From the Kitchen to the Shelves.

  Thought I would share the process of taking a raw product, just made, from the kitchen to the store shelves. I made these Bath Melts Yesterday (2-6-14) It took me 6 hours to make 20 boxes of Bath Truffle melts and 50 bath melt squares. In that six hours I was able to make by hand 50 squares, 80 truffles, glue together the boxes & lids (cut them the night before on my Cricut Cutter). I also made the labels for the boxes, cut them out and glued them on. Packaged them in the boxes and then I needed to take photo's of each product to put on line.
                                           \
  

   This process is what made me think about sharing my day with you. I am not just making these products, I am a full time house wife and mother as well as a Small business owner.
So I started my Friday with a cup of coffee, and emails. A quick check of the online Etsy store and a fast read through my business facebook.  Then off to work I start. I have 50 Bath Square melts that need to be finished and put out.
                                 

I start by making the labels on my computer. These will go fast because I have had these products in my store, so I have the main label already made. All I need to do is copy, paste to a new file and change the colors, scent name and ingredients. If it was a new label it could take me a few hours to design. I would have to measure where on the product the label is going, design it, fill it in with ingredients and instructions. I have learned to hard way, print one first to make sure it fits, looks right and is all spelled right, then make them all. 

      

With this I made four sets of labels (made the first set last night) and printed them all off. 

Now I take a fast business break and run down to change the laundry, one in dryer and another one in washer. Then back to work, I start hand cutting this label for the melts. I loved it when I designed it. It is a one piece, wrap around label, but after cutting over 100 of these labels, not so much love anymore.

I get the first paper of labels cut and then off to make the bed. This is important to me. I always fear what I I don't make my bed and some one visits, or I have a heart attach and  the paramedics come in and see my unmade bed. 

   

I feel so much better now, and I get another set of labels cut out. 

Taking another break, I run down stairs and change the laundry. One load up to fold, one in the dryer and another in the washer. 

Load #1 folded.

Then I noticed that my kitchen took a hit this morning with 7 people getting ready for the day.

So a fast 30 minute cleanup. Empty the dishwasher, fill the dishwasher, clean counters, Put things away.

     

Before                                                           After      

Back to work, cutting out the last labels. Then I start to wrap the melts so I have something to put the label on.

 

  First I start by cutting small candy bags open to wrap them in, and start to wrap each one, it takes me about 45 minutes to wrap 50 of them.

Unexpected break to take in a box and check the new ingredients that just came in from 

Natures Garden Wholesale 

 http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/candlemaking-soap-supplies/category/610/Melt-and-Pour-Soap.html

While I'm up...another load of laundry and a cup of coffee. 

The I start running my labels through my Create a Sticker machine....I LOVE This thing so much.

 

This is the last step. I peal off and stick to the melts. They go from plain wrapped melts to a beautiful product out on my shelves. The only thing left is to photo them, place them on Etsy, Facebook and Pinterst. 

 

There are few other thing I got done while I was writing this blog. I helped my husband hang to shelves in my kitchen, changed the laundry again (only two more loads to go. I was 6 days a week) and I packed my husbands lunch so he could go to work for the night. 

It's almost 3:00 p.m. I still have the rest of the house to clean, kids to meet at the door from the bus. Meals to attend to and more products. I am hoping though, that this was a good way for everyone to see that I am not just mixing up ingredients and tossing on labels. I put a great deal of work into my Family, my home and my business. I am pretty sure I put in 60-70 hours into my business and another 60 into my house and family. I don't think I'm alone in this. I am sure there are hundreds of women that put in just as much and even more. I don't regret it or even resent it. I love what I do. I love being a Wife and Mother and Grandmother, and I love building my business one day at a time. 

 

Third Year and Still Standing

    Secret Garden Bath & Boutique Is just about to reach it's third year in business. I can honestly say it has been everything but easy. Yet I am still hear and I am still standing. The third year is off to a better start then the last two years, and I only see it getting better.
    Three year ago I was in fear of my stay home mom job coming to an end and wondered what I would do with myself. The prospect of being home alone with my husband was a bit terrifying. Now don't get me wrong, I love my husband of 26 years...but alone? Not real sure if I was up to that. What would we do? Birdhouses, the word search, maybe cards? No, I knew it was time for me to think of some of my dreams that had put on the back burner.
   It has been a struggle and all I can tell people starting a business. Be prepared to nurse it like it is a new born for about three years. I just now am starting to feel like it can roll over and hold it's own bottle, but still need to be burped  It is a roller coaster of emotions, trials and tears. Yet I do think I am starting to have less hard days and more enjoyable ones.
   It is such a feeling of accomplishment to see orders come in and have such positive feed back from my customers. It is nice to be out of the constant worrying stages, walking the floors at night and stressing over making it work.
    I don't know where this business will take me, but I am sure it will be great and wonderful. It is the first and tiny steps towards my Bed & Breakfast. I feel confident if you just push through the worst and continue when there seems to be no reason too, you will come out the other side stronger and better.
   On the brink of our 3rd Birthday...I want to say Thank You to every person that has helped. believed and supported my little business.

Thank You
Drusilla Fife

Bath Bakery is on it's way!!!!

Here it comes, a brand new line from Secret Garden Bath Boutique. Natural Bath Treats that will make you feel like you have over indulged. The Secret Garden Bath Bakery is getting ready and starting to put Bakery Bath Treats on the shelves soon.
What is coming your way? Bubble Bath Bar Brownies, Bath Cookies, Fizzy Truffles, Macaroon Melts , Ice Cream Sugar Scrubs and soooooo much more.

The Benefits of a Great Bath

  I have known for some time now that a good hot bath is so important for us. But recently I took ill and was simply not in a mood for my baths. Fighting a reoccurring cold for almost 10 weeks, all I had the energy for was a quick shower.
   It seemed like the medication was fighting against me and my own body was refusing to get better. Then a week ago I just felt like a long soak in a hot bath with Dead sea Salt and Eucalyptus oil. I forced myself to climb in the tube and sit a while. It felt good breathing in the Eucalyptus vapors and the hot water really made my aches and pains seem to diminish a bit. Low and behold the next day I actually felt a small bit better.
   I started thinking about all of my research I have done on baths and why we need them. I started thinking about how a salt bath or and Epsom bath are detoxing for our bodies. Epsom and Dead Sea Salts  are made up of the compound Magnesium Sulfate. Which is so important for our bodies. Magnesium helps keep  well over 325 enzymes active in our bodies while making sure that our bodily functions run smoothly. Our brain tissue, our joint proteins our digestive tracks are strengthen and improved by a good soak.
   Not to mention that soaking in salts, baking soda, corn starch and other natural ingredients help improve our muscles and nerve functions, reduces inflammation and even improves our blood circulation.
   So I think that once I started soaking again, using my natural products and hot water started to give my body back what it needed to help fight this horrible cold and even helped my medication be able to start working.
Every night I tossed in some sort of product of mine. A fizzy bomb, Dead Sea Salt, Milk Bath soaks, Bath melts, and a week later I am starting to come back to life. My body is not in agonizing pain, I can finally breath without felling like I need an oxygen tank and the coughing in now down to a low bark. I think I will always wonder if I had just kept up with my nightly bath, would I have felt better sooner.   I hear all the time..."I don't have time for a bath"..."I don't like sitting in the bath water"...and even "Baths are disgusting". Yet taking a bath goes as far back as man, and there is so many reasons we should be bathing and not just showering. The health benefits are huge and vital. So try to fit at least 2-3 baths in a week and watch how much better you feel.

                                                                     

Why Do Cheap Unsafe Ingredients Cost Us So Much?

     So tell me Please...Why do the cheapest, crappy ingredients cost us so much? I don't mean just money, I mean our health. We are paying for products that are made with chemical  fillers and trusting that the company that makes our bath & beauty care products is looking out for our well being. The sad reality is that they are only looking out for their bottom line. So chemical filler ingredients cost them less and cost us everything.
    I truly hand make every single product I sell, and I don't cut corners. I don't use water as a first ingredient. I also don't use filler to stretch a recipe. If my recipe only makes 4-6 products, then that's what it makes. Sure filler could get me closer to 12 products, but at what cost? Your health? No thank you. I tell my self daily...If I won't let my 2 year old grandson use it...then I don't make it. That simple.
     Let's put aside for the moment the health cost and talk about the price tag. I am able to make my Bubble bars with SLSA ( Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetae), which is not a chemical. It is derived from Coconut and Palm oil. It is not linked to any health concerns and is 100% safe. Where as SLS ( Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) is a chemical detergent. It makes the bubbles in our soap, shampoo, bubble baths and more. It is used to be a cleanser in our face care products and worse...Baby Care products. 
    So let me get to the wallet. I use the real bubble maker (SLSA) and I make a bubble bar just like another company, yet I do not use SLS, and for some reason I cost $4.00 less. Now I get that I have no payroll, no large stores to pay on, no overhead and international wages to pay out. But I still wonder why a company can use the cheaper ingredients, call it natural, proclaim it to be hand made and stick a high price tag on it? 
    What is it that we are paying for? Are we paying for a product that works and feels good? Or are we paying for deception, lies and another persons happiness. I get that when you purchase my products I am able to pay my bills and feed my family from your support and financial backing. I guess the difference is that I get that you are basically backing my company. If you are happy, you will come back, if you love my products you will share with your friends, and if you believe in me I will grow.  So it only makes good since to make sure that I am making you a product that works well, fells amazing, saves you money and keeps you healthy. After all sick people don't have the money or desire to buy specially bath products. 
     Don't let big companies lie to you and cost you so much. Know what is in your products, know your ingredients and decide for yourself if the risks and bottom line is really worth your health.
I hope that you find that you are worth the better ingredients. 

Take 30% for all of your "Likes"

Gourmet Bath Treats are coming soon...Secret Garden Bath Bakery