New Baby Soap

I have been playing around with some ideas for a really gentle soap that is specially designed for baby skin. I truly love the Naked Shea soap, but I wanted something even gentler. I wanted something that was soothing, creamy, and skin loving.

Here is what I decided I needed:

• Aloe-who doesn't remember their mom keeping an aloe plant in the house and any time there was anything wrong, you got rubbed down with it?
• Goat milk-gives the soap a rich, creamy texture and adds to the skin-softening properties.
• Oatmeal-good for all sorts of skin problems, so it is going to be good for babies too.
• Super skin conditioning oils: I went with avocado, shea butter, and cocoa butter. How luxurious are those together? Even without all the other goodies, that would make a great bar of soap.

I actually decided to use really fresh aloe, so I bought a small plant to be used for this purpose. I pulled it, washed it really well, the pulled the leaves off and dumped them in a blender. I then ran all the juice and pulp through a strainer to get the "skin" out. I didn't add the aloe to the lye mixture, but added it to the oils after adding the lye. I don't know if that makes a difference, but it is worth a shot.

I creamed the colloidal (finely ground) oatmeal into the goat milk before freezing, which I'm not sure was a good idea. While mixing goat milk and lye makes a stinky orange mess anyway, I think adding the oatmeal early also resulting in the orange speckles in the soap. It doesn't smell bad, so I don't think it is going to effect the quality of the final soap.

I melted the shea and cocoa butters over low heat and added them at light trace. I've noticed that sometimes when I used butters, the final bars can turn out grainy, so I treated these with the same care I would use if they were going into a balm.

I used a round mold because it seems that baby soap should be round. I don't know why I decided this, but I did. I'm glad I did, I think it looks perfect! I can't wait to be able to use one of these and give you some feedback on them. I probably wouldn't be so anxious if my target for this soap wasn't to very precious and delicate!

I don't have much of a name for it right now. The best I have is Baby Soap (oh yes, I'm that original) or Milk and Aloe Baby Soap (even better!). If you have any ideas, feel free to share.

Soap Packaging Decision

If you recall, not too long ago I started rethinking my soap packaging...again. Really, I think this is a question that is discussed on EVERY soapmaking forum. In detail. You can read about my past packaging here.

After thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons, I finally made a decision. The feedback I received said I should keep the paper because it was simple, yet very pretty. I really did consider that. However, on my list of cons was the time it took to cut the paper and wrap each bar of soap. The pros was that it was fairly inexpensive; that is, until you add in the cost of the time it was taking to package the soap. Then, it was about even with the soap boxes.

Considering that I am now a single mom of soon-to-be 2 children, I really do have to consider time a lot more. I don't want to give up my soap business, but my time in more limited than before. (To be honest, I've been considering a lot of things that I could do to save time, but more on that later)

So, the soap boxes won out. All I have to do is pop the box open, tuck in one end, pop the soap in, tuck in the other end, and add a label. We are talking maybe 30 seconds per bar of soap. That is a HUGE difference! Plus, I can't deny that I do like the look of the soap boxes.

I am still planning on having other types of packaging. For example, I'm starting to make round soaps, but they wouldn't fit in a box. But, I will be using boxes as the main way to package soap.

What do you think? Do you like the boxes?

I Guess I'll Clean the Laundry Room-Week 5 ish

Ok, so I've been behind on everything because of Science Fair, which is over again. And again, it went amazingly well despite all of my stress.

But, with my little one on her way, I've started really working to get stuff cleaned up. I cleaned out the hall closet and my makeup bag again. I'm not that worried about the craft supplies because I just did it this past summer and I don't buy much anymore. The soap room will get done, but it isn't a top priority because I just did that in July too. The garage is on the list, but my plan is to have a garage sale and just pull stuff out starting that morning, then go through stuff after that. {I once learned that even if it isn't a garage sale, if you pull stuff out of your garage to clean, people stop to shop, so why not!} The upstairs is desperate, but I'm waiting on my ex to get stuff packed up and moved out, so I'm being patient.

However, there is one room I really had no plan for. In fact, I have been avoiding it like the plague! The laundry room...dun, dun, duuuuun. This is our catch all room. If it needs to be put away or moved, it goes in there. I hate it. But, I also didn't want to clean it.

That was until our plumbing backed up last Sunday. Oh yeah, coming out of the downstairs shower drain and the hot water heater drain. Luckily, the shower is sunk into the ground, so that was contained. However, the laundry room flooded (and leaked under the wall to soak the carpet on the other side). So, we moved everything out of the laundry room, pulled furniture away from the wall, and set stuff out to dry if needed. Plumbing got fixed and the laundry room got cleaned up. Now, my choice was to shove everything back in and ignore the problem some more or clean up.

I cleaned up. I put the laundry stuff back (for obvious reasons). I also put our fans and coolers back because that is the logical place to store them until we need them in the summer. I put the vacuum back because it goes there too. That's it! I went through all of the boxes and cleaning stuff on the shelves and organized everything. I didn't have anything to get rid of there though. Amazing! However, I did have lots of boxes in the living room to go through. I went through and got everything that is going to a new home packed up. My things that need to go out to the garage for sale or storage (I don't know what to do with the PlayStation) are boxed up and waiting to be carried out. Plus, I have a box for drop off at the electronics recycling place.

My laundry room looks awesome! You can walk in without tripping over anything. You can get to the tools and cleaning stuff without stubbing a toe. I'm just so excited. I really think this should count for two weeks. Anyone with me?

Has your Spring Cleaning started yet?

Crazy Week

We all have those weeks when we are so busy, we don't even realize just how crazy it actually is. Yeah, that was last week for me.

Saturday was going to be pretty low key because Hayden was with his dad. I went up to school to get a few things done. Then, I came home did a quick inventory of everything I needed to order and got my orders placed. I went back to make some soap and guess what! My scale quit on me. My trusty scale served me well for many years, but it was done. Luckily, it decided it was done when I was measuring out water, so nothing major was lost! So, I came back up to order a new one. From there, the plan was to get some cleaning and organizing done. The only thing that got finished was...all the photos from my computer transferred to my new one! Needed to be done, but not was I was hoping for.

Sunday, the weather was bad, so Hayden and I hung out inside. Cleaning, playing, and grading. Not bad right.

Then, Monday hit. Science Fair boards were due on Monday because of our snow day last week and I stayed late for those finishing up. It was insane! I think everyone was having a last minute panic attack trying to get one last letter or something added to their boards. Then, I talked my brother into taking care of Hayden and I went back up to school to grade boards. I was there until a little after 9, but they got graded and I was able to give the students feedback on Tuesday!

Tuesday, I helped the kids practice their presentations, plus I was trying to get a few last minute judges and get everything ready, so everyone knew what to do Friday morning AND I was still trying to keep up with the usual teachery things I have to do. Tuesday night meant more grading, but I also put together all the Excel spreadsheets I would need Friday.

Wednesday was when it really started getting crazy. I actually started going to each student to grade how they were presenting! I had more judges start rolling in (woo hoo!), so I had to get emails out to all of them about what to expect and when to be at school. It doesn't seem like much, but my brain was rattling when I left for home. That night, I got the schedule done! That was huge, last year I did the schedule the night before and it took forever.

Thursday, more of the same for grading, but students were starting to get nervous, so a lot of them had questions about what to say, do, or not say. I didn't get near enough graded (guess what I'm doing on Monday)! Plus, I had about 15 more judges volunteer! So much for my schedule :) Thursday night, I got together with two of the other teachers again and we got busy with last minute details. Setting up the gym with tables and numbering the tables. I fixed the schedule, so we start inputting data for judging sheets, printing and organizing judging sheets, and getting all the sheets attached to clipboards. We got everything set out and ready for the next morning. Computers were ready to go to the gym for scoring, the projector was set up and ready for my presentation, and we were exhausted because it was midnight!

Friday morning, I woke up early to get ready. Tried getting Hayden ready early (ha ha) and then went to the store to get stuff for coffee. I had intended to be at school and working by 7; instead, it was 7:30. Luckily, I work with amazing teachers, so they helped me get all the last minute things taken care of and I was actually ready to start at 8 like I'm supposed to. I had 5 judges that didn't show up, but I had scheduled alternates this year! We were all down in the gym to start on time, I had parent volunteers to help be runners and answer questions, I had people to total scores and enter them, and I had a great sound system so everyone could hear me! Once Science Fair actually started, I really had very little to do, which felt weird and wrong. It went so smoothly and the kids did such a great job.

I know I complain about it every year and I dread putting it together, but I can honestly say, in the end, everything was worth it. I could not be more proud of my kiddos for the work they did!

Friday night...I crashed :)

I've Been Missing...

I know I last week was a slow week. To be honest, next week and the week after will probably be slow as well. Science Fair is March 1st! I am crazy, crazy right now trying to get everything graded, planned, put together, and whatever else I am forgetting. Plus, I still have to keep up with my other mothering, business ownering, and teachering duties. I figured if I was going to fall behind on anything, this would be the best one to let slip for a bit. I promise it won't be permanent or long.

Thank you for you understanding.

Cleaning Out the Closet-Week 4

Last weekend was a little too hectic and involved a very needy toddler. So, I didn't get any major cleaning project done. I did get the house cleaned, he loves helping with dishes and pushing the button on the Swiffer, so as long as it could involved him, it was great. Unfortunately, really deep cleaning something should not involved a toddler.

One of the projects I've needed to do was to rearrange the closets in my room. There is a lot up in the air right now as far as the living situation. My lease is up in June and I don't know if I will stay, move, or maybe buy. I do know that as the house is currently arranged, baby girl will not have her own room in April. That's really okay because I was planning on putting her bassinet next to the bed for a couple of months anyway! However, there isn't enough room for a changing table.

So, what I wanted to do was put a changing table and all the things I'd need for her (except clothes) in one of the closets and since I now have two, it works out. However, the best closet for this plan was my closet because there is an outlet for a small lamp. I cleared everything that was still in the spare closet out!

Before organizing, pull everything out!

Then, I started going through stuff in the other closet. I had quite a few clothes on the side shelves, so I pulled those out and I pulled everything I can't currently wear off the hangers. I went through all the clothes, pants and skirts first, anything that did fit (or almost fit) before I got pregnant was neatly folded and placed on the bottom shelf in the closet. Anything else went into a pile for garage sale. Then, I did the same with shirts and put them on the middle shelf. Last, I went through my long-sleeve shirts and sweaters and put those on the top shelf. It will be a while before I don't need them, so I left them in the closet.

Next, I moved the plastic storage/drawer thingy over, but I didn't go through that because I did that during my declutter mission. Since I haven't bought new clothes (pregnancy, what's the point) since and I've been good about throwing out holey socks, there wasn't a reason too. Last, I pulled out all of the shoes from my closet and separated into three piles: "will wear once swelling in feet goes down/can currently wear" {place neatly in the new closet}, "don't fit since the first pregnancy, but are in great shape" {place in garage sale pile}, and "don't make Goodwill throw them out for you" {place in trash}.

I even went through the things on the upper shelves and reorganized all of that to be neat. Now, I have one very organized closet with just the things I need and one {almost} empty closet that has only baby things!

Yes, I have very few clothes that currently fit, though some are in the laundry!

I am also checking off clearing out the bedroom dressers because I cleaned out Hayden's and my own over Christmas break. So, when I opened them to look, there really wasn't anything to do!

I'm finding breaking this up into small projects is making me feel accomplished, yet not overwhelmed. Do you have tips that help you get a lot done in a small amount of time?

Soap Packaging Revisited

Is there a soap maker out there that hasn't gone back and forth about soap packaging? If so, please explain how you made this decision and was it easy?

For me, this has been the hardest part of soapmaking!

Here is my original packaging:

The cigar bands were easy, cheap, and created minimal packaging. Plus, the consumer could smell AND see the soaps before buying. However, they didn't protect the soaps well and I had problems with them slipping off or getting torn with moving them so much.

Next I tried shrink wrap bags:

The label was printed on cardstock, cut, then placed on the soap before it was shrink wrapped. The wrap is still cheap. The soaps were very protected and you could see what they looked like. But, you couldn't smell the soap and the shrink wrap was hard to get off. Plus, the bags were too large. So, you could get the end and have one end open (I'll tell you this didn't always work out so well if you weren't careful cutting) or tape the end down before shrinking (this didn't look great).

I've recently found soap bands for shrink wrap. They are open on both ends and already sized for most soaps, so you just center your soap and shrink wrap. They also have a perforated tab for easy opening. It also sounds like it is easy to make them smaller for smaller bars. So, that would solve the size problem, smelling problem, and the hard-to-get-open problem.

I decided to try using paper wrapping and really pretty paper bands:

I printed a label and stuck it to the paper. I won't lie, I LOVE the way these look. I used different handmade papers for different scents and simple colored paper underneath. The soaps are protected and you can smell them through the paper. It is also nice because I can make it fit any bar. But, I have to leave on unwrapped for people to see. Plus, the cutting and wrapping is a little labor intensive. With the number of bands I can get out of a sheet of handmade paper, it isn't too much more than shrink wrap, but then you add your time to that! Plus, buying different sheets of handmade paper for the soaps and making sure I don't run out is harder to keep up with.

 Last option, soap boxes (never tried):

Pic from Elements Bath & Body

I've thought about boxes, but they are the more expensive option. On the plus side, your soap is well protected. It is easy to remove the soap to see and smell, but easy to put back as well. They are really easy to pop open, stuff your soap in and slap a label on. They are most commonly sold as white or kraft color and come with a variety of cut-outs. I even found a site that does colored boxes (expensive unless ordering A LOT!). My biggest concern with this option has been the cost and the fact that it would only be one size, so I'd have to figure out something else for smaller bars. However, the time I'd save compared to wrapping in paper may be worth it! I could also offer the option for no box online to save people money or maybe do a box recycling program (I haven't thought that one through much).

So, what do you think? I'm looking for an attractive, easy, cost-effective, consumer-friendly method for packaging my soaps. My options are shrink wrap bands (cheap, quick, see-through, multi-sizes), paper (BEAUTIFUL, labor-intensive, not too expensive, not see through, mulit-sizes), or boxes (more costly, quick, easy open, one-size).

Which option would you like to see or think would be the best for me?