Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
We switched things up and tried clear soap instead of white soap. On the left, you can see our little blocks of melt and pour, all chopped up and ready to melt. Once the soap was melted, we put it in the blender with either a 10% Sweet Almond Oil addition rate or a 25% Sweet Almond Oil Addition … Continue Reading
I just put the contest goodies together for the week. The box is brimming with handcrafted goodness. My favorite thing in the box for today is the Maple Custard Lip balm from Squeaky Queen. I'm currently using Squeaky Queen's Carmel Latte Lip Balm (yum!) on an obsessive basis. You'll be an addict … Continue Reading
Jamie posted yesterday and asked what Cream Soap is. Cream Soap is an old-school method of soaping that forms a semi-solid soap. It's like a creamy shaving foam and can be used for a cold cream type face wash, shaving soap, sugar and salt scrubs and soap in a jar. It involves, among other … Continue Reading
£5,000 jar of Marmalade? Talk about a niche market - and definitely an inspiration. If someone can make a $8,900 jar of marmalade, what could you do to make your soap, lotions or bath fizzies stand out? More importantly, if you created a $250 bath fizzy for charity, how much free press would you … Continue Reading
My younger brother Erik has officially been on the job for 2 months. He has taken the helm at Otion, our retail store operation. It hasn't been the smoothest of transitions from a no-managerial-oversight to a full-time, in-store manager but we're through the uphill part and onto a nice … Continue Reading
Last week, someone posted and asked if there was a way to make cream soap without going through the long process in Catherine Failor's Making Cream Soap book. I didn't think so. It was worth a try, though I created 6 different recipes to try and mimic Catherine Failor's Cream Soap. The next few … Continue Reading
Instructions for making Aloha Surf Shorts: 1. Melt 1 ounce of white melt and pour in the microwave 2. Using a dropper, draw up some non-colored, white soap. Carefully dropper/color in the details on the Surf Shorts. 3. Wait for 5 minutes 4. Melt the remaining soap from step 1 and an additional … Continue Reading
I work out five times a week. Not because I love to work out or because I have copious amounts of free time; no, I work out because all the business books, magazines and my mentors say its important to do. Apparently, having a strong physical body leads to good things in my business. So, I work out. … Continue Reading
lionheart cupcake Originally uploaded by ladylucente Wow, someone had fun with fondant for the adorable birthday cupcakes! They are very creative and colorful. We're having a contest this week to share handmade bath products. Anyone that posts a comment this week, to any posting, about … Continue Reading
Little Jorgen loves doing things at the Bramble Berry warehouse when he visits. Back in May, he enjoyed learning how to drive our forklift. Today, proud pappa Norman taught him how to pack boxes. At the rate he's going, he'll be a valuable asset to the company when he's old enough to work here! The … Continue Reading
l ... this. And I got this: I'm going to salvage this little jungle look with some dark brown paint on the ceiling. I'm hoping for a cool funky cave feel as opposed to a dark, dank, musty feel. First though, I need to figure out how to get the paint onto the ceiling since it's a stairwell … Continue Reading
Alicia Grosso's class is officially open for registration. You can read all about Alicia here.Alicia is very busy, teaching, running a soap company and working as an in-demand speaker/author. Her interesting philosophy about being fulfilled with self-employment came out in an interview with the … Continue Reading
soap boat, soap ladder. Originally uploaded by kooop This is the last soap carving post for a while - unless there is a massive amount of interest in this long-lost craft (?). The soap artist-e says: "Carving soap is stupid hard, but smells neat." It is apparent to me that's it's a clear … Continue Reading
D's soap boat she carved Originally uploaded by MrsHappyHousewife Proving my point that soap makes a great carving and scuplting medium, here is a lovely boat a la Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer famed for his 1947 Kon-Tiki raft expedition across the Pacific. For those of you not lucky … Continue Reading