Bucky you haven't burned up yet? How is the orchard? Good to see you on the forums still! We have been making dogwood wreaths for about 1 month, dogwood stars for 3 weeks, rosehip wreaths for 3 weeks, boxwood/rosehip squares for about 2 weeks, christmas wreaths were started about 2 weeks ago. Next up this next week is curly willow. 1985 when we first started making wreaths seems so long ago. We used a wrap form to wrap them. REF machines and rings: I have used Kelco it is nice, but very expense. Mitchell's machine is the cheapest, but it only has the clamper and wreath material comes lose often. The best machine in my opnion is the the wreath master from maple ridge supply, it has a clamper and arm that comes over and makes the wreath very tight. I have 3, a guy making wreaths about 35 miles from me has 4 and a guy that we trade with in CA has 2. They really are the best. Now to rings... Maple used to buy and resell Mitchell's rings. Here are the 4 that I have used: Maple ridge good but resells, Mitchell's usually the best price unless you are buying a pallet of 4,800 on a 10 clamp pallet. Cherokee the best price in the US that I know of, BUT you need to buy a pallet! Oregon wire is nice if you like them painted already or vinyl, but they are expensive. For christmas wreaths we are using douglas and sub alpine fir, juniper, rosehips, incease cedar, port orford cedar and pine cones. Wholesale prices have dropped to around $1 a clamp the lowest in years. Stars are more money of course we are charging $15 for a 10 clamp 4' star made of dogwood. Those of you only making a few may I suggest going to your nearest green waste facility or dumps. We by a forest service bough permit. It is .10 a pound and we cut boughs off the lower branches of the trees. The biggest problem we have is cutting or getting enough material for 3 wreath makers it takes 2 to 3 truck loads a day. Our bundles usually make 5 to 7 wreaths a bundle. Right now a 10 clamp wreath is selling for $10 to $11 wholesale and $15 to $18 retail. Good luck to all. With the economy we have seen wreath sells drop and wholesalers wanting 60 to 90 days to pay. With $10,000 of wreaths it gets difficult to pay labor, gas, and rings upfront. Bryan

My DD's daycare is having an exchange this Friday, which I'm going to leave work and meet her there for. Us moms had to buy gifts for a child under $10, wrapped it and put it under the tree, for the exchange on Friday. I think it's a great idea, each child was assigned a child's name to buy for. I remember as a child, in school, doing these gift exchanges. It was the bullies and the always-rude-anyway kids who made fun of the kids who got something "less cool" (in their selfish eyes) than what they got. There are kids out there (and Adults) who are so very thankful for just "anything", because it truly is the thought that counts, NOT the quality or price, etc. Then there are the selfish, mean-at-heart kids and adults who sneer at others just because it makes them feel better about themselves. I'm all for a Christmas party and gift exchange, in schools, daycares, at work, etc. It is a real crime when people act that way... making fun of other people or bullying them. But it is true what the above-poster said; it is usually the kids who are always mean and rude anyway who do this at the exchanges. The teacher should step in and use discipline on a case like this, but in the cases I have witnessed myself in school, the teacher is usually nowhere in sight or not within ear-reach. - darkeyedgirl

I look at work parties as part of the job. If your boss invited you to his house for dinner, you wouldn't refuse, right? I go, make my rounds with the staff and any clients we may have in attendance, have a cocktail and a few appetizers and head home after about an hour or two. Although I like my work, I do not consider my coworkers "friends". And I would never take a significant other, even if I had one. As I said, I consider these events extensions of work, not part of my social life. As to too many invitations? Heck yeah. But I decided a few years ago that I would limit myself to five parties in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That is one work party and one fun party each week. If I am having a particularly stressful week, I will just not stay at the party very long.

Yes, it is called rebatching, and I will avoid it if at all possible. It's time consuming and tedious. To let you know, I make cp soap by the 10 pound recipes. I presently have 2 buckets of soap scraps, I would guess about a 2 or 3 cubic foot container. Instead of rebatching it I will add it to a new recipe of soap. Unlike what you have, this is still virgin soap scraps, not previously used. I will make soap and give these away or use them ourselves. What I would do if I had these previous used scraps, I would just add it to a new bar as they are being used; they do stick fairly readily, and they rarely come off. If you are going to still rebatch, I would grate them, then lightly mist them (not dripping) the night before, then add them to a crockpot on low or medium heat. You will need to set aside about 4 hours or so, depending on how much soap you need to do. The trick is to add just enough water (by the tablespoon) to keep the soap pliable and not dry, while you are trying to mash it, until it is thoroughly melted. Be careful, this soap is very hot while in the crock! Any scent of the scraps will disappear in the final product, so if you want it scented, then let the soap cool down a bit and mix in scent just before pour/mashing it into any molds. hth