Day Six: 2011 Magic Elf Countdown

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The elves had an early morning breakfast but not without a few mishaps. It seems they spilled some milk and also made a mess pouring their cereal into the new cereal bowls left for the kids. Not only did the kids awake to new bowls, but also a Christmas cup and countdown to Christmas place mat.

Miss Olivia's elf, Giggles, helped herself to a snicker doodle cookie.

Day Five: 2011 Magic Elf Countdown

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Well, Elf Freckles had some shower fun last night. Fischer (my 3 year old grandson) stayed the night with NeeNee and Poppy. When he awoke this morning to use the bathroom, this is what he found. As usual, he explained to us how his elf did this. I have a video clip link below of his conversation with Poppy.

According to Fischer, the elf climbed up the toilet paper to get to the top of the shower head. He is the perfect age for the Magic Christmas Elf. It's such a joy to watch the enthusiasm he conveys when finding his elf. When the grand kids stay over, they awaken extra early so they can discover what their elves did overnight. Sometimes they leave a gift, other times they just do mischief. You never know what those silly elves are going to do.

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Day Four: 2011 Magic Elf Countdown

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Those elves were up to something last night. It appears they found rolls of red and green crepe and decided to do some decorating.  It was quite a display. There were jingle bells everywhere (which BTW, the grand kids loved!). They went around picking them up and collecting piles. The polar bears stopped by to get in on the fun. As you can see, they brought some North Pole snow with them.

Miss O was all about the snow. Carson was still half asleep and Fischer was talking non-stop telling me how the elves took the jingle bells off all the reindeer. He also had his take on how his elf got on top of the TV and proceeded to demonstrate how his elf moved furniture and then jumped really, really high to get up to the TV. That's Fish below explaining his elf philosophy.

Here is a portion of Fish's conversation about the jingle bells and his magic elf.

Here's my Countdown To Christmas...Bah Humbug!!

10 days of high dose antibiotics and other meds to clear up a sinus infection. Not sure if I can keep track of what I'm suppose to be taking and when. I'm on seven different medications. So.... if I seem a little loopy over the next 10 days, and make a lot of k$adfioap[h sodrn (sorry, that was keying errors). You will know why.

Day Three: 2011 Magic Elf Countdown

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Last night was somewhat tough. The idea was to slip tags over each elves head that read, "Look in your elf mailbox". Unfortunately, Carson and Fischer were clutching their elves so tightly while sleeping that my daughter couldn't get the tag over the elves's head. She decided to just place the tag on the elf's belly.

Well, that wasn't such a great plan because the boys toss and turn so much in their sleep the tags got lost under the covers. Thankfully, Miss O's elf, Giggles, had a tag and the boys started throwing back covers to find their own.


The kids ran to the elf mailboxes and found a message that told them where to look for a special gift. Carson received a small Lego set and the other two received holiday puzzles (courtesy of Target's dollar section).

I wish I could be there every morning to witness the grand kids excitement when finding messages, mischief or gifts from the elves. Anxious to hear what the elves did on the eve of day Four. My daughter is stopping by for her Blimpy Girl lunch this morning and she'll share the details (which I'll pass on to you elf followers).

Day Two: 2011 Magic Elf Countdown

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On Day Two, the elves left each child a felt advent calendar. A stick of gum was inserted into each date pocket. As you can see, Dimples stacked pillows and hung the advent calendar from a light fixture.

My oldest grandson Carson, age eight, was concerned the elves had taken gum from NeeNee and Poppy's special cupboard when they stayed with us the night prior. We keep packets of gum in a cupboard above the fridge and Carson was right on; the elves had slipped gum in a back pack to fill the advent pockets.

Carson easily bought into this scenario but was concerned whether Poppy would be upset about the missing gum. I'll be leaving an apology note to Poppy from the elves. It will let Poppy know the heartfelt remorse the elves have for sneaking into Poppy's gum cupboard.



Miss O's elf, Giggles, was sitting on the kitchen counter surrounded by Pez candy and gum wrappers with a pink boa around her neck. My daughter calls me on her daily drive into work. There are no words to express the excitement she described when the kids awoke to find their elves this morning.

Business Paperwork Struggles: Are you With Me?

As we approach the end of our company's fiscal tax year, we are in a time crunch to make sure all our ducks are in a row for Uncle Sam. Are you feeling the same way?

With the current economic trend, every one is stretched to find ways to cut corners without sacrificing customer service and product prices. Smaller businesses don't have the advantage of  large volume inventory purchasing or the profit & loss margins to help them survive this next year.

In surveying my office this morning, I realized that there is plenty of paperwork needing attention before closing out year end with my accounting firm. I'm guessing many of you feel the same.

We have great accounting software and employee help; but, the paperwork is never ending. Customer credits, refunds, receipts and credit card processing all instigate a paper flow thread that seems never ending. The concept of a paperless company seems far-fetched. 99% of GPE customers still expect a packing list or receipt in every order.

Social media folk can talk all they want about new apps, programs and software that can promote greater revenue. I agree in part. BUT, there are a good number of customers that still have dial-up for Internet connection, do not have smart phones, can't afford the many Internet bells and whistles. Heck, most small businesses have little time to learn all the new programs while manufacturing their product. Let's be realistic here. We are in the midst of an ugly economy and those who have been online for years are clueless to the hardships and start up costs facing newer, smaller companies. There is pressure to be everything to everyone via social media, blog posts, face books, Pinterest and twitter. New social medias venues are added on a regular basis.

As I dive into this year's mountain of postponed paperwork, I consider those small businesses unable to employ accounting staff to help process paperwork. Many of those small businesses are my customers. Just trying to focus on order processing is a daily accomplishment, especially during this busy holiday season.

Here's my opinion. Find your niche! Work and develop that niche to a perfection. Don't sweat bullets about those bigger soap companies promoting the host of  behind the scene workers. Do what you do and do it well. You'll succeed if you stay focused on your vision.

As for the paperwork: Find a bookkeeper that is willing to track and record your invoices, receipts and inventory paperwork. Then, on a monthly basis, send that info to a CPA accounting firm to make sure that all your tax deductions are accountable and deductible.

There are plenty of companies out there in our industry selling a marketing pitch. You should thoroughly investigate if their monthly or annual fees are justified. There are many in the soaping industry that seem to be your advocate. However, make sure you do your homework. Spend your marketing dollars wisely. Quite honestly, I would rather spend my dollars on good help than those that profess to promote my company online.

$25 Holiday Giveaway: Enter to Win

FB Holiday $25 ONLINE GIFT CERTIFICATE GIVEAWAY starts today at 6:30 AM (EST) until December 16, 2011 6:30 PM (EST). Here's how to enter: Send an email about your favorite Christmas holiday tradition. I don't want any "made up" stuff, make it real. I want to know how you, or your family celebrate the season.

My workers will pick winner. Our mail addy is: info@goplanetearth.com. Include full name when sending entry. Winner will be announced Sat, December 17, 2011 via email and agrees I can post their entry on my blog. Good Luck!

NOTE: You must LIKE our face book page to be eligible.

Day One: 2011 Magic Elf Countdown

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We weren't expecting to have the grand kids last night, but they arrived at our house with elves in hand. My oldest grand son (eight years old) even brought a bed for his elf made from a folded quilt wrapped in a blanket.

Those darn elves had quite a bit of mischief up their sleeves last night. Giggles and Dimples snuck downstairs and got into all the Wii equipment including my work out stuff. They opened a bottle of sparkling juice, found candy suckers, got into the snack cupboard, opened Cheez-its and put reindeer ears on Mr. Gingerbread Boy.

Freckles (who is the twin to Dimples and belongs to my 3 year old grand son) was the most mischievous. I folded clothes earlier in the evening and left them on the kitchen island upstairs. Can you believe that Freckles unfolded underwear and put bras on various nutcrackers? My six foot nutcracker was wearing NeeNee's bra with Poppy's underwear as a hat. Crazy!

So, what kind of Wii game were the elves playing? It appeared to be a sword fighting game. Of course, the kids wanted to play the game this morning before heading off to church.

The Elves Arrive: December 10, 2011

The grand kids phoned this morning about the arrival of the Magic Elves. They received a letter from Santa the day prior confirming the elves's arrival date and could barely sleep in anticipation.

The elf sleigh landed in the driveway and those silly elves put on their ice skates and skated around the yard. Miss O was delighted the elves didn't have a crash landing this year. Last Christmas the elves parachuted in from the North Pole due to a navigational sleigh mishap.

Miss O and Fischer threw on their coats and ran outside to see if the elves had indeed arrived.

The elf passports and naughty/nice mailboxes were in the sleigh. Tonight the kids have an overnight with us (NeeNee and Poppy). I'm still up waiting for them to fall into a sound sleep to do my elf magic. My eight year old grand son has already been up once to use the bathroom and almost caught me in the act. WARNING: This elf mischief can cause sleep deprivation. The kids get so excited to catch the elves misbehaving that they barely sleep.

I'll post pics in the morning of the elves mischief tonight. I'm doing laundry and those darn elves have decked my big nutcrackers in bras and underwear. They are also playing Wii and having snacks. Stay tuned.

Gingerbread Man Soap: Run, Run As Fast As You Can

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Mold Market's new gingerbread soap mold is adorable. My assistant, Kristy, poured up a few test soap samples this week. The use of the injector tool is still somewhat new to Kristy, but she did an awesome job.

The injector tool is necessary for the gingerbread trim details. For info on how to use this tool check out this blurb.

The little guys smelled heavenly in their gingerbread scent. I packaged one to gift to my hair stylist. I know she's going to think this is a fun soap.

A glassine bag, hole punch and grosgrain ribbon is a perfect way to package this guy. I put the soap in a 4 x 6" sealed plastic bag before sliding it into the glassine bag. Packaging the soap in a plastic bag will keep the soap oils and glycerin dew from staining the paper glassine bag. GPE resealable plastic bags are another option for sealing the soap.

No Kidding, Re-Purposed Toilet Rolls

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Believe it or not, there is a use for those empty toilet tissue rolls you throw in the trash. I shaped them into small "pillow" boxes. I stacked them with double sided tape and tied together with jute cord (GPE will be offering jute cord very soon).

This is perfect packaging for things like lip balm or small bath teas. Great way to showcase small soap samples when using the Mold Market personal size soap molds. Fold the ends of the tube to form a casing for the product you will be putting inside. Oh, let's not fail to mention gift cards. How fun to place a $5 or $10 gift card inside each box. In fact, I'm getting a haircut and color later today. I'm gifting my hair stylist with the above package. Inside one box is a $5 Subway gift card. The other two boxes are filled with chocolates and candies. (It's national Hair Stylist day today!)

I attached a tag (which GPE will have online very soon) to the jute cording. A sprig of fresh greenery and printed vintage stamps complete the wrap. It would also be fun to glue some vintage stamps to the formed pillow boxes.

So many ways to make these re-purposed toilet tissue rolls make a statement in the traditional packaging world ;)

New Packaging Supplies Are Arriving

This week we started receiving some of our recycled and "organic" looking packaging supplies. Over the holiday closure (December 23-January 1) I will be assembling ideas to showcase on my blog. GPE will be selling gift packs that include various items needed to put together your own touches to a natural type of gift wrap.

I'm excited to start working on some fun packaging ideas for your soap or toiletry products. With the trend for "green" and re-purposed items, I think you'll find some of the ideas a selling point for your product.

Postage Stamp Packaging

 

Wait until you see what I'm doing with vintage postage stamps and recycled paper. Another creative packaging option that is easy on the budget. I will have pics posted within the next day or two.

Our new recycled card stock paper has arrived and will be online later this week. We're offering a 5-pack of recycled brown Kraft card stock or recycled taupe color. Both are pictured above.

Soap Sampler Christmas Tree

This is actually a cheese tree from Cabot Cheese Company. I'm envisioning this as a spectacular appetizer for my family Christmas; one everyone will oohhh and ahhhh and say "how creative". Then my OCD brain grows feet and starts running with ideas of how this could work for soap. Honestly, I try not to think and sleep soap; it just happens.

The Mold Market brand of soap molds sells a 48-bar cubed tray. How perfect is that? If you are a retail store or offer soap samples at trade shows, why not use this holiday tree idea? Mold Market offers a star mold that makes a perfect tree topper. Swap out the red tomatoes in above pic for the star snowflake, small puffed heart, apple wedge or strawberry slice.

Placing sprigs of thyme or other fresh greens between the colored layers adds depth and a festive tone. I'm thinking bay leaves, sprigs of tarragon, pine sprigs... heck, the ideas are countless.

Display on something portable like a cutting board or sheet of corrugated cardboard cut from a recycled box. Wrap the cardboard in festive gift wrap. Forming a tree shape from cardboard with sides to support the soap might help keep the soap in place. As customers and buyers remove a sample, refill the void.

Under $6 Holiday Centerpiece

Yesterday our family celebrated my Mom’s 81st birthday. Because her birthday is close to Christmas, I wanted a festive table setting without spending a great deal of time (or money) on it.

I grabbed one of my shorter flower vases and filled with clear glass pebbles. I did some snip-snip of pine branches in my yard and as a last minute thought clipped a few branches from a Japanese Maple. The void in the vase was filled with miscellaneous holiday ornaments and candy canes. A splash of water and I had a pretty awesome centerpiece in less than 10 minutes. It should last a week or so and when the pine needles start to drop, they will be discarded and freshly cut pine branches will replace them.

Don't dismiss holiday centerpieces as a means to showcase your soaps and toiletry products this season. Using a centerpiece, pine branches, holiday ribbons as a backdrop to your photos helps market product in an up-scale manner. Online customers rely on photos to determine if your product is something they want to purchase. This is especially true with finished bath and body products.

This centerpiece was inexpensive and items used were things I had on hand.

Brown Bag Holiday Gift Wrap Idea

Now isn't this so clever? Recycled brown bag, recycled blue jeans, recycled tissue paper... VERY earth friendly and "green". I bet you have a slew of old jeans that don't fit (I do!). Or, jeans your kids have worn out by sliding across pavement, rolling in gravel... who knows how kids wear out the knees of jeans, especially boys. It's a mystery much like the missing sock the washer seems to gobble up.

Rebecca over at Older and Wiser offers this incredible packaging option to recyle denim parts.

Think soap here (not the chocolate bars). How fun to place a soap in the denim pocket and fill the bag with bath goodies (lotion, shower gel, body butter, room spray... you get the idea). Add colorful tissue and your own finishing touches and you've got yourself an "attention grabbing" package for little cost.

Absolutely Inspiring Soap Design

This soap design by Omar is stunning. The colors are breathtaking and the shapes lend themselves well to the design concept. The soaps made by Omar are inspiring to say the least. They are true works of art. I hope this post inspires you to think outside the soap box and experiment with new designs, colors and shapes.

A number of years back, I remember a comment made to me by a colleague in the business. She said, "You can only do so much with soap and soap mold designs." Well, I think that's a bunch of hooey! I see individuals stretching the boundaries everyday. This is just one example of the talented soap artists in the industry.

Holiday Gift Card Packaging

I am gifting a number of restaurant gift cards this year. What is a unique and creative way to make those gift cards stand out? This is my take.

Print out a 6 x 7 inch gift card announcement on plain white paper. Next, cut white card stock paper to measure 6.5 x 7.5 inches. Use a glue stick to adhere the plain paper printed message onto the card stock.

Measure a piece of corrugated wrap to fit the card. Adhere to card with double sided tape. Insert gift card.

My gift cards are for lunch at a local eatery which is why it reads "THANKS a lunch" (in place of thanks a bunch).

Glassine Bag Gift Wrap Idea

When I spotted this creative packaging idea at Katherine Marie (she's a photographer), I immediately thought of the glassine bags GPE sells for soaps. These are white pastry bags, but glassine bags will work equally well. Slip a soap into the bag and tie with twine or butcher's cord (red and white colored cord is available). Add a small candy cane to the front and a printed Kraft label on back side.

The packaging will cost you about $1.10 per soap. Just make sure your melt and pour soaps are wrapped first to prevent them from sweating onto the bag. Shrink wrap or plastic wrap work well.



Glassine Bags for Soap

You will find butcher twine at Walmart (where you find plastic wrap) or do a Google search if you're looking for a red and white twine. There are plenty of places locally that sell butcher twine.