Bubble bath Bars are one of the products that I’ve always wanted to try to make myself. The first time I tried one years ago, I knew what a great idea it was: No paying for all that water and plastic bottles and I could control the ingredients to make it exactly like I wanted. My recipe includes super-bubbling surfactants, baking soda for water softening and skin soothing properties, a touch of sweet almond oil for moisturizing without an oily feeling, as well as glycerin for its humectant property (it draws moisture to the skin) I have lots of different fragrances and essential oils to create some wonderful scents for them.

Recently a couple of my new customers  ordered a bunch of these little babies in a variety of scents, so I had fun experimenting with different colour combinations and styles. Each 4 oz bar is enough to last about 3 baths. The bubble power of these bars is incredible. We’re talking mile-high suds, especially if you agitate the water really well or you have very hard water pressure. Our water pressure is pathetic here, so I just splash the water back and forth with my hand after crumbling part of the bar under the running tub faucet- it works great. I include a warning on these to be careful using them in a jetted tub- the suds will climb right over the top if you aren’t careful!

Here’s Black Raspberry Vanilla

This one is scented with Peppermint and Spearmint essential oils. I call it Double Mint. Here you can see one of my handmade wooden soap dishes too. They are great for keeping handmade soaps drained and dry between uses, but here this one is just a photo prop:-)

This one is Ginger, but I used this colour for Creamsicle too

In the group photo at the top, you can also see Lemongrass Lime (yellow and green swirl), Oatmeal Milk & Honey (tan with added colloidal oatmeal) and Energy (yellow and green blend)

You can purchase these in singles or as a pack of 4 in my Zibbet Shop. For larger quantities, please contact me directly via my shop contact link. There’s a long list of scent choices there- choose your favourites.  If you’re local to Vancouver BC, don’t forget to use the Coupon Code LAZ289 during check out so you won’t be charged shipping!

I make these bars fresh to order and they need about 2 days to dry before packaging. No artificial preservatives are added, so they should be used within about 3 months of purchase.

First- here are the measured and melted solid oils next to the liquid oils, ready to be mixed. In this batch I used palm and palm kernel flakes for the solids and olive and castor oils for the liquid.

Meanwhile  a mixture of lye, salt, sugar and water sits in an ice water bath to bring the temperature down. The lye water and the oils should be nearly the same temperature when they are combined. I’m usually too impatient to wait and end up soaping hot. Doesn’t seem cause a problem most times, unless I’m using a touchy fragrance oil that might speed things up.

Here the oils are mixed with the lye solution and I’ve added some grape pop mica which is a skin safe colourant. It makes fantastic bright colours in soap.  I added a little pearl whte mica as well because I thought I added a little too much grape. Sorry this photo is out of focus and the doorframe reflection doesn’t help!

At this point I didn’t stop to take any photos, but I separated some of the batch into another container and added more grape mica for a deeper purple, then I mixed both bowls with my stick blender to thicken them to a medium trace. I wanted the bars to be swirled with the 2 shades of purple, so I poured the darker soap back into the main batch and mixed once or twice, then poured it into the waiting mold. I saved a bit of the darker soap to pour on top and add a bit of swirls using a cardboard coffee stir stick.

Here’s how it looked in the mold after that:

Jon made my soap molds so they would fit perfectly inside the oven. I nearly always oven process my soap for one hour at 170 F, then shut the oven off and leave the soap in the oven overnight. It’s ready to cut first thing in the morning. The only soaps I don’t oven process are my milk or honey recipes since they can heat up pretty well on their own. I usually leave my individually molded soaps like the cupcakes or hearts out to set at room temperature as well.

Here’s how this lovely lavender loaf looked after I unmolded it the next day. I was kind of bummed that the colour faded.  Too bad – I would have liked more contrast between the two shades.

…and here it is about to be sliced into bars with my handy dandy craftman soap cutter. This cutter is awesome- eight perfectly straight cuts in one go. I love this little gadget.

Finally, here are the cut bars all ready for the curing rack. They will air dry on the racks for 4-6 weeks for the excess water to evaporate. The soap gets better and better as it dries out and ages.The curing time also ensures a hard bar that will last a long time. Aren’t they pretty? They smell great too. Lavender is a scent that has grown on me since I started making soap. It really is very soothing and relaxing.

Trying to set up, I realized just how MUCH product I have made in recent months. A 6 or 7 foot table just wasn’t going to cut it. Jon and I managed to get nearly everything out, but I don’t like the cluttered look. It’s hard to see individual items when there is too much on the table.  I’m going to have to streamline the display for the Make It Show in May. I’ve got a wonderful shelf unit that I bought from a soaper who was going out of business, but it’s so tall and wide that it makes it more difficult to see from behind the table and I like to be able to connect with my customers. I’ll have to do a little research to figure out a more efficient display. Perhaps I’ll give a try at making another stepped display out of styrofoam packing and just use one on each end of the table. Here’s how it looked at one of my Christmas craft fairs.

It was fun to be able to share some of my products with new customers. It was a lovely day too which helped! I’m considering signing up for the outdoor event they are having in June. Instead of using the hall, vendors will set up outside along the sidewalk. Should be fun! I’ve got a 10×10 tent I can use in case of too much sun- of course rain is a good possibility in June as well.

The vendor next to me on Sunday mentioned that she loves patchouli scented soap. Sandy has a fun and really creative selection of crafts. You can check her out at at FireFlyNotes on Etsy.  So far, the only bar I’ve made that contains patchouli essential oil is part of a blend– my Instant Karma soap. It’s a great blend, but not ‘pure patch’, so I decided to make a small batch as a tester. I added some dried patchouli leaves, a pinch of silk fibers and goats milk. The scent is actually growing on me! I avoided oven processing so poor Jon wouldn’t have to cope with a patchouli scented house. Here’s how it looks:

They will be ready to sell in time for the Make It Show on May 1 & 2. I’m excited for this event because if I make lots of sales it means I can make more soap! Right now my inventory is pretty full so it’s hard to justify making more.

Now, tonight I have to make dinner because the family is coming over. Off to find a good recipe to make pork tenderloin into something delicious. Wish me luck!

Here’s how my cart is set up. This took Jon and I several hours to do on Sunday evening.

I made up some great Valentines Day Gift Packs for this. Here is one for the ladies.

It’s got 3 bars of soap:

- Bouquet of Roses (scented with English Rose)

-Bottle of Wine (scented with White Zinfandel)

-Box of Chocolates (scented with Expresso Chocolate)

A handmade cotton facecloth (not by me, I can’t crochet!), and a little wooden soap deck that Jon and I made from some solid wood trim boards.

Another one for the girls…these are Matching Scent Gift Packs, each contains

A bar of soap, a jar of whipped body butter and a jar of emulsified sugar scrub.

I did these  in 4 different scents:

Black Raspberry Vanilla

White Tea & Ginger

Love Potion

Lick Me All Over

Next I did a Chocolate Lover’s Gift Pack containing:

Edible Chocolate Massage Butter

Chocolate  Expresso Sugar Scrubs

Chocolate Scented Soap

Chocolate Orange Lip Balm

I think this last one is my favourite.  A Six Pack O’ Suds beer soap gift pack. I had a lot of fun making soap with six different types of beer and choosing scents to match. This is what I came up with for the soaps:

Ginger Lime, made with Nut Brown Ale

Rosemary Mint, made with Lager

Unscented, made with Guinness Draught

Oatmeal, Milk and Honey, made with Oatmeal Stout

Chocolate Expresso, made with Chocolate Stout

Salty Sea, made with Honey Brown Ale

This is how the packaging looks. I had a custom stamp made

for this. Inside, I added kraft paper crinkle shreds and a handmade cotton facecloth.

I’ve got to get there super-early tomorrow- proabably 6 AM-  because the Olympic Torch Relay will be taking place right outside the mall tomorrow morning around 6:30 so the main street will be closed.  I’m disappointed that I won’t get to see the relay come through here in Delta, but Devon will see it in front of his school later in the morning. I think they are starting classes later so the kids can all see the torch going by.

I chose a winning comment by using a random number generator, and Lisa was the winner of my handmade soap giveaway! Congratulations Lisa and thanks everyone else for coming and entering the contest. Here are the bars that Lisa requested as her prize:  Bubble Gum, Lemongrass & Lime and Sea Salt Spa. They are on their way to Maryland today. I hope you enjoy them Lisa!

Happy New Year everyone! To start the year off right, I’m holding a little giveaway contest.  If you’d like the chance to WIN your choice of THREE bars of my handmade soap, here’s your chance.

Shipping of the prize is limited to Canada and the USA.

It’s so simple to Enter to WIN !

**Just hop over to my etsy  shop here, and/or the soap list on my own site here (more products are listed there) Have a look around and then come back and leave a comment telling us which soaps you would like to win  (don’t forget to leave your email for contact- it won’t appear publicly)**

For additional entries:

1. Tweet a link to this giveaway! (one entry per tweet– no limts!)

2. Follow me on Twitter here

3. Subscribe to my blog

4. Add a link back to this giveaway on your own blog (give us the URL in a comment here)

5. Blog about this giveaway with a link back here

6. Add my blog to your blogroll

7. Post a link to the giveaway on Facebook

8. Add my blog button to your blog

Please leave a separate comment below for each of your entries. The contest will run for 2 weeks, from Jan 1st till Jan 14th at noon (or as soon as I get a chance to do the draw that day)

Winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn and you’ll forfeit your prize.

Good luck everyone!

Jan 14/10 Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you everyone for visiting and entering to win. The winner has been contacted and has 48 hours to respond to claim his/her prize.

Looking forward to seeing what 2010 brings. Devon is graduating this year which is amazing to me. It’s hard to believe the school years are nearly done for us. Can’t imagine what he’ll be doing after that but I sure hope he comes up with something soon. What couldn’t my kids be the type that had their futures all planned out? Well, I can’t complain too much since I was exactly the same at their ages. I didn’t figure out that I wanted to go back to school until I was around 20. I spent a few years making low wages and working much too hard for it before I realized I was the only one who could change that.

I hope to find lots of opportunities to grow my soap business this year. Right now I’m working on soaps and other products  for Valentines Day. I’ve rented a cart to sell at Semiahmoo Centre in White Rock from Feb 7th – 14th. My challenge is to have enough product to fill the cart and make an attractive display, but not so much that I have tons left over when I’m finished. There’s just no way to guess how much I’ll sell, so I’m thinking I’ll plan for enough product to at least triple my costs.

A few ideas I’m working on for Valentines Day Gift Packs:

Triple Delight: A Bar each of ‘Bouquet of Roses’, ‘Box of Chocolates’ and ‘Bottle of Wine’ soaps, wrapped elegantly with a handmade wooden soap dish. The soap scents I’ll be using are English Rose, Expresso Chocolate and White Zinfandel. I’ve already made a couple batches of the Roses and Chocolate soaps– they smell fantastic!

Then for the men, I’m planning a ‘Six Pack of Suds’, which will be a package of six different half-size bars of Beer Soap.  Jon gets the credit for the name- I love it! Here’s a shot of one of my current beer soaps, made with Labatt’s Pilsenser:

Of course, I’ll bring all the rest of my soaps and products along for sale. I’m also thinking of doing some sort of Chocoholics Gift Pack, including a soap, an edible body massage butter, lip balm and bath bomb.  I’ve ordered some new fragrances to try out as well: Extremely Sexy For Men, Love Spell, Lick Me All Over, Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Back Raspberry Vanilla. They all sound incredible. I’m planning some coordinated gift packs of different products with the same scent too. Makes it easy when it’s all wrapped up together.

Off to get started on some more soap!

I spent some time listing some of my Juicybags stuff in my Etsy shop last night. I forgot how time consuming that can be! Now to promote and try to get some sales for Christmas. The great thing about my Juicybags for online shopping is that the shipping is usually quite reasonable since they are so lightweight. If I can pack them flat enough, I can even send them by letter post which is much cheaper than package rate.

Now- if only Canada would get a nice, simple flat rate system going I could get to selling more soaps too! I have to get Jon to update my Juicybath site today. I’ve sold out of so many of my soaps that are pictured there. Lots of new stuff is on the curing racks though. We just have to figure out how to get better photos to show them off properly. I’ve got another craft fair this weekend so I’ll be busy in between working nights (ugh!) this week to get everything stocked up again. I need to make more Whipped Body Butters and I need scent suggestions. I made some unscented and only sold one or two. I guess scented is the way to go for that product.

How about:

Coconut?

Pineapple Cilantro?

Instant Karma? (like Lush’s  Karma)

Mango Melon?

Orange?

Lavender?

Honeysuckle?

Yesterday, I showed my soaps for the first time at a local craft fair. Unfortunately the shopper turn-out was quite disappointing. You really can never tell how something like this is going to go, but I learned a few things anyway. I think it’s important to ask certain questions before deciding to participate as a vendor.

For example:

Is this the first year for this event?

Have you organized other craft fairs?

How many vendors will be there and what are they selling?

What is the expected attendance for this fair?

What kind of advertizing will be done?

Jon said he searched for info online about this fair and it wasn’t even advertised on craigslist! I’m sure there are other things I could do to research fairs. Something I thought of was to contact previous vendors and find out how the event was attended last year.

Jon and I stayed up nearly all night Friday setting up and printing the product labels, labeling everything and making signage. I finally crashed out at 4:30 am and Jon was up till 5:30. We had to be up again by 7:30 to go get set up for the fair. You know something? I really have the most wonderful, loving and supportive husband. He came along with me  yesterday, helped me set up, kept me company, went to get me lunch, helped me take down and pack up and then got me home safely so we could crash again. We went to sleep at 6:00 pm last night!

There were only about 15 vendors there. It was very low-key, with the tables widely spaced in a very large hall. The thermostat controls were locked up in the morning, so they weren’t able to get the heat turned on until the afternoon. Luckily I’d worn a hoody jacket, but it wasn’t enough to keep me warm. All afternoon I kept dreaming about getting home and into our heated waterbed. The lady who ran the event was apologetic, but what can you do? We probably sold enough to cover our table fee and lunch, but that was it. Many customers were  interested in my solid shampoo and conditioner cakes and  solid lotion bars, and I sold quite a few.  Some customers mentioned how they would be great for travel, so I would like to try to find some reusable storage containers for the shampoo and conditioner cakes. Maybe something like the lotion bar tins, or maybe something plastic and water-tight.

I met someone who might be interested in doing a fundraiser with my Scrabble tile pendant charms, that would be fun to do if it works out.

Here’s a few more photos of some of my products on display. These wooden display shelves were made by the husband of a soapmaker who sold me a bunch of her supplies when she sold her business. I think this shows off my soaps really well.

These are the shampoo and conditioner cakes. I think these are my favourite product. Made from shampoo and condtioner ingredients (they aren’t soap!) but without all that water and extra packaging. Great for camping or travelling. No water, so you can take them in your carry-on luggage for flying.

I knew there was going to be some colour morphing when I added the fragrance to the soap. It was a bit yellowing right at the start- not a great sign. Of course I was all ready to go with my colours mixed, so I went ahead and did the swirl. The design was quite good. I liked the thin lines of colour and the overall look. This is how it looked in the loaf and then right after cutting the next morning.

Not too bad, but certainly not white which is what I wanted for a bubblegum scented soap. I know you can’t tell, but I was going for white soap with pink and blue swirls!

I was lying in bed this morning very early and couldn’t sleep, so I started planning the rebatch for this soap. I visited one of my favourite soap blogs, called simply A Handmade Soap Blog. She wrote about a method of rebatching soap to add colours or fragrance and use it for embeds. Unfortunately she only blogged for less than a year and nothing has been added since Sept 2007. I hope she returns and blogs again. Her soaps are amazing!

I’d rebatched to make embeds before by melting the grated soap down in the microwave, adding scents and colour, letting it harden again and then grating it down again and forming it into balls. I used the melting-down method to make the balls for my Baby Powder soap. It worked pretty well, but the process took a long time and I found the re-grated soap very crumbly and difficult to work with and form into balls. It was a lot of work.

So this time I just grated the soap down, added a tiny bit of warm water and kneaded it like bread dough, adding some ultramarine blue for colour bit by bit till I reached the shade I was after. You can see by this picture how soft the soap is. I think this method is the best when the soap is quite fresh.

Then I used my cookie scoop to help form the dough into balls. I actually gave up on the scoop pretty quickly because I wanted different sized balls. It was like playing with sticky playdoh-  so quick and easy! I rolled about 1-1/2 pounds of balls in just a few minutes. Much easier than the previous method I’d tried.  I did get soap all over my camera taking this next picture. My hands were completely covered. Luckily soap cleans off really well

It worked so well that I went ahead and grated down the other half of the batch and used ultramarine purple for colour. (I didn’t get photos of the purple balls- oops!) Then I just made a fresh batch of unscented soap to embed them into. It’s a bit tricky knowing when to pour and how to to get the layers of balls in the mold at different heights. The mold is only half full here and I’m waiting impatiently to pour more base over it.

Here’s the mold completely filled and all ready to be put to bed. It needs to do its thing for about 24 hours to complete its transformation into soap,  so I’ll add photos of the cut soaps tomorrow. So far, so good!

Update Nov 1:  Here’s a photo of a few of the cut soaps. I’m quite happy with how they turned out. The little flecks inside the balls are tiny bits of soap from its previous life as a swirled soap.