me a whole new reason to push back other projects that weren’t in sync with my goal, and do what I feel I want to do with my time. Believe me, when you find something to do that you are really passionate about, you’ll find ways to make time to do what you love.

According to reviews bottle tops do indeed perform like they say they do. Reading reviews from sources that actually tested this product there were some pros and a few small cons.

Pros: The people who tested the bottle tops liked the fact that they came in a variety of colors making it easier to give everyone their own color to avoid drinks from getting confused when they were set down. They also liked the fact the bottle tops could easy be rinsed out or run through a dishwasher. Most reviewers did find that the bottle top did keep the carbonation in the soft drink saving them from having to throw flat drinks out.

Cons:While the bottle tops did not spill all over like a beverage can without the top would when tipped over reviews did find that if left on it’s side the bottle top did leak.

Mixed reviews: While some of the reviewers found that the bottle tops were easy to snap on and take off, others felt that they were difficult to get off. All in all the reviews seemed to be positive on this product. If you would like to read some of the reviews you can find them at www.starreviews.com and www.agosa.com.

The best thing about the Exergen Temporal Scanner is that it can be used on everyone from the smallest babies to the biggest adult babies. You simply press down a button, run it across the forehead and down the temple, stopping in front of the ear and letting up on the button. The trick to accurate readings is to let go of the button prior to pulling the thermometer away from the temple.

Parents have long been searching for better ways to take temperature for sick babies, and the Exergen Temporal Scanner thermometer is definitely a huge improvement. Taking rectal temperatures for infants is no longer necessary and trying to hold the thermometer in the mouth of a screaming toddler is a thing of the past.

This may be the coolest tech item in this group. I worried about accuracy when using it, though. There seemed to be a difference depending on where I put the reader piece. Though, it’s easier than sticking something under your tongue or in your ear. I always hated those metal mouth pieces.

EZCombs are hair products geared for women who want to pull the sides of their hair back or create ponytails and other up-dos quickly. They are designed to be both pretty and convenient so you can easily pull your hair back or up and get on with the rest of your day.

Each EZComb is designed with two hair combs with stretchy strings strung with beads in detailed patterns connecting the tops of each comb. You use them by placing one of the combs on one side of your head and then stretching the strings all the way over to the other side of your head and placing the second comb. The strings will come back together, pulling the combs in with them once you let go.

The hairstyles that can be created with this product are near endless, especially if you take the time to add curls and waves to enhance the overall appearance.

EZCombs come in packages of two, each in a different color. There are four color options total: black, silver, bronze, sandalwood.

Many women find these to be lifesavers when they are short on time while others find the thin plastic material on the combs can slip out of the hair too easily. They seem to work best for people with thicker hair that has some body to it.

Another complaint against EZCombs is that the elastic may snap if you pull too much on them, sending beads flying everywhere. As with anything with beads: be gentle!

Gabriel’s company graciously sent me several products, of which I’ve tried. Once I tried it, my face actually felt better than a non-organic mask. And I can also rest knowing it’s all organic and not worry about my face peeling and drying out from chemicals in the product.

Heather vows to die along with her sister, and struggles to live life while watching her little sister with her illness, they did much more than spend time together. The bond between sisters has never proved clearer in Heather Summerhays Cariou’s memoir, Sixtyfive Roses.

Heather and her family became passionately involved in learning about Cystic Fibrosis, and then further becoming founders of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

In an effort to help Pam live as comfortably and as long as possible, Heather struggles through monitoring her ill sister, living with a fear that one morning she may wake up and her sister will be gone. Heather describes in detail her feelings as she was growing up, and the toll of bills, hospitals and continuous infections and treatments.

The story has a magnificent core of honesty and filled with inspiration and hope. With a forward by Celine Dion, who had her own experience with dealing with Cystic Fibrosis within her own family, as Celine mentions, “This is a moving account of her family’s refusal to give up…”

If you’d like to read Sixtyfive Roses, and purchase the book, a portion of your purchase is donated to the foundation Heather founded for Cystic Fibrosis. It’s a beautiful book, even those will the coolest of heart will be moved to tears and heartfelt warmth.

As a bonus to my readers, Heather has allowed us to give away one copy of her book, Sixtyfive Roses.

To enter, visit the Cystic Fibrosis website and look around. Follow them on Twitter or Facebook. This is based entirely on faith, but leave a comment here to tell me about your experience, what you’ve learned or what you know from your own life about Cystic Fibrosis. Or simply tell me why you’d like to read this book. A random winner will be chosen.

Lucy Schwartz says:
We purchased a steam mop that uses plain water to do our floors. And we are being much more [stringent] about recycling everything we can.

Congratulations to Lucy and thanks to everyone for participating.

Psssttt… did you know? Sometimes I do random giveaways for guests who subscribe/friend/follow and random comments. Are you keeping tabs on this blog?

Thanks My Blog Spark and Seventh Generation!

I love free samples and things like this. I often sign up for freebies and end up with new soaps and cleaning products, food and more. It’s a good way to try out products, save a few pennies, plus the freebies usually come with coupons for the full sized containers.

But certain chemicals in your home can be dangerous. Did you know you shouldn’t dispose of your cleaning sprays and products by simply throwing them away? They should be taken to a place where chemicals are disposed of properly.

The disinfectants contain thymol, a component of the herb thyme, and can be used on hard surfaces including counter tops, plastic cutting boards, highchair trays as well as children´s toys. Best of all, they kill over 99.99 percent of germs* naturally and are effective against the Influenza A Virus, including H1N1.

- From Seventh Generation and MyBlog Spark

I’ve tried several of the Seventh Generation products, including disinfecting wipes and household cleaners, provided by MyBlogSpark. The cleaners smell natural, and actually the smell that came from the products took getting used to, but it was much cleaner than typical bleach or ammonia smells. Can you imagine as much as you have to clean your kitchen or bathroom, and doing so much that you get used to the smell?

At first, I almost didn’t like the smell. It was heavy with herbs and lemongrass. I think I assumed it wasn’t a ‘clean’ smell. But then I realized my usual clean smell had chemicals in it!

The products are effective in the bathroom and kitchen. They cleaned up every day messes. I loved the disinfectant wipes. You could pull one out, wipe down a counter, and toss. Much easier than grabbing a bottle and paper towels.

The recycled paper towels are great, too. Those were absorbent and didn’t fall apart. I like that they are made from recycled paper too. Kind of like getting back some of that paper you gave away before. For some reason, I was more conscious of how I used these. Because they reminded me that they are recycled. It reminded me that I was trying to use less.

Seventh Generation also partnered with Alexandra Zissu, whose new book, The Conscious Kitchen, talks about how to think green while in your kitchen. After reading it, I felt armed with understanding about eating healthy, buying local produce, using natural ingredients in my cooking and while cleaning my kitchen.

Now here’s your chance to win!

You will receive a Seventh Generation “Disinfecting Cleaning Kit” that includes a disinfecting multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, wipes , a copy of The Conscious Kitchen, a cleaning caddy made from recycled plastic, and two rolls of 100% recycled, unbleached paper towels.

To win, post a comment to this blog post.

Tell us about the best thing you’ve done this year to help the environment, even if it’s your own environment! Started a garden? Recycled? The Cajun and I started replacing our regular lightbulbs with energy saving ones.

Make sure to register with this site, or post a method of contact for me to be able to reach you. I will contact you by your provided email address if you’ve been selected as a winner, and there will be an additional blog post announcing the winner here. (I don’t keep emails or collect them for any other purpose other than giveaways.)

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Rules and the legal bits: You must be 18 or older to participate and live inside the United States. One winner will be given the prize pack in a random drawing from those who have posted in the comments here, or selected randomly from the above locations.

The contest ends April 9th, 2010. Tell your friends, tell your family. Remember to check back to see who wins.

This products for the review and giveaway are supplied by MyBlogSpark and Seventh Generation.

Want even more? How about printable coupons from Seventh Generation? Click here for your coupons.

By the way, if you’ve previously subscribed, followed or became a fan, you’re automatically entered! But feel free to comment for an additional entry.