Updating!

A small character flaw I have is that I LOVE change. But only about some things!! I wouldn't want to change where I live, or my family.....but I like to rearrange my furniture, color/ cut my hair, redecorate, repaint, etc. What does this mean to you?? It means Tvala Handmade's inventory is going to be going through a change!

Rest assured, the top selling soaps are not going anywhere! You'll still be able to get your Cold Hard Steel, Sweet Dreams, Aphrodite, Oatmeal Milk and Honey, and M-81. But, get ready for up-and-coming newbies like Yuzu, Cotton Patch, Fresh Laundry, Rose, and Prickly Pear (making a permanent debut on the site)! Starting in January, you'll be able to stock up on your favorite soaps and try some new ones. Of course, there'll be a sample in every order, as always.

Now, I understand this isn't the most ideal time to have limited access to the Tvala shop. With Christmas coming, you're probably looking for unique handmade gifts and especially with the killer Winter weather you're needing some Tvala TLC for your skin. To make it up to you, I'm offering a discounted price on our Shea Skin Therapy Cream. From now until January, 6oz of TLC in a tube will only cost you $9.99!!! Wish it came in a different fragrance? Your wish is my command. Custom lotions are now available!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Holiday Season!!

Custom soap = Awesome presents!

It smells great around here; I've been busy preparing for the crazy Christmas season and filling Christmas orders (can you believe it?! Already??!?)! I just wrapped up a totally customized project for a customer and I bet she feels good knowing most of her Christmas shopping is all done! :) Let me know if you'd like your own customized, limited-edition tvala Handmade soap to give this year! Pick your color, design, fragrance, formula, quantity and even have a personalized stamp made to your specs!!! Check out this order: Shea butter, goat milk formula, in Rice Flower fragrance (cream colored bars) and Fresh Laundry (blue bars), stamped with family names. Drop me a line for more info; time is limited (to allow for cure, shipping, etc.)!

What are you looking for?

Most people have an idea of what they are looking for when they are shopping for soap, and they ask me to help them find what they are wanting. Since I can't hand you the soaps that you might be interested in, I'll group them for you here and maybe it will be easier for you! I'll just base these categories off of what I get asked about most commonly.

Exfoliating: Oatmeal, Milk and Honey

Serenity

Facial: (Normal to oily) Sandalwood Vanilla Spa Sticks

(Normal to dry/sensitive) 1616

Lavender based: Serenity

Sweet Dreams

Soothe

1616

Dupe fragrances: Aphrodite ('Lovespell' by VS)

Cold Hard Steel ('Cool Water')

Soothe ('Moonlight Path' by BBW)

M-81 Woodland ('Green Irish Tweed')

Goat Milk: 1616

Soothe

Sandalwood Vanilla Spa Sticks

Oatmeal Milk and Honey

Sweet Dreams

1847

Cold Hard Steel

M-81 Woodland

Tea Tree

Vegan: Serenity

Aphrodite

Cucumber Melon

So, I hope this list helps you find what you're looking for. :) Also, I've have a few requests to bring back a couple fragrances I discontinued...if there's something you miss, let me know and I will see about maybe making a few bars of those long lost soaps.... :)

Keeping it useable

So, all the soap users might not care too much about this post, but any soap maker might be interested in reading on. Maybe I'm just slow, but it took me quite a while to figure this out. :)

The first mistake I made was not writing anything down in a permanent spot. I would just jot down recipes and formulations, values and percentages on whatever scrap I had nearby and then it would get confused as trash and be gone forever. This was detrimental to my early formulas, because I had no idea what I had used, and in what percentage in each batch I had made. So, if it was good, I didn't know what made it good, and if it was bad, I wasn't sure what about it made it so. I soon got a notebook and began writing stuff down where I could keep track of it.

That notebook worked for a while....and then it began to look like my cookbooks; spills all over it! Problem was, unlike the glossy pages of my cookbook, I couldn't just wipe off the oil drips from my notebook paper. The splashes make the ink bleed and run and spread and it wasn't long before I couldn't read what I had written and so carefully kept track of.

Finally, I figured out the secret! I got a 3 ring binder and collected all the 'good' formulas. I re-wrote the ones that were hard to read, gathered all my fragrance and color notes, and put them in plastic sheet protectors. Now, if something splashes or drips, it is easy to wipe right off! Best part is, I can still read my results and recipes (although I don't always remember what all my abbreviations mean; what could I have meant by 'Lilw/mas'?!).

I took the sheet protector idea to the next level, and now use a gallon size ziplock bag on my scale, to guard against drips that stick in the buttons and compromise it's accuracy.

Hope this saves you some trouble!

Summer time

This is going to be a great Summer! Aside from the awful heat (already 100+ here) and yardwork, I'm looking forward to all I've got going on.

There's books to read, rodeos to watch, camping trips to take, letters to write and packages to send, a cabin in the mountains to visit, peaches to pick and products to make.

I'll be trying out lots of new fragrances, to see what I want to add to my Signiature Line, so be watching for those new fragrances to make an appearance on my site....and the bonus of me trying new fragrances and colors is there will be some that don't make it as permanant additions and so there will be awesome products for you at a discount. ;)

We might show up at a market or two, and of course I'll be re-stocking all the favorite soaps and lotions in the tvala shop.

.....Oh, yeah, and I'll be riding my horse. :)

What does this Summer hold in store for you?

"I don't aim to lose it now!"

My mom does a lot of family history research.  She recently shared with me a funny soap making story she came across in an old journal of my great aunt's cousin.  

The excerpt comes after she describes the process of rendering the lard from their hogs to make 'cracklings' which, along with 'other rejected fats' became the base of the soap.  She then says, "At soap-making time, Mama liked to tell the story of a woman she had known in Kentucky.  This woman took a notion to make up her soap on her wedding day.  She was still stirring the kettle of soap when the groom arrived with the minister.  The groom asked if she'd forgotten what day it was.  'No,' she said.  'I aimed to be through before you got here, but things went wrong.  But, I guess there won't be no harm if I stir my soap while we get married.  I don't aim to lose it now.'  So, they were married while she stirred the soap."  

I can imagine when soap making took several days, beginning with cutting the hog fat into cubes to standing in the yard over a huge hot kettle stirring for hours and hours, I wouldn't let a little thing like my wedding stop me, either.  :)

Unique Mother's Day Gifts

As a mom myself, I know it's nice to be recognized and honored on Mother's Day.  I get to put my feet up a bit, take an extra minute for myself and I usually get out making dinner!  I love the gifts and cards that my kids make, and the gifts my husband 'helps' them pick out for me.  I'll tell you, though, the gifts that let me pamper myself are awesome!  Yummy smelling soaps, lotion and other bath products are always a favorite!  

Tvala Handcrafted soap is ideal for your skin.  Not only is it full of natural glycerine, but I've worked my soap formulas through hundreds of batches to create the softest, most gentle cleansing bubbles possible.  

Look around the shop, I bet you'll find a few things for the mom you have in mind.  :)  As an added bonus, you won't have to pay for us to ship it to her, either; priority mail shipping is free though May 10th on all orders!  Need some suggestions?  Send us an email.   Want free gift wrapping or a personalized card included in your order?  Just let me know on the 'special instructions' section of your order form.  Happy Mother's Day!