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Category Archives: The Holidays

Cyber Monday

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I got my first Cyber Monday order. How awesome!! I wanted to write last night, but got distracted. *smile* If you’re reading this, thanks again Bro. *grin* There is something so delightfully exciting about the order being on such an infamous day. (Heaven knows it couldn’t have been on Black Friday because I was too busy shopping myself lol.)

I am tickled to have two new holiday orders and especially because I have lots of extra time in which to work on them, since I’ve been running on “sick slow mo” as I call it. Lol. I have several items in my pre-made stash, but still have some work to do. Mostly I need to get my new version of goat’s milk lotion made, so that’s Thursday’s project. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazed and honored I am that my lotion stands up, if not exceeds when I’m not trying to be humble *wink*, professionally branded lotions for severe chapping. Holy smokes!! Anyway, I have a goal to revamp the lotion with emulsifying wax to increase the moisturizing properties and beneficial time. It creates a thicker, creamier lotion that has more binding properties, similar in a way to those silicone glove treatments that were popular a few years back. I’m hoping that the extended treatment will reduce, if not eliminate, the need for people to cover their hands with plastic bags and socks or gloves to create a sauna atmosphere and increase how well the moisturizers work. Who wants to sleep with weird stuff crinkling on their hands? Plus, who says that a good thing is good enough? *grin* Saying it worked wonderfully is like issuing a challenge to try to make it better. Lol. I become way too curious about the benefits and ingredients, so I love to work on a new puzzle.

I also will be making a lot of dessert cake soaps. I’ll try the “ice cream” rolled in slightly cooled melted soap to see if I can make it a little less fragile. *crossing fingers* I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a few of my “ruined” soaps (the vanilla in the fragrance oils turned them brown before I learned about the additive to prevent it) and shaving little “chocolate curls”. Or at least try. *grin* I have a cheese slicer that might make nice little decorations and would LOVE to not have more waste than I must anyway. I know from being a billing consultant that you always have write offs, but even then, even when it was a write off to help a patient or when I knew that something really needed to be written off, I felt like I did something wrong. Lol. Like that balance in the column is saying that I’m that bad and wasteful. Isn’t it funny how the mind can work? Anyway, I try to find uses for everything and doubt that people want little brown soaps in their stockings this year. *grin* May smell great, but that visual…dude. Lol.

I need to look around for some basket wraps that conceal the baskets and product, so that the orders are ready to put from the box right under the Christmas tree. All of my wraps are transluscent. Bah! I then figured out that if I use a wrap on the baskets that I have, then I have to go up to the $10 shipping box all because of a couple of centimeters. So not happening! We all want the cheapest shipping possible and I refuse to let a wrap screw that up. Lol. Dang, that means I’ll have to go shopping…*grin*

It was amusing to me that both orders I got this week seemed simple at first. Then it became obvious that it was my business and got really complicated. Lol. “I want a goat’s milk lotion.” Okay, want 1, 4, or 8 oz? Want it in which scent? If you like that, you might consider this…and do you want the original or the new version? Oh, need some soap? Would you prefer a bubble wash instead of a bar soap…etc. So many options. Lol. I got a little overwhelming I think. I suspect that my need to be occupied and learn has created an overwhelmingly vast array of options for customers. I wonder if some of the people who have told others that they’ll be ordering were intimidated by the amount of options..? That’s a sad prospect.

In the meantime I’m writing my notes (and yes Z, I have a spreadsheet *grin*) while I have zero energy, so I’m ready with a game plan once I find some energy in my toes or something. Lol. I’ll let you know how the science experiment with emulsifying wax goes. Sweet dreams and a wonderful day to all.

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Details about the event

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

As my recent picture posts hint at, the craft sale didn’t have as robust of a turn out as hoped. I’m delighted to have done $111 though! Much better than the last time where only the event organizer bought something. I have so much product ready to sell now. If 1% of the people from the event that said they would look at the site and order do so, then I should have a good amount ready to get to them immediately.

I sold completely out of the dessert cake soaps and both of my Mechanic’s soaps (they’re pricey, so they don’t sell fast, which is why I don’t make more than a couple at a time). I’m beyond tickled!! I loved how people just lit up and marveled at them. Two little boys weren’t having a good time at the event (I suspect it was probably nap time) actually cheered up when their mom bought them each one. The little cello bags turned out perfect for little hands, too. They could grip at the top and there wasn’t a worry about heating up the whip “ice cream” to melting or smooshing it. Yay! I look forward to the next batch when I’ll try rolling the refrigerated whip “ice cream” in a layer of melted soap. Hopefully the low temperature will prevent the whip from melting when it comes in contact with the soap.

I have to say that I loved being able to provide helpful tips and products to receptive people. I talked so much that I lost my voice and had to have a lozenge to get it back. Lol. For those that wanted to learn about stuff, it felt amazing! I hadn’t realized just how much I miss that helpful interaction that I got, one on one, with patients as a medical billing consultant. The really cool part is that I have learned enough from being around the doctor and nursing staff that I understood a lot of the conditions and symptoms that people asked me about, so I was able to recommend the right products for them. I figure that the extra work to figure out the right product for people will have a greater chance of being a return customer. One woman even bought some acne soap after she had bought some other products a few minutes before! *happy dance* Her son has some skin issues and I’m hoping that my soap helps. I told her to let me know how things go, etc, and actually look forward to the challenge.

I was surprised that none of the combos sold. I really figured at least one of the Twilight combos would sell since the newest movie is about to premiere at the theater.

I’ve been up all night due to a surprisingly massive flare up after my exertion. Meh. At least dealing with all of this has made me very aware of the needs and complications of chronically ill people and now I have some potential customers for the new pain relief line that I hope to work on ASAP. That makes this flare up so worth it! If I can actually help someone that will be amazing. I try so hard to have a good impact and this seems to be a great avenue for it. Awesome!

So…does anyone want to come deal with my mess? Lol. I got all of the product shelved, but now all of the boxes and tote, etc, are stuffed into my office and need dealt with. At least it’s no longer where others will see my mess!

One last little thing that really surprised me was how many people told me that they really could appreciate and admire my entrepreneurial skills. Wow! The first time totally caught me off guard and the couple of times afterward were no less surprising. If anything, I was more surprised each time, because it seemed unfathomable that more than one person could feel that. So freaking cool!!

By the way, I will never carve a pumpkin or house out of soap. A guy literally asked me if I did or would do that. Of course, he also said that he wanted me to carve the house so that he could live in it, so that made it feel even weirder. I have no desire to carve soap. It’s enough of a pain to trim the overflow off with an Xacto knife (especially with a tremor and involuntary movements!). Lol. I definitely got some great experience for how to handle unexpected things on the fly. If I do another event, it should be a lot easier. I think all of the weirdest questions that could ever be asked were at this event, so easy peasy!

Have a great day!! Thank you all for the encouragement and the support!

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A little bit of work

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

It was storming heavily last night, so I didn’t have the lure of Netflix or the computer since I unplugged them to be safe. I am feeling a little better, so I figured I’d slowly get some products made.

I filled my Mom’s order for stocking stuffer 1 ounce lotions. I was getting ready to pour some holiday scent 4 ounce lotions, but after making the 1 ounce ones for Mom I really liked the idea of having some sample or travel size lotions to offer. Plus it’s a great size to put in baskets. So I made 1 ounce lotions instead and since I had warmed a nice amount of lotion base to make several 4 ounce ones, I was able to make a whole lot of lotions. I ended up with spiced gumdrops, hot apple pie, spa, south pacific waters, and gingersnap cookies. All but one spa were for Mom’s order, but I made eight of almost everything. I have several options to go into the Christmas sampler now!

I also made several oils. I made a wintergreen EO oil that smells amazing and gave a really neat feeling to my skin when I tried it. You know what feeling I mean? That really fun and tingly mint feeling? Of course, my body reads skin sensations somewhat differently than the average person due to the Fibro. I also made a mint cocoa that I love to huff. *grin* I blended chocolate mousse and peppermint EO. I’m looking forward to using this blend during the winter. I love burning a candle with that scent profile, so when I’m really in the mood to indulge and pamper, I have a new go-to. I made pumpkin buttercream lotion in September and finally got around to making the oil version, which smells heavenly!

I need to make some labels and price tags for the new stuff, plus decide on a few names. I don’t know if I’ll leave as spices gumdrops and stuff like that. I also need to make some Christmas scented room and linen sprays to include in the baskets and as individual options for buyers. One extra spray that I hope to do while I have the multipurpose spray mixed up (it is a concentrate with a formula for combining with purified water). I really like the idea of a sleepy time spray. It’s a blend of EOs that are thought to help with relaxation and combat insomnia. I think that should (yeah, I know that I throw around should a whole lot lol) be a good seller.

I have a few items left, but am feeling pretty good about what I’ll have available at Saturday’s event. It’s a great start on the event in a few weeks in CA that I’m shipping my stuff to, also. (A friend is going to be selling quilts and cross stitches, and offered to sell my products for me at it, too.) Realistically I know that there will be plenty of leftovers even if my stuff is wildly popular. *smile* I’m still not positive if I’ll send much to the CA event, but I figure this weekend should give a good idea if it’s a good opportunity. I have to take into account how much it’s going to cost for shipping, especially if not much sells and has to be shipped back to me.

Anyway, I won’t get much done today or tomorrow, but I’m in the final stretch. Now I can start consulting my lists and gather the stuff I’m taking. My prime priority is to get my website updated and type up the update spreadsheets to take with me. (I know, I know. Me and my spreadsheets. *grin*) Time to start getting excited! By the way, any ideas on how to hang my banner at the booth? I still haven’t figured out how to. Lol. Anyway, have a great day and I’ll keep updating as things progress.

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Oh crap

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I was killing time today, waiting for my doctor to come into the room (45 mins on a hard chair – so thankful for the cane). I get all nervous about moving around while waiting (I’m not exactly graceful unless I’m dancing and always have these embarrassing scenarios play out in my mind), so I sat and took a break from my thoughts to look around the room. I ended up staring at the calendar in awe. I don’t have a whole lot going on in a daily fashion, so I tend to lose track of the day. So when I looked at the calendar it dawned on me that the craft event is next weekend!! Oh crap, oh crap. Not exactly the best phrase to keep racing through your mind as the doctor comes in. *grin* I know I looked guilty for thinking it, as if he would know or care. Probably wondered if I stole a magazine or some tongue depressors lol. Anyway, it actually sunk in that it’s right around the corner.

An odd thing about my illness is that one day seems to be forever long, since I sometimes don’t sleep or sleep only a little, I never sleep very soundly, and pain often will wake me and keep me up until I can ease it enough to ignore it. On the flip side, a week flies by. It’s the weirdest thing ever. So what was a month of prep time before the event is now suddenly a week.

So after getting four prescriptions filled I hit Wally World to get the little things that I wanted to do right before the event. We had bought another 4 ft table and a rolling tote earlier in the day, so I am set to start packing up for the event. (Hey, with chronic fatigue it takes a week to do what used to be a few hours worth of work lol, so I’ve learned to start early.) I found some nice tablecloths in a sharp red and green plaid (do you all ready know that I’m obsessed with Scotland and love plaid?), got some garland to lay around some of the products when I set up the tables, and some ribbons and bows. I have recently gotten a wild hair to put a little effort into presentation for the event following reading a neat library book. (You can roll your eyes now. I understand. *grin*) I picked up a few coffee mugs for the coffee combo and got some wet wipes. Odd to put them in the same sentence, but what the heck. Lol. I decided after the cancer stroll that I would have wipes and a small trash can for people that don’t like the smell or texture. You’d be amazed, or at least I was, at how many people slather on a lotion and then sniff their arms to see if they like the smell. I am well aware of natural chemistry changing a scent, but it won’t change it enough to be radically different from sniffing it in the bottle usually. Cucumber melon brings to mind cat pee when I use it, but when I sniff it in a container, I all ready know there’s gonna be some funk, so I’m not going to dive on in. Buh! Here’s your sign village idiots…anywho….*grin*

I’m not letting myself get overwhelmed on trying to accomplish all of my goals before the event. I really have a whole lot of options. The only things I really need to do is set up the cash box, massively update my website, and pack stuff. The rest just makes the cake look pretty, so to speak. It’s still a pretty awesome cake all ready ; ) So I will put the “frosting” on my little cake soaps (by the way, I decided on scooping a little refrigerated bath whip for the ice cream. It has a great consistency when refrigerated that will work great with the melon baller and won’t get really firm like the scrub or soap would.), package and price what I have on my project table, and package the remaining “coal” once my Oriental Trading order gets delivered, since I ran out of bags. I want to make a few Twilight combos and the “sweet treats” baskets, which I can always disassemble if they don’t sell.

Miss Ash won’t be able to come to the event and is really disappointed, so I think I need a test run. *grin* Set up both tables with the tablecloths, so she gets to decorate when she comes in from school. It’ll be a fun surprise for her and give me a chance to decide how I want the lay out at the event. I’m hoping to pack most things actually in their baskets, so set up is a breeze. Knowing how I want the baskets arranged isn’t quite as easy. Plus, I think that my needing her input on how to lay it out will give her a nice boost after having a cruddy time at school lately. I think it’ll be kind of smart to find out what lay out will help catch the eye of preteens too.

The part of me that sees the small mound on my project table and keeps counting the days continues to panic a bit. I’m keeping a relatively level head about it, for me at least, although the spreadsheets and lists help the most. It helps me feel like it’s all under control. Oh, by the way, if you’re laughing about my spreadsheets (yeah, I know who is), I don’t mind. *grin* It’s a quirk that shows that it’s really me writing this. Lol. Sweet dreams and a peaceful tomorrow. I’m gonna go start a list if my lists. *teasing wink*

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Progress

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I pushed myself and made some progress Tuesday while Larry was installing some insulation in the attic. I don’t typically work on products on his day off, but I pushed myself to take advantage of having some alone time to hit a few more goals. I made 6 bottles of lotion. I realized while doing inventory the other night that I didn’t have enough lotions to make the Twilight lotion combos for the event, so I made up a few of Edward’s Kiss. After that I decided that I really wanted a Cherry on Top lotion. Wow! It turned out absolutely fantastic! I’m tickled. *grin* The maximum amount of the cherry FO under the guidelines, which I technically don’t have to fully follow yet try to, is .3 ML per every 2 ounces of lotion, so I was really nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get the scent that I wanted. However, I did the math and added up to just below the max, and balanced the chocolate mousse and maraschino cherry FOs wonderfully. *happy sigh* I unmolded the soaps I made yesterday and actually remembered to update my inventory spreadsheet too. Rock on!

The little dessert cake soaps came out kind of cute in their first stage. I got a dark devil’s food cake color with the clear soap base, so I managed to avoid the unwanted pastel that I accidentally made during my first effort. Lol. I’ve been debating between making a complimentary scented sugar scrub and using my mini melon baller to scoop a tiny bit on top of the cakes to look like a la mode, then drizzle the soap glaze down the whole bit. I’ve been mentally running pros and cons of scrub or doing a small pour of soap and making the ice cream out of it after it does the first set up. I am leaning toward scrub since it is more forgiving than soap. With some force scrub can be manipulated rather well. I might spend some time making shapes with the scrub when in the shower. I’m not saying that I do, but I might. *cheesy grin*

I was preparing to make another batch of acne soap when I heard a crash in the living room. Larry came through the ceiling part way and my couch was covered in the nasty, crumbling, old insulation and chunks of the sheetrock. I ended up cleaning that up instead of finishing the soap. Man was there some impressive timing. I hadn’t heated or poured the soap, so no loss and I can jump right into the batch tomorrow or Thursday. Plus, if I hadn’t pushed myself to work on soap I would have been buried under the fallen ceiling and insulation. I recognize the blessings. Larry is banged up, but I’m fairly well experienced with pain management, so it won’t be too bad. Things could have gone a lot worse. I also now am thankful that I’m preparing for the event. Lol.

One last part before I post and head to bed. I made a coffee and cocoa face mask today. It requires milk to be added to it, to make a paste. I have been going through stocking stuffer-like product options and have been itching to start some coffee products. I mixed up the powdered ingredients and put into cute little plastic bags with a holiday print on them, then twist tied them (metallic red twist ties to stay in theme of course *grin*), and will print out instructions to attach to the bags. I personally would be irritated to get just one treatment in my stocking. I really that it sounds bratty, but it’s more of a desire to make sure I can duplicate the good results before I buy the replacement and stick with the line. It may not sound logical to people, but it’s my logic and I’m cool with that. *grin* In light of my own preferences I put a double batch in each bag. The customer just pours half out into a bowl, stirs in some milk to make the paste, and applies to cleansed skin. I’m going to put a little side bar on the instruction sheet. I personally couldn’t stand having it sit on my skin for a full fifteen minutes (supposedly that’s how long it takes for the ingredients to firm, tone, and soothe the skin, but seriously? That’s rather subjective in my opinion and I’m not going to listen to the governmental person that decided to tell crafters how long their customers should leave stuff on for. Buh.). I used it more as a thick scrub and decided to finish cleaning up, and then rinsed it off while I was all ready in the water. I’m going to mention that option. I did one side and not the other, and there was a true difference that could be felt. Not to mention that I loved smelling what is basically a mocha. Ohhhhh yeahhh. Okay, I’m done cheesing. Anyway, I was talking with my mom and she’s absolutely delighted to hear about this new product. She wants me to start with at least 6 bags at the event. Whatever doesn’t sell she’s going to buy for Christmas gifts. *grin* If they all sell, then I have to make another batch pronto. Lol. I absolutely love when people are excited about stuff that I make! It brings back that elation that I use to get from doing poetry readings and competitions, or when I did my artwork. It’s small, but you touch someone’s life, and have a good impact. That’s such an awesome gift for both people. I’m all ready blessed to know that you will be reading this and interested in my little adventures. *smile* On that note, I hope that you have such a blessing today!

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Lump of Coal Take 2

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

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These are from two batches made at 3AM yesterday. The standing one in the front is from the first batch, while the darker ones are from the following batch. When I started creating the recipe it seemed fairly good the first time, although it was very surprising that each square held nearly .25 ounces. I really misjudged when eyeballing due to the excitement of a possible solution. When I doubled the recipe and made the following 8, during the dye stage it really didn’t look right. A drop each of 2 colors made a tremendous difference. The mold side has a dullish surface while the air side is very glossy, so I’m taking a few days to mull some possible experiments over. I’m really bad about being a perfectionist and with lots of time on my hands to analyze myself I realized that I usually will not continue doing something that I don’t immediately succeed at. (Sorry about the double negative, but the correct way to say it didn’t convey correctly IMO *grin*) Making my products is an opportunity to work on myself too, so I’m working on having patience and confidence that the soap will be great in the end. By the way, if you like the smell of black licorice or Anise, you will love these!! Pics of experimental mutilations of the cute squares to come lol. Please feel free to provide ideas! ; )

Addendum: experimentation with my micro planer resulted in pure weirdness. Lol. Sorry, but I have a few ounces of too much pride to have photographic proof. Off to hunt through drawers of gadgets to see what might be repurposed.

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What is Santa bringing?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I’m hoping that Santa will be bringing a little bag with a few lumps of coal soap *grin* Went very basic and I just got three pours of them finished, so I can start testing (and producing very soon hopefully!). While stocking up on supplies during a sale this silicone mold in the baking aisle gave me a slap my forehead moment. It’s a sheet of hmmm…yeah, not getting up again to check *grin*, but a whole lot of these miniature candy bar molds, each kind of like a bite size milky way. It hits me that complicated isn’t always better or successful. I had some grand ideas (let’s keep the epic failures between us) and this simple mold will fit the bill a whole lot better for the small lump of coal soaps that I so want to come out well. Okay, okay…I want them to sell well too for Christmas, especially since I think it’s such a neat idea. That’s beside the point of this post though! *sassy smile*

Anyway, when I had a problem with some bubble wash the other day I started experimenting on it. (Cue whichever monster theme song you prefer) Since I knew it wasn’t going to be sold I was willing to get weird. Along the way I found the blend of colors to make a nearly perfect black clear soap. It has a slight jewel tone to it, since it is clear glycerine, and when turned in the light I could pick different hues as dominant. If I can entertain myself looking at these for more than a few seconds, then it’s a keeper. I have such high hopes for these little soaps. I’m more anxious to unmold them and see how they look after curing than I remember being when I had a stocking stuffed by Santa lol. I have a young helper coming for awhile Thursday, so they need to get a thumbs up from her too. A youth’s opinion on a product made for kids? I’m so taking advantage of that (hence why I was making soap at 3:20 AM)!

Please cross your fingers that I’ve finally come across the best versions of lump of coal soaps that can be made. It’s the one thing for the holidays that I have a lot of emotional involvement in (yeah, emotional about some licorice scented soap…I went beyond nerdy to downright boring…ouch). I’ll let you know if getting coal for Christmas is a good thing in a few days. Plus, I have some other tidbits that I look forward to babbling about. Have a wonderful day!

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Epic Failure

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I did two experimental pours of the lump of coal soaps. I did a clear base and a .25 oz white base in 2 oz of clear, to make it a little solid. It gives a neat look to the soap when mixed and has a better gloss than solid white base in my opinion. Anyway, like I mentioned in a previous post, I put the play doh in varying spots in the ghost molds to keep the soaps from looking the same and to keep the pumpkin design covered. I did the two pours and let them set. When I removed them from the molds the play doh was still gooey. (Usually it dries out really quickly and I use it for a stopper if I have a lollipop mold that I’m using for soaps.) The moisture of the soap rehydrated the play doh. Lesson learned! Anyway, I worked on removing the slimy play doh and it has left the weirdest texture behind. The second part that makes this an epic failure is that after 26 drops of black dye I only managed to get the soaps to grey. *pouting* Usually I only add like 3 drops of dye to 2 oz of base! The clear soaps took the color better, but it is still a dark grey. *sigh* If I put more dye, I run the risk of the color bleeding onto any surface once wet or even dying the skin of the user. I’m chalking this round up as a loss, since I could never sell them with the possibility of color bleeding and knowing the gross residue/texture that was left behind. Back to the drawing board. I think I’ll omit the play doh, but still use the ghost mold. I’ll do the pours and then whittle on each soap with my Xacto knife, to make each one unique and resemble coal a little better (it’s soap, so I’m not going to try to get too realistic). I’m just not sure about the dye issue. I suppose I’ll have to mix some colors to add to the black. I’d like to do the quarter white base, but white bases make colors soften into pastels, which still happened with the black in such a small amount of white.

Thankfully the scent is good, though. A strong licorice with just a hint of something else. It’s hard to distinguish, even for me, that there is vanilla in it. You can pick up just a slight different note though.

Lots of work still to do, but at least I learned a few new lessons. It’s still a disappointment and adds some stress, since I wanted some ready for the event at the end of the month. I think I’ll just make sure I make some easier products, like ones I’ve made recipes for and tested, to have on hand.

I’m off to package the last of the cancer ribbon soaps. *happy dance* Have a great day!

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Repurposing

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I had a really cruddy day Wednesday, so as a treat for surviving I got to go to the candy making supply store in Topeka.  I absolutely love looking at candy/chocolate molds.  There are so many possibilities that clutter my mind, since they’re made to stand up to higher heat, so I can use them for soap making.  I found an awesome website with thousands of molds, but I like being an informed buyer.  *grin*  I want to personally look at and touch molds.  I guess I’m like a shoe or purse shopper, but a little quirkier.  When looking at a wholesale website, it’s really hard to get an idea of what the soap would really look like and I seriously bite when it comes to dimensions.  I may have done great in school, but I still have no idea how I passed the measurements portion of school.  *rolling eyes with a sigh*  Anyway…

I’m happily twirling the racks, filing in my mind a few to get later on for holidays and what have you.  Suddenly I see this incredibly odd-shaped mold.  It has a really deep impression for each candy and as I lean over to look closer at it, I realize that the odd shape will work perfectly for the lump of coal soaps!  I’m so insanely excited over little things, I tell you.  I finally get a good look at it and it’s a mold for really cute 3D ghosts.  The little guy is holding a pumpkin and in full boo mode.  *grin*  Really cute and I can so use it for Halloween, so I have a few options available at my booth in a few weeks.  I think that if I put a little dot of playdoh over the pumpkin part and some other random ones, the soaps will be very oddly shaped, and be a lot closer to a rock shape than I otherwise probably would have been able to do with just a flat pour and breaking.  I can’t express just how excited I am over this mold!  I haven’t been feeling the greatest, so they’re going to have to sit on the back burner, but I’m just tickled that I found a mold that I can use.  It is so much easier to use a mold than try to break MP soap into pretty anything but slivers.

I also got two more small cancer ribbon molds, so that when I feel up to making stuff for the event in a few weeks, I can do thirty at a time.  I got all wound up Thursday afternoon and set out supplies, heated up the base, added the goodies, and then went to pour…um, the new molds are maybe half as deep as the original mold.  *sigh*  Remember, I suck at dimensions…*rolling eyes*  The nice thing is that one batch pour nearly filled both of the new molds and I’ll have a cheaper alternative as well (not that the others are expensive in bulk, really).  At least I’ll get a lot of them made pretty quickly.

I also found some Christmas molds I had bought on sale years ago (I’m a sucker for a sale, let me tell you) and tucked away.  Cute little ornaments, reindeer, and the like.  I think I’ll have some cute stocking stuffers and guest soaps available this year.  *big grin*  I think Christmas has the cutest options available.  I have a few larger molds, but I think I’ll do more of the small ones for my first official holiday season. 

Making bath products is one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done.  When I walk through a store or flip through a catalog, I always see something that I can repurpose to use in my business.  I’ve even found some silicone ice trays at Dollar Tree that will be perfect for soaps.  I’m in awe of the crafters that make their own molds, since that’s a lot of work and totally cool, but whenever I’m tempted to hit the “add to cart” beside a starter kit, I think about all those easy options that I would never have thought of on my own, and skip it.  So when the next year’s city-wide garage sales start back up, I’ll be there with a new purpose.  *grin*  Repurposing!

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Sunset Stroll

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Georgia's Pampering

I have an event next month called Sunset Stroll where I’ll have a booth.  It’s in Overbrook, KS at the fairgrounds (if you’re in the area, please stop by!  It’s Wednesday, Sept 28th).  The Stroll is actually at 6pm, but vendors will be set up at 4.  It’s a one mile walk to raise money for The Race Against Breast Cancer.  First off, I’m honored to have been given a booth at such an awesome event.  Second, it’s a near and dear cause.

Anyway, I have one preorder for around 100-150 sample breast cancer ribbon soaps.  I want to have some available at my booth anyway.  What a great way to raise awareness and have some fun – give them a scent ribbon soap!  I’ve made 20 so far. lol  I don’t want to make them too far ahead, since I want to give customers the longest shelf life that I can (typically 1 year is recommended).  I’m also trying to keep the pink color consistent throughout the created soaps.  That’s actually a lot harder than one would think! *grin*  Vanilla is actually in most FOs.  If the FO has a moderate or high percentage of vanilla, then it will change colors.  Vanilla will turn most anything a brown color after a while, no matter what it has been dyed.  I have blended a few colors to make a close pink to the ribbons that I have and prefer to have them all match.  The longer that these soaps sit, the more chance that by the time of the event they will be brown.  It’s not bad, just not as attractive and the color isn’t appropriate to the theme.  I just got in some vanilla stabilizer, but honestly I really hate the idea of adding chemicals to keep something a specific color.  I want to have natural benefits, and although there are chemicals in everything, I try to keep mine to a minimum.  There isn’t nothing beneficial (or harmful!) to this other than to keep the color.  It’s a tug of war with how to get things sold and what I feel is best for my line.  Anyway, if I make the soaps right before the event, they’ll still be pink if I don’t use the stabilizer.  What do you think – add the stabilizer or keep as natural as possible with the caution that the color will change due to the natural nature of it?

I plan to have a stash to donate to cancer survivors.  I’m not doing the greatest financially, but sometimes you just have to do those things since it’s the right thing to do and makes you feel better. 

They’ve also requested that I have some Christmas products available since some people will be doing their Christmas shopping.  I plan to have a few of those available with quite a variety of my standard products.  I will put some lotions in my 1 oz body oil samplers and then the spatulas will let me put a few others in some jars for easy sampling.  I’m debating having oil samples, since you don’t get that off and they may not want to be doing the walk with it on. *grin*  I may have a package of disposable baby wipes on hand.  Anyway, if I can get it to a satisfactory stage, I want to have my acne facial cream to sample too.  Just to get a feel for it.  I’m debating having the different types of items in baskets (the ones that won’t be sampled).  I have a lot of deciding to do!

When Larry took me to Hobby Lobby recently he found the cutest little glass jars half off.  I think that I’ll do the holiday bath whips in those.  They’ll hold a little less, but be a lot nicer for gift giving than my plastic jars, I think.  Being half off, they make them affordable for customers too.  I so suck at decorating stuff and making them look all artsy that I have a friend giving me tips on what to do to make things look better for gift giving. lol  We’ll see how that turns out.  I got a lesson in using my new sewing machine and managed to break it the first time I used it.  *embarrassed smile* Larry’s working on fixing the machine, but honestly, I don’t know that it’ll matter in the long run.  I may have a few cute little squares for jar toppers, but it’ll still end up looking odd.  That’s just one of my quirky issues. *grin*

At Hobby Lobby they had a few molds that were perfect for the holidays, too, that I plan to use for Stroll items.  I am loving my little gingerbread men mold.  There’s another with some harvest shapes; pumpkins and leaves.  I admit that it’ll probably be disappointing if no one wants the new soaps from these molds.  They’re so cute!  That’s just part of the roller coaster, though, I know. 

Anyway, I have the Stroll stuff all percolating in the background and am slowly working on them.  It’s always exciting to plan stuff for events.  Soon I’ll write about the November event that I’m the most excited about. *grin* I think that’s really where I have a good chance at sales and actually fitting in.

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Posted in Bath Products (non-soap), Soaps, The Holidays and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
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