See What You Can Make!

These are soaps made by Courtney, 11 years old, here at The Gift Garden. She did such a great job. Hard to believe she is a first-time soap maker. Come in and see what you can make!

Gingerbread Man Soap

This is a sample of one all wrapped up and ready to go.

Gingerbread Men Soaps

Today I made these adorable Gingerbread Men Soaps. They are super cute and fun. They are scented with a yummy Gingersnap Fragrance. They are being packaged in a clear acetate box tied off with tulle. I will try to post pictures of them packaged tomorrow. Just $4.00. Makes a great stocking stuffer.

First Batch of Cold Process Soap

Last week Cheryl & Molly (sisters) came in to make their first batch of cold process soap. They had previously taken a class with me but were a little leery of doing it all on their own. So they came back in last week and Cheryl made a batch scented with an essential oil blend of Lavender, Chamomile, and Vanilla with Lemon Balm herbs and Molly made a beautiful batch of Pumpkin Soap. Next, they want to do goats milk soap. I think they may be hooked on soap making!

Pumpkin

Last fall I made a Pumpkin Soap. In that soap I used actual pumpkin in it. I intended for this soap to be a seasonal soap and did not plan on bringing it back until this fall however some of my customers did not agree with this plan so I finally broke down and made a fresh batch of my pumpkin soap today. Some may ask why pumpkin?

Pumpkin is actually quite good for your skin. The valuable benefits of pumpkin are the high content of vitamin A and beta carotene, two potent antioxidants provide important nutrition for the skin. Pumpkin also contains lots of anti-oxidants, vitamin C, as well as zinc and beneficial alpha-hydroxy acids.

Beyond putting it in soap you can make facial masks and scrubs with it as well.

Fish in a Bag Soaps

I truly believe that bath time should be a fun time for kids. I know as I child, I hated bath time. Then again it was not that fun. It was like a chore. Now I want bath time to be relaxing and soothing. But if I was a kid again and had to take a bath I know these Fish in a Bag soaps would be lots of fun. Just peel the soap out of the bag and once the soap is used up your child will be left with the fish toy. Please supervise your children with the soap and/or toy.

Bath Bomb Cupcakes

Today was frosting day for the bath bomb cupcakes that I previously made. I have such fun decorating them and adding special touches like body-safe glitter or various colored jojoba beads.

Plumeria Soaps

Today I was making soaps. I made some loofah soaps in Oatmeal Milk & Honey and Mulberry scents. Then I made these fun Plumeria soaps. They are also scented in Plumeria.

Fresh Batch of Cool Water Type Soap

This is a fresh batch of Cool Water Type soap I made today. The fragrance was all over the shop and smelled just wonderful. I can't wait to unmold and cut this soap tomorrow.

Soapylove

I am so happy. I got some Soapylove in the mail today. I am a frequent ready of Soapylove's Blog and I was lucky enough to win one of her contests. The prize actually was a copy of her eZine. (These are great. I am learning so many new soaping techniques) Since I already had gotten my copy she was kind enough to let me choose a soapsicle as my prize. I chose Clearly Lovely as it is my personal favorite. Debbie suprised me with one of her newest designs - Pink Grapefruit.


Pink Grapefruit smells wonderful. I was even impressed by her card. It was a handwritten card in the cutest envelope that even has a little Soapylove pin on it. Very, very cute. You can purchase her Soapsicles in my store or online here.

Go Girl Soap

It has been a while since I have been able to make some soap. I sure do enjoy getting in a making it though. These pictures are part of a custom order I did today.

This picture shows how the soap was packaged.

Time Flies!

I can't beleive how quickly the month of February flew by. After the craziness of Valentine's and doing the Women's Expo in Tulsa I got sick. After recovering from my cold, I had to catch up with all that I had fallen behind on over the previous two weeks. I am finally getting my head above water. Going thru the craziness has helped me to refocus on my core goals for the business and what my long-term goals are. By prioritizing and drilling down, I am hoping this will help me to be better organized and productive.

I am happy to say that I had a great Saturday at the shop. The store was slow but it gave me time to play. I made a batch of hot process soap and also got to work on some breakaway melts. The melts will soon be a new addition to my product line.

I was going to post some pictures with this but for some reason it isn't working so I will have to do that another time.

Orca Soaps

Well, I did get my wish for sun but no heat. The sun is out today which is a nice change but it is only about 24 degrees. Schools are still closed today and from what I am hearing they will be closed tomorrow too. I got cabin fever and went to the shop today and was making the Orca soaps you see above. The molds for these are an exclusive design for Brambleberry. I love this mold so much. If you a mold like this click here.

Party Favors

Over my Christmas break one of the projects I worked on were some of my party favor samples. I wanted to have actual samples on hand for viewing as well as getting pictures done to be able to use on my website, marketing materials, and more.

Well, I got the project done and here are some photos for the favors that you can order at The Gift Garden. These are pictures of my Fortune Cookie Soaps, Aroma Bead or Bath Salts in the tubes, as well as body wash, bubble bath, hand sanitizer, or lotions can be used in the small bottles. All are available with custom labels. I will have these posted to my website along with others shortly.

Cupcake Soap

I have to say wow for this soap. I was browsing through Etsy and checking out different soaps when I came across this one. This looks so much like the real thing and it is scented with White Chocolate Cherry.....yum.

Check out other great creations by Crazy K Bath & Body here. I am off to go buy some of her soaps.

Cupcake Soaps

Cupcake soaps have arrived. This is our latest addition to our novelty glycerin soaps. These were so much fun to do. These can make great party favors and can be custom ordered in a color scheme/fragrance of you choice.

Party Favors

This is a sample of soaps that we are doing for favors for my sister's wedding this Friday. We can do these for your special event or promotion. We have many shapes and colors that you can choose from. We can put names, logos, photos, poems, or almost anything you can think of in the soap.

Shave Ice Soap

My mom sent me a care package from Hawaii and in it was this soap.
It is cute. The package says it is a Rainbow Shave Ice Scent. It smells really good and there is a definite note of lime in it. Yummy! This was done by Washi Soap Company in Honolulu. It does not appear that they have a website. That is too bad as I would love to see what else they do.

Rachel Ray Magazine Faves

This morning I was reading the September issue of the Rachel Ray magazine. I am so happy to see Handmade Soap listed as a Fave. I wish it were my soaps but it is not. However we can celebrate Indigo Wild's recognition. The write up specifically talks about the handmade Zum Bar Goat's Milk Soaps that are infused with essential oils and states "these soaps set the bar high!" Congrats!!!! It is nice to see handmade soaps getting recognized nationally.

Soap Making Weekend

I have been busy making soap this weekend. This is a sneak peak at two of the batches I made. Lots of new scents will be available soon. They will include Cold Water type, Energy, Beach Breezes, Gardenia, Puakenikeni (a Hawaiian Flower) and Peach Passionflower type.