The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,730 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,037 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …  

For this week’s Cleaning Up/My Fair Farmgirl Beginning Level Merit Badge, I was wooed by the idea of au naturale beauty products.

I mean, come on. I’m a girl. A girly girl. One who loves a good facial, mani and pedi, and something flowery to spritz. But I’m also a farmgirl. One who loves to get her nails dirty, shops organic, and has even been known to go without shampooing. It’s a thing. A no ‘poo thing.

So what’s a girly farmgirl to do?

I’m so glad you asked.

Turns out the two aren’t mutually exclusive, after all. I can have my fuchsia-painted nails with a little farm dirt underneath, you might say. So this badge? This badge was the cat’s pajamas to earn.

Is it possible to earn more than one Beginning Level badge? No? Alas. Never mind, this is a badge that sticks and I think I’ll be making my own beauty products from here on out.

Here are a couple favorites for you beauties to try (synthetic-, paraban-, sulfate-, color-, cruelty-, preservative-, and chemical-free, naturally! Get it? Naturally? LOL!)

Chocolate Cream Face Mask

• 1/3 cup cocoa (fair trade)
• 1/4 cup honey (local)
• 2 T heavy cream or sour cream (organic)
• 3 T oatmeal powder*

Using a small bowl and spoon or spatula, mix all ingredients until well combined.

Gently massage into skin. Allow to stay (to get to know one another) for 15–20 minutes. Rinse. This mask doesn’t keep well, so it’s best to make it right before you want to use it, and invite a couple friends to share it that day.

*If you don’t have oatmeal powder, simply use Old Fashioned Oats and pulse in a food processor.

Fennel Toner

You’ll need:

• 2 raw fennel bulbs (organic, if you can) puréed
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (from your garden … or your neighbor’s garden)
• Water (filtered)
• Juice of half a lemon (once again—you guessed it—organic)

Bring the puréed fennel, thyme, and enough water to make it liquidy (1/4 to 1/2 cup) to a boil in a saucepan. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice, and let it steep for 15 minutes. Strain out solids and transfer to a covered jar and let cool. Apply with a cotton ball under the eyes. Do not rinse.

Oil Cleansing Method for Your Pretty Face

• a small jar or squeeze bottle
• fill with 3/4 cup organic olive oil
• top with 1/4 cup castor oil (found in the laxative section of your drug store) Use slightly more if you have oily skin. Castor oil is surprisingly drying!
• a few drops of your favorite odiferous oil (like Sweet Almond, or Orange, or Almond)

Shake well. To cleanse, rub a dime-sized amount over face. Even over eyelids—it won’t sting! Massage in. Place a very hot washcloth over your face for a moment. This will steam and unclog your pores. Use a washcloth to gently wipe away excess oil. Removes make up like a dream and leaves you feeling fresh and pretty and soft! And don’t fret: I know it may seem weird to cleanse your face with oil, but once you try, you’ll never go back to those chemical-laced facial washes again. Even oily skin needs good oils, so don’t be afraid!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,730 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,037 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

For this week’s Outpost/”Out There Women” Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I decided to take advantage of some unseasonably warm, late-winter weather and get prepared for glamping season. That’s right: Practice makes perfect, my farm chickadees, and camping (or glamping) is no exception. I was going to be fully ready and organized when spring came, and for me, that readiness starts with food.

Let’s be honest, most things start with food for me.

And end with it, too.

And it’s definitely present and accounted for in the middle, as well.

With my backyard all lovely and fully prepared for outdoor parties, garden soirees, or just a little alone time with Yours Truly and a glass of vino and a good book, I was all set up for some campfire meal practice. To earn my Intermediate Level Badge, I was going to make up some yummy pemmican, and then cook a full day’s meal (appetizer, dinner, and dessert) over an open flame.

Some would say I’ve been known to cook over an open flame in my own kitchen, but I don’t find that very funny. That was just one time. And I put the flames out quite quickly, thank you very much.

Anyway, the pemmican (an old-fashioned ancestor of the good old granola bar) was easy peasy to make up, and I have to say, having a great snack in my back pocket, so to speak, was good for my peace of mind in case my camp meal didn’t turn out spectacularly well. I nibbled on some as I planned out my culinary strategy:

Appetizer: stuffed mushrooms

Dinner: stir-fry

Dessert (or as I lovingly refer to it, The Main Course): brownies baked in oranges

At the end of my dinner, I was so full, I nearly had to be rolled back into my house … I probably should limit my camping this summer to weekends only, or perhaps concentrate on super-healthy recipes. Or perhaps not devour four brownie oranges.

Pemmican:

1/2 cup each: golden raisins, pitted dates, figs, almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, wheat germ, wheat bran, whole-wheat flour, powdered milk, and honey. Add just enough water to moisten and pour into a buttered pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 375°F. When cool, slice into bars and wrap (reserving one for each pocket).

Stuffed Campfire Mushrooms:

Pop off tops of large, cleaned, white mushrooms. Stuff with browned pancetta (or bacon), bread crumbs, fresh herbs (roughly chopped), minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. If you want to go the vegetarian route with your ‘shrooms, omit meat and add butter to moisten you bread crumbs instead. Cook in skillet or wrap tightly in aluminum foil and put directly on the fire.

Stir-fry:

Meat of choice (I used thinly sliced beef) combined with veggies of choice (I used peppers, broccoli, onions, and yellow zucchini) combined at home in a ziplock bag with soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, pepper, and a can of pineapple with juice. Drain liquid (can be heated up separately and used for extra sauce). Stir-fry in skillet over flames. Eat with rice noodles (excellent camping food, as you only need to pour boiling water from your kettle over top to moisten).

Dessert:

Homemade cake or brownie mix of your choice (or purchase an organic one). Follow directions for mix and pour into a hollowed-out orange. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and allow to cook in coals for 5–10 minutes.

YUM!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sharon Demers!!!

Sharon Demers (Calicogirl, #5392) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning a Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert Level Grease Chicks Merit Badge!

“I am familiar with checking oil level, coolant level, brake fluid, power-steering fluid, transmission fluid, and windshield-washer fluid. I also know how to check air pressure in my tires and fill as needed. I have kept a mileage record. In our GMC Diesel pick-up, the average miles per gallon is 17, 20 mpg on the highway.

I completed my first oil change.  My husband guided me step by step on what to do. Thankfully I didn’t get too dirty. In addition to changing the oil in our truck, I also challenged myself in replacing spark plugs, replacing spark-plug wires, and changing the engine coolant. Next on the list … tire changing!

I am grateful to now know how to do this on my own. I feel that this is a great accomplishment. Oh, and my honey was very gracious in taking my picture … not!

Thank you for this Merit Badge. It is a good reminder and teacher of being able to take care of one’s own vehicle.”

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sonja Gasper!!!

Sonja Gasper (#5671) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Crochet Merit Badge!

“My grandmother taught me how to chain and do the single and double crochet stitches when I was just old enough to manage a hook. We have a great yarn shop here in town called The Black Purl, and the owner helped me get started again with some beautiful yarn by Ella Rae. I used a 5.5 mm hook and retaught myself the single stitch, working especially on consistent tension, making an infinity scarf. It is 60″ around and 6″ wide and took me about 8 hours total to do. It curled, so I also had to learn how to block a project as well.

I wore it for an hour and then popped it in the mail to a friend who is in Texas (and is not used to the cold) as a surprise! I have already started a new one for myself, checking the Internet for more things to learn, and have added on double, basket, and grit stitches as more of a sampler scarf, but in the same color. It is going much faster this time!”

Bonnie Ellis, Farmgirl Sister #298, sent us a link to this video from their insurance company, UCare Minnesota, in which she and her husband, their beautiful garden, and Bonnie’s quilts are featured. Love you Bonnie! (We think your hubby is adorable.)

From my isolated little farm at the end of a dirt road here in Idaho, it’s sometimes hard to remember that my arms can reach all the way across the U.S.! Today, we received an e-mail from Sandi, a former employee who moved to Virginia. Sandi said, “Most prominent rack by the check out at my local co-op here in Roanoke, Virginia!”

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Melissa Osborn!!!

Melissa Osborn (#406) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Sew Wonderful Merit Badge!

“I made a small sewing kit. It has places to hold all necessary supplies. I love crazy quilts, so I made the outside look like a crazy quilt and got to brush up on my embroidery skills.

I love it and it is handy to keep beside my chair in the living room for when I want to sit and hand appliqué.”

Photo from “Facial Exercises 1: Discover a Lovelier You” via Woman Alive magazine, 1972

“In the early 20^th century, a man named Sanford Bennett wrote rapturously about his face workouts in a book called Exercising in Bed,” explains Elizabeth Weingarten in Slate magazine. “Troubled by how quickly his face and body had aged, Bennett began exercising at age 50; after two decades, he was a regular Benjamin Button, known by some as ‘the man who grew young at 70.'”

Taking Sanford’s cue, an entrepreneurial gal by the name of Kathryn Murray published her System of Exercises for Facial Beauty in 1912, which was advertised far and wide as a veritable fountain of youth:

Now, before you dismiss these early facial fitness gurus as mere snake oil vendors, consider this:

“[T]he action of a muscle drawing in blood to itself [is] very important to the effect of my exercises for keeping youth and beauty in the face,” wrote English novelist Elinor Glyn in 1927. “The reason for this is fairly obvious, I think. The blood is the life, in it are contained all the gland secretions and nourishment of the body which are necessary for its upkeep and wellbeing. Therefore, if you draw blood to the flesh of any given part you nourish and renew it.”

It’s hard to argue. Much to the dismay of the multi-billion dollar cosmetic industry, Glyn’s wisdom makes darn good sense to this day.

Does facial exercising erase all signs of aging?

Don’t I wish.

Even so, contorting one’s cheeks is completely toxin-free, infinitely cheaper than cream and lotions, and …

it feels good. A real stress reliever.

Yup, I’ve done it for years after featuring the idea in my magazine eons ago, but you’ll find no photographs of me “drawing blood to my face.” Confession: I do it when I drive. Alone. On empty country roads.

So, give it a whirl, farmgirl—here’s a whole series to inspire you, from a 1966 record album called Facial Exercises and Massage Routines for Skin Beauty:

Photos courtesy of Discogs.com

Photos courtesy of Discogs.com

Just be sure to keep in mind the words of Lillian Russell, published in the Washington Herald in 1911:

“The use of facial massage and good cold cream or skin food will be found generally beneficial, but the most important factor in all beauty, as in health, is the mental attitude. If you would be beautiful, avoid all thoughts of evil, all unkindliness, all malice, all worry and dislike; learn a broad tolerance of sin and weakness and a general love for all mankind. Realize that no one can injure you but yourself. Take this mental attitude and try to maintain it at all times. You may not wholly succeed, but you will not wholly fail, and then, as day after day you make the same effort to live upon a higher plane, your face will relax and its contour soften.”