The Soapmaker's 10 Commandments

As we venture into the New Year, please remember....

1.  You shall use no other soap but your own.
2.  You shall not make a carved image out of soap.
3.  You shall not take the name of any soap in vain.
4.  Remember wash day, to keep it clean.
5.  Honor your teachers and your mentors.
6.  You shall not murder anyone over soap. Duh!
7.  You shall not commit adultery involving a bar of soap.
8.  You shall not steal anyone's soap. Ever.
9.  You shall not bear false witness against other soapmakers, even if they melt and pour.
10. You shall not covet a soapmaker's work shop, or a soapmaker's spouse, nor her new molds, nor his giant stick blender, not her milk goat, nor anything that is your fellow soapmaker's.

The bottom line?  Love EVERY soapmaker, as yourself!  :o)

Cozy Up!

When temperatures fall and bone chilling winds blow...there's nothing quite like a nice warm bath! Baths reduce stress, increase circulation and promote deep sleep. The recommended bath temperature for most is a comfortable 110 degrees. Add some therapeutic bath oils or bath salts, then soak to your hearts content (15-20 minutes should do it). To help warm your home, don't drain the bath water until it completely cools. Of course you will have vacated long before that and moved on to sipping hot chai tea by the fireside while wearing your softest flannel pajamas and thickest wool socks.

Close the drapes, bring out the board games, throw on an extra blanket, and fluff up your nest! Cozy up with your loved ones this winter (that includes pets)...and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Are You Mistletoe-Ready?

Keep your skin & lips soft, smooth & mistletoe-ready with our healing, organic body balms.  Enriched with jojoba oil & vitamin E, they're the perfect stocking stuffers for frosty weather! 

The All Important Dish

Soap dish, that is.  You've gotta have a good one if you want to keep your handmade soap from turning into a gushy hump of mush.

Here's a sampling of some I've collected over the years. OK, the Old Spice shaving mug, the old aluminum travel case, and the antique dish washing wand aren't really "dishes"...but then neither are the cedarwood soap decks or the fossilized limestone soap rock. They all do hold soap though, so that works for me.

I found some alternative soap dishes here, some awfully cute ones here, and some gorgeous handmade ones here.

What holds your soap?

The Mindless Masses

This weekend millions of Americans will be camped out in parking lots, stampeding the malls, fighting at the registers and piling up their carts.  All so they can acquire more cheap, unnecessary, foreign made stuff, then try to impress their family and friends with it.  When George Carlin talked about "stuff", he was so right... a typical American house is just "a place to keep all your stuff while you go out and get more STUFF!"

Don't buy into it!  You don't need all that junk...and neither do your kids, your family or your friends. Give simple, eco friendly, or homemade gifts instead.  Then spend time making memories with someone you love this weekend instead of the mindless masses at the mall.  It's your call.