Plastic bud vases are available. They are made of a lightweight plastic and are 8 inches in height. I have 50 pink and 50 red available.

If the colors don’t appeal to you, you can always spray paint them to the color of your choice.

They are $10.00 for each group of 50 or, $15.00 for both.

Shipping cost will be emailed to you after items are purchased. The BUY NOW buttons will be removed once sold.

100 Plastic Bud Vases in Red & Pink

50 Pink Plastic Bud Vases

50 Red Plastic Bud Vases

Ever wanted to start a bath & body or gift basket business? Well, I’m overstocked and need to let go of inventory. This is the perfect opportunity to buy supplies below the retail cost.

I’ve created a Bulk Buy section on the Simply Clesha blog listing all of my non-advertised supplies sale. The list will include items for bath & body manufacturing, as well as, gift basket supplies. Sale items will be posted when there are new items available for purchase. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Already in business? Stock up on your foundation items at great prices and save some $$$$.

To make things easier, items can be purchased directly from the blog post using the Buy Now button. Payment is accepted using Paypal and shipping costs will be calculated once you place your order.

So check out the Bulk Buy section on the Simply Clesha blog or get on the list and save big on supplies!

http://www.simplyclesha.com/pages/supplies-elist.php

So, I’m playing around with creating a banner right now because, you know, I have something more important to do that I’m completely blowing off. I finally decided on a concept and put it up. I’m not thrilled with the photo in the middle, and I’m thinking about dumping it. But, it does show my “whatever” mood.

What do you think? Should I get rid of the photo in the middle? Anndddd, how do you like the new banner?

Have you ever tried raw food “cooking”? Do you even know what it is? Neither did I until I took a workshop with Krista Santora, Certified Alissa Cohen Living on Live Food teacher. A few of us were invited to a fun hands-on workshop in Krista’s beautiful home (sorry, I forgot to take pictures) on Monday and it was not what I expected.

When I hear the term raw foods, I think of raw foods. You know, all the food you need to cook in order to eat. Well, it’s not. Here’s the scoop on the raw foods concept:

Raw and living foods are uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains. . Raw foods can be made into the most delicious meals that are so nutrient-dense, they keep you feeling full for hours. You get to eat fun foods like date nut torte, pasta (spiraled zucchini) with marinara sauce, and many more filling, satisfying and TASTY dishes!

Changes your whole perspective right? Now that I knew what was involved, I was all in for a fun day of preparing healthy meals and tasting everything that was put in front of me. And, Krista did not disappoint.

I was joined by my Aunt Gloria and Ellen Hennesy of Soulcology Coaching. We were first treated to an appetizer of Raw Flax Seed crackers and a spread of pate consisting of mushrooms and walnuts. My aunt said it reminded her of liver pate (I’ve never had it), Ellen wasn’t thrilled with it and I thought it was delicious. That was the extent of our tasting difference. Once we got into the meat of the workshop, our taste buds were very happy and in agreement.

We started our session with a brief lesson about wheatgrass and the proper way to drink it. Krista recommends 1 ounce two to three time a week. To get the full benefit of the drink, you want to hold the liquid under your tongue for 30 second to one minute. I gave it a try and…yeah I didn’t care for it. It wasn’t bad, but it’s not something I would happily drink every week. Krista is going to have her work cut out for her on that one. The next drink we tried was fresh coconut water from a young coconut. It was nice and light and, after tasting it, I’m wondering how it would taste in a smoothie. I feel a culinary experiment coming on.

The Dishes

The first dish Krista made was the Mock Salmon Pate. It took all of five minutes to make. I’m not kidding. Four ingredients and five minutes and we had a spread that could go on crackers or made into a roll for lunch. She told us how she uses an organic collard green leaf and, using the mock salmon pate as a main ingredient, she fills it with organic tomatoes, organic avocado and organic greens.

It wasn’t on the menu, but she made one for us to taste since we couldn’t imagine what raw collard greens would taste like (thanks Ellen!). Having eaten them all my life cooked, I expected it to be tough and bitter. I was completely wrong. The wrap was delicious and filling! This will be a light summer staple for me.

Next, we moved onto the Stuffed Portabella Mushroom Caps. Ok, honestly, it had two ingredients I’m not a big fan of. Mushrooms and avocado. Because they’re both healthy and full of nutritious things my body needs, I’m trying to change my culinary tastes. As I said, I was open to everything that was put in front of me and I have to admit, it was tasty one. I’m not sure I would make it often, but I could learn to like it.

Next up was the Angel Hair Pasta and Marinara Sauce. Ok, this one was my absolute favorite! The pasta is actually zucchini and the sauce is made fresh with sun dried tomatoes as one of the ingredients.

We all dug into this one and went back for seconds (and thirds). I want to buy a food processor just so I can make this dish. Yeah, it’s that good.

It’s perfect as a light summer dinner and took only a few minutes to make. Can you imagine coming home after a long day and not having to turn on the stove to make a dinner that’s filling, light and tastes good? This is that dish! I can’t wait to try it out on the family.

We ended our raw foods tasting tour with a Date Nut Torte. I know the slice on my plate seems small, but honestly, that’s all you need. We enjoyed this four ingredient dessert with a cup of herbal tea and it was the perfect ending to our day. Made with walnuts, raisins, dates and lemon juice, it’s rich, sweet and, for me, a cravings buster.

One of the benefits I discovered is that every dish is high in fiber, making that hungry feeling I normally get pretty much non-existent. No hunger, no over-eating. No over-eating, means I can actually lose a few unwanted pounds. That’s what I call a win-win!

We had such a blast, and we laughed so much, the time flew by. For me, the new experience of getting the full taste of each ingredient, and shedding preconceived taste opinions, was an eye opener. When combine all the ingredients, it’s like a flavor explosion in your mouth. I enjoyed it so much I’m going to take a 30 day challenge and substitute two of my daily meals with two raw food meals. I would say all three meals, but I’m being realistic. I don’t think that’s going to happen right from the word go. Look out for future posts on my progress.

The Workshop

In the meantime, if these dishes have tantalized your taste buds and you would like to learn more about raw foods, I would highly recommend taking Krista’s workshop on July 31st. It’s being offered at

ocean, earth, wind, fire Yoga Studio
122 Bridge Street
Phoenixville, PA 19460

For more information, or to register, contact Krista Santora at krista.santora@yahoo.com. Seats are limited and will go quickly. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out. Take this workshop!

The KnitWits finally made it to New York for a day of yarn shopping. You have not had fun until you’ve gone on a day trip with these ladies. I laughed all day long!

After months of planning how we would travel to NY (we can take the limo next time Karen), we decided to go with MegaBus. The tickets were really cheap round trip, but we learned that the longer you wait, the more your tickets will be. We paid $22 to travel on double decker, green energy bus equipped with free Wi-Fi. Not a bad way to travel and the ride was comfortable. I would highly recommend them if you’re planning a day trip to NY.

Once we arrived in NY, it was as if we were a class of 2nd graders who lost their teacher. I think it was the NY air, but getting our barring took a moment or two. Eventually, we figured out the Metro Card machine, got on the train and headed to our first stop at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio.

Sometimes the most fun you can have is when you hit a snag in your plans. We arrived at 14th St. around 10:30 am and realized Lion Brand Yarn Studio didn’t open until 11:30. So, what would any group of women do? We walked over to the Chelsea Market (which felt like 5 miles) and did a bit of shopping. The place is filled with bakery, after bakery, after bakery. It smelled delicious from one end of the market to the other. Breads cheeses, cupcakes, cookies…oh and they had other shops in there to. One was even having a sample sale (sorry , can’t remember the name right now). As you can imagine, we lost a few of our members to the clothes and shoes stacked on tables through the shop.

It was finally time to walk the 7 NY blocks back to Lion Brand. Once inside, all the miles we just walked left our minds. It was quickly replaced by Ohs and Ahs once we walked in and saw all the yarns, textures and projects that filled the studio. There was a knitting class going on so we were mindful to behave ourselves.

Tracey was working that day (yay!) and it was so good to see her. Monique and I met her the first time we went to the studio last August. She was so full of information and suggestions. I was so glad she was there so she could meet everyone in our little crew. We took our time and perused the wall of yarn, checking out new projects and the yarn sample wall. I bought some yarn with the intent to knit my dad a Christmas gift that he’ll enjoy. And, thanks to Lydia, I’ll be working on a new leaf lace shawl at our next meeting. It’s really pretty and I think it will knit up perfectly in the Nature’s Choice Organic® Cotton Yarn I selected.

So, off to our next stop, Knitty City. We came out of Lion Brand and decided to take a group photo in front of the window. Another hitch. My batteries died. No more shots, but a lot more day and fun.

We get off the subway at 79th street, came up stairs and were smack in the middle of a street fair. The smells of grilled everything hit me like a perpetual wave of barbeque goodness. Yeah, it was well past lunchtime, but we already decided to wait until we finished shopping to find a place to eat close to the bus stop. I was ready for that plan to change, big time.  Needless to say, our group quickly broke up again. We actually held a strategy meeting in front of a table of cut glass pendants since we couldn’t tear two of our KnitWits away!

We left them and walked the one block to Knitty City with a plan to return to the street fair before heading back to 34th St. I began to notice the small yarn shop trend in NY. They have ample room for yarn and tables, but when the shop is full…it’s full! I picked out some yarn that was being discontinued from the sales crates while fingering and dreaming about the chunky Malabrigo yarn I would leave behind.

I was so glad I did. When I got to the register and heard my total, I didn’t even try to justify the amount I was spending on yarn. And, without a project in mind for it! I haven’t been yarn shopping in months, but that’s not excuse. On the plus side, I did get a free tote to carry my projects because of it.

We made it back to the street fair and walked most of it, before heading back to the MegaBus area. We were starving by then and decided to eat at Harrington’s Pub (or something like that). Big mistake. The food was tasty, but one of our members didn’t receive her order until we were practically done with our food. She only ordered a cheese burger and it took forever. I’m still not clear if it was the fault of the waitress or the kitchen, but they had to comp the burger to make up for the disaster. To top it off, she said the burger wasn’t that great.

With two hours left to kill, and pouring rain outside, we walked over to Borders and hung out there for an hour before walking to the bus stop. There were lines and bodies everywhere. Since there wasn’t a line for our bus, we decided to make one and others who were on the same bus, piled in behind us. We made that last hour fun and it went quickly.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful. Most of us slept, but we were all tired from a fun day in the big apple. Now we’re planning our next fiber adventure.