Happy Freebie Friday!

We hope you all had a delightful holiday - whatever you celebrate. We sure did! We had our annual Christmas Eve soup and pie dinner (Donna made this absolutely AMAZING Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie - I cannot STRESS how divine it was) and much fun was had. :)

The winner of last week's freebie (an 8 oz. bottle of Lavender & Vanilla Mist) was ASTER!! Aster, drop us an email with your address and we will ship that out next week!

This weeks Friday Freebie is - a 5-pack (Your choice of varities) of our handmade lip balms!! Our lip balm was one of the first products Prairieland Herbs ever created, and I still believe to be one of the best. Vanilla Bean is Donna's personal favorite - I am partial to the Tea Tree and Mint.
Anyway, as usual, here's how it works:

If you'd like to win the item - you must leave a comment on today's blog post.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

In other news - Prairieland Herbs is CLOSED until next Tuesday, Dec. 30th. We almost never, ever, EVER take any time off, so we are treating ourselves to a few luxurious days of vacation.

The weather here is FANTASTIC. After an extra cold, snowy, and icy start to December, we are suddenly gifted with a 50 degree sunny day. I've been cleaning my garage in a t-shirt. Go figure, huh? Our 10 inches of snow is, of course, rapidly melting and turning EVERYTHING into mud - and when it goes down to 29 degrees, as it's predicted to tonight, the whole world will be a solid sheet of ice. So that stinks. But still, you gotta enjoy a little warmth and sunshine while it's here.

Today is your last day to order e-gift certificates for Christmas delivery! We'll be at the shop until 5 PM CST and will be emailing gift certs. until then!

Last minute folks, we're open today, but closed tomorrow, so this is your last chance for shopping before Christmas!

Our $5 shipping sale runs through the end of the year, however.....so you can treat yourself to some great goodies at a fantastic shipping rate.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to pick up ingredients for my favorite holiday recipe - Mulled Berry Wine. Here is the recipe for you to enjoy too!

Mulled Berry Wine

1 pint cranberry (or raspberry) juice cocktail
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
6 whole cloves
1 bottle (4/5 qt) Burgundy wine
1 lemon, thinly sliced (unpeeled)

Combine ingredients in a crock-pot. Heat on low 1-2 hours. Strain, and serve hot. Can be refrigerated and reheated again if it is not all consumed at once.

I just sent the LAST of the holiday gifts out at the post office today!! Whee!!

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Top Seven Signs it's Christmas at Prairieland Herbs (in no particular order)

1). We are, like, BFF with the local postal crews. We see them once or twice a day, and could wallpaper our shop with the reciepts we get from the post office. (That, folks, is absolutely NOT an exaggeration).

2). We are on nearly as good terms with Paul, our fantastic UPS guy. He is at our shop nearly every day dropping off boxes of bottles, jars, pails of shea butter, etc.

3). We go through what we consider to be astonishing amounts of raw "stuff". In the past month, we've used about 8 lbs of lavender essential oil (Consider that it's used at approximately 3% dilution in most products....and just ponder how many bath salts and oils that is!), 400 lbs. sea salt, about 20 gallons of base oils, and 25 lbs of shea butter. Running a herb shop requires more heavy lifting than you would imagine.

4). We forget what day it is - because we're at the shop nearly every day, shipping orders. (not a complaint!)

5). Donna and Maggie overdose on Diet Dr. Pepper and carbonated water (respectively), forget to eat, and then consume mass quantities of handmade candies because that is the only food we can find. (sad, but true).

6) There is a solid layer of packing peanuts, bubble wrap scraps, tape bits, and gift-basket shread on the floor at nearly all times. We sweep thoroughly at least once a day, but, by the end of the day, a fresh new layer has settled on the floor again, as if by magic.....

7) We have a blast shipping presents, helping folks pick out the perfect gift, meeting visiting family members, and generally enjoy the holiday cheer, because our customers are the best folks in the world and we adore them!!!