Lady Di

Ah-soy... I am interested!!! I will keep checking the co-op board for your post. -- Lady D

ldeb - I like these. Where'd you get them???

Oops! Didn't see the posts above. $3.75 each... isn't this pricey? I really don't know, since I've never bought plastic ones before. I pay about $1.00 each for the glass ones.

Where did you find the plastic ones???? I have glass ones, but would love to have the plastic ones for in the shower. I also really like the dark lid on these. I've never seen these before.

Thank you!!!

Does anyone know where I can find a supplier for little 6-pack egg crates (styrofoam, or whatever) that can be used to package bath fizzies? Thanks.

It's a M&P soap that has the spreadable consistency of frosting. I don't know how to use it.

I've just received my order of Frosting Soap, but it did not come with instructions. I've contacted the company, but I really wanted to try it out tonight. Does anyone know how to use this stuff? Thanks. - Dianne

My merchant company told me how to "force" a ticket authorization. I called the customer's credit card company and verified that the charge had been authorized. After about 4 phone calls and a lot of holding on, I finally got my money. That was the hardest $10 I've ever made. The other card was a debit card. According to her bank, this card was denied because she had no funds in her checking account. The bank rep told me to keep calling them to check when a deposit has been made. Once it has, I will run the card through again.

Just did my first show. Okay for a first-timer, I guess -- 6 x booth fee, and no other show/travel expenses, since it was in town. I had heard that you could lose up to 35% of sales if you did not accept credit cards. So I got set up to accept them. I used a manual credit card swiper thingy (the old fashioned type). Most people paid with cash, but I took 3 credit card sales. When I went to phone them in later, 2 of them were "declined." Each one was for $10.00. I'm guessing that once these deadbeats make a payment on their credit cards, the funds will be there for me to run these through again. Am I correct? Is this a common hazzard, or did I just get lucky? What are my odds of ever seeing this money? I have no clue about this, or what to do about it. An electronic swiper is out of the question for me -- I'm not going to be a regular show person, so it wouldn't pay me to invest in one. AND this particular show was in a big field with no electricity. I'm looking forward to some sage advice from some of you.

Who/what is KY?

A Garden Eastward http://addy.com/brinkley/index.html is located in Ludowici, Georgia.

I don't have any special program to make labels. I have WordPerfect and Word on my computer and use the label features on those programs (I prefer WordPerfect). You can insert borders, graphics, change the fonts and font colors, if you want. I use "waterproof" labels for most of my products. They are kind of expensive, though. I buy most of my labels at www.planetlabel.com. I believe they can do custom labels.

I've got my first craft show coming up and would like some ideas about setting up a testing station -- some type of sink area where customers can try the soaps and scrubs. Does anyone have any ideas? Some pictures would be great! Dianne

My goats milk CP recipe says to add the nearly frozen milk to the soap pot AFTER the lye has been mixed with the oils. When I started doing this, all my batches come out a creamy ivory color. Dianne

Thanks for your response. I have taken care of this issue by giving up. Finally... peace of mind.

Is anyone using Thompson Merchant Services with their DIYestore website? I have questions, but don't want to fill up this space with them unless someone can help me. If you can, please respond, and I will post my questions. Thanks so much!

I have a thick cream recipe that calls for 3 tablespoons of beeswax. What can I use instead of beeswax? And would I add the same amount? Does beeswax have a shelf life? I keep mine in a sealed mason jar. When I opened the jar to use it, it smelled a little off. Thanks. Dianne

I put all of my oils, butters and stearic acid in a double boiler and let them melt together. -- Dianne

I have a thick cream recipe that calls for 3 tablespoons of beeswax. What can I use instead of beeswax? And would I add the same amount? Thanks. Dianne

Do I HAVE to list these stupid INCI names on my labels? Listing Matricaria recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, instead of just plain Chamomile Extract, sucks the romance right out of it, to me. Not to mention these inch-long words take up a whole lotta space on the label. I've got one ingredient where the INCI is 3 lines long! What kind of trouble can I get into if I just list the simple names? Are the INCI Label Police really out there waiting to swarm? Dianne

I've gotten the impression from various websites that mineral oil is not good to use when making lotions or creams. Why is this? Dianne

This is what I thought. But I go to so many websites and see people advertising that their soaps are "natural," yet they come in various fragrances that (to me) are clearly not essential oils. I'm not trying to open a can of worms... I just wanted to know for myself.

Can I label my products "all natural," or "natural" if I use fragrance oils (as opposed to essential oils)? -- Dianne

I got rid of about 3 or 4 cups. We put it in a coffee can. Is there anything else I should know about safely getting rid of lye? Dianne