Reckstedable Things

My father liked to make up words. He once had a rabbit named "Razbucknick" and a cat named "Kyteen", a play on the words "rabbit" and "kitten", and when he was young he christened my grandparents' bathroom cabinet "The Cabinet Of Reckstedable Needs".  If you ever had seen this cabinet you would understand how appropriate the name was. My grandmother was a genius at organization and she got involved with their house before it was entirely finished and directed some brilliant changes in the design. Instead of a soffit over the kitchen cabinets she added smaller cabinets. A pony wall by the front door became a planter/cupboard. The coat closet was expanded to the entire length of the central hallway, and in the bathroom was added the Reckstedable Needs cabinet. I would love to have such a cabinet in my house! It was floor-to-ceiling blond wood with shelving inside to keep everything organized and one side of it was open on the inside to the basement laundry room, so it acted as a laundry chute as well as storage for almost all the linens, towels, medicines, and toiletries used by the household, all in an extremely compact area. I suppose "Reckstedable" is a combination of "wreck" and "indispensable", not that any of my grandmother's cupboards were wrecks when I knew her. I always think of her when I visit IKEA. I suppose when her children were young it was a different story. At any rate, I think reckstedable is a good word to describe a great number of unrelated but necessary items, and this post will cover a great many of such reckstedable things.

First, and most importantly, I implore you to join me on the Poshmark app tonight, 8/31, at 10PM Eastern Standard Time for the Hurricane Harvey Relief Party. Poshmark will donate $1 for each listing shared during the party. All you have to do is share to help the victims of Harvey via United Way! Since you will probably find a great deal on fashion, sign up using the code NLBOW when you download the app and you will get a $5 credit. I would like to direct you also to eBay and the Young Living Foundation because both are matching donations made to specific organizations for Harvey relief.  

I was able, thanks to my customers, to make a donation already and since I did it through eBay my contribution has twice the impact. So, thank you very much for allowing me to donate! I hope you are able to take advantage of these donation-matching programs. There, but for the grace of God, go we.

Second, I wanted to share a recent success in the essential oils department which you might find helpful. My youngest son was scheduled for a routine oral surgery in order to remove a couple baby teeth which are preventing permanent teeth from dropping down as they should. The next big part of the treatment for his congenital cleft lip and palate will be a bone graft in the area of his cleft, to provide a dental arch to anchor his permanent teeth and those teeth are delaying the essential surgery. He has had teeth pulled before while under nitrous oxide with no issues, so I wasn't worried about the procedure. However, as soon as the technician began lowering the chair, he completely flipped out. His anxiety was so intense the surgery had to be postponed. We had to go to a different surgeon, drive an hour each way, and use an anesthesiologist to put him under. This made the surgery cost $1000 instead of the $250 it would have originally.

I wanted him to have the procedure before school started so I was determined he should not freak out before the second surgery. I read a magazine article a few months ago about the results of a study using tangerine essential oil. Children facing anxiety-inducing dental procedures were given tangerine oil to smell before the procedure. The oil lowered the children's heart rates an average of six beats per minute when they inhaled it. On the way to the surgeon's I had my son inhale tangerine, Stress Away, and Valor oils in turn and think calming thoughts. He went into the surgery with no anxiety and everything went smoothly, a huge difference from our first attempt! I wish I had realized the first time how worried he was; I could have treated him with oils and avoided all the extra bother and expense. I use and sell Young Living essential oils and Stress Away and Valor are Young Living proprietary blends. If you have anxiety or are about to be in a stressful situation I highly recommend these oils!

Third, and finally, I have some new arrivals in the doll department of my shops. I have been working hard to get the stores stocked for the holidays, when dolls and toys are big sellers for me. The most recent additions are my Raving Beauty and Lonely Doll trunk set. I wrote blog posts on each of these restorations so you can read all about them. You can purchase them from Etsy and eBay using the links on the Atelier Mandaline website. Etsy is having their first-ever sale and my Atelier Mandaline shop is participating, so you will want to check that out! Look for extra discounts on eBay over Labor Day too.