Sara – Page 30 – Coastal Carolina Soap Blog

The Court Jester Antiques and Stuff

On a not-so-quiet street in a peaceful town, there’s a row of shops facing the imposing stone structure of the county courthouse and the green expanse of the courthouse square. Nestled in amongst these shops, situated between a florist and a lawyer’s office (or a realtor’s office, or both – there are signs for both, anyway) is this charming shop called The Court Jester Antiques and Stuff.

Owned by Judy Bruce, The Court Jester’s name says it all. The antiques that Judy sells are eclectic, nice pieces that strike a happy medium between old, rusted out junk (not gonna find anything like that here!) and Louis XIV end tables (won’t find anything like that, either). Not being an antique fanatic, it’s hard for me to describe them, but I can say that, scattered around and in front of her shop, the antiques she carries lend a cohesion and charm to her displays.

Then there’s the “& Stuff” part of her shop. Again, the selection is eclectic and well chosen with an emphasis on crafts. Many of the crafts are by local artisans, including yours truly. There is hand-crafted glass bead jewelry in bold, vibrant colors and designs; a plethora of nose-tantalizing candles; glass works and; of course, the finest soaps with which you could ever want to bathe. Sometimes, Judy’s sharp eyes and appreciation for quality may snag on incredible yard sale finds. Back in July, she had two charming, handmade four-poster doll beds that she’d found at a yard sale and that, of course, my older daughter just HAD to have. Unfortunately, they both got sold before we had a chance to purchase them; one was going to be a treat for her that weekend. This is just a taste of what you can find at The Court Jester.

As you enter the shop, your first impression might be, “Wow, this is small!” Yes, the front room is small, but that’s just the beginning. The front room is like the antechamber to an amazing cavern of treasures waiting to be discovered. The shop is deep, with goody-filled halls leading from room to room, each one highlighting particular wares. My first experience of the shop was delight as Judy led my older daughter and me throughout each room. And while some products are constant – soaps, candles, jewelry and books, to name a few – I’d guess at least half of the inventory rotates, with new wares coming in as Judy finds them at estate sales and auctions.

The Court Jester is one of the many charming shops that visitors will find in Burgaw’s Historic District. Burgaw is a small town in Pender County, North Carolina, just off of I-40 at exit 398, just half an hour from Wilmington. The Court Jester is located at 115 South Wright Street and is open Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 11:00 to 4:00. Like most of Burgaw, the shop’s closed on Sundays. So, swing by, check it out, and tell Judy you saw it here. 🙂

They’re Finally Ready!

In July, I posted about the two new soaps I had on the rack, Beach and Patchouli. They’ve finished curing and are ready for purchase. Since I’ve been spending the past month getting re-used to having a baby in the house, I haven’t really done more with these soaps than stand and admire them, picking them up to sniff them and show them off to visitors. These soaps have enjoyed a longer cure time, resulting in even milder, harder bars than the high quality soaps I usually make. And they’re still curing! I’m leaving them on the rack until the very last minute.

This is the Patchouli soap in all its psychedelic glory. This soap features my most ambitious swirl attempt ever – seven colors. If you’ll pardon a bit of vanity, I’m really proud of these. Not only are these a visual and olfactory treat as dry bars, but using them increases the pleasure. Patchouli’s warm, earthy, spicy, sensual scent wraps itself around you, and each use of the soap reveals a new and different swirl as each layer of color fades away. These soaps are moving fast; I’ve already sold all but two soaps from this batch. Click here to order yours today.

A Special Announcement

I am pleased and delighted to announce the birth of my beautiful baby girl!!! Hannah Ilyssa was born Friday, 31 July at 3:46 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs., 11 ozs. and was 19.5″ long. And did I mention she’s beautiful? Her daddy, big sister and I are all thrilled with her. She’s a good baby [I hate that expression, like there’s such a thing as a “bad” baby?] and is beautiful, just like her big sis is.

There was a bit of an adjustment at first, but we’re settled into a routine now. Mary, our oldest, has been a tremendous help. In fact, her major trauma of the week was not being allowed to change or feed Hannah while Mary got over a little case of the sniffles. When we gave her the “all clear,” she beamed. Even dirty diapers are no match for a devoted, loving, helpful older sister.

I discovered several things along this birth and recovery journey. I’ll spare you the birth story; I don’t feel this is an appropriate forum for that. Among everything else, though, I learned that you only get 6 weeks of maternity leave when someone else is the boss. Being the owner of my own business hasn’t left me a lot of time for just sitting with my feet up. If I time it right, however, I have pockets of time throughout the day which are perfectly designed for getting business stuff done.

Another aspect of new motherhood is bone-deep fatigue. Given that, I’m going to stop talking and bid you “g’night, dear readers.” In future blog entries, I have exciting news to share with you about the beer soap I’ve been making, my first wholesale account (woot!), Peter’s first start-to-finish soap and whatever other great topics come to mind.

Newest Soaps For Sale

I’m so excited about my newest soap batches – Beach and Patchouli! They’re not ready for purchase, yet, but I just have to share them with you. (You can pre-purchase if you wish to guarantee you get one of these beauties.)

First, Beach… This scent is a duplicate of the Bobbi Brown scent of the same name and also reminds me of Coppertone Kids. This soap is luxurious, with a luscious lather and awesome skin-conditioning properties. It features a subtle light blue and light green swirl.

The other absolutely fabulous soap I have curing for you is the latest batch of Patchouli. Scented with pure Patchouli essential oil, this soap features my most daring, ambitious swirl ever – and it rocks! I’m taking a creator’s pride in this one. Did you know that patchouli has aphrodesiac properties, making it a popular scent element in many perfumes?

Beach will be ready 8 August 2009, and Patchouli can be yours on 15 August 2009.

Summer Clearance Sale

I have been fast and furiously doing some website improvements over the past few weeks, in addition to unpacking boxes and bags, keeping up with my very social little girl, obeying the various people who keep telling me to put my feet up and trying to do as much around the house as possible. You’ll notice it’s in the midst of a face-lift, though the work’s not completely done, yet. Just a few more changes to go, though, and hopefully they’ll be before the baby makes its grand debut.

Besides the cosmetic appearance of my site, over the next week or so you’ll also see some new products going up and other products getting a new look. I’ll post here when those happen.

For now though, the big thing is my Summer Clearance Sale! As I unloaded and organized my inventory in our new home, I discovered some soaps just aren’t moving like I want, and others that had gorgeous designs at one point are looking a little the worst for wear after traveling over a good portion of the eastern half of the state. So, it’s those things I want to move in order to clear some space for the plethora of things I’ve queued up to make. Check out my Summer Clearance Specials today! This is a great time to stock up on some goodies for yourself or for someone else!*

*Sale prices apply to in-stock merchandise only.

Just had to do it

If you’re a soapmaker – or even if you’re a devoted hobbyist of another sort – you know that one of the greatest satisfactions for you is getting into your work or hobby, in creating once more. Three weeks ago, I HAD to make soap. I needed (and still do) to make soap to restock my inventory, but in the meantime, my desire was simply in making something for myself, in pushing the boundaries and in trying something new. That something new was lotion soap. I’d read about people making it, and I found numerous bottles of old lotion testers during the move that were too old to use as lotion, but that I couldn’t bring myself to toss out. One of those was Satsuma, a delish Asian tangerine fragrance that’s always been one of my favorites.

I opted to hot process this lotion in the crock pot, for no other reason than my own impatience. Well, that, and we were getting low on soap for the shower. I was surprised to note that the lotion had managed to retain much of its scent, and my relief came when I discovered I had just enough Satsuma fragrance oil for the batch. It was a weird experience, mostly in that my soap seemed to seize in the crock pot, which is pretty much unheard of. Usually seizing happens in cold process and is often caused by reactions with particular fragrance oils. This soap was thick without added fragrance, with 10% extra water and a shorter cooking time. Regardless, I managed to get some color added and layered it in my mould – sort of – more like glumping layers. I’d hoped for a lighter orange, but my daughter was “supervising” and I was a little distracted when I was mixing up my colorant (a very child-safe process, by the way).

My dearly beloved expressed his opinion of the moulded soap: “It looks like something the cat hocked up on top.” Um, thanks, darling. OK, so it did.

Thankfully, it didn’t stay looking like that. Here’s what that same soap looks like sliced.

While not the most appetizing looking soap in its barest form, it’s simply luscious in use. The scent is softly citrus that lingers on skin. The lotion, as expected, did cut down on some of the lather, but there’s still enough to please me, as well as superior moisturizing properties. Even with my preggo hormone-ravaged skin that’s been uncharacteristically dry all summer, this soap has managed to keep my skin soft and supple. As my daughter says, “Like it, love it!”

This first lotion soap was just for personal use, but look for other lotion soaps to come in the next few months.

Sara’s Soaps ‘n Such has Moved!

There comes a time in every family’s life – sometimes sooner, sometimes later – when the rental game is just not cutting it anymore and God presents the perfect opportunity to move. That happened to us last month. Well, obviously, when it comes to moving, it’s not just a matter of deciding one morning, “I don’t want to rent anymore” and then being in a new home the next day. Our process started in April.

During my daughter’s Spring intersession, she and I spent a couple of days at the coast, desiring a change of scenery and wanting to get a jump on the house hunting. With the help of our lovely realtor Rebecca (with Coldwell Banker/Sea Coast Realty), we found this little gem in a town about half an hour from the ocean. The price was right (and got even “more right”), interest rates were still low and as several people said along the way as one thing after another just fell so easily into place, “God wants you to have that house!” Sure, there were a few people who were skeptical. We heard things like, “You’re being taken advantage of” and “This sounds too good to be true, and if it sounds too good to be true…” I can’t explain it, but even with all the nay-sayers and doubters, my faith stayed uncharacteristically strong.

Several times my husband and I heard, “Why” this town? I can’t really explain it, except for the fact that this is where the houses were most affordable. It’s farther from the beach than we’d prefer, but it is still close to the beach. There’s no Target here, let alone a Super Target, and even people who live here wonder why we’d want to move out of Durham, which has everything as far as entertainment goes – theatre, concerts, minor-league baseball, shopping, movie theaters, restaurants galore and easy access to Raleigh (home of the Carolina Hurricanes) – to move down here, which has nothing without a half-hour drive. We say, “Well, the crime stats for the whole county for a year are equal to Durham on a weekend. Here we don’t hear sirens twice a night or gunshots.” All we’ve been able to figure out is, God has a reason for planting us here, so we’re going to bloom in the meantime.

Of course, business goes on. A few people have suggested I show my wares at the Wilmington Farmer’s Market, and I’ve already found a couple of events I want to do. Summer’s not going to be for shows, though. I’m spending the rest of this summer restocking the several soaps I’m out of or low on, unpacking and preparing for the baby’s coming, which is just a little over 5 weeks away. I’m also using this time to make some soap just for my own benefit, to experiment with new soap formulas that I’ll likely share with my customers. It’s no accident that my loving, supportive husband set up my soapmaking supplies in the garage right by the door to the kitchen, nor was it an accident that my front seat held my coffee maker, crockpot and coconut oil on the very first trip down. (He even said that the crockpot was so I could make soap; the first thing it held was barbequed ribs. Really nice thought, though.)

I’ve already used that crockpot to make one batch of soap, but that’s for another post.

My Latest Soap Creation

It’s not secret that I LOVE creating soaps. After all, anyone can melt soap base, add some color, a bit of fragrance, pour it into a large mould, slice it, wrap and label it and voila. Hey, it’s easy, it’s functional and it yields the ability to make larger quantities of handcrafted soap with minimal labor. But to create a lovely but still functional bar of soap… Or even just to create a lovely bar of soap to display in a bathroom – those tasks require skills and talents – and patience! I certainly enjoy the ease of making a batch of simple, plain, nourishing bars of soap, such as my last batch of Patchouli soap. That soap didn’t even have the benefit of added color – it was a simple, aloe-based hot-processed soap with patchouli oil for scent. (Incidentally, I’m sorry to announce that I’m completely sold out of that soap at the present time, and the next batch will certainly have its share of color.)

But creating one-of-a-kind soaps brings me a special kind of joy and satisfaction. I love the way they look spread out on our kitchen table as I’m in the various steps of the creative process. Perhaps it’s the array of handcrafted, trimmed and beveled soaps, waiting for their dragonfly adornments. Maybe it’s the soap rack covered with small soap dragonflies that my daughter has mica-brushed, looking like they’re fixed in flight over some invisible pond, wings sparkling in the light coming through the window. Then, it could be how they’re finally put together, dragonfly resting softly on soap, excess soap trimmed away, and the final products waiting patiently for me to wrap and label them. I hear you now: Well, show us the soap already!!! OK, OK, here it is, my Apricot Freesia Dragonfly Soap. Currently, quantities are limited, but I’ll be making more of these soon.

Shout Out to Norfolk!

I have Google Analytics installed on my website, which allows me to see where the site’s hits are coming from. It’s amazing when I can see that people in Paris, London, Moscow, Dublin and unknown, unremembered corners of various foreign countries are hitting MY site and looking at MY wares! Another thing that Analytics does is, it shows me how many hits come from certain places and how many of those hits are “unique” (new).

I keep seeing hit upon hit from Norfolk, VA, which is not that far from here. *Waving* Not only that, but now the reports are saying “0% unique” hits from Norfolk. So… Whoever you are, drop me a line! You apparently enjoy looking at my wares, and I’d love to hear from you! It’d be great if you ordered from me, too, but no pressure! 🙂

The Kitchen for Cooking???

Yeah, whodathunk it? The soap production is slowing down a little. I’m making some handcrafted soaps in preparation of my show next weekend, but, despite the oils and lye calling to me from my storage area (“Sara… Ohhhhh Saaaaara” – See, there they go again), I’m resisting the urge. One, I’m seeing the end of my lye and don’t want to place a bulk order this close to our move. That’s just a hazmat hassle I don’t want to have to think about. Two, my five-year-old daughter is on her Spring intersession (a 3-week break from her year-around school) and wants to do things with me. She’s having to forebear some soapmaking and wrapping, because it needs to get done before we can go to the beach next weekend and, let’s face it, the kid’s got her priorities in order. She’s yearning for sea and sand as much as I am!

So, in an effort to include her in things I want and need to get done, she’s been helping me wrap soaps, do dishes and when she makes a mess in the living room, she picks it up and vacuums if necessary. This morning before I’d even finished my morning cuppa, she was asking me when we’d be doing dishes. After slowing her down… and slowing her down… And, “Can I please just finish my coffee before we have to worry about that?” After all that, we got productive. (Um, no, she’s not available for rent, lease, borrow or loan, but you can use her as an example for kids who don’t want to work around the house.)

Another one of my projects that I’ve been wanting to take on is really very simple – fairly healthy breakfast sandwiches for my husband to carry with him to work. I’ve done these before and he liked them “OK”; fat-free cheese slices are apparently very plastic-y, whether they’re melted or just unwrapped. I got the original recipe out of Lean and Lovin’ It by Don Mauer, a local nutritionist who’s put out some great lower fat, lower calorie recipes that still taste good. The original recipe calls for:

English muffins
Egg substitute
Fat-free cheese slices
98% fat-free deli ham
Fat-free buttery spread

Not bad, but… My main thing is, the first time I made these, I trimmed down the ham slices so they’d fit the English muffins better and ate the trimmings. I can’t eat cold deli meat while I’m pregnant, though, so in order to avoid temptation, I opted for Canadian bacon, just like you’d get at that place with the golden arches. So, my variation has…

6 whole wheat English muffins, split into two halves (good for fiber and protein)
6 ounces of egg substitute
6 2% fat cheese singles
12 slices of Canadian bacon (a serving is 3 slices with 1.5 g fat/serving)
Buttery spread
Fresh ground pepper
Olive oil spray (I have an air pump for oil)

This recipe does well with an extra pair of hands or the ability to form a 1-person assembly line. First, start browning your Canadian bacon in a pan you’ve lightly spritzed with the olive oil, about 2 minutes per side. While that’s going, begin toasting the English muffins. As the English muffins come out of the toaster, spread them lightly with the buttery spread (whipped butter is perfectly OK for those who prefer natural products). I find it helpful to put the halves back together while I’m waiting on the bacon so the butter really melts.

Place two slices of Canadian bacon on each English muffin, one on each half. Pour one ounce of egg substitute into the pan and cook it for two minutes, flip it, then cook it for a minute more. Add pepper as desired to cooking egg. While that’s cooking, place a cheese slice on one of the slices of Canadian bacon on the English muffin. Add cooked egg to sandwich, close it, let it cool a bit, then slip it into a plastic baggy.

Repeat until you have 6 sandwiches.

When you’re ready to eat it, open the bag and pop the sandwich in the microwave for 30 seconds or until cheese is melted. Add a piece of fruit, and you’ve got a good, pretty healthy, portable breakfast for 6 days.

I have no idea what the fat and calorie count on this would be; I haven’t checked. Both of mine have given it two thumbs up and enthusiastic “Mmmmmm’s” while nodding happily. I’d guess I spent a total of $10.00 on the ingredients for this (just guesstimating), and I only used up the English muffins. I still have many cheese slices left, a few pieces of bacon and over a cup of Egg Beaters left, so I didn’t use all $10 worth of ingredients. Can’t hit the drive-thru for that!