soapmom25

by "CO" do you mean coconut or castor or something else? I have heard Castor Oil is what adds lather

I can see sort of "pixelated" lettering too, but I just assumed it was the particular font and that way on purpose Pixelated means you can see the little dots ~ it's not smooth, constant, fine, finished, etc. Not sure about the frame thing except that I noticed it wasn't centered, but again I assumed it was that way on purpose likely based on the host or designer's recommendation. I'm anal about that kind of stuff and myself would have had it centered both vertically and horizontally. The reason I asked about the 2 businesses under 1 roof was because of your wording ... it says "Fragrance for the body and home" which leads nothing to the baby shower stuff, so you might consider leaving that off and just having the Boutique stand alone since that can cover just about anything!

I love pink & brown, so I think it's cute!! What did you decide about the 2 sites or just 1?

did you get your base direct from SFIC? I buy samples of their soap every year or so and think I just might finally switch over to them, but this last time I ordered from KY and decided it really wasn't any better than I was already using. Years ago the SFIC was a harder finished soap, which is what I was looking for because I also feel like my other soap base has been getting softer every time I order. This time the SFIC seemed softer as well :undecided I used to buy from 2 suppliers and blend my own because one was terribly soft and I couldn't get my 3D soaps out of their molds without marring them, and the other base was so dry and hard that it would almost crumble when I would cut it (big 20-25 lbs. blocks), but together it was a great soap base! Unfortunately, the "hard" stuff keeps getting softer and now I use it alone and no longer buy the soft stuff to blend it. The soft stuff was cheap and really made my dollar stretch, so I really wish I could make it work again!

if you're interested in soap favors, I have quite a few www.babyshowerfavorites.com

does this leave any residue on the sink? We have terribly hard water and seems like every bath product we try leaves residue in the tub, so I would be afraid of a film in my sink (that would potentially rub off onto dishes) if I put FO in there. years ago I used to be able to buy "disposal balls" and those were the coolest things! Wish I could figure out how to make something like that. For now I personally just use ice, baking soda, and lemon juice to clean the disposal

it's a centerpiece/gift for a new baby/shower that's constructed of diapers (most commonly disposable, but cloth can be used too, just more expensive) and decorated from simple with just ribbons and a topper to very loaded with booties, bibs, bottles, rattles, etc. The big thing is that every piece is able to be used (at least ours were) it's definitely NOT just a dust collector

I just don't have time (or space) to keep up with it! When I started the original biz (which was just diaper cakes) I was pregnant with my 3rd child, and have since add 2 more kids after her (yes, a total of 5, ages 3-13). Between the growing kids (and all their STUFF and activities ~ i.e. mom's taxi service) I just don't have the time to sit down and constantly make the diaper cakes and stuff, or the space to continue to order in bulk like I did in the past. I had to "pick" one of my specialties and I chose soap I still do baby shower favors, but only soap ones ~ I used to do tons more stuff and constantly still have *ideas* ... just no TIME

those are really beautiful, but the name alone brings up so many hits/matches on Google to other spas and salons that I would worry about getting lost in the crowd :undecided

I would separate them. At our peak, we owned 7 websites (still technically own all URLs) and 6 were operational. I never got around to putting the 7th up past the home page I separated everything so each could focus on it's own specialty item/niche. In fact, we're currently selling our "baby shower" business/website and inventory, and since I did have them separated I'm able to do that without affecting my other sites whatsoever! There's no reason they can't work together though, so if it's easier for you to just have 1 site to maintain, then by all means do it ~ all you need are "categories" for each line. Good luck ~ the diaper cake biz is really fun, I did it for 7 years!

we got our number through our local phone company, but the long distance service is through our electric co-op. I only pay about $5.00 per month.

wow, with that much time and materials invested I really don't see how he could sell them at all ~ would probably just be a gift item. Sorry I can't be more encouraging, but I'm just basing that on what *I* would buy and what would be the norm for my area :undecided I would love to have that kind of talent though, he did beautiful work!!

same here ... in Indiana as well. We haven't put our window A/C's in yet, so the only way I've been able to get production going on the soaps is taking them to our basement (unfinished) after I pop them out and put the dehumidifier right on them. A few had to literally be set right in front of the unit so that the heat/fan coming from the compressor dried them out. It did work though ~ I had an order of 36 pieces that was covered, and they completely dried up within about 2 hours.

I haven't bought any for several years, but I used to get mine from SEI. They have retail and wholesale.

like these? http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin21a.html

you can get 1/2" square punches in the scrapbook supply stores/departments ~ is that what you're looking for? I've never seen one that is "adjustable" to make it a little less than 1/2" if that's what you mean.

if that's so, then that's GREAT! The Pay Pal of years ago required hoops most customers weren't willing to go through and I just decided it wasn't worth the hassle. I still accept Pay Pal, just also have a merchant service for Visa/MC. I never did set up with Disc. & AmEx though, so those are forced through PP if elected, and still Visa/MC gets selected many, many, times over the other 3 combined.

you'll get opinions both ways, so you really just have to go with whatever you're comfortable with and what's best for your business! We have customers that will specifically NOT pay with Pay Pal, and years ago when that's all we used, they would call or email and ask if they could pay another way. For those that are familiar with PP, it's no big deal at all, and they love and probably prefer it. But for somebody who is just a shopper, they don't know what PP is ~ they just want to type in their CC number and be done. The only way to really know is to try it. If you get unfinished orders showing up and/or questions about paying a different way, you'll know Pay Pal is holding you back.

My perception of "green" is to waste less and recycle more, so unless you can recycle the wax and/or container I think it would be hard to call candles *green* If that IS something you offer and plan to encourage (refilling/recycling the container) then perhaps that can be your selling point!

I ALWAYS round up from what my scale says because the P.O. lady's scale is always higher and even an ounce is rounded up! We're in a small town, so she has time to check packages, and she always double checks any pre-printed labels too, and will ding you if you didn't pay enough. She's only ever held 1 package on me though, a few others she let go through and just left me a note in my box that I owed extra. I have been known to re-pack stuff! I just did it last weekend on an order going to Ireland when I ran the numbers and found out "Priority" was cheaper than Flat Rate. When I did my estimated charges, it was the other way around, and the final weight came out slightly different, so I repacked it because it was like $7.00 difference!

I just saw a shop in Seattle last week when we were visiting out there with "Fenix" in the name! my little guy (he's 3) loves Wonder Pets, and we're all hooked on the theme song! I love it so much that I have it as my ring tone LOL . "the phone, the phone is ringing" .... (you'd have to know the cartoon to understand)

it's fine and it's fun! I had a whole Girl Scout troop do it last year and they all thought it was the neatest thing! I did the cutting (soap into chunks) and set out a bunch of pyrex and let them pick their color & fragrance. I added those things and then ran the microwave, but let them pour and spray the tops. Once cooled, I let them add glitter or paint and choose their color of ribbon for the bag/s. We did it right before Valentine's Day and many made heart shaped soaps for their moms my kids have done it several times ~ my 11 y.o. DD is a pro at pouring, spraying, and painting! I just do the cutting and melting.

Sweet Sixteen Spun Sugar Cotton Candy Taffy Sweet Tooth Candy Shop does that help at all???

I can't even get there ~ it comes up with a error box that I've never seen before telling me that "the domain name doesn't match" ... very weird! ok ~ if I open a new/separate window and type the URL myself, it gets right there I love the clean lines & design ~ love the colors, although I found the text a bit hard to read, so background may need to be a shade lighter Laughing at the "kandel" scents ~ I hope that's a hit for you Only thing that jumped out at me (other than the intentionally misspellings) was OUNSES

I just stick mine in a box I have sitting along with my other FO bottles and about once a year I offer them up for free "just pay shipping" and/or I toss them in for free with other FO bottles that I'm selling off. It's rare that I end up liking a sample that I get for free, but when I do I usually make a small soap with that and put that finished soap in my stack of "thank you" stuff that I send out with completed orders.