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Gifting, Gallery Style

November 17, 2009

At the holiday gift exchange, you always get stuck with a Starbucks gift card the giver bought on the way to the party. And you don’t even drink coffee.

Stock up on well-priced items that will get snatched over too much syrah at this weekend’s Winter Holiday Arts Market benefiting Spacetaker. Selected young local artists congregate for a two-day event to showcase items you’ll want to give and receive – soaps shaped like cupcakes, belts and jewelry from Hello Lucky, hip silk scarves, whimsical prints, artisan jewelry from Petals & Metals, and modern stationery from A Punkin Card Company. You won’t be able to stop at just one present.

And then you can send Miss Unoriginal home with a bottle of wine. You know, since she’s pregnant.

Spacetaker’s Winter Holiday Arts Market
Friday, November 20th (5 – 10 p.m.)
Saturday, November 21st (11 a.m. – 8 p.m.)
FREE at Winter Street Studios
Featuring a DJ, performances, complimentary cocktails, and kid-friendly art activities
www.spacetaker.org

Feto Soap will have a booth here from Friday – Sunday!  11am – 6pm See you there! 1412 S Congress Ave

Depending on the weather and crowds vending may continue through the evening. Feel free to call to see if I am still at the booth. 512.850.5472

Other vendors will have Apparel, Accessories, Art, Jewelry, Mosaics & more!

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.

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

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?

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!

Hey  Houston! I am back from Austin and ready to serve you up some freshly made soap! I’ll have 40 + kinds of soap to choose from at the Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday, November 1st 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.

Brand new soaps are Rosemary Mint, Lavender Citrus Mint & Cool Water with Kelp.

If you can’t make it out this week, I’ll be back next week on the 8th, same time, same bat-channel.

I haven’t done a farmers market in ages! I took the month of August off and at my next scheduled market in September Hurricane Ike hit, but I’m back with 40 + kinds of soap to choose from.

I will be vending at the Midtown Farmers Market Local Crafts Spree on Saturday, October 11th 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.

SECOND SATURDAY SHOPPING SPREE!! Lots of local craft vendors on the patio such as Houston Craft Mafia Members Eutectic Handcrafted Jewelry & A Punkin Card Company will be there! Shop Local and Shop Handmade!

Cheers!
Lisa Chouinard, Feto Soap

The Feto Soap workspace did not sustain any damage! We are without power, but still able to process orders, so if you were thinking about holding off on your order because of Hurricane Ike, don’t! The United States Postal Service has been running regularly since Monday so your soapy orders are still able to go out. I have a cell phone with internet and am able to charge it in the car when the battery runs low.

Betcha didn’t know we make foaming hand soap here at feto soap! It’s not a listed item! But we do make it by request. If you have a special request for us, don’t be shy! Just ask! We love custom work.

Sarah the Intern came over Saturday and we made some new soaps:  Sandalwood Vanilla, Berry Wine & Zinfandel.

Teresa at Hello Lucky took some pictures of my handmade soap with one of her models! Hello Lucky carries artist designed men’s women’s and kid’s t-shirts, jackets, skirts, jewelry for guys and gals, local honey, hot sauce, soaps, candles, vanilla sugar, cutting boards, cards and some vintage products like bags and buckles.

Photo Credit Teresa O'Connor

Photo Credit Teresa O'Connor

I love making and using this soap. I grind coffee beans, melt cocoa butter and stir in poppy seeds for exfoliation. I use a special secret mix of vanillas and it makes my whole workspace smell wonderful! This is one of the Bigger Batches of soap I made over the weekend. The log of soap is 17 and a half inches tall and currently weighs 5.8 pounds! It’s been sliced up into 17 and a half bars (the half bar will go into someone’s order as a sample).

I made this soap a few weeks ago but pulled the wrong mold, (the 5 & 6 lb mold look really similar) so I ended chopping about a 1/2 in from each bar from that log so they could fit into my boxes! Not this time! After they cure for 4 weeks they will fit perfectly into my brown kraft boxes.

I admit it. I make most of my soap in tiny two-pound batches. I do this so I can make many different scents and still have room to walk around my workspace. But this weekend I made some of my more popular soap in 5 – 6 lb batches.

One of the batches of soap I made was my Blackberry Sage Shea Butter Handmade Soap in my new 18-bar mold. This yummy smelling soap will available in a month! Cold Process Soap takes a few weeks to cure and is totally worth the wait.

I recently attended the first Houston Soapmakers Meetup. One of the questions that came up was how to rebatch soap. There are many ways to rebatch soap. I’m going to share my favorite method with you.

Supplies
Handmade Soap (either in block form or shreds)
Cheese Grater or Knife
Water or Aloe Vera Juice (or liquid of choice)
Fragrance or Essential Oil (not required, but this is what adds the scent to the soap.)
Microwavable Rice Cooker
Microwave
Molds for your soap. I prefer log molds when I rebatch – more on that in a minute.
Large Spoon to scoop soap in the mold

Step 1. Shred or chop soap into tiny pieces. I use a cheese grater to get my soap into small pieces.

Step 2. Put shredded soap in a microwavable rice cooker. You don’t want to fill it all the way to the top – I wouldn’t fill it more than 3/4 of the way full. You don’t want it to overflow when it’s cooking.

Step 3. Add a small amount of water or aloe vera juice, just enough to wet the soap. (1 Tablespoon at a time) You don’t want to get it too wet or you will get warped / shrunken-head looking soap. You will need to experiment with the amount of liquid to use here.

Step 4. Microwave the soap in 3 to 4 minute bursts.  The soap will get really hot when you microwave it, so be sure to use a potholder when handling the rice cooker. Open the container slowly so the steam doesn’t burn you.  Check to see if the soap has become translucent after the first cook. If the soap looks dry and is starting to burn, you are going to need to add more water. If you add too much water, the resulting soap is going to have a sunken look too it when it dries out.  I’ve rebatched 2 lbs of soap in two 4 minute bursts on my last try. You want to cook the soap in the rice cooker until it looks semi-translucent and a homogeneous look.

Step 5. Start scooping the soap into your mold. I like using log molds with a lid because you can use the lid to smoosh it down flat into the mold.

Step 6. Unmold your soap the next day and cut into bars. Your soap is ready to use! Take a bath!

Hey Austinites! Feto Soap will be at Maker Faire this October as a part of Bazaar Bizarre! The Bazaar Bizarre is a juried craft fair that selects vendors based on various elements such as: Individuality, DIY-sensibility, Quality of work & Diversity of Products

Travis County Event Center and Fairground (It’s where they have the Rodeo) and it sounds like we are going to be in the Show Barn. 7311 Decker Lane,  Austin, TX 78724

Bazaar Bizarre will run from October 18th, 2008 10am to 10pm and October 19th, 2008 from 11am to 6pm.

Maker Faire Schedule:
Saturday, October 18th: 10am-10pm
Sunday, October 19th: 10am-6pm

Saponifier Magazine is the educational and encouraging voice for handcrafters of soap, toiletries, cosmetics, and candles. Saponifier disseminates the news and information about the industry relevant to the interests of manufacturers and suppliers.

The July/August issue’s focus is Christmas in July.

Don’t wait until November to make plans for your holiday line up! Pick up this edition of Saponifier for tips on packaging your holiday gift sets, product ideas, recipes and more!

FEATURES
History of Bath & Body Recipes: A look back on the interesting history of bath and body recipes from the Dark Ages through today, by Tamara Dourney

FDA Globalization Act of 2008

Bonus Gift Guide Supplement: A Bonus Gift Guide of holiday recipes for all your gift giving needs- including printable gift tags!, by Tamara Dourney & Carol Schatz

COLUMNS

Toiletries
Are You Selling Drugs?, by Carol Schatz

In The Lab
Expanding Your product Line: Pets are people too, by Robert McDaniel

Showcase
A Time For Giving, by Elizabeth Carnahan

Working Smarter
Create & Implement an Effective Holiday Marketing Strategy, by Jenn Givler

Reviews
Creative Packaging – Make it your own, by Beth Byrne

Aromatic Materials
Cropwatch Takes Stock, by Tony Burfield

A Soapmakers Notebook
Herbal Monographs: Adderwort & Tansy

PLUS
Exclusive Subscriber Discounts, News, Letters, Events, and More!

(Current Issue available by Subscription Only)

(47 pages, 3.58MB)
Click Here to SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

If you have not participated in a swap, it is lots of fun.  A swap is where you mail items to a “co-ordinator” and then receive the same number of different items (including recipe) from other participants. A swap is a great way to show off your products and get new ideas. For WSP’s Hosted swap you send in two Full Size Homemade Products (Soaps, Lotions, Candles, Etc.) that you have made and get you two different products back! Since WSP is sponsoring this swap, you will get TEN – 2 ounce bottles of fragrance oil! (they pick which ones!)

You Send to WSP:
2 Full Size Homemade Products (Soaps, Lotions, Candles, Etc.)
2 Recipe Cards for The Above
$25 (Cash/Money Order – Made Out to Wholesale Supplies Plus)

You Receive:
2 Different Homemade Products
2 Recipe Cards for The Above
(10) 2 oz Fragrance Oils from WSP – assorted (no requests), from our newer additions

To Participate Send Your Handcrafted Items To:
Wholesale Supplies Plus, Inc.
Rita – Swap Coordinator
10035 Broadview Road
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

Swap Items Must Be Received By: August 14th.
Return Packages Will Be Mailed on: August 15th.

For updates and communications about this swap, log into the forum and go to the community swap board.

Board Address: http://forums.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/index.php

I’m going to send some soap in. I can’t wait to smell the TEN fragrances they will send back along with the handmade items!