Engaged couples in the Austin area planning their weddings are turning
to a new online wedding source that has anxious couples sighing with
relief and has the Central Texas wedding industry taking notice.

AustinWeddingBlog.com has become a popular and reliable resource for
Austin, TX couples looking for the newest trends, ideas, news, tips
and reviews to help with their wedding plans. Couples can find the
best wedding information in one place whether it’s wedding venues,
information on local wedding photographers or advice on dresses,
flowers and table settings.

Bringing The Austin Bridal Industry Together

Rudy Hernandez, co-founder of the AustinWeddingBlog.com states, “Our
relationship with some of Austin’s best known wedding vendors is
allowing us to bring all the latest wedding news and popular bridal
trends directly to our readers.”, and adds, “Having all that
information in one central place is the cornerstone of our web site.
We bring the entire Austin, TX wedding scene directly to our readers.”
The Austin wedding industry agrees.

Austin Brides Keep It Local

Word of mouth advertising and vendor references caused the site to
grow steadily with amazingly positive responses from the Austin
Wedding Industry and more and more local couples turn to the site for
help. “We’re the local choice for planning a wedding in beautiful
Austin, TX”, said Hernandez. New discount specials and exclusive
promotions from Austin vendors can also be found on the site.

Austin Wedding Blog Helps Brides On A Budget

“Austin area couples are watching their budgets and looking for more
ways to save money for their big day. We’ve witnessed a huge response
from local wedding professionals that are proactively reaching out to
engaged couples and offering more ways to help them maintain their
budget. Our website is the platform which allows that interaction to
take place,” added Hernandez.

Visit Austin Wedding Blog Today!

AustinWeddingBlog.com is a free resource for area couples searching
for the latest wedding planning information. Visit
AustinWeddingBlog.com for help with the most important day of your
life as a couple, so far.

Brides preserve their wedding dresses as a way to keep their dresses appearance looking the same as the day it was worn. One of the big benefits of having your wedding dress preserved is that it gives you daughter the chance to wear your dress on her big day, if desired. If your wedding gown is not preserved and left out in the open air without some form of acid free box or bag then over time your wedding dress can yellow, making restoration the only option for keeping your dress looking new. When you preserve your wedding dress you are ensuring that it will remain in the same state that you preserved it in for a lifetime.

The Process of Preserving Your Wedding Dress

The fist thing we do when your wedding dress arrives at our store is check the entire gown for any and all stains, tears and other blemishes that need to be addressed. The pre-spotting process is where the rubber meets the road in stain removal and there is no one better then our resident expert Juana Muguia.

Juana personally cleans and preserves every wedding gown that we receive and her commitment to excellent work in unparalleled. After pre-spotting the wedding dress Juana then dry cleans the gown to ensure a deep through clean.

Benefits of Preserving Your Wedding Gown

As stated above the biggest benefit of preserving your wedding gown is that you leave open the possibility that your daughter could one day wear your wedding dress on her big day. Another big benefit it gown preservation is that is also saves space.

Many brides that come to us have had their wedding dress for a number of years taking up space in their closet. Another reason that many brides are happy to get their dress preserved is because they take up so much space. If you are not going to use a wedding dress for four years or more then it’s a good idea to have it preserved.

A wedding dress should be preserved if it is not going to be used for at least three years. Even if you are not going to preserve your wedding dress right after your wedding you still need to get it dry cleaned. Whether you plan on keeping your wedding dress or selling you want to make sure that the stains won’t set in and even unseen stains on a wedding gown can cause series damage in very short order.

Recently, representatives of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute,
MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners and Korean Drycleaners Association
appeared at a hearing of the District of Columbia’s Committee on
Government Operations and the Environment to defend perc
(perchloroethylene) against a proposed ban. Several chemicals were to
be banned in the District of Columbia by the Human & Environmental
Health Protection Amendment Act of 2009, including perc.

Dry Cleaner Opposition

Testifying against the proposed ban, Mary Scalco, Charlie Smith and
Richard Ehrenreich, members of the various Drycleaning Associations,
instead focused on advances in equipment and the resulting reduction
in perc use. Representatives also shared Drycleaning & Laundry
Institute 2007 Solvents White Paper and testified about undue economic
hardship an immediate ban could create for drycleaner owners and
operators.

Committee Argues Against Perc

Representatives from several industry associations appeared separately
at a meeting of Philadelphia Air Management Contol Board Ad Hoc
Committee arguing against a perc use phase-out in co-commercial
facilities in the city, those sharing premises with other businesses.
A representative of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Dr.
Paul Dugard, challenged many intrepretations of information regarding
perc and perc exposures.

Drycleaning & Laundry Institute Wants Modification

Drycleaning & Laundry Institute’s Jon Meijer argued for a modified
ordinance allowing drycleaners in Philadelphia’s continued use of perc
in co-commercial facilities if they could lower perc levels to below
40 ppb. The executive director of the National Cleaners Association,
Nora Nealis, stated that New York does not limit perc use in
co-commercial locations and emphasized the effectiveness of technology
available to control emissions.

Philadelphia’s Air Management Control Board will review the
information and may ultimately allow co-commercial locations to
continue to use perc without threat of a phase-out.

Tim was an alcoholic who had regularly visited the site of the old dry cleaners on Lansing Avenue for coffee. Rich & Reida Bartley began their ministry there, challenging gangs & drug dealers for the territory. People at the mission had tried to talk to Jim about redemption many times but no one knew if anything was working.


When Village Grace Mission Center moved into the old dry cleaning building they wondered if they’d lost track of Jim but he surprised everyone by walking into the new location sober, clean and living in a halfway house. He came to thank them for giving him a new shot at life.

From Cleaning Clothes to Cleaning Souls

Richard Bartley grew up in Slavic Village, a once prosperous, thriving, ethnic community on the southeast side of Cleveland during the last part of the nineteenth century. Once upon a time immigrants from Poland, Czechoslovakia & other European countries imigrated to the area to work in the prospering steel & textile mills.


Families grew, businesses developed, churches were built and living became ideal. But by mid-twentieth century mills were closing & suburbanization was the rule. Unemployment in the village rose as did the rate of poverty, single parenting and crime. By 2007 Slavic Village could claim the highest rate of home foreclosure in the country and gang activity, drug trafficking and prostitution took over.

Rich Has Change of Plans for Retirement

Rich retired from the Navy and began teaching and coaching at his old high school. Rich had a heart for his students and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their way. When he retired from teaching, his wife, Reida, thought their lives would be carefree and ‘on the road’ but Rich had other plans.


He knew his retirement would include the kids in Slavic Village but he wanted to be sure he had the tools to make a difference so he attended seminary to become a minister. Rich Bartley became Pastor B.

Village Grace Mission is Born

As Rich was finishing seminary he & Reida helped with a program at their church filling shoeboxes with toys and small gifts for needy children at Christmas time. The first year 35 “Treasure Boxes” were delivered. What a difference these small boxes made in the lives of those children, the only gifts most received for Christmas. As the program grew the Bartley’s were asked to run it and they agreed.


That was the start of Village Grace Mission Center. In 2008, 1,685 treasure boxes were delivered to underprivileged children.Village Grace Mission Center officially needed a location. Finally, an old dilapidated former dry cleaner on Lansing felt ‘right’ to the Bartley’s. It was located next to a bar, the windows had bullet holes and the homeless lived in the basement.


The Mission was not welcomed in the area. Run-ins with gang members, condoms left on the doorknobs and broken windows were the norm but Rich and Reida persevered. When their neighbors realized they were not going to be driven away, relationships slowly began to develop.


Within two years the mission was regularly holding barbecues for the locals and had gained the trust of gang members and the bar owner and patrons. The mission hosted programs for the area’s children & offered counseling for families. They were touching lives in a supernatural way and Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli asked them to start a food pantry and so their ministry expanded.

Old Dry Cleaners is Now Beacon of Light

Village Grace Mission Center has become a beacon of life and light in an area of darkness. Reida sits in her office and wonders if this is all worth it as she shivers from the cold and aches from working long hours. She thinks of long forgotten and lost retirement plans and sighs as she looks around the old dry cleaning business in the 110-year-old church building where the mission now resides.


The furniture is beat-up and donated as is the ancient computer. In her reverie she sees two small faces through the dirty window. The tiny girls wear third-hand clothes, hold a small, scraggly bouquet of flowering weeds and enthusiastically scream “These are for you!” Reida is abruptly reminded of why she is here and that yes, it is worth it and yes, it all makes a difference.
As a matter of fact, there is nowhere on earth she would rather be…

To donate to Village Grace Mission click here for their website

A new breed of business owners labeling themselves as ‘Social Entrepreneurs’ combine business practices and product development to try and find solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing people in third world countries.  Now 30,000 strong and growing, B Lab, a nonprofit organization that certifies the business practices of these purpose driven companies last year accounted for $40 billion in revenue.  The movement has caught the attention of many venture capitalists including the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit organization investing in companies that strive to alleviate poverty in poor countries and The Bay Area Equity Fund, which backs businesses who aim to make social or environmental improvements to needier neighborhoods in San Fransisco.

What is CraftNetwork?

One such company, CraftNetwork, was founded in 2007 by Christopher Benza in order to connect artists in developing nations with wholesalers and retailers in wealthy nations.  By employing local artisans in underdeveloped communities under a unified brand, CraftNetwork assures they produce quality products and meet market demands.  The 26-employee company has exported products from over 1,355 artisans in 124 villages in three countries to date totaling over $419,000 in 2008 alone.

How Does CraftNetwork Help Artisans

CraftNetwork’s artists maintain freedom and integrity by setting prices and crafting products they feel best represent their talent.  Artists advertise items on the network and other company mediums at no charge and are also not financially obligated when merchandise is damaged or returned by a customer.  CraftNetwork assumes responsibility for all products once the items are received. The care and welfare of the artists is the main focus of CraftNetwork and 100% customer satisfaction is guaranteed.

Excellent Business Operations

CraftNetwork provides export facilitation and product development services for its artisans to increase sales, strengthen ethical trading practices, build employment opportunities and raise and improve the standard of living of the artisans.  CraftNetwork as a company is known for having a strong social mission and is committed to providing worthwhile and lasting employment for disadvantaged artists.  Through CraftNetwork’s online e-commerce platform the artists individual backgrounds and cultures are represented through handcrafted products that are imported from around the world. Through improved effeciency and the volume of products they sell CraftNetwork is able to provide extraordinary quality products at competitive prices.

Support and Financing for CraftNetwork

CraftNetwork is supported by the International Finance Corporation’s Grassroots Business Initiative (GBI).  The IFC’s Grassroots Business Initiative supports businesses that create “sustainable economic opportunities for the poor and marginalized”.  Grassroots Business Organizations are socially-driven ventures that empower and engage those at the “base of the pyramid” as entrepreneurs, suppliers, consumers and employees.  GBI aims to have a catalytic impact in this emerging sector of entrepreneurship by building partnerships with like-minded groups and leveraging its position within the World Bank Group to aid business ventures just like Craft Network. Sir Austin wants to encourage all his readers to help CraftNetwork help it’s Artisans by purchasing something on their website!

Buy Something From CraftNetwork!

Click here for E-commerce site

Many dry cleaners charge more to launder a woman’s shirt then they do a mans. Recently there have been a number of lawsuits filed against the dry cleaning industry to force cleaners to charge the same. Women often feel discriminated against by this price discrepancy and rightfully so.

Due to increasing woman participation in the professional workforce more and more women are needing dry cleaning and laundry services and don’t want to have to pay more to get the same service.

It’s a Man’s World….Or at Least it Used to be…

Although the dry cleaning industry can trace it’s heritage to as early as the 1600’s dry cleaning didn’t come to prominence as an industry until the early 1900’s with the advent of steam powered dry cleaning presses.

At the time the business industry was dominated predominately by men with most women being content to living a life of watching the kids and “taking care of their man” who was often the sole bread winner so it made sense for dry cleaner equipment manufacturers to cater to their target markets-target market, which was men.

The first laundry presses ever made were built with men in mind and because the shirt sizes and cuts didn’t vary greatly most shirt presses were built with the medium to large sized man in mind (most “shirt bucks” are still made to press a med to large sized mans shirt).

Speed is Huge Factor Affecting Dry Cleaning

In the dry cleaning industry speed is a huge factor that cleaners have to take into account. A lot of dry cleaners have next day and even one day service and the faster you can finish clothes ultimately determines the volume you can handle and the money you can make.

Because they manufacture the laundry presses with men in mind in order to press a woman’s shirt you have to deviate from the same pressing style as a man’s shirt and thus the process takes three times what it takes to press a mans shirt.

How Austin Cleaners is Different

The real issue in regards to pressing ladies shirts is the size of the shirt and not really the gender of the shirt owner. For instance if you have a shirt that is a ladies large and it will fit on our normal shirt press then we only charge the customer for the normal price it costs to launder a mans shirt.

The only time Sir Austin charges a little more is if the shirt is so small (or the cut is prohibitive) that it can not fit on the normal laundry press and it takes more time to press the shirt through an alternative method.

Sir Austin wants his lady customers and friends (and trust me he has LOTS of “lady friends”) to know that he will never charge them more simply because they are women. He will only charge more if it costs us more to press a shirt thus being as as fair to all parties as possible!

PROTEIN STAINS

(blood, egg) Spray spot with diluted dish washing-soap solution & allow to sit. Rinse in lukewarm water. If stain persists soak in an enzyme detergent then wash as usual.

VEGETABLES & FRUITS

(juice, jelly) Quickly spray with a diluted dish washing-soap solution. Next, flush the stain with vinegar & hydrogen peroxide. Finally, use an enzyme detergent and wash per label directions.

GRASS

In a well ventilated area apply a dry solvent (mineral spirits or acetone) to the stain. Using cheesecloth and a soft-bristled brush, remove as much of the stain as possible by pressing down with the cloth then lightly scrubbing with the brush; repeat as necessary. Rinse stain in isopropyl alcohol & allow to dry naturally. Apply an enzyme detergent to the stained area then wash as usual.

LIPSTICK

Scrape off as much of the lipstick as possible, apply dry solvent & gently dab with a soft brush. Rinse area with isopropyl alcohol. Repeat until no pigment is visible & allow to dry naturally. Soak with diluted dish washing-soap solution. Use an enzyme detergent & wash as usual.

RED WINE

Generously apply a diluted dish washing-soap mixture & dab at the stain with a soft brush. Rinse stain with water & apply vinegar with a cotton ball, dabbing lightly. Allow item to sit a few minutes before repeating above steps. If stain is still visible, try treating with hydrogen peroxide. Rinse area with water, apply an enzyme detergent then wash as usual. Before drying item check for remnants of the stain. If any exists try a powdered non chlorinated color-safe bleach and wash again.

WHITE WINE

Immediately rinse the area with cool water and apply a diluted dish washing-soap solution. Apply an enzyme detergent and wash according to directions.

GREASE

(oil, mayo, butter,
margarine) Treat any stain with a dry solvent, rinse with isopropyl alcohol then let dry. Spray area with a diluted dish washing-soap solution, soak in an enzyme-detergent then wash as usual.

Likenesses of the Virgin Mary have appeared many places; a highway underpass, a tortilla and also on a grilled cheese sandwich that sold on Ebay for $24,000! However witnesses in Harlingen Texas agree that a siting of the Virgin Mary on a dry cleaning press was the real thing. This was the Virgin Mary’s first known visit to a Dry Cleaners.

Dry Cleaner Owner Sees Silhouette As Well

Dry Cleaner Refuses to Profit Off Likeness

Krochet Kids originally started as a way for friends Travis Hartanov and Kohl Crecelius to help raise money for their high school prom. The friends conceived a plan to learn crocheting and start making and selling beanies as a way to raise the money they needed to fund their prom. Little did they know that their small idea would grow to become an international non-profit organization providing great economic opportunities to impoverished families in Africa.

From Vision to Reality

During the summer before the friends freshman year at Whitworth College the three of them went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Seeing the extreme poverty that the Dominicans were living in on a daily basis the three decided to do something to help make a change. Out of their desire for change Krochet Kids was born.

What is Krochet Kids?

Krochet Kids is a non-profit organization that teaches women of impoverished countries how to crochet beanies which the group then turns around and sells to fund the organization. The entire idea is breathtakingly selfless. Not only do the women get a salary for making the beanies but the organization then takes the profits made from selling the beanies and reinvests it back into the very villages in which the beanies are produced.

The Groups Focus Turns to Africa

Although their journey started in the Dominican, Krochet Kids main philanthropic focus is in Uganda Africa.The three friends are committed to not only producing a quality product but also helping to pull African families out of poverty in the process.

Hartanov states that “we kept hearing a lot of our family and friends saying things like ‘this is a great idea’ and ‘you really should pursue this’”. After fund raising for an entire year the trio picked a group of ten friends to travel to Uganda to teach a number of African women to crochet beanies. At first they were worried about how quickly the women would pick up crocheting however after only one day the women were crocheting like pros.

Tangible Results That Make a Real Difference

These women now are employed full time from crochet kids and each women crochets a maximum of three hats per day, a comfortable pace according to Hartanov. In total Krochet Kids now produces 150 beanies per month.

Being a Christian organization Hartanov says they “want to not only provide them with physical work but spiritual development as well”. Hartanov goes on to state that their passion is combining business and mission work together. A noble pairing according to Sir Austin!

The group has plans of ultimately putting the entire operation in the hands of the African women and having them run it all. This will enable Krochet Kids to move on to the next tribe and repeat the same process. When Sir Austin first read about the group he could not wait to tell all his readers about the exciting work that Krochet Kids is doing. Also Sir Austin wants to encourage all beanie wearers and friends of beanie wearers out there to make sure and stock up on the beanies that are krocheting hope for African families!

Stock up on Your Beanies Today!

To visit the Krochet Kids online store click here