October Newsletter and Samples

Alright wonderful fans and followers, our latest newsletter has just been sent out for October. If you haven't signed up and want to see whats new and get the latest deals, just sign up on your right at the top of the page.  I only send out a newsletter once a month, no more than that. I won't stalk you; promise ;)

Also I wanted to let you all in on a fun site for samples! Yes a box full of all kinds of samples, from foodie treats to beauty pleasures at SamplerVillage.  One of my customers steered me over to this site so I am new to it and now taking part with them.  They have wonderful reviews and really know how to stuff a box full of fun surprises. I've also seen several people reviewing these sampler boxes on YouTube, so if you check it out there you'll get a feel for what you can receive.
They also have a great blog  if you have some time for a little indulgent reading.

Here they are on Facebook

If you enjoy surprises and sampling all kinds of handmade goodies like I do, I think you'll have a wonderful experience with Sampler Village. Traci is a terrific person and works hard to put all these amazing boxes together each and every month.  I can't wait for the mail to bring me my box...whohoo!

First Hand Milled Soap Batch ...

  Made my very first hand milled soap the other day and it turned out surprisingly well.  The recipe I used seemed to use a lot of water compared to what I was reading online to use (1/4 C per#).  I read so many disappointments and failed attempts on re-batching / hand-milling soap that I was avoiding it like the plaque.... yes I don't like failure.

  However my little bucket of cutoffs and trimmings was overly full so I needed to find some extra nerve and give it a go.  I started taking all the extra soap bits and putting them in the food processor so they were fine enough for melting (most use the smallest part of a cheese grater). However my pieces were so varied most wouldn't be big enough to shred on one of those.

  Then I steeped some aromatic Chai Tea to add to the batch in my crock pot. This recipe called for 12 oz of water per pound (yes a bit too much in my opinion).  Also added about a teaspoon of honey to my 1.5 pound batch as it cooked down.  Now all the bits mixed together had varied scents and colors, but some how in the end when I was finished it smelled so nice...couldn't duplicate the scent if I tried.  It has a mellow spicy and somewhat warm sweetness; definitely unisex.

  Anyway I found myself putting off this hand milled soap for nothing...it wasn't difficult and turned out quite  lovely. Don't let the negative Nelly's scare your sudsy self away..go for it! Worse case scenario you re-batch it again... that's the beauty of soap making it CAN be forgiving.
~ Little tip, when stirring... do so ever so slowly and gently or your going to have a bubble party in your pot.

All my extra soap bits and trimmings.

Steeping the Chai tea.... ohh it did smell yummy!

Starting to melt down well... told ya lots of water in this one.

Right after un-molding... it was soggy wet. Had to put it in fridge to get hard enough to remove.

Here it is all finished, that's the color it turned out to be; I'm as happy as a soap bubble! 

Once this soap dries out well in a few weeks I'll have this lovely soap listed in my Etsy store for those that love gentle hand milled soaps.  I guess what to name it is the next question.

WHOHOO for Hand Milled Soap !!!!!  

Happy dance in progress.

BnC is Moving....

We'd like to let all our loyal customers know that we are in the process of moving from scenic Colorado to sunny Florida within the next few weeks. This is a big move for us so our store will be closed temporarily until the end of Aug/11.

Once we regroup and settle in, business will continue as usual. Some new products are also in the works for the upcoming Holiday season. Yes I know I said it, but it's inevitably sneaking up ;).  We've recently started a 'designer line' of Powder Puffs that will be incredible for nostalgic gifts....watch for those.

We can still be reached by email ...see contact page .  I'm not sure how quick we can respond, depends how quickly our Internet provider hooks us up at the new location. We will respond as soon as we have/find internet access.
Your patience is greatly appreciated during this transition. We'll be back in full gear soon!

Keep Smiling....
Rachel & Steve.