Little hands and feet

We spent some time making Bailey's first Christmas ornaments! It was a bit challenging trying to get her to stay still while getting an imprint of her hand, but we managed! I love that every year we will hold her hand up to her ornament to see how much she's grown. 

Thankful

I'm feeling especially thankful this week. Maybe it's the season. Maybe it's because I have a three month old daughter who makes me smile everyday. Maybe it's because I have a husband who loves me through action. He goes to work everyday, cooks dinner, cleans, does laundry and is an incredible father. Maybe it's because I'm reminded daily I have a savior who died on the cross for my sins and now I'm forgiven and free. Free to be who I was created to be. Free to dance and sing. Free to not be consumed with the ever evasive and unfulfilling chase for success, money or beauty. Free to know I am beautiful (because He created me and every hair on my head), successful (because if He is for me, who can be against me?) and rich (because He has given me an inheritance in His eternal Kingdom). Thank you Lord for your goodness.

Hoe Down & Bake-Off

This week was our big "Hoe Down" put on by our church, Rock Harbor Mission Viejo. Honestly, I'm so blessed to be a part of such a fun community of believers who truly love as Jesus loved. The Hoe Down was a time to gather as a community, invite family and friends and just have a lot of fun. We had pulled pork sandwiches, slaw, baked beans, and good ole fashioned cornbread. I did a little face painting for the ga-jillion kids who go to our church. There were sack races, a bake-off, and they even had a "caller" who taught us how to square dance. Of course, I jumped right in with Bailey asleep in the Ergo like a little kangaroo. Who says you can't doe-see-doe with a 12 week old? Seriously, it was so much fun. 

One of the biggest reasons I was anticipating this particular event was because I entered the bake-off with my maple bacon salted caramel cupcakes. I fully expected to win. I pulled out a chair to sit when they started to announce the bake-off finalists. So, naturally, I slid my chair back in ready to go up and claim my prize. Of course I was going to win.. Did they call my name? No. I was shocked. I made a brown sugar cupcake filled with salted caramel, topped with maple swiss buttercream, BACON and a hard candy caramel halo and it didn't even place? What more does a baker have to do? Turns out they forgot to taste my cupcake. I'm pretty sure God was trying to humble me. 

Anyway, I thought I'd share my cupcake recipe with you. It was a HUGE hit, even though it didn't win. 

Giveaway Ends Today!

Click on the photo above to enter our Facebook giveaway. Giveaway ends tonight at 10pm.

We've teamed up with killer artist DesignByMaya to giveaway over $40 worth of products! Enter to win our most popular Herbs + Mint Shaving Kit along with her beautiful Paris Metro print. Give as gifts or keep for yourself!

TO ENTER (YOU MUST DO ALL 3):
1. like pages Bambu Earth and DesignByMaya
2. like and comment on photo.
3. share photo (make sure your shares are public).

Enter by Friday (11/8) 10PM Pacific.

A new shampoo is here! Our Lavender Tea Tree Shampoo Bar has been formulated with Jojoba Oil, Avocado Oil and Rice Bran just for your hair to cleanse, nourish and moisturize without the chemicals, preservatives or waxes found in commercial shampoos.

 We now offer our Shaving Kits in a five pack. They're perfect for groomsmen gifts, bachelor favors, or if you just have a lot of brothers. They make the perfect stocking stuffers so stock up for the holidays!

Took Bailey to her first pumpkin patch! 

Flourless chocolate cookies

I tried a new recipe from the Wit & Whistle blog. Mostly because it looked so easy. And it was. You can find it here: http://witandwhistle.com/2013/10/15/flourless-chocolate-cookies/

They were pretty amazing. Although I totally forgot to add the chocolate chips at the end. Which I'm pretty sure would have sent them over the top. They tasted like a cross between a chocolate macaroon and a lava cake. I know. You're welcome. 

Crafty love

A dear friend of ours is getting married and I spent this morning doing a little DIY project for their special day. It made me miss doing simple crafty things, something I have little time for these days with a small business and a small person to pour into. 

I've also been working on soap favors for her wedding which I'll post as soon as I get them wrapped and photo-ready. Her fall wedding will set the perfect stage for our seasonal pumpkin favors. 

Long awaited...

 

Our much anticipated love is here. We waited to find out, and much to our surprise, she's a GIRL! 

We named her Bailey Noelle. I couldn't be happier. 

I'll keep this short since being a new mom keeps me very busy. 

I just wanted to share with you the arrival of our precious bundle of joy.

xo

Apricot Jam Shortbread Bars

Apricot Shortbread Bars

Honestly, this recipe is a personal favorite. Mostly because it's delicious, but what really makes it my fave is how EASY it is to make. If I'm ever in a pinch and need to whip up a crowd-pleasing plate of something amazing, this is my go-to.

You can use any jam you want. Raspberry and blackberry is especially good, but apricot is what I had in my fridge left over from making apricot & manchego grilled cheese appetizers.

For these particular bars, I decided to cut them into heart shapes since they are for a friend's bachelorette party. I thought it would be much cuter than the typical squares. You could use any shape or just cut them into bars.

Recipe: 

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup almond flour

3 cups all-purpose flour (I used all-purpose unbleached wheat flour)

1 1/2 cups jam of choice (I used apricot since I had it on hand, but blackberry or raspberry is delish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray edges of cookie sheet with nonstick spray. I used coconut oil. 

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. I spray a bit of coconut oil in the middle too so that the parchment stays in place. You could also use a silpat or spray your entire cookie sheet if you don't have parchment on hand, but it makes for tougher time to get pretty shaped bars in the end.

2. Make the shortbread: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter and sugars; beat until creamy. Add salt and vanilla and beat until well combined. Beat the almond flour and all-purpose flour into the butter mixture on low speed, just until a smooth dough forms. Don't overmix or your shortbread will be tough. Divide the dough in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In the mean time, press the other half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared cookie sheet to form the bottom crust. 

3. Bake the crust until it is just beginning to turn tan around the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove sheet from oven. Let the crust cool until firm to the touch. Spread jam evenly over the partially baked crust. Crumble the remaining shortbread dough over the jam to form the top layer. At this point you can press it down or leave it crumbly. It depends on what look you want to go for. If you want to be able to see the jam through the top, leave it crumbly. If you want a more layered look, press it down over the jam so that it is completely covered. Return the sheet to the oven and continue baking until the topping is firm and golden in color, about 25 minutes. Transfer the entire sheet to a wire rack to cool.

4. Cut into bars. As I mentioned above, you can cut these into any shape you'd like. I used a heart shaped cookie cutter. If you want the most out of your bars without leaving scraps, cut them into regular ol' squares. They're just as beautiful. Keep in a covered container at room temp for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month. Enjoy!

*(Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey)

Expecting

Oh yeah, it's happening...

We're having a baby. Our due date is in less than a week and we couldn't be more excited! We've been preparing the nursery and our hearts to welcome our new little family member. 

We aren't sure if its a boy or girl. We thought with all of the information we have instant to, it'd be refreshing not knowing and letting life reveal its secret in due time. 

Stay tuned for our baby's arrival! :)

Ode to the husbands...

Today my husband decided to do some gardening in his work clothes...

Now that's dedication. Actually, this is one of the things I love most about him. Not that he gardens in work clothes but that he gardens at all. He's just that type of guy. He's a hard worker and always helping around the house. Not your couch potato and beer sort of guy. 

Dad's 48th Birthday

The old man turned 48 this week... Actually he's a pretty young 'old' man. And a grandfather at that. 

We made some bomb food (guac burgers, fried cheese fritters, salad and french fries) along with two of my dad's favorite desserts (inside out carrot cupcakes and pumpkin bars).

My 6 year old sister gave him some pretty funny presents like an apology for cutting half her hair off at school the other day (oh yeah, it happened). 

And then we sang him happy birthday with a 'poop' candle from kokocandles. Amazing night. 

The Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles, Folks.

Thank you, Los Angeles, for a wonderful weekend. 

Here are a few pictures of our booth!

Hope to see you again next year! 

For all those nap haters...

I don't know about you, but I LOVE taking naps. My husband calls them 'sleeps' because my naps are usually a long time... Like 90 minutes or so. But a friend sent this over to me and I'm so glad she did because now I feel even better about taking my 'sleeps'. And it'll come in handy to show my husband the next time he makes fun of me for taking a mid-day snooze. 

This morning's activities...

Cutting a fresh batch of Lemongrass soap!

 
Cutting Lemongrass Soap from Amber Hawthorne on Vimeo.
You can find our Lemongrass soap here.

Cutting a fresh batch of Eucalyptus Mint soap...

Cutting a fresh batch of Eucalyptus soap... from Amber Hawthorne on Vimeo.

Come visit us at the Renegade Los Angeles!

Bambu Earth will be at the Renegade Los Angeles July 20 + 21! Come visit our booth, #52! Join us for a weekend of music, food, fun, and of course SOAP! Plus, we'll be raffling off some of our products. See you soon! :)

My favorite part about making soap...

I love cutting soap. It's (as my husband reminds me) one of two reasons I wake up early. The other reason is coffee. Soap-making is like reading a good book. You do all of this character building with measuring, mixing, coloring, scenting, pouring. Then conflict arises - you don't know what your soap quite looks like inside.. even if you've made the same soap a thousand times, it will always have unique swirls and curls. So you wonder, and then wait in suspense until the moment when the soap has set up enough to be unveiled. Usually this is at least overnight. Hence, why I roll myself out of bed uncharacteristically early to cut a fresh batch of soap! Getting to see the beautiful outcome of all of your hard work is pretty exciting indeed.

 
Cutting a fresh batch of Dead Sea Mud Soap from Amber Hawthorne on Vimeo.

Happy Independence Day!

Baby Shower!

This past weekend we were so blessed by our friends and family celebrating together with us the anticipation of our new baby! The decorations were gorgeous and it brought so much joy to my heart to see everyone. We felt so much love toward our new little one who's on the way!

5 lessons learned from a beginners try at composting...

Second shot at composting in my new compost container. Ill spare you guys the photo of the first try. Moldy strawberries and eggshells are not very attractive. Here are five lessons learned from the failure:

1. Sometimes it doesn't pay off to jump right in. Usually this is how I operate. Spare me the details, just tell me what I need to do to get started. This mentality has proven not to work in the gardening sector. Informed baby steps are what I'm now practicing these days... At least when it comes to vegetables. 

2. Citrus is a no-no. All those orange peels, lemon wedges, and peach skins I was shoving into the container really aren't the best thing for the soil. They make the pH all screwy. 

3. Here's the kicker: you have to start with soil. Okay for all you gardening geeks out there, please don't laugh. I had no clue that I would have to start by putting some dirt in my bin. Makes perfect sense looking back on it...

4. Balancing dry & wet. So if your compost gets a little dry, add something a little damp. If it gets too moist, add some newspaper shreds. Simple. And probably would have staved off all that mold in round 1. 

5. Stir the pot. I usually like to stir the pot, but not so much in this case. I just really want to put the lid on it and forget about it. But I guess sometimes you gotta make sacrifices to get the results you want. 

There you have it, 5 things I've learned about composting. It's a start. 

My tomatoes are growing!

 

Try as I might, I'm really not the best gardener. I'd really like to be. I pick up gardening magazines, pin gardening tips, and dream about my future edible backyard oasis. But every time I try to make my dreams a reality, I fail miserably. I've finally figured out why. I haven't yet stopped to really pay attention to what each plant needs. Plants are like children with their own personalities and desires. Some love water and others are picky eaters. Some love to play outside in the hot sun all day and others would rather be somewhere cool and shaded. I'm taking it slow and learning what each plant really needs so that I can someday have that dream garden. For now, I start humbly with tomatoes and basil. So far? I'm turning out to be a decent mom to them both.