Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Within the past few years, photo-sharing website Pinterest has emerged as a haven for DIY-enthusiasts. With so many beautiful images and fun tutorials, it’s easy to spend an entire afternoon browsing. It’s no wonder then that is has also emerged as a full-blown way to successfully market and sell homemade bath & body products. We’re continuing our Bramble Business Series today with an overview of Pinterest and how to use it to your advantage.
Two weeks into the new year and we’re off to a running start. I’ve kept up with the S.M.A.R.T. goals I set for myself this year (thank you Carrot app, my VitaMix and Bellingham-based Dandelion produce delivery). I’m excited to track my progress along with everyone else who told me about their goals. There’s big plans for Bramble Berry this year, and we have lots of awesome promotions and campaigns planned, as well as adding to our continually growing product line. Be sure to check our What’s New page frequently to be first in the know about new items.
For now, take a look at my favorite social media happenings from the past two weeks for all of our social media accounts:
Pins:
Hello everyone, merry (almost) Christmas! There is holiday hustle and bustle both at home and at Bramble Berry. We’re gearing up to shoot a few episodes of Soap Queen TV tomorrow before taking a small break for the holidays. Bramble Berry will be closed for Christmas and have a skeleton crew the 23rd, 26th and 27th. The warehouse also has to do inventory (Thanks IRS!) and as soon as they’re finished, will ship orders in the order they were received.
Take a break from the holiday madness and check out my favorite pins, tweets and ‘grams from the past two weeks. Happy Holidays, all!
Pins of the Week:
Welcome to the end of a very chilly week, everyone! We’re packing up the kids this weekend and driving 4 hours out to the coast for a mini vacation at a cute little cabin. The kids have never been in the car for that long, so it’s going to be an interesting drive for sure. We’re bringing one of Jamisen’s good friends along, and we’re prepared for an energetic — I’m avoiding the word ‘exhausting!’ — weekend.
We’re also gearing up for hosting Christmas at our house this year, so I’ve got the holidays in mind. I definitely started playing Christmas music in the office the day after Thanksgiving (and would have started before that if the team had let me). Before all the holiday hustle & bustle hits, take a look at my favorite pins, tweets and ‘grams from the past two weeks.
Pins:
Welcome to the second-to-last-week of November, everyone! I can hardly believe that next week is Thanksgiving, and I’ve got a ton of prep to do because this year I volunteered to host both Thanksgiving AND Christmas at our house (in retrospect, what was I thinking?!). Needless to say, it’s been a happily chaotic week.
As a side note, we’re still busy getting out orders from the Givember rush, and we appreciate your patience as we soldier on through this busy holiday time. We have a dedicated warehouse team that lovingly packs each order by hand, and they’re working ’round the clock to get your goodies shipped out. To tide you over, take a look at our favorite soapy social media items from the past two weeks.
Pins:
Clockwise:
Instagrams and Vines:
The warehouse has been so busy these past few weeks so we hired a few of our Givember Gingerbread Men to help us out. They are providing comic relief for the whole team.
Here is a quick look at how we made that super cool Mt. Mica Lava soap that came out in the newsletter yesterday. Subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on future awesome projects!
Tweets:
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and try to stay warm!
Winter seems to have hit us early on this very chilly and blustery Friday. We had an awesome office-wide pumpkin carving contest last week (scroll down to see our “scary” winner), and took Jamisen out for a Halloween party as well (with a bucket full of goodies by the end of the evening, Jamisen was much happier than he was in this photo!).
In other news, we’re smackdab in the middle of Givember 2013! If you’re not familiar, head over to this post to read all about how you can access 25 unique tutorials as well as get in on some super special deals and coupons. These are my favorite soapy social media things from the past couple of weeks:
Pins:
Clockwise:
Halloween is just around the corner, and we’ve been taking full advantage of the season. We took a fantastic trip to the apple orchard last weekend, and picked a ton of apples — if you’ve got any good festive apple recipes, I’d love to hear them! And of course, no Halloween is complete without pumpkin carving.
Between all the holiday festivities, I attended a super fun charity event for Blue Skies for Children (Bramble Berry sponsored the event) with my besties and then it was off to Las Vegas for an awesome business conference. I even got to meet one of my idols, Ram Charam, author of “Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done” and “Global Tilt: Leading Your Business Through the Great Economic Power Shift.” I highly recommend any of his books to small business owners, and I am still in awe that I got to meet him face to face.
As usual, there’s all sorts of exciting things going on in social media too. Take a look!
Pins
First column, top: Love the idea of using fruit baskets as a way to display soaps and other bath & body products at craft fairs. This reminds me of our visit to the orchard.
Bottom: This is one of my favorite motivational quotes as of late. Hopefully you’ll be rewarded ten-fold for the time you put into working toward your dreams.
Second column, top: For quick and easy Halloween decor, these little modge podge blocks are adorable. This would be a great craft project for a blustery night in.
Bottom: I have a weakness for scones, and these Sweet Potato Scones look absolutely delicious. I am loving the sweet potato trend lately too — from french fries to these scones, they seem to be everywhere!
Third column, top: These are so totally not part of my healthy eating plan, but they looked too good not to post: homemade twix bars! How much would the neighborhood kids love me if I passed these out instead of regular old Halloween candy?
Bottom: This Fall Soap from Chrissy B Soap is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color palette, and Arabian Spice, the fragrance oil she used, has such a warm, sensuous scent.
Instagrams
We went on a soapmaking marathon a few weeks ago, and here we are cutting two soaps from that session. The left one is our Shades of Grey inspired soap scented with Indian Sandalwood and the right one is the Dandelion Zebra Swirl we submitted for the Great Cakes Soapworks Soap Challenge.
Jamisen cutting his first soaping project! He was so elated, and he is budding into an excellent little soaper. =)
This was our first attempt at the Bird Wing, a technique we borrowed from the world of paper marbling. This didn’t turn out quite like we’d hoped, so we soaped it up again today and while we didn’t get it perfect, it got closer. Hopefully the third time will be a charm on that one.
Tweets
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
Wedding bells were ringing last month for Alesia, the manager of our retail store Otion. She married her fiancee, Jhustin, on Sept. 8 at Evergreen Gardens in Bellingham, Wash. We wish her all the best, and if you’re ever passing through Bellingham, drop by Otion and say “Hi!”
In baby news, Lily is growing so quickly! She is the happiest baby, and already loves to dress up (not kidding — she had the biggest grin on her face while wearing this fluffy tutu! The tutu was a gift from author Kayla Fioravanti. Thanks Kayla! ). Jamisen is having a great time in preschool, and this weekend we took a wonderful family outing to the beach (X 3; we went three days in a row!). I have been feeling thankful for family this week, that’s for sure.
We’ve been making lots of batches of soap lately, and we’re trying to experiment with new color and fragrance combinations. Not every batch works out, but at least they’re all learning experiences. Expect some exciting new tutorials on the way! If you want to see previews of those tutorials, make sure to follow me on Instagram. I post in-process videos frequently. For now, check out my favorite things from planet soapy social media.
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Instagrams & Vines:
This week we tried a fresh green tea-inspired recipe. We used our Green Tea Fragrance Oil (which performed beautifully) and finished it off with a cute crosshatch pattern. I can’t wait to cut it!
I may be super excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we can’t forget about Halloween either! Yesterday we made a very spooky soap with shades of grey and an orange layer for a bit of color contrast. Check it out:
This month’s Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge is such a cool design. It’s called the Dandelion Zebra Swirl, and I’m anxiously awaiting the cut of this one because I can’t wait to see how the layers turned out.
Tweets:
To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest andYouTube.
I can’t believe more than a month has passed since the Soap Crafting book was released. Since then we’ve seen some jaw-dropping soaps, and even started the Soap Crafting Club to get you more involved in our soapmaking community. Last month we announced the Pinterest-iffic Soap Crafting Contest so soapers could show off their gorgeous interpretations of the designs from the book, and I was blown away by all the amazing entries. I sort of feel like Sally Field, “You like me! You really like me!” It was difficult to pick our favorites; thank you for everyone who shared your interpretations of the Soap Crafting soap designs.
I loved seeing how people made the Soap Crafting recipes their own, and I want to remind everyone to not be afraid to put their own personal twist on the recipes in the book. That’s what makes it so fun! Overall, every soap we saw was fantastic and everyone’s photo that included the #soapcrafting tag will appear on our Pinterest board. We hope that the board will serve as inspirational resource and encourage you to experiment with various new soapy techniques. Are we missing yours? Just comment below and let us know the link and we’ll get you pinned!
Top: Tanya from Baby Duck Soap Co. created this truly-psychedelic Cranberry Fig Salt Bar using the Psychedelic Green Tea Technique from the Soap Crafting book. I was mesmerized by the intense colors and can’t wait to see this one ummolded. You might even recognize Tanya’s talent as she was a feature of one of our Facebook Photo’s of the week earlier this year.
Bottom Left: Jamie from Crochet Dynamite took her time, but poured her very first column pour cold process soap with the recipe from the book. I was impressed with her soap and talent (on the first try!). She is also a knitter and created the cutest little pom-pom bookmarks that she used to hold her place in the Soap Crafting book. Take a look here.
Bottom Right: Audra Weisenberger did an stunning job with the Clay-Spoon Plop. The warm colors and distinct layers are so eye catching. In fact, it looks like she even used the same colors as the recipe (Sea Clay, Green Zeolite Clay, Yellow Silt Clay, Rose Clay and Kaolin Clay). This inviting and earthy color palette makes for one fabulous soap.
Congrats to Tanya, Jamie and Audra! They’ll receive all the ingredients for one of the projects in the book, and we can’t wait to see what they’ll do with them! Please contact us at contest(at)brambleberry(dot)com so we can get your packages out ASAP.
Thank you again to everyone who participated, and you can see more awesome Soap Crafting recipes on our Soap Crafting Pinterest Board here. The contest may be over, but we’ll keep adding your photos to our board. What recipes from the Soap Crafting book have you tried so far, and which ones are your favorites?
Welcome to the end of September, everyone! It seems like just yesterday it was summertime, and we’ve been taking advantage of the changing seasons by getting out and about as much as possible. We enjoyed an evening out on the beach and have been taking plenty of pre-dinner walks throughout our neighborhood. In fact, the changing scenery is what inspired our newest melt and pour project!
In Soap Crafting news, I am very excited to say that we’ve reached the number 1 selling book on Amazon in three categories: soapmaking books, candlemaking books and candlemaking Kindle ebooks. Myself and the team are overjoyed by this news, and I am so excited to share my passion with others through this book.
In baby news, a new Brambleberrian has joined our family! Our Social Media Manager, Kristen, gave birth to her first child, Ewan Montgomery Clawson on Saturday, September 21. Both momma and baby are healthy, and they stopped by the office yesterday to say hi. Ewan is so tiny, and it’s hard to believe that Lily was that small just a few short months ago! I was so awestruck and gobsmacked that I didn’t get one picture (!). She’s promised to stop by next week so expect a photo of the littlest Bramble Fan soon.
For now, sit back with a nice cup of hot apple cider and enjoy this week’s Soapy Social Media Round Up.
Pins:
Clockwise from top left:
Instagrams and Vines:
It’s getting colder around here, but that didn’t stop us from creating this bright, flower-inspired cold process frosting recipe. Soap frosting is super fun and way easier to whip up (pun intended!) than it looks. Check out a tutorial we did for soapy cupcakes with frosting to try it for yourself.
Our first holiday inspired soap of the season! This is our Holiday Holly design, made in our Square Tray Mold and garnished with real Cranberry seeds.
Tweets:
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
It’s the last day to enter our Pinterest-iffic Soap Crafting Contest! We’ve already seen some fantastic pins, Instagrams and even a few book reviews of Soap Crafting. We can’t wait to see more, so show us what you’ve got, soapy friends!
Some of the entries we’ve received so far! Clockwise from left: Avocado Moisturizing Bar, the Juniper Berry Natural Infusion, the Linear Swirl and a Natural Colorants recipe.
Not sure what we’re talking about? You can check out the original blog post here, but we’ll also give you a refresher of the contest rules: today is the last day to pin your Soap Crafting-inspired projects to our Soap Crafting Pinterest Board. Be sure to include the hashtag ‘#soapcrafting’ with your entry. You can also Instagram your creations with the hashtag #soapcrafting and we’ll pin those onto the board too! To break it down:
That’s it! We can’t wait to see your take on the Soap Crafting projects.
Earlier this month Jamisen started preschool, and I can hardly believe he is almost three years old (sob). My (totally and completely not attainable) dream is to be a Pinterest Mommy so to help him get a jump start on learning, I’ve been searching Pinterest for fun, easy and affordable activities that involve his age range. We are focusing on learning shapes, colors and numbers, and I thought this tutorial would be absolutely perfect.
Jamisen couldn’t wait to help me make these colorful little tubes. He was thoroughly entertained with all the different sizes and colors for the entire project.
This is a really simple project that includes toilet paper rolls and construction paper. You can buy oragami paper that is the perfect size or you can cut your paper to size and either glue or tape it onto the toilet paper roll. I choose nine different colors to help Jamisen differentiate between each one. Developmental psychologist suggest that your child’s ability to recognize different colors starts to accelerate around 18 months, which is the same time kids begin to notice, shape, size and texture.
After you are done cutting, make sure to adhere the colored paper securely to the toilet paper roll. I used a glue stick coupled with Glue Dots on mine, but I’ve also seen it done with tape or a hot glue gun. Make sure they are fully dried and adhered before using.
Jamisen couldn’t wait to get his hands on these and immediately started filling them with puffy balls. We are trying to teach him his colors, but he seemed much more interested in seeing how many puffy balls he could get in one tube. I wanted him to match the puff ball colors to the colors on the tubes but that didn’t happen … (sigh).
Another way you can use these to help teach your children is by number matching. You can either write, draw or use number stickers on your tubes. Your kids can drop the matching numbers using beads, beans, or puffy balls in the tubes (Jamisen loved doing that!).
Jamisen is all about stacking anything he can get his hands on, and these tubes were no exception. The original post recommended cardboard circles to use as a base between each roll, but Jamisen was able to carefully steady each additional roll. Do you see the utter concentration in his eyes as he is carefully stacking each individual part of his colorful tower? He was so proud of how high he got each one and then giggled as they would fall down. He loved (loved loved!) to have Mommy stack them and then he would come and just whack ’em to knock them all over. I consoled myself that this was a good lesson on gravity and physics for him.
One of the big benefits of this easy and affordable project is the fact that you can work in so many activities. We found that color matching was a great game (with a little help from Mom and Dad of course), and had fun later that day using them as tube tunnels for his Matchbox cars and trucks. I would suggest this project to any parent with a toddler; it is an easy way to help them start learning at home.
Welcome to a very special edition of our Soapy Social Media Roundup. Why is it special? It’s Friday the 13th! Hopefully you haven’t crossed paths with any black cats or broken any mirrors today. This superstitious day has gotten me thinking about Halloween and the quickly approaching holiday season, and we’ve been busy planning plenty of seasonal tutorials (and dreaming of Pumpkin Spice Lattes)! While I’m excited for fall, I’ve also been trying to soak up the last of summer fun. Chris and I went on a fantastic hike over Labor Day, and we’ve been working to totally overhaul our garden. The hard work is paying off — look at the size of these potatoes!
I’ve got lots of goodies for you this week, including sneak peaks of two new soaping projects. Take a look!
Pins:
Clockwise from top left:
Instagram Videos:
We went on a rainbow kick this week (consider it a final sendoff to summer). The one below is our Super Squirty Rainbow Swirls, and we scented it with our brand new Amazon Lily & Rain Fragrance Oil.
This one is the Swirled Rainbow Layers. Two colors were swirled within each of the three layers — I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s cut!
Tweets:
I hope you all have a wonderful (and lucky?) Friday the 13th!
Welcome to the end of August, everyone! Although I am sad to see summer go, and I’m getting excited for fall and all the great things we have planned. Thursday was our Soap Crafting book release party at Village Books in Fairhaven (and the launch of the Soap Crafting Club). I was beyond thrilled to see so many of my fellow soapers in attendance. It’s always a pleasure to chat with the folks who have helped Bramble Berry become what it is — we wouldn’t be here without all of you!
In baby news, Lily is growing more and more everyday, and I can really tell that she is actively trying to explore the world around her. We took a trip to the zoo last Saturday with my Entrepreneur’s Organization Group and she was fascinated by all the animals. Jamisen had a wonderful time too, and fell in love with not the exotic lions or tigers or bears — but a group of baby ducks! Needless to say, it was adorable.
And now, the latest and greatest from Planet Social Media!
Pins:
Top left: If you’re like me, you somehow seem to be a magnet for stuff. Sometimes my junk drawer seems like it’s becoming more of a junk room! To tame the junk problem, I decided to try my hand at making these cute and easy fabric bins using just a cardboard box, some scissors and a bit of glue. I hope they’ll help me stay organized and look good while doing it!
Center: So to be totally honest, I’m not sure how practical this is, but I could not get over how cute these tiny books are. I love the idea of building a mini library that you can hold in your hand! There’s a tutorial at the link but I’m not sure I have the patience or dexterity to try it.
Top right: It’s impossible for me to not highlight a delicious dessert whenever I collect my favorite pins, and this week’s dessert is truly delightful: it’s a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan Brownie Pudding Cake. It sounds so decadent and rich while still containing lots of healthy ingredients. Might be something to try out this weekend =)
Bottom: Gemstone soaps seem to be trending this week! On the blog, we borrowed a fabulous tutorial from Otion on how to make geode soap, and then I came across this awesome handcut gemstone soap tutorial from soaping duo Jean and Oliver Pelle. These soaps are so simple and yet so pretty.
Instagrams:
We made many, many Peacock Swirls this week (not an exaggeration, we made at least six!) in order to get the perfect batch to release on camera as we shot Soap Queen TV today. With each batch, I was mesmerized by the In-The-Pot swirl technique that we used to form the base. Check it out below!
This is a two-for-one: this video demonstrates how to unmold soap in our 2 lb. Wood Loaf Mold and it also reveals our very spooky eyeball-inspired soap.
Tweets:
We are so thrilled that two of our customers (and friends! I’ve met both of these talented soapers in person) are in on the Martha Stewart American Made contest. You can vote for Etta + Billie and Bathhouse Soapery here and here.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend. Please keep in mind, the warehouse and our customer service department will be closed on Monday, so we won’t be shipping orders out and we may be a bit slower to return your calls and emails. However, we will work hard to catch up on Tuesday and as always, you can always ask us questions on our Facebook page. Enjoy the holiday!