Fabulous Friday and Free Domestic Shipping Weekend

Rustic Wedding Favors

It's Fabulous Friday, and I want to share some projects I've been working on this week.

Starting off, we have Glycerin Soap Rustic Wedding Favors that are available in dark brown or gold.  Perfect for rustic/barn/country theme weddings.  These come scented in a unisex fragrance, are wrapped in cello, and tied with raffia.  We gladly personalize these favors at no additional cost.  I made some of these when my youngest daughter got married, and they were well received.  *FREE SHIPPING offer this weekend only, details later in this post.

Lemon Cake Slice

Lemons, we love lemons!  These delightful lemon cake slices are fun, yet functional, and bursting with crisp, tart Meyer lemon essence.  I have so many people say these are too pretty to use.  Here's my take on it...good china should never be kept for special occasions.  Why only bring out the best a few times per year, when every day could be a special day?  The same with fancy soap, it's not useful if it just sits there to be looked at.  Use them, and enjoy!   These cake slices can be cut into smaller, more manageable pieces to wash with.

Christmas in July
Sneak Peek 

I love Christmas, and I'm super excited that Christmas in July is right around the corner! We'll be celebrating July 20 - 31, 2015!  I'm giving you a sneak peek at one of the awesome soapy goodness that will be available next month!  Can you guess what scent this might be?

FREE SHIPPING (Domestic only)  now until June 21, 2015 in our Etsy shop when you spend $30.00 or more.  This includes Made to Order, as well as in stock items.  What a perfect opportunity to order party favors, or simply to stock up.  To activate the free shipping (domestic only), simply use the code:  FABFRIDAY19

Have a great weekend!

Last Minute Gifts and Stocking Stuffers for 25% OFF Sale!

Vermont Maple Lip Balm

It's that time of year for another big sale!  25% off everything (except party favors) starts at 12:01 AM on 12/7/2014 through 11 PM 12/15/2014.  Soap, Soy Candles, Soy wax melts, lip balm, sugar scrub, bath bombs, build a gift basket...you decide.  We are happy to gift wrap at no additional cost, include custom messages, and ship directly to intended recipient.  Give the pampering gift that your loved one will enjoy well after the tinsel and mistletoe disappear. Shop early for the best choices.

Merry Christmas 2013

Mini Rainbow Soap Cupcakes
Custom Order

I took a much needed vacation from the bubble fun and just wanted to stop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  Between craft fairs, online sales, and custom orders I have been kept quite busy this holiday season.  In fact, I even sold all of the Valentine's Day soaps that I had already made in anticipation of listing in our online shop in early January.  Good thing I have some time off from my full-time job and starting tomorrow I will be busy making new products for 2014.

Kitchen Soap ~ A Multi Purpose Soap

Kitchen Soap

Kitchen Soap...but don't be fooled by its name! Fully loaded, high octane coffee brewed extra strong, and fresh (unbrewed) coffee grounds have been added to this soap formula...with just a hint of orange. Coffee helps to neutralize the onion, garlic and fish odors left on your hands from cooking. If you spend a lot of time gardening, this also works well to scrub off the dirt and grime...without drying out your hands. My most regular customer is a mechanic who uses this religiously and tells me it works better than anything else he's ever used...and not as drying on his skin.

This soap is made with Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Sweet Orange Essential Oil.. The color of this soap is achieved by the coffee.

The formula for this soap has not changed over the years. The size, shape, and packaging has changed over the years, we are proud that this soap was featured in the Storque Article ~ "Featured Buyer: VeganYumYum Shares Her (Delicious!) Kitchen Know-How" on November 5, 2008.

Right now Kitchen Soap, along with everything in our online shop, is on sale at 20% off the regular price AND when you purchase $30 or more you can have your domestic orders shipped for FREE using coupon code CYBWEEK13 at check out.   And, we are also running a Cyber Week Bonus Promotion!

Christmas Themed Soaps

Christmas Berries Soap

We have been busy for months creating soap with a Christmas theme and have even created some custom scent blends for Christmas 2013.
Christmas Berries is a custom scent blend we have created with Cedarwood Essential Oil mixed with Red Currant and Cranberry Fragrance oils.  This particular scent was created for Christmas, but is great for year round use, well after the presents are unwrapped and the tree is put away.

Cowboy Christmas

The design for Cowboy Christmas happened by "accident" when it was hot outside and the glycerin "rivers" were created during soap making process,  lending a leather appearance to the soap to match the fresh denim fragrance used. The end result was better than I ever imagined, and I was greatly delighted, to say the least.  I had these cute little cowboy boot charms leftover from my younger daughter's wedding that are attached to the packaging to round out the final presentation.   After all, a cowboy rides his horse hard all year long and after all that riding is in need of a new pair of jeans. All he wants for Christmas is a new pair of jeans because after all, cowboys and jeans go together like boots and spurs. This soap is bursting with a fresh and clean fragrance reminiscent of a new pair of jeans on a crisp sunny morning in the open air.

This is just a couple of the Christmas soaps we have to offer this year, and right now all of our Christmas soaps are marked down 20%!  When you purchase $30 or more, you can have them shipped to domestic locations for FREE using coupon code CYBWEEK13 at check out.   And, we are also running a Cyber Week Bonus Promotion!

Cyber Monday 2013

Build Your Own Gift Basket

Cyber Week Extravaganza Sale is happening in our online shop from now through Thursday, December 5.  Everything in our online shop is already marked down at 20% off regular prices, AND when you purchase $30 or more in product you can have it all shipped to you for FREE (domestic orders only)!  In order to receive the FREE domestic shipping promotion, product must total $30 or more (before shipping) and simply input coupon code: CYBWEEK13 upon checkout.   And, we are also running a Cyber Week Bonus Promotion!

Wrapping Options available

This year we are offering the opportunity for shoppers to create a custom/personally selected gift basket.  We have these adorable black and silver gift baskets that will comfortably fit up to four bars of soap. This allows you to have the fun of picking out the bars of soap you want included in your gift basket!  You will also have the fun of picking out which wrapping option you would like for the gift basket and we will take care of the rest!  Please note that we are running extremely low on our organza wrappers and won't be getting any more before Christmas.

Cyber Week Bonus Promotion

If you have been holding off on placing your Christmas order, now is the time to do it! We are offering  20% off everything in our online store, including wedding favors!  When your product total is $30 or more, you qualify for FREE domestic shipping using coupon code: CYBWEEK13 at check out.

Ok, so on to the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT of the day, I mean, WEEK!  One (OR MORE)  lucky shopper (OR SHOPPERS) is (ARE) going to be doing the happy soap dance with me.  Between now and 11:59 PM Eastern Time on December 5, everyone that places an online order through our shop will have their name put into a drawing, but it doesn't end there!  You can earn extra chances in the drawing to make the prize even bigger!

Want to know what the drawing is for?  I'm going to tell you the rules, first.  :)

1.  To qualify for the drawing you must place an order between now and 11:59 PM Eastern Time on December 5.  Orders placed through our online shop must be completed transactions (meaning, payment must be received either through Direct Check Out or Pay Pal using a debit/credit card).

2.  If you are not already a fan on our Facebook page, please do so, and then refer your friends to Like our Facebook page and tell them to mention your name in a comment on our fan page.  For every person you refer that Likes our page and tags your name in a comment, you will earn an extra chance in the drawing.

3.  Refer your friends to our shop and if they place an order through our online shop (transaction payment must be received either through Direct Check Out or Pay Pal using debit/credit card to qualify), ask them to put your name in the comments on the order so you can receive TWO additional chances in the drawing.

The more you refer increases your the number of chances you earn, increases the odds of you winning the big prize!

Now on to the prize...for every order placed with a completed payment transaction I will give an extra 10% off the winners order.  So you can see, the more orders that come in could translate into one (OR MORE) lucky shopper (OR SHOPPERS) getting a 100% reimbursement for their entire order!   At 11:59 PM Eastern Time on December 5, Cyber Week Bonus Sale will end and all qualifying entries will be entered in the drawing.

I will be popping in and out of Facebook throughout the week to update where we are at with the bonus discount sale.  The Winner (or WINNERS) will be officially announced on Facebook and on this blog on December 6.

Good luck, and Happy Shopping!  :)

New Soap Design

Christmas Wreath Soap

For two months I have had a vision for this soap design rolling through my head.  For two months I have put off making this soap for fear it wouldn't turn out as I had envisioned.  This past weekend I decided it was now...or never and took the plunge.  

I started mixing the green and exclaimed, "I need to add more green it's not dark enough".  This, after extremely loud and vocal complaining and frustration of ugly blue poop color in the Sunset Dreams soap and my daughter pops up and says..."wait, let me see it before you add any more."  After her agreeing with me  that it needed more color, I proceeded.

My vision and trying to explain it to my daughter were not one and the same.  She clearly didn't see how it was going to look, but in my mind I knew what it was going to look like and proceeded.  She left me alone so I could proceed.  When I was finished I brought the mold over for her to see and finally she understood what I was trying to achieve.

Soap log

Much to my delight, this one did indeed turn out better than I had ever dreamed or imagined.  Two tones of green swirled with white that actually looks more ivory ...even better!  Soap curls added lending just enough splash of color but not too aggressively overpowering...just enough.

And this one is now my most favorite soap design created to date.

The Holly Swirl Challenge

Bayberry Soap

This month I had the time to participate in the monthly soap challenge hosted by Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks.  When I started making soap years back, we were limited to books and online tutorials with photos.  Now we have You Tube to learn new techniques and the creativity is mind boggling.  This month's challenge was to use the technique called The Holly Swirl, or a swirl within a swirl. 

My first attempt was the only one that I took pictures of the entire process, and fortunately that is the one that I liked the best.  My second and third attempts are posted here.  I had done something similar to the Holly Swirl prior to the challenge and included the resulting soap along with the second and third attempt. 

As this was The Holly Swirl, I was thinking along the lines of Holly Jolly Christmas and chose to make a soap scented with Bayberry.  I used oxides for colorants, and after the addition of the fragrance the batter started moving along into a thicker trace than I would have wanted but I liked the results, none the less.  (My second attempt was more fluid and poured at a light trace, and the third attempt was poured at medium/light trace.)  For the Bayberry soap, the contrast between the red and white swirl against the green really made the colors pop. 

 The process to the end result:


Red and white swirl in the pot

Red and white swirl poured into the green soap base

 

All finished and ready to tuck the soap into bed for the night

Someone recently posted in one of the soap groups that I particpate in to take thumb tacks and poke them into the top of the mold before tucking textured top soaps into a blanket for the night.  Great tip, no more botched textured tops on soaps!   

Soap log ready for cutting

I don't have one of those fancy cutters (still a dream for me), just my trusty old Cutco chef's knife and a wooden cutting guide.  Seeing as no one was home when I made or cut the soap, I have no photos of the cutting process to show you. 

Close up of one of the cut bars of soap

I really enjoyed participating in this month's challenge and have some amazing soaps to show for it.  One of these days I might get brave enough to produce some You Tube videos of my soapmaking adventures.   

Last Minute Gift Ideas

If you are still in need of stocking stuffers, look no further. We have many stocking stuffers to choose from, both in our regular line of products as well as Holiday themed products. There is still time to ship domestic orders and receive them before December 24. All orders placed by Thursday, December 17 will ship priority mail and should be delivered within 2-3 business days within the US. Starting December 18, to guarantee delivery by December 24 you must request a shipping upgrade for Express Mail.

Snowflake Soaps ~ Premium Glycerin Soap scented in three favorite fragrances ~ Candy Cane, Rosemary Mint, and Eucalyptus. Comes to you as a set of three and perfect for a last minute stocking stuffer. This could be divided up for three smaller gifts.

Lemongrass Sage Bath Set ~ This duo is the perfect size for a stocking stuffer. Includes 4 oz. bottle of Shower Gel and Body Lotion. Also available in other fragrances, which you will find in our Stocking Stuffer Section.
Sparkling Champagne Bubble Bath ~ it smells yummy, and perfect for New Years Celebrations.
Bay Rum ~ our best selling Men's fragrance soap. Your guy will smell awesome after they bathe with this one!

It's Christmas In July

We've devoted an entire section of our shop to Christmas and we've discounted those items by 20%. Yup, that's right! No need to wait for a revised invoice, just check out as you would normally. Get a head start on your Holiday shopping. But hurry, because the sale only lasts until July 22, 2009 and some items are in short supply!

My Sweet Babies

We headed north near the Canadian border last night to celebrate Christmas with our oldest daughter, Melissa. Here she is at 7 months pregnant...I'm so jealous, she's all baby.



And here's all three of my babies. Ashley finally had a growth spurt and grew just a hair taller than her sister. Neither of the girls have passed me up in height. And Josh, the baby, well because he's now taller than his father we're banking on the fact that he's been well fertilized from all of the cow manure he wades through when milking cows.

Merry Christmas!
Many thanks to all of my followers, customers, Etsyblogger Friends, Blockhead Rod & Pluggers United Friends, CYA Team members, and Vermont Made Team members for a truly wonderful year. Each one of you has impacted my life and business in one way or another. I have been truly blessed to have each one of you as a part of my life. May God bless you and yours this Christmas.

Linda ~ aka Ms. Moo

FREE Shipping Offer Ends Today

Finish up your last minute shopping for gifts and stocking stuffers AND take advantage of our FREE Shipping offer that ends today. We've conducted a final inventory on our Christmas Goodies and Stocking Stuffers...SO... what you see is what you get...when they are gone, we won't be making any more as we are currently working on our Valentine's & Spring Collection.

Cyber Monday Bonus

Today is the last day for our big pre-Christmas sale.

~ LAST SALE BEFORE CHRISTMAS ~
20% Off our entire shop (Shipping & Custom Orders excluded)
FREE Domestic Shipping on all orders over $75 (Before Discount, Shipping not included)

Details: When you are ready to check out, simply pay for your order and we'll refund the sale discount and excess shipping fees (if applicable) via Pay Pal when we process the shipping label. Happy Shopping ~ Your Skin Will Thank You!

Being Cyber Monday I have a special gift for shoppers. Everyone placing an order today will receive a Christmas gift from me. I can't tell you exactly what it is because, well...it's a gift from me to you! I don't want to spoil ALL of the fun, after all.

Gingerbread Dreams

What a fabulous luxury treat for the skin. Only available for a limited time.

Gingerbread Soap
Gingerbread Whipped Sugar Scrub
Gingerbread Whipped Soap
Gingerbread Bath Fizzies

Candy Cane Lane

We've created a festive treat for your skin!
Candy Cane Soap

Candy Cane Whipped Sugar Scrub

Candy Cane Bath Fizzies

This series is a Limited Edition and are selling out quickly.

WOOT WOOT ~ IT'S PARTY TIME AGAIN!!!

Ms. Moo has her party hat on and celebrating...

Today we hit 300 sales in our Etsy store so that means another giveaway! WOOT WOOT!!! Post a comment on this blog post and you are IN the drawing. On Saturday morning, November 15, I'll be drawing out the winner and contacting them. I've got some delicious new soaps to give away...A bar of each of the following:

Candy Cane Soap

Gingerbread Soap

Snowman Fixins

I just love primitive decor. Particularly at Christmas. To me there's something magical about Christmas decorations that are or look old fashioned. These Snowman Fixins are just too cute! They are created by the talented artist behind Skunk Hollow Country Store. Her store is chock full of all sorts of great primitive items. You've just got to see for yourself!

Skunk Hollow Country Store is a fellow artisan on the The Artisans Shoppe that was launched on November 1, 2008 ~ just in time for the Holidays.

My House Smells Like Christmas!!!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. In fact, I am still finding bits and pieces of last Christmas around the house that have become permanent year round decorations. If I could get away with it, I would leave all of the decorations up year round. There is something magical about the lights and glitzy glittery decorations that make a house feel "homey".

I've been busy making lots of soap and goodies for the upcoming Holiday shopping season and this is just the start. You can find them here.