Baby G says, "Go Green in 2009!"

Need some convincing reasons why? Here you go!


Why kids are more vulnerable to chemicals…

Children are much more sensitive than adults to chemicals in the environment. Exposure to a chemical that causes no discernible effect in an adult can cause significant harm to an infant. Some reasons for this include:

Children frequently have their hands in their mouths, making it more likely that they will ingest toxins with which they come in contact.



Children have a faster metabolism — pound for pound, children eat more food and breathe more air than adults.



Children play on the floor, where many toxins in the home settle.



Children's metabolic pathways are immature, and they are less able to detoxify and excrete toxins that get into their system.



Children are undergoing rapid development, and organ systems that are disrupted while in the middle of growing may fail to form correctly.



Children have more years for toxins to accumulate in their bodies and reach unsafe levels.

(Green Up your Cleanup - Jill Potvin Schoff)

Watkins all-natural, plant-based homecare products are the perfect solution. Children really are the heart of the Green movement and doesn't it really come down to doing what is best for our kids?



Have a Happy Holiday from the Bryan Family!







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Living Naturally: A glossary of terms

Natural — products that have gone undergone minimal processing and contains no preservatives or artificial additives

Natural Criteria at Watkins:

Must be derived from natural sources
Plants, minerals and animals are considered natural sources
Sources must be processed with natural methods to preserve the source
Artificial and synthetic sources are not considered natural
Acceptable methods to process natural sources are cleaning, dehydrating,
filtering, cold pressing, grinding and natural water/alcohol extraction
Organic — products that that do not contain chemically formulated fertilizers,
growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides, etc.

Organic Criteria at Watkins:

Governed by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and NOP (National
Organic Program)
Must be certified throughout the entire process (from grower to consumer)
Products labeled "100% Organic" must contain only organically produced ingredients
Products labeled "Organic" must contain at least 95% organically produced
ingredients
Products labeled "Made With Organic Ingredients" must contain at least 70%
organically produced ingredients
Green — a shorthand phrase referring to sustaining Earth's resources. It is a
vague term that can be used in many different contexts. Ecological footprint —
the amount of water and food needed to meet your daily needs throughout your
lifetime.
Carbon footprint — the amount of energy you consume to conduct your
life. Imagine how much electricity, natural gas, and gasoline you use to run your
home, power your car and even get that morning bowl of cereal to your table. It
all adds up and just a few small steps can help to reduce it.

Ways to reduce your carbon footprint:

Turn off televisions, stereos, home theater systems, and other electronics when
not in use. Try this: plug your televisions and other home theater electronics
in a power strip with an on/off switch. When you turn your television and other electronics off for the night, flip the switch on the power strip and totally eliminate wasted power.

Save over 50% on your homes lighting cost when you replace a standard incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb. They last longer too!

Always wash clothes in cold water. Not only does this preserve the color longer, it saves you money and conserves energy.

Use your consumer power! Support companies that are making an effort to improve communities and the environment through Greener manufacturing practices, charitable support, and product offerings that are safe for your family and the environment.

Watkins offers a full line of natural, eco-friendly spices and extracts, personal care and home care.







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My first ever blog giveaway! And the winner is....

Comment number 3!! Congratulations, Tina! Contact me at bethcbryan@gmail.com to claim your prize!

And for posterity, here is the official way I chose Tina as the winner:



••Thanks for all your great comments! Winner will be announced later tonight!••

In the spirit of the season, I want to give back to my loyal readers by holding my first ever blog giveaway! This is my way of saying "Thank you!" to everyone who has supported me along this journey of growing my Watkins business. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I love reading your comments on my site.

To enter the contest, post a comment here and answer this question:

"What is your absolute favorite Watkins product?"

EDIT: Don't worry! Even if you've never heard of Watkins you can still enter the contest. Just post and say "I'm not familiar with your product" or "Watkins?? What's that?" Or click on the link to my Watkins website and check out the monthly specials. Point at each one and say eeny meeny meiny mo and tell me which one is the result. You can still be a winner just by posting a comment!

The winner will receive a gift basket with an assortment of Watkins items. The contents of the basket will be a surprise, but I have no doubt you will enjoy them! As a little teaser, here are some links to my other gift baskets.

So be sure to pass along the link to this contest to all your friends. The more the merrier!

Contest will end at 7:00 PM Central Standard Time on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008.

One entry per person. US entries only.







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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

What an eventful two weeks it has been for us! The past two Saturdays have been full-on Watkins mode for me. My friend and associate Lori and I have worked two different vendor booths for two Saturdays in a row.

Last weekend we set up shop in the 24 degree weather at an outside booth for Centreville's Christmas on the Square. Now, I don't know about yall, but cold weather and I don't get along very well. My bones were aching out there in that freezing weather, but we toughed it out and had a pretty successful weekend. It was our first outdoor booth, so we gained some experience in putting up the EZ-Up tent.

Sorry, I have no pictures from last weekend because our fingers were too frozen to take a photo. No, just kidding. Sorta. Actually we both forgot our cameras, plus we had a steady stream of customers all day so there wasn't much time to take a picture anyway! But we had a really good time talking to customers and the other vendors. We found out more information about Tannehill Trade Days, which we are considering for next spring and fall.

Thanks so much to everyone braved the cold weather with us and stopped by our booth to chat! We really appreciate your warm welcome and business. Also a HUGE thank you to Ashley's Flowers and Gifts for letting us drop off the orders for pickup. We owe y'all one! Also a huge thank you for Lori's husband, Anthony, for making the delivery for us yesterday and my husband for helping us break down our booth. We really appreciate all of your help!

Yesterday we were scheduled for a booth at the Santa Shop at Meadowview Elementary school. We sold so much product at the Centreville show that we had to place an order on Monday to restock. We knew we'd be cutting it close with the order since it has been taking 5 business days to arrive. I kept my eye on the UPS online tracking and it was scheduled to arrive on Friday. I planned on spending Friday night pricing the inventory and getting ready for the show which started at 8 am Saturday morning.

Unfortunately when I arrived home on Friday my front porch was empty. No UPS boxes in sight. I checked the online tracking again and I had just missed them by TEN MINUTES. I was so upset. Immediately Lori and I went to work trying to track down the UPS man because we knew he would still be in the area. No luck. We were nearing hysteria when finally we settled on driving to the Customer Call center in Birmingham and picking up the shipment there later that night. So we headed down there at 6 pm, and after an hour of waiting in line with many other people who also missed their delivery men, we finally got my three boxes! What an ordeal!

We vowed to never cut it that close with a delivery ever again. I had to promise Lori's husband that I would bake him a cake in order to make up for dragging his wife all over town on a wild goose chase while he kept their two year old son at home. I told him I'd even use Watkins Double Strength Vanilla in the batter. :o)

Here is Lori at our booth at the Santa Shop this past weekend.



We had all sorts of great items for sale, along with dips and breads to sample and lotions to try. We offered the Salsa and Sour Cream dip, the Crab dip and the Bacon Cheddar dip. Once again, they flew off the shelf as fast as we could help people. Everyone really love our dips!





We had Chai Latte and Hot Cocoa mixes in nice mugs as another great gift. There were also lots of products pre-packaged and ready to go.



We sold assorted bread mixes in oven mitts. What a great instant gift for the baker of the family!



In Centreville we had a drawing for a Watkins Gift Certificate. Yesterday we had a drawing for this awesome baking themed basket chock full of Watkins goodies. Congratulations to both our lucky winners!



I still have a few of these items for sale if anyone is in need of some last minute Christmas gifts! Please let me know and I will be happy to make you a great deal!








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It's a Winter Booking Blitz!

If you are local to me and interested in hosting a Good Tastings party to earn free products, now is the time! Between today and Thursday, December the 11th I am offering a $10.00 gift certificate to anyone who books a party date between January 1st and February 28th, 2009.

That's $10.00 that you can use in addition to your free products from Watkins! This is a rare event to earn some additional free product. You have just one week to sign up, so contact me today to get on the books. January's calender is already filling up fast!









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Come see us at our upcoming events!

We have lots of exciting news to share this month! December is jam packed with activities for everyone, but here are two events you don't want to miss!

Please come out and see us this Saturday, December the 6th from 9 am til 4 pm in historic downtown Centreville for Christmas on the Square. There will be lots of great arts and crafts vendor booths for you to browse for Christmas gifts and even see Old St. Nick! We'd love for you to register to win the drawing for our gift certificate.

If you can't make it to that event, come visit the MVES Santa Shop on Saturday, December the 13th from 8 am to 12 pm. We will have lots of great products to sell directly to you, so drop by and pick up your favorite treats! We will also be giving away a basket of Christmas goodies at our booth, so drop by and put your name in the hat for that giveaway as well.

Hope to see you all very soon!







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