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*Squeal!* I’m so excited about these cute basket boxes that I ordered. They’ll be perfect for holding a bar of soap, a jar of lotion and a small votive candle. Look for a variety of gift sets and a “make your own” gift set to be available starting November 1.
Currently, I’ve got three wonderfully-smelling soaps on the curing rack. They are
Pumpkin Spice,
Wintergreen,
and Almond Biscotti.
I let all of my soaps cure for at least 4 weeks before putting them up for sale. There are a couple of reasons for allowing them time to cure:
1. They need to complete the saponification process. This is the chemical reaction that occurs when the oils (fatty acids) combine with the lye (a base). The results are soap and glycerin.
2. Curing the soap gives it time for the water to evaporate; resulting in a harder bar of soap. A hard bar of soap will last longer and produce more bubbles.
The curing time explains why I’m making Christmas soaps in September and October. Still to be made for Christmas: Cocoa Mint, Gingerbread, Christmas Spice, and Oatmeal, Milk and Honey.
‘Round and ‘round I go with the whole packaging dilemma. BUT, I might be on to something…FINALLY! You see, I love to make beautiful soaps. My favorite technique is to swirl several colors together. I don’t have the art perfected, but I’m working on it. I do, however, like most of the soaps I’ve swirled and want to show them off. I realize packaging is part of marketing and selling the soap, but I want the SOAP to market and sell itself and that won’t happen if it’s covered up inside a box. My most recent packaging has been to use a white box with an oval window. This allowed the soap to be both seen and smelled, but the WHITE is grating on my nerves. Even though you get a glimpse of the soap through the window, I’ve struggled with what to do with all that white space around the soap. I’ve made colorful labels and used ribbon bows on the front, but that becomes time consuming and costly. And t
here’s still a lot of white.
The solution? Vellum! It’s transparent, inexpensive and allows me to label my soap while still letting the soap b
e the focal point. So, what do you think?
At least in my house it is because I’ve started making my holiday soaps! I love Christmas and making these great smelling soaps has me singing Christmas carols. My first batch of holiday soap is called Wintergreen. It smells like apples, oranges, peppermint and a hint of cinnamon. Mmmmm. It’s a crisp, winter scent. The soaps are a swirl of white and spearmint colors with sparkles on top; reminds me of glistening snow on evergreen trees.
Since mid-April, Catie Beth has been donating profits to Ted and Cheryl Schoenling’s Adoption Fund. I’m excited to announce that Catie Beth has donated over $100 ($113.05 to be exact)!! I want to say a BIG “Thank You!” to everyone who has made a purchase during the past three months or has told a friend about Catie Beth. I’m still donating profits to The Schoenlings, but wanted to pause and share this milestone with you. You can follow the Schoenlings at http://joyfortheseasons.blogspot.com/
I love making soaps and lotions. I love having my own home-based business. But more than all of that, I LOVE helping unite orphans with their forever families. Thank you for being a part of that mission.
Cheryl (Nipper) Schoenling and Me (1994)
I love the smell of a garden in the evening; wh
en the sun has just set and the flowers release their fragrances. My latest batch of soap reminds me of an evening garden. I began with just Neroli and Orange, but I used too much Orange EO and it overpowered the Neroli FO. So, I poured a bit out and added a little Ylang Ylang EO. Perfect! It has a lovely floral orange scent. I used my new Mango Butter in the recipe, so it will be super moisturizing. I can’t wait until it’s ready next month!
