Although we have just closed the book on the Ligonier Country Market, and our market season is now over, there is no rest or downtime here at the farm. And though we are well aware that Halloween isn’t over yet, we are beginning to create our Christmas products in earnest. It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas in the soap studio. Yesterday, while I tackled the never-ending pile of laundry that constantly vomits from every orifice in our home, The Bibbed Wonder worked on measuring fats and solids and creating embeds for this week’s soap list, which happens to consist of our Christmas soaps.
Today, we will tackle Elf Fart. While I usually profess utter disgust and repulsion for the gas-related issues of, well, just about every living thing on this farm, including and mostly about one bib overall wearing man-child, I enjoy it when our studio smells like Elf Fart. Elf Fart was created by The Bean when she was a mere eight years old. This scent has been a soap family favorite from the beginning. The smell of cranberries, brown sugar, orange, and a hint of vanilla are delightfully Christmasy and fresh. I wish I could say the same for The Bibbed Wonder, who generously shares his aroma constantly, but alas, I cannot. Sigh.
We are also bringing back a soap family favorite, Comfort and Joy. I love this scent which is a blend of fresh grass…I know it sounds strange…sandalwood, musk, and a kiss of oakmoss. I would make this a year-round scent, but my nay-saying wonder buns again stifles my creativity. I change the appearance of this soap every year, and I have not settled upon a design at this point. I am sure Eric will bully me into something simple and less dazzling than I can imagine. Sigh, one of us has to be practical. However, I will do my best to make it beautiful and smell amazing.
Also making a return is the soft, powdery floral scent of Snow Angel. If you remember it from last year, it was a simple white soap with a small blue snowflake in the corner. It, too, is a favorite of mine and was very well received by my soap family as well. I believe I will “fancy” this one up a bit for the winter season and really make it sparkle. I am still working on a color scheme, but I have a few ideas in mind. I can’t wait until it is finished and we can release it.
Much to my chagrin, we are again making those God-forsaken snowmen. I have protested, upped my stubbornness to new levels, and made the threat of not helping at all with these labor-intensive creations. Still, I have been voted off the island by The Bibbed Wonder and The Bean, who, by the way, is now in school and will miss all the back-breaking details of making Dancing Snowmen. Dancing Snowmen was The Beans idea when she was small. At the time, we were making three loaves of soap per batch. We are now making fourteen loaves per batch, and we face a small army of snowmen to complete. I intensely dislike making snowmen faces, but I have an idea that just may work. This idea does not include a hypodermic needle filled with soap. Keep your fingers crossed my idea works, and perhaps you won’t have to read my complaints of Dancing Snowmen anymore.
Lastly, my new creation for the Christmas season is called Frosted Winter Cupcake. I have asked several individuals for feedback on this scent blend, and I have gotten rave reviews from all. It also passed The Bean’s discerning sniffer test with flying colors. Frosted Winter Cupcake is a blend of sweet cake batter and frosty candy canes with vanilla to round it out. In my opinion, it smells divine, but I really like cupcakes and would not mind smelling like one. I plan for this creation to look like a piece of frosted holiday cake with sprinkles and sparkles. I am excited about this one, can you tell? I believe it will be well received by my soap family and will make a wonderful gift or stocking stuffer.
The bibbed-wearing Scrooge I live with has limited me to five seasonal soaps this year. Originally, I planned for eight to ten, but he blathers on about storage space, time constraints, cost-effectiveness, and other creativity stifling catchphrases. Really, dear reader, I don’t know how I live with this man and his nay-saying practicality. However, we all have a burden to bear, and he is my chosen. Sigh. I jest; he keeps me grounded, pays close attention to growth and analytics, and is a whiz with numbers. I couldn’t do this without him. On the flip side, if he were in charge of soaps, scents, and design, everything would be round, with no colors and one scent. We balance each other well and make a great team. Although we complain of the other’s attributes, we know we strike a good balance. However, it doesn’t stop us from complaining, insert wink.
I apologize to those readers who don’t want to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. We are thinking of Christmas here on the farm, and I hope you are as excited about our winter scents as I am. I also hope you are excited about snowmen because I will probably end up with a permanent disfiguration of my hand from piping faces with a hypodermic needle. Sigh. As always, dear reader, stay safe, be smart, perhaps give a few minutes of thought to Christmas, and keep washing your hands.