sockmonkey

I'm embarassed to say it--that soap MAKES MY MOUTH WATER!

Those are lovely soaps.

That's excellent, especially with the dark background, I really make the connection! I swear though, I don't know how people manage to get anything swirled in m&p!

I'm not sure what you're looking for exactly, but maybe a Goodwill store will have some stuffed animals like monkeys or tigers for decoration. You might drape some leopard/jungle print fabric on top of your table cloth--tear it so the edges are jagged like Tarzan's loin cloth. You might also find some large silk or plastic palm fronds you could put in a vase or hang from your table or add some bamboo around your table. Are those the kind of things you were looking for?

One possibility is to put your clay and oatmeal in a small ziploc bag together (or separate bags) and then include a glass vial of the essential oil. You could then package them together in a sachet envelope or small box, or create your own package using cardstock. You could also use small chinese takeout boxes (you can find plastic ones in pastel colors, and sometimes printed ones) or you could use small plastic deli-containers or short round plastic "carry-out" bowls. You could also just put the ingredients in a jar.

That's very clever.

You could start out with something like... J&L Creations is proud to introduce our line of xxx to businesses that are interested in offering high quality, handmade products to their customers. Our company was founded in 2003, manufacturing individually crafted items such unique handmade dolls, blankets, soaps, and wood crafts among other items. blah, blah, blah. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy 2lbs get 1lb free is back! http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84983

Hi Lorrie, In the letter to the customer, you're basically introducing yourself. Most introductory letters should be relatively brief, but include some highlights about your company or company polices, and refer to any additional material that you are enclosing. Here's one idea that might get you started-- Dear XXX, Thank you for your interest in our company. J&L Creations was founded in 2003, manufacturing such things as quality handmade dolls, blankets, soaps, and wood crafts among other items. Our current line of (fill in whatever they expressed an interest in here) is one of our most popular selections, and wholesales at $_____ per (fill in the quanitity here--unit, case, dozen, etc.) At J&L Creations, we work with our customers to provide outstanding products, which translates into profits for them. We are also able to offer private labeling services on certain products. I have enclosed an information packet for your review. Upon examination, you will find further details regarding purchasing, terms, and product offerings. Please contact us at _________ with your order or if you require further assistance. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy 2lbs get 1lb free is back! http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84983

It's m&p--you can make it and test it the same day. It's not a complicated process, it's something kids can do. These are about the only things you can do wrong: -add too much oil, which will make it soft and/or cut down the lather. -use FO's/EO's that aren't suitable for use on skin -heat it too much and make it brittle The only dangerous one is using the wrong type of FO/EO (and I'm sure you're already aware of that one). So, other than that, it's only aesthetics. Faerywren offers good advice, but in this instance it's extreme overkill.

As you can see from the links, she's been doing this for years, and every year she's making "50 gift baskets." It would be funny to send her the $1 sample tart, but make it smell like cat pee. Then do repeated follow ups with her and ask her when she will be placing an order.

Good for you for calling her out, Shanna! She obviously makes a living out of scamming people out of freebies. Scroll down to comment number 3 on this link: http://www.vivawoman.net/2008/07/17/review-organic-surge-shower-gels/ Look at the comment at the bottom of this link: http://apples2apple.com/blogs/index.php?blog=2&title=sugar_rush_the_sugar_body_scrub&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 That's pretty pathetic that a person asks for so much free stuff that you can even google them and find their requests. She ought to be banned from the internet.

Keep the money and don't do anything. She'll just go back to Paypal and ask for it back eventually--when she realizes you aren't going to go to her house, nor give her a cash refund. She sounds like a scammer who is needing cash in hand for some reason or another and probably doesn't have a Paypal debit card to go to a money machine and get it. Let her see if Yankee candle will drive to her house and give her a cash refund if she doesn't get their order. NOBODY does that. She ought to consider herself lucky that you refunded her immediately instead of waiting until FedEx resolves the issue. You could be pissy about it and tell her you would gladly drive to her house to re-deliver another set of candles, but she would have to pay a $600 delivery fee to allow for transportation and lodging costs for you to drive from MN to TX to do it! She's a nut. How much money are we talking about anyway, if you don't mind me asking?

One way is to charge for the samples--either full price or wholesale cost, but offer a credit for the cost of the samples on their first order. Another option, make a special sample case. The aluminium tins in a case or plastic tealights in a clear plastic tube are great for holding the samples. You can sell them or take them as a set or take them to shops and let the customers sniff them on the spot.

I don't completely understand why you're talking about doing consignment when the friend said he was willing to buy some. How much is "not a whole lot?" Are you talking 10, 25, or 100? Instead of dealing with the hassle of consignment, I would sell them to him for $1 each since he is a friend. I would make sure that he knew you were offering him a special deal just to see how they sell, and with his next order the regular rate goes into effect. Perosnall, since he is a friend I would not sell him any to begin with. I agree that I would simply give him 10 or 12 to start. He could give them to customers who would then see your website or contact information on how to buy more. Hopefully, he will see how much customers enjoy the free air freshener that he will decide it's a good investment and buy them in bulk from you. Air fresheners are so super cheap to make, it just seems ridiculous not to give some away for free as a goodwill gesture to get the ball rolling--especially when the person is a friend who probably doesn't expect or need to make money off of a $3 air freshener, but is really only trying to help you out.

What I found was that some of the people asking for protected territories are the ones who would buy the least--the bare minimum, which isn't worth protecting. If you choose to offer protected territory it is important to establish a dollar amount and the time frame in which they have to purchase the set amount. Retailers know it's the way it works. If they sqwak about the dollar amount, then suggest they do private label, which is actually better than protected territory. Sure it costs them a little bit more, but it's more exclusive and a guarantee that they will return to the store when they want more because they think they can't get it elsewhere.

I use liquids and my m&p soaps have never bled. I've used micas from TKB and don't feel like they are worth the trouble. I buy my dyes from The Chemistry Store and bought some from what used to be known as Craft Lobby, which were super cheap for the amount you get. Dyes from both companies incorporated well and didn't leave specks of color like some liquid dyes I got from another popular supplier.

This thread was started in 2005. I hope she can remember how the show went.

With m&p, shrink wrap might pose a problem for you. Shrink wrap requires the use of heat to set it and depending on the thickness of your shrink wrap and the power of your heat gun or hair dryer it could cause your soap to melt a little bit. As Gen mentioned, Saran Wrap is a good option. It serves the purpose, it's cheap, and less time consuming than working with shrink wrap.

Is there supposed to be any kind of theme, or is it totally up to you what you want to design? If you don't like to paint, you can always decoupage. You can use paper from books, giftwrap, scrapbooking supplies, paper bags, newspaper, etc. If you wanted to do a beach them without painting, there is plenty of "water" design themed scrapbooking paper, or touristy/map paper. You can buy it by the sheet at any craft store. You could glue some of that on with Modge Podge or other craft glue and then sand it down so that the edge of the paper is exposed to show a white rough edge, or even expose a little of the wood frame beneath. Then you can dry brush it with a little stain or watered down brown paint (just a smidge will do) to give it an aged look and glue a starfish, a toy car, surf board, plastic fish, etc. on one corner of the frame. You could do something similar with yellow notepad paper and glue a pencil and some paperclips on it for an office themed frame.

Fabulous job!

They're both nice, but my favorite is the one on the left.

I was in the store today and see that Burt's Bees has an herbal insect repellant spray. Maybe after looking at the ingredients you could whip your own version (or buy theirs--it was $7.99 at Lowes). Ingredients: glycine soja (soybean) oil, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil, cymbopogon schoenanthus (lemongrass) oil, thuja occidentalis (cedar) leaf oil, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, cymbopogon nardus (citronella) oil, eugenia caryophyllus (clove) flower oil, geranium maculatum (geranium) oil, tocopherol

I never use a lid, but I was comparing it to the one on ebay. The silicone molds can also be used for cp, so I think the lid would come in handy in that case. I searched kitchen stores and other places looking for a silicone pan with sharp, crisp edges that will make a nice square bar of soap like the ebay mold, but there was no such beast.

That is a deal on the ones at WSP, but I've been waiting on them since April. They don't come with a lid/cover either.

https://secure.onlinelabels.com/General/SamplesSelectItems.aspx