I’ve been thinking about what I could do differently at the Olathe Farmer’s Market this year which will be starting up again on Saturday, April 23rd. One idea I’ve had is to offer a Soap of the Week. My plan is to make small batches of soap (only eight bars each), then offer one unique type of soap each week. Once they’re gone, that’s it! They won’t be available online – just locally at the farmer’s market each Saturday.

I’m still working out the details, such as whether or not to announce what all the soaps will be ahead of time, or just on a week-by-week basis, or make it a complete surprise. And if I do announce the scent and show a picture of the soap, if I should allow customers to be able to reserve any number of bars. That could get tricky. Any advice on this is welcome!

One thing is for sure. I finally have a log mold that will make just eight bars of soap! Another soapmaker and I arranged a trade – my slab mold for her three smaller log molds. The only log molds I had are about 31″ long – too long for small batches, and too long to fit in my oven, should I ever decide to try the CPOP (cold process-oven process) method. The medium sized mold I received is the perfect size to make eight bars of soap, plus a little left over on the ends. I re-sized my recipe, and tested it out with some Lily of the Valley fragrance this morning. Here’s a sneak peek of the soap in the mold:

I wasn’t trying to get too fancy because my main objective was to make sure I re-sized my recipe correctly, but I’ll tell you there is a layer of yellow soap sandwiched between two cream-colored layers. Yes, I textured the top a bit and sprinkled on some glitter too. That’s a pretty easy way to spiff up a soap!

P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day!!