Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
The 12 Days of Christmas promotion is officially over tomorrow. Hopefully you have lots of handmade gift ideas for the holidays! The promotion features easy to make projects, like the adorable Chocolate Mint Melt and Pour soaps. With a delectable mix of Dark Rich Chocolate Fragrance Oil and Moroccan Mint Fragrance Oil, this soap smells just like a classic holiday candy. The Moroccan Mint Fragrance Oil is 30% off until tomorrow at noon PST. No coupon necessary.
It is only November, but we’re in full holiday spirit already. As part of our 12 Days of Christmas promotion, we’re sharing a series of easy-to-make handmade gifts through Nov. 21st. Each tutorial features one ingredient that will be 30% off for 24 hours starting at noon, PST; no coupon necessary!
The first tutorial was the fragrant Scented Beeswax Ornaments. Made with Woodland Elves Fragrance Oil, these ornaments add a pop of color and a fresh pine scent to any holiday tree (or linen drawer).
Soaping is an addictive and fun craft. There are many factors that go into making a great handmade product including oils, fragrances, colors and additives. This week was all about tips, tricks and how-tos to make that process easier. This Sunday Night Spotlight talks about the incredibly versatile sweet almond oil. The lightweight oil is very moisturizing and can be used in everything from soap to shaving cream.
Happy Halloween everyone! It’s hard to believe it’s almost November already. We celebrated the last week of October with this beautiful and chilly Misty Maritime Moon Cold Process Tutorial. It uses the new negative space embed technique, which creates a totally unique look.
The skies were cloudy and gray most of the week here in Bellingham, WA. Good thing there was plenty of vibrant colors and smells in the office! India was the inspiration for the Color, Spice and Everything Nice promotion, which has a variety of fun projects like this Vibrant Mendhi Cold Process Tutorial. A soapy pattern, colored with the new Radiant Plum Colorant, tops off layers of bright green and hot pink for a totally unique and cheerful soap.
This weekend, the family and I are celebrating fall. Today we had an amazing play date and tomorrow, our plan is to go to the apple and pumpkin orchard and farm to pick apples and find our perfect pumpkin (the gourds from the garden are great but the kids want a traditional jack-o-lantern too). If you have any wonderful apples recipes, I would love to hear them! I’m thinking some homemade spinach applesauce may be in order. If you are looking for a fun fall project, keep your eyes on the blog tomorrow. It involves pumpkins, lots of glitter and mica painting. Are you working on any fall inspired projects this weekend? If so, I would love to see them on the Facebook page. You can also share your projects on Instagram, just hashtag #brambleberry so I don’t miss them =)
Here are some of my favorite tweets, pins, and ‘grams from the week!
Pinterest:
Far left, clockwise:
Instagram: I have been experimenting with lots of bright colors this week. Maybe it’s the heavy dose of gray fog that Bellingham has been experiencing, but I can’t get enough! 
On the left, Lily has been showing us her independence more and more. She has also been talking up a storm! On the right, more bright colors are being used in the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold. The fun red hue was created with Fired Up Fuchsia and Merlot Mica. 
If you’re looking for a new scrub recipe, the Emulsified Sugar Scrub on Soap Queen TV leaves skin feeling smooth and not greasy. I may need to whip up a few batches this weekend =) 
Twitter:
I hope you’re all having a great weekend! To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine and YouTube.
Halloween is fast approaching, and with it comes scary movies, trick or treating, carving pumpkins and enjoying lots of candy. At Bramble Berry, Halloween also means spooky soap projects! This week there were plenty of tutorials to inspire you. You can see several fun recipes in this Halloween Project Roundup.
This week had a popular blog post on finishing touches. Between pouring your soap in a mold and giving it away or selling it, a lot can happen. Corners can get dinged or soda ash can form. Luckily, there are steps to make your soap look its best. Check them out in the 5 Tips to Create Professional Looking Soap blog post.
This week was all about saving time, planning ahead and being efficient. When soaping, the cleanup can be both messy and time consuming. Oils can get spilled, colorants can get knocked over. And don’t forget about the dishes – a pretty design takes a lot of bowls! While cleaning up isn’t the most fun part of soaping, it can be easy with this Soapy Session Clean Up Guide.
Handmade gifts are a special treat during the holidays. Giving someone a gift you worked hard on is a great feeling. Handmade gifts – especially cold process soap – do take time to prepare. That’s why it’s a good idea to get started now. If you need some ideas, there is plenty of Handmade Holiday Gift Inspiration to go around.
One of the great things about working at Bramble Berry is connecting with other soap makers. For some, it’s a fun hobby. For others, soap making changed their lives. This is the case with Donovan, an 11-year-old soap maker who started making melt and pour creations after he and his mother fell on hard times. Now, he makes creative and fun designs and donates half his profits to the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico.
While soap is our first love (and soul mate!) we’re not solely about the soap here at Bramble Berry. This week there were several non-soapy tutorials and recipes, including a Blackberry, Lemon and Basil Sorbet. Full of sweet blackberries, tart lemon and a hint of earthy basil, this sorbet is an excellent way to stay cool during the hot summer months.
This week was chock full of information, from oils and fragrances to organization tips. The Sunday Night Spotlight: Jojoba Oil explains how this versatile product is somewhere between an oil and a liquid wax, and how it can be used in scrubs, lotions, lip balms and cold process soap. Have you used Jojoba Oil in your products?
It was a rainy week here in Washington state, but lucky for us we were still in Rome! Well, in spirit anyway. The Roman Holiday series of tutorials featuring Neroli and Shea Blossom Fragrance Oil wrapped up, with projects ranging from the simple Neroli & Shea Solid Perfume to the intricate Tile Inlay Cold Process Tutorial.
