Tag: honeysuckle

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Shopping Area being updated

Dorothy’s been busy at work in the kitchen around us attending the Spring Crawfish Festival last weekend and a family emergency. We’ll be updating the shopping area of the website over this weekend with the new creations so that we can share with everyone. For a sneak peek at the new goodies and the glory of smelling everything in person, stop by and see us Friday thru Sunday at our booth! We’re located right inside Puffabelly’s Zydeco Corner with Angie’s Bits o Glass and it’s a great time for the whole family out there! We have the promised Honeysuckle soap for everyone along with a few happy surprises. Our outdoor enthusiasts, we have what you need before you go play in the woods. The Texas Suds with Shiner Beer soap ran out last weekend but we had her making more to feed our addiction. There will be plenty of the St Arnold version of our beer soap out there though so no one needs to pout, promise! Next week will bring new pics to the blog and a Mother’s Day deal for those who can’t make it out to the festival. So stick around here for some soaping excitement with Dorothy’s sarcastic humor and come play with us at the festival. Either way, we’re gonna have a lot of fun.

See you there!
The Minions

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It’s That Time Again!

Ok guys, in case you’ve missed the abundance of media coverage and tons of hints from your special someone, it IS Valentine’s Day again. Consider this your 2×4 in the forehead to remind you. I hear the collective cheer from millions of women and children who absolutely love this day. The stores and corner stands are exploding with candy, cards, hearts, chocolates, and huge stuffed animals in colors that just aren’t natural. (Have you seen the 3ft bear that is swirled in neon sherbert colors too?!?) This day happens every year but it still seems to sneak up on people and then we hear the stories later from those who forgot it was coming. There are always at least a few people who aren’t even sure where to start for today and others who could care less about the holiday but their loved ones do. Beware if you are in the group that doesn’t really care for the day with loved ones who do!! We thought we might present a little of our own ideas for today to both help and entertain you as you survive the madness.

Lucky for hubby, Dorothy’s not a mushy gushy kind of girl so she recommends finding alternatives to the usual chocolates & cut flowers. She believes that it’s better to take a few seconds regularly in life to connect with those you love. Take a couple of seconds to grab those you love today and remind them that you care! A random hug or kiss does wonders for a relationship. Who needs a special holiday to say I love you? Life doesn’t wait for that one day to say it and those you would want to say it to may not be alive by the time Valentine’s arrives. Don’t waste a chance to let someone know you love or care. Want to see Dorothy’s head spin? Take her into the stores overflowing in pinks and reds and strong perfume smells or out to dinner to find that the wait is an hour and a half just to get a table. How is that romantic or even worth spending time?!?!

Need some other ideas? Why not think outside the candy box? Offer to wash their backs in the shower or give them a back rub for a little intimacy. Learn more about something they’re interested in to give yourselves another conversation option and actually try to discuss it. They’ll usually appreciate you trying to reach out and see the world from their perspective. If your wife is the cook in the house, take the time to fix a meal and let her rest (bonus points are usually awarded if you clean up the kitchen after too!) Find out if she’d prefer live flowers or plants instead of cut ones. If she’s interested in gardening, those plants will remind her of you every time she sees them and they will last much longer than the cut roses we pay a ransom for on this day. If she loves flowers or sweets but is trying to cut back, grab her some of our Honeysuckle or Chocolate soaps to meet that craving! If your guy has been eyeballing some cool new tool he can’t live without, why not grab that for him instead of a gushy card? Most guys I know would say tools or something along that line is a perfectly awesome alternative to a long line at the movies or restaurant. Slip some of our beer soap into the shower to give him something else to smile about in the morning. Spend some extra time with the kids too. Grab a book and cuddle up together to enjoy a story and pass on the gift of reading. Or perhaps you could make a snack after school today and just talk for a few minutes. They’ll remember you taking time to be with them long after they’ve eaten the candy you gave them.

However you and yours spend today, we hope it is a good one. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, we hope you at least got a smile and idea or two from us today. Many we know are celebrating anniversaries and we wish you many happy returns! If you are tying the knot today, best wishes on your future. To our friends and family, we love you and hope you know that year round! Now we must close this post so that Dorothy can get back to the kitchen. No rest for the wicked and her soap pot is calling again lol We will see some of you later today and promise to update again soon on our spring/summer booth locations.

Happy Washing!
Dorothy

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Honeysuckle Soap

I had written this post in early December but had to hold it so I wouldn’t ruin someone’s holiday surprise.)

There are two lades we love in Mississippi who were waiting very patiently for me to make more Honeysuckle soaps. I had promised them a batch but I really had wanted to improve the colors of their favorite soap over the last time. That was the tricky part for me. As the blog followers are aware, I have reservations about colorants in my soaps. It’s got to be a natural product- no FD&C colorants in my soaps! I first learned to color soaps with a waxy kind of colorant but they really never gave me the results I wanted. I refused to touch a lot of soap colorants that I researched as I found out what they were made from. Some of the “sure fire” herbs that I’d had recommended to me over the years gave me interesting results- at first. Color morphing is a bit of an issue for the cold process soaper as your gorgeous blue become purple overnight. A tie dye looking soap became brownish purple by the time it was ready to deliver and a deep emerald green slid into the color of something you’d almost step on in a pasture. Or the time my pink became brownish- yuck! Yellows became tan and don’t even ask about what we decided some of the results reminded us of. Let’s just summarize some of my soap coloring research as enlightening to me and fun for the household. But I kept making my research batches with the hope I’d get the colors I wanted if I just kept trying. I absolutely love looking at other people’s pretty soaps and admire their artistic work they create in colors. There are incredible soapers out there that I hope to one day come close to in great designs. In the meantime, my job was to try again to create a colored layer soap that stays the color I wanted it to so I could make these two little ladies happy for the holidays.

Green & White Honeysuckle soap curing on the rack
Honeysuckle Soap Curing on the Rack
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After many failed attempts, I got a herb green to work reliably. This batch of Honeysuckle soaps in the catalog still has the not too sweet fragrance with a layered green look. I has planned a swirl in them for the holidays but it started to get too thick so we went for the layers instead. We used one of our milder recipes for the batch to get a great smooth feel while not drying out your skin. (One of these two ladies has to wash up quite a bit in her job and tends to dry out this time of year so it was a high priority for us.) The feedback on this batch tells us it is great for all ages and even liked by the “no flowery scent” users. We hope you’ll enoy it as much as we have!

The sun is now rising on another cold day here and I must head out to check on the soap herb garden. I wish you a great day out there and an even better time in the shower!

Happy Washing!

Dorothy