the feto soap blog

I am back from California and ready to whip up some lovely bath and body products for you! To celebrate the re-opening I am offering a 20% off coupon to you for the month of June! Coupon Code: BACK.

Maker Faire 2009

Feto Soap will be at Maker Faire this weekend! Saturday, May 30th from 10am- 8pm and Sunday, May 31st from 10am - 6pm. If you are in the Bay Area, please come on out! We will have our Make Your Own Soap Booth where you can create a custom bar of glycerin soap in under an hour! You can select the color, fragrance & toy that will go in your soap with our help.

It’s been busy in feto soap land. I am relocating to Austin, TX in April and have been wrapping up life here in Houston.

There was a fundraiser at the hospital that I work at and my colleague made the best crackers. She was generous enough to share the recipe, so I thought I’d share it with you too.

Party Crackers

1 box unsalted tops saltines (they don’t need to be salted because the ranch dressing powder mix is pretty salty. I might even decrease the amount of powder the next time I make a batch of these.)
2/3 Cup Canola Oil
2 - 4 T Crushed Red Pepper
1 package Ranch Dressing Powder

Pour crackers in a large airtight container. Mix other 3 ingredients and pour over crackers. Toss gently. Every 15 minutes, flip container for one hour.

I had a very hard time resisting eating the whole batch of crackers… that’s how tasty this recipe is. and easy to put together too! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Come to Midtown Farmers Market this Saturday, Feb. 28th and make your very own custom bar of soap at the feto soap booth for just $6.00. I’ll help you choose the scent, color, glitter and toy combination. It takes just minutes to put this together. After you pour the soap, you need about 20 minutes for it to set. At $6.00 it’s reasonably priced fun craft project to do this weekend.

Along with the fun soap-crafting that can be done, you can have breakfast at t’afia and shop the farmers market to fill your cupboard with fresh, local produce and prepared foods!

The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here. We will be there from 8am - Noon.

Envy Magazine featured our Chocolate Bon-Bon Soaps in their Holiday Shopping Guide - Valentine’s Gifts for Yourself on page 92 in the February issue. Thanks Envy!

Come to Midtown Farmers Market and make your sweetie a custom bar of soap at the feto soap booth for just $6.00. I’ll help you choose the scent, color, glitter and toy combination. It takes just minutes to put this together. After you pour the soap, you need about 20 minutes for it to set. Nothing says I love you (or I like you) like a handmade gift and at $6.00 it’s reasonably priced!

The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here. We will be there from 8am - Noon.

This Saturday, Feb. 7th, I’ll be at the Midtown Farmers Market with my Make Your Own Soap booth where you can create a custom bar of soap with the scent, color, glitter and toy you pick out. After you pour the soap, you need about 20 minutes for it to set, and you can use it that day, if you like! I’ll also be here next week on Valentine’s Day Feb. 14th.

The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here.

My next soapmaking class is coming up this Sunday,  January 18th.

Soapmaking–Better than Store Bought

Discover the benefits and fun of making and using handmade soap. Not only is it better for your skin but it also allows you to be creative since you select the ingredients, colors, fragrances and shapes. Learn to overcome your fear of working with lye (an essential ingredient in all soap) as well as important safety precautions as you learn to produce a batch of soap. NOTE: Each student will take home one bar of soap.

Class Number: S1018A Sun 2-5pm Jan 18

To register, go to Leisure Learning Unlimited’s Website:
http://llu.com/sdc/group_classes_llu.html?classgroup=3611

REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Read the rest of this entry »

A couple people have asked, so I thought I’d list places I’ve recently stocked.

In Houston:
Te House of Tea 2402 Woodhead St, Houston, TX‎ - (713) 522-8868‎

Hello Lucky 1025 Studewood St, Houston, TX‎ - (713) 864-3556‎
New Shop Hours
Wednesdays Noon - 5 (throughout the holidays)
Thursday 11 - 5
Friday and Saturday 11 - 6
*Sunday Noon- 5*
and Christmas Week
Monday 11 - 5
Tuesday 11 - 5
Wednesday 11 - 2

Mutter Museum Store 19 SOUTH TWENTY-SECOND STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103-3097 | PHONE 215-563-3737 Open:  Sat - Thurs 10am -5pm Friday 10am-9pm

Yes, I mean you! If you need a last-minute gift, check out the local crafts spree at the Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday, December 13th from 8am - Noon.  Choose from all kinds of soap at my booth! Come and see locally handmade cards, jewelery, clothing & pottery. I will be having a BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE on all of the items in my booth!

Since the Make Your Own Soap booth was so popular last week, I am bringing it back this weekend as a part of my setup! Only $5 to cover materials, you can create a custom bar of soap with the scent, color, glitter and toy you pick out. After you pour the soap, you need about 20 minutes for it to set, and you can use it that day, if you like!

The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here.

It’s that time of the month! No, not that kind! I mean it’s time for the local crafts spree at the Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday, December 13th from 8am - Noon. The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here.

Choose from 40+ kinds of soap at my booth! Come and see locally handmade cards, jewelery, clothing & pottery.

If you can’t make it out this week, I’ll be back next month on December 20th, same time, same bat-channel. You can also order online with FREE SHIPPING until Dec. 13th and ship directly to your recipient. December 13th (This Saturday) is the deadline for holiday orders. The online store will close at Midnight and not reopen until January 2009.

Thanks to everyone who came out and showed their support at the Spacetaker Winter Holiday Art Market. Two of my customers fragrance evocations of my soap really touched me, so I thought I would share them with you.

One woman received a bar of White Tea & Ginger Soap last year as a Christmas present & instead of using it as a soap, used it as an air freshener in her bedroom. She said that it smelled spicy and citrusy and it brought her feelings of happiness and joy just to smell it all year long. She didn’t like me calling it an air freshener because she said an air freshener can’t cause her to have those feelings! Who am I to argue? The customer is always right!

Another was a first time customer, Jessica. She picked up a bar of the Man Smell Soap and said that the smell reminded her of getting a hug. She had the biggest smile on her face, too. The next day she went on a date and thought her date smelled just like the soap. Maybe I’ll change the name of Man Smell Soap to Date Soap or Your Boyfriend’s Soap. What do you think?

What does the smell of my soap remind you of?

The last day to place your holiday soap order will be on December 13th. After this date the online store will be closed and will not open until Janurary 2009! Free Shipping until December 13th!

@soaplog on twitter asked me if getting into markets and fairs was something difficult to get into. I have to say, I stumbled into doing them five years ago. I was selling my soap online and a supportive friend posted a link to my site on Meta Filter

from Meta Filter’s about page

“Metafilter is a weblog (what’s a weblog? | comprehensive history of weblogs) that anyone can contribute a link or a comment to. A typical weblog is one person posting their thoughts on the unique things they find on the web. This website exists to break down the barriers between people, to extend a weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members.”

Claire of Poopscape.com reads Meta Filter.  She blogged about feto soap. I looked in my referrer log and saw her link to me and her zines, and asked her if she wanted to trade zines for soap. We exchanged mailing addresses and I discovered that she lived in my neighborhood! We met for coffee at Brazil. A couple months later (I think in the fall) she emailed me about a new craft market that was held behind the same coffee shop! It was the Dunlavy St. Craft Market. I think I showed up with a dozen bars of soap… totally unprepared! They held a few more craft markets and I learned what to bring by figuring out what I didn’t have the last time.

I’m not sure how the organizers of the Dunlavy St. Market knew Andrea at the Midtown Farmers Market, but she shared her list of crafters with Andrea, and I started selling there too! I think a year later the Houston Farmers Market approached me to start selling at their market as a weekly vendor.  so that’s how I went from online to in person sales at craft markets.

I’ll be at the Spacetaker Winter Holiday Art Market all weekend with finished products and a make your own soap station! Hopefully I’ll see you there!

We are happy to announce that we will be a part of the Spacetaker Winter Holiday Art Market! This year you will have the option to create your very own soap right in our booth! You’ll be able to customize the color, scent & toy in your soap (if you want a toy in your soap!) Here’s the skinny:

December 5-7, 2008 Winter Holiday Art Market at the Winter Street Studios, 2101 Winter St, Houston, TX

Seventy-five percent of sales go to the artist and the remaining twenty-five percent will go to Spacetaker. Patrons will have the choice to pick from everything from jewelry to soap to painting and will be able to leave with their art the day of sale.

December 5th, Friday night from 6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. with pre-shopping, a DJ, food and drinks.
December 6th, Saturday the sale will begin at 12:00 p.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m., food and libation will be provided for happy hour.
December 7th, Sunday, the market will be open from noon to 5:00 p.m. with a Champagne brunch.

If you can’t make it, no sweat! FREE Shipping from the feto soap website! http://fetosoap.com/shop

Happy Thanksgiving people! and because I’m in such a giving mood, I am giving you all FREE SHIPPING on your soapy orders!

Pilgrim Rubber Ducky Soap I’m taking as a hostess gift for my friend who is hosting thanksgiving dinner at her house.

It’s that time of the month! No, not that kind! I mean it’s time for the local crafts spree at the Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday, November 8th from 8am - Noon. The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here.

Choose from 40+ kinds of soap at my booth! Come and see locally handmade cards, jewelery, clothing & pottery.

If you can’t make it out this week, I’ll be back next month on December 13th and 20th, same time, same bat-channel.

If you live in the Houston area, you can now purchase Feto Soap products at Te House of Tea located at 1927 Fairview @ Woodhead in the Montrose area. They carry sandalwood vanilla, yuzu japanese citrus, white tea & ginger & lavender patchouli soap, bath salts, candles & dry oil sprays. They are the only place to get lavender patchouli candles - they are made custom just for them!

In addition to my soaps, they have dance nights on Friday - Tango and on most Saturday nights you’ll find me here dancing.  This teahouse also has nice dinner fare - the Chicken in a Blanket is my favorite!