Are You a Soap Foodie?

Am I a What? Have you lost your mind? What are you talking about? 
Well, we all know a foodie is a person that loves food and everything that goes with it. They love to cook. They love to eat. And then they love to talk about what they just ate. I would consider myself one. I have worked in the restaurant business for many years and yes I love to cook! Just about as much as I like to make soap. Because of my interest in soap, I like to keep up with new trends. So I look around to see what other soaper are doing and what is selling for them and then I try to come up with some new creative ideas of my own.What I am seeing is that people like soap that looks like food, hence a soap foodie! Anything from fried eggs and bacon to cupcakes. Lots of fun things. I had to give it a go.
Here are a few of my food inspired soaps:

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice

This is one bar of soap that looks and smells good enough to eat. First is a bottom layer of oatmeal scrub in goats milk, followed by a thick layer of apple scented soap and topped off with a brown sugar and oatmeal scrub. It's like getting three bars in one. This is a great bar for the winter months because of it's moisturizing and exfoliating properties

Juicy Watermelon

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Wouldn't you like a slice of juicy watermelon straight from the garden? It's one of the simple pleasures I love. But it will be awhile before I can indulge in that delight. So in the mean time I made this sweet smelling slice of watermelon soap. At least it smells like the real thing.:)

Black Forest Cake

I like Black Forest Cake and I like this soap. Made with layers of chocolate scented glycerin soaps and vanilla cream soap, just like the real thing! The cherries are wild cherry fragrance and have a touch of glitter. The combination of all three scents is sweet and warm. This bar is guaranteed calorie free :)

Blueberry Cheesecake Brown Sugar Scrub Soap

This bar smells like fresh picked blueberries and yummy cream cheese cake. So what's not to like? The bottom layer of this soap is a brown sugar scrub to help polish your skin. This soap also contains shea butter to make it extra moisturizing.

Lemon Parfait Soap

Lemon Parfait is a sweet lemon scented bar.It has a creamy ,fluffy topping of shea butter curls and a lemon wedge just for fun. It's a great spring and summer bar.

Neopoltian Ice Cream Sundae

This soap smells so good, it will make your mouth water! It's a combination of fudge chocolate, sweet vanilla and juicy strawberry. And I almost forgot, wild cheery on top:) Made with shea butter, this bar is wonderful for dry skin.


This is where I am so far in my " foodie" soaps. I still have a few new ideas up my sleeve so check back often! 
                    I thinking maybe something in a strawberry next time:)

As always, these and all in soaps can be found in my Etsy shop and on Artfire.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapGarden?ref=si_shop
http://www.artfire.com/users/soapgarden

Till next time,

Denise

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Well ...............It looks like we're going to skip spring this year  in Wisconsin, so I'm hoping that we have a summer. It's the opening of fishing season this week-end and I don't think the ice is off the lakes in the northern part of the state. So this is the mind set I'm in. I'm thinking warm summer day and cool summer nights.
And I'm thinking about new soaps for the summer craft fairs.I have a few so far. Take a look at these:)

Butterflies Are Free to Fly

I love butterflies! My oldest son used to collect them as a child. We never went anywhere without a butterfly net. I have many good memories of that time in my life. And that is why I love these soaps. This listing is for all three. In colors of yellow, orange and blue and scented with almond and honey,these sweet soaps smell like summer flowers.

Gold Fish in a Bag

 Growing up in small town U.S.A. I had the good fortune to attend many country fairs with my family. And one of the first places I would run to was the "Fish Pond". The sight of those pretty goldfish all lined up in their little glass bowls was quite a thrill! All you had to do was toss a ping-pong balls into the top of the little bowls and your were the proud owner of your very own goldfish. Well, my goldfish now live in glycerin soap, and best of all they come in colors. Children of all ages love them. Just peel back the plastic and use as you would any bar of soap. This is a fun bar to give as a gift. They always bring a smile. Our country fair fish is fragrance-free so it is safe for even the youngest child.

Flip Flop Fun

Try this flip flop on for size. Cute enough for every day use. This bar of soap is made of pure glycerin soap and has the reminiscent scent of Coppertone. It will take you back to hot summer days of sun, sand and fun!

Get Your Kicks on the Grass

I made this bar for all the soccer moms out there. I was a soccer mom. From the time our boys were 5 years old they played the game. Summer rec,all through high school and now that they are grow men, they still play at least once a week! I guess I'm still a soccer mom:) I scented this soap with "Fresh Cut Grass" fragrance. What else?I made these soaps in white, pink and blue. If you would like a different color, just contact me and let me know what you would like.

Juicy Watermelon

Wouldn't you like a slice of juicy watermelon straight from the garden? It's one of the simple pleasures I love. But it will be awhile before I can indulge in that delight. So in the mean time I made this sweet smelling slice of watermelon soap. At least it smells like the real thing.:)

 This soap smells so good, it will make your mouth water! It's a combination of fudge chocolate, sweet vanilla and juicy strawberry. And I almost forgot, wild cheery on top:) Made with shea butter, this bar is wonderful for dry skin. Neopoltian Ice Cream Sundae is part of my Designer Soap Collection.

All these soaps and more can be found at my shop on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapGarden?ref=si_shop
This is what I have so far. But I have plenty more planned :)

So till next time,

Denise

Soap Garden: The Soap Garden is Having A Mother's Day Sale on E...

Soap Garden: The Soap Garden is Having A Mother's Day Sale on E...: " Save 15% on all orders from now till Mother's Day. Simply add the word 'MOTHER' in ..."

The Soap Garden is Having A Mother's Day Sale on Etsy!!

                                                  
Save 15% on all orders from now till Mother's Day. Simply add the word "MOTHER" in the coupon code box found in the check-out. If you are shopping for Mom on line and would like me to ship soap directly to her, I will be happy to gift wrap and send a gift card with your order. Just let me know through a convo:)

Here are a few of my new soaps I made this week. 

Juicy Watermelon Soap

Wouldn't you like a slice of juicy watermelon straight from the garden? It's one of the simple pleasures I love. But it will be awhile before I can indulge in that delight. So in the mean time I made this sweet smelling slice of watermelon soap. At least it smells like the real thing.:)

Blueberry Cheesecake Brown Sugar Scrub Soap

This bar smells like fresh picked blueberries and yummy cream cheese cake. So what's not to like? The bottom layer of this soap is a brown sugar scrub to help polish your skin. This soap also contains shea butter to make it extra moisturizing.

Lemon Parfait Soap

Lemon Parfait is a sweet lemon scented bar.It has a creamy ,fluffy topping of shea butter curls and a lemon wedge just for fun. It's a great spring and summer bar.

Green Gardeners Grit Soap

Are you ready to go green? I've got just the bar for you. This bar is for the gardener in all of us. It contains shea butter to help with the drying effects dirt has on our hands. It also contains tea tree oil to help prevent infections from all those nasty little cuts and scratches gardeners get. Cornmeal is added as a scrubbing agent to remove dirt and stains. The clean scent of Fresh Mowed Grass is just fun:)

Black Forest Cake Soap

I like Black Forest Cake and I like this soap. Made with layers of chocolate scented glycerin soaps and vanilla cream soap, just like the real thing! The cherries are wild cherry fragrance and have a touch of glitter. The combination of all three scents is sweet and warm. This bar is guaranteed calorie free :)

A Mother's Love Soap

I made this pretty pastel bar of soap for anyone who would like to share how they feel about a loved on. Maybe for Easter or Mother's Day or just any day for that special friend. Fragrance with a slightly sweet and innocent scent that includes a blend of peonies, hyacinth, day lilies, apple blossoms and soft bergamot. I also added just a touch of glitter for fun!

Please contact me with any questions, comments, or special requests.

Thanks for your time. 

As always,

Denise

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!!!

Wisconsin has been living under a rain cloud for the month of April and quite frankly, I'm tired of it. The weather man said today that this is the coldest and wettest April in 15 years! Yay!! All I want is to get in my garden. But what's that old saying? When God gives you lemons, make lemonade. So I have been taking advantage of my time in the house and have been make soap. This is what I have been working on:

Ginger Lime Soap

 You'll be thinking summer with one whiff of this soap! The scent is refreshing and invigorating. It has wonderful notes of citrus with a hint of ginger.

     Strawberries and Cream  Soap

A simple spring pleasure is a big bowl of strawberries and cream! Especially the first of the season. I live right next to a strawberry farm, so I know I have awhile to wait. But while I wait I decided to make this soap in anticipation of the first pick. This soap smells just like the strawberries I love. Made with shea butter, it is great for dry skin.

Lemon-Lime Frappe' Soap

Bright and cheerful, fresh and fruity, this is a great spring and summer bar. It is scented with both lemon and lime. The top of this bar is made with shea butter soap for extra moisturizing. The polka dots make it fun.

   Spring Fling Soap

 This is a great srping scented soap made with olive oil and aloe. The fragrance has notes of cherry, spice, almond and lime. The colors are fresh and bright.

So this is how I have been spending my time. All these soaps and more can be found in my Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapGarden?ref=si_shop

Also you can follow what going on ,on my facebook  page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SoapGarden/157548487629145?v=wall

           Till next time, I wish you sunshine and warm Spring days:)

           I'll be Singing in the Rain!

       

The Birds are Back. It must be Spring?

I am a huge bird watcher. There is nothing I like better than to wake up early on the week-end, grab a cup of coffee and sit on my front porch and watch the birds at the feeders. We live near a marsh so we are lucky to have a wide variety of different birds to watch. I think people can learn a lot from these little creatures. How they protect their young against intruders. How many of them mate for live. How they can build a nest out of seaming nothing.The list goes on and on.

I have a dear friend who works at the D.N.R. in Horicon, Wisconsin. Part of her job is to keep tract of the migration of birds through our area. She is kind enough to keep me informed as to what to be watching for.  The other day she sent me a link she knew I would be interested in and I want to share. It's of a web cam in Iowa the is set up to watch an eagles nest. It's a live feed and you can see the baby eaglets and watch the
dad bring in the food and mom do her job.It's fun to watch and I check in every day.
                                    http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/

What do you think? Neat, Right? I think it's wonderful to see nature up close. Something to share with the whole family and something I'm happy to share with you!

                                                                Till next time.

                                                                     Fly Like an Eagle

In My Mind, I'm In the Garden!

It's been a long, cold, snowy winter here in the Midwest, and I just can't wait till Spring. I do a lot of daydreaming as I look out of the window. I see all the little projects I had hoped to get to last year and they seen to be laughing at me. The porches still need to be painted and I never got to move and divide some of my hostas that are now the size of small trees. And speaking of trees, my yard is full of hundreds of fallen branches. I love the old trees, but they really take a hit during the strong winter wind .But what I miss most is my garden!

 So, since I can't be in my garden, I have been making soap in the scent of some of my favorite spring floral scents :) Here they are:                    

Shady Lady Violet Soap

One of the first signs of spring and one of my all time favorites are the happy faced violets. This is one of those scents that is not real common, but is truly pleasant. It's sweet and floral. It does not smell like the old violet candies my mother used to keep in her purse! Some of you know what I mean :) This bar is made from shea butter for extra moisturizing.

Country Fresh Lilac

Country Fresh Lilac was inspired by the sweet smell of the lilacs on my grandmothers farm. This handmade, long lasting, mild bar of soap has a rich, creamy texture. Made with goats milk for its moisturizing qualities, it is wonderful for every day use. So enjoy springtime any time of the year.

Peony Paradise Soap

 Peonies are my favorite flower in the garden. It make me sad that they only stay around for about two weeks in spring. So for those two weeks I love to pick huge bouquets and share their incredible beauty with friends. Their scent just fills a room. And that is why this is my new favorite soap scent. It smells just like the real thing. Sweet and intoxicating. This bar is made from shea butter so it's great for dry skin.

Spring Fresh Tulip

 This bar of soap is as bright and sunny as a fresh spring day. It is scented with a fragrance called tulip bouquet. Made with shea butter, it will nourish even the driest skin.One of my new favorite scents. If you love the smell of tulip, I invite you to try is bar. You won't be disappointed.

All of these soap can be found at my Etsy shop at , http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapGarden?ref=si_shop
                 Well I guess that's all for now. Thanks for your time to listen to my ramblings.
                 Peace,
                 Denise

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The Happy, Hungry Honeybee

If you love flowers and gardening as much as I do, than you have to love the honeybees! Not only do they pollinate our plants and crops,and give us wonderful sweet tasty honey,  they also produce beautiful sweet smelling beeswax for our candles. It's the honey that I want to talk about today.

I LOVE HONEY!!

I love honey in my tea, on my pancakes and in my soap. Yes I said soap. I love to make my soap with honey.
In fact I make four different bars of soap using honey. Here they are.

The Bee's Knees

 The bottom layer of this wonderfully fragrant bar is pure goats mike soap. It is then topped with a clear layer of honey infused glycerin soap textured to look like a chunk of real honey comb. This bar has the clean scent of oatmeal, milk and honey.

Citrus Honey Bar

Honey has a long and romantic history - it is one of the oldest "ingredients" know to man. Honey helps the skin retain moisture and is one of the many reasons it's so beneficial in a facial bar. It is also antibacterial. I use local honey in this in this light, warm, sweet scented soap. Bee pollen has been added as a light exfoliant.

Honey Bee Bar

On this bar I have a clear layer of glycerin soap which has bee pollen in bedded. The bee pollen has been found to help people suffering from allergies.

Honeycomb Soap

This bar of soap is made with all kinds of wonderful things like honey and shea butter.The honeycomb bar also contains wonderful ,helpful bee pollen.

All of these great bars can be found at my Etsy shop.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapGarden
                                                               

Bee seeing you. Thanks for stopping by and have a honey sweet day!

Denise

Snow, Snow ......And YES MORE SNOW!

I think I have the mid winter blues. It's -18 degrees with a wind chill factor of -25! And when  I look out of my windows and all I see is snow.

  

Now I don't really hate snow. I believe it has a purpose. Like a dusting at Thanksgiving time so the hunters have good tracking. And what would Christmas be like with no snow?  But then that's it. No more snow.  I realize that many people love the snow for skiing and for snowmobiling.  But isn't that what we have Colorado and Vermont for?  I'm just kidding, but like I said, it is the dead of winter and I've got the blues.

THINK SPRING

Enough of my ramblings. Have a great day!

Denise

Still Feeling The Love....

This is my first post ever and what better way to start my blogging ways than to talk about Wisconsin's love for our Green bay Packers!!

Superbowl Champs.
The pride of Green Bay!.
It's been three days since the The Green Bay packers won Superbowl 45 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the people in the great state of Wisconsin are still celebrating. What fun it's been!! Lead to victory by one of the nicest, kindest quarterbacks of all times. Aaron Rodgers. He just makes me smile.
Today the fans will welcome home the team and the Lombardy Trophy at Lambeau Field. The temperature in Green Bay is 2 degrees and they will be welcomed home by a sold out crowd! You have got to love that!






                                                                     So much for Packer Fever.

One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog in the first place was to talk about my little soap business. It's called the Soap Garden  and I have been working at it for about eight years now.  I sell handcrafted glycerin soaps.

       Because of my love of flowers and gardening I tend to use this as my inspiration for my soaps.

 Country Fresh Lilac

I am always coming up with new ideas and would like to share them on this site. I also have a shop on Etsy where I sell all of my products   .http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapGarden
Please stop by and check it out! If you are not familiar with Etsy, it's a wonderful site of high quality, handcrafted items. I'm sure you'll spend some time. There are so many talented artist's selling beautiful things.

Till next time,Thanks for stopping by.
Denise