10th ave. soapworks

The Soap Opera is a downtown landmark on State Street in Madison, WI, just a couple of blocks from the capitol.  What a place!  Soap, soap, and more soap.   I've visited there several times over the years (if you even had to ask). When the Soap Opera's owner approached me a couple months ago, asking to include my soaps in the shop's  made in Wisconsin  line, I was on board! Actually, my first exposure to The Soap Opera came from one of my herbal books, published in 1976. Jeanne Rose's Herbal Body Book listed the shop.  It was one of four locations listed in Wisconsin and the closest to me.  Forty plus years later, the shop is still around and thriving! Have you ever seen so much soap in your life?! So when you think of Wisconsin, what do you think of?  If you think of beer, cheese and cows, there's a soap for that.  And all three are available at The Soap Opera. Dairyland, with a Holstein cow design and a fres...

I've recently teamed up with Danielle of Meadow Ridge Alpacas , a fellow vendor at my local farmer's market...my soaps with her alpaca fiber.  I can already tell it's going to be a great partnership. The idea of felted soaps was a new one for both of us but it seemed logical given our products.  So we turned to our good friend, YouTube.  After watching lots of videos, I gave it a try.   It was a Goldilocks kind of project--the first one was too thick, the second was too thin, but my third, fourth, and fifth attempts were just right .  It's a strange concept, the idea of turning a mass of soft fibers into a scrubby, felt washcloth attached right to the soap.  But it really works! I love the color variations of the natural alpaca fiber.  But of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so my next project will be learning how to dye the fibers to add a splash of pretty color.  (Because we all know prettier soap gets you cleaner.) The m...

It's not often that I have company when I make soap.  In fact, it's pretty rare.  But since my shelves were nearly sold bare at Christmas time, it's taken some work to get my inventory back up to full capacity.  On a recent Thursday night my husband suggested that I prep oils and molds and we would make some soap together the following evening. So Friday night, I had a hot date with my guy and soap.  (Not too shabby!)  We make a good team!  He was a great help, stirring lye solutions, measuring fragrances, and even choosing color schemes.  We made six batches, which included a few test batches. Here is one of the test batches that he poured by himself--his first attempt.  I think it's gorgeous!  He has a lot of natural talent, don't you think? He's a keeper!  (And so were the soaps.)

Every two years in late September my town of Monroe, WI, celebrates Cheese Days.  Regular life comes to a halt as all attention is focused on the festival, celebrating the heritage of the area with all things Swiss-- polka, alphorns, beer, and copious quantities of cheese.  And it is a Big Deal; the population grows from 10,000 to over 200,000. Happily, most of the action occurs within walking distance of my house. (Ha!  As if there would be any place to park a car anyway!) Since it occurs over the weekend, there is, of course, a farmer's market.  It's moved a few blocks from its regular spot on the downtown square, but there is no lack of customers.  After the craziness of getting all the market vendors and their wares squeezed in and set up, I enjoy the excitement of the change of pace, meeting people from all over, and the party atmosphere. So what makes a party in Wisconsin?  Beer and cheese.  (Well, bratwurst, too, but I have to draw the li...

Confession: I made my first batch of soap about 14 years ago and in all the years since, I have never once made a batch of vanilla soap.  Sure, I've accidentally bought the occasional fragrance that contained more vanilla than I realized, like my lovely yellow lemon poppyseed soap that magically tuned to bland brown in mere hours.  But I've avoided the straight vanilla fragrance, as much as I like it. However, I recently bought a bottle of the most amazing vanilla fragrance.  It is incomparable in sugar scrubs and the sort of scent that you almost have to take the teeniest lick, just to convince yourself that it's really not edible. But I figured it was high time for some vanilla soap. When working with vanilla-based fragrances, I've found that it just doesn't work to fight it.  Titanium dioxide, vanilla stabilizer--the effects only last so long, if at all.  Brown soap is just so....brown. And boring. I wanted to make a vanilla soap that popped. Day one of ...

Spring will be coming soon or maybe it's already here....I'm not quite sure yet.  I enjoyed a beautiful weekend with temperatures in the 70s and woke up to snow and temperatures in the teens on Monday morning.  But with daffodils and hyacinths popping up and Easter only a few days away, this girl's fancy has turned to spring time soaps.  Here are a few that will be at the upcoming market here in Monroe and listed soon in my Zibbet shop. A new fragrance in my line-up, but I'm certain it will be well-received.  And I'm already looking forward to making another batch, because it soaped beautifully! Cucumber Melon I was getting requests for this scent way back in February!  This spring's batch came out just as I'd pictured it in my mind. Honeysuckle It's a rare, sad day that I don't have this soap in stock--Lemon Poppyseed Scrub.  I'm glad other people like it as much as I do.  I add a bit of rosemary essential oil with the lemon scent...

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you've already seen a post on one of my favorite things to grow--loofah, but I think it's time for another one.  People are often surprised when they learn that loofahs are grown.  No, a loofah isn't a sea sponge, but the mature "skeleton" of a zucchini-like plant.  Everyone knows they are good for the bath but they also make great natural pan scrubbers in the kitchen.  They are so popular that I have to remember to tuck away any that I want to keep myself. I raise three or four plants every year.  Like a zucchini or a cucumber, it likes to spread out with little regard to another plant's personal space.  Here is last year's crop. Early in the summer, the loofahs remained neatly on the trellis: But then they wandered over to the basil: Cozied among the tomatillos: And hung out with the butternut squash: Harvest time was a regular treasure hunt.  But I ended up with about 20 loofahs fr...

I know that any color added to soap can morph into a surprise, but there is an added element of unknown when using botanicals to color my soap.  Some people jump out of planes or ski off mountains, but this is how I live on the edge these days.  Hmm.  If I weren't having so much fun, I'd be embarrassed. I recently had my first go with madder.  So....whatsa madder?  It's a root--the root of the madder. Ahem. (I love puns...) I infused 8 oz. of olive oil with 2 t. madder root powder for almost a week.  This amount worked out to be 20% of the oils in my batch. I wanted something in the way of embeds to add visual interest.   I dearly love my soap balls but I don't want to over do a good thing.  I've recently done square-shaped embeds, so this time I cut a bar of white soap into slices. I panicked a little that it wouldn't get dark enough--it was kind of a dusty peach--so I added 1/4 t. dried powder right before pouring. Madder powd...

Remember this not-so-great batch?  It's ok if you didn't; it wasn't that memorable.  I had just resigned myself to the fact that my family was going to be using fruit loop scented soap for months to come when a commenter suggested that it be rebatched into a cobblestone soap.  Genius!  I've always used this method to use up scrap pieces of soap, but this was my first time reinventing a so-so batch. I finally did it last week.  Chopped into little chunks, the colors really popped and the swirls were suddenly gorgeous. I added it to another batch of soap of the same scent.  It so much easier on the eyes, methinks. Thanks so much, SoapJam , for reminding of a great way to turn a less than mediocre batch into a beautiful soap!

Well, I haven't posted since the week of Thanksgiving.  You see, as Bob Cratchit would say apologetically, "We were making rather merry."   And merry it was, with parties, family, wall-to-wall Christmas music and movies, food, company from afar, a successful deer season, blizzards, presents, cold snaps, and yet more food.  My life also seemed be one long Christmas craft show with a show every weekend but one since Nov. 2.     But here I am--rested up, over a bout of cold/flu, readjusting to a somewhat normal schedule, with a soap cupboard that looks like Cindy Lou-Who's house on Christmas Eve.  Perfect.   A cafe in a neighboring town, The Fuller House , recently began carrying some of my soaps in the adjoining gift store.  Big glass jars of beautiful loose tea blends are one of the popular items.  The owner suggested I incorporate some of her teas into soaps for the shop and gave me some tea blends to try out.  This is a bla...

Fall and Christmas soaps are my favorite soaps to make. It doesn't hurt that it's my favorite time of year, anyway!  There are so many good fragrances and endless sources of inspiration.  Peppermint Bark--I was inspired by the dessert look of this soap  to make a Christmas candy themed soap. Minty chocolate deliciousness!  I think I'll have to guard this soap against hungry children . Cranberry Chutney--a new fragrance for me.  I decided that a non-traditional holiday fragrance should have a decidedly modern look.   Sleigh Ride--Christmas contained in 4 oz. chunk of bubbles.  It's spicy and festive and if that isn't enough, I am super pleased at how my swirl turned out. Orange Spice-- This is a remake from last year.  It's an essential oil blend and colored with cinnamon and paprika.   I have a few more batches to show you (and a couple more to make) so stay tuned for Round 2!  Thanks for looking!