CLEARANCE

Back on day 4's blog I mentioned how I should probably get a clearance section going on my online shop, www.soapsandsuch1.etsy.com. It's now day 20 and I set the clearance section up this morning. I made some really cute soap squares that turned out so great, the only problem is I accidentally mixed the scents together so some are sweet pea/vanilla/honey almond, and the rest are sweet pea/vanilla. They still smell good and look so great that I just couldn't throw them out.

Yesterday I wasn't too productive with Soaps and Such by Holly, but I kicked butt on my English homework and got all caught up, at least till Monday. I also went and saw 3D Avatar with my husband, while my father in law babysat. It was a really great movie, and it was the first movie I've ever seen in 3D and that was so cool. I think the best part, even though it was in the middle of the afternoon, is that Caradoc and I got out of the house together with out a single kid. I love my babies to death, but I think we have been out together probably about 4 times since Madelyn was born and that was like 17 months ago. What was really funny though is as soon as the movie was over I wanted to get back home as quick as possible. I just felt bad for Maddie, I knew she was in good hands, but we were gone for three hours and I didn't want her to think we weren't coming back or something. Who knows what goes on through a babies little minds. When we got home her grandpa said she didn't even noticed we left.

Yeah, we just received another order as I was writing this blog today, this time for 3 dozen mini heart soaps. Thank you so much embrace123! They actually wanted a custom scent of lavender, which I'm really excited about because I've been wanting to add it to my inventory. The only problem is that means I have to go to the craft store, and we all know how scary that is :).

Holly

Computer Savvy Day 19

First of all, woo hoo!!! We hit 200 views this morning on my blog. It took 16 days to reach 100, and only 3 days to reach 200, incredible! So yesterday I got a lot of technical stuff accomplished. I think if your gonna try something like this, you definitely need to know your computer well. I have an okay amount of knowledge as far as computers go, but I don't know a lot about programming or terminology. I would have to say I'm a trouble shooting type a girl, and can work the basic application. For example my husband tore apart and installed an "S-Video card" so we can watch whatever is on our computer on the t.v., and I set up the program so we actually could see it on the screen, talk about team work.

Thankfully a lot of the websites I've been working with lately are pretty easy. The three sites that have been must haves for this project have been fairly simple, blogger.com, etsy.com, and paypal.com. I was reading reviews on blogging websites, and it looks like blogger beat out the rest of the competition as far as user friendly goes. Etsy.com has so many helpful tips and advice and is not too complicated. I've had my paypal account for years from paypal.com so I'm not too sure how difficult it is these days.

Yesterday I started working with two new websites, technorati.com and Google Analytics. Technorati.com isn't hard, it's suppose to be the number one blog directory. You pretty much just sign up, and you can browse through blogs and get your own seen. What I really wanted to tell you about today is Google Analytics, it is so awesome. I have yet to discover all it can do, and I think you definitely need some comp knowledge. The best feature is the visitor trending, it pretty much can tell you everything except the identity of who visited you. You can see what times your site was visited, what part of the world your visitors live in, what website sent them to yours, and how many visitors you got and so on. I even noticed this morning it tells you what browser they use (Internet Explorer, Mozilla etc...), and what kind of connection (cable, DSL, Dial etc...). Don't worry though, it doesn't share any personnel info, such as name, address, or anything like that. I set up an Analytics account on both my blog and my store and it's been fascinating.

All the websites I wrote about this morning are free to use, and great online resources. Etsy.com charges a fee for listing and selling items, but it's not too much. It is just amazing all the FREE resources there are out there on the world wide web, I almost find a new one everyday. They come in very helpful it you want to start up a low cost business and get your name out there.

On a side note I would like to apologize for my misuse of grammar and punctuation and even spelling. It's almost like my mind thinks way faster than I type, and I barely have time to write these blogs much less go back and edit them. I promise from now on I will try to at least give them a once over. Just like the fact that I'm not a expert soap maker, I'm not a professional writer either. I was reading my blog to my husband this morning and he corrected me a lot, and I know that has to be frustrating to some of my readers. Well thanks for reading despite my skills :).

Okay, I'm off to post a new soap in my shop, here is a sneak peak picture of it up above.

Holly

Blog Makeover!

I just gave my blog a new look, let me know what you think?

Holly

We got our first sale, YEAH!!!

Today is day 18 and we received our very first sale at www.soapsandsuch1.etsy.com, YEAH!!! I just knew it was gonna happen soon. The order was for a dozen red mini heart soaps and a dozen purple mini heart soaps. A woman all the way in Indiana purchased them. Thank you so much kplucker for being my very first customer! Here is a picture of the soaps all packaged up and ready to go!


So now we can actually add money to our budget instead of taking it away. The total sale came up to $6.23 and that's including what she paid for shipping. That brings our budget up to $36.02. Now I haven't deducted any money for my cost of shipping yet, because I haven't received the funds through paypal yet and haven't sent it out. As soon as the funds come in I'll go to the post office on my way to the grocery store. I'm so excited, this is a great start to the success of my project.

I was actually discussing all morning my astrology chart with my father in law, he is an astrologer. I was asking him if my chart looked like I was going to sell a car today, because after the baby gets here our little prism will not fit all of us and I need a bigger car. Now he whips around a lot of astrology lingo that goes over my head, but basically he said my creativity will be educational and fruitful until about June. He said I have all sorts of trines on my chart, and trines are usually gifts. The "until June" part makes sense because that's when the baby is due. So from an astrological point of view, my experiment looks very promising to succeed. Honestly I think it's already a success, I'm connecting with all sorts of friends and family, and I've learned more in the last 18 days than I ever expected. Thanks every one!

Holly

hmmm

This one isn't bad, but this is suppose to be the bottom of the bar.


This on didn't turn out very neat or clear.


You can't really tell what is embedded in this one unless...


you hold it up to the light!

Well my soap experimenting so far today wasn't a complete failure, however I wouldn't exactly call it a success either. My soaps did not turn out good enough to sell, but I think I learned some tips.

1. Make sure your molds are clean and completely free of left over soap. This will help keep them neat and tidy.

2. There are two bases to start with, white and clear. If your embedding soaps I don't think you should use clear with clear because it is hard to see, unless maybe if your using the loaf technique.

3. Be patient, no soap looks good with a fingerprint right in the front of it, let your soaps harden all the way.

Now remember in no way am I an expert, these tips are just my opinion, and stuff I learned through trial and error. I said I would post some soaps even if they didn't turn out good so here you go.

Enjoy,
Holly

Good Morning Everyone!

Today is day number 17 and I've got some stuff to do, but first I want to tell about how great day 16 was, yesterday! First of all we hit the 100 view point, but since then my blog got 37 views. That is incredible for just one day, I guess that recap helped. I was very productive yesterday, I posted four new soaps, mainly mini hearts. I also opened up a shop on zibbet.com. My shop address is www.zibbet.com/soapsandsuch1 , and it's still called Soaps and Such by Holly. I don't know how much I'm liking zibbet.com yet, it's very user friendly and looks professional. The only thing is my items were posted yesterday and they've only had two views, so I'm afraid that there might not be enough traffic. But who knows, it is completely free to use, so only time will tell. I also made some soap, cleaned half of my house, and made the cutest little tags pictured above. I though they would be handy to write what scent the soap is on the back when it's packaged.

Today I'm gonna try and clean the other half of my house, and maybe experiment with my soap making skills. So far I've been playing it safe by using molds, which isn't always as easy as it sounds, but I would like to make more bars of soap that have flowers and hearts and stuff in it. I've tried a couple of times so far, but my soaps bleed together, and I end up with a bunch of swirls. I was reading last night that you have to make sure your soap isn't too hot, but that is tricky because it hardens and cools really fast. Well we'll see how I do, later I will be sure to post some pictures whether they are good or bad, haha. For now I just realized I'm completely out of diapers except for swimmer diapers, and need to get Maddie dressed and run to the store. I almost dread going to the stores now because I have to use so much self control to not buy ice cube trays, or packaging supplies, or other business needs. I promise I'll stay strong!

Wish me luck,
Holly

Woo hoo over 100 hits!

We have officially had over 100 hits on this blog, and I want to thank all of my readers, and thank everyone for passing my blog around. It is day 16, so only 349 days left to make this project a success.

I thought maybe I should do a quick recap for any new readers. About 3 weeks or so ago I made molded glycerin soaps for the first time and fell in love with the process. It really is fun, and there are all sorts of shapes, scents and colors you can use. Well I was watching the movie Julie and Julia. In this movie Julie tries to cook every recipe in Julia Childs cookbook in a years time, then she blogs about it daily. I though, what a fun idea. Then the next day on the radio I heard this woman talking who took Oprah's advice for a year, and blogged about it everyday. When I heard that, I just had to come up with something of my own. Since I recently found a new passion for making soap, it seemed perfect. I have a year, 365 days, 52 weeks to start a successful soap making business with only one hundred dollars. By successful I mean turns a profit, it doesn't have to be a lot, just more than I put into it. The challenges I face with this project are by no means am I an expert of making soap, I made my first bar ever about 3 weeks ago. I also am extremely busy, a mother of 3 with one on the way, a part time college student, and a wife.

So far this project has been going great. I have opened an online shop at etsy.com called, "Soaps and Such by Holly." To visit go to www.soapsandsuch1.etsy.com. We have not gotten any sales yet, but are well on our way. This morning I posted my 12th item for sale, it wasn't that long ago that I had no inventory. I thought it would really be hard to make soap and still have a lot of quality time with my family, but it's the complete opposite. My youngest daughter that stays home with me still hangs out in the kitchen while I'm melting and pouring, and her nap time is perfect blogging time. My son doesn't get to involved, but he is loving the soaps I mess up because he plays with them in the bath. My oldest daughter is having fun making soaps with me, she add the color and does the stirring. Up above is a picture of her in action. What is really great is my husband has been super involved. He is a public accountant and has all kinds of ideas as far as business plans go, but what is funny is before my project he didn't even know decorative soap existed. It was blowing his mind when I showed him all the different soaps there were online.

Needless to say I'm having a lot of fun with this project and I hope you are having fun being a part of it. Some of my plans for the future are too maybe post some tutorials or make a video, open another online shop at a different venue. I would like to get enough inventory to actually do a real life craft show, but that could be a long way off. If any of you have any ideas please feel free to comment, I would love to hear them!

Thanks again everyone,
Holly

Day 15 continued...

Here are those duck pictures I promised. Not too bad with the digital camera. My cell phone works nice for quick pics here and there, but I think I will use the digital from now on for photo shoots. I definitely need to redo some of the pictures on my shop. for example my fast food soaps are much cuter than that photo makes them appear. Well like I said in my earlier post, tonight is reserved for catching up on English homework so I better get.

Holly

Day 15

So my lesson learned to day is to keep my work space on the opposite counter as my toaster, talk about crummy. Anyways, I think I got my digital camera figured out and am going to take some test pictures on a new line of ducky soaps I'm working on. I'm just finishing up a batch and will try to post some pictures for you later today.

I think I might be getting a little too distracted on this project because I just found out that I am a week behind on my English homework, rather than a week ahead. Tonight is reserved for a non-stop catch up session. Last night however was a great soap experience, my six year old daughter Alexa helped me make some cute little soaps. We had a blast and she was very proud of her work. I gave her a couple of soaps for helping out, and she is now displaying them nicely on the bookshelf in her room.

We still haven't had any sales, but our views are in the 30's. I'm going to post some cute little fruit shaped soaps and see if that gets us any sales, or a least more views.

Till next time,
Holly

2 weeks down, 50 to go!

Today we hit a milestone which is very exciting. I posted item number 10 on my shop this morning! It wasn't very long ago that I had nothing to list on there. My main collection is hearts, which is great because Valentines Day is almost here, but I think it's getting to close to be able to market very much more. So now I need to focus on spring, hence the yellow soap ducks I listed this morning. I do have some flower molds that would be cute to make so I might work on them today, and I still need to get working on some better pictures. Todays is going to busy, besides my soap project I've got math homework and housework to get done. Well lets hope we get some views on our items, while I get a move on.

Holly

Day 13

Sorry it's taken so long for me to write an entry and update all of you, but I'm here now and have some exciting news! We got another conversation on Etsy, yeah! A woman wanted to know how much it would cost to buy 100 mini heart soaps, including shipping. She wants to use them in a bridal shower invitation. She now is going to talk it over with her fellow hostess and will get back to me in the next couple weeks. That would be great if our first order was such a big one.

My trip up north was fabulous, and the snow was beautiful. It's funny because it was freezing there, and it's almost hot today in Phoenix. I got a chance to hang out with a lot of family, but I didn't get much work done. I did however hand out a business card, it was to my mother in law, but still I felt professional.

I think I need to work on getting some better photos, you know ones that make my products look more desirable. I'm going to see if I can mess around with the settings on my digital camera to see if I can get it to focus better. I found a video that talks about how important photos are, and I think mine need some work.

For now I better get going, but I'll let you know if I hear anything about the mini soaps.

Holly

Day 11 Continued...

Today was extremely productive! First I made up the cutest little business cards, then I was off to the craft store. I got an amazing steal of a 5 pound bag of soap for only $8.99, thanks to my 40% off coupon. Since I saved so much, I got some vanilla fragrance and a duck shaped mold also. My total mount of money I have left is $29.79, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous. Also today I made a lot of different soaps: green and yellow hearts, hot dog and french fry shaped, ducks, and mixed fruit. They all turned out really great! I even listed a couple new soaps on Etsy. I like to spread out my listings so I keep getting visitors, and my stuff is just sitting at the bottom of the search list.

I haven't opened any new shops online, just because I don't want to get overwhelmed to quick, but I just might have too if nothing sells soon. I'm thinking maybe I need some better photos of my items, ones that make them look more desirable. Or maybe I just need to relax, it's only been eleven days.

Tomorrow will not be as productive, I'm going on another road trip, this time with the whole family up north to Prescott. We're going to see my sister in laws new house and play in the snow before it melts away. I'm very excited, and the kids are excited too. I'll try to sneak away again to list a couple more soaps and do a little blogging. Until then, Good Night!

Holly

Day 11

I found the greatest soap tutorial today on this great blog I'm subscribed to. Here is the link http://goplanetearth.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-designer-soap-fun-with-gpe-paper.html. The show how you can use water release paper that has print on it, to transfer onto soaps. I'm definitely going to use this idea, but the transfer paper is so expensive that I'm going to have to wait a little while. I already have a great idea on what I want to print, but it's a surprise so I can't tell you yet.

Today I'm bone dry outta raw soap, so I must go to my craft store again. I will try to stay strong and only by soap, but I was thinking that I might like to get another fragrance. I have enough molds for sure for now, and enough color dyes. I would like to get some more packaging ideas. I saw this vendor on Etsy that puts the cutest little tags on her soaps. Which reminds me I still need to make my business cards. Okay, I better get to work!

Holly

Thank You Phoenix Fire Department!

So you wouldn't believe what happened to me today. I started to work on my to do list, have coffee check, list two new soaps check, clean house check, I decided to go run some errands. Today it's been raining like crazy and I really didn't want to go out, but I needed to drop some clothes off at the dry cleaners, so I thought I would stop at my local craft store (because I got a 40% off coupon in the mail, woo hoo to buy some soap. Somehow I managed to lock my keys, my phone, in my youngest daughter in the car, while I was outside in the rain. I just bursted into tears, I didn't know what to do. A man name John walked by and I asked if he had a cell phone, he did and he also had a slim jim. He tried to unlock the door himself but had no luck so he called the fire department. He gave me his jacket while he waited in his truck. The firemen had the door open in no time, and before I could even utter the words thank you they were gone. Maddie and I didn't end up buying any soap today, instead we went home and ate soup warm soup. For now I'm messing around with the soap I have left, and might take another venture out later when my hubby gets home. Thanks again John and thank you Phoenix Fire Department!

Holly

356 days left!

Ahhh, it's good to be back home after a long day of driving. Remind me not to take a toddler on a road trip while I'm pregnant with out my husband again, I am so exhausted. I did have a great time though seeing my sister and some close friends.

Now back to work! I got a message from a friend of mine who lives in Minnesota had a great idea to make some soap with gold flakes in it. That is definitely something I would like to try out some time. For now here is tomorrow's to do list:

1. Enjoy a cup a coffee with my husband
2. List my two new soaps on etsy
3. Open up a new shop on zibbet.com
4. Make some soap
5. Hope for a sale

In between those tasks I'll try to squeeze in some housework, schoolwork, and parenting! Wish me luck!

Holly

Day 8

Today I'm out of town to Yuma visiting my sister with my mom, and I managed to sneak away to do a little blogging and check on my shop. It look like our most popular item is the Mini heart soaps with a total of 17 views. I have a couples soaps back at home to put on Etsy. I don't know how much they weigh or I could add them while I'm here, so for now I'll give you readers a sneak preview of whats to come.

Facebook is such an amazing site along with Myspace, it has put me in touch with family and friends that I never thought I would be able to connect with or reconnect with. I have a second cousin all the way in Washington who saw that I was starting this project, and she has been helping spread the word. I've never met her face to face, so it is so nice to get this chance to learn a little more about her and the rest of my family, and it's all thanks to the internet.

Tomorrow I should have more of an update when I get home, so until then lets hope for a sale!!!

Holly

One week today!!!

So it's been seven days that I have been working on this project, lets recap and see what been accomplished.

1. We named the company, Soaps and Such by Holly
2. Fully supplied of soap making tools and raw soap
3. Have made and messed up soaps, but have came out with six successful products to sell
4. We have one online venue setup and ready for business. www.soapsandsuch.etsy.com
5. Social networking is in progress

Not bad for just seven days if I do say so myself. We have had no sales yet, but there are a lot of soap makers on etsy, so we need to find a way to stand out. I have a different shop on etsy that has been open for a little over a year, and has sold 16 items. It took a month before my first item sold, and I think I even lost money on that sale. I didn't go wholeheartedly into that shop, or I'm sure it would have been more successful. I still like to keep it around though, because even though I'm obsessed with soap making, I enjoy making all different kinds of things. My point is that we have a chance to make this shop turn a profit, I just gotta stay on top of it, and use every resource available!

Now that we a have a little bit of a foundation laid, what I would like to do in the coming week is:

1. Get some of those business cards printed out
2. Stay on top of the social networking
3. Maybe find another online venue
4. And hopefully sell something

I do however need to quit buying soap molds, they are just sooo hard to resist. Last night at Walmart I bought ten molds for nine dollars, that is such a steal because usually they are $1.99 each. I also found some cute little plastic bags with ties to use in my packaging for two dollars. It's my first week and I've spent over 50% of my budget. From now on till I make a sale, I'm only allowed to buy raw soap!

Happy 1 week,
Holly

On day six I'm seeing stars

First of all I would rather not talk about the disappointing football game yesterday, and secondly I made the cutest mini star shaped soaps last night. I have so many ideas like just selling them as is, or in different shades of yellow, or embedding them in soap bars, the possibilities are endless.

I haven't heard anymore from my shop, but am continuing to get views so that's good. I think today I need to make some more products that I can hurry up and post, so we get more traffic. Some good news is because of the Google ad space on my blog Soaps and Such by Holly has earned four cents already, far from a profit but on the right track!

Day 5, We've got mail

Good morning all! Today the Cardinals play the Saints in the playoffs, and I'm super excited. I never was much of a football fan til my husband taught me the game a couple years ago, it's a lot more fun when you know whats going on, haha.

Well only an hour or so after posting my products somebody messaged me about my shop. I got a phone alert about my e-mail and was so excited I hopped out of bed to check it. It turned out to be a woman named Monica Latour who does reviews about beauty products and asks for full size samples to try out, then she post a video review on you tube. This idea she had fascinated me, she gets free great beauty products and if she gets popular she will get paid for talking about them. I would definitely like to get my stuff reviewed soon, but right now I just can't afford to be giving away and shipping free samples. I do however wish this Monica luck on expanding her website. I thought you would like to see the letter considering it is our very first Etsy conversation of many hopefully!

To Whom it may Concern,
Good Morning!
My name Is Monica Latour,
I'm writing you in regards to your Bath & Body Line. I'm currently starting to do Product reviews on different makeup,bath,Beauty products and have took an interest in your product lineup. I would love to do a review on your products and post a video review on my you tube channel ( http://www.youtube.com/user/Pinktwilightt )

If your Company is looking for Reviewers I'd love to take part. I ask for no compensation what so ever.I will give my 100 Percent honest review towards your product however, If i truly do not enjoy your product to the point where i have no positive feed back, I would contact you and would not post a video belittling your company.


In short,if your company is looking to send a few full sized or sample Size products for reviewing I would love to take part.

You may contact me directly at this email address monica.kyle [!at] hotmail.com

Thank you very much for your time
Monica latour


I think I might try to make up a few business cards to carry around with me and maybe put up at my local craft and grocery stores. When I was at Goodwill yesterday, the cashier was very interested in the fact that I made my own soap, and was using some silicone ice cube trays to do so. I gave her the website, but I think it would have been very professional to hand her a business card. We'll see what I can come up with. I actually have some business card printing paper, not very much, but a little will do for now.

Wish the Cardinals luck,
Holly

Finished my whole to do list and then some!!!

Well I finished everything but proof reading my essay, I will try and squeeze that in between football games tomorrow. I did however get some soap made, and pictures taken, and even posted 3 items on my Etsy shop. Go to www.soapsandsuch1.etsy.com to see how great everything is turning out.

During my tasks today, I realized this is more challenging than I thought, simply because I am not very skilled yet at soap making. I messed up 4 large soap bars about 3 oz. each, they definitely can not be sold along with the good bars so I'm thinking of making a clearance section for my mishaps. Now some some soap mishaps can be fixed by remelting and such, but that is harder when multiple colors are used.

I'm very excited about posting my items on Etsy, because now when they sell I can reinvest in new product. I read a internet selling tip once that said, "The photo is what sells the product". Unfortunately the best camera I have is my cell phone, it actually works pretty good, but maybe when business starts moving I can get a real camera. I actually do have a Kodak digital, but it's focus on close items isn't very clear, and those little details are what matter the most in my opinion.

I did find 3 new molds and a variety of cookie cutters at goodwill today for $8.46, which means I have $54.08 left to get this business going. Once again, wish me luck :)!

Holly

Day 4, To do list

Okay, my husband is off to work, and my kids are at school, and my toddler is relaxing in the living room. I want to stay productive on this project, because even though a year is a long time, it goes by fast especially when you have other things going on. So I thought it would be helpful to make a to do list. I will start my list right after my cup of coffee.

1. Clean the kitchen
2. Put away laundry that was cleaned yesterday
3. Chase around Madelyn
4. Work on Math Homework
5. Make lunch
6. Put Madelyn down for a nap
7. Make some soap
8. While soap hardens proofread final draft of my English essay
9. Go grocery shopping
10. Take pictures of finished soap products
11. Greet husband and show him all my new soaps
12. Blog about what I actually got accomplished today!

It's a boy!!!

I'm sooo excited, I found out today that we are having a little boy in June. It's perfect because we already have two girls and one boy. Well I have been trying to brainstorm different soap ideas, and thinking about baby boys, and I came up with party favors! Maybe like little blue soaps shaped like booties or bottles wrapped in plastic tied with a ribbon, perfect for a baby shower. For a bridal shower, maybe little roses, or rings, and so on. I can sell these favors in sets of 10 or 20, or however many is needed. The only problem is I don't have enough inventory for anything to be sold in bulk yet. Really while I'm just starting to build the foundation single items are probably best, and I can't really customize too much.

Yesterday I made some mini heart shaped soaps, that are sweet pea scented. I made about 20 or so and only 14 turned out. I don't want to waste any soap, so I'm going to try and remelt and mold my already colored soap if possible. As soon as a get a couple different soaps made, I'll start listing them on my shop, I can't wait.

Holly

P.S. I ended up needing to buy rubbing alcohol and a spray bottle yesterday for soap making so I'm now down to $62.54.

Time to go shopping!

Today is day two and I needed to get supplies. Since $100.00 in next to nothing a far as setting up a business goes, I thought I should look around my house for anything I could use. I found a saucepan, some silicon cupcake and brownie pans, and a wooden spoon. I also have two soap molds, honey almond fragrance, and some leftover dye from when I made soap the last time.
Now all I needed was some soap and some good ideas, so I went to my local craft store, and lucky for me all soap making products were on sale for 25% off. I really needed to use self control and not spend too much, and it was hard because everything was at such low prices. I ended up buying some clear and opaque pure glycerin soap, sweet pea fragrance, and a mini heart shaped mold. I meant to grab Vanilla scented fragrance, because it's always been pretty common and popular, but when I got home sweet pea is what I had. Oh well, Valentines Day is coming so maybe I can have a sweet pea theme. Valentines day is also why I picked out the mini heart shaped mold. I have a basic bar mold and seashell already, I thought the hearts would be cute.
When I got home I let go of all self control and I splurged, that's right I went online. A long time ago I was watching a craft show on television and I saw a woman making soap that had cute little rubber duckies on the top of them. Well online, I found the cutest little colorful ducks, and I just had to try and make my own rendition. I also scooped up another mold, this one was oval and circles. Now the mold was on 2.29 and the rubber ducks were only $7.50 for twelve, but shipping and handling was killer. I think I'm gonna need to continue to shop locally for a little bit.
The good news is I think I 'm ready to start making soaps, I got everything I need. The bad news is it's only day two and I've already used up 35% of my budget. I've got $65.39 left, which I need to hold on too for packaging supplies when I first sell something. Here is a picture of all my supplies to get me going. I can't wait to get to it and make some more soap!

Holly

Day 1, Step 1

So I've already came up with a name it's, "Soaps and Such by Holly". I think my first step is to get my online resources set up, hence starting up my blog. Since there is no way I can afford an actual shop, there are many online venues available for free, and my favorite is etsy.com, so that's where I'll start. My father in law has been working on making a banner for my store front, he's is pretty good at messing around on the computer so he was happy to help.

Here is my online store's URL: www.soapsandsuch1.etsy.com

Unfortunately soapsandsuch was already taken so I had to add the one. I already have a paypal account from years ago when I was an ebay addict. It has a balance of $8.45, that will be part of the $100.00 that I have allocated towards this project. I have about a half an hour till I have to pic the kids up from school so now I'm gonna fill in the little details on my profiles for my blog and my etsy shop before I have to get going. Once again, any ideas are much appreciated!

Holly

P.S.
Here is the cute banner my father in law created!

My proposal

Today is January 12th 2010, and just a couple of days a go I made handmade soap on my kitchen stove for the very first time ever. I instantly fell in love with the soap making process and all the possibilities of different shapes, sizes, and scents of soaps there are to make. I've always had sort of a entrepreneurial spirit since my family has always had home businesses, my mind just started going crazy with all kinds of ideas to start selling handmade soap. The only problem is I only have a $100.00 to get my new found business off the ground. With me being a stay at home mom of three and one on the way, and being a part time student my budget doesn't really allow for too much money to be spent on a fantasy business. I don't have a lot of extra time to make soap either, but I figure I'm always in the kitchen anyway, I'll be able to work it out.

So my goal is to use my $100.00 wisely, to invest in soap making materials, and business supplies. In one year January 11th 2011, I hope to start turning a profit. I would like to document my journey through out the year, and if any readers have any good ideas comments are very much appreciated.

Wish me luck,
Holly