Author: Texas Pioneer Creations

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New soap pictures

We’ve been busy around here playing with colors and summer scents!  I apologize for being a little slow in posting but hope I can be forgiven with a peek at what we’ve been up to!

Sage & Citrus May 2012

As you can see, I’m still playing with colors.  I love the natural colors that can be created based on the oils or fragrances I use but it’s great to see something interesting every once in a while.  This picture is of our Sage & Citrus colored batches.  The other batch has no added colors; we use our own garden grown sage in it instead.  Sage & Citrus seems to be a hit with both the guys and gals- a great option for the whole family!  It combines a light sage with lemon and lime notes for a fresh, clean, lasting scent.  This one is quickly moving up my personal summer scent favorites list and might even make it into our regular stock.

I will be off the blog and Facebook for the most part next week as I am volunteering at our local Cub Scout Day Camp from Monday thru Thursday.  I can be reached by text or email for those four days and will continue to ship orders in the late afternoons.  We are currently booking markets for the summer and fall so we hope to catch you guys while we are out there!  Please continue to email us your soapy ideas and we will feature a post later this summer with pictures of some of the best ones.  Enjoy yourselves out there everyone and I will see you late next week!

Happy Washing!

Dorothy

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Texas Pioneer “Kids”

Texas Pioneer Kids CHA Donation
Texas Pioneer Kids CHA Donation- “It’s a Jungle In There” was created with my child for local fundraiser auction. She designed and I followed her orders. Fun times!

I have had a few questions about our “kids” line and decided to add our explanation to our blog to make it easier.  At this current posting time, we do not have a line of products that are designed for kids only.  All of our soaps, unless specifically marked on the package, are safe for all use on ages.  That means that as long as you only use it externally (on your skin only, please don’t eat my soaps) the entire family may use any soaps.  We will occasionally pour some soaps up into fun shapes or themes but we’re not ready yet for a kid’s only line.

What then IS the Texas Pioneer “Kids” label for?  Soaps created with my children for local donations, in short.  The nature of cold process soap making is not child friendly but my kids seem to love helping my mad scientist tendencies.  The soaping bug has bitten them also, I’m afraid.  They get to occasionally design their own soaps from start to finish and those become the “Kids” projects.  They will pick a melt and pour base, scents, colors, additives, and any mold they desire.  We work together on their projects but it is pretty much their soap.  I can only claim supervisor role as I try to make sure everyone follows safety procedures while cooking and the results are safe for use.  There are some fun and interesting results when the kids get in the kitchen!

We try in our family to teach our children to appreciate what they have and to give back to their community.  We have tied this to letting them have a creative expression in their soapmaking and then sharing it with others.  The “Kids” soap line is almost entirely donated to local charitable groups.  We enjoy spending time together in the kitchen, mixing up something fun, and making memories they can pass on to their future kids.  They select a bar or two to keep out of the batch as a keepsake and then the rest are made into gift sets for charitable fundraisers or we deliver the bars to a local charity or worthy organization.  I am working on finding a local nursing home or other ideas of places who might enjoy these.  Do you have any ideas?  I would love to hear them as the kids have summer soaping plans!

I hope this has helped clear the confusion and not created more.  I must now get back to the soap pot.  Another busy week is ahead!

Happy Washing!

Dorothy

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Too Pretty?!?!?

Confetti Moroccan Mint just cut
Confetti Moroccan Mint just cut

Here is a picture of the new confetti Moroccan Mint soap that I had created for hubby.  I was jazzed.  The colors were bright and the smell was right on the mark.  I gave it a few days and the blues & greens started popping even more.  Got a great shape, cool looking top, and I knew I was on top of the world.  I proudly showed him my labor of love, knowing he would recognize I was queen of his shower.  Then, I had a comment from hubby that threw me for a loop!  “It’s too pretty for a guy’s soap.”  Huh????  I was floored.

Ok, I know the guys don’t want to run around smelling like they rolled in a flower bed.  I get that they avoid the frilly, sweet, and cute items.  Those are for the girls, they tell me.  I hand a guy a bar of woodsy, musky, or beer soap and they get all excited.  But to say it’s too pretty??  A guy can’t have a bar of soap look interesting?  It’s not like you’re going to place it on your desk at work or parade it down the street.  (Or do you?  Now I’m curious.)  Can’t a guy have something interesting to look at in the shower besides the walls?

So readers, what do you think?  Is this too pretty for a guy’s soap?  Should I keep the guys in natural colored soaps only?  Or should I just smile at his comment and keep at it?

Happy Washing!

Dorothy