Tag Archives: hand made soap

General

Spacetaker Winter Holiday Art Market at Winter Street Studios

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

Winter Holiday Art MarketWe 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! https://fetosoap.com/shop

Retailer

Hello Lucky Houston

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

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
Soapmaking

Kitchen Coffee Soap Log Stands Tall

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

Kitchen Coffee Soap Vanilla Scented with Cocoa Butter
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.
handmade soap

General, Soapmaking

Bigger Soap Batches

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

Blackberry Sage in 18 bar KelseiI 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.

Soapmaking

How to Rebatch Soap in the Microwave!

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

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 (not electric one, leave electric cheese graters for cheese)
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!

Markets

Feto Soap will be at Bazaar Bizarre / Maker Faire Austin!

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

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

General

Leisure Learning Soapmaking Class Feedback

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

After I teach my soapmaking class the students fill out a feedback form with their comments. These comments are from the latest soapmaking class held on Sunday.

“Thank you for sharing your info and knowledge. This is so cool!”
“Really enjoyed it. It was very laid-back & comfortable.”
“Enjoyed it! Very informative and educational!”
“Good Class – very informative.” “Great Class!”

If you have taken one of my classes and have not filled out a feedback form, feel free to respond to this blog post or email me – lisa at feto soap dot com. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

If you missed this class and would like to attend a basic soapmaking class in Houston, TX, here’s the signup link! Private classes are also available.

General

Soapmaking Class in Houston, TX – Sunday, July 27th

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

My next soapmaking class is coming up this Sunday, July 27th

Soapmaking 101 with Lisa Chouinard of Feto Soap

In this class I will cover the basics on how to create your own soap from scratch with lye, water and soapmaking oils. It is a hands on class and everyone will have an opportunity to participate. I will provide the protective gear (gloves and goggles).

Class Number: R1020D Sun 2-5pm July 27th
Location: Houston JCC 5601 S. Braeswood

To register, go to Leisure Learning Unlimited’s Website:
http://llu.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=42614

or call them at 713.529.4414 with the class number R1020D.

General

Texas Soapmakers Association 2008 Convention Swap Soap

Posted on by Lisa Chouinard

Last year I was talking to a fellow microbusiness about google and she didn’t think that feto soap would come up in a search for handmade soap in houston. I had never googled those terms before and a computer happened to be nearby, so I punched in handmade soap in houston. Guess what? Feto Soap was the first result. Daisy Soap was the second result. I clicked on their link and they had the Texas Soapmakers Association logo prominently displayed. I hadn’t heard of it until then. They were showing that their annual convention was the following weekend, in Houston! On Monday I signed up for the convention. I participated in the bath & body products swap – and I came home with a canvas bag FULL of 40 handmade bath & body goods from my fellow Texas soapmakers. I’m glad that I had a conversation about google searches or I wouldn’t have learned about the Texas Soapmakers Association!

This year I am bringing one of my most popular soaps to the swap – Blackberry Sage. I packaged them in chinese take-out boxes. I can’t wait to see what my fellow soapmakers have created for the swap. If you click on the picture you’ll get to see more pictures (like what’s inside!)

blackberry sage handmade soap