A little shout out!

I've been making soap for a while now, and I have got to say I love it more and more everyday! I wanted to share with you a fellow soap maker that has really inspired me when it comes to making soap. With this item, they truly taught me that the possibilities are endless. This "Eggs and Bacon" soap is my favorite item on sunbasilgarden's shop, however they have many great items. Thank you so much for the wonderful products and great inspiration!

Soaps and Such by Holly now offers wholesale rates!

Now that Soaps and Such by Holly is back in action, I've decided it's time offer wholesale rates alongside my already low retail prices :)

Roughly my retail prices range from $1.00 - $1.50 per ounce of soap. My wholesale price is now $.75 per ounce of soap, not including shipping. For example, a set of my pastel colored duck soaps are listed for $2.99 making them $1.495 per ounce retail, and the wholesale price for a set of the same soap is $1.50 making them $.75 an ounce wholesale. $15.00 is the minimum order amount needed to receive wholesale prices, so going back to the duck soap example that would be 10 sets or 50 individual ducks which equals 20 ounces.

Come visit my shop where you can get a little soap or a lot!

Customize your soap!

Soaps and Such by Holly now has more new shapes to choose from for customizable soaps. These soaps are great for party favors, gifts, or just to pretty up your space. We've got flowers, hearts, stars, ducks, fish, lots of others, and more to come! Click here to see all the soaps we now offer!

You can get any shaped soap in the colors: orange, blue, pink, yellow, green, and purple. Here's a sample of what the colors look like.


You also get to choose from any of these scents: Vanilla, Lavender, Honey Almond, Sweet Pea, Wild Berry, and Spicy Apple.

Now on Youtube!

It's day 54 and I finally put a video up! Make sure you check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_1Y7J3fiQ8 The song is by one of my favorites by Amos Lee. Every time I hear it I can't help but smile, and realize how great life is! I hope you all enjoy it!

Holly

Tea Time Day 51

I finished up making the most adorable soaps, well actually it's the most adorable wrapping! It's peppermint tea soap wrapped in a faux tea bag. They smell so good, you almost think you could really steep and drink it.

So my husband and I were looking over my sales today, and we've come to a conclusion that simplicity seems to sell the best. The soaps I try to make look fancy kind of just sit on the shelf, but my hearts and ducks are my most popular sellers. So I think today I'm going to try and promote custom orders more. Show my customers the different colors and scents they can choose from for soaps like the hearts, flowers, ducks, etc.

Other than making soap and taking pictures, I need get studying! I have my math final coming up on Saturday, and my final English Paper due Monday. I better get to work!

Holly

316 days to go!

February was a GREAT month for sales! All together I sold $153.70! That is amazing, but my budget allowance is still pretty low at $13.38. I was on a roll get a couple sales or a sale everyday, but now it's going on day four since we've got a sale so lets cross our fingers we get one today.

I came across another tutorial of another soap I can't wait to make, it is made with tea. I saw these really cute tea cup planters at the hobby lobby that I would just love to display them in at a craft show. I also have a great idea on making a display rack. As soon as I get enough funds for the materials I going to make it and turn my idea into a tutorial.

I have made a lot of soap in the last couple days, hearts, butterflies, and I finally got those darn eggs out of the mold. That was so difficult that they might just be one of a kind! Here's a pic though, because they did turn out great.


This weekend I learned a new technique on blending colors, that is turning out pretty cool. I'm gonna mess around with this technique a little today and I'll try and get some pics soon. I better get going for now.

Holly

Day 45

Hello everyone,

I must say the mini duck soaps are quite the success! So far I've sold 88 little ducks this month, that is sooo exciting. Also my first thought was that they would be great for Easter, but a lot of people are using them for baby showers. That is a great idea, especially if you don't know the sex of the baby.

I have sold a lot of stuff this month, in fact we are up to $106.41 in sales. Since I've been reinvesting the money in molds and soaps and shipping cost unfortunately are bottom line number is staying low. Right now it's at $2.79 :(. But on the bright side, I have tons of inventory! Just posted on my shop alone is $85 dollars worth of products, and I have tons more in my cupboard. I think maybe Caradoc and I should do inventory again. That always makes me feel better when my budget is low.

I made a ton of soap yesterday, and even got a few listed today. I made these really great egg soaps but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get them out of the mold. Caradoc put them in the freezer hoping they would shrink a little and fall out. Here are some pics of the new soaps I made. They are my new Two-Tone Heart Collection! For now I better get, my kitchen is in dire need of my attention.

Bye,
Holly

Custom orders! Day 37

I finished the 40 ducks yesterday and got them sent out about fifteen minutes ago, and now I have a second custom order. My mother needs sort of a gift basket made, so I'm gonna put all kinds of neat stuff in it, and will take a picture when it's all done.

I was thinking yesterday how neat it is to do business on the internet, because in a few days my little duck soaps that were just here in my kitchen will be all the way in New York. I've never been to the east coast but have always wanted to visit, to bad I couldn't sneak in the mail with them, haha. Now I have soaps that went to Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, and New York! I don't know, I just thought that was pretty cool!

Today I'm gonna work on my mom's gift basket, but really I need to work on my English paper. I should be a lot father then I am, so that is going to take up most of my day. It's just hard to focus on studying when I can't think of anything besides soap. Oh well, I'll get it done, then back in the kitchen I go!

After paying for the shipping today my budget is now down to $13.84. Keep me out of the craft store and we should be okay! Here is a copy of our register so you can see how we're doing. Maybe we can get more red!!!

330 days left to make a profit...

and we have a long way to go. Yesterday I made a new banner for my store fronts and my website. I really liked the last one, but it is just way too blurry and doesn't look professional. Let me know if you like it!

I thought the paisley background was a nice choice because all the photos of my soaps have paisley and other neat designs in the background.

Now that I have a new domain name I want to print off some more business cards today, and maybe edit my labels and tags. I also would like to add some more items to Artfire.com, even though in the last 11 days, I've only received 18 views. I tell you what, nobody beats Etsy.com as far as traffic goes, I received 22 views just yesterday.

I will be making soap today, but not for my business. Since Alexa has been so interested in my soaps for her birthday the other day I got her a soap making kit. There is no school today, so we're gonna see what we can make. I'll try to get some pictures.

Holly

Happy V-Day Everyone!

It's day 34 and love is in the air, I'm just kidding, but really things are going great. So far in the last month we have started 2 online shops, 3 if you count zibbet.com. We have started a website www.soapsandsuchbyholly.com, and have $75 worth of inventory up for sale. I have accumulated tons of molds, and still have a tich of raw soap. And we have a whoppin $1.81 left in the budget. I do have some inventory that hasn't been listed yet, that I need to weigh and get all the info for. One of which are these cute little pastel colored confetti squares pictured above. I'm going to try and get them listed today.
I hope all of you are doing something great with your loved ones on this Valentines Day, and for all of you who have purchased my mini heart soaps I hope your enjoying them!

Much love,
Holly

Sorry about yesterdays post

Today is day 33 and I'm totally bummed out that I didn't get a chance to write yesterday because yesterday was our one monthaversary for Soaps and Such by Holly! I did try to blog a little from my phone but if you checked in you saw I was having technical difficulties. The reason I was away yesterday is I went to Prescott and finally got my mini van, YEAH!!! My back is so excited because it will no long be hurting getting the kids in and out of the car, instead we can just walk in woo hoo. So yesterday was such a long day by the time I got home I laid down on the couch and conked out.

Well for our one monthaversary I got us a present, and it's super exciting!!! It's our very own domain name. That's right, all you have to do to from now on is type in www.soapsandsuchbyholly.com and you can find my soaps and my blog all in one spot. Now if you feel more comfortable coming directly to my blog or my shops that is definitely still an option.

The other day I was getting super stressed because really our budget is gone, zip, nadda, broke. Then I was thinking, I've just gotta get on the posting. I only have some soaps posted on artfire and maybe I can try out shophandmade.com. What I need to do is write up a schedule, where Monday is artfire, tuesday is Etsy, and so on. That way I make sure I hit all my bases and I'm not stuck on the internet for hours and hours. Speaking of which, I have been on here already for a long time today so I better get, and if I get a schedule written up I'll try to post it right away.

Holly

Superbowl Soap Day

My soap doesn't really have anything to do with the super bowl, except I'll probably be making soap while it's on. I personally am rooting for the Saints mainly because they beat out the Cardinals, and if the Cardinals have to lose to somebody it mine as be the winners of the super bowl. Anywho, enough football talk. I got kind of a late start today on my blog so I apologize for that. I had family here visiting this morning, then I had to take Alexa shopping for her birthday that is coming up this Wednesday.

I did have to recall my spa sets this morning unfortunately. It's a great product and I actually tried the sugar body scrub last night and my skin is super smooth. The only problem is the grape seed seeps through the plastic bags I packaged them in. So until I find or rather am able to afford a better container it will be put on the shelf. However the bath salts store really nicely in the bags so I will probably list them separately.

Yesterday I figured out some cute packaging for my soap squares that are pictured above, they turned out even better in real life. I also made some lemon/green tea body scrub, which doesn't use as much oil as my other scrub and I will be able to list them soon.

My mother in law purchased a set of soap squares from me this morning, so now our budget is up to $15.73. Thank you so much Karen, I hope you enjoy them! Also today is my mother's and Karen's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU TWO!!! Now I am off to do some listing on my shop.

Holly

Teddy Bear Soaps Tutorial

Here it is, my very first tutorial ever!!! Please when you are finished reading leave a comment letting me know what you liked and didn't like so I'll know for next time.


These cute little soaps are perfect for baby shower favors or to put into gift baskets, and best of all they are really fun to make!

1. The first step is to gather all your supplies. Here is what you will need:
-Raw glycerin soap
-Soap Dye
-Fragrance Drops
-Plastic Mold
-Small Plastic Teddy Bears
-Wooden Spoon
-Sauce Pan or Microwavable Safe Dish to melt soap
-Rubbing Alcohol

I found all these items at my local craft store pretty easy, except the spoon and pan.


2. Now it is time to melt your raw soap. You can do this in the microwave or on the stove top, either way you want to melt it slowly. I prefer the stove top mainly because my microwave is in the garage and barely used. I melt my soap on low heat.


3. Once soap is completely melted it is time to add the color and the fragrance. I like to put one drop of color at a time so I'm sure to get a color I like. They say to use 1-5 drops per ounce of soap. For this tutorial I'm using a pink dye and sweet pea fragrance.



4. Make sure soap is not too hot and start to pour in the mold cavities. Only fill them half way full and let harden for 5 minutes or so. They need to be just hard enough so the toy can sit up straight.


5. Spritz the hardened soap with rubbing alcohol and place they toy in the middle of each cavity. The rubbing alcohol helps adhere the soap together.



6. The last step is to fill up the rest of the mold cavities with melted soap and let harden. I like to wait an hour or so, and for faster drying times let it harden in the fridge. After you pop your soaps out of the mold they should look like this!




These cute little soaps are fun and easy to make, but if you don't have the time they are available for sale at my shop Soaps and Such by Holly at www.soapsandsuch1.etsy.com. Thank you so much for checking out my tutorial, and I hope you had fun!

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

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 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

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