Soft Serve Ice Cream Tutorial

A customer recently purchased the Mold Market Soft Serve Ice Cream mold and wanted to know how to use it. I hunted through photo files to see if I had snapshots. YIPPEE!! I found some. They may not be the best photos, but they certainly give a decent presentation on how to use this mold.Soap.

The first step is to melt, color and scent the soap for the cone. You will need clear soap base mixed with 20% white soap base. Add equal parts of yellow oxide liquid gel and bronze liquid gel. You will have to eyeball the color based on how much soap you have melted. I suggest adding 1 teaspoon of GoPlanet fragrance oil per pound of melted soap base.



Pour the cone colored soap into the mold.

Don't worry about the top portion of the soft serve cone. It will be trimmed off once the soap has set up. Only the cone portion will be left.



Once soap has hardened, remove from mold using gentle pressure. With a large kitchen knife, cut off the top portion of the soft serve cone. Set aside and use when pouring other soap cones. The soap base can be remelted.

Place the bottom cone section back into the mold. Push down on the soap so that it is securely locked in place. You don't want any of colored soap from the top section to seep under the cone.

Melt, color and fragrance the soap you will be using for the top portion of the cone. Make sure you let it cool down to a comfortable pouring temperature. If you can comfortably dip your pinky finger into the melted soap, you are good to go.

Pour the colored soap into the top half of the mold. Let set until firm.



I like to let the soap set up overnight. Gently pop soap out of molds cavities and wrap for packaging.



Packaging Rock Soaps

I'm behind on uploading the Rock Candy tutorial and I apologize. I know that many of you are anxiously awaiting its arrival. My "OCD" kicked in this weekend and I couldn't help myself (that's the story I'm sticking to) and I became obsessed with how to package these sweet little soaps. I love the results. The best part, this packaging format will be available on our web site as a FREE printable. We will also offer the option of ordering a pre-printed kit (at a cost). Just hang onto your britches while we get everything in place.

There are two different label tags. One is for Rock Candy, and the other simply reads, Soap, Soap, Soap (click the inset image to enlarge). You can either hand-write or apply a clear label naming the scent.



I plan to offer this packaging in three different color formats. I should have them all uploaded within the next week. I used a double-sided color printed so the striped pattern printed on both sides of the insert. No double-sided printer? No worries. Just leave the back side plain. White card stock paper was used for the inserts and labels.

My insantity kicked into high gear when packaging these soaps for a local boutique. Their customer base is 99% women. Wheels began turning in my peanut size brain. Why not use "fun & whimsical" scent names on each package? Any fragrance could be used with no concern about changing the label. Heck, this is a fun, novelty soap and the scent names should reflect this playful concept. Here are scent names I created for the specialty boutique:

• Polka Dotted Panties
• I'll Let You Be Right
• Gravity At Work
• Altered Ego
• I Changed My Mind
• It's All About Me
• Counting Sheep
• Bad Hair Day
• Vary Smrt
• What's the Point
• Don't Interrupt Me
• Get Over It

Packaging fits our 4 x 2 x 9 gusseted clear cello bags. GoPlanet's small soap bags are a perfect fit for the rock candy soaps. How fun to use these as favors at a special event. Slip a personalized printed message into the back side of each bag.

Rock Candy Tutorial Nearing Completion

The Rock Candy soap tutorial is nearing completion. It could have been done today, BUT the grand kids were here for an overnight. It's nearly impossible to concentrate and stay focused with three kids calling your name every five minutes. They are currently tucked in bed for the night and I'm enjoying some quiet time.

I am working on printable labels for both the Rock Candy soaps and coordinating bath salts. The above spa bath salts were colored with GoPlanet's pink salt dye and scented with Hugs & Kisses fragrance oil. It's amazing what you can do with a recycled Mason jar.

Pictured below are my grand kids in the recycled box car we designed today. They were pretty excited about the headlights which were assembled from clear plastic cups, miniature flashlights, and a computer print out of car headlights. My grand daughter played all day in her new Spider Girl costume. Poppy (that would be my honey-man) made a steering wheel from paper plates.

I've never seen kids so excited about empty boxes.

They played for hours and with little fighting (amazing!!!)

Box Drawings...the new fad!

A few days ago, I posted about a customer requesting we draw a cat on the outside of the shipping carton. My staff got a bit goofy today when ordering in pizza for lunch Employee Appreciation Day. In the comment section of their online order (so I am told), they requested a spotted dog be drawn on the pizza box. This is what arrived.



Gotta love it! Thank you Jet's Pizza for humoring my staff.

SWEET!!!! Rock Candy Soap

It's been a busy week in our soap lab. My assistant, Kristy, has been working on some of my soaping ideas and she "rocks" (no pun intended). It's been nice having an extra pair of helping hands. I'll post the tutorial for the Rock Candy soaps soon and a link for purchasing the candy sticks from our web site.

I am working on packaging idea for these sweet little favor soaps. Stay tuned for the how-to follow up and how to win a Rock Candy Soap Kit.

 

Think Spring, Think Easter



 We've been working on Easter soaps this week. The smaller eggs were made with our plain egg and swirl egg novelty molds. The two halves were joined with clear soap base (spread the melted soap on like glue) and the two pieces joined. My assistant, Kristy drizzled colored soap over the eggs for a finishing touch.

The larger eggs were made using Mold Markets Easter Egg mold. I love this mold because the egg decorations are deep and easily facilitate multiple color pours. All the colors used are from our Neon Bright liquid gel line. As you can see, they produce outstanding color and are all non-migrating colors.



We are working on some fun and creative Easter packaging ideas. I hope to post pictures next week.



I love the golden egg nuggets. Clear soap base was colored with radiant gold liquid gel. The egg halves were joined and dusted with 24 karat gold mica powder. At the last minute, we decided to pour some little Easter bunnies. My grand kids will love them. Check out all our Easter novelty molds on our web site.



Customer Service that "Meows"

We get some pretty unusual customer requests at time. However, this one wins the prize. My staff was cracking up as they were preparing to process the order. In the comment section was a note that read, "Please draw a cat on the outside of box." I personally would have ignored the request, but one of our packers wanted to have fun with it.

This is the cat she drew on the box after packing the order. Now don't go thinking you can request animal artwork when placing an order. Our UPS driver, Jeff, would think we had all gone mad if amateur drawings of elephants, cows, pigs, dogs or goats began appearing on the outside of boxes.

It did give us all a chuckle for the day. So, accolades to the customer making this odd request. I'm certain there was some logic behind the madness. Whatever, the madness, it made us smile.

Don't Underestimate a Basic Mold

This basic peace sign from Mold Market is an ideal mold to experiment with color and dual color pours. If new to soap making, you will find this mold (and many others from the Mold Market line) a great way to learn how to pour color detail to make your soaps more interesting and colorful.

My staff played with various color combinations to get a feel for how the colorant would look in melt and pour soap base. It was a great learning experience and with the knowledge learned, equips them to assist in answering customer questions/emails about GoPlanet's  liquid gel colors.



How To: Melt & Pour Swirlz Soap Base

Here is the tutorial so many have been requesting. I hope to showcase other swirling projects, but for now, this provides the basics on how to use our Swirlz melt and pour soap base.

We would love to showcase soaps you've created with this soap base. I can't wait to try this with 6-8 different color combos. It's on the bucket list, so be patient!

Soap Projects Revisited

This morning I am working on a tutorial for using our MP Swirlz soap base. I remembered another project I did a few years back that was featured in the Handcrafted Soapmaker Journal.

The technique is somewhat different than swirling, but yields similar mixed color results. The colors flow together seamlessly due to pouring a variety of graduated colors.

These tropical colors really drew me in today as I sit in my office watching 8 inches of snow accumulate outside (we're under a winter storm watch). Oh to be sitting on a sandy beach surrounded by palm trees with a margarita in hand. Instead, I will soak in a tub filled with sea salt, surrounded by my one lone palm stalk (purchased at Ikea) and sip on sparkling water and dream of warm sunshine.

Gift Tag Packaging Kit

One of GoPlanet's newest additions is a Vintage Gift Tag Packaging Kit. It's ideal for those not wanting to purchase these items in ginormous quantities.

Includes the following:

•(10) 1 1/2" metal rim tags
•(10) 1" metal ring tag
•(10) 4.25 x 2 1/8" manila tags
•(10) 1 1/8 x 1.75" die cut tags
•(10) 2 3/4" spring clothespins
•(10) mini spring clothespins
•10 feet 3 mil Jute twine
•10 feet 4 mil cotton twine
•Printed sheet of vintage clothes pin and manila tag covers

Oh my YUM!!! Cupcakes

Look at these! Finally, cupcakes that aren't made from soap. Thanks to my assistant, Kristy. Every year she brings in Valentine cupcakes to share with staff members. Chocolate and strawberry goodness put a smile on every one's face yesterday. Those 300 calories plus were well deserved.

St. Patrick Day Packaging Ideas: Part Two

Pin It Wowie, it's been one heck of a start to the work week. We have three grand kids staying with us until Wednesday. Mommy and Daddy are in the UP (upper peninsula of MI) on a snow mobile outing. NeeNee (that would be me) and Poppy (that would be my honey-man) have been delegated babysitting duties. We love that job, however, two kids have been sick in the middle of the night. requiring the "little green machine" to clean up the mess. The sickness has cut into my sleep time and work time. Oh well, it is what it is. I'm certain many of you have been there.

Even with the all the sickness, I managed to put together a couple of Saint Patrick Day packaging ideas. What else can you do at 2 AM in the morning when nursing sick kids? Hope you find something useful.

We have two new boxes at GoPlanetEarth. One is a window Kraft window box (recycled) that houses two soaps. It won't fit every soap from the Mold Market line, but it's a fairly generic size at 6 1/2 x 3 7/8 x 1 1/4" deep.  The other box is a white 3 1/2 x 3 1/2" box with a clear acetate lid. Both boxes are easy to assemble.

There are some really neat printable Saint Patrick Day papers at Blooming Homestead. I used one of the designs to cover the white box and then folded other papers accordion style and cut into strips. The strips were inserted into the box to help fill the void and add color. It also keeps the soap from sliding around.

Use double sided tape when wrapping the box.



Use ribbon, cord and tags to add finishing touches to the boxes. The Mold Market Shamrock #022, Shamrock #227 and Celtic Flower will fit inside the 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" white box. I poured two Mold Market Retro Bath Bar soaps for the Kraft box.

Robot Valentine Mailbox

Pin It

My grandson's class is required to create a mail box for his school Valentine party. My little buddy, Carson, was frustrated about his robot idea.  NeeNee came to the rescue with a little bit of inspiration that helped him conceptualize his idea. This was the end result of his ideas. He is very excited about taking it to school and is hoping that his classmates vote his mailbox as "most creative".

On the left side of the robot, one inch binder rings were used to attach the two shoe boxes.

On the right side, a twist tie was used to secure the box and keep the robot head from moving. My grandson can untwist the tie to retrieve his valentine cards from the bottom shoe box.

Red wrapping paper and double sided tape were used to cover the boxes. The robot arms are made from an empty paper towel roll (cut in half and cover with paper). My grandson drew and cut the shape of the robot hands on card stock paper. Black felt was cut to cover the hands. The Valentine cards are inserted in the robot's mouth and drop into the robot's body through the opening we cut.

My grandson covered chocolate coins with aluminum foil for the robot ears. I cut a Styrofoam ball in half so he could make the eyes. A black chenille stem (cut in half) and small black pom poms are the antennas. He did a great job and I'm so proud of the effort he put into his mailbox. His younger brother and sister were right there cheering him on. It was a fun family project. Another memory in my memory book.

Meet the artist, Carson.

Targeting "Educated Guess" Customers

I usually give little attention to wine labels. Most are boring and rarely scream "pick me, pick me". However, this label caught my eye and I was curious about the evolution of this marketing idea. Of course, who better to share the story than my honey-man. He's been in the wine business for 35 years and it just so happens his employer has distributorship rights for this winery.

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The story behind the label

The name “Educated Guess” came about during a lively, second bottle of wine conversation about wine making styles, vineyard sites, and the progressive escalation of wine prices without comparable increases in quality. The discussion then proceeded to the “art vs. science” aspect of wine making and after a few more glasses of wine…“Educated Guess” was born!!!

So ask yourself this question: Have you ever found yourself in a wine shop or restaurant perusing the wines and wondering…how do I choose the best wine for the money? You may admire a label, recognize a name, or recall a great review…in essence you’re making an “Educated Guess.”
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So what does this wine label have to do with your product(s)? More than you think. Customers making educated guesses about wine are no different than customers making educated guesses about your product.

I tend to purchase products based on packaging appeal which is why I love buying product from Etsy.com. The majority of Etsy sellers understand the "pick me, pick me" concept. They engage the customer with creative packaging and capture the attention of the "educated guess" consumer.

If you were making an online purchase, which product would you pick?

  

As online presence continues to grow, so will competition. This is especially true for those in the handmade soaping business. The days of dropping a handmade soap into a cello bag with a tied ribbon are long gone.  If you want to compete in the marketplace (both on and offline) you better have a marketing plan in place and it should happen long before opening your online store.

What are you doing to stand out from the avalanche of growing homemade soaping products in the market? Do you desire a revenue generating business?  If so, you need to get obsessive about managing your marketing strategy. If you don't, I guarantee you'll be left in the dust of cyberspace.

How to start 

• Begin to target educated guess customers with creative packaging and labels that stand out from the competition. Develop a core flagship packaging idea and branch out from there.
• "Green" packaging sells (just a personal opinion from someone in the business). Re-purposed and bio-degradable packaging appeal to today's consumer. Recycled paper and Kraft type gift boxes are a great start point.
• Do your homework. Research the web for "brand" packaging "ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Don't copy someone's idea, but you have every right to expand on it.

GoPlanetEarth has created a new web page on packaging ideas. The ideas presented are affordable for those on a limited budget just starting out in the business. As a supplier, our company goal is your success in turning a profit in your the soap making business. GoPlanet continues to add new ideas to the web "Packaging" web page in an effort to inspire. Think outside the box!