Every time I cut a loaf of soap – I always have a fair sized chunk left over at the end of the loaf. Not so thick as to be a saleable bar but perfect to cut into four and use as sample bars. Their uses, as a general rule, are twofold
1. As free samples to be popped in the box when anyone places an order and
2. To be given out to retail outlets with each wholesale order, one per fragrance ordered, so that customers can get a good idea of the fragrance
I ALSO have left over the very thin end piece that I slice off the loaf when I begin cutting it:
and recently I started wondering how I could use them. A couple of years back, at Christmas time, I had bundled up various end pieces, wrapped them up in raffia and sold them as sample packs at market:
But I wanted something a little ‘neater’, and then I remembered this blog post by Emily at Soap & Restless, and went on the hunt in the kitchen for a suitably sized cookie cutter. This was the result:
I’m still not entirely sure what I’m going to do with them. Maybe cut a hole in each one and string them onto some ribbon or raffia? Or just use them as prettier free samples? It would be an easy enough process to continue slicing that last chunk into thinnish slices, so I should still be able to get four samples out of each end chunk… What do you think? Which sample would you prefer to get with your order?
Back tomorrow,
Vickx
I love the cookie cutter idea! I also bundle my ends and sell them at a discount but those little shapes look cute! I would toss some into a clear sample bag together and sell them as variety bags.
Yes, that’s a really nice idea – they’d look neater and prettier than the bundles I sold previously. (Those bundles were really good sellers by the way, but I stopped doing them as I wasn’t charging enough for them, and I felt people were buying them instead of the full sized bars, so I was doing myself out of sales. I just need to make sure I sell them at an appropriate price. The only other issue is the wastage – those bits that are left over after the cookie shape has been cut out, but I’d have not problem using those bits up at home myself.
No matter what we do, there is going to be some waste. I was doing the end pieces bundles too but decided to give them away with purchase. Also, I have lots of small buckets with shavings from planed soap. What do you do with those? I think I’ll put them out at markets for samples.
Ah now I don’t plane at the moment. I’d like to, I think it gives a really professional finish, but I don’t have a planer (yet). Are they curled shavings? I think they look really pretty as embeds in the top of of soap, or could they be put into confetti soap? I’d be tempted to put a load of them into a clear bag and sell them as single use leaves – I think they’d look nice in a bowl beside a washbasin…
Vicki:
How big are the cookie cutter samples (dimensions & weight)?
I really like Toni’s idea above.
Sly
It is a really nice idea isn’t it. They’re about 6/7cm across (sorry to be imprecise – they (and the cutter) are over in the office, and I’m at home at the moment. I’m not sure on their weight but no more than 15-20g I would guess…
Thanks!!
(I always forget that there is a Like button – it’s so prevalent on Instagram, but a little hidden on blogs)…And I really enjoy (and Like) your blogs, even if I forget to push the button!
Sly
Me too – I love the cookie cutter samples and I think they would look very pretty as the ‘tester’ for your wholesale orders. They would also make great sample packs to buy or free give-aways at markets – my only thought on that would be to make them thick enough so they didn’t snap in half on their first use….
That’s a good point about them snapping, although I’ve used one, just to give it a try, and it doesn’t feel like it would snap to be honest. They’re anything between 1-2mm thick so they ought to be ok for a good few uses I think.
Love your cookies! They still have the feeling of the Soap Mine designs.
Love the cookie cutter idea. Very cute!
Awesome idea. I have just been using the end slices at home but your idea is far better. I think I’m going to try the samples idea first and see how it goes.