soapmom25

all of the 2 piece molds I've ever used "snapped" together. When some loosened after multiple uses I would add a rubber band to lessen the amount of "seam" residue on the finished piece.

you can add pretty much anything you want to ~ just label it accurately if you do add oils, etc. because of potential allergies

wow, I really like the pink one!! Did you buy those beads locally or online? My oldest DD would love to make stuff, and I would too but I don't know where to start for buying the beads. We have a great little shop in the city that has bins and bins and you pick and make your own, but it's a little pricey so of course I'd rather do it myself LOL

in my experience, it will sweat worse if you simply cut it down and remelt it. You can chunk it up, add more new/fresh soap and would probably be ok. Re-heating is what sparks the sweating here. We keep the shop at a constant temp, so humidity isn't the factor ~ "dry" soap is.

I have the same urge to change things all the time, so what we did was "sub" sites and DBA's. Our official business name is still the same as it was 7 years ago, and when you go to our "original" website it's now a directory of our current websites. That was for those that may have bookmarked us ages ago (previous customers, etc.), as well as search engines, and has worked out great.

I guess it depends on "what" you're thinking, but that same thing could work for you ... THE SOAP BOX could be your "parent" company and whatever else you're thinking would be the 'sister sites'

We don't charge our wholesale accounts a rush order, only retail customers. It's agreed upon up front (in writing) that our processing time is 2-3 weeks. If they run out, they can pay additional shipping to receive partial order in separate shipments, or they can wait it out. Might seem harsh, but knock on wood we haven't had a problem at all and have done wholesale for years. After a while they learn "when" to order

BUMP...Has anyone seen this idea?

No, I have never seen this, and "favors" are the biggest part of my business!!

One thing to always keep in mind is the crowd ... if you know the guests well and they are the type that likes cutesy things, then this would be fine. Speaking just for myself ~ this would be something I would either not take (if left out on a table to "take one") or I would toss it away when I got home ~ too cutesy for my personal taste, ESPECIALLY if it's baby powder scented ~ yuck! :lipsrseal

The best favors are food (and I say that as someone that only sells soap & candles LOL) ... candy is universal, cookies go great too!

if you need specifically raspberries, we make them.

Go to www.soapshapes.com and then click on the "Fruits" category

Hi, thank you both for your input.

I've found templates for 2" round labels, but I have not been able to find all those cute pictures to put on the labels. I'm looking for the soft prints and pastels of clothes, animals, etc. It is a lot of work and as much as I wanted to do it myself, maybe I should just buy the labels.

:undecided

if you're looking on "baby shower" sites and hoping to find the images they've used, I can all but guarantee you won't. I personally know the owners of 2 sites other then my own and they both contract their artwork from graphic designers. I have had a graphic designer do a few things for me, then some I made in photoshop, and a few others I've downloaded through Microsoft gallery.

unless you anticipate doing this often, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper just to order the labels done online? I personally know and have worked with 2 sites that now offer "just" labels if you want to finish your own favors instead of buying their completed favors.

Maybe it's just me, but by the time you buy the labels, buy the software, spend the time designing the label, and use your own ink you could have had them shipped to you all done.

Another thought is that the sites I'm referring to both have professional printers, so unless you also have one, the quality you would get from them will be better then you can do at home.

Don't take this wrong ~ I'm all for doing stuff yourself, I do it all the time as well, I'm just saying for a one-time only project it might be worth buying them ...

since you're not "sure" it's a boy ~ I would stick with something generic as a theme. It's really common to copy the nursery theme if mom has one.

Our most popular theme is our Jungle Critter Soap favors if that helps at all. Ducks are classic, but that's usually a "love it or hate it" kinda thing, so ask the MTB what she would prefer!

You can decorate the tables with stuffed animals or books. Ask for books instead of cards and start a library for the little one! Have each person write a little note or poem, or at least sign their name as to who it's from ~ great keepsake.

If you need game ideas still, let me know ~ I have a TON of them put together on one of our old webpages

Have fun ~ wishing mom & baby a healthy delivery!!

I don't do anything with bars, logs, swirls, etc. but I have an extensive collection of molds that I make all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. To the point where we have multiple website so a few can be dedicated just to certain soap designs

What have you done or trying to do?

So I pour the soap into that teeny tiny itsy bitsy little hole??

yep ~ I always spilled over the top, even with my smallest pyrex. No matter what I did I always got terrible air bubbles that would leave a "crater" in the finished piece of the duck, but the overall piece is cute and the block is adorable.

The plastic molds are good to practice with until you're sure you're going to stick with ~ then you'll definitely want to switch to silicone molds!! Much more expensive but SO worth the money.

Yes! So I was suppose to put them back together? That's exactly what these are.:embarasse

edited to add...the M&P base came from Cierra Candles in Reno. It was the Shea Butter one. It feels really creamy too and has lots of lather. This was fun!!

hee hee ~ yes, snap them back together and pour through the little hole in the top! You'll have a much cooler soap in about an hour

After being pulled apart many, many times mine wouldn't close tight enough to hold the soap in without leaking so I started snapping a rubber band around them before I poured and that worked great. They really will "seal" on their own for awhile though .... go for it!

oh, and the part somebody mentioned about the spending going on forever .. SO TRUE! I've been at this heavy for 5 years now and to this day I'm still thinking up new designs, having custom molds made, buying cake pans, cookie sheets, candy molds, etc. ~ making "new" soaps all the time! All I do is M/P ~ everything, I'm still too chicken of lye!!

were the duck and baby block together? They look exactly like a mold I used to use, and still have 10 or 12 of them. It was a 2 pc. plastic mold that snapped together and had a small hole in the top for pouring into. After the soap set up you yanked the plastic pieces apart and out would pop a "3D" soap

that's insane! Our UPS guy is awesome! Today I couldn't be right there, and he didn't see my end of day report, so even went over to the computer and was going to print it out for me (this is at our shop, not my house). USPS doesn't deliver to our house or shop since we're such a small town, so can't say what they would do. The ladies that work there are awesome though, I just don't use their service much.

Now Fed Ex is another story ... they can barely find our town

awesome looking site Jennifer! Your products are gorgeous

In just a quick skim over the wording, the only spelling error I found was the word "officially" on your ABOUT US page.

I am on the opposite...I sell wedding favours and do really well. I didnt even really want to get into it, but I did a friends wedding and from that got 3 more....and now I am doing my brother in laws wedding (centerpieces too)...it is fun, for now I really enjoy it.

that's the kind of success I was referring to when I said "local" I think if Lynn is "known" in her community, then wedding favors COULD be a large business and people would appreciate handmade quality. Plus the overall price would/could be less per favor because shipping isn't involved, etc.

Online though, it's rather cut throat and got to be way too much of a headache for me. Now I stick with the family celebrations AFTER the wedding (baby, kid b-day, etc.) ~ much more relaxed buyers and fun orders to do

take this for what it is ... just my experience and opinion, but wedding favors are a tough thing to make a lot of money on. Brides are very picky (rightfully so, don't take that wrong) , and themes change every season/year, "in" colors change, etc.

I used to sell quite a bit (about 5 years ago) and I finally quit doing them because people just frustrated me too much. I also used to drop ship for other sites and most of those people have pulled away from wedding stuff too. The ones that are still in the market have gone to strictly pre-made/pre-bought stuff ~ completely away from the handmade/custom stuff that we all started out with.

Please don't think I'm trying to discourage you! If this is something you really want to do, then by all means go for it. But I wanted you to have a realistic point of view as well.

Hooking up with a wedding planner would be very costly I would think (but could be wrong!) and again the same things would come into play ... they would require large orders to be quickly produced, constant quality (i.e. all soaps or candle would MATCH and not have flaws), and fresh new ideas (i.e. constantly doing "new" things to keep with the trends).

Selling to local market might fare better if that's an option open to you.

this is my biggest gripe about PP. They did something similar to me ~ deducted a sale from my account that was like 6 months after the fact because the customer disputed the charge on her credit card because she didn't recognize the payee.

Ironically at the time there was actually money in the account because most of the time I keep it cleaned out. They definitely act first and ask questions later and I had to jumps through numerous "hoops" to their action reversed. I was assumed wrong until I proved I was right ~ very annoying!

Our regular merchant treated the same situation entirely differently ~ contacted us and requested info first, then reviewed the situation. PP took the money first and "held" it while they investigated.

We offer a "free sample" if the buyer pays S/H. That particular cart button charges them a flat $5.00

For customers that email requesting a sample shipped I direct them to the pages where these are offered and/or tell them almost word for word what you already stated. Every once in a while somebody will go ahead and order "just 1" but most of the time it's just somebody fishing for free stuff that I don't believe ever intends to buy anyway

Curious to know if anyone here has had a business that they've sold. We currently have a business that I am leaning toward selling because I want to pursue other things. The business is successful, so I know it has "worth", but I'm not sure who to contact to attempt to sell it. We have a shop, but it's work space only, not retail open to the public. All of our sales/accounts are generated through our websites. Is there some of a realtor type person that handles this sort of sale?

hate to tell ya, but that happened to me once too and I ended up just throwing them away because nothing I tried made the smell go away. Admittedly I'm overly sensitive to this smell, so others might not mind it as much as I do, but I just couldn't tolerate it at all, so I tossed them!

that's odd. I've used their stabilizer for a few years now, and never had that problem. I don't use GM soap though because I think *it* has a weird odor ~ noses are very differerent LOL

Have you tried Fresh Picked Strawberries from ICS? I also love strawberry and go back and forth between this one and Strawberry Jam from BCN. Love them both and they smell quite different.